Dex spun his knife, staring at nothing in particular. Had he ever had someone feel comforted by him before? He didn’t think so.

The shower shut off and he poured the eggs in the hot pan.

Everything she’d been through – it didn’t scare him off like he knew it should. Dex actually felt more invested now if that were even possible. If he could ease some of that pain…

Who the fuck was he kidding?

His angel was an emotionless sociopath who was designed to exact wrath upon the universe without giving a single fuck about the consequences. Then there was his demon with cravings for chaos and impulse control issues which made such a wonderful recipe for disaster, it really shouldn’t be funny.

But sometimes the only way he could get out of bed was to laugh at the shit he had to deal with.

Ironically, Dex wasn’t worried about his demon. Agmos had trained him how to focus the cravings for chaos into productive outlets. It was the excitement he felt when he was ready to fight, ready to make someone beg. His demon wanted sex and violence and really any kind of stimulation he could get his hands on.

Dex relished in his demon side.

But if he let something actually bother him, that rage he felt that came from the fires of hell triggered the wrath in his angel, and the switch from a guy just having a good time to a serial killer who’d murder everyone for a Snickers bar was something he couldn’t afford.

He used the strength and the wings. Dex loved the speed his angel gave him and the power that amplified his demon magic, but that cold unfeeling side disgusted him.

And Nova had been hurt by a demon – her sister murdered by one, which made things awkward.

Demon-touched.

It didn’t sound real. Dex had never heard of something like that before, but magic was unpredictable. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.

The real question though, was why a demon would go after a witch child. What was the motivation for that?

A demon had murdered her sister right in front of her. Telling Nova he was part demon didn’t seem like a good idea.

He tossed in some ingredients for the omelets and rolled his shoulders back to ease the ache of holding back his wings.

Lying to her didn’t seem like a good idea either, even by omission. Maybe when they knew each other better, he could tell her. When he felt like she wouldn’t kill him for something he had no control over.

Flipping the eggs, he considered everything he knew about her.

Nova wouldn’t actually kill him for being part demon, but she might just decide to have nothing to do with him anymore and Dex hated the idea of that more than anything.

And then her sister had been a hunter.

Gently, he eased the omelets onto the plates and wondered what that must have been like. It definitely explained why she seemed too rash when it came to the situations she put herself in. Nova wasn’t afraid of shifters because her dad had trained her.

As a witch, she couldn’t match a real hunter, but knowing how to physically fight was something no one expected from a witch. After her sister died, he had no doubt her dad had trained the shit out of her.

It’s what he would have done.

Dex shoved that thought down deep and pretended like it had never existed. Kids weren’t in the cards for him.

Sprinkling some cheese on the eggs, he tapped his phone to turn up the music just a little. He could still hear her over it, but she was getting dressed and Dex couldn’t afford to listen to that.

Bacon was next and he let it pop and sizzle as he brewed coffee. She might not like coffee, so he started the kettle too. Whatever her preferences were, he was prepared. Both of them needed to eat, considering their general attitudes.

Being hangry on top of everything was like playing with fire in a room full of dynamite.

His door opened and he focused on the bacon, tracking her movements with sound alone. Her heart rate was back to normal, but he couldn’t scent her, just the fragrant steam from the shower.

She’d used his soap.

Was that why she was so ticked about a fucking shower? Dex rolled his eyes. Nova probably thought he used dish soap for face wash too.