Chapter 1

One

Calista

My dad is going to kill me.

Sneaking out of the house isn’t my finest moment, but I need to breathe. For twenty-one years, I’ve followed my dad’s every command and listened to him when he said my safety was his top priority. That thought is still at the forefront of my mind, and what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. I still don’t even know why he’s so paranoid, but I refuse to let it rub off on me. I let my best friend talk me into coming to a costume party, and I lost her over an hour ago. I wandered into the backyard and found a place to sit away from the drunken frat guys. Dressing as a nun probably wasn’t the best idea because if I have to hear one more joke about turning me to the dark side, I’m going to puke.

I get a whiff of the ocean in the distance and smile before getting to my feet. One of the perks of living in Los Angeles around the rich kids is the beach is never too far away. I follow the path through a garden, listening to waves crashing in the distance. A few more steps has me breaking through the trees with the ocean in front of me. I don’t stop walking until I’m close to the water, and then I kick off my shoes before letting the waves wash over my feet.

I take a deep breath and reflect on my life so far. My dad hasn’t always been paranoid and scared of his own shadow. That didn’t start until my tenth birthday after my mom disappeared under mysterious circumstances. I used to think my dad was the reason, and then I saw what he keeps hidden in his office. It was a huge board, and every bit of it was trying to track my mom down. He still didn’t tell me much, but it got rid of the feeling that my dad killed my mom. We still haven’t found her, and he just seems to be getting worse.

My phone rings, and I wince when I pull it out of my pocket, my dad’s name flashing across the screen. With a sigh, I slide to answer so he doesn’t send out a search party.

“Hi, Dad.”

“Where are you?” I can hear the panic in his voice and feel bad for doing that to him. “I woke up and you weren’t home.”

“I, uh, went to get something to eat.”

“At ten o’clock at night?” I can’t help the eye roll at the shrill pitch in his voice. I’m twenty-one. Not twelve. “You need to come home.”

“Dad—”

“You know it’s not safe at night. I’ll just come get you.”

“Dad, that’s not…” I trail off when I hear the phone click, “necessary.” I know he’s already tracking my phone, but I have some time before I need to leave this party. He can just find me at a random food joint.

“Evening, sister.” That voice is dark, deep, and smoky, making my back stiffen up. “Aren’t you a little far from the monastery?”

“I’m just on my way back.” I hike up the skirt on the costume, ready to get the hell out of here, and whirl around. The breath whooshes from my lungs at the man standing in front of me. He’s tall and completely encased in shadows. He steps forward, and a shiver of fear runs down my spine. His demon costume is elaborate, complete with horns coming from his hairline, straight back and curling upward. His eyes are completely black with no whites showing, and the shadows seem to linger behind him.

“Why the rush?” he asks and crosses his arms over a massive chest. He’s at least six-foot-six, and the horns just add to his imposing height. “We were just getting acquainted.”

“Uh…” I’m at a complete loss for words. Fear and something else is running through me. Something I don’t want to put a name to until my nipples tighten behind my costume, and arousal swirls low in my belly. What the actual fuck is going on?

The man in front of me grins, showing off two sharp fangs, and I gasp. The smile drops from his face, and he raises his head slightly, sniffing the air. His eyes seem to flash red, but I know it’s the night playing tricks on me. “What is your name?” His voice still sounds otherworldly, and I can’t wrap my head around it.

“Calista,” I breathe, unable to stop myself. It’s like I don’t have control over my own tongue.

He steps forward, and the water seems to part around him. When he stops in front of me, my nose is filled with a smoky scent that matches his voice. He pushes the hood off my head, letting my brown hair spill out, falling in long waves down my back. “You should not be out here alone, Calista. Anything could be lurking in the night.” It sounds like he’s warning me about something, and then he tilts his head to the side, grinning again. “You are very pure. The costume fits.”

I blink slowly, trying to get my brain to catch up to his words. “What’s your name?”

He opens his mouth to answer, and then his head slowly turns to look over his shoulder. When he looks back at me, I’m drawn into his black eyes. “Another time, my sweet Calista. We’ll meet again.” He turns around and walks swiftly back onto the beach. I watch him as long as I can, and then he disappears into the shadows.

“Calista!” my best friend, Chloe, calls out. “There you are. Holy shit. You just disappeared.” I’m still staring where the mystery guy went when she steps into my line of sight. “I’ve been looking everywhere. Your dad is here.”

That snaps me out of my daydream. “What?” I should have had almost an hour and half before he got here. I pull my phone from my pocket, only to realize almost two hours have passed. What the hell is going on?

“Yeah. I convinced him to stay in the car, but I don’t know how long that will last.” She’s the only one who knows how my dad really is because this isn’t something that you broadcast to the world. “Come on. We need to move.”

I follow her out of the water, grabbing my shoes on the way by. The whole walk back to the party, I’m dreading facing Dad. It’s just going to be another lecture, and he’ll lock me up forever.

I need to get away from him.

“My sweet Calista.” That voice washes over me, and I look around, only to find myself standing back in the ocean. My mystery guy is standing behind me, and I turn to face him. “I told you that we would meet again.”

I look down at my clothes with a frown because I’m no longer in my costume. My pajamas consist of a tank top with no bra and Spongebob shorts. I want to die of mortification that he’s seeing me like this. “I’m so embarrassed.”

He chuckles, and it makes the hair on my arms stand on end. “Don’t worry yourself. The costume made me feel a little uneasy.”

I let my eyes track all the way to the tips of his horns. “Why are you still dressed like that?”

“I do not hide who I am.” He steps closer, and I get that light headed feeling that I got before like all my thoughts fly from my head.

“Are you going to tell me your name?”

“Draxos.”

“What kind of name is that?” I blurt, and slap a hand over my mouth.

“It is very old. You need to come with me now, Calista.”

“Go with you?” Draxos holds his hand out, and I find myself sliding mine into his. His hand is hot to the touch, and electricity from his skin shoots straight to my pussy. I try to pull my hand free, and he holds tighter. “What was that?”

“Nothing to worry yourself about.”

Okay. I have lost my freaking mind. I don’t know this guy, and I’m getting ready to leave with him. Not only that, my body reacts to him in a very sexual way just from his touch. If that doesn’t scream a bad idea, I don’t what does. I jerk my hand free, and that red flashes through his eyes again. “I’m not leaving with you.”

“I’m afraid you do not have a choice.”

All of a sudden, everything starts getting darker, and shadows seem to come from behind him. They swirl around me, making my hair whip around my face. The shadows push against my back until I’m pressed fully against him. I have to look up to still see his eyes, and they’re entirely red now. My brain finally catches up, and I open my mouth to scream.

I sit up in bed, drenched in sweat. My breath is sawing out of my lungs, and I jump from my skin when my door bursts open. My dad comes in, looking wildly around. “What’s wrong?”

I huff in annoyance. “It was just a nightmare. I told you to start knocking.”

“You were screaming.”

“Like I said, it was a nightmare.” I swing my legs out of the bed to stand and brush by him on the way to the bathroom.

“You can’t stay mad at me, Calista.”

I take a deep breath and turn to face him. Seeing him so weak now breaks my heart. My dad used to be so full of life, easy to laugh and play. Now, he sees things that aren’t there, and it’s starting to smother me. “Dad, I love you, but this is getting out of hand. You can’t do this for the rest of my life. I need to live my own way for a while.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know yet.”

I disappear into my bathroom and shut the door behind me before leaning heavily against it. The dream is still very fresh in my mind, so I strip and step into the shower to wash the drying sweat from my body. Mystery guy was all I thought about when I closed my eyes last night. The way he smelled, how his voice slid down my spine, and his demon costume. I never thought I’d find something like that sexy, but here we are. He was so…beautiful. I tried to explain it to Chloe, and she said she never saw him at the party or on the beach with me. He must have gotten out of sight before she got far enough onto the beach.

I close my eyes and try to pull myself into the dream, but can feel it slipping away before I can pick out the details. Maybe some of my dad’s paranoia is rubbing off on me.

Just another reason that I need to move out.