Omens (Dark in You 6)

Khloé wasn’t afraid to take the risk that she might get hurt, because just maybe the outcome of that risk would be something good. What did weigh on her was the knowledge that if the relationship came to an end, she wouldn’t be able to cut him out of her everyday life.

He was a staple in her cousin’s life—not only as Harper’s sentinel, but as Asher’s bodyguard. For that reason alone, Khloé came into contact with the incubus at least twice a week. He also attended most of her lair’s celebratory events, since Harper and Asher were usually in attendance. And he was of course present at each of Harper’s events.

If the relationship came to a screeching halt, there would really be no way for him and Khloé to avoid each other. They couldn’t truly go their separate ways—their lives were too interlinked. Seeing him so regularly would be hard enough. But it would also mean she’d always hear about whatever women came after her. And if he found himself serious about someone again, Khloé wouldn’t be able to enjoy the bliss of ignorance.

It would hurt. Badly. And if she desperately needed to get away or put some space between them, she’d have to give up her job and maybe even move out of Vegas.

So, yeah, she was taking a big risk here. But she’d tried ignoring what she felt for him, and it hadn’t worked. Besides, she’d gotten the distinct impression that if she’d said no, Keenan wouldn’t have let it alone. Like her, he seemed tired of wrestling with what he wanted. All they could do was take a gamble and hope it paid off.

In her bedroom, she dressed and dried her hair. Humming to herself, she headed downstairs and went to the kitchen. Khloé frowned at the male who was sitting at her breakfast bar, munching on cereal. “What are you doing?”

Ciaran spared her a brief glance. “Eating while I waited for you to get your boney ass downstairs.”

“My ass is not boney.” She crossed to one of the cupboards and pulled out a Danish pasty. “Why are you here?”

“Orrin managed to locate David Shore. Grams wants to pay him a visit in an hour. You interested in coming?”

Khloé’s demon perked up. “Oh, yeah, definitely.”

“Figured as much.” He spooned more cereal. “So … want to tell me why Keenan’s jacket is hanging on your coat rack?”

She tensed. “No, not really.”

Ciaran smirked. “Oh, so it’s like that, huh? Thought so. I would have assumed you guys are just bed-buddies, but he wouldn’t have deliberately left his jacket here to mark his territory if it wasn’t more serious than that.”

She frowned. “He’s not marking his territory. He just forgot to take it with him.”

Sighing, Ciaran leaned forward. “Khlo, commitment-phobic demons like Keenan are extremely careful not to leave their shit at a woman’s house—they don’t want to lead her on or have to go back. I’m telling you, he left that jacket as a message to any guy who comes here.”

Khloé made an exasperated sound. “Male demons are so weird.”

Once she’d eaten breakfast, Ciaran teleported her to their grandmother’s house. Khloé’s brows lifted when she saw that her father was waiting with Jolene and Orrin. He’d seemingly convinced his mother to allow him to come along. Well, it wasn’t like he wouldn’t be useful—Richie was very good at interrogations.

It turned out that David Shore lived at an apartment complex in Michigan. The building was pretty decent and had good security. No security was good enough to keep out imps, though—especially one who could teleport. So, it wasn’t long before Khloé and her lair members were standing outside David’s apartment.

Taking the lead, Jolene knocked on his front door. When there was no answer, she knocked again. Still nothing. She pressed her ear to the door. “I can’t hear any activity going on inside.”

“Maybe he’s not home,” said Ciaran.

“Maybe,” Jolene allowed. Still, she knocked again.

“Want me to teleport inside and see if the place is empty?” Ciaran asked.

Just then, the elevator behind them pinged. They turned just as a thin figure stepped out of the elevator with a grocery bag tucked under his arm, his eyes fixed on the screen of the cell phone in his hand.

He certainly matched the description of the guy they were looking for, so it was no surprise that he walked toward David’s apartment. He froze when he finally spotted the demons gathered there.

Jolene gave him a pleasant smile. “David Shore?”

He threw the bag and ran through the door that led to the stairwell.

They all dashed after him, their feet thundering down the stairs, throwing hellfire orbs and yelling for him to stop. One orb hit his hand, causing him to drop his cell phone. He hissed in pain but kept on running.

Reaching the first level, he rocketed toward the exit. Ciaran appeared in front of it, causing David to skid to a halt. He turned to run, but the other imps surrounded him.