Page 128 of Demon's Bane

Marli to Seren. Seren to Belinda. Belinda to Veronica and Nadine.

And from that first phone call, it barely takes half an hour for me to be surrounded by my friends. We close the shop early and Marli makes the tea this time, serving up a blend so rich with delicious spice I tell her it’s going on the menu as soon as we get enough of the ingredients to stock it.

A raid to the bakery case follows. Though none of what we pull out and spread across the table to share with each other is anywhere near as fresh as it would have been this morning, it tastes like a feast.

“So,” Marli says after she’s taken a big bite of pumpkin muffin and a long swallow of tea. “Is there anything you’d like to tell us?”

She looks back and forth expectantly between Seren and I, and a guilty flush climbs my neck.

I owe them this.

No more secrets, no more keeping this from them. No more protecting the coven and its screw-ups, or hiding that I wasdrawn back into their drama. Even if my friends are going to judge me for it, I owe them this.

“There’s been… some stuff happening. With the coven.”

It comes out in stops and starts, with interjections from Seren and gasped surprise when we get to the part about David and my trip into the demon realm. By the time I’m finished, nobody is eating or drinking anymore. I shift in my chair, a little uncomfortable at having all that attention squarely on me.

“And you’re here?” Belinda asks, eyes wide. “Not back in the demon realm with Rhett?”

“I… have a life here,” I say, trying and failing to summon the resolve I felt earlier.

It’s pretty damn hard to find it when I swear I can still feel him like a palpable ache in the center of my chest, one that won’t ease up no matter how much I rub my hand over it.

“It might not be like it was with Allie,” Seren says. “Not with everything that’s happening with the Veil, with how it’s already changing and letting more witches and demons through.”

We all fall silent for a few moments. The enormity of that kind of shift between realms feels coven-shaking, world-tilting.

“So he’s coming here?” Veronica asks, voice bright with hope.

“I don’t know,” I say, and that ache in my chest kicks up again. “He might, but he’s also got a lot going on back in his realm that…”

I trail off, realizing none of my friends are looking at me anymore. They’ve all got their eyes fixed on something behind me, out the front windows of the shop.

“Who’s gonna tell her?” Nadine stage-whispers.

“Tell me wh—”

I spin around just in time to see the front door swing open and a glamoured, very pained-looking demon stride into the room.

I stand from my seat and take a step toward him. Rhett doesn’t break his stride for even a heartbeat as he reaches me, scoops me up into an embrace, and walks me backward until I’m perched on the shop’s front counter with his body tucked in between my thighs.

“Hi,” I breathe.

He murmurs something I don’t quite catch, and when he inhales, I hear the effort of it. The tightness of his chest, the shakiness of his breath, the strain of his taut muscles where I have my hands resting on his biceps.

I stroke a hand through his hair—his short, human-glamoured hair. “You’re not quite…youright now. It’s tripping me out a little.”

He nods, then reaches down to take off the ring and sets it on the counter. A few startled gasps break from our audience as his form shifts. His crimson eyes blaze, his wings flare behind him, and someone in the group mutters something that sounds a whole lot likeholy fuck.

I glance over Rhett’s shoulder, tossing them an apologetic look. “Uh, sorry, everyone. This is Rhett. Rhett, this is everyone.”

He turns, too, like he’s just realizing my friends are there. He tries for a smile, but there’s too much tension in his eyes, too much restless energy still radiating from him, and I realize more formal introductions can probably wait until later.

“We’re just gonna…” I say, shimmying a little until Rhett gives me enough space to hop off the counter, then pointing an awkward thumb toward the back stairs.

“Get it, girl,” Seren says wolfishly.

With a few startled laughs from the rest of the witches, I grab Rhett’s hand and lead him through the door, down the hall, and into the back vestibule. Before I can start up the stairs, though, he swings me into his arms and buries his face in my neck.

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