Layla jumped when the hotel room’s door opened. She looked automatically around for Cord, but she couldn’t see him. Fear tingled in her gut. What if the killer had found her, when she was alone with minimal protection? Could they have been tracking her?

“Layla, it’s me.”

“Hunter?”

She sat up in a rush and turned the light on. She hadn’t been imagining it. There Hunter stood, just inside the door.

Layla leaped up and ran to hug him, and he laughed as he wrapped his arms around her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“You didn’t really think I’d let Sophie send you off without me, did you?”

“Sophie,” Layla groaned. “She’s going to be mad.”

Hunter shrugged. “You’re mine, my true mate. Sophie is just going to have to deal with it. I won’t let her pull us apart.”

The only thing to do was kiss him, and Layla did just that. Hunter responded by pulling her closer and wrapping his arms around her to lift her feet clean off the ground.

The next thing she knew, Layla’s back was hitting the bed, and Hunter was pulling her clothes off. She tore at the buttons of his shirt, popping a few of them off before she managed to pull the shirt open and slip it down his shoulders.

Hunter’s lips were everywhere on her, and Layla was gasping as her hands roamed over his skin, trying to touch every inch of him at once.

As he pressed into her, Hunter fixed her with his piercing gaze.

“Do you accept me as your mate?”

“Yes,” Layla gasped without really thinking.

Her eyes went wide then as she saw fangs elongating, coming past Hunter’s lips. He tilted his head in question, and Layla nodded, suddenly nervous.

She shouldn’t have been. There was a moment of pain as the fangs pierced her neck, only to be overwhelmed a moment later by pleasure. It was what she imagined taking drugs would be like. Hunter held her carefully to prevent her from moving, and Layla’s eyes fluttered shut. She knew she shouldn’t enjoy being bitten this much, but she did. She really did.

And then, everything changed. She felt a presence in her mind, a love and a desire that wasn’t her own. Hunter gasped aloud, and his wide eyes showed he’d felt the same thing.

“We can sense each other’s emotional states now,” he explained, his breath choppy. After that, neither of them had enough breath to speak. They just felt, and it was amazing.

It was only when they were lying tangled up together, slowly coming down, that Layla remembered.

“Where’s Cord?” She could already feel her face going red. With his demon senses, he would have heard every minute of that if he was in the hall. She’d never be able to look him in the eye again.

“He already left for Orlando.”

Layla breathed again. “Good.”

“We arranged to swap before you even left, but I had to wait a little while for Sophie to stop watching me. I think she expected something like this.”

Layla grimaced. “She’s not going to be happy.”

“No, probably not.”

She turned over to look at Hunter, suddenly worried. “What if she breaks the agreement you have because of this? After all, you went against her explicit wishes…not that I’m complaining about that.”

“I don’t think she will. She needs us, and she knows it. Rose will certainly tell her so. She won’t admit it, but she’s grateful we saved her.”

“I’m not sure you know Sophie that well,” Layla said. True, she didn’t know Sophie that well yet either, but she felt safe in saying that she’d rather be in a separate city than Sophie when Cord turned up to replace Hunter. Possibly even on a separate continent.

“You worry too much. I can deal with Sophie.”

“Yes, but she’s not your high priestess. What if she kicks me out of the coven?”

“Then she’d be a fool,” Hunter said seriously. “We’ll make our own coven, you and me.”

“You can’t be in a coven; you’re not a witch,” Layla giggled, but she wasn’t entirely opposed to the idea.

“A clan, then. That’s what demon groups call themselves.”

Layla smiled, just glad they were together again. “You spoke to Cord?”

“Yes. I’m afraid I don’t have much more to tell you than he did, though, when it comes to Claw. I met him a few times, but I never really knew him. I don’t know anything about the circumstances surrounding his disappearance. He just…wasn’t there anymore.”

“You don’t think he’s…dead…do you?”

“I doubt it,” Hunter said bracingly. “It’s very hard to kill a demon, and Claw was as good as they come. He’s probably dropped out of sight for his own reasons.”

Layla lay back, thinking. “Do you know anyone he was close to? Maybe they’d know where to find him.”

“Not personally, but I can ask some questions. Hopefully, it’ll turn something up. That’ll have to wait until after we’ve caught this killer, though. We can’t go running off to the underworld when your coven still needs protection.”

As much as that made sense, Layla felt disappointed. This was the first real information she’d ever had on her father, and she wanted to act on it, not wait.

“Soon enough,” Hunter said, spotting her impatient expression.

“Do you know what he was like?”

“No, not really. He seemed pretty typical for a demon, but I don’t know about his personality or anything like what you’re hoping for. Maybe if we can track down some of his old friends, they’ll be able to tell you more.”

Layla nodded against Hunter’s shoulder, thinking. Hopefully, things would be safe soon, and they could start their own investigation into Claw. She wasn’t yet sure she wanted to go down to the underworld, or how Sophie would react to it, but that wouldn’t stop her.

“What are you nervous about?”

“What?”

“You’re nervous. I can feel it.”

Right. She’d already forgotten about how connected they were now. She turned her thoughts to Hunter and found she could sense him quite easily. He was relaxed and happy, but also protective, ready to jump at whatever was worrying her and squash it. Layla couldn’t help smiling at the knowledge.

“I’m not sure about going to the underworld.”

“You’ll be fine. No one would dare touch another demon’s mate. It can be beautiful down there, too. Not like up here, but beautiful in its own way.”

Layla’s thoughts wandered back to her father. She wished Penny had known more. Maybe there was a spell she could do that would get some more information. She hoped he was a good person, someone she could look up to. She certainly couldn’t look up to her mother.

Though, how good of a person could he be if he’d left her and never contacted her over all these years? What kind of father left their daughter with an alcoholic mother?

Hunter must have picked up something of her thoughts because he wrapped his arms tenderly around her and kissed her forehead. “Whatever else your father is, he did one thing right: he brought us together. I’ve never heard of a demon and witch being mated. This is probably why we’re together—you’re part demon.”

That did make Layla feel better. She didn’t know what she’d do without Hunter. He’d become such a big part of her life that she couldn’t imagine it without him.

Resting against him, she glanced at the clock. It was late, but she wasn’t tired.

“So, earlier I was thinking that if you were here, I’d love to try out the pool with you.”

Hunter’s eyes lit up. “I’d like that. We’ll have to be sneaky, though. I don’t think Penny would be very happy about me using her facilities.”

“I can be sneaky. I can even try out that invisibility spell I read about.”

“No,” Hunter said quickly. “You need to be careful. You still don’t know what your limitation is.”

Layla rolled her eyes. “Not you, too. Sophie’s protective enough as it is.”

“There are other ways to be sneaky. I’ll show you. Get your swimsuit.”

“Um, I didn’t bring one.”

Hunter’s grin turned wicked. “Well, I guess you’ll be skinny dipping, then.”

“Hunter, it’s a public pool!”

“No one will be there at this time.”

Layla couldn’t deny that she found the idea enticing. “Fine, but if I’m skinny dipping, you are too.”

“Deal. Now, let me show you how demons can be sneaky.”

He pulled her over to the mirror and wrapped his arms around her from behind. “Look.”

Layla looked. At first, she just saw their reflections. Hunter had an expression of intense concentration, and then…their reflections started to shimmer. Layla blinked hard. Her eyes couldn’t seem to focus. She stared as the bed behind them slowly shimmered into view, replacing their own images. She could vaguely see her and Hunter’s outlines when they moved, but apart from that, they were invisible.

“It’s a bit like how chameleons disguise themselves,” Hunter explained. “We don’t disappear, but we become semi-transparent, which makes people think that they only see what’s behind us.”

“That’s incredible,” Layla breathed, looking down at herself. She yelped when all she saw was the floor where her legs were supposed to be. Hunter let go of her, and her body suddenly reappeared.

“It takes some getting used to,” he said. “You may even be able to learn to do it; I’m not sure how it works for you since you’re half demon.”

“I can’t believe Sophie never mentioned this. It must be great when you’re tracking someone.”

“That’s one of the reasons we insist on tracking alone, without help from the coven. This is a well-kept demon secret. No other immortals know about it, and we intend to keep it that way. You can’t tell them,” he told her.

Layla nodded. “Of course. I won’t tell anyone.”

“I know you won’t. Shall we go?”

Layla nodded nervously. Hunter wrapped his arms around her again. She deliberately kept her eyes straight ahead.

“You lead the way,” Hunter murmured. “It takes a lot of concentration to keep this up, and especially when I’m shielding you, as well.”

He moved his grip to her hand so that they could walk properly. Layla didn’t speak, not wanting to break his focus or allow anyone else to hear them when they couldn’t be seen. They didn’t run into anyone until they were on the ground floor. Layla kept her eyes on the woman at the desk. They walked right past her on the way to the pool, and she didn’t bat an eye.

“I like this,” Layla said softly. “I like this a lot.”

Maybe there were some things she’d be able to do without a limitation, whenever that appeared for her. Sophie had told her that all immortals had some form of magic, but that it was a lot more limited for them than witches. But even being able to do a few little things without fear of side effects would be great. She wondered what else Hunter could do.

When they finally made it to the pool, Hunter wasted no time in getting Layla’s clothes off. After quickly stripping himself, he leapt in. Layla followed him and was pleased to find that the pool was heated. It was divine, and she and Hunter spent what felt like hours floating, diving, and then lounging together on the wide steps.

Unfortunately, it couldn’t last forever. Penny came striding in, followed by three women with grim expressions.

Layla squeaked and hid behind Hunter, wishing more than ever that she’d brought a bathing suit.

“Layla?” Penny sounded utterly perplexed.

“Penny. Hi.”

She frowned at Hunter. “Is this demon with you? I didn’t realize you had two guarding you.”

“They switched,” Layla said breathlessly. Hunter shifted, uncomfortable. “Look, can we continue this conversation somewhere else? After we get dressed?” she asked pointedly.

Penny nodded and muttered a few words. Two large, fluffy towels came flying into her hand. She threw them down by the edge of the pool and stalked out, followed by the others.

Layla and Hunter hurried to get dressed and then followed the witches into the hall. Penny had folded her arms across her chest, and she stood in the hallway waiting for them.

“You did say I could use the pool,” Layla said. “Did it have specific opening hours? I’m sorry if we imposed.”

She knew very well that that wasn’t the problem, but she wasn’t going to admit it.

“I said you could use the pool,” Penny said stiffly. “I didn’t say anything about any demons.”

“The pool is open to all guests at the hotel, is it not?”

Penny was now glaring at her. “He’s a demon! It’s unnatural, Layla. What are you thinking?”

“Look, you can’t tell your guests who they can and can’t be with. I’m sorry we didn’t have bathing suits; we’ll go get those tomorrow, but other than that, if you have a problem with Hunter and me, we’ll go stay somewhere else.”

Penny was horrified. She gaped for a few moments. “I…you’re a sister, Layla. You’re always welcome here. Your demon…guard…is welcome to stand outside the door.”

“He’ll be staying inside,” Layla said, struggling to keep her voice level. “If you’re uncomfortable with that, let me know now, and we’ll check out.”

Hunter put an arm around Layla, and Penny pursed her lips.

“You’re a guest here,” she said eventually.

“Thank you. Now, I think I’d like to get to bed.”

Penny didn’t say anything as Layla and Hunter scurried off, but she stared at Hunter as he passed. Layla could almost feel the heat of it against her back.

“How on earth did they know we were there?” Layla muttered as they hurried to the elevator.

“They probably have wards to detect any immortals. They know we’re staying upstairs, but they probably wanted to make sure any immortal moving around was just you and not an intruder; I imagine the wards went off, or perhaps they saw us on camera. Those three following her were part of her coven. They were ready to fight if it came down to it.”

Layla shivered. She’d been getting on well with Penny, and now she seemed to have messed it all up. Why had she had to go for a stupid midnight swim? They would have been fine if they’d just stayed in their room.

“Will it always be like this?” she asked quietly. “People thinking we’re disgusting, being together?”

“With other witches, probably. Other immortals don’t like demons, but they don’t hate us as much as witches do, so you’ll probably have an easier time with them. Humans, of course, won’t know anything. We may have a few similar reactions in the underworld, but like I said, they’d never dare touch you.”

Layla hoped that her coven, at least, would get used to the idea of her and Hunter. She didn’t think she could bear taking that look of disgust every day—especially from people she cared about. You’d think she’d be used to it. After all, her mother had looked at her in a similar way every day. But she’d grown used to people caring about her since she’d met Sophie and Hunter, and she didn’t want to go back to feeling like nothing.

They finally reached their room and locked the door behind them.

Layla mentally put aside all of her worries and tried to sleep. She’d deal with the rest tomorrow.