“Almost,” I corrected, doing the one thing I knew would hold power over him and keep him in line. Keep Harlow safe.
Every demon had a calling card, one we rarely shared. Hel bestowed mine upon me the moment I connected with my demon form, and I carved it into his wrist, deep enough he’d never be able to get rid of it. He was now officially my slave, forced to follow orders when asked of him. Another demon couldn’t intervene, and he couldn’t cut it away.
Happy with my work, I stood and looked down at the shell of a human curled in on himself. I’d rendered him useless in many ways, and that was more satisfying than his death. Though that would come despite Hel’s protests if he ever did something this vile again.
“Next time, death will come for you. Don’t touch her again.”
ChapterSixteen
Roman
Tuesday Evening
Third Floor
Seeing such a strong girl reduced to the lifeless person in Ivar’s arms had anger pulsing through me. I was glad I was still in charge and not Hiro, this would break him.
“Clean her,” the demon commander ordered me. I glared up at his soulless, black eyes but complied because Harlow needed it. He hovered his long-clawed hand over her body, blue flames licking her clothes and dropping them to the floor in pieces before fully disintegrating. To his credit, he didn’t check her out because that might have been my breaking point. I’d never kicked a demon’s ass, fuck I didn’t even know they existed until today, but I’d try for her.
Grabbing a towel from the shelf, I picked a shower and turned on the water, letting it get warm before going back for Harlow. He reluctantly handed her over. From the side-eye he gave the shower, he wasn’t interested in getting wet.
My clothes were soaked, but I ignored the feeling as I ran my hands over her skin, cleaning away the grime that had settled there. I didn’t even consider taking them off because she was more important. And if she woke up during this, I didn’t want her to think the worst. Who knew where her mind would be after this ordeal.
“I need soap, hair stuff. It’s at the nurses’ station.” The words barely left my lips before he was gone, then back again in a blink with a shower caddy labeled for Harlow.
“Can you bring it closer?” I asked when he set it on a bench in the middle of the room.
“I will,” Drake said as he stalked back in. He looked half-crazed, and I swore I saw blood before he washed it down the drain. I let the shower warm Harlow as I waited for him to step in and help. He was in only sweatpants now but squeezed past us and lathered soap on his hands. We made quick work of cleaning her before he wrapped a towel around her.
“I’ll hold her while you dry her off,” Ivar said, taking her before we could protest. Drake grabbed a towel and tossed it over.
“Get used to pushy demons now that you’re in the know,” Drake said.
“I’m going to change,” I said in lieu of a real answer and stalked from the bathroom and down the hall. Crew and Layne hadn’t emerged yet, but I made a mental note to let them know Harlow was safe once I was dry. I had a feeling if word got out we’d showered another patient, we’d be in a world of trouble.
Pulling off the wet clothes and swapping them for dry ones took less than a minute. I hated the thought of her not being within my sight.
As I walked out of my room to Layne’s, I knocked softly but no one bothered to answer so I hurried in the direction of Drake’s instead. I had a feeling he wasn’t about to let her go to her own room and sleep unattended. I didn’t bother to knock as I shoved the door open to see him and Ivar settling Harlow onto his bed.
“We need a second bed in here,” I noted. “I doubt any of us will leave her alone again.”
“Not a fucking chance,” Drake agreed. “Ivar?”
The demon let out a low, feral growl. “I’m not your fucking errand demon, half breed.”
“For her?” Drake countered. The demon let out a long, suffering sigh before disappearing like he loved to do.
“Half breed?” I questioned with a raised eyebrow. He glanced at me and shrugged.
“What’s the fucking point of hiding it now?” He tucked a blanket around Harlow before starting to shove his other belongings away so there was room for a bed. I helped as I waited for him to keep going. “I’m half demon. It’s why I have more freedom here, I’m not really a patient. My mom was and a demon took advantage of her. I’m the byproduct of that.”
“I’m sorry.” It seemed appropriate, given the pain he couldn’t hide from his voice. Honestly, it was strange to get straight answers from him, and to top that with real emotion, well I was a bit unsettled by it.
“Thanks.” He huffed out a laugh. “I’d say sorry for throwing you headfirst into this bullshit but she was already thrown in and she chose both of you, so you may as well know. How do you let Hiro know? I don’t want him blindsided.” His voice softened at the mention of my alter, confirming what I’d been suspecting for a while. Hiro never outright said he was attracted to Drake, but I’d noticed the way he talked about him and wondered.
“You like him, don’t you?” Drake side-eyed me at the blunt question. He’d never done more than glanced, but I noticed long ago the way Hiro wrote about him in our shared journal, the way he was known to be nice only to him.
“Yes. But it’s irrelevant. I’m a half fucking demon. Sure I let Harlow in, but she’s seen worse,” he said. It was avoidance at its finest, and I wondered if it had more to do with uncertainty than wanting to save Hiro from himself.