Page 154 of Legacy of Temptation

“I’m ready.”

“Close the doors.” Thanatos skimmed his finger across the crescent scar on his neck, and his armor folded onto his body like a Transformer. Armored for battle, he crushed the little marble in his gauntleted fist.

Screeching at its newfound freedom, the demon’s inky spirit bounced around the room, seeking an exit or a new victim, Logan didn’t know.

He used his gift to draw it close and keep it from escaping as his father released half a dozen souls from his armor. They shot out and wrapped around the nightmare spirit, circling it over and over until they overwhelmed it and dragged it, screaming and wailing, into the armor.

And there it would reside until Thanatos released it to kill and earn its freedom—something he promised he wouldn’t do as long as Eva lived.

“It’s done,” Thanatos said, and Regan hugged Eva again.

“Congratulations. So, what are you going to do with your life now? I’m sure DART could use you if you need a job.”

“Kynan already offered me one,” Eva said, and while Logan hadn’t known about it, he wasn’t surprised.

“He did? When?”

“Just before he and Gem left.”

“What did you say?”

“I said I’d think about it.” She shrugged. “I want to spend some time figuring out what I’m really meant to do. I had that demon attached to me for so long, bringing me false luck, that I don’t know what accomplishments are mine and which belong to it. I kind of want to make some new choices now that I’m in charge of my life and not relying on it for good fortune.”

“Well,” Regan said, “whatever you decide, if you need help, we’re all here for you.”

A sense of what Logan could only call destiny, fate, hell, orfortune, filled him as they said their goodbyes. Cujo even allowed Eva to pet him for a moment. Afterward, he sent Logan a mental picture of his old stuffed lion, something the beast had always associated with Logan and translated toaffection.

Cujo had accepted Eva into his life, and unlike most of Logan’s other plushie toys, he wouldn’t unstuff her. Logan wouldn’t tell Eva how Cujo had conveyedthatpart of the communication.

They strolled out of the castle, enjoying the unseasonable warmth on the way to the Harrowgate. But before they stepped inside, Logan pulled Eva aside next to the courtyard wall. He’d always liked this spot, sheltered from the prevailing winds but with a view of the distant mountains and low hills.

“I haven’t thanked you for saving me yet.”

She rolled her eyes. “You and your father are exaggerating my part in the battle with Draven.”

“I wasn’t talking about that. It’s more about my quality of life.” He took her hand and pressed a kiss into her warm palm. “Without you, losing Draven would have been even more devastating.” It was still an ache that would be with him for the rest of his life, but with Eva…at least hehada life. “And you got me out of a pit I’d been living in for years.”

Maja and Chaos had been in that pit with him, ghosts he’d allowed to haunt him. Maja’s ghost had been banished, and while he still had to work out his feelings about Chaos and Stryke, at least he had Eva by his side.

She smiled up at him, as much an angel as anyone else in the family. “You freed me frommylife, Logan. You freed me in so many ways.”

“Life with me…with my family…it won’t be easy. We have demons after us and apocalypses to train for—”

She silenced him with a look that said he was a dumbass for trying to dissuade her.

“Whatever happens, we do it together,” she said. “Family isn’t always easy. I’m still not sure how to deal with what my parents did to me with that stupid demon. You’re still trying to sort out your feelings about your parents’ pasts. It’s messy. Life is messy.” She shook her head. “A lot messier than I ever would have thought. Everything came to me so easily before.”

“You still come easily.”

At first, she didn’t get his crude joke. Which wasn’t a joke. She was responsive as hell, and now that he was thinking abouthowresponsive, how she reacted to his touch, whether his finger or his tongue, he wanted to get her home.

He saw the moment she got his meaning in that little wicked twitch of her lips and the flutter of her pulse at the base of her throat.

“So do you,” she said in a deep-throated purr. “Why don’t we go home and make it a contest?” She gripped his hips and tugged him to her. “And I’mverycompetitive.”

Mace and Crux had both mentioned something to that effect. Too bad for her, Logan had a competitive streak too.

But he’d let her win this round. Because no matter what, he’d win too.

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