“Daddy!” Cary cried out as she was startled awake.

Her eyes fluttered open to see a bright room with a wooden ceiling and floral wallpaper. Sunlight streamed in from the window with a lace curtain. Where was she? Sweat dripped down the side of her face and neck, and her hair was plastered flat against her head. She pushed herself to a sitting position in bed and untangled her legs from the sheets, noticing she’d been cleaned up and now wore an over-sized checkered men’s shirt.

Recent events swirled through her mind: markings, summoning a demon, Levi helping her fight, and… Her father. She’d heard his voice; that was no illusion. His words still lingered in her mind, along with the strength of his voice, and his encouragement giving her the energy to keep fighting.

Her eyes blurred and tears dampened her cheeks. She could feel the pent-up frustration she carried, all of it; her agony, her loss, her dread. Pushing her legs over the edge of the bed, she dropped her face into her hands and sobbed as the tears fell. When her father left her for the second time, she sensed it as suddenly as a flash of lightning—unexpected and petrifying. Why hadn’t he waited for her, for the demon to be killed? She had so many questions about what she was, what happened after death, and how she could get him out of Hell.

It felt as if her father was abandoning her all over again, and those horrible insecurities about not being good enough echoed through her head.

When someone knocked at the door, she flinched and scrambled to her feet.

“Cary, I’m coming in,” Levi’s steely voice called out.

Wiping her face, Cary sat back on the bed. “Okay.” Her voice shook.

Levi entered the room with a glass of water. His cheeks rosy. “How do you feel?” He stepped closer, handing Cary the glass.

She gulped the icy water. “Thanks. Needed that.”

After taking her glass and setting it on the bedside table, he plunked himself onto the bed next to her, the mattress bouncing beneath her.

At first, Cary couldn’t find her words, but Levi wasn’t speaking either.

They sat there, bathed in sunlight, in Thomas’s guest bedroom. A dresser loomed in the corner with no mirror or any other personal items. Back at her place, the bathroom counter was cluttered with all manner of brushes and hair ties and make-up she’d bought on impulse when shopping with Tasha. How was Tasha doing? Cary suddenly wondered. Since seeing her last, Cary’s life had gone to shit.

And, why was Levi still here? They removed their mark and were now free. He was probably just waiting to say his farewell. Why not? Everyone else in her life had ditched her. She hated the idea of losing Levi, too.

“My father left me again,” she told him instead.

Levi met her stare, a small line creasing his brow. “You know that story I told you about me dressing like a pirate on my parents’ yacht as a child?”

She cocked her head toward him. “Yeah.”

“I dressed up with hope that one day we’d cross a real pirate ship. They would then see me as a fellow shipmate, and I imagined they’d take me and my parents on their ship, forcing us to sail the seas with them. That way, my parents couldn’t send me back to boarding school.”

She stared at him, the frown of his lips, the tightness around his eyes. “That’s sad. I’m so sorry.”

“I realized years later that me being in boarding school didn’t mean my parents didn’t love me. They were doing what they thought was best for me. For years, I was blinded by anger. After they were killed in the traffic accident, I wished I’d told them how much I appreciated what they did for me.” His voice wavered, and he swallowed loudly.

She shifted, drawing a bent knee on the bed between them. “So I should be happy I got to see my father again?”

“I don’t know how much you recall from the summoning, but he helped us. Without him, we wouldn’t have made it. You wouldn’t have found your courage. And he actually apologized for leaving you.”

She racked her mind, but couldn’t remember that part. What else had she missed? A warm trickle fell down her cheek. So, her father did regret leaving her, but what now? He wouldn’t have returned to Hell unless he was forced. But he came to her rescue, and that small notion lifted her spirits. She wasn’t certain if there was a way to rescue him, but she sure wasn’t going to stop trying.

Levi wiped her tear with a thumb, his hand falling to her shoulder. “He regrets many things, especially leaving you.”

Damn tears flooded her vision, and each breath was a hiccup. Levi drew her into his embrace. She melted beneath his strength, his warmth, and buried her face into his chest, not caring that she cried like a baby.

His hand rubbed her back, and he kissed the top of her head. “We’ll get through this together.”

Had she heard right? She propped her head up, wiping her face with the back of her hand.

“We? Aren’t you leaving? You’re free of me.”

“Cary, I was behaving like an ass.”

She felt a tug on her heart, and a twinge of longing shot through her. She never wanted Levi to lose adoration in his eyes whenever he looked at her—his soft words, lips slightly curled upward, and an invisible promise to always be her side.

“You hurt me real bad,” she said.

He sighed and nodded, the pain warping his lips. “I’m a fuckin’ idiot, that’s my only excuse.”

His hand dropped from her shoulder to her thigh, this time not pulling away as he had back in the pub or when they broke into Argos or the many other times he’d made her feel so much less of a person. So, was Levi now being genuine, or was he trying to absolve himself of more guilt?

His gaze lowered. “Remember that I told you my friend, Marcos, was killed by a demon?”

“Yeah?”

Levi licked his lips and his hand fisted in his lap. “That’s not completely true.” His voice broke the stillness. “I killed him. We wrestled with the gun and it went off. I was young and terrified. I didn’t understand demons and pulled the trigger on him while he was possessed.” A hardness tugged at his expression when he glanced toward the window, and Cary swore his eyes watered. “I hadn’t known he could have been saved.”

“It’s not your fault, you know that?” Cary leaned into him. She remembered the demon’s words about Levi killing a human—of course, it was self-defense. “Holding onto that guilt is self-destructive, and I’m well aware that harboring hatred is no different to living with a demon inside you. You have to forgive yourself.”

“I know,” Levi said, “but I’ve allowed it to control me for so long. I slotted everything in life into two baskets: good and evil. I convinced myself that if I destroyed the nightclub demon, I’d find happiness again. But I was wrong, ignorant, and stupid. I let life pass me by.” His chin dipped as he clenched his hands in his lap. His words fell to a whisper. “I’m just not sure how to forgive myself yet.”

Her hand dropped to his, and she squeezed it as they sat there, only their breaths accompanying them.

She spotted him watching her, and her heart fluttered.

“Will you ever forgive me?” he asked.

In truth, she wasn’t sure she could ever hold a grudge against Levi. He pissed her off so many times that she’d contemplated punching him, but so much made sense now. The reason for his deep-rooted fear of demons and why he rejected her, yet he always had her back, during every battle. So, fuck yeah, she had no plans on leaving Levi when he needed her support the most.

“Of course I do, if you promise to never act like a jerk again.”

“Scout’s honor. And you promise to never hold any secrets from me?”

She nodded. “In hindsight, maybe I should have trusted you and opened up.”

He smiled and leaned toward her, placing a kiss on one cheek, then another on her nose, and one on her lips.

She closed her eyes, parting her mouth for him, which he hungrily kissed.

His arms wrapped around her waist, drawing her closer. The desperation to have him take her escalated by the second. But as his hand found flesh beneath her shirt and crept up her stomach, she broke their bond.

“So, you’re not leaving, right?”

“I’m only going wherever you’re going. Besides, your dad asked me to take care of you, and I won’t let him down like I have everyone else. Especially since he had these horns.” A smirk curled on his lips.

“Stop lying.” Her face scrunched. No way. She knew what her dad looked like. But he’d been away so long. Had he been in Hell all that time and had it done something to him?

“I’m not.” He traced his fingers along her temples. “They were right here.”

“Sure, right.” She brushed his hands away, guiding them back to her waist, where they belonged.

He stared at her for the longest moment, really looking at her, a slight line forming on his brow. “I think the possession did something to me. I can see your silvery aura, and it’s beautiful on you.”

Levi wasn’t scowling or pulling away. And he said the word beautiful to describe her demon aura. Either she’d entered a parallel universe, or Levi was finally coming around.

“Seems you may have changed in more ways than you thought,” she said.

He nodded and smiled.

“So what happens now… Between us?” she asked.

He reclined across the bed, pulling her to lay alongside him and draped an arm over her waist. They were inches apart, and his long hair draped over his shoulder, tickling her chin. She curled a leg over his thigh and sidled her body against his.

“What do you want to happen?” he asked.

She smirked and lowered her voice to a sexy tone. “You go first.”

He kissed her, his tongue prying her lips, with a ferocity that sent shivers down her spine. Her breasts ached for his touch, her nipples beading tight.

“Well, I want a lot more of that,” he said. “You’ve always had my heart. And I have no plans on taking it back, if you’ll have me?”

She couldn’t stop the smile widening her mouth, and she refused to have it any other way. “Yes. I want you. What a crazy question.”

Her insides jittered at the way his chocolate eyes grinned.

Was this real? Over the past week, everything that meant something to her was ripped away, but now Levi admitted his love. Okay, he didn’t say those words, but he might as well have.

“Oh, and one more thing,” he said. “If we ever consider getting a dog, let’s agree I’m choosing it. Okay?”

Her shoulders flinched back. “What? Where’s this coming from?”

“I recall you telling me back in the pub that Blinkie was cute. Well, I actually saw him during the summoning, and—”

“Blinkie was here?” Her voice squeaked.

“Yep, but he’s back with your dad now. Anyway, cute isn’t the word I would have used to describe him. Not even close. Maybe disfigured, horrendous…”

She whacked him in the arm. “Oh come on, if you look past the physical, he’s adorable.”

He took her hand, kissed her knuckles, and traced his lips to her elbow. “What kind of name is Blinkie for a hellhound, anyway? You’ve made him into target practice for all other hellhounds from the name alone.”

“Fine. Now stop talking, and give me some of that loving you’ve kept stashed away for too long.”

His sexy grin resurfaced, and he lowered himself over Cary, his body pressing against hers and his hands sliding under her shirt. “I’m all yours.”