Page 64 of The Devil's Trials

Her lips part as her heart skips a beat, then races. There’s a moment of heavy contemplation etched in her features and then she says, “I could.”

My eyes narrow a fraction. She likely doesn’t notice, but I feel the tension in my temples. The next words spring from my lips before I can snap my mouth shut. “Do you love me?”

A muscle feathers along her jaw, and she swallows hard. “Love shouldn’t feel like this, Xander. I…I can’tbreathearound you. You’re all I think about, all I dream about—even when you’re not actually there.I still want you, still feel drawn to you. I don’t know if that will ever go away, but…when I think of what kind of relationship we could have—our future—I can’t see anything. It’s just darkness. And that terrifies me.” With that, she walks out of the room, leaving me staring after her.

Her words light a fire in my gut, and I ache to go after her. To take her in my arms and claim her in every way possible, damn the consequences.

But that’s not the reality we exist in.

Camille is training to hunt demons, and I’m going through trials to ascend the throne as their king.

We’ll never be the safe option for each other.

As I leave Camille’s apartment, I wonder if the celestials who created our soulmate bond saw this coming.

I’m not ready to return to Seattle, so I check into a tiny B&B on the Upper West Side, much to Blake’s dismay. I understand my second trial could come any day and the royal guard can find me wherever I go, which also makes staying with Camille any longer reckless. I’ve taken a big enough risk coming here as it is. I need to get my head in check and focus my energy on ascending the throne.

“I’m going out for drinks with Stephen and Will,” Blake says once we’re in our suite. “Do you want to come with me?”

I shake my head and drop my duffel bag onto the bench at the end of the bed. “Enjoy yourself. I’m going to shower and call it a night.”

“How exciting.” He digs through his own bag and pulls out a fresh collared shirt and quickly changes into it. “You should give room service a call. Maybe they’l send up a cute delivery person for you to snack on.”

I roll my eyes despite the intrigue that stirs in me. After spending time with Camille and healing her, I should feed. Making a mental note to take care of that before we leave New York, I tell Blake, “Try not to stumble in here at three in the morning and wake me up by tripping over your shit.”

He shoots me an unimpressed look on his way to the door. “Two times that’s happened, and you’ll never let me forget it.”

I chuckle as he leaves, the door clicking shut behind him.

After a shower, I turn on the TV and lie down to decompress. The relief I felt seeing Camille recovering from her illness has done nothing to stifle my nerves surrounding the trials. My time with her was a fleeting distraction, even as tainted as it became by Noah’s presence.

Exhaling a slow breath, I close my eyes and tune out the soft audio from the TV. I could give Harper a call and update her on her best friend—not that I doubt she’s keeping close tabs on it from Seattle herself—but I find myself wanting to test my abilities, especially after healing Camille. I was able to reach Camille in a dreamscape from Seattle, but maybe our unique connection made it possible.

Only one way to find out…

I visualize Harper’s apartment while letting my muscles relax, focusing on the beat of my heart as it pumps blood through my body. Blood I share with my half-sister, and how I was able to track her the other night in the park.

Without warning, the room spins behind my eyelids. I grab for the blankets on either side of me, but the sensation is gone as quickly as it came over me. And then I’m falling. Gritting my teeth, I prepare for an impact that never comes. The loss of gravity vanishes, leaving me standing upright in the middle of…Blake’s bar. The scene isn’t quite accurate—the shelves behind the bar are empty and the walls are bare and dark. Evidently I don’t have the strength to build this dreamscape with as much detail as the actual establishment.

“Harper?” I call out, frowning as I glance around at the tables with their chairs stacked on top. Crossing the quiet bar, my eyes narrow as I catch movement in my peripheral and turn to find Harper throwing a dart at the board near the back of the room.

She glances at me over her shoulder, scowling. Her disappointment in seeing me is plain as day on her face, but I walk over to her anyway.

“I wasn’t expecting to find you at Blake’s bar.” I lean against a wooden pillar, folding my arms over my chest as I regard her curiously. “Have you actually been here before?”

Harper turns away from me and throws another dart, hitting the second ring from the bullseye. “What areyoudoing here?” she asks without answering my question.Interesting.

“Testing a theory,” I offer.

She throws her last dart, sighing when it doesn’t land where she wants. Facing me, she says, “Drop the mysterious shit. Why are you in my dream?”

“I came to New York to make sure Camille was okay. Just so you know, she’s doing better.”

Harper steps closer, matching my crossed-arm stance and shooting me a bland look. “You’re an idiot.”

I chuckle. “I won’t argue with you there.”

She stares at me, suspicion darkening her gaze. Her eyes search my face as if she’s trying to figure something out. Finally, she says, “You need to let her go, Xander.”

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