The Price of Possession by Dakota Brown (universal ebook reader txt) 📗

I shook my head, grabbed a towel, and finished dryingoff. Once I was dry, I went into my bedroom and grabbed clothes, before diggingaround in a desk drawer and finding some pink tinted glasses. They were meantto be a fashion accessory, but they were light enough that I could wear theminside and hopefully it would hide the red in my eyes. No, I hadn't boughtthem. They'd been a gag gift years ago and I'd kept them mostly because I'dforgotten about their existence until now.

I threw them on and looked in my dresser mirror. Itwas going to have to be good enough unless I was going to start wearing actualsunglasses inside.

Steeling myself, I left my bedroom and headed for theliving room, where I could sense Sabian. I presumed Mal was there if he hadn'tleft. This extra sense of the demons in the house was really weird. Even thehellhound was like a faint pull, though he trotted along my side.

"Chris," Sabian said hopefully when I cameinto the room.

Mal arched an eyebrow, I presumed at the pink tingedglasses.

"Hide the red?"

He studied me for a moment before inclining his head. "Wellenough. If anyone noticed, they'd probably assume you went on a bender and hada bad hangover."

"Wouldn't be the first time," I muttered.

"Are you hungry?"

"Now that you mention it, I could probably eat anentire cow."

His smile was hesitant, but he got up from the chairand headed for the kitchen. "You slept later than I expected, but I madebiscuits and gravy since that would be easy to reheat."

"Thank you." I went over to one of thestools, sat and leaned my elbows on the counter. I cradled my head and shut myeyes. "What the fuck have I gotten myself into?"

Mal slid a plate in front of me and put a hand on myshoulder.

The demon flinched, which led to me flinching. Malpulled his hand away.

I grabbed his hand and pulled it back. "Wasn'tme. Sorry, guess the prince either isn't used to being touched or doesn't likeit."

"I'm sorry I attacked you," he said.

"I'm sorry I got you nearly killed. If it helpsany, Mal, I didn't feel anything you did to me, and I knew what I was gettinginto." I twisted around on the stool until I faced him.

His face was drawn, and I pulled him against me.

The prince was basically quivering with distaste. Iignored him as best as I could.

Mal finally reached around me and held me close.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yes."

We held each other for a few moments before I let himgo.

"Are we okay?" I forced out.

Mal's lips twitched into a weak smile. "Yes.Though, I may sleep at home for a while since your guest doesn't like to betouched."

I clenched my jaw, but nodded.

I almost laughed at the prince's sigh of relief.

You'd better not be sticking around long if that's thecost. I'd gotten used to being heldat night.

Ezra didn't reply.

Mal brushed his knuckles along my cheek before leaningover and kissing my forehead. "I have to head into the shop for a while,Chris. Don't go anywhere alone and I'll call you later, okay?"

"What about you, mate?"

His smile widened into something predatory. "I'mon to their tricks now. They won't catch me off guard again." Then hisexpression fell. "I'm sorry about that. I truly didn't expect to beattacked in the middle of the square. That kind of isolation spell is not easy.Clearly this occultist is far more skilled than I had anticipated."

"Hey, I was the one window shopping. Someoccultists we are, huh?"

"Yeah, well, now we know." He kissed megently on the lips then turned to leave.

"Hey, Mal. Guess we should practice some moreroleplaying, since we may not be up to anything more interesting for a littlewhile, huh?"

He turned back to me, his eyes lighting up withdelight. "I'd like that."

I winked. "We'll have to teach the prince how toplay. I'll call you tonight. Maybe a game tomorrow?"

He nodded and this time he did leave.

I turned my attention to Sabian. He wilted.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"You saved my life, Sabian. In theory I'm goingto survive this, too. It'll be okay. Thank you."

He looked relieved, then his gaze darted down to thehellhound. "I thought you had named him. I shouldn't have assumed. I'msorry for that, as well."

"It's not your fault, Sabian. I should have andmy passenger informed me of my failure there. Mayhem. That's what I'm callinghim now."

Sabian's eyebrows rose and he chuckled. "Fitting,I suppose. Okay, well that's handled. You should eat your breakfast before itgets cold. Then we need to figure out what is next."

I turned back to my plate, and groaned at the firstbite. Damn that vampire could cook. "Where is Aaron?"

"He's hiding in his room."

"Okay. So, I'm assuming you're not going to betouching me, either?" I thought back to his absence last night.

Sabian didn't answer, but when I looked at him, he wasstaring at his hands, looking upset again.

"It's not your fault, mate. Not happy about it,but not blaming you. So, what are we going to do about keeping you from gettinghungry enough to throw two random strangers into each other's arms?"

A hint of chagrinned amusement broke through hissolemn expression. "Seems to have worked out for you."

"Yeah, but I'm not real anxious to share you, orMal..." I broke off and frowned. Where had that come from? No, I didn'twant to share them, but what the hell kind of say did I have in it? Especiallysince they seemed okay with sharing me.

"You're the only woman for me, Chris Price,"Sabian said, voice quiet. "And I doubt Mal feels any different. You're ourexorcist. Don't worry about me. I'll figure something out. If nothing else,your enjoyment of Mal's cooking helps some."

I patted my stomach. "Yeah, it's a good thing Ihave the metabolism of a racehorse because otherwise I'd have gained twentypounds in the last few days."

"You'd be amazing no matter how much weight youdid or didn't have. But let's not worry too much about it right now. I'm finefor a few days."

"Great. So, what's next?" I finishedshoveling food in my face and put the dish in the sink.

"We need to know what