Page 117 of Demon's Heart
“How did you find me at the casino?” Ollie could see how she’d used the shearwaters to find him at work, but that didn’t help her find him tonight.
Pamala’s gaze flicked to Dante, and she hesitated for the briefest moment. “I want you to know I have nothing to hide.” She waited for Dante to nod. “I followed Ollie home from work and waited to see if you’d visit him. I cast a spell above the building to check for invisibility illusions. I couldn’t see you, but the spell detected your presence, and I followed the magic here.” She straightened her shoulders. “I suppose you’re going to send me back now?”
“No.” Dante ran a hand roughly over his horns. “We never wanted to trap anyone. I sent Maxwell and Lillian back for killing my birds, but with the knowledge they could return. We were going to free everyone once Lucifer was subdued, but Lucifer beat us to it. You can go find your friends. They’re somewhere in the Human Realm already. So is everyone else. Even if I wanted to send you back, the gateway is open.”
“So I can go?” Pamala didn’t sound like she believed her luck.
Dante’s eyes glowed a frightening black. “Yes, if you agree to never conspire against me, Ash, or Onyx, and if I ever see you near my mate or Ash’s, you’ll wish you’d never met me.”
“You’ll never see me again,” she said hastily, putting up her hands. “I only wanted Lillian and Maxwell back. It seemed you were on Lucifer’s side, content to imprison us. But you’re not? And you’re saying youbothhave mates? How? Were you really going to release us all?”
Dante pushed past her and wrapped Ollie in a tight embrace. “I don’t have the time or the desire to explain. We have to attend to Onyx.”
To Ollie’s surprise, Pamala nodded in understanding. Ollie expected her to make a quick exit, but she remained still as everyone turned away.
“Make sure no one comes down here,” Nico said to her, almost as an afterthought.
Pamala agreed and went to guard the front of the alley.
Nico’s attention settled on Onyx, concern cutting creases around his eyes. “What happened to him?”
“A curse.” Ash laid Onyx on the pavement. “Between Dante and I, we should be able to counter it.”
“I can help,” Pamala called.
Ollie frowned at her. “Is she seriously going to act like she didn’t try to kidnap me?”
“I think she’s trying to prove she’d never have kidnapped you if she knew you were my mate,” Dante said, simmering anger traveling through the bond despite his outward calm.
Ollie’s head spun and he leaned hard against Dante, desperate to ask what the hell had happened, but not while Onyx was lying there so helpless.
Dante and Ash bowed their heads over Onyx. After a longmoment, the blue-haired demon began to glow with a mix of orange and black magic. Dante and Ash murmured in low tones, words unrecognizable. The longer it took, the more tense Ollie became.
With a sudden gasp, Onyx’s eyes popped open. His gaze darted around, catching on each of them.
“Ugh. Too many live witches to be in Hell,” he muttered dazedly. Then, like he’d remembered himself, he snapped, “Move! You’re crowding me. Get out of my way.” Onyx leaped from the ground and cracked his neck. “What did I miss?”
He swayed like he was drunk, and Nico caught his arm. “Careful.”
“Hands off.” Onyx pulled his arm away. “I don’t needyourhelp. Where the fuck is my miserable brother? What did he do to me?”
Dante clasped Onyx on the shoulder, steadying him, and explained how Lucifer had escaped in the rush as all the other demons flooded into the Human Realm.
Ollie’s heart pounded. There were hundreds of demons on Earth. Lucifer was here.
Nico looked as pale as Ollie felt, his gaze locked on Onyx in a strange mix of emotion. “It’s going to be chaos,” Nico muttered, maybe not to Onyx, but it was hard to tell from the way he was staring.
“Not necessarily,” Pamala butted in. She’d inched closer without anyone noticing. “Many will want to blend in—as we once did—and live their lives. Most of us never caused any problems in the first place and were imprisoned anyway. We aren’t going to squander freedom.”
“I don’t know,” Ash rumbled, sounding skeptical. “It only takes a few demons to cause chaos in the magic community.”
Speaking of the magic community, Ollie noticed the ground behind Pamala was clear. “Where’d the vampires go?”
“I woke them and sent them on their way, memories wiped. Figured being attacked wasn’t the best way to reveal demons were back.”
“No, I’d much rather be able to discuss this with Rowan.” Nico looked questioningly at Dante. “If that works for you? Because we can’t keep him in the dark now. Not completely.”
“Can you hold that thought for tonight?” Dante asked, sounding exhausted.
