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The light inside came on, then the door swung open and exactly the woman he’d hoped not to encounter blinked up at him. He tried to mold his face into something less bloodthirsty.
“Tallak,” Merle said with a wary note in her voice. “You look even more murderous than usual tonight. How may I help you?”
So much for appearing less threatening.
“Is your demon here?”
“Why?” Merle raised a brow, her magic a pressure in the air he could feel even through the wards. His skin crawled.
Ugh. Scary redhead. “I need to talk to him.”
“About what?” She leaned against the doorjamb, pulled out a burrito from the gods knew where, and started eating it.
“About none of your fucking business, that’s what. Now, is he here or not?”
He didn’t have Rhun’s number, or else he’d just have called him. As it was, he had to show up here at the MacKenna house in person and deal with the ginger witch’s interrogation just to get to the damn bluotezzer. This night just got better and better.
Merle glared at him, her magic turning whip-sharp, then her eyes widened. “Ooooh,” she said slowly, something like comprehension dawning on her face. “Gotcha. No worries, he’s here. Let me get him for you.” Then she half turned and yelled at the top of her lungs, “Rhun! Tallak is here for more dating advice about Hazel!”
For the love of all fucks. Balling his hands into fists, he ground his teeth so hard he felt a muscle pop in his jaw. He would kill that bloody bastard. He would kill him dead.
Right after he talked to him, of course.
Rhun sauntered down the stairs that very moment, took one look at Tallak, and succumbed to a coughing fit that sounded suspiciously like laughter. It took Tallak a few seconds to realize the rumbling thunder he heard was his own growling.
“I’ll leave you to it, then,” Merle said with a grin and waddled off toward the stairs.
Tallak waited for the witch to be out of view, then he rounded on Rhun with murder on his mind. “You fucking told her?”
Rhun raised his hands, palms forward. “She’s my mate, man. Not like I can hide anything from her.”
Tallak turned away with a vile curse.
“She won’t say a word to Hazel.” Tallak could hear the eye roll in Rhun’s voice. “She might be Hazel’s friend and fellow witch, but she’s my mate first, and I bound her to secrecy, so un-bunch your panties and come on in.”
A feral snarl on his lips, he turned back to the bothersome bluotezzer. “I ought to rip your tongue out.”
“Then how would I be able to give you advice?” Rhun tilted his head and smirked. “That’s what you’re here for, isn’t it? So what happened?”
Tallak rubbed a hand over his face. “Fucking disaster is what happened.”
Rhun regarded him for a moment, then jerked his head toward the foyer behind him and stepped back. “Come in. There’s booze in the kitchen.”
Tallak eyed the invisible force of the wards with a healthy dose of self-preservation. “Shouldn’t your witch invite me in?”
“I just did. You’re not gonna get fried like a bug on a suicide mission to the light.” At his skeptical look, Rhun made a get with the program gesture. “I’m Merle’s mate and I live here. The wards listen to me as much as to her.”
Still suspicious, Tallak reached out a single finger toward the threshold. In slow motion, he poked the wards. The magic sizzled over his skin, a potent reminder of the power behind it, but it gave way and didn’t burn him.
Rhun cleared his throat, eyes flicking between Tallak’s outstretched finger and his face. “Dude, if this is how you fingered her, I can see how it was a fiasco.”
With a snarl, Tallak launched himself at Rhun. He barely noticed the pressure of the wards as he flew over the threshold and crashed into the other demon. They hit the opposite wall with a thump that shook the ancient Victorian. Pictures rattled and a frame fell down, its glass shattering.
“Rhun?” Merle called from upstairs. “Everything okay?”
“Just fine!” Rhun shouted as he evaded Tallak’s right hook and then slammed his head against his nose. “We’re having a manly-man talk!”
The pain in his nose merely a blip on Tallak’s rage-filled radar, he rammed his knee into Rhun’s gut and followed up with an elbow to the face. Blood spurted from the bluotezzer’s nose, and he reeled back. The next second, he had his shoulder against Tallak’s stomach, driving him hard against the wall. Tallak’s back met the wood, and all air whooshed out of his lungs for an instant. Time enough for Rhun to land a few damn good hits to his middle.
