Chapter 7 Distraction
DISTRACTION
ASH
The human’s struggle to understand Cyn and Zeke’s explanations troubled me. She wasn’t on the edge of panic, but disbelief screamed from her expression as she shifted between open-mouthed stares and frowns.
Something was off, and it started moments before I materialized in her kitchen. I still didn’t understand how we got here.
“I can’t believe this,” the human said, wrapping her arms around her waist as if protecting herself.
I didn’t like that.
Something about her triggered instincts I felt only for my brothers. I didn’t have time to care about anyone else.
Nyrith.
I rubbed my forehead as the word echoed in my head.
She couldn’t be my mate. Humans weren’t capable of mating with our kind.
My body rebelled against the denial as the memory of our first touch flooded back. Every atom in my being went into a frenzy, screaming for the beautiful human the instant I touched her.
I shuddered at the memory of seeing her fingers glide across Cyn’s horns. A pang of something I refused to name shot through me.
She hadn’t even touched my horns, yet the phantom sensation teased a part of me I kept locked away with discipline and focus.
Cyn seemed to feed not only on her touch but also on how her blood called to him.
It called to me too.
The moment broken glass pierced her skin and her blood’s sweet scent reached me, my legs weakened. With Cyn’s penchant for blood, he never stood a chance.
Of the four of us, Cyn wasn’t the most dangerous, but his impulsive nature added uncertainty to an already precarious situation. She seemed nervous around him—fearful. Even when she touched him willingly, hesitation lingered in her delicate caress.
Wanting to draw her attention away from him, I asked, “Why is this so hard to believe when we’ve shown you proof?”
She pressed her fingers into her eyes, her tone exasperated. “Oh, I don’t know… Demons are the fairy-tale creatures you hear about in church. Grotesque monsters who feed on and steal the souls of both the good and the damned. Not…” She waved a hand in Cyn’s direction.
“Not what?” Zeke asked with a playful lilt. He seemed the most amused by the little human—but then, most things amused Zeke if he wasn’t stuck in his head.
“That!” She huffed a sharp breath, blowing the tendril of hair that had fallen from her bun out of her face.
Zeke moved to her side and tugged on a strand of hair. “His name is Cyntrix, not that.” He winked. “Now, what about him?”
Her cheeks turned scarlet.
“That’s a pretty color on you,” Zeke said, twirling the hair around his finger. When she swatted his hand, unfazed and unafraid, the smile that spread across his face relaxed me. “Oh, come on. We’re all friends here.”
Ezra, who’d been silently observing from a distance, made a mocking sound.
“I’m not your friend. Demon or not, this is my house. You don’t have any business here.” She stepped away from Zeke, and his smile fell.
“We can’t leave.” I clasped my hands between my knees. “We don’t exactly have a place to go—or currency from this world to use.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to leave anyway, not until I understood my feelings.
“This world?”
Cyn crossed his arms. “This is Earth, is it not?”
Bewilderment crossed her features. “It is… Are you saying you’re not from Earth? Wait.” She raised a hand to stop him from answering. “Shouldn’t Hell be underground, near the Earth’s core or something? How are you not from Earth?”
Ezra turned away, shoulders shaking, suddenly interested in something in the kitchen. I knew he was trying not to laugh at the sheer absurdity of living near the Earth’s core.
Unlike Ezra, Zeke’s lack of tact was obvious as he held his stomach and cackled.
She frowned, unimpressed.
“We’re not from Hell,” Cyn said, lip curling.
“What? But you’re demons… shouldn’t you be from Hell?”
Zeke composed himself and shook his head. “It’s not real. At least not the way you think, anyway.”
Ezra turned back to the room, his tone dismissive. “None of this is important. What’s important is seeing if there is a ritual to send us back. We’re wasting time. If the council learns we aren’t in Elyrdin, the consequences could be severe.”
If Ezra’s father discovered his son and the other heirs left without his permission, we’d face a fury I didn’t want to imagine.
I looked at Zeke’s ashen face and pressed my tongue against the inside of my cheek. We had to find a way home. I couldn’t let my curiosity distract me from protecting my brothers.
Cyn turned away to the kitchen, opening the book and flipping through its pages. “I’ll try to find something.”
Zeke tossed his head back and groaned. “I’m hungry. Your dad would not shut up. I didn’t get to eat dinner.”
Ezra sighed. “If you’d like to tell Father to be silent, be my guest.”
Zeke held both hands up in surrender. “Not for all the cheesy pizzas in Elyrdin.”
“Sit down,” Cyn called from the kitchen. “I can’t concentrate.”
“But I’m hungry,” Zeke whined, over his reaction to Ezra’s earlier comment. Ezra would never make Zeke face his father. None of us would, if we could help it.
Ezra’s father only saw us as tools to manipulate to accomplish his goals, but his treatment of Zeke went beyond anything the rest of us endured.
“Um. I have pizza,” the pretty human said, voice soft and uncertain. It was the first time I’d heard insecurity creep into her tone. Even in shock, she’d sounded sure of herself.
Zeke rushed forward and grabbed her hands, startling her. “I will love you forever if you let me have a slice.” He bit his lip, considering his words. “Three slices.”
Cyn’s head shot up, staring between them, jaw ticking.
“T-that’s not necessary. But you can have some,” the woman said, pulling her hands from Zeke’s and putting distance between them before limping into the kitchen. She stopped short at Cyn’s murderous look. “What?”
His lip curled into a sneer before he returned his attention to the book.
It seemed he moved past whatever tempted him earlier in favor of disdain. All the better. Even if we left, if the council discovered Cyn had murdered a human, the outcome would be catastrophic. I didn’t want to think about the aftermath, much less her coming to harm.
I stood, moving to the counter beside Cyn, where he studied the book. “Don’t take Zeke seriously. You know he only sees you.”
He glared up at me before flipping another page, dismissing me without a word.
Okay then.
I looked up and found the human staring at me. I really needed to ask her name. Reducing her to a species didn’t feel right. I wanted to know everything about her.
“Do you want some?” She held up a plastic bag full of pizza slices.
“I had dinner, but thank you.”
I arched a brow at her small laugh. “Something funny?”
“Never pictured a demon would say thank you—or even act like y’all do.
” She glanced at Cyn and Ezra. “Well, some of you.” She shook whatever thought occupied her mind, her eyes lingering on my brothers.
“What about you two? Pizza? If I’m entertaining demons, I might as well feed you all.
It doesn’t seem like you’re going anywhere. ”
“Ezra doesn’t like pizza,” Zeke said, stealing her attention and hopping up to sit on the counter next to where Cyn hunched over the book. “That’s Cyn’s favorite kind.”
“Demons eat pizza,” she said with a soft laugh, pulling down two plates from the cabinet. I liked the sound of her laugh. “Microwave or oven?”
“Microwave.”
“You have those in…” She paused, mouth parted, meeting Zeke’s eyes. A little divot formed between her brows. “If it’s not Hell, then where are you from?”
“Elyrdin. And yeah, we have everything you have here on Earth and then some. Microwaves, computers, TVs, cars…”
“Cars?”
“Yeah, only inside Elyrdin. It’s dangerous to have something so noisy outside the city. But inside the walls? It’s a lot like Earth.”
“Right. Why am I not surprised at this point?” She frowned at Zeke. “I have stools on the other side of the counter, you know.”
Zeke grabbed an apple from a basket on the counter and tossed it at Ezra, ignoring her comment. “You need to eat something.”
Ezra sniffed the apple, glancing at the human as she frowned and turned away when he took a bite.
It didn’t surprise me that Ezra wanted to ice her out after discovering she caused our current misfortune. Still, it didn’t sit right with me. She seemed to be a victim of someone’s meddling herself.
A human getting her hands on a book branded with such an important mark couldn’t be coincidence.
The book shouldn’t even exist on the human plane.
Someone wanted her to have it, and I needed to find out who meddled in the human world before Ezra’s father did—especially if that interference triggered a false bonding instinct.
“So what’s your name?” Zeke asked around a bite of pizza.
She paused, holding the handle of the refrigerator. “What?”
“Your. Name.” He smiled. “I don’t think you want us to keep calling you ‘the human,’ do you?”
Her nose wrinkled. “No, I guess not. It’s Raelynn.”
“Raelynn,” he repeated, dragging out the second half of her name as if testing the sound on his tongue. “I like it. Can I call you Rae?”
She shrugged, opening the refrigerator. “I don’t see why not. My friends do.”
“So we’re friends then?”
“I already said we’re not friends.”
“But you said I can call you Rae.”
“And?”
“And your friends call you Rae.”
She looked over at Zeke and then at me. “Is he always like this?”
I chuckled. “Always.”
Cyn lifted his head from the book, glancing over his shoulder at Raelynn. “Don’t make fun of him. There’s nothing wrong with him.”
“What? I’m not.” She crossed her arms. “I never said anything was wrong with him.” At his glare, she snapped, “What the hell?” She looked at Zeke. “Did I say anything bad about you?”
“Nope. Cyn is protective, that’s all.” He shrugged and took another bite of pizza.