Page 18 of My Demon Assistant

Kat made a face, then sighed. "It was a bit of an impulsive decision."

"I'll say. That's a big dog. What's their name?"

"Hella," Kat said with a smile, and I grinned back before remembering my earlier question.

Before I could get an answer though, the front door opened with a bang. Kat and I both glanced up, then shot to our feet.

Fressia was there, the front of her shirt covered in blood and a man slumped against her side. A man with very familiar blond hair and...no. It couldn't be.

"Fres! What happened? Are you okay? Is he?" Kat demanded as she hurried closer, while I just stood there and stared. Because that was Eshim in Fressia's arms.MyEshim. Bloody, and hurt, andwhat was he doing with Fressia?How did they even know each other?

"Get my phone. Back pocket. Call Reece. Tell him to get here right now," Fressia said, and Kat did as she'd asked as Fressia walked over to the couch.

I jumped out of the way as she carefully deposited an unconscious Eshim on the couch, and finally found my voice. "What the fuck happened?"

Fressia's head jerked up, eyes widening when she saw me. Had she forgotten I was here?

"Fuck," she said under her breath, before straightening up. She grabbed my shoulders and met my eyes, hers appearing more yellow than usual. "Listen to me, Jerry. There are things you don't know about us, about Eshim. He wanted to be the one to tell you, but there's no time. He'll tell you the details later, but all that matters right now is that he's hurt and he needs help. Are you going to be okay?"

I didn't have time to be surprised by the fact that she'd called me Jerry because of everything else she said, and I found myself nodding as my eyes slid to Eshim. Fuck, there was so much blood. "He needs a doctor. He needs the hospital."

"Where is he?" a new voice said before Fressia could reply, and I glanced up as an auburn-haired, dark-eyed man hurried closer to the couch, ignoring everyone as he went on his knees and placed his palm on Eshim's chest.

What the fuck...

I made to step closer, but Fressia's hold on my shoulder tightened.

My eyes roamed over Eshim's form, and his injuries...they made no sense. It looked like a wild animal had torn him apart, scratches littering his chest, his arms, his thighs. How could he have possibly come across a wild animal in the middle of the city? None of this made sense.

Something else that didn't make sense was what this newcomer was doing. He'd stopped touching Eshim now, and was instead digging into his pockets. He pulled out a vial that had something bright white and glowing inside, and he uncorked it before pouring the contents into Eshim's mouth and forcing him to swallow.

Then his hand returned to Eshim's chest, and I watched in disbelief as the bleeding scratches disappeared one by one. What. The. Fuck.

Was I dreaming? I had to be dreaming, right? This couldn't possibly be real.

"Snap out of it. Eshim needs you," Fressia said, and I frowned.

Me? Why would Eshim needme? I was just his boss, nothing more.

"Could someone please explain what the hell is going on? Why is Eshim hurt? How did you heal him like that? Who even are you?"

The healer glanced up at me with wide eyes, then slowly got to his feet. His gaze flickered to Fressia, and they had a silent conversation before the guy sighed and held a hand out. Then he seemed to notice it was covered in blood, and pulled it back.

"I'm Reece, and I know you have a lot of questions, but I think it would be best if Eshim answers them." Before I could say anything, he glanced at Fressia again. "You should call Calux as well. Tell him what happened and then ask them to come over for a bit. Then you need to come with us. They're probably already gone but it won't hurt to check again."

"I'll call Lux," Kat said, and Fressia leaned over to kiss her before murmuring something into her ear.

Archer and Lux were involved in this too? Had he and Kat known whatever this was already? And why had they kept it hidden from me?

I settled on the edge of the couch, near Eshim's feet, as Reece and Fressia left the house.

Some time passed, and then Lux, Archer, and Gunner were there. Lux and Kat chatted softly, Gunner happily hanging out in Lux's arms, as Archer walked over to me.

"Hey, you okay?"

"I'm confused. No one will tell me anything, and Eshim looks like he went two rounds with a fucking grizzly, and all of you seem to be in on whatever this is, and I just..." I trailed off with a shrug, unable to explain what I was feeling.

I was confused, no doubt about that. But I was also...hurt. Because Kat and Archer clearly already knew Eshim, but they'd never said anything. There were far too many things that didn't make sense right now, but I couldn't get over the fact that my best friends, the people I cared about more than anything in the world, had been hiding something this big from me.

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