Eva

  “You drugged my neighbor?" She waved her hand towards the door in disbelief.

  "I told you, you should have slipped a little into her coffee this morning." Dante's sexy smirk was not amusing to Eva and neither was his comment.

  Monroe sighed in annoyance at Dante's antics. "You're not being helpful. We wouldn't Nyx our own. And it was just a little to keep him safe."

  "Honestly, it did him some good." Dante chuckled.

  "When we found him he was on the verge of a mental breakdown," Lowell explained. "He definitely needed it."

  "And a new pair of shorts." Dante chuckled.

  She looked between the three men trying to hold back their amusement. Biting her lip, her mind began to reel with questions. The most important being:

  "Is that why I don't remember much of that night?" She didn't have to detail what night. She could see in their expressions they hadn't expected her to link that question. There was so much concern in her tone that all three men sobered. She didn't know if she could trust Monroe's statement of them not using Nyx – or Nyxing, whatever – their own people and she tried to keep her voice from rising. "Did my parents Nyx me?"

  Her question wasn't directed at any one of them in particular, more so the one with the answers, but her eyes were on Monroe when she asked since he'd been the one to mention it in the first place.

  However, when he didn't answer and looked to Lowell, her eyes began to widen with the sharp surprised intake of air she took. Her brother tried to stammer out a denial, but when she didn’t seem convinced, she looked to Dante.

  "I doubt it," Dante smirked down at her. "Leah and Dick don't seem like the type to drug their kids. Even if they clearly needed it."

  She narrowed her eyes at his unneeded teasing but eased up when she noticed Monroe eyeing Dante. She wondered if it was the nickname basis he was on with her parents, or possibly he didn't like how comfortable he was joking with them all.

  She thought back to Monroe's earlier concern with Dante. That maybe he'd been behind everything with the necklace but his theory didn't make any sense. He'd had plenty of opportunities to kill her – to take it – and yet, here she stood. Anxiety-ridden, on the verge of a Menty B, sure, but alive. All thanks to Dante.

  He'd been the one struggling to find information to keep her safe, per her parents' wishes, sure, but… she couldn't see Dante being the mastermind behind this like Monroe speculated.

  Was it his history that jaded him and not her? She hadn't had nearly the amount of encounters that he'd had; she hadn't met many demons formally, and yet, there was Dante.

  She looked towards him while Lowell explained that he would be staying so Monroe could get some sleep. She tried to focus on the conversation but found herself studying him. Again.

  If she hadn't seen with her own eyes the inhuman way he fought she would have no clue that he wasn't just like her.

  He looked like any other human man she'd seen. Well, she bit her bottom lip tenderly, not every man. He did have an allure about him that she couldn't place.

  And for a moment she stopped herself. Was it her attraction to him that clouded her judgment? That was something she couldn't deny. She was most definitely attracted to him, to the way her name sounded with his subtle accent. She'd never really had any interactions with people other than her family and the people who'd come into the shop. So, of course, when something shiny and new came along, she wanted to pounce on him.

  Was he really attractive or was it the proximity effect? Was she being thirsty?

  No, she decided, watching the way his mouth moved or his broad shoulders in his long coat. On his belt, she could see the weapons he'd used to shoot the Vocia and her mind wandered to sliding that belt off and seeing just what he was packing under–

  "Eva?" Lowell stopped her thoughts from venturing any further south than her eyes were headed and her cheeks warmed when she met Dante's amused gaze.

  Fuck. He had definitely seen her ogling. She snatched her gaze from him and to her brother. Had he also seen her?

  "I'm sorry, what?" She swallowed hard; her throat was suddenly very dry.

  "Is that cool with you?" He repeated giving a confused expression.

  She had most definitely been distracted and not heard a single word that was said but nodded like a bobblehead doll anyway. "Yeah, yup. Cool."

  As if knowing her thoughts, Dante chuckled, removed his coat, and tossed it over the back of the couch. She tried not to watch his muscles flex under his ribbed long-sleeved henley. Or notice the way the shirt's V-neck perfectly teased her with just a bit of his exposed chest. She was finally able to see more of the intricate rose tattoo on his neck that connected to another on his chest.

  She hadn’t realized under his massive coat he wore a black holster that crisscrossed around his shoulders in an accentuating bondage way. It did its job of harboring his weapons, but she couldn’t help but be grateful it blessed her brain with images of him indisposed in a different type of bondage.

  "Alright." Monroe was typing out a message on his cell. "Then I'll be back in the morning. See you at the shop?"

  He'd asked this of Eva and she nodded, hating that she was in the dark again. Though she had no one to blame this time but herself.

  Dammit. Why couldn't she focus when Dante was around? He obviously wasn't the right choice for her. Not that she wanted Monroe. Not that Monroe wasn't cute.

  She suppressed the groan she wanted to let out. Why was this so hard?

  No more. She decided. No more thoughts on sex, dating, or marriage. Any of it. She frowned at herself as she stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets, disappointed with her horniness.

  Her frown deepened when she felt for her phone but could only feel the glass bottles she'd taken earlier. She removed her hands from her jacket, careful not to drop the tiny vials, and did the phone pat down.

  "Shit." Damn her tiny pockets. "I think my phone's in Monroe's car."

  When Dante followed her to the door, she waved for him to stay. She could still see Monroe out in the hallway. He'd just entered the elevator and she jogged after him. She slid through the doors just before they began to close.

  He arched a brow at her but was on the phone with someone, so she didn't explain until he finished the conversation with her mother.

  "I'm sure you talk to my mom more than your own these days." She joked. "Sorry about that."

  When he just nodded, still curious as to why she'd followed him out, she made a motion with her hands. "My cell. I think I left it in your car."

  He again only nodded and the ride to the first floor was silent. Uncomfortably silent, and she wasn't sure if it was something her mother had said or a continuation of dinner.

  When the elevator reached the lobby, he waved her forward, following behind her until they reached his car parked across the street.

  She searched for her phone in the car's dim lighting, finally finding it between the seat and the flooring. Knowing he was probably going to walk her back to the building, she stopped in front of his hood, not wanting to walk back in silence again.

  "Okay, what crawled up your ass?" She confronted him jokingly.

  He seemed surprised at her abruptness.

  "I have brothers. I'm used to the silent treatment. But that doesn't mean I like it. The awkwardness, I mean.” She sighed. “Just spit it out. What's up?”

  He hesitated before he spoke, looking up at her apartment. She did the same and noticed Dante in the window, watching them.

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  "You should..." he began but then trailed off. Once he found the words, he said slowly and carefully, "Please be wary of The bastard Tartarus spawn."

  Confusion colored Eva's features. "I… do not know what that means."

  "Look, I know you know his history." He sighed. "With women. Don't."

  Her eyes widened when she realized he was talking about Dante, but she forced herself to fix her face. So he seen her lusting over him earlier. But this warning–

  "Jealousy or protective?" She crossed her arms, trying to keep the embarrassment from her face.

  He mimicked her motion, but more so in anger, she was sure, with the way his jaw clenched and his chest puffed.

  "For the duty of The Reaper’s. For mankind," he said in a matter-of-fact way, and not at all in a cliche way. "Don't fall for his charm. He dangerous."

  She didn't doubt that but kept her comment on his lack of hurting her to herself. She'd seen the damage he could do and knew if he really wanted to, he could have probably put a bullet between her eyes, but again, he hadn't.

  "I'm not sure what you're implying." She tried to deny it. She turned to stalk back across the street but had to jump back with a gasp when a car came flying past them. "Jesus!"

  She clutched her chest, and Monroe rushed to her, questioning how she'd missed that since she’d been facing the way it had come.

  "Crap, I don’t–"

  "Eva!" Her name carried in the wind faintly, but she recognized the sharp command coming from Dante. Thinking he meant the near car accident she looked up, but he was no longer in the window. Instead, he was skillfully sliding down the side of her brick building. Little bursts of light flickered from his hands, probably from the friction of the rapid descent. "Eva, run!”

  Before the fear could even register, she looked toward Monroe, whose gruff yelp shocked her. Something had wrapped its long green tentacle around him, thrusting him backward down the sidewalk.

  "Dammit, Evanora, run!" Dante screamed for her again, voice sounding closer but still too far to help her.

  It happened too fast for her brain to comprehend.

  She couldn't.

  Couldn't run.

  Couldn't scream.

  When her eyes scanned the nearly nine-foot creature, taking in its glowing green eyes and many arms, too many to count in the split second that it had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

  One of its limbs snaked out from its back, tightly wrapping around her waist, and finally, with its moist grip, her fear caught up with her.

  It took off with her, scaling the warehouse next to them, and finally, she was able to scream. Eva struggled within the creature's grasp but with her arms pinned at her sides, all she could do was thrash around uselessly. She looked for Dante but couldn't see past the creature's massive tentacles as they wormed around her.

  The thing chittered and groaned while it worked its way up the building, and when it finally made it to the roof it wasted no time slithering across.

  For a split-second, Eva could finally see behind her but the shriek lodged in her throat when she realized she didn't see Dante. And in that moment, she actually feared for her life.

  He wasn't there.

  He was too late.

  She'd failed herself.

  She'd taken the vials from her parent's office, but with her hands pinned, she couldn't reach her pockets. And every time she tried to wiggle free the things slimy grip tightened around her, not only making it harder to scream but to breathe. Like a boa, it would twist her closer to its body with her struggle.

  She realized she'd have to work harder.

  This wasn't the end; she forced herself to focus.

  She could see they were nearing the edge of the building and she looked for any way to escape. A door or anything to grab with her free legs she was currently using to thrash at the creature ineffectively. But there was nothing. And her already racing heart pounded louder in her ears.

  The demon slithered across the rooftop and increased in speed, and she realized it was going to try to jump the building. In the distance, on top of another building, she saw something she couldn't quite make out. Something pulsing a dull red and she wondered if that was the creature's destination. If so, her window of opportunity was closing. It looked nearly three or four rooftops away.

  The tentacle around her waist tightened as the creature prepared for its first leap, and Eva shut her eyes tight, freezing within its grasp. A fall from this height definitely would have killed her.

  When it reached the edge and leaped for the neighboring roof, Dante appeared in front of it, wielding his long sword with precision. His blade snaked out and sliced through the thick tentacle like a hot knife through butter. She heard the creature's shrill shriek above her own when the dismembered arm she was still wrapped tightly in began to plummet toward the ground.

  Suddenly, Dante was there, landing on the fire escape with precision, catching one of her flailing arms before she could fall to her death after the blow. He smirked down at her as she dangled off the edge. Though she appreciated the save, his confident smirk, not so much.

  “Didn't think I had abandoned you, did you?" He asked, pulling her onto the ledge once the rest of the tentacle went limp and crashed to the ground.

  "Never crossed my, um” – she huffed, placing a hand to her chest to catch her breath and slow her heart – "my mind."

  She tried to match his smile but found herself failing. She'd actually been terrified he wouldn't make it. Her body trembled.

  As if sensing her thoughts or possibly reading her face, his own expression sobered and his hand cupped her bicep just under a moist tear in her sleeve she hadn't noticed. She was bleeding. "I've got you. Always."

  She gave a small smile at that but there was no time to dissect his words. The demon had collected itself. It had landed on its intended building but not the roof. It was on one of the building's lower fire escapes, and when it let out a primal growl, Eva saw, with the dim light provided by the lamppost on the corner of the street, how it shook off the pain of its wound. Darkness oozed from the missing limb, thick and probably dark green like what she assumed was the stain on her jeans when its limb had released her. It smelled just as putrid as the creature itself, her waist still slimy and moist. She nearly gagged.

  "Come on, get up," Dante commanded, gently pulling her by the arm. With his other hand, he pulled out a gun from a holster at his waist and fired a few rounds at the creature a few floors across them.

  Eva clutched her ears at the four pops that rang in the air around her.

  Normally, she muted the city's constant low ambient hum: the traffic, the sirens, and even certain buildings emitted some type of noise. But for once she actively sought out the sirens. To determine if they'd been seen scaling buildings or firing off gunshots in residential areas. She searched the windows around them for movement. It was late but it wasn't three am late where nearly everyone would be asleep and question if they'd actually heard anything.

  Even though she hadn't been paying attention, she didn't remember seeing any bystanders on the sidewalk other than them. Even the street had been easier to cross with its bare traffic. But someone had to have heard the creature. Her screams? Hell, even the gunshots?

  "Eva!" Dante snapped her attention back to him and she noticed the icy glow of his irises return. He was tapping into his demon. He pulled her into his side in a half embrace. "Focus and hold on."

  His arm tightened around her waist before he fired a couple more rounds at the creature. Again, it screamed out. This time she heard two shots land rather than the single shot that penetrated before. The other shots she heard hit and ricochet off metal or brick.

  The creature leaped from its perch back to the original building, landing on a railing three levels below them. With its long limbs, it began scaling the railings, propelling itself faster than it had on the opposite side of the building.

  "Don't let go." His hold tightened on her again, this time making her hands wrap around his waist as best she could.

  With what seemed like little effort, he leaped them onto the edge of the railing, pushing them off and across the alleyway into the opposite building with a hmph. Though he'd landed them on another fire escape, he pulled at her again, this time jumping straight up since there was no fire escape above them like on the other side. This building had been just a couple of floors shorter than the other.

  He landed them on the roof and Eva was grateful her ankles didn't roll from under her.

  He didn't have to command her to run. She already knew that was the next part of his escape. Running to where she wasn't sure, but she let him push her forward before the creature could catch up to them.

  Just before they reached the edge of the roof, he pulled her body into his again and leaped them to the next roof on the left. It was the same height as the first building but also a little farther away. However, instead of landing safely again, their bodies tumbled through wood, plastic, and sheetrock.

  She shrieked, unable to keep her grip, not realizing he'd crashed them into an unfinished apartment complex until they'd rolled away from each other forcefully.

  Many of the walls, or lack of walls, were unfinished with plastic sheets covering wood boards or metal beams. Parts of the ceiling were missing in places with exposed ducts and wires. Pallets of supplies sat in corners along with large black rolling bins overflowing with construction waste.

  Dante groaned as he stood, but Eva was still on the ground coughing and clutching her sides at the rough landing and dust floating around them. He came to help her to her feet with an apology.

  "There was a fucking roof there yesterday, I swear it." He searched over her for new wounds, and when he only saw surface scrapes and a dusty body, he took her hand tightly. He pulled her towards the nearest possible exit carefully. While there were bare subfloors, she knew he didn't want to make the same mistake.

  A crash behind them alerted them to their friend's arrival, and she heard Dante swear under his breath as he looked between her and where they'd landed a moment ago.

  The entire floor they were on barely had any walls but there were boards and plastic lining everywhere. There were not many places to hide, and the quickest route to the outside was the impromptu hole in the roof behind them. Towards the creature.

  "Fuck.” He grimaced. "Option D then."

  He gripped her arms to gather her attention and to make sure she was focusing only on what he was saying to her.

  She wasn't.

  She'd noticed the slow sapphire glow of the veins in his neck while they'd been running, but now a dangerous air encompassed him, making the hairs on her body prickle and his white locks flutter around his face.

  His eyes illuminated brightly and she watched his canines sharpen as he spoke.

  "This thing isn't gonna stop. You need to get outta here." When she didn't answer but continued to survey his subtle changes in awe, he shook her to convey his seriousness. "Run. Find somewhere to hide."

  "Hide?" She snapped in confusion. "But what about–"

  "No." He shook her again, the grip on her arms tightening in a near-painful manner with his growl. "No witty arguments, Evanora. Run. Hide. I find you."

  He pushed her towards a possible exit, and with both guns drawn, he ran back towards where they'd heard the creature.

  With each step he took, she saw an inky smoke emit from the aura around his body. Though they weren't on the first floor, the ground beneath his feet crackled a vibrant red, and with it came more power, shaking the room as if the tiniest earthquake were happening. But she knew it was him. He was trying to draw strength from his demon essence even though he knew the consequences.

  She was frozen in place for only a moment before the soft pops of his gunshots jolted her mind to task.

  she thought.