“Teagan is such a pretty name,” Pink and Fuzzy said as she reached a finger out toward my lips.
The succubus in the pantsuit grabbed her friend’s wrist before Pink and Fuzzy even got close. “Teagan said not to touch her. And that memory is not for you,” she hissed before turning back to me. “Teagan, I know a solution to help you truly shed your shadows… the process will be the payment, and you won’t be asked for anything more.” With a flourish, she produced a card and held it out. When I didn’t take it, she said, “The card isn’t a commitment. It’s just a way to call The Memory Eater so you’ll always have the option.”
I considered the succubus. This orange-eyed demon had tried to kill Kane once, but I’d got the distinct feeling that she was hired to do it. At the time, someone had told her that I’d help her, and she’d refused to tell me who. My guess was that she’d just as easily work for Kane for the right price, and if she wouldn’t, her friends would likely turn me over. The fact that I was recognized meant that it was only a matter of time before Kane would track me here. Even something so simple as a business card could end up leading Kane to my location. I shook my head. “Thank you, but I’m not touching that.”
The clock had always been ticking on when I’d have to leave, but now there was no way that I could wait for my hand to heal.
Jasper threw the door open, and it banged into the brick. “I told you demons you weren’t welcome on pack grounds. Get the fuck out of here.”
The demons rushed down the stoop. As the orange-eyed demon passed, she raised the business card in front of my face. The words, “The Memory Eater,” burned into my mind, and then the card vanished.
“If you call The Memory Eater, he’ll find you,” the succubus said.
The words rattled around in my mind, and a sudden, visceral terror filled me that one day, I’d willingly walk into the probable trap the succubus just laid out for me, like a lamb to the slaughter.
Chapter Eight
We headed up the black stairway to the second story of the firehouse, and I got my first glimpse of a sprawling room of brick with high ceilings and exposed beams. The entire floorplan was open with a kitchen along one wall and a living room area made up of mismatched furnishings. There was a bench table and a second-floor loft where I could see several bunks.
My view was cut off abruptly as Declan covered my eyes with a hand. “Oh, your virgin eyes.”
My heart picked up its pace, and I tugged his wrist down. “Declan, I know you’re just playing around, but please don’t cover my eyes.”
Coming in here had been a huge act of trust when I didn’t have faith in humanity, much less in werewolves.
The moment Declan lowered his hand, I knew why he’d been trying to shelter me. Chad was fully naked and walking around, gathering what looked like the remains of a sex-toy mini-convention. Large, multi-colored rubber contraptions littered the ground, and Jasper glowered over it all with his arms crossed over his chest.
Laughter bubbled up in my throat, and I turned away and bit my fist, doing everything in my power not to start laughing.
“You really know how to put your best foot forward, Chad,” Declan said from somewhere behind me. “Look, you made Teagan cry. Her shoulders are shaking with her tears.”
“Declan, stop,” I whispered, but I couldn’t hold in my chuckles anymore.
“Well, I didn’t know you were bringing her here tonight,” Chad’s low, musical voice said. His voice made gooseflesh prickle over my skin.
“Don’t make yourselves uncomfortable on my account,” I called over with a wave. “I was in a pack with ten men. I used to have to step over ongoing orgies on my way to the fridge.”
“What the fuck?”
The fury in Jasper’s voice had me spinning around and widening my feet in preparation for an attack. The alpha’s blue eyes seemed to glow as he stalked toward me.
Fuck.
It took all of three seconds for the werewolves to turn on me. Jasper was between me and the door, so I turned to the window.
My heart galloped in my chest as my muscles tensed, preparing to bolt when Jasper’s words stopped me.
“Your mates were unfaithful?” Every line of his features spoke of how furious he was, but I had no idea what he meant by that.
“Mates?” I asked. “Do you mean pack mates?”
“I mean your lovers,” Jasper demanded, his voice as sharp as a blade. “They were having orgies in front of you?”
“Lovers?” I shook my head. “I didn’t have anything close to a lover. It’s none of your business. I don’t know what right you think you have to be angry at me—”
“I’m not angry at you,” he growled, but Jasper’s expression only looked more thunderous.
I took another step back toward the window. It was probably fifteen feet to the pavement or more, which was going to fucking suck. I’d have to smash the pane, kick out the glass and jump all before one of the werewolves ordered me to stay. Running for the door might be a better bet.
“Hey, Jasper,” Lucas walked toward me slowly with his eyes down and hands up. He moved between Jasper and me, breaking our eye contact. “Teagan looks like she’s about to jump through the window, and I don’t want that to happen. You’re blocking all of her safe routes out of here, Alpha.”
“Fuck,” Jasper growled, and then
