drink a cup of warm milk, then I lay back in bed and think of the good things that happened the previous day. With the festival, I bet you have plenty of good things to think about, don’t you?”
Calvin nodded. “It’s just …” He glanced at Kianna. “The monster will get you if I close my eyes.”
“W-what?” Kianna asked.
“My nightmare,” Calvin said. “Monsters came into the village and searched for you. They wanted to kill you.”
She glanced at Devon. There was a deep line between his brows.
“Is it the first time you had a nightmare like that, Calvin?” he asked.
Calvin nodded.
“It’s okay,” Kianna said quickly. “I’m fine. No monster will get me, okay?” It wasn’t the first time Calvin had woken up in the middle of the night because of a nightmare and searched for her, but it was the first time he had ever mentioned monsters. Coming for her? What a wild imagination he had. “Come on.” Kianna patted his back. “I’ll make you some warm milk, then put you back in bed. Okay?”
Calvin nodded again. She slipped her hand in his and tugged him into the house. Beside her, Devon rose to his feet, the frown still in place.
“Good night, Calvin,” Devon said, his voice tight.
Kianna glanced at Devon. “Thank you,” she mouthed.
Devon dipped his chin in acknowledgment. “Good night.”
His eyes remained locked on hers for a moment longer, then he spun around and marched around the house, probably to the barn where he still slept.
“Come on.” Kianna ushered Calvin inside the manor and focused on taking care of her little brother, purposefully pushing all thoughts of Devon away from her mind.
Present
Devon
I stared at the board in front of me.
Newspaper clippings of demons sightings, or strange attacks that only the other warriors and I knew had been demons, and places where I had fought them nearby.
Notes of what I could remember from my nightmares.
A list of ideas of what could have happened in the past and why the gods had punished me.
A picture of the ring I carried on a chain around my neck.
And now: photos of Kenna and Lia, and a list of all the visions I had had when touching Kenna. Also, a scribbled note about her blond hair last night at the festival.
Lines of yarn connected everything relevant—red for demons, blue for humans.
I had started the board years ago, when I was first brought back from the underworld with only the ring for a clue. The board started as a three by four, and I had been determined to fill it fast and figure this fucking curse out.
Time passed and I barely covered a small corner of it.
But since Kenna and Lia had shown up, I had added two more boards side by side, and if things continued evolving this way, I would soon have to buy another.
To be honest, I would rather figure everything out before that, and be done with it.
I glanced out the window. From the guest bedroom, I could see the small window on the side of the kitchen and a corner of the porch and the backyard. Kenna had been active since early this morning, going around the house, though I had no idea what she had been up to. The only time it was easy to tell what she was doing was when she showed up on the back porch with a towel bunched up atop of her head. A few minutes later, she walked by the window—with her hair dark brown again. This time, she had added blue streaks to it.
Once more I wondered why she dyed her hair. What was she trying to hide? Was Lia in on it too?
I couldn’t sit still. Not when I knew she was a few yards away, and she could have the answers I needed. She had to have them, right? At least a couple of them. Something, anything to point me in the right direction.
I needed some fucking direction.
I went to her house. Lia had left earlier, probably for work, but for some reason, I wanted to speak with only Kenna for now.
I rang the bell and waited.
Not thirty seconds later, Kenna opened the door.
“Devon, what are you doing here?”
The words flew past my throat but got stuck on my tongue. What? Had I really planned to come here and ask who she was? If she was in on it with the gods? If she was part of my punishment? If she knew anything about demons?
What if this was all