Page 52 of The Demon's Pet

“The dog, you mean?” Os said, mocking the way Sam said it. “Cleo now?”

Sam was quiet again. “I can call her what I want. She’s mine.”

I heard something like Os slapping his forehead and a long sigh.

“You can’t just own creatures,” Os said. “That poor girl was going to be executed for practically nothing. That’s the only reason I backed you up against Gabe.”

“Where is Gabe anyway?”

“He and Mor are still in the fae wilds,” Os said.

“Gabe loves it there.”

“Mor hates it,” Os said. “But Gabe needs a partner to keep him in line when I’m not there. They might join us later.”

Sam just let out a grunt.

“All right, where is this Griffin character?” Os asked. “You found him in cougar territory, I imagine? That was where you were headed when we split.”

“Yes,” Sam replied.

“Good enough,” Os said. “I like the cougars. Honorable. Unlike the wolves, they have a moral code that supersedes simply asking for whatever they want from the celestials.”

“They still reported him as an abomination. He’s not,” Sam said.

“Hm,” Os said. “Take me to him.”

I heard their footsteps echo past the cabin, toward the stream. I slowly pushed the door open and poked my head out.

I saw Sam walking next to Os, neither of them with their wings out, and let out a sigh of relief.

Os was the diplomat. He’d been nice every time I saw him. I felt better having both him and Griffin around.

I went back into the house to pull my tee shirt down and finger-comb my hair into a less-tangled mess. In my jeans and sneakers, I couldn’t have looked less like I was trying to impress.

Which was good because I wasn’t. Who on earth would try to impress that psychotic angel who only thought of me as a dog?

I hadn’t kept my self-respect after so many years of abuse to simply lose it falling for some rogue celestial.

He might have saved me, but he was still one of them. And he seemed as eager to use anyone around him to his advantage as any other celestial.

I heard voices rise, and I stepped out of the tiny door to walk into the cool afternoon air.

The warm sun shone down, heating my skin, even as a cool, humid breeze blew over me, refreshing my senses.

This was a beautiful place, and I had no idea why Sam hated stopping here. As I walked down toward the stream, I saw Griffin in his lion form, lying down with wings tucked.

Sam and Os were approaching him.

I jogged toward them, not wanting to be left out.

“Sleeping Beauty is awake,” Os said, looking over at me. His deep-brown skin glowed in the sun, his purple eyes so beautiful I could stare into them forever. There was kindness in his face as well.

“Hey, wake up,” Sam said, kicking Griffin in the side.

“Stop it!” Os said, immediately facing off with Sam.

“He’s hard to wake,” Sam argued as Griffin stirred and woke, making a catlike yawn that showed off his powerful fangs.

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