Omens (Dark in You 6)

And then it went black.

*

“Drink it, Khloé, it’ll help you heal faster,” said Jolene, sitting beside her on the sofa.

Feeling her nose wrinkle, Khloé looked down into the mug, watching her tepid herbal tea whirl ever so slowly. She’d tried sipping at it, but her stomach felt jittery. Plus … “It tastes like swamp water.”

“Drink it in one gulp and get it over with,” advised Raini.

Khloé set the cup on a square coaster on the mahogany table. “I’d just vomit it back up again.”

She’d woken a few minutes ago, but Ciaran was still out cold upstairs in the spare bedroom. Jolene’s living area was packed with people. All were deep in conversation about Enoch, debating on what the lair’s next step should be.

The Prime was rarely alone. People waltzed in and out of Jolene’s house all the time, particularly kids looking for juice boxes, cookies, or other snacks. It wasn’t just that their lair members liked to be near the Prime. There was just such a welcoming feel to Jolene’s house. Who wouldn’t feel relaxed surrounded by the scents of baked cookies, lavender, and fresh coffee?

The earthy colors made the house feel even homier, as did the keepsakes, photos, and knickknacks. Jolene liked to be surrounded by the many memories she cherished.

Khloé let out a long breath. All she wanted to do was go home, shower the battle away, and just relax for a while. Her demon needed the downtime, too. But her parents seemed determined to keep her in their sight until her wounds healed a little more. To be fair, the burns were still ugly and raw.

A fist pounded on the front door. Khloé’s head snapped up.

“That’s probably Harper and whoever’s come along with her,” said Raini, who then walked out into the hallway.

The succubus had called the sphinx about what happened while Khloé was still in dreamland—something Khloé only knew of because Keenan had telepathically ranted at her the very second that she woke up for not calling him … hence why she’d slammed a mental door on him again. She didn’t need someone’s angry voice reverberating around her aching head.

Keenan stalked into the room, his face darkening as he caught sight of Khloé’s injuries. “The fuck? You said you were fine.”

“I am,” said Khloé.

His eyes blazed. “You’re covered in blisters, bruises, and puncture wounds! And you smell like death!”

Affronted, her demon gave him a haughty sniff. “Careful or all these compliments will go right to my head,” said Khloé, deadpan.

“Don’t downplay this. Why the fuck didn’t you call me and tell me you were attacked? I had to hear it from Harper, who heard it from Raini.”

“I was out cold until a few minutes ago. And before you rant at me for not giving you a telepathic holler for help, note that you wouldn’t have done it if the situation was reversed. Now I have a bitch of a headache, courtesy of expending a truck load of psi-energy earlier, so I’d appreciate it if you quit yelling.”

Keenan stared at her, his chest heaving. Then he leaned down, fisted the front of her tee, and slammed his mouth on hers. He kissed her hard, and she tasted his panic and relief. “I officially fucking loathe Enoch. Never met him, but I loathe him.” Don’t ever scare me like that again, he telepathically added.

He perched himself on the arm of the sofa, paying no attention to the imps who stared at them in open-mouthed fascination. Yeah, word hadn’t yet gotten around her lair that she and him had a thing going on.

Her mother looked pleased. Her father? Not so much. But then, he never liked any male sniffing around his daughters.

Knox frowned as his gaze swept the room. “Why do several of you look as though you went a few rounds with a tiger?”

“We can thank Enoch’s puppets for that,” griped Khloé. Her own claw marks and bites still stung like a bitch. She was supremely thankful that demons healed fast.

Harper folded her arms. “Can someone please walk me through what happened?”

“It was a trap,” said Jolene, a cup of coffee in hand. “Enoch knew we’d question the people he might seek help from. He knew David wouldn’t hold out against us. And he knew we’d come, expecting to find him all alone and an easy target. So he built himself a small army and waited. He planned to murder us all there and then.”

Orrin nodded. “He’d killed and stashed people in the cellar. They looked like dead hikers to me, but I can’t be sure. We couldn’t feel their minds at first, so my guess is that he kept them inside a forcefield until he was ready to pounce. Khloé managed to bolt the hatch shut before they could get out. That was when Enoch struck.”

“He targeted Ciaran immediately so that he couldn’t teleport us all away,” Jolene added. “I put up my shield to protect us while we struck back at him, but nothing hit him—he’d surrounded himself with a repellant forcefield. I realized too late that it was only a diversion.”