Eva was smiling in her sleep.
Damn it. Dan rubbed his eyes again. Nope, not even that romantic little picture made it any easier to see a demon with his arms around his daughter. But she looked happy, and that was all he’d ever wanted for her.
Tiptoeing across the room to her bedside, he bent and kissed her forehead like he’d done when she was a babe. He remembered the first time he’d ever held her. The newborn had stirred awake and then blinked up at him, so tiny in his arms, and he’d gasped at the unusual silver shade of her eyes that marked her as his forbidden daughter. He’d known right then he would never have the courage to leave.
Now, he stroked her forehead and murmured, “Sleep tight, Evangeline. I love you with all my heart.”
When he straightened, Asmodeus was awake and watching him, his head lifted slightly off the pillow. Their gazes met.
“You’re leaving,” Asmodeus said quietly.
Dan nodded.
He expected some kind of smug reaction. The demon had won. He had turned the family against him, wooed the girl, and scored an unlimited supply of Nephilim blood. Why wouldn’t he be smug? But instead, his brow furrowed, and a solemn expression crossed his noble features. He appeared almost remorseful.
Asmodeus sat up slowly, taking a moment to adjust the blankets over Eva with tender care. Then he fixed his dark blue eyes on Dan, all that long hair falling all over his bare torso. The guy was good looking, even Dan could admit. But then, of course he was. He was a demon.
“You will visit Eva often,” the Prince of Hell declared as if he was still commanding his legions.
“If she wants to see me,” Dan said, “I’ll be there.”
“Visit regardless. She’ll come around. And so will Jacqui.”
He wished it were so simple. But how nice of the demon to try to comfort him. God, this was weird.
“Take care of her,” Dan said, looking at his sleeping daughter’s face. “Make her happy or I will hunt you down and decapitate you.”
Asmodeus grinned into the dark. “I will.”
Maybe Dan had finally lost it, but he actually believed the guy.
“Where will you go?” Asmodeus asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll find some more of my kind and take up hunting again.” Asmodeus cocked a brow and Dan waved a hand. “I want you four idiots guarding my daughter. As long as you don’t start making a scene I’ll leave you to your own devices, and I won’t tell anyone where you are.”
His eyes narrowed, but he nodded. “We won’t be in the clear until we find the Hunter.”
“That’s easy. I left him trapped in a sigil in Eva’s living room. I couldn’t destroy him without attracting attention to myself, but you can. You’re already in enough trouble as it is, and I know you’ve got the tools to dispatch him permanently.”
Asmodeus flashed that wolfish grin again. “You know, you’re not so bad, Grigori.”
“I don’t know whether to be insulted or complimented by your approval.”
“Probably both.”
A snort escaped Dan before he could remind himself that he was supposed to hate the bastard. “Tell Eva if she wants to talk, I have my phone.”
“I will.”
“I know I said it before, but tell her... Tell her I’m sorry.”
“I will.”
The Grigori nodded. The demon nodded back.
Damn it, he was feeling a strange kinship with the guy that was too uncomfortable. He shook his head, not ready to get all buddy-buddy with Asmodeus yet.
With one last look at his daughter, one last deep breath of the house he’d raised her in, one last moment of gratitude for the life he’d had that never should have been his to begin with, Dan concentrated his power and teleported away.
