not part demon. And neither was Kayley.” Horror filled her eyes. He longed to put her fears to rest, but that would be a lie.
“Demon hunters are part human and part demon. It’s why Lucifer offered you the contract rather than just taking you straight to Hell in exchange for your sister’s life. It’s why Kayley was so easily led to the darkness.”
“Stop it. Just stop it.” She put her hands over her ears and rocked back and forth.
He’d been accused of being an unfeeling brute many times in his life. It had never bothered him. But right now, he was acutely aware of the accuracy of the claim. He hadn’t meant to be cruel, only to give her the truth.
“Morrigan.” He reached out for her, but she pulled away, curling her knees to her chest as though to make herself smaller. She’d always been so brash and brave. Now she was broken.
And it was his fault.
He started to leave. She wouldn’t want him around now, but he couldn’t make himself abandon her.
It was up to him to fix her. If he could heal her from a life-threatening wound, he could find a way to repair the emotional damage he’d done.
Killing, he was good at. Ruthless, cold, calculating, and single-minded, he knew a thousand ways to dispatch a human, demon, or other paranormal.
He had no idea how to comfort his demon hunter.
She made no sound as she cried, but he could smell the salt from her tears, see the silent shaking of her shoulders.
Unable to bear it any longer, he dragged her into his arms. As soon as he touched her, she began to struggle. “Let me go.”
“No.” It was the one thing he could not, would not, do.
She pounded her fists against his shoulders and back. “I’m not a demon. My sister wasn’t a demon. My mother would never have had sex with a demon.”
That was the heart of it for her.
“Demons are sly and can have quite pleasing forms. You know that. It was likely she had no idea what he truly was.” Again, it was a truth he could give her. “It’s why you always had more acute senses than most, are stronger than normal, why you never got sick. All that was enhanced when you became a hunter.”
Her clenched fists beat down on his arms and shoulders, hammered at his chest. This woman knew how to fight, and her efforts were halfhearted at best. He barely felt the blows. No, it was her anguish that nearly brought him down.
He pulled her closer and pushed her head against his shoulder. “You are not a demon. You have demon blood. That’s not at all the same thing. Unlike a demon, you have human blood, you have a choice, and you made it.”
“To become a demon hunter.” Defeat was heavy in her voice.
“No.” He tilted her back until he could see her face. “No,” he repeated. “You chose to protect your sister.”
Chapter Twenty
Morrigan was beyond exhausted, physically and mentally. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d felt any other way. There was so much for her to take in.
All the fight went out of her, and she relaxed in Maccus’s arms, needing his strength to center her. The attack, then being unconscious and locked in a coma for days, had left her weak.
Somehow, he’d healed her. His presence and persistence had brought her back from her own personal hell.
She could remember now, all the details of the battle crystal clear—the blood and guts, the strain of her muscles as she’d fought, the grunts of pain from the demons, their cries of anguish as they fell beneath her blade. The knife that had slammed into her chest. Things got fuzzy after that.
According to Maccus, he’d launched his knives at Lucifer and had hit her sister.
He was too good a shot to miss his target.
But Lucifer wouldn’t have hesitated to use Kayley as a shield.
“My father was a demon.” Wrapping her head around that was almost impossible. Her father was