Mark of Damon by Eva Chase Page 0,39
time we’d had a chance to talk just the two of us. The questions I knew she must have been mulling over, the ones she’d held back until we could speak privately, hung in the air between us for a moment.
When she spoke, her voice was soft and steady. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Yeah. That was the big one. I wet my lips, struggling with the answer that was almost as hard to say as my request for help, even though I’d had plenty of time to think it over during the drive.
“You know I’ve had trouble sometimes feeling like I’m really part of the group—like I still fit with the rest of you. I thought I’d gotten past that, but… I don’t know. Some of those old insecurities started eating at me again.”
“The demons’ energy was probably stirring them up on purpose,” Rose said. “Looking for a foothold so they could work on you more easily.”
That made sense. Lord, how long had that influence been creeping through my mind, subtly altering my perceptions, before I’d even noticed anything odd emanating from the scar?
“I still should have realized,” I said. “I should have at least come to you. It was just— I don’t want to be yet another problem for you to solve. I want to be bringing good things into your life, not dragging you down. If I could have used the power the way I meant to—”
“Damon.” She reached over to take my hand, heedless of how close that brought her own to the malicious energy inside me. “You don’t need to be casting spells to make me happy. You just have to be here. I’ve never wished you were different, or doing more, or anything like that. I love you, not some idea of a person you could be.”
“I know.” That understanding was what drew the most knots into my stomach. “I haven’t been enough for many things in my life. I wasn’t enough for my dad to stick around. I wasn’t enough to make it through high school. I haven’t been enough to give my mom a better life in any significant way. I guess it’s hard to comprehend that I could be enough for you, even with four other guys picking up my slack.”
I raised my head and met her gaze, tightening my grip on her hand. “But I know you’ve always believed in me, even when I was being a jerk. I know you’ve always had my back. The supernatural stuff is your domain; it was stupid to try to go it alone. I’m sorry I didn’t believe in you.”
“I think I can forgive you, considering the demonic manipulation in the mix and all.” She gave me a bittersweet little smile. “You did fend them off all on your own when it mattered the most.”
A hint of this afternoon’s anger flickered in my chest. “I’d happily see your dad blasted to bits—don’t get me wrong. I just wasn’t going to let the demons do it for whatever reasons they have.”
“You said you think they were trying to create a blood sacrifice for more power,” Rose said.
I’d told her that much on the way back. “Yeah. I have this sense…” It trickled through me now when I opened myself to it: the flavor of rot, the impression of decay. “Somewhere on the estate, off where no one’s likely to stumble on it, they’ve been working magic for a purpose of their own whenever I let some loose. If I let myself try, I think I can find the spot.”
“We’d better deal with that now. Whatever power they’re working on you, it’ll be tied up in any other magic they have in this world. We’ll need to tackle it all at once.”
She released my hand to get out of the car, but as soon as she’d rejoined me on the drive, she grasped it again, twining her fingers with mine. The other guys came over, their expressions concerned but not angry or horrified the way I might have deserved after the danger I’d put us all in.
“Damon and I are going demon-hunting,” Rose said with a wry quirk of her lips. “This is going to be a magical confrontation. The rest of you will be safer if you stay back here.”
Kyler was shaking his head before she’d even finished speaking. “Forget that. We fought them off together before, and we’ll do it again.”
Seth tipped his head toward the house. “We could dip into that set