Hold Tight

attack me, and I’ll roast you alive.” Caden cupped my chin in his hand, tilting my head up as he examined my eyes. “You’re jonesing.” He placed a hand on Isaac’s chest in a way that reiterated Stand still, and then leaned forward and breathed in. After a few seconds, Caden stepped back, removing his hand from Isaac as he did.

“You’re the one who invited that faerie into this world,” Caden accused.

“I did not!” I’d invited Brea as far as I was concerned. Reed had come along for the ride.

Caden’s dark eyes met mine. “Let me rephrase that. Did you summon Reed?”

“Yes,” I replied honestly. “But I didn’t know who I was summoning or that two of them would show up.”

“His sister’s also here? No wonder you reek of Fae.” He paced away from me as he continued to ramble. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice it the other day when we—” He massaged his temple.

I prayed he wouldn’t say “kissed.” Isaac gave me a sidelong glance, and I shrugged as if I had no idea what Caden was thinking. Caden continued to pace. Each time he turned around to walk back the other way, he glanced at us.

The last thing I needed was for Caden to provide Isaac with the missing pieces of my deal. I bumped Isaac’s shoulder with mine and jerked my head toward the Jeep. He nodded. We made it a few steps when fire erupted from the ground in front of us. Caden walked over casually. The fire subsided.

“Let me see if I guess correctly,” he said. “You weren’t aware you’d invited Reed into this world, but once you found out what he was, you bound your soul to Isaac to keep Reed from feeding on your aura.”

Since I took that as a direct question and had promised not to lie, I uttered a yes. Caden laughed and slapped his hand on his thigh. I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding, not sure if I should be thanking God or Satan that Caden hadn’t mentioned our kiss.

“Damn, I wish I could have seen Reed’s face when he found out.” Caden shook his head and smiled. “When I saw him stalking you at the party, I warned him not to mess with a witch.”

“You knew he was there?” I asked. “Thanks for the warning.”

“The fact you didn’t seem to know is why I never suspected you’d summoned him in the first place. But if I had told you about Reed and what he is before you’d discovered him yourself, he’d have told you what I am. We had a mutual agreement. He keeps my secret; I keep his.”

I shifted, ready to take a step forward and connect my knuckles with his cheekbone, but Isaac tightened his grip on my hand and sent a small amount of power through me, reminding me it had been my idea to play nice with the demon that held my contract.

“I don’t remember seeing Reed there,” I said instead.

“You felt his presence, though,” Caden replied. “Whatever he whispered in your ear gave you the chills. Don’t you remember? You’d just finished talking to me.”

The cold chill that had wormed its way up my jacket that night must have been Reed. And it wasn’t a far stretch to believe he’d been at the party, seeing as Natalie had disappeared that night. I wondered if Reed had been her secret admirer all along or if he’d first caught her scent that night. Either way, it was still my fault she was gone.

Caden looked at Isaac. “We had a nice chat that night, your girl and me. Did she tell you that?”

I glared at Caden. “Yeah, I did. Is there anything else you’d like to share about that night?”

Caden smirked. “No. Now had we made out…”

“We talked about Natalie. Don’t try to make it more than it was,” I retorted, ready to send a burst of power at him if he said another word.

“Why are you working for her father?” Isaac asked. The fingers of his right hand curled and uncurled, over and over.

It was a good question. Something I probably should have asked the moment I’d discovered Caden was a demon.

“Boredom.” Caden shrugged. “And quite honestly, I didn’t like the devious glint in Reed’s eyes as he followed Madison that night. I decided to keep a close eye on her.”

Obviously not close enough or he would have stopped me from eating the damn faerie food in the first place.

His lips tugged upward into that wily smirk of his. When he continued, his dark eyes were trained on Isaac. “What can I say, Madison has spunk. I like that in a girl.” He winked at me, and I couldn’t help remembering the feel of his soft lips pressed against mine. A warm heat crept into my cheeks.

“Son of a—” Isaac finished his sentence with a right hook aimed at Caden’s chin.

Caden was too quick, though. He dodged the punch with ease. But he wasn’t so lucky with the energy ball Isaac pelted him with next. Caden closed his eyes and shook his arms as if shaking off Isaac’s powers. When he opened them, his irises were red. In the next moment, Isaac’s jacket burst into flames.

Isaac struggled to undo the buttons.

“Stop it!” I screamed, shoving Caden.

Caden’s eyes narrowed. In a low, amused tone, he asked, “Did you tell Lover Boy how we sealed the deal?”

“Put him out!”

Isaac frantically patted at the flames.

“Put him out or the deal’s off!” I screamed.

“I highly doubt that,” Caden said.

I pushed him with both hands. He barely flinched.

“Have you thought about that kiss?” he asked.

I shot a look at Isaac, but he was too busy trying to get his coat off to hear. I shoved Caden again.

Caden glanced at Isaac too, and the flames grew smaller. At last, Isaac was able to undo the buttons. He threw the jacket on the ground and watched it go up in smoke.

“I’ve thought about our kiss,” Caden whispered, right next to me.

I pushed him away. “Why are you here?”

“I need to find Emma Scott.”

“So, go find her,” I said.

“That’s the thing. I can tell you the exact location of every single soul who made a deal with me except Emma’s. The only way that’s possible is if magic is hiding her, and since her magic came from me, there is no way she’d be able to pull off that type of spell. I pegged the two of you as witches the moment I met you. You’re in a coven, I presume?”

“Not with Emma,” I said.

“Why are you telling him anything?” Isaac asked.

I sighed. “It was part of the deal. I can’t lie if he asks a direct question.” To Caden, I said, “That doesn’t mean I can’t slap that stupid smile off your face.”

He chuckled, then said, “But Emma is in a coven. Who are the other members?”

“Aren’t you the one who can read minds? You tell me,” I challenged.

“I can only pick out thoughts, and right now you’re too busy cursing me, and he’s”—Caden indicated with a jerk of his head to Isaac—“dreaming up ways to get me back for setting him on fire. I’ll ask again, who’s in her coven?”

“She was in a coven,” I corrected. One that had spent a lot of energy trying to kill me. “They disbanded a while ago.”

Caden’s irises burned crimson, and I guessed his patience was wearing thin. I was pretty sure telling Caden Emma’s address was the same as buying her a one-way ticket to hell. Normally, I’d have a problem with that. I’d think that no one deserved to be damned. I’d forgive, even if I didn’t forget. But not with Emma. She’d made the deal; let her suffer the consequences.

“She’s a resident on the fifth floor at the hospital. Room labeled Bitch.”

Caden cocked his head to the side. “She’s in the psychiatric ward?”

“We expect her to be there awhile,” Isaac added. “Is there anything else you wanted to know?”

“No. That should do it for now.” Caden walked over to his car and then added, “Madison, I’d love to hear the full story. Say, dinner sometime?”