Apparently, I sing as well as demon songbirds, which for the record, screech all night and can make human men go deaf. They are popular for torture.
“Clearly you haven’t,” I say, crossing my arms.
“Did you come all the way to Hell to insult me? Or did you miss my pretty face?”
Swallowing my pride, what is left of it, I tell him the truth. “Neither. I need your help because I’m in danger.”
Something changes in his eyes, the playfulness disappearing as he straightens. “I can’t help you. You need to go.”
“Wait!” I stop his door closing in my face this time.
He sighs.
“My brother said you owed him. A life debt, if I’m not mistaken.”
He arches a pierced brow. “And?”
“This will make you even. Help me, for my brother, for the debt if nothing else,” I reply, hoping this will work. I’m sure Leo will go along with the plan if I had any way to safely get in touch with him.
Caspian stares down at me once more, and slowly he steps back, waving me into his house. “Get the fuck in, songbird.”
“My name is Lilith, in case you’ve forgotten,” I respond. I walk into the spacious yet empty room. There is a generic kitchen with four counters, a fridge, and a small bathroom behind a screen on the other side. A double bed is in the middle, with a couch at the end and a big orange rug in front of it. A wardrobe is near the bed, with two hooks on either side and countless weapons hanging off the large hook.
Other than that, there is nothing else here. Nothing personal to be seen.
Caspian slams the door shut behind me and walks around me to the fridge. “Do you drink yet? How old are you again?”
I drop down onto his leather sofa. “Old enough.”
“Good, because we need vodka for this conversation where you blackmail me into saving you from whatever the fuck you have done.”
Caspian brings over a half-drunk bottle of vodka and two shot glasses, chucking one at me. I hold it up, and he pours me a shot. I down it, keeping my eyes on him, and he raises an eyebrow at me before taking his own shot.
He downs another one and then pours himself a third. “Talk.”
“My mum and dad were killed by the Stormfire alpha. He wants me dead, and I need to hide,” I blurt out in one long rush.
Caspian coughs on the shot and smacks his fist against his chest a few times, staring at me with wide eyes.
“Then you’re dead already. I can’t help you fight him,” he replies, still looking shell-shocked.
I get the impression not much surprises this guy.
Rolling my eyes, I glance away. “I know that and I need somewhere to hide in the city. Permanently.”
“Does the alpha know you’re here?”
“Maybe,” I respond, clasping my hands together. “I don’t know for sure. So can I hide here?”
“Minor problem, I’m leaving here tomorrow.” He rubs the back of his neck and tilts his head at me. “The demon hunter trials begin tomorrow, and I’m joining them.”
“Shit,” I mutter. “Do you know anyone who could hide me? Someone you trust?”
He scoffs. “I don’t trust anyone in Hell, and you shouldn’t either, songbird.”
He sits on the sofa next to me, only a few inches between us, and I try not to look at the gorgeous fucker who is clearly going to ditch me.
“I’m sorry about your parents. Really, I am,” he eventually says. “More your mum though. Your dad was a dick.”
“Technically, he wasn’t my dad,” I counter, trying to make light of it with some dark humour.
Caspian chuckles low. “Lucky you.”
We drift into silence once more before Caspian lets out a long sigh. “I’m going fucking mad because I have an idea. It’s crazy, but it just might work if you don’t fuck it up.”
My heart thrashes. “I’m willing to go for crazy right now.”
Caspian’s gaze trails over me, the marks on his cheeks almost glowing red for a second, and I wonder what that means. When he was in Caeli, his marks never glowed, and I overheard him telling Leo that they were from his father’s demon side, not his wolf’s.
“I could get you into the demon hunter trials under a fake name,” he says slowly, “and I doubt the alpha would search for you there. The faces of all contestants are kept a secret, so they can move around the city freely. The alpha gives his protection to each of the ten winners. If you could win, which I highly doubt, by the way, you could gain the alpha’s protection. Then he won’t be able to kill you without breaking his vow.”
“Which means death for an alpha,” I whisper, filled with hope. “You’re right… That is a crazy plan.”
“Told you. Now the question is, can you fight? Do you know fuck all about demons?”
“Well, I know you.”
He smirks and rests back, picking the vodka bottle up and taking a long drink. “That you do, songbird. That you do.”
I just manage to resist snorting at him. “I don’t think your plan will work, but it might buy me more time to find a safe place to escape. Somewhere the Stormfire alpha can’t reach,” I say and stand off the sofa. I snatch the vodka bottle from his hands and take a sip.
He grins when I scrunch my face up at the taste. “There are no demons on the moon.”
Rolling my eyes, I shove the bottle back his way. “I’ve always wanted to be a demon hunter.”
Caspian slowly moves his attention up my body, and I feel his gaze like fire against my skin until he clashes with my eyes.
“You’re going to make an interesting partner, songbird.”
“Thank you for helping me,” I reply shakily.
He stands, stretching his long, thick arms. “Don’t thank me yet. There is every chance the leader of the trials is going to take one look at you and
