Soulbound

18. Dani

“I still can't believe you didn't tell me that you were seeing her!”

A groan gurgles in my chest as I snap a lid onto the coffee cup in my hand and slide it across the counter. Rose has been voicing her opinion on my time with Ashe for the past few days now and, to be honest, I was getting a little tired of hearing it. Or maybe I was tired of lying.

The customer takes his beverage with a nervous smile as Rose appears next to me like some phantom shadow. I can practically feel her blue eyes staring at the side of my face, analyzing me with predacious precision as she waited for me to respond. If she stared any harder I was sure that icicles would start to form in the air between us.

“It's not like I planned it, Rose,” I finally say, refusing to meet her glare as I busy myself with wiping down the milk frother. “And I'm not seeing her.”

In truth, I haven't really seen much of the redhead since my first night at her apartment. If she wasn't working late then she was busy entertaining Catalina in her bedroom, and I would much rather Ashe didn't come home at all on those nights. Even though she hasn't yet tried to 'taste' me, that woman still gave me the creeps. What the hell could she possibly have on Ashe, anyway? I really hope they don't work together.

I still don't even know what Ashe does for a living. Clearly demons didn't have normal day jobs.

“No, you just moved in with her.”

I knew mentioning that was a bad idea, but what else was I supposed to say when she called me up out of the blue to ask why some strange family was now living in my apartment? I was actually a little surprised at how quickly Terrace View rented out my unit—apparently they had a very extensive waiting list, despite their office being burglarized. How Ashe managed to pull that one off without getting caught was still a mystery to me.

My stomach knots as I swallow down the truth and regurgitate the lie I had concocted. “I told you, I was getting evicted and I needed a place to stay. Ashe offered to let me crash in her spare room until I got back on my feet and I said yes, but that's it. There's nothing going on between us.”

Forced hospitality was the more appropriate term, but it was probably for the best if I didn't let that little tidbit slip.

“You could've stayed with me, Dani, or asked me for help. Why didn't you?”

Because I've somehow managed to add an ill-tempered demon goddess and a murderous sex-devil in stilettos to my collection of baggage? Even for Rose, with seemingly endless dating drama of her own, that would be too much to invite in. I didn't add a 'plus one' on my ticket to this crazy train when I put the soul ring on. I wasn't about to add one now.

“I didn't want to burden you.” At least that wasn't a lie.

“And what about him?” She points to the other side of the café, where a disheveled bear in a plaid button-down was reading the same newspaper article since this morning as he sipped his third cup of coffee for the day. Every so often I would find him glancing in our direction as he scanned the café, sniffing the air every time a new patron walked through the door.

How inconspicuous.

Still, I decide to play along. “Who, Marco?” I offer her a nonchalant shrug. “What about him?”

“He's been following you around like a stray dog. Isn't that just a little creepy?”

“He's not that bad, Rose.”