Page 20 of Mated to the Human: Volume One

Derek’s lips pulled up, this face making even a smile look malicious, and wrapped Hollis in his arms.

“Hold on,” Derek said.

Hollis wrapped his arms and legs around Derek and squeezed his eyes shut. Derek jumped, wings snapping open, and they were airborne.

“Holy crap,” Hollis whispered, wind whipping over them as he held on tight. Derek’s arms were solid bands around him. He buried his face against the skin of Derek’s throat and breathed. He smelled the same.

A few minutes later, Derek’s feet hit solid ground. Hollis looked around. They were on a rooftop.

Derek set him on his feet and backed up several steps. Hollis almost followed him, until the air around Derek started to shimmer. Derek dropped to one knee and groaned. The demon shape of him melted away, falling from him in globs that sizzled and popped on the concrete until the human form of Derek was left kneeling naked in a ring of smoking ash.

“Derek,” Hollis said, moving forward when Derek stayed unmoving.

“Give me a moment, Hollis,” Derek said, voice hoarse.

Hollis swallowed hard, worry clogging his throat. Finally, Derek grunted and lifted himself to standing. He walked to Hollis, taking his face in his hands.

“Are you okay?”

“Am I okay?” Hollis said, eyes burning. “Are you? You said you couldn’t shift here!”

Leaning forward, Derek rested his forehead against Hollis’s. “No, I said it took a lot of energy. Are you hurt?”

There was a splotch of blood on Derek’s forehead. Hollis tried to wipe it away with his thumb. “No, I’m okay. Just bleeding a little.”

“Come on,” Derek said, turning him toward a door.

“Where are we?”

“The clubhouse.”

When they reached the door, Derek punched in a code and the lock clicked open. He listed to the side when he reached for the handle, and Hollis scooted under his arm, helping to prop him up.

“Thanks, sweetheart. I’ll be fine in a bit.”

“Ok. Come on, let’s get you home.”

They made their way down the stairs from the roof’s access door. There was another numeric pad beside the door to enter the floor. Hollis kept one arm snug around Derek’s waist and punched in his code. The door buzzed, letting them in. Thankfully, their apartment door was just down the hall.

As they were going through the door, Hollis’s phone started to buzz in his pocket. Ignoring it, Hollis helped Derek down the hall to the bedroom. His phone stopped as soon as Derek’s back hit the bed, only to start up again immediately.

“Okay, okay! Hold on,” Hollis said, yanking the phone out of his pocket. Knox’s name was on the screen. He answered and put it on speaker.

“Hollis! Are you okay? Where are you?” Knox’s frantic voice filled the room.

“Hey! We’re okay—”

“Knox,” Derek said, trying to sit up. “Did that bastard leave the building?”

A big whoosh of air sounded, like Knox had breathed a sigh of relief. “Bossman, you cannot do that shit to me.”

“Did he leave?”

“No, him and the sons never moved. We had eyes on them the whole time.”

Derek sighed, falling back on the bed.

“Did you shift?” Knox asked, voice lower than it had been a minute ago.

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