“It’s so … vicious,” said Hector. “Lacks any mercy. I like that.” His eyes narrowed. “You’re not quite as sweet as you come across, are you?”
“Sure I am. Someone can be lethal and still be a relatively nice person. People just tend to assume that the most dangerous beings wear that danger on the outside.”
“And you’re careful not to,” mused Carmen.
Raini lifted a brow at her. “Wouldn’t you be, in my position?”
Carmen nodded. “Yeah, for sure.”
“Does it bother you that we drink blood?” asked Celia.
“It’s not like you do it for shits and giggles,” said Raini. “You can’t help what you are. And Maddox told me you don’t kill your ‘food,’ so no.”
They asked her more questions—some about her gift, some about her lair, some about her job, but nothing too invasive. She wasn’t sure if they were trying to get to know her or just being nosy.
Once she was finally done eating, she leaned into Maddox and said, “I need to go to the penthouse now.”
He looked down at her for a long moment and then sighed. “If you go to work, Carmen goes with you. She’ll stay in the studio. If you need to enter another room, she will go with you. If you need to leave the building for any reason, she will go with you.”
“I’m sensing you think I’m going to argue. Why would I? She’s a badass.”
Carmen snorted a laugh. “Thanks, I guess.”
“Plus, when Harper, Devon, and Khloë were dealing with shit of their own, I asked them to be smart and accept whatever level of protection they needed,” Raini added. “I’d be a hypocrite to fight you on this.”
Once they’d both finished breakfast, he teleported her straight to her bedroom within the penthouse. “Carmen will wait in the reception area for you,” he said, cupping her hips. “You should still consider staying with me until all this is over.”
Raini sighed. The man was nothing if not persistent. “I told you, I wouldn’t feel safe there.”
“That will change once you get to know my demons and they get to know you. Which is good, because then you’ll have no problem switching to my lair either.”
Her head jerked back. “Switching to—” She cut off as his mouth landed on hers and kissed her hard. Then he teleported away without a word. Raini shook her head. “Unreal.”
“I thought I heard voices,” said Harper, entering the room with Devon and Khloë. “What’s unreal?”
Raini smiled. “Hey, I didn’t realize you guys were here.” Taking in their somber expressions, she folded her arms. “You’ve come to ask me to take some time off work, haven’t you?” Exactly as Maddox had predicted.
Devon gave her a sheepish look. “We just want to make it hard for anyone to get to you.”
Raini lifted a hand before the three of them could begin a lecture. “I’ve been through all this with Maddox. I don’t want to have this conversation again.”
“He doesn’t want you going to Urban Ink either?” asked Harper.
“No,” replied Raini. “More, he wants me to move in with him for a while. And eventually transfer to his lair, now that he and I are bonded.” None of the girls looked surprised by her news.
“After the way he acted here yesterday, I expected him to shrug past whatever was holding him back,” said Harper. “I also figured he’d ask you to join his lair. Anchors typically like being close—it helps ease the protectiveness a little. Knox asked the same of me when we first found each other.”
Devon sidled up to Raini. “How would you feel about joining Maddox’s lair?”
Raini felt her nose wrinkle. “Not so good. I love my lair. Plus, his demons aren’t sold on me. Two in particular are not Raini-fans.”
Khloë frowned. “How can someone not be a Raini-fan? That’s like someone not being a Khloë-fan—it makes no sense.”
Harper looked at her cousin. “I can think of a few people who aren’t Khloë-fans, and you’ve given them undeniably valid reasons for that.”
The imp flicked a dismissive hand. “Those incidences don’t count.”
“Why not?” asked Harper.
“Because I don’t want them to.” Khloë turned back to Raini. “On another note, want to tell us what really happened yesterday? Maddox is a super good liar—I was very impressed—but I sensed there was more to the story.”
Raini let out a long breath. She didn’t want to lie to them, but there was no way she’d break her word to Maddox. “I would tell you if I could.”
Khloë twisted her mouth and then shrugged. “Fair enough.”
Raini felt her brow crease. “You’re not going to push?”
“Some things just can’t be shared,” said Khloë. “At least not without betraying a confidence or putting someone’s safety at risk. I wouldn’t ask that of you, even if I am nosy as hell. Keenan has things he can’t tell me—sentinel stuff. I get it. There are things I haven’t told him, like that you can use psychic hellfire. It’s not my secret to tell. Have you told Maddox about it?”