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But that didn’tfor the truth

I pulled back, then punched him hard in the chest "Why didn’t you call? Or text? Or eri his chest, but I knew that the flicker of pain I saw flash across his face had nothing to do with my punch "I’ain," I said, relenting "Okay?"

Relief shiave hi, and this time I could feel that so to head down the hallway "Eilahn said so earlier about a very late breakfast"

"Do I dare eat her cooking?" he replied as he followed me He knew Eilahn was a deh he said he had no idea why For that matter, neither did I, other than that they called hienius to figure out that it probably had so to do with my theory that he was an exiled demonic lord

"She knows you’re a friend and off-lie is concerned I think the worst she ie into your oe

I snickered as I heard hiroan "You’re evil," he muttered

Eilahn was already at the kitchen counter and pouring batter onto a waffle iron I had no doubt that she’d been completely aware of Ryan’s presence in the driveway and of our conversation in the foyer I wasn’t at all surprised that she hadn’t allowed him inside the protections She kept her hostility in check at my request, but it was definitely still there And what the hell could a demonic lord do to deserve exile? I wondered for the millionth time What oath did he break?

And howto associate with hierous, and Ryan clearly had eneht with a touch of defiance He’s still ood reason to feel otherwise

The syraza gave Ryan a slight nod as he entered the kitchen "Good afternoon, Ryan," she said, tone not quite chilly "Will you be joining us for a late breakfast?"

He smiled broadly and plopped down at the table "Why yes, I believe I shall, and thank you for the invite!"

"I did not invite you," she replied before returning her attention to the waffle iron I winced at the reply, but Ryanto be like this

I headed toward the coffeemaker Thankfully, she had also made coffee "I didn’t know I had a waffle iron"

"You did," Eilahn replied with a slight smile "It was at the back of one of your cabinets Still in the box"

I wasn’t terribly surprised I went through phases where I was convinced I was going to learn how to cook, or at least learn how to aritas Those phases usually passed quickly, and the related appliance ended up forgotten somewhere In contrast, in the relatively short ti with me, I’d discovered that Eilahn was an enthusiastic and skilled gourmet I had no idea if she’d already possessed these skills, or if she picked them up while here, but I wasn’t about to coure out so I almost asked her if she needed funds then stopped et into with Ryan around

I busiedfor Ryan as well Ryan kneho and what Eilahn was and knew about her role here as ely protective toward her--which wasn’t logical in many ways, since she was the badass demon

But the demons hate him for a reason And even if he doesn’t remember or realize it, he’s pretty damn powerful I couldn’t…wouldn’t risk Eilahn if I could at all help it No matter how much I cared about Ryan

I do care about Ryan, I toldHe ers briefly brushing ht back the uncertainty I care about Ryan…the Ryan I knew Who the fuck is this?

I set my own coffee down on the table, then pulled the chair that faced the hallway out and around to exchange it with the chair across froave me a puzzled look at my antics "This chair wobbles," I explained with a lift of my chin toward the one I’d just switched out

"So, why don’t you sit somewhere else?" he asked with a lift of one eyebrow

I plopped my butt down in the replace with ives me the willies"