Promise

know, remember?'

'Who?'

'Who do you think?'

As I realized what Tristan meant, terror overcame me. My voice trembled. 'Why can't you just take me home?'

'Because he'll follow me and I'll lead them right to you and Sophia.' The anger had returned, but he stroked my face gently. 'Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you. Don't forget who I am. There's a reason he doesn't want to be alone with me.'

He grinned, but it wasn't with humor. In fact, it was spine-chilling.

I pulled my ring off and reluctantly handed it to him, my hand shaking. He stuffed it in his jeans pocket, then reached over and tucked my necklace under my shirt. Then he drove us to O'Shea's, an Irish pub by the beach. He took out his cell phone and dialed a number as he drove.

'Ian's in town…Headed to O'Shea's…Yeah, she's with me…I know, but I don't have a choice. I can't take her home with him on my tail…. It's not necessary…I'll bring her home as soon as it's safe.' He clapped the phone shut.

'Who was that?'

'Sophia. She needed to be warned.'

I panicked, making my voice screechy. 'She's not coming, is she?'

'I don't know. She really needs to stay away for both of you.'

'He's a…a Daemoni ?' I asked, nearly choking on the word.

He nodded. 'He is now. Wasn't always. Just as Sophia brought me to the Amadis, the Daemoni are sometimes successful in bringing your people to their side.'

'Oh,' I breathed. 'Why did he call you 'Seth'?'

His face twisted in the light from the dash. 'That was my Daemoni name. They refuse to use the name Tristan.'

I reached out for his hand, needing to hold him, at least some part of him.

'Listen… He'll probably figure it out—your looks give it away anyway—but we need to try to not let him know who you are. And he definitely can't know about… us .' He glanced at me. 'Remember what I told you about my weakness?'

I nodded. Me .

'I'll probably have to say things I don't want to…just remember, it's just as hard for me to say as it is for you to hear. Remember, too, deception is his most powerful weapon. Don't believe any of it, okay?'

I swallowed hard and nodded. We turned into O'Shea's parking lot.

His voice softened to nearly a whisper. 'I love you more than life, Alexis. Always remember that.'

'I love you, too, Tristan. Please believe that,' I whispered. He squeezed my hand and nodded.

'He can hear us now.' We pulled into a parking space and a motorcycle parked next to us. The rain apparently didn't bother the ogre.

Keeping his own body between mine and Ian's, Tristan gently pushed me in front of him, as Ian followed us into the pub. I'd never been inside before and when we walked in, I was sure I wasn't even allowed to be there. I was underage and this was no restaurant. It was dark and kind of dingy, the odor of beer and harder liquor strong in the air.

I smelled a familiar scent and noticed Owen sitting at the bar. Oh, no! I looked away before I caught his eye, afraid he'd see the fear in my face. I definitely didn't want to drag him into this mess. I briefly wondered what he was doing in a place like this; it didn't seem his kind of hang-out.

Tristan directed me to a table, where we sat next to each other and Ian took a chair across from us. I started to reach for my pendant until I saw Tristan just barely shake his head, knowing that playing with it had become a nervous habit. There had been a reason he'd tucked it under my shirt. Needing something to do with my hands, I yanked and twisted my hair instead, trying not to rip it out from fear.

As a waitress took our drink orders, the gorgeous blonde from Mario's entered the bar. That surprised me even more than Owen being there—it definitely didn't seem like her kind of place. Owen moved around the bar to sit next to her. She didn't look happy at all about it, but let him pull her into a conversation—from what I could tell, a strained conversation. I hoped they could keep each other company, or, at least, busy. I didn't exactly want her attention on Tristan. And I definitely didn't want Owen's attention on any of us.

Ian kept his pale blue eyes on us as he sat back in his chair, scrubbing his hand through his untidy, dull red hair, then folding his arms across his chest. He lifted his chin in my direction.

'Another toy for your collection?' His voice was calm, cool, but I could hear the menace in the tone.

'I told you, I don't know her. She's just a girl at the restaurant.' Tristan was a smooth liar…except his actions spoke too loudly.

Ian smirked. 'Yeah, see, I don't quite believe that. You're too protective of her.'

'Only because she's an innocent girl, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just let her go and you and I can…visit.'

Ian chuckled, a disgusting rattle, and leaned forward in his chair. 'Protecting the innocent these days, huh? Well, if she means nothing to ya…then why don't ya lemme play?'

Tristan leaned forward, too, and I could see his muscles tighten against his shirt.

' No! ' he growled.

'Hmph…yeah, what I thought.' Ian looked smug, still peering at me.

'What do you want, Ian? What are you doing here?' Tristan tried to distract the ogre, but Ian stared at me harder.

'Well, I heard ya were around and I was in the neighborhood, so thought I'd drop in to say hullo, catch up, you know. But looks like I found an interesting situation.' Ian leaned almost all the way across the table, his fumes nauseating me. He studied me closely in the dim light. 'Ah-ha. Yeah…I thought I heard blondie call ya Alexis. Wouldn't happen to be Sophia's Alexis, would ya, lassie?'

'Don't be ridiculous,' Tristan said.

'The looks are right. The name is right.' He reached his hand out to touch my face and I jerked my head back in revulsion. In a flash, Tristan was on his feet and lifting Ian by the collar. Several people turned to look in our direction. Ian laughed quietly. 'Just a girl, heh?'

'Don't touch her,' Tristan snarled.

Ian held his hands up in surrender. 'All right, all right. I get it.'

Tristan let him go and they both picked up their fallen chairs and sat back down. The staring bar patrons finally looked away. I understood why Ian wanted witnesses—Tristan couldn't do anything… unusual …here.

The ogre grinned wretchedly and his voice returned to its coolness. 'Ya know, Seth, ya play with fire, you'll get burned. Even you.'

'What are you talking about?'

'Amadis royalty ? The worst of all evils. Not even you, the ultimate warrior , can handle that. They'll take ya down.'

A moment of silence hung around us as the waitress set our drinks on the table then scurried away.

'You've never been the clever one, have you, Ian?' Tristan said. 'You never could tell your ass from your head.'

'Oh, right.' Ian nodded. 'I almost forgot. You think the Amadis are good, perfect . I spent two centuries with 'em, lived with all their damn rules, under their control. And I'm the one who's ignorant?'

'Your lustful advances were rejected. You were out of line.'

'Don't matter. I found my true family. Your real family, Seth . Ya think the Amadis are going to like this?' He waved his hand toward me. 'Ya think you're just one of them now? You're the one who's mistaken. They'll stomp all over ya and throw ya out with the bleedin' rubbish…if they don' kill ya first. I'm surprised they haven't done it yet….'

Ian's voice trailed off as his eyes widened. He nodded slowly, as if a realization had just dawned on him. He smirked again, his pale eyes moving back and forth between Tristan and me.

'Ahhh. That's right. They're still using ya, aren't they? Have a little assignment for ya to do?' Ian's voice was mocking. Tristan stiffened.