Page 48 of Demon's Bane

When I lay down in my bed, whole body tingling with all that magick, it also didn’t stop me from turning over, and then over again, squeezing my thighs together and finding absolutely no relief.

“Or I could go alone,” he says lightly. “It’s no problem for me to head back through the Veil and—”

“No,” I interrupt. “No. I’ll come with you.”

Rhett rumbles his satisfaction, and I clench my jaw to keep from continuing to argue the point. Like he can see that struggle written clearly on my face, he takes my chin in his hand and makes me look at him.

“You’ll be safe with me, Joan.”

Every so often, when I run my tongue over my lips, I almost imagine I can still taste him there. His scent of pine and leather and some lush, dark spice I can’t name, but somehow know would make the perfect cup of tea.

Unable to help myself, I suck my bottom lip into my mouth for a taste.

Rhett’s sharp, focused gaze tracks the movement. His eyes darken, the rumble in his chest turns into something less satisfied and morehungry, and another thrill of magick jolts all the way through me.

I’d be a filthy, filthy liar if I tried to convince myself this wholematesthing isn’t the biggest reason I agreed to his plan.

How am I just supposed to let him leave after that bombshell?

How am I supposed to watch him go, feeling the way I feel? Turned upside down and inside out, grappling with a magick I can’t even begin to understand.

“Take my hand,” he says. “And I’ll portal us back to the Veil.”

My stomach flips again at the prospect of experiencing this kind of demon magick for the first time.

Rhett explained it to me during one of our late nights talking over tea in my apartment—the ability to step through the invisible currents of energy that flow through realms, something that witches might call ley lines. It’s easier for him back in his own realm, but there’s enough magick here for him to create us a portal.

Giving him my hand, I tense for the moment the world falls away.

In a rush of wind and darkness, Rhett pulls me after him through the portal he opened. It only takes a couple of seconds, but I stumble out on the other side with my head spinning and my stomach churning.

“Easy,” Rhett murmurs, catching me around the waist before I go sprawling into the grass.

He tugs me to him, and I glance down just in time to see him reach his other hand around me and pull the ring off.

The change is instantaneous.

One moment, I’m pressed against a perfectly average human chest. The next, I’ve got two strong demon arms around me, a wall of muscle at my back, and two enormous black wings curling forward to brush my shoulders.

“Are you alright?”

Goddess, that voice. A low, deep rumble in his chest. Graveled tenderness as he releases his hold and strokes his hands up and down my arms.

“Fine,” I manage, clearing my throat and stepping away from him.

We’re back in the meadow just at the edge of the coven’s wood. I scan the area, but other than the expected hum of the wards, I don’t see or feel anything else out of the ordinary.

“Come on,” I say, gesturing toward the path leading to the Veil. “The less time we spend here, the better.”

I don’t want to be paranoid, but I also don’t want to stick around long enough to see what kind of warning the High Priestess gets when her wards are unexpectedly tripped.

It’s my turn to take his hand this time, pulling him after me. I’m not sure how all the wards might affect him, but I don’t want to waste any time chasing after him if he somehow gets caught and turned around by a confounding charm.

Rhett and I make our way quickly down the path through the woods, though it turns out demon wings aren’t the best for navigating through dense underbrush. I bite back a laugh as Rhett exits the forest into the clearing, grumbling and brushing leaves and twigs from his wings.

When he spots me laughing, he uses the hold I have on his hand to tug me closer. “Amused, witch?”

“Yes,” I tell him, and almost think he’s going to wrap an arm around my back like he did last night, pull me to him, and kiss me, but he stops just short.

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