Page 109 of Demon Found

“Are you shitting me, Lorelei Bal? If I have to breathe the same air as one of your exes, then only one of us will continue breathing.”

His ferocity makes me giggle. Clearly not the response he was expecting from his scowl.

“Chill. It's not an ex. I want to visit an old guardian of mine.”

“That’s cute. You never said you kept in touch with any of them.”

Nothing about Frank was ever cute. Not all my guardians were assholes, some were just disinterested. But Frank tops the list for being a compete bastard.

“I don’t. It’s time I paid him back.”

Chano’s grin is dark and wicked, and he scoops me into a bear hug.

“This is the guy who stopped you from emerging? The one who beat you up so badly you went to the emergency room? Multiple times?”

How the hell does he know that?I quirk a brow.

“What, chica? We found your file in the dean’s office. I took some pictures . . . ofcourseI was going to read them. I needed to know every single little thing about you.”

That should be creepy, but I find myself smiling.

“So. A revenge tour? Let’s go. I’m going to enjoy this.” Chano bares his teeth, flinging his leg over his bike, and I squeeze on behind him. Of course, he’s on board.

My maniac demon.

“He didn’t do anything wrong.” The plaintive wail reaches me over the idling engine. I strain my neck to see a thin careworn young woman on the front step of a dilapidated house. She wrings her hands again, shuffling from foot to foot.

A black van with a blue fist decal sits on the corner. Collectivo. What the hell are they doing now? I glance toward the flower shop where Chano’s painstakingly choosing something for his mom. His head is bent, and he’s not looking my way.Shit.

Hesitantly I swing my leg over the bike and clamber off. Two burly men dressed head to toe in black exit the house with a guy drooped between them, his head lolling sideways. The woman positions her slight frame between them and the van.

“He resisted arrest,” the shorter of the two Collectivo operatives barks at the woman. “Remove your hand from my arm or I’ll arrest you too.” He gestures at the magic-nulling sidearm strapped to his thigh and the woman shrinks back.

The second Collectivo operative snorts. “Don’t put yourself in harm’s way for a fucking cross, love. Go find yourself a nice shifter and forget all about this deadbeat.”

Assholes.My snarl ricochets off the dilapidated concrete buildings and both operatives’ heads snap toward me. Chano’s hand clamps down on my arm. The cheery bunch of flowers he’s clutching is in stark contrast to the grimace on his face.

“Stop, chica. They’re packing some nasty shit. Theyarethe law here, and we’ve got no back up.”

The operatives wave their weapons in our direction, and Chano takes a half step in front of me, shaking his head. The Collectivo men stare for a long hard second before they turn and manhandle the semiconscious supe toward their vehicle. Chano’s hand stays firmly on my arm as the guy is thrust into the back of the van, metal bars clanging before the outer doors shut with a heavy finality.

“He didn’tdoanything,” the young woman insists.

“He’s cross. That’s enough.” The operative gives her a rough shove back. They waste no time and their van roars away in a cloud of smoke.

Fuck. Things are bad in Venez. I’ve been away less than a year and it’s already so much worse. Dragging crossbreeds off the streets in broad fucking daylight? That’s a new low.

“We’ll find out where they took him. I promise.”

The woman simply stares at me, her eyes dull, and I want to cry. She doesn’t believe me.

Hellfire, I don’t know if I believe myself.

Chapter Fifty-five: Lorelei

ThetiressquealasChano manhandles his beast of a bike into the narrow street and careers us toward my old home. House. It was never a home.

Jumping lightly off the back, I peer at the ramshackle place. Another of the windows is boarded up. The whole building looks more dilapidated than I remember. Did I just forget how bad it was?

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