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“How do you know Heidi?” I asked.
He turned cold eyes to me. “Will you drop it if I tell you to?”
I was curious, but I wouldn’t bother him. “I will.”
That half grin was back, but without its usual energy. “What did Lacey tell you, sweetheart?”
“Nothing.”
“Liar. Lacey loves talking and she has no qualms talking about our past.” He paused and looked out to the humans again, but I didn’t think he was actually seeing them. “She doesn’t have many friends in her coven. To be honest, she doesn’t have any. She’s seen as an outcast since she was born away from them and raised by a demon for the first nine years of her life.”
“That’s not her fault.”
“Tell that to the coven.” He shifted the paper bag to one hand and put the other inside the pocket of his slacks. “She longs for a friend, and to her, you seemed like a good candidate.” He looked at me again. “Tell me, sweetheart, what did she tell you?”
“Nothing,” I insisted. I didn’t want to get Lacey in trouble.
Levi shook his head, and his hair fell over his eyes. “Heidi was hired as one of our nannies when we were kids,” he finally answered my question. He pushed his hair back and returned his hand to his pocket. “She was the kindest, most caring nanny we had, and she actually stood up to our father whenever he threatened us.” He inhaled deeply. “He got tired of it and fired her. We lost contact for many years.”
“You haven’t seen her in … what? Ten years? This was the first time in ten-ish years?”
“Are you trying to do math, sweetheart? Or guess my age?” he asked, teasing me. He was correct on both accounts. “Heidi left when I was sixteen and Lacey was eight.” A year before Lacey was sent to live with her mother’s coven. “But no, this wasn’t the first we saw her in twelve years.”
Which meant … “You’re twenty-eight. Or have you been twenty-eight for a while?” Lesser and neutral demons lived for a long time, but higher demons and princes were known to be immortal. Their aging slowed down around late teenage years, until it eventually stopped.
“I’m actually twenty-eight, Lacey is nineteen, and we’ll probably stop aging in our mid-to-late thirties.”
Hm, a new higher demon. You didn’t meet one of those every day.
I went back to the previous subject. “How did you find Heidi again?”
He considered it, as if weighing the fact that he had already told me too much, and I shouldn’t know more. I kind of agreed, but now I was curious.
“At thirteen, Lacey lost control of her magic when …” He paused, shifted his weight. “When her period first came. I couldn’t go to her, because the coven wouldn't allow it, and because I was tied up on business on the other side of the country. But I already had contacts. I was able to find Heidi in a matter of hours and begged her to go see Lacey.”
“I bet you didn’t need to beg.”
He nodded. “I didn’t. She was ready to go. Ever since then, we have maintained contact, the two of them more than me, but Heidi is like family. The good kind.”
That was so sweet. Levi and Lacey had lost their mothers, but they had had a loving mother figure in their lives. I couldn’t help but wonder why Heidi never had gotten married and had her own children … that was a question for another day, though.
“I’m glad you have someone like her in your lives.”
Levi turned fully to me, his eyes hard. “Lacey told you too much. Hell, me too, but it stops here, sweetheart. Do not let Lacey get close to you. She’ll try, that’s what she does, but you’re going to push her away.”
“Hey!” Who said I wanted to get close to her anyway?
“After all this shit is done, you’ll cut this fucking bond, and you’ll disappear from our lives. If you don’t, I’ll make you, and that will break her heart.” He stepped closer, his powerful body casting a shadow over mine. “This is the only warning you’ll get.”
After a death glare, Levi walked away.
I waited a few steps and followed, since he was my ride back to Heidi’s. If I had another way around, if I knew the town, I would have stayed here, probably watched the movie to clear my mind, and then found my own way back.
Maybe I still could. I didn’t have the Uber app, but there were taxis. I just needed to find out Heidi’s address.
“Come, sweetheart,” Levi called out, his voice as harsh as before.
With a sigh, I trailed behind him.
