Page 38 of Demon Huntress
“I get that,” Cass said. “But if he doesn’t loosen that stranglehold he’s got on her, he will definitely lose her.”
“Yeah,” Flash shrugged. “I know. I thought he’d ease off a bit as she got older, but it seems to have gotten worse.”
“I’d like to meet her,” Cass said.
“You might have,” Flash answered. “She’s undercover on the site at Phar-Scape.”
“Oh, right,” Cass nodded. “I doubt it, though. Trust me, Slade doesn’t want me chatting with his sister. We are going to come down on the same side. And I mean against him.”
“I don’t think he could take that,” Flash said seriously. “I know he wants to protect you just as much. He’ll be setting up gilded cages next.”
Slade checked his phone again, then cursed and threw it back into his pocket. Her heart went out to him, but he was doing this to himself.
“Surely he can see that he’s driving himself crazy,” Cass said. “Jenny is a grown woman. She’s going to make her own decisions whether he likes it or not. By not supporting her, he’s actually making everything worse.”
“Yeah, and Jenny’s not happy about it.”
“That’s not what I mean,” Cass said with a little laugh. “I mean, he’s destroying his mental health for no good reason, for something he can’t change.”
“I’ve never thought of it that way,” Flash said. “But I guess you’re right.”
“You don’t have to guess,” Cass said firmly. “He’s got to work on this, just like you have to work on your anger.”
“Excuse me?” Flash asked.
“You heard me,” Cass said gently. “Your anger makes you impulsive. More than that, I know you regret your outbursts. Both of you have issues.”
“I have every right to my issues,” Flash growled. “I got fucked over.”
“So, you take it out on anyone whenever you feel like it?”
“No, I don’t. Why are we even talking about this?”
“When you could be talking about me,” Slade snapped from behind them. Cassandra whipped around and saw Slade’s sullen expression.
“Slade! I didn’t realize you were there.”
“Obviously. I could see you were right in the middle of a psychological assessment.”
Cass frowned. “What, do you deny you need to work on your attachment issues or that Flash has an anger problem?”
“I’m not denying anything,” Slade said curtly. “Nor am I confirming anything. We should go.”
The two boys turned away from her and stalked toward the checkout register. She had no choice but to follow. She’d been hoping for a nice lunch with the guys, but now that she’d pissed them off, she wondered if they even wanted to talk to her.
She took her time following them, admiring their different characteristics and the way they seemed to scream charisma. She was drawn to them both so strongly she wondered if she would ever be able to walk away from them.
It doesn’t matter how strong the magnetism is. This relationship will never have legs.
She laughed softly at her own pun. It was funny, but it was true. These guys were emotionally unstable, and clearly, they had no desire to work on it.
This might just be a bit of fun for a short time. I’m not ready to stop, not yet.
That thought frightened her a little. The smart thing to do would be to jump out of it right now before she became more entangled with them. She already felt like she was in too deep.
I’m going to get hurt, really fucking hurt if I don’t look at this objectively. I’ve got a job to do, and I can’t be led astray by two lost boys, no matter how hot they are.
She followed them up to the counter, running lines of good sense through her head like a mantra. The trouble was that her heart and body weren’t listening, and there was nothing she could do about it.
