Page 28 of Infernal Secrets

Raising her head, she darted her gaze between Cyn and me. “I-no. What? I wasn’t focused on him. I wanted to know who else was in my house. Jesus, you make it sound so—”

Zeke laughed. “Dirty?”

She looked at her foot again. “You’re both ridiculous.”

“And you’re cute when you blush,” Zeke fired back, grabbing her ankle and pulling her foot into his lap. “Let me look.”

“Don’t make her bleed again,” Cyn muttered, flexing his hands.

She collapsed back against the cushions with an agitated, mirthless laugh. “I can’t believe I’m sitting here talking with demons in the middle of the night. I’ve finally lost it. My aunt was right.” Her voice cracked. “Shit. They’re gonna lock me up.” She flung her arms over her eyes, and my chest tightened. “Fuck. I didn’t want to end up like them.”

When she sniffed, Zeke froze, still holding her foot as he glanced at Cyn and me.

“What are you talking about, Little Blackbird?”

“Nothing.” She pulled her foot from Zeke’s grasp and stood. “I’m going to bed.” She laughed. “What am I saying? You’re not even real. This is all a dream. You’ll be gone tomorrow when I’m sober.” She muttered to herself as she stepped away from the sofa. “I didn’t drink that much, did I?”

Ezra lifted his head from the book, watching her hobble toward the stairs.

Zeke went to stand, but Cyn grasped his arm and whispered, “No. Let her go.”

The same thought troubling me all night struck again. Something wasn’t right.

When she disappeared upstairs, I turned to Ezra. “What do you think she meant about someone locking her up?”

Ezra shook his head, looking at the book again. “I don’t know or care. I want to figure this out and go home. What the human does outside of that doesn’t concern me.”

“But she’s nice,” Zeke said, lowering his head. “She gave me pizza.”

“You can’t keep her,” Cyn said.

“Who said anything about keeping her?”

“Because you haven’t acted like this around anyone other than us in a long time.”

The skin between Zeke’s dark brows knotted. “I’m not any different.”

“You’re different from how you are around strangers. Carefree,” I said. “Why do you think that is?”

“I dunno. Something’s different about her.” Zeke’s gaze lifted to the wall that hid the stairs from view. “I can’t put my finger on it, but something’s different. I feel like I’ve known her forever.”

Sitting back against the sofa, I closed my eyes.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who sensed something strange around the raven-haired human. Not only did her blood hold a unique scent that beguiled me, but her familiarity drew me to her beyond the instinctive pull to bond.

I glanced at Ezra. Did he feel it too? He seemed unfazed by her presence, but cold indifference was his modus operandi. He needed to keep a hard front to avoid appearing weak before his father, believing calculated apathy paved his path to ruling Elyrdin.

“I already said something’s different,” Cyn said, voice low. He sat up, planted his elbows on his thighs, grabbed the television remote from the coffee table, and spun it in his hands. “I almost couldn’t control myself around her. I’ve never scented blood like that, and I’ve smelled human blood before.”

“We all have,” Zeke said. “I didn’t smell hers, though.”

“That’s because I’d already taken care of her foot when you came down,” I said, glancing at Ezra. “What about you?”

Sighing, Ezra closed the book. “It smelled different, but that means nothing. It doesn’t make her unique. Just something we’re not used to.”

Zeke shook his head. “But she brought us here. She smells different. She—”

Ezra dropped the book onto the coffee table with a loud smack. “She’s a human who got her hands on a book she shouldn’t have and did stupid human things that summoned us here. All we need to do is find out where she got the book and go home. That’s it.” His tone carried finality as his eyes locked with Zeke’s. “Don’t disturb things on Earth while we’re here. None of us wants to face Father.”