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  “Devil!” The words stung, and her eyes burned with tears. For a second, his face completely fills with love and apology. Then he floats toward her before pausing, and the resolve hardens once again. His words are plain-spoken, hurtful even, but not malicious. This is his way, and maybe she needs to hear it like this.

  All of it is true anyhow.

  “Sora, I watched you almost be destroyed by them. A little more of you died every day, but you had this stupid fucking smile on your face that lied to the world. When you left him, I was glad; not because he hurt you but because him being gone saved you from losing yourself completely.” He sighs, and it’s filled with a myriad of emotions. Sadness, anger, and even a little guilt.

  That doesn’t stop him from continuing. “I stood by and watched your mother manipulate you, berate you, punish you for not being what she thought you should be until finally, you were almost–so close to completely–her creation. Then you met that asshat, and even that rebellious part of you started to fade. The one shard of the real you, that small piece of your fiery soul, was almost gone. The beautiful soul that called to me in that horrible darkness and was strong enough to pull my fucked-up ass out of it.” He plonks down on her lap, turning his head to stare up at her.

  “I loved you on sight. This beautiful child with golden eyes looking at me like I was the most special goddamn thing in all the worlds. You accepted me with open arms, loved me unabashedly, and for the gifts you’ve given me, I’ll do anything to keep you safe, Sora. Even from yourself. But for the life of me, I don’t know how to stop you from falling in lust with someone bad for you. I tried with Max, I really did, but you demonstrated exactly how stubborn you can be. The more I protested and tried to sabotage it, the more you clung to him. You even chose him over me more than once.” The hurt in that last sentence is enough to make her look at him closer. To cup his face with her hands and rest her forehead against his.

  Had she done that? Chosen a man over her guardian?

  Yes.

  “I’m worried that the pull you feel for Voss is because you’re his mate. If that’s the case, you’ll never be able to deny him, Sora. A man like Voss… he’ll succeed where your parents and Max failed.”

  She closes her eyes and breathes in the scent of a smoky fire. The feeling of Devil’s magic gently lapping against hers like soft waves on the beach of her soul, pushes the unease, the pain out of her. She focuses on the attraction, the pull toward Voss. Devil’s right. The attraction isn’t normal. She’s an idiot sometimes, but not so big of one to hop from a destructive relationship into a nuclear one.

  “How do we stop it?” she asks into the silence of the room.

  “If it is the mate calling, there is no stopping it. If it’s something else… there might be a way.”

  She sits up straight. “Something else?”

  “Sora, there are so many spells and curses in the world that can cause an unhealthy attraction to someone. Love, no, but anyone can be manipulated magically to get naked with them.” Alarmed, she stiffens.

  Would Voss do such a thing? If so, why? She’s not a valuable supernatural–well, yes and no. Rolling her bottom lip between her teeth, she stares down at Devil.

  “What do you think it is?”

  “Honestly, the mate calling. It fits his erratic behavior towards you that even his own people are starting to comment on. Despite the fact that he’s using you to get to the murdering psychos, there’s more interest in you than that. Lots more. I can practically smell it rolling off him when he’s in the same room with you.”

  That knowledge makes her stupid heart beat faster. She presses her hand on her chest, cursing under her breath. “Fuck.”

  “Exactly what you’ll be doing with him soon enough if you’re not careful.”

  Chapter Two

  Monday morning has her staring bleary-eyed at the office door. The lock is broken, and the door is standing ajar. Hank would’ve fixed it if he were here. That thought instantly wakes her up, and she’s through the door, arm flaring the next second. Two long steps take her to the doorway of his office. The room that she keeps tidy and organized is covered in scattered files and loose paper. She double checks to make sure Hank isn’t lying around anywhere.

  He’s nowhere to be found. She even checks behind and under the desk.

  “Not in the bathroom, either!” Devil calls out, his voice echoing loudly in the stillness.

  The entire office is trashed, including the desk. The drawers are ripped out and dumped on the top. Even the stuff in his closet is strewn about, including his dirty, smelly clothes. With one more sweeping glance, she goes to her desk and sees her area is in the same condition. She pulls her phone out of her pocket and dials Hank’s number.

  He answers on the first ring, and something inside of her relaxes.

  “Sora? Why are you calling so early?” He sounds tired, potentially even hungover.

  “Someone trashed the office, and I wanted to make sure you’re okay,” she says, cradling the phone with her shoulder while cleaning off the chair to sit down. The adrenaline has her shaking, and her magic is itching to get out.

  “Are you fucking serious? Did you see them? Are you okay?” he rapid-fire questions her.

  “Yeah, they totally trashed it, and no, I didn’t see anyone. We’re perfectly fine and will start cleaning in a few minutes. Do you have any idea who it could’ve been?” Her first guess is the people they’re trying to catch, but that also might not be the case. Hank told her, in the beginning, his job earns him a lot of enemies. Some of which she's already seen.

  He works for some really dangerous people too. Voss probably being one of the most.

  Thinking of Voss makes her ask, “You don’t think Voss had his people do it, do you?” There’s a rustling of clothing and a slight curse as something hits the ground.

  “No, I’m pretty open with him about his case. He would just threaten me versus destroying the office.” She nods along with his statements. He’s probably right. Voss is more direct in his approach. Violent or otherwise. “I’m banking on it being the assholes we’re onto now for the murders. We need to see what files are missing, if any, and that will give us a more solid direction.” She listens to him opening and closing several doors before hearing his loud beast of a car start. “I can put some feelers out too. We’ll need to temporarily move to a different place that we keep only between the two of us until this is all over.”

  “You’re not going to tell Voss?” she asks in surprise.

  “Not yet. He could have holes in his security.” He grunts, and his face pushes a bunch of buttons. She holds the phone away until the tones stop. “I’ll be there soon. If you need it, there’s a gun bolted to the bottom of my keyboard drawer.”

  “I don’t need a gun, Hank,” she reassures him. She has weapons that will hurt more than a bullet. Power and anger. She has lots and lots of anger. A lifetime’s worth and lately, it’s finding its way out more and more.

  It’s starting to feel good getting some of it out, and even though that concerns her–complete lifestyle changes are hard to adjust to for anyone–it doesn’t at the same time. She’s held herself back her entire life, and the freedom she has discovered erodes the anxiety and desire to crawl back in her shell and be quiet Sora once again. Slowly but surely, she’s adjusting to speaking her mind and living her life how she wishes. Some two-bit psychopaths who have a twisted view of the world aren’t going to take that away from her. No matter how new the journey is to her.

  It's a determination she needs to apply to every facet of her life, including Voss.

  “Just in case, Sora. I realize you have that fucked-up sin magic, but I don’t see how it will stop someone bent on hurting you.” She’s not about to explain it again and only makes a noise of agreement in the back of her throat. Satisfied, he hangs up, and she looks up to find Devil staring at her.

  “What?” she asks, blinking at him because he should be helping clean up instead of staring
at her like he’s never seen her before.

  “I’m a bit impressed with how calmly you’re handling this.”

  Slightly offended and amused, she says, “Am I supposed to freak out and call my mom to come and get me, Devil?” He snickers and floats off into Hank’s office without another word. He made his point, and anything else he says will incite her to minor violence, a fact he’s perfectly aware of.

  Shaking her head, she begins the arduous task of cleaning up the mess the assholes left them. Some files are ripped up but still legible, and after an hour or so, Hank joins in. Between the two of them, they manage to get everything sorted and stacked on her desk.

  After sorting things alphabetically, they’re able to go through and see what’s actually missing. In the end, it’s only two files, both from Hank’s private stash.

  One on Voss and one on constructs.

  “I get why you’re keeping a file on Voss. He won’t like it, but I understand it. Why the constructs, though?” Sora asks, curious despite herself.

  He purses his lips and her arm tingles. From the light of intent in his eyes, she realizes he’s about to try and lie to her. Holding his gaze, she points at her arm, dimly glowing, and he grimaces.

  “A walking, talking lie detector sucks, doesn’t it?” Devil teases.

  Hank shrugs and finally gives her a straight answer. “I think they still exist, probably hidden somewhere. But that isn’t the popular theory and digging information up on them is dangerous if you dig too deeply. All I’ve gathered is snippets and mostly common knowledge. Someone powerful is protecting them, but all that did was intrigue me more. So now it’s become a hobby of mine, investigating small tidbits of information here and there but never enough to draw attention to myself.”

  “Until now. Looks like whoever took your files was looking for something like it.” He floats towards Hank and considers him a moment before saying cryptically, “Constructs and their history should be left where they belong: in the past. I suggest you stop looking for information on them, hobby or not. All you need to know is that they were good at nothing but destruction and misery.” Floating off, Devil leaves Sora and Hank briefly meeting eyes, both questioning.

  For the millionth time since she met him, she thinks to herself, Who was Devil before?

  “One day, I’m going to bribe information out of him. I don’t know what he was before he became a floating holiday decoration, but those words didn’t come from ignorance. He knows something.” The intrigue on Hank’s face brings a warning to her lips.

  “He’s right, you know. For whatever mysterious reason, he’s trying to warn you off something he thinks is dangerous, and if Devil thinks it’s dangerous, then it’ll probably get you killed.” She watches her words of caution flow right off his back. Hank is driven to solve mysteries. She’s learned that about him in their brief time together. It’s what led him to his profession and makes him incredibly good at it.

  That same curiosity exists in her and is also leading her down a similar path, but she’s more behind-the-scenes than Hank. She probably always will be. She prefers it this way. As tedious as it sometimes is, she likes doing research and connecting the dots. Sticking her face in windows and recording illicit affairs by bored housewives aren’t the parts of the job that intrigue her. Solving the mystery is the draw. This is her newly-formed dream. That doesn’t mean she wouldn’t stick her face in some windows either if she had to achieve her dream of becoming a real detective.

  “I’ve run into trouble before, but sometimes the clients are more dangerous than the job,” Hank comments, and she turns her wandering attention back to him. He’s speaking about Voss and maybe amongst others. “In this circumstance, I don’t think that whoever came in here is connected to him or the case he has us on.”

  Not that she thinks tracking down the sin eaters who have organized together to terrorize people is as trivial as a regular case, but she nods her head. In this, she knows he’s right. Whoever did this left no scents, no fingerprints, and no magical signature. Unlike the murders where they had left pieces of themselves behind.

  “Yeah, this was definitely pros. We will be setting up a temporary office, preferably close to the hotel Voss has you holed up in. We won’t be able to hide it from him for long, but we can keep the location from others.”

  “What about new clients?” Not that she disagrees with him, but she gets a bonus for other cases she works with him, and she really wants those bonuses. When she spoke to Devil about moving out of the hotel, an idea struck her later when she was tossing and turning in bed.

  The desire to have her own place that no one can fuck with. She wants a home. A place to dig her roots in and arm to the teeth with wards and protections. Where her skin won’t constantly itch with the feeling of being watched or nightmares from the looming threat of danger. A place she can breathe, away from the past that continuously chases her and the shifter who wants to dominate her future.

  Not that she doesn’t get why Devil thinks it’s safer in the shifter-run hotel. Bodies are what it comes down to. There are shifters there that will protect her if need be, and that’s great and all, but that doesn’t mean they won’t turn on her one day if she pisses Voss off. Attraction aside, she will most definitely manage to piss him off one day.

  She refuses to be the type of woman that is controlled by a man, or anyone else, for that matter. She’s free and intends to stay that way. Slowly but surely, Sora is coming into her own, and she refuses to let anyone take that from her. Not even the sexiest shifter in the world.

  She realizes she’s woolgathering again and focuses her attention on Hank, who is talking about meeting new clients in public places if they can’t find an office space. For a few moments, he explains his plans, and she nods when expected to, hearing his words but not quite out of her thoughts enough to comment.

  Her head is a busy place nowadays.

  When he stops speaking and gives her a questioning glance, she decides to share some of her thoughts. “I think it’s a good idea and I’ll find a place before dinner time. With everything else going on, an unknown foe sneaking in here and stealing very specific files is concerning. What’s the price range?”

  “Since it’ll be temporary, we need convenience more than cost-saving. So, whatever you find that’s suitable. I’ll probably text Voss the location once you secure it, since he’ll know anyhow.” He flicks a glance out the front door to the two shifters trying in vain to hide in the shadows across the street. She’s fully aware of their presence, but she’s gotten so used to it that she tends to ignore them.

  It keeps her from resenting their purpose and toasting their fur.

  “What about all the files?”

  “Well, whoever it was got through the wards with no problems. They didn’t even set them off, which is concerning, and we’re not sure if they’ll come back or not. I think I’m going to call a storage company and have the bulk of them stored in a secure location. Just take the ones we actively need and the supplies you’ll need as well.” He starts to turn away to go into his office, then turns back to her. “Did you take your laptop home with you by chance?” She holds up the messenger bag slung over her shoulder as an answer. He nods. “Good. I took mine home as well so they will still be secure.”

  Without another word, he heads into his office and starts picking through the files. Questions burn on her lips, but she decides to wait. She can ask about what he had in the file about Voss later. That’s if he’ll tell her. Sometimes Hank is incredibly open with her, but other times he’s stubbornly silent. Especially about Voss and his ilk.

  She grabs a file box and puts the ones she’ll need along with odds and ends out of her desk, locking up her desk and file cabinets out of habit. They strew files everywhere, but the destruction is more minimal than she initially thought. It’s almost as if the mess was an afterthought. She files that away to think about later.

  “You were thinking about a lot more than this mess. What was it?
” Devil asks, placing himself directly in her path.

  “I think we need to buy a house, not just rent an apartment.” There’s no reason to lie to him. Every time she thinks about it, the idea gains solidity.

  He studies her for several seconds before saying, “A powerbase? Tsk tsk, I didn’t expect that when you brought it up yesterday.” He smiles at her. “This might be something I can get behind then. We can ward and boobytrap the fuck out of it.” His smile slowly fades, and he blocks her as she goes to grab the box of files she packed. “I know I’ve asked this before, but does the Voss thing really freak you out that much?”

  With a sigh, she reaches around him and plucks the box off the desk. “I spent the last ten years allowing myself to basically be led around by a man. Hell, I spent my entire life being a wimp, Devil. I’m tired of people controlling me, and I’m not about to fall back into that tragic pattern. So no, it’s not just about that, it’s everything.”

  “See, those reasons make sense to me, and who I am to deny your independence?” She rolls her eyes at him but doesn’t say anything. He’s agreeing, and that’s more than she expected so easily. She’ll take the win however small it is.

  Chapter Three

  It was an annoying three hours before she found a place acceptable for their new temporary office. Although, once she walks through it, she falls a little in love with the place. It’s on the second floor of a nondescript office building with the first floor holding a used bookstore with a small café. The elevator works without sounding like it’ll fall any second, and the office is large and spacious, taking up the entire floor.