Page 86 of Demon with Benefits


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Raum’s eyes narrowed. “Do you even have to work, or did you just need an excuse to come here and snoop in Meph’s bedroom?”

“The second one.”

Raum didn’t bat an eye, but his arm flexed around the sleeping puppy. “I’m still taking him.”

“Fine. He likes you more than me anyway.”

For the first time that day, he flashed a smile at her. It was short-lived, however, and his face returned to its requisite scowl almost instantly. “Call me if Meph turns up. Eva and Ash have a show tonight, so that’s where I’ll be.”

“What about Faust?”

His eyes narrowed like he was offended she’d question his caretaking abilities. “I’m only going for an hour or two. He’ll be fine in my room.”

Because, with Raum, he was a perfect angel who didn’t piss on the floor or eat furniture. “Fine.”

“I’ll tell Lily you say hi.”

Iris winced. There was no way she wanted to see her twin today, not when she was such an emotional wreck. Raum always saw right through her, and she didn’t like it. “Thanks.”

Twenty minutes later, she was standing alone in her kitchen, wishing she’d kept Faust after all.

Grimalkin had wandered in when she’d first arrived, glared at her until she topped up his food dish, and then disappeared without eating any. Faust may have liked Raum better than her, but at least he liked her at all. It was a miracle, honestly.

She dragged a palm down her face and groaned. She was sick of all the self-deprecating thoughts, sick of berating herself. Yeah, she’d made mistakes and needed to right them, but this kind of thinking wasn’t helping anyone.

Problem was, she didn’t know how to start making amends when the person she needed to talk to was currently MIA. It bothered her that Raum was unconcerned, even though it made perfect, logical sense. Meph disappeared a lot. Why should this time be any different?

But she couldn’t get this urgent nagging out from under her skin, couldn’t shake the feeling that she needed to find himnow. Still, she couldn’t actually go wandering from club to club, so what did she think she was going to—

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

Her initial instinct was to ignore it. She wasn’t in the mood for company, and who came over without calling first?

But what if it was Meph? He couldn’t call because his phone was still in her pocket.

She raced down the hall toward the door. Grimalkin started to yowl from the living room. It had to be Meph. Grim only got that angry when there were demons around.

But as her fingers flipped the lock and pulled on the handle, she was hit with a sudden urge to slam the door and lock it again.Too late.The door was opening and—

It wasn’t Meph. It wasn’t Lily or even Antoine showing up to get his teeth knocked in.

It was her next-door neighbor.

“Um, hello?” She phrased it like a question because why the hell was he knocking on her door?

“Hello, Ms. Donovan.”

She frowned, trying to remember if she’d told him her name in their first conversation. For some reason, her heart was pounding, and her blood was ice. Grimalkin was hissing and spitting from the hall behind her, more upset than he ever got around Meph.

“What did you say your name was again?” she asked.

It was an odd question, but for some reason, it suddenly felt like critical information.

He smiled thinly. “I didn’t.”

And then he planted a palm on the door and shoved, sending it crashing against the wall.

Meph awoke with a groan, his head pounding. He blinked heavy eyelids and tried to roll over in bed, only to find his bed was just really uncomfortable, hard ground. And the skin on his abdomen hurt like holy hell.Fuck, it really hurt. It hurt so bad, it felt like he didn’t have any skin at all.