Page 54 of How to Flirt with a Hellhound
And yeah, probably that was a delayed reaction, but I wrote paranormal romance and mystery. I’d grown up reading about magic and shifters and vampires. So my boyfriend set the bed on fire—literally. He was still the same, sweet Dex who was going toprotect me, and suddenly all these things had started falling into place, and I almost felt vindicated. Like I wanted to call up Josh and be like, “Ha! Itisn’tjust my overactive imagination!”
So I figured he was a shifter of some type, only werewolf had gotten a disgruntled snort (I didn’t know what they had against werewolves, but they obviously weren’t of that magical persuasion). Dragon had seemed like a good guess. I was still kind of betting on that.
But now they’d totally thrown me for a loop with the serial killer thing, because they all looked guilty as hell. If they were dragons…
“Do you eat people? Like, virgin sacrifices? I amnota virgin sacrifice,” I declared.
“Oh, we heard,” Jude muttered, and that had Dex reaching over and smacking him upside the head.
“Hey!” Jude yelled, rubbing his head.
“Don’t talk about my Toby!” Dex growled.
“He thinks we eat people now!” Jude argued back.
“Children, can you both shut the fuck up?” Corbin sighed from against the wall, then he walked over and joined us at the table, muttering, “Why the fuck am I the most level-headed one? I was just coming to see the show.”
I was not a “show,” but then I figured from Corbin’s disappointed sigh aimed at Dex and Jude that he probably meant them. At the moment, he did seem to be the most level headed one. Jude and Dex were busy glaring at each other, and I thought they werebothgrowling now, although it was really quiet.
Corbin’s eyes were… also glowing. Ok then.
“Not werewolves. Not dragons, either?” I asked him.
He shook his head no.
“You all kill people?” I asked, because I was still kind of stuck on that.
Dex grabbed my hand at that, pulling me toward him. “But we only kill very bad humans who are hellbound already. It’s like… a public service, you know?”
I looked over at Jude, who was nodding enthusiastically. “Yes, very bad people only. Like murderers and rapists and people who have done really bad shit.”
I looked back to Corbin, who was just staring at me, probably trying to gauge my reaction.
“What if I freaked out and told you I was going to call the cops. Would you kill me?” I asked Corbin.
Dex growled low in this throat, pulling me in toward him. “No one will ever hurt you, Toby.” His grip was tight but not painful, and he was glaring at Jude and Corbin, like they had just threatened me when I was the one who had asked.
“Nah, we don’t kill innocents,” Jude declared.
“How do you know?” I asked, snuggling up into Dex’s side. He really was super warm and cozy. “I mean, how do you know if they’re innocent or not?”
“They stink of rotting souls,” Dex mumbled disgustedly, and Jude and Corbin just nodded.
Ok then.
And, yeah, I mean, I probablyshouldbe freaking out. My boyfriend and his… brothers? Or whatever they were, were clearly paranormal beings who killed people. But hey, only bad people! I had the urge to giggle a little hysterically and barely held it in.
Hellbound, they’d said. Fire. Glowing eyes. Another form. Corbin’s weird connection to crows and ravens…
“Demons!” I shouted.
Corbin made a snorting sound, and Dex mumbled, “Nah. They’re not evil or anything, but they’re supposed to be based in the underworld. Not that you’d know it from all the interlopers in Paradise Falls,” he added.
Ok then, not demons. Although they knew of demons, and some lived in town? But that was something to ponder later. If not demons… “Angels?” I asked.
Corbin snorted again, and this time Jude replied, saying, “We arenota bunch of uptight, snotty angels.”
“Not all angels are bad,” Dex added. “We got a couple here who are ok. The oracle’s mate isn’t bad.”
