Page 78 of Fighting My Demons

"Maybe you should drink it now. I would prefer it if you didn't die at work. That would be way too much paperwork," Addie laughs, and I chuckle.

I process her words. I would die, but then undie? Yet as shocking as it sounds, it honestly doesn't scare me as much as I thought it would. Honestly, my life can't get any crazier.

"You can have kids afterward, right? You had your son?"

"You want kids?"

"I don't know. Can demons have kids?"

She shrugs. "Latham said he has a brother, so I assume they can."

"Once in this form, your body can't change, so you would have to have kids before you transition, but—"

"But what?"

"I am not sure they will wait that long."

"What makes you say that?"

"Latham isn't like other demons, Bella. He can be dangerous."

"I know that, but I don't need to change right now; maybe I could in a few years. I am not that old yet."

Addie nods, but I can tell she doesn't think that would happen. I scratch my thigh. That burning itch started about an hour after I got here. I don't know what is happening with Xavier's mark or these damn stockings, but I have been scratching that spot like crazy.

"Speak to them," she says before returning to her food.

We wat in silence, and afterward, I clean up my desk and head down to my car. Rummaging for my keys, my fingers brush the vial, and I pinch it between my fingers and look at it. Shaking my strange mood away, I grab my keys and look up to unlock my car when I notice Tank, my brother's friend leaning against the shop wall across from me. He waves and a creepy smile splits onto his face.

"I told you I would come to get you," Latham says, making me jump as he wraps his arms around me. I look up at him before looking back at Tank; only he is gone. I glance up the street in both directions, but he is nowhere.

"What's wrong?" Latham asks, plucking my keys from my fingers.

"Nothing, I just thought I saw my brother's friend," I tell him.

"Where?"

"Doesn't matter, let's get home," I tell him, opening the passenger door and climbing in.

"Why didn't you wake us?" Latham growls as he starts my car.

"I am not a baby. I don't need you holding my hand, and it's not my fault you slept all day," I snap back at him, not liking his tone. My leg itches and burns again, and I scratch at it. My stocking irritates my thigh worse.

"You shouldn't have left. Demons kind of hibernate after marking. Some call it nesting, fazing. You should have remained with us," he says, and I can feel his annoyance, like I’ve done something wrong. I scratch my leg, Xavier's mark burning hotter.

What the fuck is wrong with my leg?

Halfway home, the burning itch becomes too much, and I yank my skirt up. Latham glances at me questionably, but I shake my head before forcing the stockings down my leg. Only when I do, Latham jerks the car to a stop on the side of the road, and I gasp. Xavier's mark is glowing red on my pale skin. And the faint scar on my leg earlier is now black as coal. Latham grips my knee, pulling my legs open to look at it, and he growls, making goosebumps rise on my arms.

"Latham?"

"That's not possible."

"Ah, it itches," I whine, scratching at it.

"I need to get you back home," Latham says, pulling back onto the road, his foot jamming on the accelerator, making me lurch forward in my seat.

Chapter Forty-Seven