Page 4 of Micah

That’s… weird. But I’m not going to ask. “Okay. Great. Then did anyone tell you exactly where we’re going and what you’ll be doing?” If he thinks he can walk along a signposted path from the cave to the village, he’s about to get a serious shock.

“I’m solving the puzzle,” he says promptly. “The stunning puzzle door in the cave. Which is in Switzerland.” His expression turns worried. “Don’t you know where we’re going?”

“I do,” I assure him. “I think maybe you don’t, though. What do you know about the village?”

“It’s in the Swiss Alps, and the puzzle is there.”

I’m sensing a theme here. Cam’s focus is the puzzle, and hey, I can’t blame him—it really isawesome. But I’m pretty sure Alistair or whoever else talked to him would have explained how cut off Hortplatz is during the winter, and it seems like he’s so fixated on the puzzle that he just… didn’t hear them.

I sigh. The middle of the sidewalk in a dodgy neighborhood isn’t the place for me to explain everything, but I can’t take him to the village or the cave without him knowing what he’s in for. “Camden, I need you to listen to me.” He winces slightly. Maybe because I used his full name after he told me not to, but I need his full attention right now. “Are you listening?”

“I’m not fucking five, you know,” he retorts. “Of course I’m listening.”

Taken slightly aback, I study him. I’ve been too preoccupied to reallyseehim before now—first by the guy who might have been planning to rob him, then by Cam’s apparent indifference to that, and after that it was just a blur of keys and bags and weird conversation. But now, I take him in properly.

And I like what I see. A lot.

He’s shorter than me, but that’s not uncommon—most demons are tall. I’d say he’s probably about five eight? And he’s lean. His hair is a tousled mess of dark blond curls, and his brown eyes seem to take up half his face. The other half is dominated by his puffy lips.

Those lips are right now sneering at me, and I don’t hate it. He might be absentminded, but once he’s paying attention, the attitude’s there. I like feisty men, and he’s got a lot for me to like.

Testing the waters, I smile slowly. My “wanna get hot and sweaty” smile. It took me a long time to perfect it, since it has to be visible to all species and make them want to tear my clothes off.

His mouth falls open and his eyes glaze over. “Hiiii.”

It’s never been that effective before. I clear my throat, a little uncomfortable… and turned on. It’s too easy to imagine that mouth open for my cock. “So… Cam. It’s not possible to walk from the cave to the village right now.”

His expression clears a little, and he frowns. “It’s not? Why?”

Okay, he seems to be hearing what I’m saying. That’s a good sign.

“Because the village is high up in the Alps, and it snows a lot. The cave is even higher up, over an hour’s walk on a clear day. There’s a lot of snow right now, and while technically youmightbe able to walk it if the weather was good”—after all, my five-year-old brother did. That’s how we found the cave—“it wouldn’t be easy or safe.”

His lip begins to tremble. “But… I need to get to the cave. I need to see the pretty.”

I nod. “Yes, you do. That’s why I’m here. My job is to take you to and from the cave every day and stay with you to help if you need it.”

Cam shakes his head, already happier now that I’ve told him he can get to the cave. “I won’t need help. I’m sure you have other things to do.”

I do. I have six months’ worth of client projects scheduled, and the village council has been making noises about needing to expand if we want to attract other species to live in Hortplatz. As the architect who designed the current village, I’m the one they’re looking at now. Sitting in a cold cave with no Wi-Fi is not conducive to getting all that work done. But there’s no way I’d leave someone up there with no safe way to get back to the village and no way to contact anyone.

“The puzzle is my priority right now, and that means staying with you.”

He frowns. “I could just call you when I need you to pick me up.”

“There’s no cell service in the cave.”

Horror crosses his face. “Is there service in the village? And internet access? I need the internet!”

“The village has excellent coverage and internet,” I assure him. We paid an arm and a leg for boosters or something that would give it to us. I don’t know exactly how it works, only that Asher, who looks after the village’s finances, bitched hard about the cost. It’s worth it, though, otherwise we’d be even more cut off from the world.

He takes a deep, quivering breath, and it’s so adorable I find myself leaning toward him.

CHAPTERTHREE

Cam

He leans in,his handsome face intent, and I frantically check to make sure I’m not accidentally enthralling him. My control is good, but that happened to me once when I was younger, and I never want to do it again. Enthralling someone without their consent is gross.

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