CHAPTER 06

S pear demon?”

“Nah…”

“Spike-tailed demon?”

“Doubt it.”

“Heat-based demon?” I swiped another screen on the tablet, staring at what had to be my hundredth fucking demon.

“No,” Gray droned on, barely aware of what he was saying.

“Cold-based demon?”

“No.”

“Vampire?”

“No.”

“Wendigo?”

“No.”

“Skin-shifting demon?”

“No. ”

“Oompa Loompa?”

“No— what ?” Gray’s gaze shot to me, brows knitting together in confusion. “Oompas ain’t real, baby!”

“Just making sure you’re paying attention.” I chuckled and went back to flipping screens on the tablet. There were so many fucking demons.

The problem was we had very little to go on. Nine men between twenty-one and forty had disappeared—including Mal and Jake. There was no particular pattern between them. They all had different skin colors, social classes, job types, and familial backgrounds.

Mal and Jake had gone as far as to map out each of their lives and nothing. No similarities. No crossover. Nothing.

The only commonality was they’d all gone to a place called The Cove. What was The Cove ? We didn’t have a clue. There was nothing anywhere on what kind of place it was, which meant it was probably shady as fuck.

All the men were presumed dead. Which made sense if a demon was involved. It was the only thing that made sense about this whole damn thing.

“Why ain’t she at home?” Gray asked softly.

“I imagine she doesn’t sleep much there with a baby,” I replied, glancing at Tessa. She was burrowed under a pile of blankets, dead to the world despite the lights and TV going. “Just leave her.”

“Uncle Ry’s goin’ to be the straight and narrow uncle.” He laughed.

“No, I’ll be the absent uncle,” I told him. When he frowned, I added, “There’s no way we can be actively involved in her life while we’re on the road.”

“Yeah,” he murmured. “I’m goin’ to be the fun uncle though.”

“No, you’ll be the uncle who teaches her how to swear.”

“I’ll be teachin’ her creative language.”

“Same thing.”

“What if they ain’t dead?” Gray said suddenly. Fuck, sometimes talking to him gave me whiplash. He sat up fast and grabbed a handful of papers.

“What?” I demanded .

“We’re assumin’ whatever’s doin’ this is killin’ them. What if we’re wrong? What if they ain’t dead?” he repeated.

“So… what? It’s saving them?” I asked.

“We keep runnin’ circles around the idea of a lower-level demon. What if we’re dealin’ with—”

“—an upper-level demon,” I finished for him. Fuck. “That means, we’d be dealing with—”

“—a siren,” Gray cut in.

“Shit,” I whispered. Sirens were nasty business.

“Fuck.” He shoved a hand through his dark hair. “This just got a hell of a lot more complicated.”

“Siren,” Tessa whispered unexpectedly. “Got it.”

“How long have you been awake?” I asked.

“Woke up around the time Gray threatened to teach Jo how to swear,” she muttered.

“I already know how to swear.” I frowned.

“Beautifully,” Gray chimed in. “You should’ve heard him the day some dick called me a human banjo. Accent and all.”

“He was out of line!” I exclaimed, but Gray only made banjo noises with that wide grin on his face.

“Not Ryder. Jo. My daughter,” she corrected.

“Don’t you dare fuckin’ tell me you named your daughter Josiah,” Gray retorted.

“No.” Tessa yawned and stretched. “Her name is Josie though.”

My heart did something unexpected in my chest. She named her daughter after me?

“We’ll circle back around to that one later,” I mumbled. When I could process that piece of information.

“You teach my daughter to swear, Grayson Charles Harper, and I’ll make it so you never have kids,” my sister threatened, changing the subject thankfully.

“Joke’s on you, darlin’,” he gestured between me and him with one finger, “we’re snipped.”

Oh, good Lord.

“What?” Tessa demanded, sitting upright. “Why would you do that?”

“We’re lookin’ to fuck our way across the country, not make demon spawn across the country,” Gray said.

“I thought you wanted kids.” She completely ignored Gray. Thank fuck. Didn’t need him bringing out the map to prove his point.

“I never wanted kids. I just want to hunt,” I replied. And other things. The longer Gray and I did this, the less appealing hunting became. I found myself wanting things that didn’t fit this lifestyle.

“What’s wrong with you?” she asked. Her head tilted to the side as she tried to read me. Fuck. “You’re… conflicted.”

“Do you want kids?” Gray cut in.

“What? No! And stop reading my emotions,” I snapped.

“Stop throwing your emotions around!”

“Stop telling everyone my feelings!”

“Bless your hearts, you fight like siblin’s.” Gray laughed.

“We are siblings,” Tessa and I said in unison. We stared at one another for a brief moment before she laughed. I just smiled. Apparently, some things never changed. “Do you think they were hunting a siren?”

“That’s the workin’ theory,” Gray replied. “I ain’t goin’ to know for sure til I visit The Cove tomorrow night.”

“Tomorrow night?” She frowned, unhappy with the idea.

“I ain’t goin’ now, darlin’,” he told her. “I know you’re worried about them, but I ain’t goin’ in half-cocked with a fuckin’ siren. They’re nasty bitches. I need sleep, and I need to do some readin’. Fuckin’ hell. Do you hear me? I’m soundin’ like you, baby. What the hell have you done to me?”

“Taught you how to be a more efficient hunter and taught you the importance of taking care of your health,” I said dryly. Those honey-chocolate eyes leveled on me, unimpressed with my response. I just shrugged. I was right. We both knew it.

“So, what’s our plan?” Tessa asked. Crossing my arms and sitting back in my chair, I studied my baby sister. I scrutinized every detail in her disgruntled appearance. She was barely awake with heavy bags under her eyes. I had to imagine even before Jake went missing that she wasn’t sleeping well—babies being fussy-as-fuck sleepers. God bless her but I never understood the appeal of that.

“You’re going home,” I told her. When she started to protest, I said over her, “And you’re going to get some sleep. You’re no good to anyone if you’re barely holding your own, Tess. Gray and I will keep you updated every step of the way. If we need you, I’ll let you know.”

“But—”

“And when we find Mal and Jake, you’ll be the first to know,” I promised. Her face scrunched up with frustration, but I didn’t give a fuck. I wasn’t about to let something happen to her because she couldn’t function.

“I don’t like it,” she replied. “I should help.”

“Do you need to read my emotions to know it comes from a place of love?” I asked the question she’d asked me a lot during some of my hardest years. It was hard to say one thing when you felt another in our family.

“No.” She sighed. I watched her visibly give in, her exhaustion getting the better of her.

“We got this, darlin’,” Gray agreed. “Tonight we’re doin’ a little recon. I want to know what this place looks like on the outside before I go in. It’s goin’ to be a good ol’ fashion stake out.”

I groaned as he grinned happily at me. That was code for: we were about to spend a fuck ton of money on stake-out snacks. Two minutes or two hours, Gray always bought the same amount of obscene snacks.