Chapter 2
Well, this was a cluster of all fucks. Noah angled his body toward Ivar in case the Viking decided to leap across the room and tackle Raine Maxwell.
Not that Noah didn’t want to take the vampire down, just for fun.
But considering Raine was probably there to kill Ivar, or at the very least investigate him, blood was surely going to flow soon.
And the vampire was sitting, rather smugly, next to the fragile human female. Abby Miller. A placid name, a calm roll of the consonants. But the woman. Noah couldn’t stop studying her.
Brown hair to her shoulders, greenish-brown eyes, small build. She held herself at full alert, even sitting, as if expecting an attack at any moment. There was anger lurking in her pretty eyes, but there was a well of alertness. Of fear, as well.
This was the oddest of all self-help groups, that was for damn sure.
Then a demoness walked in. A real one. Pure bred.
Long blonde hair, deeper than black eyes, tiny stature.
Power wafted around her as she all but glided to the remaining chair next to the shrink.
Noah had never met a real life pure-bred demoness.
They were incredibly rare and impressively powerful. What the holy hell?
She looked up, scanned the room, and then chuckled. Throaty and sexy, the sound vibrated through the room. “Well. This is interesting.”
Yeah. That was surprise and curiosity in her eyes.
She hadn’t known there would be other immortals in the group.
What the hell was a real demoness doing in a human anger-management group?
The female looked up toward the door and sighed, her pink lips turning down as a male leaned against the door jamb.
Human male. Interesting. A cop with badge secured to his belt. About six-foot-two, brown hair, matching beard, blue eyes that had seen some shit. He glared at the demoness and then turned, lifted his chin, his gaze softening, at Abby Miller.
A growl rolled up from Noah’s chest, shocking the heck out of him.
Abby blinked and returned a tentative smile.
The shrink cleared her voice. “Can I help you?”
“No,” the human said. “I’m Detective O’Connell and I just wanted to make sure Abby and Tabitha made it here safely.”
Ah. So cop ordered. But a demoness would just disappear if needed, so why was she going through this farce? And how did the cop know sweet Abby?
“Tabi,” the demoness muttered. “Call me Tabi.”
Abby and Tabi? Shit. This was like a bad sitcom. Noah started as something close to a smile lifted Ivar’s lips. Oh, it was there and gone faster than a blink, but it had been there nonetheless. Maybe this crazy idea was a good thing. Who knew?
“All right. Let’s get started.” The shrink put some authority into her smooth voice. “I’m Dr. Lopez, and you can all call me Mariana. I’m taking over for Dr. Johnson for the next two weeks, since he’s out of town. We should be in the nicer room upstairs, and I apologize for the inconvenience.”
Noah frowned. “You’re an expert in PTSD?” If the woman couldn’t help Ivar, he was out of there.
“No,” she murmured, her cheeks flushing slightly. “I do have some experience with anger management, but usually I work with children.”
Fucking wonderful.
“Let’s go,” Ivar muttered, not moving.
Noah almost nodded, but his gaze roamed to Abby again. She’d looked relieved at Mariana’s statement. Why? Damn curiosity. There was something about her that he couldn’t place. A sense. So he stayed on his chair. Just for this meeting.
“Why aren’t we upstairs?” Raine asked calmly, his voice not quite as hoarse as a demon’s but close enough.
Noah had never met him, but he’d heard of the soldier’s record.
The vampire was known as a fierce fighter from a long line of soldiers—not aligned with the Realm. Not opposed to them, either. “Mariana?”
The shrink flushed. “That’s neither here nor there. So. Who would like to start? Let’s get to know each other. How about we talk about the inciting incidents that led to your being here today?”
Ivar grunted. “Listen. I went through hell, am angry, and was supposed to meet with your PTSD dude before I get in to see an expert who’s dealing with some rogue demons in Europe right now.” He nodded at Noah. “Lily. The prophet.”
Man, the guy had forgotten where they were. Noah forced a chuckle. “The rogue demons are just some angry soldiers, so I’ve heard. And everyone calls Dr. Lily a prophet because she has a reputation of being able to help somebody to the degree that she can tell their future.”
Tabi snorted delicately.
Yeah, he was full of shit.
Even Raine pressed his lips together to keep from smiling. The two human females just looked at him, having no clue of the undercurrents in the room.
“Ah, I see,” Mariana murmured. “Well, maybe talking it out to this group will help you, Ivar. At least until you can get in to see the expert.”
Ivar returned to staring at the basement window up high in the wall.
Mariana correctly gauged his expression and slid his file to the bottom. “So. Who’s next?”
The cop coughed. “Tabitha? How about you?”
The demoness cut him a glare that should’ve shriveled the human, but the guy didn’t seem moved.
Impressive. “Fine,” she muttered. “I purchased the abandoned assembly plant right outside of town for one of my businesses, and I was out there taking a look when four young men decided to act like jackasses.”
Noah barely held back a wince.
“You put all four of them in the hospital,” the cop drawled.
She rolled her eyes. “They deserved it.” With a huff, she straightened. “Turns out one of them is the sheriff’s kid and the judge’s nephew, so there you go.”
Abby blanched. “Yeah. I know the two of them as well.”
Noah’s stomach tightened. Her tone had been low and sad and furious. What was her story, anyway? Then he turned toward Tabitha. So what? She could’ve blown town. Easy.
She caught his expression. “Part of the, ah, fight was caught on a cell phone video by one of the miscreants. That video is in the possession of Detective Smartass there, and apparently he only keeps things in a bank vault.”
Ah. So she was caught on video and had to get it back before disappearing. It was imperative, considering she’d live forever, probably, and couldn’t remain on video in this timeframe. He gave her a light nod. “Understood.”
Ivar kept his focus on the dirty window. “I know a great bank robber. She’s a demoness, too.”
Damn it.
Mariana turned toward him. “You seem to have an interest with the occult and the otherworld. With maybe hell and repercussions? The demons, Ivar.”
Ivar blinked and looked at her. “The occult? Huh?”
Was now a good time to tell her that Noah and Ivar were both demon-vampire hybrids? Probably not. Noah elbowed Ivar. “Ignore his vernacular. We learned such pseudonyms in the military.”
Yeah, right. Man, this was a disaster.
Abby tried not to feel sympathy for the screwed-up guy who looked like one of those actors from the Viking show on Netflix.
He really did see demons everywhere. She smiled at the detective.
Without him, she’d be in jail right now.
The guy definitely had come to her aid, when everyone else was against her.
He smiled back.
The sexy guy next to Ivar pinned her with a look. Noah. Such a nice name for somebody so obviously dangerous. What was it about him? Heat climbed into her face, and she turned toward the shrink. “I’m not sure what all to say.” Nobody believed the truth. Except maybe the cop.
“Just tell us what happened,” Mariana said, clutching her files.
“Well, I agreed to a plea bargain for throwing a pitcher at my ex-husband’s head during a domestic dispute that the asshat started and finished.
” The judge had warned her, very sternly, about slander charges if she said anything bad against Monte, so she stuck with the judge’s final Order.
It didn’t matter that she’d never even had a chance to throw a pitcher before he’d hit her.
She still had bruises on her ribs from that last fight.
“The prosecutor was going for a jail sentence, and I took a plea deal that Detective O’Connell made sure I could get. ” Abby sat back.
Mariana blinked. “Your file shows several arrests and plea bargains.”
“Yeah. I’ve read my file,” Abby said, not expecting anybody to believe the truth. They never did.
Mariana tapped a file. “I can’t help you with your anger issues if you don’t delve into the full truth about where your anger comes from.” Her voice was soft and kind.
“Nobody can help me,” Abby returned, plucking a string on her jeans.
Ivar looked at her for the first time. “I can kill him if you want. Then you won’t have to throw pitchers at his head any longer.” The total unconcerned way he spoke made his words all the more chilling.
Noah chuckled and elbowed him hard in the gut.
“He’s kidding. Bad sense of humor. We learned that in the service.
” But his gaze stayed on Abby, searching deep.
She could almost feel his intent, and it wasn’t an entirely bad sensation.
Warning ticked through her head, even as he spoke again.
“Can we read each other’s files?” he asked.
“No,” Mariana said. “But this is a safe place, and we can talk about anything.”
“There are no safe places,” Raine returned, almost cheerfully, his gaze square on Ivar.
Ivar rolled his head. “You have no idea, asshole.”
Mariana lifted a hand. “This has to be a safe place. No swearing or name calling, please.”
If that was the voice she used with the kids she normally counseled, it was probably effective. Abby straightened. “Sorry.” She shouldn’t have cursed.
“She meant me,” Ivar said, still slouching.
Mariana turned toward Noah, her hands tightening again on the manila files. “So. Noah. How about you tell us what motivates you?”
“Vengeance,” he said smoothly.
Her eyebrows rose while Abby leaned back in her chair. Vengeance? To just say the word so casually and honestly. The man had some serious confidence, and that should not interest her. Not in the slightest. So why did it?
“It’s like this,” he began to explain. “My brother was killed, and now I have to avenge his death.”
Raine nodded from across the room. “I heard about Clyde. Sorry. Met him once, ah, overseas on assignment. Was a good guy.”
Noah’s chin lowered. “You have any Intel on”—he glanced at the humans—”the insurgent who took him out?” The look on his face promised bloodshed.
“No. Sorry.” Raine’s gaze flickered to Ivar and then back. “I’ve been on a different assignment. Away from the conflict that involved your brother.” He sat back, his gaze serious, the sarcasm and amusement dropped for a moment. “But I can put out some feelers, if you’d like.”
Noah’s back teeth ground together with an audible sound. “I’m thinking you and I aren’t going to work together.”
“That remains to be seen,” Raine drawled, his sardonic expression firmly back in place.
“Try it,” Ivar muttered, not even looking the man’s way.
This was so odd. It was as if the two men were speaking in code. But why? Abby forgot her problems and just watched the two in the hope of gaining more info.
Noah glanced to the side. “I’m not sure you want to be issuing challenges right now, Ivar.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Mariana cleared her throat. “Ivar? What’s your motivation here?”
The Viking straightened and slowly, very slowly, turned his head to face the shrink. “To get right back to hell. As soon as possible.”