I have to get rid of the damn spirit so I can explain. Just another minute more.

All I have to do now is climb onto the bed with her—breathe—throw a sheet over us—breathe—and pretend. And then it will be over. I won’t let anything happen. I swallow hard and yank the blanket down from underneath her. She scoots back and I put my hands on the bed. Then a knee. Anna’s eyes are on my chest. She knows I’m coming for her, and she’s breathing fast.

I am nearly on top of her when the demon spirit makes a disgusting sound, like something gurgling inside a zombie’s throat. Anna flinches from it, then her eyes light up and she surprises the hell out of me.

“Do you have to be here?” she yells at it. “You’re really distracting.”

“Shut up,” it hisses into our minds, diving forward. “As if I want to be here with you boring Neph!”

Bingo, baby.

“Then leave,” I say in a lazy voice. “We’re almost finished here. Anyway, I think you’d find room 108 far more interesting.”

My heart is pounding. The whisperer goes still. Then moves up and down, pondering. Please, let this work.

“You won’t tell?” it hisses.

“Tell what?” I snap, as if I’m eager to get back to work. “You did what you bloody came to do—you saw me find the girl and assure she’s impure. Your job is done, and I can finish mine much better if you’re not hovering.”

For a horrible moment I imagine it will refuse, then it spins and disappears through the side wall into the hall. Just like that. I stare at that spot forever, because it’s too bloody good to be true. When he doesn’t come back, I fall to my face on the bed beside Anna, screaming into the mattress with relief and tension.

My man parts are crying.

I want Anna so bad. My girl is naked next to me. I didn’t even get a proper glimpse. I want to beg her to let me climb atop her, just for a moment, if I swear not to let it happen, just to have our bare bodies touching. . . .

Anna scrambles under the covers away from me and throws something soft over my bum.

Right. That’s a no.

I look at her face as she stares at the wall in agony, and I can’t take it any longer. I reach a hand over her waist and lay my head in her blanketed lap, breathing in her sweet scent. I have to erase any shred of doubt, fear, or distrust in her mind.

“I would have stopped, Anna. I swear,” I babble with desperation. “I’d die before I took you against your will. Please tell me you believe me.”

Her voice is filled with emotion when she says, “I believe you.”

My head is suddenly too heavy to lift, though I know I should move away from her. Then I feel Anna’s fingers tentatively push into my hair, moving through the strands so tenderly. I cannot move away.

“Get under the covers with me,” Anna whispers. “We need to lie here for a little while in case it comes back.”

Yes. I lift my head and the doubt is gone from her eyes. Only love and concern are there, and I feel myself melt.

Her head tilts and she touches my cheek. “There you are.”

Here I am.

She pulls back the sheet and I move next to her, shielding myself with a pillow. We lay silent, side by side, and I’m trying damn hard not to think about our nakedness. About her waist and hips and thighs and legs . . .

I bolt upright. The bruises!

I take her arm and gently twist it to find fingertip bruises on the soft flesh underneath. The smoking coals beneath my skin reignite with a vengeance.

“Anna . . . ,” I whisper in disbelief as I think about her being hit and kicked. Bright spots soar in my vision. “What. The bloody hell. Happened? Who did this to you?”

“Listen, Kai.” It’s her calming voice, but it’s not working. “I’m all right now, okay?”

No. Not okay at all. Anyone who is capable of putting marks like this on Anna does not deserve to live. “Who?” I demand.

“The sons of Thamuz.”

HolyMaryMotherofGod.

My mouth goes completely dry as I recall the things they did to Marna when she was so young—things that forced her to begin seeing evil whisperers. “What did they do?” I don’t want to hear it, but I need to know. If they raped her and stole her innocence, her power . . . “So help me God—”

“Nothing!” she assures me, grabbing my arm. She sounds as if she means it, and I try to calm my breathing. “They tried to take me, but I fought. And . . . Kope showed up.”

I’m sorry, what? “Kope?”

Her eyes dart about like she wants to run. “Yeah. Um. I figured it might be safe to call him for information. I didn’t ask him to come. I didn’t have any idea the sons of Thamuz were going to attack me. I was only planning to meet with the son of Shax to see if he was an ally. But I guess Kope was worried and came to make sure I was okay, and he showed up just in time. He went sort of crazy and beat the crap out of them.”

I can see the worry on her face, that I might get jealous, but I’m not jealous of Kope anymore. I know there’s nothing between them except friendship. However, my foolish pride makes me hate the fact that she had to ring another person for help while I had no clue what was happening. And I hate that Anna charges into these dangerous situations with no thought for her safety. She’s still too trusting.

I rub my face hard as exhaustion hits me.

“I can’t . . . I just . . . Anna, swear you’ll never engage another Neph like that. You’re bloody lucky Kope showed! God, what would I do? Look at you!” I move her hair aside and look at her back.

Her shoulder blade is swollen and purpled. I want to vomit, remembering how she’d yelped when I pushed her against the wall. “I’d no clue you were injured. I was too rough. . . .”

She takes my hand and angles herself so I can’t see it. “I’m okay. I swear. You had to be rough. It was more convincing that way.”

But I don’t hear her. I’m too busy picturing the evil sons of the Duke of Murder manhandling her. “I’ll kill them.”

Anna shushes me and pulls me back down until we’re lying close, facing each other.

“If it makes you feel any better,” she says, “I zapped one of them pretty good.”

“You did what?”

She points at the torch on the ground by the door. “It’s a stun gun.”

I chuckle at the thought of this, and Anna gives a small smile. We can’t stay in this hotel room long, but for now, Anna is safe, and Kope nearly beat the sons of Thamuz to death. I let myself picture it, and I feel a bit better.

We dodged a bullet tonight, but we’re not out of the dark yet. What happened tonight was only a temporary fix on a major problem. Father and the others will come looking for Anna eventually, and when they do, the true darkness will show itself. For now, I will hold her close.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Blake and the Twins

“Bright and early for the daily races, going nowhere, going nowhere . . .

I wanna drown my sorrow, no tomorrow, no tomorrow.”

—“Mad World” by Michael Andrews, featuring Gary Jules

I don’t want to leave Anna. Not when I know she’s being sought by madmen, and they’ve already laid hands on her once. I will never rest when she’s out of my sight. I trust that her father is working on a plan, but he’s MIA and Anna’s not sure where to turn next.

Too much has happened in the short time since she was in California. She tells me about her strange interactions with the son of Duke Shax, named Marek, and the daughter of Duke Jezebet, named Caterina. I don’t trust them. We know Caterina is not on our side—she was the one who told the Dukes that Flynn was lying, which led to his death. Marek is a wild card.