Jenna Black - The Devil You Know

My throat tightened as Brian struggled to his feet. I could see the rug burn that reddened the heels of both his hands, and indignation surged through my veins, even as I realized Adam had probably done a good thing by preventing Brian from leaving.

“You didn’t have to manhandle him like that, asshole!” I said, then hurried to put myself between Adam and Brian. I had more to say, but Dom interrupted.

“Time out, both of you. I know how much you love to fight, but we’ve got more important things to do right now.” His voice was firm and authoritative, sure of himself. I kept thinking about him as a mildly submissive beta male—mainly because Adam was so dominant—but Dom had a steely backbone hidden beneath the nice-guy surface. And he didn’t seem to be intimidated by Adam’s death glare.

I stayed out of it as the two of them stared at each other as if they were having a silent conversation. And if I hadn’t seen it happen before between the two of them, I’d have been shocked to see Adam actually back down. He held up both hands in a gesture of surrender. Meanwhile, Brian looked back and forth between Adam and Dominic and me. His gaze finally settled on me.

“You know these guys?” he asked.

I realized with a little shock that Brian had never met Adam and Dom. Not while conscious, at least. I cleared my throat.

“Uh, yeah. These are the guys who rescued you when you were kidnapped. Adam White,” I said, pointing, “and Dominic Castello.”

Brian took a moment to absorb that, turning his attention back to Adam and Dom. “Thanks, I guess.” He looked more closely at Adam. “I’ve seen you on TV. You’re the Director of Special Forces, aren’t you?”

Adam nodded.

Brian held up his rug-burned hands. “So what’s this all about?”

Adam ignored him and looked at me. “Didn’t you tell him anything?”

Dom put a hand on his arm. “Take it down a notch.”

Adam turned to him. “When did you get so goddamn pushy?” he complained. But I noticed he didn’t make any attempt to shake off his lover’s hand.

Dominic’s eyes twinkled with mischief, and he grinned. “You can put me in my place later.”

My cheeks went hot as I sorted out the nuances in Dominic’s words. I wondered if everyone in the room heard them, or whether it was just because I had up-close-and-personal experience with them.

“I told him I had a rogue demon after me,” I said a little too loudly, trying to cover my discomfort. “He made it clear he wasn’t interested in my help, and I couldn’t talk him into staying. What did you expect me to do?”

Adam flashed me a look that told me exactly what he’d expected me to do, but with Dominic’s hand still on his arm, he managed to control his desire to tell me out loud.

Dominic smiled pleasantly at Brian. “Maybe it’s better if I do the talking so we don’t have to see any more of the snake-and-mongoose act.” Adam and I snorted in unison. Dom ignored us. “Why don’t we all sit down?”

Brian thought about that a minute, then went to sit on the couch without another word. Adam and Dom took the love seat, and Andy took the other end of the couch, leaving the middle seat for me. He refused to meet my narrowed eyes, but I couldn’t help thinking he was doing a little matchmaking. Then again, maybe he just didn’t like the idea of sitting right next to another guy on the sofa. My brain was conjuring up ulterior motives for everything.

I sat down and opened my mouth to say something—I’m not entirely sure what—but Dominic cut me off.

“Please let me do the talking. I find you and Adam entertaining, but I doubt Brian and Andrew are equally amused.”

I made a zipping-my-lips gesture, and Dominic turned his attention to Brian.

“The demon that’s after Morgan is known as Der Jäger. From what I understand, he’s the demon equivalent of a sociopath, and we all believe the easiest way for him to get to Morgan is through someone she knows and trusts. Which means you and I and Andrew are all prime targets. He’s already abandoned two hosts that we know of, which goes to show how little respect he has for human life. If he took one of us, he would destroy us and kill Morgan. I know you and Morgan aren’t together anymore, but Der Jäger might not know that—and might not care even if he does.”

Brian frowned at him. “And where do the two of you come into the picture?”

“Adam and I are Morgan’s friends,” Dominic answered, which made Adam snort with derision and Brian’s eyes narrow in speculation. I supposed he hadn’t caught the earlier innuendo that had made me so uncomfortable.

I gave Brian a little prod with my elbow. “Not that kind of friends,” I said.

Adam chuckled and slung his arm around Dom’s shoulders. “Definitely not.”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t you two start.”

Adam blinked at me innocently. “Start what?”

“Anyway,” Dom said loudly before Adam and I could escalate, “with Der Jäger on the hunt, we really do need to take precautions. Andrew is staying here with Morgan, and I’m staying with Adam.” He looked at Brian. “That leaves only you. It isn’t safe for you to just go back to your apartment and act as if nothing’s wrong.”

Brian stared at Adam. “You’re the Director of Special Forces. If you think I’m in danger from this demon, you can assign me some protection.”

But Adam shook his head. “I’m not here in any official capacity. There are some facts about this case that I can’t divulge.”

“Like why this demon is after Morgan?”

Afraid I was about to be caught in a lie, I tried to keep Adam from commenting. “I told him—”

Brian spoke over me. “Don’t tell him what you told me! I want to hear from Mr. White himself why he believes this demon is after you.”

“Whatever Morgan told you is a lie,” Adam said, and it was all I could do not to leap out of my chair and smack him. “She can’t tell you the truth about this any more than I can. There are things you are better off not knowing. This is one of them.”

Brian ignored me like I wasn’t even there. “This doesn’t have anything to do with why Andrew—that is, Andrew’s demon—kidnapped me, does it?”

Adam grinned. “Would you believe me if I said no?”

We all knew the answer to that.

“If my life’s in danger,” Brian said, “I have a right to know why.”

“I’m not at liberty to reveal that. And as I said, you’re better off not knowing.”

“That line of reasoning doesn’t work for me. I don’t buy into the whole ignorance is bliss thing.”

Adam shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I’ve told you everything I can at the moment.”

Brian stood up. “Then I guess I’m going home.”

Adam arched an eyebrow. “And how, exactly, are you planning to get past me?”

“Are you threatening me?”

“In a manner of speaking. I’m not letting you leave this apartment on your own.”

Brian rubbed his jaw. “And what would your superiors have to say if I reported that you threatened me?”

Okay, this was starting to get ugly. I reached for Brian’s arm. “Don’t mess with Adam. He’s got the conscience of a tapeworm.” Dominic swallowed a laugh as Adam’s face reddened. “I don’t agree with his methods, but he’s right.”

Brian stared down at me. “Considering you threatened to Taser me, I don’t think you have any room to throw stones at his methods. And let me get this straight—am I being kidnapped again?”

Luckily for everyone involved, levelheaded Dominic intervened. “All we’re trying to do is keep everyone safe. You can’t have official police protection, but you need to take some kind of precautions. You don’t want a hostile demon rampaging around in your head.”