Page 143 of Love & Heart Braking

Checking the computers were off, I grabbed the subpoena and tucked it into the depths of my tote, then picked up the groceries as my hire carriage arrived.

The ride home had never taken longer.

I let myself into the building, then strode to my apartment. Please be there.

Finding the key, I pushed open the door.

Lights off. Silence.

He wasn’t here.

Panic clawed up my throat, and I stared into my dark apartment at an utter loss of what to do. The beeper. I had to use the beeper.

“Sweetheart?”

Gasping, I dropped the shopping bags. Food scattered everywhere, but I didn’t care. I sprinted down the hall to Devereaux, who looked ready to murder an army. I flung myself into his arms—the curse could go screw itself. Looping my arms around his neck, I pressed my face against his chest, and promptly burst into tears.

He rushed me into the apartment. “What happened? Is it Soleil? Tell me.” He had a slight whine—like that of a werewolf—to his voice.

I shook my head, sniffing hard. “I couldn’t contact you all day. I thought something had happened to you.” My entire body trembled with the whiplash of panic and utter relief. I clutched at his upper arms.

“You’re terrified,” he said slowly. “I was scouring the Opifis’ factories all day. I didn’t go to the station at all. You called?”

I nodded. “The thought of something happening just got the better of me. I think with everything…”

He pulled me into his arms and rested his cheek on my head. We ignored the clunk of a falling ornament. “I won’t do that again. I’ll make sure to leave tabs with you or the station.”

“I’d appreciate that. A lot. Just until this is done.”

Just until this is done. Yet what if this was our life now? Until we were killed or “taken care of.” What if every day Devereaux made it home was a bonus instead of a given?

He held me until my trembling stopped.

Then some more.

When the leg on the coffee table snapped in half, we separated.

“Is that food for the sniff test?” he asked, gesturing out the open entrance to the food scattered through the hall.

We collected everything up, and Devereaux put the coffee table to rights with some duct tape from the storage cupboard. I set the food out on it after. “I got the stuff from the back of the shelves. It seemed newest.”

He closed the door. “Okay, let’s do this. We can call Gug and Maligni after.”

A knock sounded at the door.

“Are we expecting anyone?” Devereaux asked.

We. I smiled, then my eyes widened. “Shoot. Rodney and Maligni are coming here tonight. Rodney just woke up.”

I’d clean forgotten.

I peeked through the hole and swung open the door to admit the daemon.

Maligni pulled off the fedora I’d seen Gug wear once before to reveal his horns. He shrugged out of a long coat about four sizes too large. “I borrowed this,” he said to Devereaux. “I hope you don’t mind?”

“Not at all. Join us. We’re about to test the food.”

“Gug and I wondered if you’d had a chance to do so.” The daemon took the armchair, and I sat on the last seat on the couch.

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