26. Evalee

EVALEE

O h, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God! What if he did?

I want to ask him, demand to know the answer, but Hunter and Max are in the middle of a spell and a curse that is potentially going to lead to disaster. I need to stop them—well, Max, anyway—before he kills Hunter.

Do something, Eva! You may be mad at Hunter, but if he dies, a part of you will die, too.

I look around the room for something to grab and hit Max with, but the only thing within reach is the bed. Therefore, I do the only thing I can think of to do. I open my mouth and out comes the most bloodcurdling scream I can make. I hold the sound for as long as I can until I run out of breath. The moment the noise dies, the two of them start right back up again.

Panicking, I lean forward and lift my leg to kick Max in the shin. However, he jumps back while holding me and somehow continues on with his curse.

The tricky little demon!

I open my mouth and belt out, “Max, if you don’t …” I trail off as a figure appears in the spinning portal.

Moments later, Opal stumbles out of the circular opening and into the demon lair. She has her wings out and a don’t-fuck- with-me expression on her face. Definitely not the shy, quiet Opal I know.

Again, another lie.

But I have hardly any time to get all wounded and sulky as Opal flings her hands forward and throws shimmering violet faerie dust all over the room, which might not sound too scary in theory, but just a handful of it carries enough power to collapse an entire house. And it also happens to be potent to demons. Which makes me wonder why it’s never done anything to me.

Strange…

As the shimmering dust showers through the air, Max lets out a string of curses, his hands falling from my waist.

“Damn faeries!” he growls as he races backward, trying to escape the faerie dust rainstorm. But a few glittery fragments land on his cheeks.

He gives me a worried look before his eyes roll into the back of his head, and then he collapses to the floor.

I step toward him. “Is he …? Is he dead?” I don’t know how I feel about the idea, but a part of me—a very disturbing, unsettling part of me—is a tiny bit sad about it.

“No, he’s just passed out.” Hunter moves up beside me, his arm brushing against mine.

When I glance up at him, he’s not looking at Max but at me. His eyes are wild, as if a frenzy of emotions are pouring through him. The out-of-control look throws my equilibrium off balance.

Hunter never looks out of control.

“Are you okay?” he asks, his voice hoarse, his eyes huge as he frantically looks me over.

I bob my head up and down. “Yeah, I’m fine?—”

He crashes his lips against mine, giving me a brief but passionate kiss. When he pulls away, he appears a drop calmer. But whatever calmness I had in me goes peace out as confusion floods my body.

He kissed me for no apparent reason.

What. The. Freakin’. Giggling. Sprites.

He carries my gaze, his eyes searching mine. “I was so worried about you. I thought we were never going to be able to find you. If it wasn’t for Ryleigh, we wouldn’t have.” He’s struggling to breathe evenly.

“I know.” A sudden thought comes out of nowhere and bitch slaps me across the face. “Wait, how did you communicate with her?”

“We had a telepathic expert come in and read her mind.” He laces his fingers through mine. “I knew that, when Ryleigh was alive, she could dream travel. I had a hunch she might try to get into your dreams to see if you were okay.”

My lips form an O , but no words come out. He knew Ryleigh could dream travel? He knew her better than me.

“I’m so sorry we lied to you and hurt you,” he says, as if reading my mind. “But I’m just so fucking glad you’re okay. When the demon took you … I thought … Well …” Shaking his head, he leans forward and kisses me again.

Warmth flows through my veins, scorching hot , which makes it impossible to pull away. He groans as I grip onto the bottom of his shirt.

“Hunter, stop that,” Opal’s voice slices through the moment. “You know you’re not supposed to do that kind of stuff while you’re on the job.”

Hunter gradually pulls back, wetting his lips with his tongue. “This is different,” he tells her without taking his eyes off me.

I feel like he’s searching for something inside me, but I don’t have a crazy, confused clue what. And adding to that confusion is the fact that he’s kissed me twice in the last minute. How can that be possible after all these years of me being in love with him, yet figuring he’d never reciprocate my feelings? Has he really wanted to kiss me all this time, but was just afraid? Or is this part of the lie, of staying close to me?

I instinctively start to decide on the latter, but then Max’s words echo through my mind.

He said I am naive about guys, like I am more desirable than I thought. He made it sound like it had more to do with my power than anything else …

Then it dawns on me.

Succubus .

Holy freak! I am a succubus!