The next morning was a little better—courtesy of a contrite Ellery doing the dirty work at the bar—and the night ended with me snug in my own home, Momma R’s wards in place and everything sparkling like new.

Blooming Aster and her family were gods and goddesses on Earth. All signs of black goo and entrails were banished, and my furniture was back in shape. Even better, Blooming’s mother, Wilting Bluebell, agreed to be my housekeeper. The woman was nearing six hundred and she was tired of long nights. She loved her job, don’t get her wrong, but her joints preferred warm days over chilly nights.

I did not give a flying fuck. I let the brownies take over my home which left me with one less thing to worry about. As far as I was concerned, it was their house as long as they left me space to store my weapons and sleep.

The bar was the same. Brownies invaded. Invaded.

And I had never been happier. At least, that’s what I told myself.

I said that the first day when I found Bergamot behind the bar, pouring drinks to newcomers. The mixed tweener loved his brownie heritage, but the man was six feet tall and menacing as hell thanks to his demon dad. He wasn’t exactly built for fast as hell late night cleaning. I’d merely shrugged and had him fill out new hire paperwork.

Said it again on the second day when all new chairs—spelled of course to deter breakage—appeared courtesy of another of Blooming’s relatives.

I decided to adopt them all and never let them go. Ever. But not in a “you’re captive” kind of way. Because that would be creepy. And wrong.

Then again, I was the devil’s niece. I could probably get away with it. But I didn’t and on the thirteenth day of pretending to be deliriously happy with my Sam-less life, shit got real.

Heh, it was even Friday the thirteenth. Party day for the dems, gels, and tweeners. My bar was always hopping as were the rest of the town’s vacationers. Well, the non-human half, anyway. My patrons always packed Hell’s Chapel as if it were Mardi Gras. The road was filled with my people, Orlando residents and visitors always putting the partyers’ strange appearances on the local mouse’s parks.

Which was fine with me and everyone else. It let them rock out with their fangs out.

And normally, I was in the middle of it with them, stomping on the bar, raising my glass and tossing back a shot. The alcohol turned to vapor before it hit my stomach, so it meant a night of swigging liquor with ease. But tonight… I just wasn’t feeling my normal joy.

Instead, I stayed behind the counter, ignoring Jezebeth flirting with customers and the way Edzard glared at any male who got too close to the witch. I also ignored the women who slipped Bergamot their numbers. Let him get his fuck on as long as it wasn’t in my back room.

The cluster fuck of my life didn’t involve those three directly. At the moment, it included one belligerent, dumb ass, fuck hole of a human. Apparently, Tori grew a set of brass ovaries since my date with Sam because there she was, pushing her way past a thelac demon that had to be at least a millennia old and then some. Ooh, there went a troll stumbling into a goblin. I flicked my attention to the door and then back to the impending fight. My staff went into motion, wading through the chaos Tori caused. I’d deal with how the woman managed to sneak in later.

Eek, Tori went tumbling into a kappa. I hoped the gray-green vamp didn’t suck the human bitch dry in the middle of Hell’s Chapel. Later was fine, but I really didn’t want to deal with a dead body tonight. My wolf was strained and snappish with Sam’s absence. It was hard enough keeping the beast under control. I knew I’d snap if I had to handle a corpse.

It’d be another Chicago.

I still felt really bad about that.

Damn it, the bitch went bulldozing through a satyr’s conversation. I hoped the male didn’t decide to give her a whack with one of his cloven hooves.

Finally the woman shoved her way to the bar and collapsed over it, chest pressed to the smooth wood as she panted for breath.

I wiped the surface with my towel and then focused on the chick. The quicker she said what she needed to say, the quicker she was gone. I wasn’t ready to test the brownies’ spelled furniture yet and there was no guarantee Tori wouldn’t start a brawl. She was pretty in a skinny, lemme use your right arm as a toothpick kind of way.

“What the fuck d’ya want?” I felt no need to be polite. At all.

“What have you done with him?”

I sighed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you’re looking for Sam, I haven’t seen him in weeks.”

Thirteen days, but I wasn’t counting.

“Not Sam,” the bitch snarled. Which was surprising. Not the snarling but the ‘not Sam’ part. “My brother.” Tori narrowed her eyes. “I know about you and all this. My cousin talked to you and then you took Sam from me. Now my brother. You have it in for my family.”

“Look, Tori, I’ve been accused of many things—most of them true—but having it in for your family isn’t on my list of evil deeds.” Lately. Though the woman showing up at Hell’s Chapel gave me ideas. “So back the fuck up and either explain yourself or get the fuck out.” I reached for a glass. “And if you’re staying, you gotta order. No one sits at the bar without ordering a drink.”

The woman pressed her lips together until they were a white line. “Fine. I’ll take a white wine.”

I stared at her. Hell, the demons and tweeners nearby stared at her. “Excuse me?”

“White wine. This bar can’t be a complete waste of space. The sign is all modern and pretty despite all this,” she wrinkled her nose, “grime. You have to have white wine,” Tori sniped.

Everyone surrounding her took a giant step back, leaving the human in an empty three-foot-wide circle.

Cardinal rule in Hell’s Chapel—you don’t talk about the logo. It was my baby and the first person to utter a word—good or bad—was on a straight shot to Uncle Luc’s. Do not pass go, do not get a fire retardant suit.

I took a calming breath, fighting my wolf and hellfire back. If either found a chink in my armor, they’d be on the loose and tearing through Tori.

“This isn’t the place for you, Tori.” The voice was deep velvet and filled my ear a moment before the delicious scent twined around me. It sank into my blood, filled my veins and slithered through my body. It touched those shriveled nooks and crannies and filled them with hope.

So much fucking hope and I wanted to punch him in the suck hole for handing it over. Because if he walked away again…

Tori opened her mouth to reply and the man behind me cut her off. “You’re going to leave.”

“But my brother…”

“Took an extended vacation, but is at home now. Your cousin is with him. Leave Hell’s Chapel and don’t ever come back.” The order in his voice was unmistakable and even I was tempted to follow his directions.

“No,” Tori bristled. “I know—”

“That, for your health, you’ll leave.” The man’s tone was hard and unyielding. And very, very scary.

Well, probably to the human. To me? It just got me hot and aching to climb him like a tree.

The woman frowned and a Styrofoam cup was pushed across the gleaming wood. “Here’s your drink. Leave.”

That had me frowning and I turned my head to stare at Sam’s profile. Sam. I knew his voice, but there he was. Sam.

“We have white wine?”

He shifted his gaze to me ever so slightly. “Call it a bonus of being me.”

Ah. Angel powers used for evil. Though, it could be called for good since it was a good thing Sam got me out before I busted out a can of evil hellfire.

“In a cup with a straw?” Damn, Tori screeched loud. “I demand—”

“Okay, enough.” I raised a hand as I released a sharp whistle. It didn’t quiet anyone, but it did get one of the security guards’ attention. “She’s out!”

Screeching continued as Tori was corralled and hauled away. Bitch kept her Styrofoam cup of white wine though, didn’t she?

The second Tori disappeared, her spot was reclaimed by customers, all waving cash and yelling orders.

Sam was still a physical presence beside me, but I had a bar to run. Even if I wanted nothing more than to roll in his scent. Sex didn’t pay the bills.

Unless I was a hooker. And then I better be damned expensive because if I was gonna lay on my back for cash, I was gonna be a high class whore.

“Caith?” he murmured my name and I fought the shudder that threatened.

“I’m busy, Sam.” I poured a double for the goblin in front of me and lit a shot for the guy from Uncle Luc’s ninth circle. Man liked a little fire with the burn.

“I know, but I need—”

Hell no. “You need to talk to me, but I got a business to run.”

He didn’t respond to that. At least, not right away. “There are things…”

“Is this the it’s not you, it’s me brush off?” I spun toward him. “Because I’ll save you the trouble. It’s not me, it’s you. There. Done.”

“Are you always such a hard ass?”

“I like that little jiggle she has in her ass, m’self.” Then the drunken troll belched, sending a putrid stench through the air.

Sam’s eyes flared brightly in the dim interior, the sparkling blue now holding the barest hint of red around the rim. Huh. “Don’t stare at her ass.”

“Free country.” The troll shrugged.

Sam took a step forward and the troll’s lips split into a grin, revealing black, rotted teeth.

Like lightning, I poured the troll a shot of bourbon and placed a hand on the center of Sam’s chest. “That’s enough.” I glanced at the troll. “Charlie, take it and go.” The troll pouted and I rolled my eyes. “Unless you want to end up beneath my boot, you’ll get.”

That had him racing away, stumbling when he collided with one of the building’s support beams.

Alone-ish, I spun on Sam. “What do you want?”

“You.”

I snorted. “On High doesn’t like liars. Try again.”

“It’s true.”

“Uh-huh.” Another order was shouted nearby and I got to work, pouring, shaking, and smiling at the next patron to approach the bar. “Sell me a bridge.”

“Not getting my bridge,” Truck the Troll—save me from tweeners who chose their own names—grumbled. It was the first thing he’d eaten that’d tried to cross his bridge without paying the toll. He liked the taste so much…

“No, Truck. I’ll get my own.” I smiled at the old troll.

The male shuffled off and for once, there was a small lull in the rush. At least enough to allow me to drag Sam to the back room and kick his ass. Quietly. If it got too loud, we’d incite a riot.

Though, it would test the brownies’ spell on the furniture…

Maybe tomorrow.

“Berg!” I raised my voice over the remaining crowd and he turned his attention to me. “Taking five!” I held up my hand, fingers spread and the male nodded his understanding. That done, I grabbed Sam’s wrist and pulled him behind me. “C’mon.”

It took no time to haul him behind the newly hung curtain and then tug it back in place. Once physically hidden from the customers, I put distance between us. I crossed my arms over my chest and adopted a bored expression. Even if my body was filled with a cacophony of emotions, I could pretend to be unaffected.

“Well? You wanted me here.”

Sam gave me a rueful grin. “And now I don’t know what to say.”

“Then I’ll go back to work and when you figure—” The rest of my brush off was muffled by firm lips and an insistent tongue as Sam captured my mouth with a fierce kiss. It was fast and furious, not a gentle seduction but a plastering of lips that silenced me in a single move. It didn’t last long, just enough to shut me up.

“You’re a hard ass, Caith.”

“You said that already and it’s nothing new. You’re like a record that’s skipping. I got a guy who can work on that for you.”

Sam glared. “I can cut the head off a zombie and ash a vamp without thought. You, you confuse the fuck outta me.”

I chuckled and wiggled, stepping out of his arms. I was too weak. When he was holding me, he could say jump and I’d say how high followed by lemme bend over for you big boy. “Easy answer to that one. Leave me alone.”

“I can’t.”

“Then I don’t know what you want from me.” I spread my arms wide. “This is me, Sam. Do I want you? Yes. We both know that. But I won’t be a dirty secret and I sure as hell won’t take a half-assed mating.”

“It’s not that simple.”

I huffed. “It’s not that complicated.”

“I took care of the human for you.”

Talk about a switch in topics.

“Manon and Drek took care of him.”

Sam shook his head. “No, they got the truth out of him. I made him forget. Then he enjoyed a nice vacation with Manon.” He blushed and I grinned. “I also worked with Jezebeth and got the net cleaned. Took out a few other sites as well.” He glared at me. “There were entirely too many pics of your cleavage.”

“Excuse the fuck outta me?” I raised my eyebrows and my anger bubbled to the surface. “Forget? Vacation? Jezebeth? Are these things a pure as fallen snow gel should be doing?”

He tapped his temple, bringing my attention to his eyes and the red-rimmed irises. “Not so pure.”

I pressed my lips together. “Why help me then? You know On High isn’t keen on everything you did. Why bother?”

“Because I can’t not help you.” He strode forward and I eased back until I struck the wall. Still he came toward me, bracketing me with his arms and holding me captive. “You’re inside me now. Something happens to you, upsets you, and I wanna fix it.” He leaned down and ran his nose along my neck. It was instinctual, the urge to tilt my head to the side and expose my neck to him without thought. He was my mate. No matter my strength, no matter my power, I would always be vulnerable to him. “Those brownies, Wilting Bluebell, Bergamot… I knew having them would make you happy.”

“Momma R found them for me.”

Sam bit my shoulder, sending a small ache through my body that thrilled the wolf. “No. I had her tell you she found them because I knew you’d be angry with my interference.”

“You’re right. I would.”

He laved the mark. “But not now because you know you need them and you’re going to forgive me.”

“Who says?”

“Your wolf.” He sucked the spot and I knew there’d be a mark when all was said and done. Not a scar, but something and that appeased the wolf. Another bite, another lick.

“My wolf what?” He was talking? Why was he talking? What was with the talking? More biting. Biting was good.

“Your wolf is gonna forgive me for being an ass and then you’re gonna give me a chance to get to know you.”

A chance to get to know me. Right.

I ducked his arms, sliding from his loose grasp, and bolted to the other side of the room. “Dating. We did that, Sam. Did it and you disappeared.” I shook my head. “Not happening again.”

Sam tilted my head to the side, so like a wolf trying to finish a puzzle. “Momma R has one of my feathers.”

“Her name’s Helene to you,” I snapped. No one got to call the witch Momma R but me.

“And she told me to make you happy and call her Momma R,” he countered. “Like I said, she has one of my feathers.”

A feather. An angel feather.

I narrowed my eyes. Gels didn’t just flit around giving the things away. It locked angels in place like a leash. If they were in On High and lost one, they were stuck until it was recovered. Same with the tween or Hell. It was like losing a bus pass.

“Your feather? Why?”

“Why do you think?” He looked at me like I was an idiot.

“Is that a trick question?”

“Caith,” he growled.

“Explain it to me in small words. I’m not about to assume something and I’m sure as hell not going to become attached to you just so you can disappear again. So, spell it out like I’m three.”

Sam took a step toward me and I scurried back. Not in fear. Well, a little bit of fear. But not of him. It was fear of what I’d do if he came near. I was done with throwing myself at him. Really. Mostly.

He tucked his hands in his pockets, the move outlining his generous package. Man, I wanted to get my hands on him. Bad.

“I know I disappeared after our date. I was conflicted. For as long as I can remember, On High has been about protection and caring and I… didn’t have a problem with your plans for the human. That fucked with my head. So, I figured out a solution that didn’t involve me completely falling out of grace while still protecting the tween.” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “It won’t be easy and I’ll probably piss you off more often than not, but I’m not leaving this time.” He eased closer and I remained in place, caught by his words. “I’m in this and Momma R has my feather as insurance. It’s keeping me in the tween and you know she can call me to her without difficulty.”

I nodded. Yeah, a witch with an angel feather? Total badass. She could make Sam do things… “That was a lot of trust, Sam.”

In Momma R, in my adopted family.

“I trust her because you trust her. On High has a good opinion of her even if they don’t want her near them. Ever.”

I grinned. Wasn’t that the truth? “So… You’re here.”

“I’m here.” He moved even nearer.

“And you’re not leaving?”

Sam shook his head and took another step. “And I’m not leaving. We’re going to settle this thing between us, Caith.”

“My wolf decided already.”

He stood a hairsbreadth from me and the beast howled in approval. “And now it’ll make me see the truth.”

I sucked in a deep breath. “Okay.” I released the air in a slow glide. “Okay. Where are you staying? When do you wanna have our date?”

Sam cupped my cheeks and lowered his head. He whispered his next words against my mouth, sealing the syllables between us. “Your place and every day.”

Sweet. That was my only thought. Seductive and sweet and arousing and my knees nearly buckled from the overwhelming desire that fluttered over me. It was a perfect kiss, not too much pressure or too much tongue and just enough closeness to tease and tempt me.

“Asking,” Kiss, “to move in wasn’t in your vocabulary?” Not that I would have said no.

“I didn’t want,” Suck, “you,” Lick, “to say no.”

He was perfection. Perfectly perfect perfection.

“Yo, Caith! We got a problem!”

And of course my perfectly perfect perfection had to be interrupted and I pulled my mouth from Sam’s. “Coming, Berg!”

Not likely any time soon.

Sam pressed a lingering kiss to my forehead. “Go. I’ll see you at home.”

Home. Man, I liked the sound of that.

Home? I furrowed my brow. “How are you getting there?” Since Momma R had his feather, transporting wasn’t possible. “Without all your feathers, you can’t—”

Sam shoved the back door open, metal swinging wide to reveal the most gorgeous, panty-wetting motorcycle I’d ever seen. “Gel money is as good as any other and On High gave me some cash to cover things while I’m in the tween.”

The door remained wide as he strode to the bike and swung his leg over. I’d give anything to be seated behind him, the rumble of the motor vibrating my body as we raced down the road, his scent surrounding me.

He gave me a wink and I squeaked.

Then like any other girl, I ran away to be embarrassed. In private. I also checked to make sure I wasn’t drooling.

Because, ohmahgawd hot.