“Where?” I scream, scanning the water all around us for the predator as I cling to Jerif like a deranged chimpanzee. Oh God, did it get on the boat? This is why boats need sides, dammit!
It takes me a minute to calm my terrified heart enough to realize that everyone—including the imp—isn’t looking around frantically at the water like I am. Nope, they’re laughing at me.
Crux wipes tears from his eyes and points at where I’m still perched on a howling Jerif, clinging to his chest for all he’s worth. “Did you see her? I swear she pulled out rock climbing gear and just hauled her ass right up!” he states between fits of laughter.
“Those were some epic monkey moves,” Iceman admits, his deep laugh turning into a happy sigh.
“Fuck all of you, that was just mean!” I accuse, with no intention of getting off of Jerif. This walking rock can just carry me off this boat, because I’m not risking it. Nope. Not today, Satan. “Clearly, everything you just told me was bullshit because you are evil. Each and every one of you, of the purest kind.”
That just sets their laughter off again, and I huff out a sigh and blow purple hair out of my face. Fucking demons.
17
True to their word, Iceman and Jerif leave to go and “tend to the Gate” while Crux and Echo take me home. Crux makes a detour to the mansion first to grab clean clothes for both of them, but he does it so fast that we only have to wait two minutes.
I really should just stay at the mansion, but I’m not ready to walk away from my house and everything it’s always meant to me. What just happened at the other Hellgate has definitely opened my eyes, but I need my own house and my own bed in order to work my way through what it all means for me. I need to be as comfortable as possible before I dive into this demon stuff once and for all.
“Take out?” I ask as soon as the three of us pop back into my house. Once again, I’m all off-kilter from the weird ass demon teleportation, but it sure beats the bus.
Crux and Echo pause, looking around my still semi-destroyed house, but I just slip my scythe back in the umbrella holder by the door and repeat my question like I can distract them from the mess. “There’s Chinese, pizza, tacos…”
Crux looks over with a smirk. “We like tacos.”
“I walked right into that one,” I mumble before pointing at myself. “Once again, I will remind you that we are covered in dead demons, and that is not sexy.”
Crux grimaces as he looks down at himself. “Shower. I need a shower.”
I sigh, scratching at my itchy scalp. “I guess blood and guts takes precedence over ash,” I relent before pointing down the direction of the hallway. “Linen closet is the first door on the left so you can grab a towel. Bathroom is on the right. Don’t use up all the hot water, or I will make you regret it,” I warn.
He starts backing away toward the hall with a grin. “You could always join me,” he says, wagging his bloodied brows. “Conserving water is important.”
I make a face. “No offense, but I’m not sharing a shower with the dude covered in the insides of the Cousin Its. No way I’m letting that grossness get on me.”
“Fair enough,” he says, turning around. “But if I clog your drain with pieces of demon, just know that it’s not my fault.”
“Ugh,” I groan, hating the visual he just left me with. I get grossed out just from having to clean the slimy hair from the drain. Crux just chuckles before he grabs a towel, and then I hear the bathroom door snick shut.
“There.”
I look over at Echo’s voice and see that he’s clicking away on my phone. “Umm...what the hell are you doing?”
“You got me in the mood for tacos, and I’m starving, so I took the liberty of ordering us food while you were staring at Crux’s ass. You really have a thing for asses, don’t you?”
My face heats. “I wasn’t looking at his ass.”
Echo smirks. “But you’re not denying that you like our asses?”
I shrug and head into the kitchen, my feet meeting bare concrete. “I may be a demon, but I don’t lie.”
The shadows shift, and Echo pops in front of me. “Liar,” he says with a grin, his pale skin and bright teeth nearly glowing in the dark.
I pretend that my heart didn’t skip a beat when he suddenly appeared like that, and I breeze past him to flip on the light switch. “Fine, I lie sometimes. But hasn’t anyone ever told you that it’s rude to shadow pop in front of people?” I ask as I head for the sink and start washing my hands.
“Nope, I’ve never been called rude,” Echo says while he helps himself by opening my fridge and grabbing an old beer that’s probably been in there for who knows how long.
“Right,” I drawl as I watch him pop the top off using nothing but his fingers and then drink my last beer. “Can’t imagine why anyone would say that about you,” I tease.
“Precisely,” he replies after drinking a third of the bottle with a click of his tongue and a satisfied gulp. He holds it out to me. “Want some?”
“Would I like to drink some of my own beer that you just had your mouth all over? No thanks,” I say with a chuckle.
He leans against the fridge, his appearance lightly windblown and bloody, but the effect just makes him look sexier. I watch him like I’m hunting him. I can’t get enough of the intense contrast of his coloring. Buzzed white hair, black scruff on his face, jet black brows that are sharp and
