“Shit.” Aria could think of nothing else to say.
“Indeed.” This was all that Declan said in reply.
“Should we...I don’t know. Should we go hunt it down?” She’d be damned if she was going to let some shadowy by-product of a spell haunt her. With a pang she realized that killing it would mean that the spell would be broken—Adam and Declan would realize that they didn’t actually want her.
They would leave.
It was the right thing to do. Apart from the fact that she couldn’t live with a demon stalking her every move, she couldn’t live her life as a lie.
Although neither of them had told her why they were really here. And she couldn’t bring herself to ask.
Swallowing thickly against the flood of emotions that the realization brought out, Aria looked up when Adam stepped in front of her.
The werewolf sniffed the air and nodded.
“I don’t think we’ll have to go hunting. I think it’s going to find us.”
Declan studied Aria in his peripheral vision as the three of them made their way down the street to the town’s only all-night, non fast food diner. He’d thrown her off-balance when he’d placed her on the counter and touched her, but he’d meant to do just that.
It wouldn’t be long before she realized that her sister was wrong, that a demon birthed from a spell wasn’t what was hunting them. He wouldn’t be at all surprised, in fact, if she’d already figured it out.
But he knew her better than she thought, even after all these years. If she discovered why he had really left her, that he’d sacrificed his freedom to save her, she’d rip out his hair strand by strand.
He’d always loved her violent side.
He’d have to tell her eventually, he knew. And she’d never forgive him for the decision he’d made. Because when the Capitol had come to him three years earlier, when they’d told him they required his precognition services, they hadn’t given him a choice. If he refused, those he loved—namely Aria—would die.
If she’d known, she would have insisted on coming with him. And the Capitol would have sucked her dry, feeding on her magic until only a brittle shell remained.
So he’d left. And now, because his senses had pulled him back toward her, he had placed her in danger once again.
This time was different, though. This time he wouldn’t leave.
* * *
Sitting in between a vampire and a werewolf did nothing to diminish Aria’s lust.
The last thing she’d expected after they’d found her Gran’s diary was to be dragged to Stella’s, a diner she’d come to since she was a child. But Adam hadn’t been able to track the scent of the demon.
“I can smell it, all around, but it doesn’t lead anywhere.” His frustration was apparent and made Aria long to stroke her fingers through his hair. “And I need a decent meal if we’re going to be facing down a demon.”
Aria hadn’t wanted to leave Lorelai alone, but Declan had pointed out that the demon was attuned to Aria and no one else.
“It’s going to come after you. Lorelai will be safer away from you.”
Aria knew better than to argue with him. Declan was alpha to the core and would never dream of leaving her in danger, and she could already tell that Adam was cut from the same cloth. So here she was, picking at a plate of French fries while Declan sipped from his flask on one side of her, and Adam ate everything on the menu on the other.
“How are you holding up?” A faint residue of scarlet painted Declan’s lips as he sipped from his metal flask. His eyes watched her every move. “You’re not eating.”
“I don’t normally eat a meal at four in the morning.” Her tone was waspish and she knew it. Willing herself to calm down, she managed a tight smile. “I’m fine. I’m more irritated than anything.”
Her nerves were humming because of the overbearing presence of a vampire and a werewolf. The reappearance of Declan in her life had aroused all of the longing she’d once had, and though it might have just been the result of their sexual encounter, Aria didn’t care for the idea of being without Adam, either.
And she was terrified that none of it was real. It wouldn’t be a sudden surge of knowledge for them, but she knew that they would wonder why they had taken up with her.
“In all of this drama, we haven’t had a chance to talk to you about why we came for you, Aria.” Screwing the cap back on to his flask, Declan reached across the table and caught her hand in his. He looked at Adam as he did, and though the werewolf was busy inhaling what appeared to be his third steak sandwich, he nodded in agreement and understanding.
“You didn’t come for me.” The words were out of her mouth before she thought them through, and though she cringed inwardly, she pressed on. “You weren’t disappointed to see me again, but I wasn’t the reason you came here.”
“True.” Declan spoke slowly, and Aria felt her heart sink as he confirmed what she had said.
“Why?” Dropping all pretenses of spunk, she rested her cheek on her hand, suddenly weary. “Why not just leave things as they were. We were doing all right.”
“Adam and I met not long after you and I parted ways.” Declan began, reaching for Aria’s hand.
She pulled away.
“I always knew that there was a piece of his heart that I could never have,” Adam added, shoving his empty plate away and fixing his eyes on Aria’s face. “Because it belonged to a woman he’d once known. He was determined to get back to her someday, once he’d fulfilled what the Capitol wanted from him.”
Aria felt her thoughts stutter as she turned that knowledge around in her head.
“Wait a minute.” She saw Declan’s eyes fixed on her face, saw the truth in them. Fury began to rise inside of her. “You told me you left because vampires needed to roam.”
“I left because the Capitol would have killed you if I’d refused their demands.” Declan’s voice was steady and full of strength. Aria ground her teeth to keep from shouting obscenities. “And you can hate me for it. But I would rather have broken your heart and still have you alive than the alternative.”
Aria’s mind whirled.
“It wasn’t your choice.” Hot, angry tears clawed their way through her throat. “I would have chosen to fight at your side.”
“They wouldn’t have allowed it.” Declan said flatly, slamming his palm flat on the table. “They didn’t allow anything. Complete obedience or death. Though they told me they’d let me go someday—told Adam the same thing—I began to see that they never would.”
“Declan’s precognition was too valuable to them,” Adam’s voice was full of suppressed rage. “And so were my connections to the wolf packs. But it’s how we met, how we decided to escape. If we died trying, well, we figured we were better off.”
