Devil's Soul

Chapter 46 (the truth comes out)

The world collapsed in on itself, with me and Desmond at the center. No, not literally, though that would have been less surprising than the kiss, with the way my life was going. I certainly had the sensation of falling, as butterflies performed acrobatics in my stomach. My lips hummed pleasantly as his moved with mine.

We pulled apart, perhaps too soon, but it was worth seeing his expression as his blue eyes gazed into mine. While his gaze was penetrating, his features were soft. It was the kind of expression a person might have while looking at someone they care deeply about. And he was looking at me. My breath hitched slightly.

His expression changed, and his gaze shifted down from my eyes to take in the rest of my body. Lust. I was feeling it too as I realized he wasn't wearing his famed trench coat, allowing me to see the well-defined muscles on the arms that were wrapped around me. Heck, I could feel the muscles that were pressed against my back, and I was filled with the sudden desire to see for myself just how sculpted that chest was under that shirt. Luckily, I still had enough sense to refrain from undressing a man in a public place.

"Would you like to dance?" Desmond asked.

"I don't like dancing," I said on impulse, conditioned from all the times Pippin had asked me to dance at Omega Chi.

Rather than looking hurt, he just laughed, slid his hand into mine, and twirled me around so that we were now standing apart, facing each other. "You have some business to attend to, anyway," he said.

I cocked my head in confusion. "Business?" I was still reeling from the memory of the kiss and the electric contact.

"Your phone just buzzed," he explained. "Looks like the gang must be ready for the next phase of the plan." He winked and sauntered off, heading for the stairs.

Desmond wasn't supposed to know anything about the plan. I tried to not think about how much he knew as I checked my phone. I actually had a few texts in the group message inbox from Remy, Abhinav, and Chung. All their cult members were accounted for. They were just waiting on me. If Remy had found Clarence, then all my members were here as well. I sent a text to inform the others, and Remy immediately responded, Ready for phase 2? Before I could affirm my readiness, Remy sent another text; Scratch that. Desmond's coming toward me. Must hide

I dashed downstairs, determined to intercept him, but dashing is a somewhat difficult task in a crowded club. I spotted Desmond before I found Remy, but I followed his gaze to the retreating red head. She was pretending to address an itch on her neck as she dove for the women's restroom, conveniently concealing her tattoo. As I knew from previous experience, Desmond had no qualms about entering the wrong restroom, so I lunged forward and grabbed his arm.

He raised his eyebrows at me. "Change your mind about dancing?" he asked.

"Uh...yes?" I offered.

Before I understood what was happening, he had spun me around and lifted the hair from the back of my neck.

"Hey!" I shouted and squirmed from his grasp.

He let me go easily because he was too busy bending over with laughter. "I can't believe you two actually let humans summon you!"

I frowned and crossed my arms, refusing to feel embarrassed over this. "It's not like we let them."

"Both of you have enough power where you should have been able to resist the summons."

"We tried, okay! How did you even figure out that's what happened?"

"I've been a demon for a long time, Mavis. I've seen that mark before," he said, indicating the circumscribed tattoo on the back of my neck.