“Of course you’d want to pet it. Really, Evan, what were you thinking?”
“I didn’t know he was a demon.” An ache jabbed at my heart when I recalled Oreo’s cute little face and the excited growls that signaled he wanted to play.
“And you were hurt on top of it,” Maddox roughly said.
“Briar fixed me up.” I gave my physician a grateful smile. He’d applied healing salves to my cuts and gave me an elixir for my knee, taking away the pain instantly.
Lake’s ears drooped. “I should’ve been watching you.”
“Don’t blame yourself, wolf,” Maddox said in a much softer tone. It surprised me. He normally would’ve jumped all over Lake for such a thing. “You saw that Evan was with Callum and assumed he’d be safe. You didn’t know he’d wander off on his own.” The last was spoken with a hard glare tossed my way.
I fidgeted in place. “Oops.”
“That’s all you have to say?” The tic in his jaw said unpleasant things were coming. “Oops?”
“Uh oh.” I envisioned myself being thrown into a dungeon. Or hogtied and thrown into bed. Maybe even placed in a super high tower like Rapunzel, barred from the outside world. Would I need to grow out my hair?
Maddox approached me at the window. A nervous ramble was seconds away. But then, he dropped to his knees in front of me and lowered his head.
“You have to be more careful.” He grabbed my hand. “If anything happened to you, sweetheart, I…”
My nerves fled, and warmth filled the gap they’d left. “Look at me, big guy.”
Ocean blue eyes met mine. Long dark lashes surrounded them, the ends glistening. He often kept his emotions locked away, but they were leaking through the cracks as he stared at me. He’d always been protective, but knowing who I truly was had kicked that protectiveness up a few notches. Encountering a demon hadn’t helped any.
“Nothing will happen to me.” I touched my necklace. “I’m wearing this, remember?”
“You’re never allowed to take it off.” He kissed my palm. “The next time you meet a demon in the forest, leave it alone.”
“He was so cute and fluffy.”
“Cute and fluffy now but give him a year and you’ll think differently.” He stood from the floor and pulled me against hisbig body. “The beast now has your scent. He’ll be able to find you again.”
“Oreo won’t hurt me.”
“Naming the beast doesn’t change what he is. He’s not a pet, sweetheart. Demons know only one thing. To kill.”
Briar crossed an ankle over his knee, classy and sexy as hell. He’d unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirt and pushed up his sleeves, showing his pale forearms. “You also mentioned seeing red flowers?”
“Yeah. They had long leaves and glowed.”
“Hmm.” He rose from the couch and neared one of the bookcases, scanning the spines before finding the one he wanted. One of his plant books. He flipped through it and stopped at a page in the middle, walking over to show me. “Like this?”
I studied the illustration. “Not quite. The one I saw had a long stem and thin leaves jutting from the top.”
Briar adjusted his glasses before plucking another book from the shelf. A man on a mission.
“You and your plants,” Maddox said with a half-smile. “Can’t rest until you find it, can you?”
“It could be important.” Briar shot him a look before returning his attention to the page. “The glow could have various meanings. Some flowers bloom in total darkness and use luminescence to attract prey.”
“Wait.” I rested a hand on the back of Lake’s chair. “Are you telling me it could’ve been a man-eating flower?”
“A carnivorous one, yes.”
“Oh fun. I bet Herbert and Holly are besties with that flower. They’re one big and monstrous flesh-eating family.”
“Holly?” Lake asked, head tilting.
