Page 75 of Demon Found

What the fuck, little chica?

Chapter Thirty-seven: Farrell

“ChanobelievesIbetrayedhim. Maybe I did. I was protecting myself and my brother. Once Chano was allegiance it was too late, too big to bring up.” Lorelei paces my room again.

“Our allegiance marks are fading, Lorelei. You have to fix it.”

“It’s all my fault,” she wails and throws herself onto my sofa, her skirt riding up her legs.

Screwing my eyes shut, I turn away. The girl is temptation, and she doesn’t even know it. Am I sad Chano’s no longer making moves on her? No. Are we about to royally mess up if we let this stupid disagreement continue? Unfortunately, yes.

The giant demon-shaped asshole must care for her. He won’t even talk to Lorelei, but when she’s not looking, he stares at her like a lost puppy.

I tried. I tried to tell him he’d lose her entirely if he doesn’t accept that she made a simple mistake. He’s too far up his own ass to take advice. Just came at me like a two-ton truck demanding what my goal was and why I was pretending to care.

Sighing, I tune back into Lorelei. She’sstillbemoaning the situation.

“Enough whining,” I say. “Make it right. It’s not something the rest of us can fix. You’re not the victim here. Stop acting like it.”

She rolls her eyes, but I don’t miss the flash of hurt in them.

“You screwed up. End of story. You can either bathe in self-pity or sort it.”

Her brow furrows, and her bottom lip trembles.

“No crying either. Let’s get you to your dorm and changed out your running gear before breakfast.”

And before Camille catches her in here. It’s a damn tightrope over an abyss keeping both these girls on side. My father has a lot to answer for.

We walk in silence to Lorelei’s dorm, her face a stoic mask. She’s locked down her emotions, and I like it even less than dealing with tears. I want her to let me in, to show me when she’s upset.

This girl has me tying myself in knots. Questioning every damn thing I say, every thought I think.

She takes a deep breath and pushes her door open before turning to me. “I need breakfast first. I need to be fueled. Caffeinated. Ready for the fall out. I’ll talk to Chano after that.”

She looks fearful. Lorelei is scared ofnothing. The asshole might be furious, but he won’t hurt her, will he?

A kernel of anger pulses in my chest. I’m pushing her to do this.I’mthe asshole here.

Before I can say something stupid, I turn and stride away.

Swinging around the corner, I grind to a halt. Chano’s unmistakable hulk takes up the whole damn hallway, a scrawny figure dangling from his grasp. A metallic glint catches the light. Shit, his knife is out.

“Piss off, Cuelebre. Nothing to see here.”

“Farrell! Oh thank the goddesses. Don’t let him kill me. Your father won’t like it . . . ”

Seth. The little weasel.

“Too late.” Chano’s eyes gleam manically and his knife darts forward, snaking through the air. Seth lets out a high-pitched shriek. On instinct, I throw a gust of air out, knocking Chano’s knife off course. It scores down Seth’s cheek, splitting it open like butter, and misses his neck with millimeters to spare. Chano snarls, moving as fast as any vampire to catch the weapon before it hits the ground.He’s actually going to kill him.

“Stop,” I command. “Seth is the only family Lorelei has.”

Chano’s purple demon rings swirl, and he hisses. His tail lashes from side to side, battering into the walls of the narrow hallway, the harsh thudding the only noise for a few long seconds.

“Notbloodfamily.” The growling voice sounds nothing like Chano.

“He’s what she’s got. If you take that away from her, she’ll never forgive you.”

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