Page 46 of Midnight Enchantment

“Why?” Silly question, Lily thought.

“You know damn well why. You let that … that demon bite you. Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?”

“Raedan didn’t hurt me. I feel fine.”

Her father grunted softly. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

Callie placed her hand on Quill’s arm. “Let’s not talk about it over breakfast.”

“Let’s not talk about it at all,” Lily said. “I’m going for a walk.”

Callie shook her head when she saw the look in Quill’s eyes.Let her go.

He glared at her, but didn’t say anything until Lily left the house. “I know I told Raedan he could date Lily, but I think it was a mistake. I think we need to lock her up until she comes to her senses. Or send her to live with my parents. My father should be able to keep her in line.”

Callie shook her head. “It will only make her hate us, Quill. Is that what you want?”

“It’s better than letting her ruin her life. How do we know he even cares for her? He might just be trying to put our minds at ease before he strikes.”

“Quill—”

“And what if he somehow infects her with the demon? Or turns hers? Or kills her?”

Callie’s shoulders slumped. “I hadn’t really thought about that.”

“Well, you’d better start thinking about it now before it’s too late.”

Rising, she rounded the table and sat in his lap. “Maybe Ava can do something.”

Murmuring, “I sure hope so,” Quill wrapped his arms around her, thinking he hadn’t been this worried since he and Callie had been Claret’s prisoners all those years ago.

Needing to think, Lily went to her favorite place in the park, a wooden bench beneath a flowering tree. She couldn’t blame her parents for being worried about her. That’s what parents did. They were convinced that being with Raedan put her life in danger. She didn’t believe it, not for a minute. But what if they were right? And how was she to know? He was incredibly old and powerful, she knew that. She could feel it. But she couldn’t believe he would ever hurt her. She remembered her mother saying that Raedan might not be in control of the demon. What if her mother was right? It was something to think about.

Lily huffed a sigh. Like it or not, her mother had planted the seeds of doubt in her mind and nothing she could do would uproot them.

She was about to go back home when Raedan appeared on the bench beside her.

Startled, she almost jumped to her feet.

“Sorry,” he said, his deep voice like a caress “I did not mean to frighten you.”

“Oh, that’s all right. I like a good scare every now and then,” she said, pressing her hand to her rapidly beating heart. “What are you doing here? And in the middle of the day?” Only then did she notice that he wore a long-sleeved shirt, jeans, black leather gloves, a hat with a wide brim, and dark glasses. “Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“Your distress roused me.” Taking her hand in his, he said, “No matter what your parents think, I would never hurt you, Liliana.”

“I know you wouldn’t, at least not on purpose.” Her gaze searched his. “Have you ever lost control of the demon inside you?”

He thought of how hard it was to resist the blood-demon’s demands when Liliana was near, as she was now, how difficult it was not to wrap her in his arms and drain her dry. “Not yet.”

“That’s not very comforting.”

He grunted softly. He had left her twice before because he feared he would surrender to the demon’s demands. What made him think he was any more resistant to the demon’s influence now that he had tasted her blood? When he craved it more even now?

“Raedan, what are you thinking?”

“That your parents may be right about us.”

Wide-eyed, she clutched his arm. “You don’t mean that?”

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