People don’t touch me.

That was the second time he’d said it.

Mia couldn’t get the look on his face out of her head. Before his eyes had lost color, turned a hollow black, and he’d shoved her away. When her fingers had met hard, warm flesh, there’d been the briefest flash of utter vulnerability then she’d seen his fear, and his inner demon had taken over.

Someone had hurt him, and that pain had marked him in a way she couldn’t hope to understand. Had he ever been touched with kindness? Going by his reaction, she guessed not.

Her head hurt—throbbed, actually—and she reached back and removed the tie holding her hair up, letting it fall around her shoulders. Zenon stood several steps away, his eyes trained on her. They flickered between yellow and black, and Mia pressed back into the couch cushions. “Zenon, what…what are you…your eyes…”

He dropped his gaze to the floor. “Don’t worry. I won’t hurt you again.” His voice was deep, rough. “May I take a look?”

“Um, yeah. Sure.”

He moved closer and her heart rate picked up, but not from fear. He came down on his knees in front of her, and when he lifted his hand, it hovered for several seconds before pushing her hair back over her shoulder.

He lightly brushed the spot where she’d connected with the exercise machine. His fingers were trembling. His touch was gentle, his skin rough and warm.

He cleared his throat. “It’s only a small cut. You don’t need stitches. Head wounds just bleed like a bitch.”

“Right, thanks.”

He continued to prod gently around the area and tingles traveled across her scalp. She watched him deep in concentration. His hair was down again, and he let it hang forward. His shield. It had a slight wave to it and this close she could see how soft it was. She had to fight not to reach out and touch, brush it back. Even with it hanging forward, he couldn’t conceal his face completely.

And Zenon was beautiful.

She’d noticed how young he looked back in the gym, but even with his hair tied back he’d hidden behind the perma-scowl and bad attitude.

But now she took the time to study his face. He had full, firm lips and straight white teeth, high pronounced cheekbones, and wide expressive eyes that he hid by looking down at the ground all the time. It was his strong nose and jaw that stopped him from being pretty. The only thing marring the perfection was the large circular mark on his right cheek. It went from just below his cheekbone to the corner of his mouth. The pattern was an intricate swirl and looked as though it had been burned into his flesh, leaving behind pale scar tissue several shades lighter than his golden skin. She inwardly winced.

“How did you get that? Is it a burn?” She raised her hand, her fingers hovering above his cheek. He flinched, and she dropped her hand back to her lap.

Stupid.

He’d shoved her for touching him less than thirty minutes ago, and she’d nearly done it again. What on earth was wrong with her? “Sorry,” she said.

“All knights have them.” He surprised her by answering.

“What?”

“The brand.”

“Why?”

“It stops us from entering Hell. An angel named Silas gave it to me when I was brought in for training.”

If she hadn’t grown up knowing who and what she was, the mention of angels and the fact Hell was real would have been hard to take in. “How does it stop you?”

“We die,” he said simply, no emotion in his voice whatsoever.

Jesus.

She was pushing it, but still she asked, “Why is it on your face? I mean, I’ve never seen any of the other knights with a mark like that, so I’m guessing theirs are in a less conspicuous place.”

“I fought them. It was the only place they could get to.”

Oh my God.

Her stomach twisted, but he didn’t want her pity, so she kept her expression neutral. “You didn’t want to join the others?”

“I’d never been to Earth before.”

“You didn’t know them?”

He shook his head.

“Why did you leave Hell? Why come to Earth?”

He rose from the floor suddenly and took several steps back. Dammit, she needed to learn when to shut up.

“I didn’t have a choice,” he said roughly.

His answer just gave her more questions, but she squashed them. “That must’ve been hard.”

“Better here than Hell.” He answered in a flat voice that told her question time was over.

“Right.” What else could she say?

The scowl was back. “You finished the interrogation?”

She nodded.

He was still bare chested, wearing only a pair of dark gray nylon shorts and trainers. He was tall, lean, cut to perfection, and covered in all those beautiful tattoos. But the ink didn’t cover the multitude of scars covering his body or the horrifying marks ringing his throat. Her stomach tightened. No one feared touch like Zenon did unless they’d suffered repeated physical abuse. And he had suffered; she had no doubt on that front.

Who would do something like that?

“Zenon, look, I’m sorry for prying. You’re just…hard to get a gauge on, I guess.”

Hands on his hips, head down, hair forward, he cursed several times then looked up at her. “Before when I…shit.” He rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. “When I hurt you. I meant it when I said it won’t happen again. My demon only comes to the surface when it senses a threat.”

“And it thought I was a threat…to you?” Zenon towered over her, massive shoulders, built like a tank. How could she be any type of threat to him?

The muscle in his jaw tightened. “You touched me.”

It cost him to say that, she could see it in the way he held himself. Always defensive, always prepared for the next blow. She tried to swallow down the lump that formed in her throat. The thought of being touched by someone, by her, had created enough panic that he’d felt the need to lash out, to retreat. “I won’t do it again, Zenon. I promise.”

His mouth twisted into something she thought might be pain before he hid it. Seeing that look on his face caused such a visceral reaction inside her she almost went to him. But then she watched that fierce mask come back down. She hated it.

“My demon doesn’t see you as a threat anymore. If you…if you touched me, it wouldn’t…I wouldn’t harm you.”

Was he saying he wanted her to touch him? “Okay.” The vulnerability was there again, but he looked down, hiding from her. “Zenon—”

“I should go. I don’t have time for this bullshit.”

He didn’t move.

Mia stood and he tensed as she moved toward him. She moved slowly, giving him plenty of opportunity to back away, to tell her to stop. “Thank you for bringing me back to my room.” When she reached him, she made sure to keep her hands at her sides. Still, he didn’t step back. He watched her through his lashes, every muscle in his body held rigid.

She didn’t know why she was pushing this—perhaps it was the death wish she’d always had, or perhaps it was that flash of pain she’d seen when she said she wouldn’t touch him again—but she wanted to show Zenon that touch could be good.

“I know I promised not to touch you, and I won’t…not with my hands. And if you want me to stop, I will. Straight away.”

Zenon stayed where he was and continued to watch her…waiting.

Mia moved a little closer. “In our family, this is how we thank people for doing something nice for us.” She lifted up onto her tiptoes, but he was way too tall to kiss on the cheek, so she pressed a barely there kiss to his heavy biceps. He sucked in a sharp breath, but still didn’t move.

“Okay?” she whispered, looking up at him.

He dipped his chin.

She smiled.

Then she heard it, a deep vibrating sound coming from his chest. Was that…was he purring? Her smile died when his eyes met hers. The heat aimed at her blazed so hot it sucked all the oxygen from the room. He lifted his hand, and for a moment she thought he was going to touch her. She held her breath, but then he dropped it back to his side.

“Don’t. Don’t do that again,” he rasped. He looked confused and his voice sounded almost desperate.

“I’m so sorry, Zenon.” Her stomach twisted in knots.

He didn’t say any more. He stepped back, walked out of her room, and shut the door behind him.

* * *

Chaos stood on the roof of the knights’ compound and took in the deserted lots surrounding it. He did this every night. His need to ensure the safety of those under this roof was uncompromising, ingrained in everything that he was, would ever be.

He’d stopped trying to be anything other than what he was a long time ago.

The sound of female laughter carried on the wind and Chaos walked to the edge of the building in time to see Kryos flying in to land on the fifth-floor balcony. Meredith was in her mate’s arms, and as soon as the male’s feet touched solid ground he took her mouth in a hard kiss. She wrapped her legs around his waist and Kryos’s growl could be easily heard as he carried her inside.

Chaos knew one day Fate would intervene, would force him to take a mate, whether he liked it or not. He’d seen it happen to Lazarus. But that kind of passion was dangerous. Chaos couldn’t afford to be tied up in knots over a female. His brothers had chosen him to lead, and with that honor came the responsibility to make the right decisions for them and the demi-demons and humans they protected. Having a mate was a distraction he couldn’t afford. A weakness.

Movement in the darkened shadows drew his eye. A dark figure dropped from the top of the perimeter fence and hit the ground hard. Chaos dragged his shirt over his head and unfurled his dove-gray feathered wings. Dropping from the edge of the building, he glided on the wind until he was above their visitor. The sound of the breeze moving across his feathers wasn’t loud, but the demon should have heard him coming with its advanced hearing. It didn’t look up. Chaos tucked in his wings and dropped from the sky, landing in a crouch in front of the guy.

His gaze was unfocused, dazed, and he tried to walk around Chaos like he wasn’t even there.

“Hey.” Chaos grabbed his arm and gave him a shake.

He came to then, his wide eyes losing their glazed look. He took in Chaos and looked confused as hell. His darted glances made it clear he didn’t know where he was or how he’d got there. Either that or the guy deserved an Oscar.

“What the fuck am I—” He looked at Chaos again. “You’re a knight?”

“Bingo.”

The demon turned green.

Demons and humans alike did not come near this place. It was warded using a powerful witch’s spell, making the area surrounding the compound a human repellant—the malevolence that radiated from the land made sure of that. And demons, if they could find the place, weren’t usually stupid enough to risk it.

Something seriously fucked up was going on, had been for months. “Did you decide tonight was a good night to die? Because I can’t think of any other reason you’d come here.”

He struggled against Chaos’s hold and hissed. “I don’t…” He looked around again. Chaos didn’t think the guy was faking the confusion. “I don’t know how I got here.”

“I think we should go inside and have a chat, yeah?”

The demon shook his head frantically.

Chaos ignored him and escorted him to one of the interrogation rooms then sent a mass text to the others. They arrived minutes later. Zenon and Laz first. Ten minutes later Rocco and Gunner who’d been patrolling the city. They were all scowling. Kryos stormed in last, hair mussed, shirt on inside out, and not surprisingly looking pissed as hell. “This better be good.”

Chaos tilted his head toward the closed door, the demon locked up safe inside. Zenon looked through the small window at the top and snarled. “What the fuck?”

“He scaled the fence and walked in.” Low growls filled the hall, followed by cursing that echoed off the concrete walls.

Kryos crossed his arms. “Diemos is sending spies now?”

That started another round of cursing. “Maybe. All I know is the demon was spaced. Didn’t even see me standing in front of him.”

“You think they’re after Eve?” Lazarus gritted out, his big body vibrating with rage. “Diemos won’t stop till he gets his hands on a hellsgate demi.”

As an unmated hellsgate demi-demon, Eve had held the ability to unleash the horrors of Hell itself. A hellsgate in the wrong hands could be used to open the portal between Hell and Earth at will.

Chaos stepped in front of the big male. “Diemos is many things, but uninformed isn’t one of them. He’ll know you and Eve are mated, that she’s useless to him now. He has no reason to come for your female, not anymore. Still, for now at least, I think we should keep the females confined to the compound. They’re not to leave unless they’re with one of us.”

Tension radiated from Lazarus. He’d nearly lost Eve not so long ago and it had affected the male in ways even his mate wasn’t aware of.

“Agreed. We also need to be extra vigilant with any new demi coming into their powers. No delays getting to them and getting them in,” Gunner added with a fierceness Chaos didn’t understand. His lip curled, and the scar through the top one twisted his mouth, making him look downright evil. None of them wanted to see any of their demi hurt or taken—they were always top priority—but Gunner had become almost single-minded in this.

But Gunner hadn’t been himself since the nightmare with Tobias either. He’d been so out of control, so close to being lost to his demon as well that he’d asked his brothers to lock him down here in one of the cells. He hadn’t been the same since he came back out.

Laz ran a hand through his hair. “The demon has to be a scout.”

Gunner nodded. “Checking if any of our demi are hellsgate?”

During the solstice and equinox—the only times the link between realms thinned enough for the gateways to open—Diemos sent as many demons through the portals as he could. He wanted an army waiting for him here on Earth, positive the day would come when Earth would be his as well. But the only way for him to gain unlimited access to the portals was to possess a hellsgate demi. They were rare, and they had no idea how many were out there waiting to gain their powers. But the knights would do whatever it took to stop Diemos from taking one back to Hell.

Zenon growled, rage and hatred oozing from every pore, and before Chaos could do a damn thing to stop him, Zenon strode to the steel door and kicked it clean off its hinges.

“Fuck.” Chaos went in after him.

Zenon had straddled the flailing demon, pinned him to the ground by his throat, and it looked as though he had every intention of squeezing the life out of him.

“You know, Zen, you could have just used the fucking door handle,” Rocco said behind them.

Kryos approached Zenon from the side but didn’t touch him. They all knew better than to do that. “Zen, man. Let him go. We need to question him. We can’t do that if you crush his windpipe.”

Instead of letting him go, Zenon went nose to nose with the guy. His demon had joined the party, and his voice when he spoke had taken on a malevolence Chaos had never heard before. And that was saying a fuck of a lot seeing how unstable he could be at the best of times. “I’m going to send you back to Hell, and not the easy way. When you get there, you tell Diemos he can’t have her.” Zenon lifted the demon off the floor, using his throat as a handle, and slammed him into the unforgiving concrete. “Do you hear me?”

Rocco shook his head. “I doubt it. It’s kind of hard to hear when blood’s leaking from your ears.”

“Back the fuck up, Zenon,” Chaos growled.

Thud!

“Stand down,” he roared.

Thud!

The demon’s head would be mush if he didn’t do something. Chaos moved in and Rocco and Gunner moved with him. Zenon didn’t like anyone in his space, unless they were sparring and he was doing his damnedest to take them down. This could go tits up if he went full-on demon massacre on them. “Now.”

All three jumped him, tearing Zenon off the now unconscious demon. Chaos shoved his arm into the other male’s throat and pushed. Fuck. Nothing happened. He didn’t even take a step back; the guy was rock solid. “Zenon, pull your shit together now.” Chaos got in Zenon’s face, knew he was pushing it with this particular knight, but didn’t give a fuck. They needed information and if the demon died they were screwed. But Zenon was focused on the demon’s unconscious body, fangs extended like he wanted nothing more than to rip the little fucker’s throat out. “I can’t deal with your shit. Get the fuck out of my interrogation room.”

Zenon’s eyes shifted to him and Chaos shoved again. “Get the fuck gone.”

With one last look at the demon, Zenon stormed from the room.

Zenon got out of there. Kept going and didn’t look back. He was losing his goddamned mind.

If he thought about that demon getting anywhere near Mia, he’d turn around and rip the bastard’s throat out. Adrenaline throbbed through his veins, making him twitch. He needed some kind of release but his options were limited. He couldn’t fuck. His only option was to fight.

The gym wouldn’t cut it. And he didn’t want to risk running into Mia again. If he saw her now, he’d do or say shit he could never take back, and that female needed to stay as far from him as she could manage.

So he headed for his room to weapon up. The doors slid open and he strode down the hall, but as he rounded the corner to his apartment he was forced to slam on the brakes.

Sitting on the floor, her back pressed against his door, was Mia, the last person he needed to see right then. Mia glanced up, spotting him before he could turn and walk the other way.

Zenon’s heart picked up speed, pounded behind his ribs, and his demon stirred in a restless, unfamiliar way. She’d showered and changed, her long red hair loose and damp, curling at the ends. She wore jeans and a fitted pink T-shirt with some cartoon cat on the front. Her beautiful face lit up when she saw him.

His lower belly tightened and sent tingles shooting to his balls. “What are you doing here?”

She flinched at his harsh tone. “I was lonely. I thought you might keep me company?”

Did she have any idea how much he wanted that? How much he wanted to just spend time with her, listen to her talk, learn everything about her. Take her to his bed, savor her body, touch her skin, her hair—fuck her hard, then take her slow and easy. He’d hold her in his arms and watch her sleep. Feed her. Take care of her.

Jesus fucking Christ. Where had that come from? What the fuck was wrong with him?

He dipped his chin, couldn’t look at her. “Why the fuck would you think that?”

Silence. “I just thought after this afternoon that…” Her voice shook, and though it killed him, and every instinct he had told him to worship her—protect her—he ignored it. That wasn’t an option. And in the end, would only put her in danger.

He was a piece of trash, tainted, filthy, didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as her. Why couldn’t she see that as well?

What he was about to do was for her own good.

In two strides, he was in front of her. He wrapped a hand loosely around the base of her throat, her soft, warm pulse thudding against his palm, and backed her against the wall. His heightened awareness of her just pissed him off more, bewildered him. He let his frustration show. He sneered and gave her a slow hateful once-over. “This afternoon you were lucky I didn’t do far worse.”

Her eyes were wide, but she shook her head. “You wouldn’t…you wouldn’t hurt me.”

Was she serious? He had her pinned to his door. He could crush her delicate throat in less than a second. Mia thought there was good in him, but there was nothing but rage and hate. “One conversation and you think you have me figured out? You know nothing about me. I’m from Hell, Mia. I’ve done things that would give you nightmares.”

“I don’t care,” she whispered.

His chest squeezed painfully, and the foreign emotion welling up inside him sent a surge of fury through him. He couldn’t deal with it, couldn’t process it. His heart hammered so hard he was surprised she didn’t hear it. Didn’t she know how much danger she was in? “Do you have any idea what someone like me needs, demi?”

She shook her head. The pulse in her neck was fluttering wildly. Good. He needed her to fear him. He let his gaze drift over her curves again then up to her wide-eyed gaze. “Exactly. Now leave.”

Her entire body stiffened and her face twisted. “Why are you acting like this?”

“Like what?”

“Cruel.” She gripped his wrist and tried to pull his hand from around her throat.

He didn’t budge, not yet. He had to make sure she left him alone.

This pull, whatever it was he felt toward her, was too strong. He couldn’t resist it, couldn’t stay away from her, not on his own. He needed her to be the one to do it. She needed to understand that nothing could ever be between them, not friendship…not anything else.

She needed to hate him.

“You don’t know what cruel is,” he rasped.

She straightened her shoulders. “I know you’re trying to protect yourself…but you…you don’t have to with me.” She drew in a deep breath. “And I thought that perhaps…that we could spend some time together, that we could be—”

He got in her face, cut her off, didn’t want to hear what she was about to say. Couldn’t. Her scent surrounded him and he realized like a shot to the gut that Mia wanted him, despite the things he’d said, the way he’d treated her. And if he didn’t get rid of her soon, he’d lose his fucking mind.

Why did she have to come here? Why was she doing this?

Why would she want…him?

Pain began to radiate from the back of his skull, shooting down his spine. He needed to get into his room. In a matter of minutes he’d be paralyzed in agony.

He moved in closer, and goddamn, did it cost him. He didn’t like being close to others, but with Mia he realized it was different. So different. Nothing made sense.

Her soft curves pressed into him, but despite the way his pulse raced and his stomach clenched, it wasn’t hard to feign indifference. “There is nothing you have that I want,” he said and ground his lifeless cock against her. She sucked in a breath, humiliation slashing across her cheeks.

She blinked and tears tracked down her cheeks. “You don’t need to say any more. You’ve made your point.”

When she shoved against him this time, he let her go. And without looking at him again, she pushed past and ran down the hall.

Zenon didn’t have time to regret his words, and shoved his key card in the door. He stumbled into his apartment and managed to slam it shut after him before his legs gave out and he hit the floor.

No one could ever know his weakness, what he was. Not his brothers and especially not Mia.

But dammit, as he lay there, paralyzed, lost to the agony, the only thing that stopped him from being sucked under completely was Mia.