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Synopsis
Oil and water. Angels and Demons. Some things shouldn’t mix. But when a fallen angel needs the key back to heaven, her only hope may be a crow shifting demon, in the latest spicy novel from instant New York Times bestselling author, Aurora Ascher.
A demon with a forgotten past . . .
Raum is the quiet one who rarely smiles. He’s felt numb since Heaven erased his memory as punishment for crimes he can’t recall. His only relief comes from his penchant for theft and his unusual connection with animals. Until, that is, he crosses paths with a beautiful angel.
An angel searching for redemption . . .
A loyal servant of Heaven, Sunshine is fighting to regain her rank and redeem herself for her shameful past. Tasked with retrieving a grimoire from Hell, she binds Raum into her service with an unbreakable contract. He must help her navigate the underworld—or lose everything he holds dear. But her plan backfires when she finds herself drawn to him, like a moth to a
flame . . .
A forbidden desire . . .
The rivalry between demons and angels is ancient,deep, and . . . obvious. Yet it can’t extinguish their scorching attraction. But when hints of Raum’s past finally come to light, a web of deception and betrayal is revealed that changes everything . . .
Release date: September 30, 2025
Publisher: Kensington Books
Print pages: 368
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Guardian Demon
Aurora Ascher
IT WAS WAY TOO EARLY FOR CONVERSATION.
Raum slouched on the kitchen barstool, head propped up on one hand, the other wrapped around an espresso cup. It was his second one, but he was going to need a couple more before the ache behind his eyes went away.
“Raum was right before,” his brother Asmodeus was saying, making Raum regret whatever it was he’d said. He wanted no part in this. “It’s the safest course of action. It’s been almost a month since you reached out, and since no one’s turned up on our doorstep, we can assume that means he’s on our side.”
Asmodeus reached up to the cupboard and grabbed another cup. Though he lived on the floor below with his Nephilim girlfriend, Eva, Ash often came upstairs for coffee in the mornings.
Raum’s other brother Belial was on barista duty as usual, since he never wanted anyone touching his shit. The former King of Hell guarded his kitchen like he’d once guarded his underworld lair.
Over by the fridge, their fourth brother, Meph, was sitting on the counter—to Bel’s annoyance—with his arms around his girlfriend, Iris, a witch with bright blue hair and tattoos. She stood between his legs, her back to his front, and he was whispering shit in her ear, making her laugh and blush.
At least they weren’t making out. If it was too early for conversation, it was definitely too early for witnessing that.
As for the rest of their crew: Iris’s twin, Lily, and Lily’s boyfriend, Mist—formerly Hell’s Hunter before his defection—were at Lily’s apartment, and Eva was likely still asleep downstairs. She’d never been an early riser—constant gigging as a musician had made her a permanent night owl.
Raum could get behind that. Mornings were overrated.
The newest member of their weird family, a hellhound puppy Iris had named Faust, sat at Raum’s feet with his head in his lap, eagerly awaiting head scratches.
Raum gave him a few. Faust scooted closer, wanting more.
“He’s going to ask for another fucking favor,” Belial growled, slamming the portafilter against the knock box harder than necessary to dump the used coffee grinds.
“It’s not like we have any other options,” Ash said. “You’re supposed to meet with him tonight. We’re kinda past the point of reconsideration.”
“We do have another option: chop his fucking head off.” The grinder fired up as Bel prepared another shot.
Ash raised his voice to be heard over the noise. “We’ve been over this. Like, ten times.”
They had. And they still couldn’t agree.
As powerful demons who’d escaped Hell, breaking every rule in the book, their number one priority was making sure no one knew where they were hiding. When Raum had first learned that Murmur—a Duke of Hell known as “the Necromancer” and an all-round shady backstabber—knew their location, he’d been the one talking Bel into requesting a meeting so they could negotiate.
Murmur had been open to it before—in exchange for an open-ended favor from Bel, he’d helped rescue Mist, Lily, and Iris from Hell. Sure, he’d turned around and betrayed them right after, tracking them back to Earth and then selling their location to the highest bidder. But if they worded the contract specifically enough this time, they could make sure it wouldn’t happen again.
But now … Raum wasn’t so sure.
“If you try to kill him and fail, we’re fucked,” Ash said, sliding onto the barstool beside Raum as Bel ran the next espresso shot. “He’ll retaliate out of spite.”
Ash was right, and only a fool would think Murmur would be easy to kill. The Necromancer was known for the army of souls bound to his service. No one knew how he’d prevented them from being trapped in the Nine Rings—the place where souls went upon arrival in Hell—but however he’d done it, they obeyed him mindlessly. Formless ghosts empowered by necromancy made formidable foes.
Then again … if anyone was up to the task of killing Murmur, it was Bel.
It was said that the only demon in Hell who could best Belial was Lucifer himself, and even that was a point of contention among many. There were factions of demons tired of Lucifer’s rule who plotted to overthrow the High King and put Belial on the throne.
Unfortunately for them, Bel had no interest in ruling Hell. He just wanted to be left alone in his kitchen with a fridge full of food and a cookbook.
“This would be so much easier if demons still wanted your first-born child,” Meph said unhelpfully. “We could just steal a baby and give it to him. Problem solved.”
Iris laughed, shooting him a look over her shoulder. “We’re not stealing a baby.”
“Murmur could be a good dad. You never know.”
“Yeah, and I could be the Easter Bunny.”
Meph grinned. “Oh, yeah? Then where are your cute little ears, baby?”
Iris stuck her tongue out, and he grabbed her jaw and leaned down to kiss her. As usual, they didn’t stop once they started. The mutual looks of disgust exchanged between the rest of them were a bonding experience no one wanted.
“This is a goddamn embarrassment,” Bel snapped, sliding the fresh shot toward Ash and smacking a hefty palm on the counter. “We have no bargaining power and no choice but to give Murmur what he wants. It makes us look fucking weak.”
“What else can we do? He knows we’re in Montreal, and that’s probably the most valuable information in all of Hell right now. He already sold it to Valefor, and he’ll sell it to someone else now that we killed Val. His asking price for silence is going to be high.”
With that optimistic proclamation, Ash sipped his coffee and dragged his fingers through his hair, pulling it back from his face. That jet-black, hip-length mane was his secret pride, and as a former lust demon, he would always be a little vain.
“What if we found something to bargain with?” Raum suddenly said, and everyone looked at him. Faust lifted his head off his lap. Even Meph and Iris stopped kissing for a second.
Raum wasn’t shy about speaking, but he tended to stay silent until he actually had something useful to say. Meph was already good at filling every possible silence with noise, and there was no need to compete.
“If we find something he wants and take it first, then he’ll have to bargain on our terms.”
“And how do you propose we do that?” Bel asked. “Like Asmodeus so helpfully stated, if he thinks we’re trying to fuck him over, he’s going to fuck us back. Hard.”
“Kinky,” Meph said.
“Shut up, Meph,” everyone said simultaneously.
Except Iris, of course. She just laughed and patted his leg like he was adorable and not annoying. The poor witch had really lost her marbles since they’d started dating.
But then she stiffened suddenly and said, “The book.”
There was confused silence.
“Suyin’s book, The Book of Gamigin. Murmur had Valefor steal it for him, remember?”
Suyin, the leader of Iris’s coven, still wasn’t aware that Iris consorted with demons, but ever since the grimoire had been stolen, she’d been on high alert.
“That was Murmur’s price for giving Val our location so he could go after Meph,” Iris reminded them. “Whatever that book is, it’s important to Murmur.”
“I knew who Gamigin was,” Ash said, sipping his coffee, “but I never heard of him writing a book. Demons aren’t exactly known for their literary endeavors.”
Raum snorted into his espresso cup. Speaking every language was just an innate part of a demon’s nature. If reading and writing required any effort for them to learn, he was pretty sure all of Hell would be illiterate.
“I don’t know if he wrote it,” Iris replied. “Maybe it’s just named after him.”
“Pretty sure he’s dead,” Bel said, “so you won’t be able to ask him.”
“I still don’t get why Murmur wants it,” Meph said.
“Let’s steal it,” Raum blurted.
Once again, everyone stared at him. This time, he knew it was because he couldn’t keep the anticipation out of his voice.
He cleared his throat and tried to pretend he hadn’t reacted as he had, but Meph knew him too well. The bastard started to grin. “You would get a boner at that, wouldn’t you?”
Raum shot him a glare.
He didn’t like to talk about his addiction. It wasn’t even an addiction. It was just a mild itching that lived under his skin that grew into unbearable burning, crawling torment if he didn’t assuage its need from time to time.
So what if he had a stash of stolen goods in his closet so large he could no longer risk opening the doors? So what if no matter how often he fed the urge, it was never satisfied?
He could control himself. He could.
He’d once lived in constant war with other demons over territories he didn’t want, simply so he could raid their lairs for treasure like a fiendish dragon. He’d kept stashes of loot all across Hell in secret locations.
But he’d risen above that now. He was in control. The insatiable need no longer ruled him.
Yet he couldn’t deny that he liked the idea of stealing Murmur’s grimoire.
Until Belial said, “No.”
“Why not?” Meph jumped to Raum’s defense. “We know Murmur wants it. If we steal it, he’ll have no choice but to bargain with us to get it back.”
“It’s too risky.”
“And straight-up murdering him isn’t?”
Bel’s jaw shifted. “It’s simpler. Less complications. That’s how I like to do things.”
“You’re being obtuse,” Meph said.
“You’re so obtuse, I didn’t realize you even knew such a big word,” Bel retorted.
Ash looked at Raum. “Bel’s right. Way too much could go wrong, and once again, we risk Murmur getting wind of it and turning on us. Not to mention, you seem to forget that Bel is supposed to meet with him tonight. We can’t pull off that big a heist in so little time, and if we try to reschedule it’ll look suspicious.”
Raum made a sound of frustration. “But—”
“We’re not stealing the book.” Bel pinned him with a sharp look. “End of story.”
And that was that.
Belial passed out another round of espresso, and after a little more persuasion from Ash, he finally agreed to grant Murmur one more favor in exchange for his silence and a bunch of other carefully worded clauses typical of demon contracts.
After that, they fell into silence, interrupted only by Meph and Iris being gross.
Raum ground his teeth. Funny how they let the most unstable one in the group call the shots. Bel had a way of bullying everyone into going along with his plans, and sometimes they agreed to the dumbest shit just to keep him from losing his temper. It was amazing Ash had talked him into negotiating.
They were all treading on thin ice. While Raum was surprised they’d lasted this long as fugitives hunted by both Heaven and Hell, he couldn’t help thinking it was only a matter of time before someone slipped up again and the shit really hit the fan. Murmur was a wild card, and even with a contract keeping him silent, there was no telling what he’d do.
“Eva’s playing at the nightclub this Saturday,” Ash said. “I expect you all to show up and support her.” He pinned them all with threatening looks.
“You’re not playing with her?” Iris asked.
He made a face. “I play jazz. This is club music.”
“He acts all snobbish,” Meph whispered loudly, “but really it’s just because he can’t figure out the DJ controls.”
Ash shot him a murderous glare.
“I heard you trainwreck at Iris and Lily’s birthday.”
“I will kick your teeth in.”
“I’ll cut your hair in your sleep.”
Iris gasped. Even Raum winced.
Ash’s eyes narrowed. “If you touch a single strand of hair on my head, I will peel every inch of tattooed skin off your body with a butter knife until you don’t have a single drop of ink left.”
Considering every inch of Meph’s body was covered with tattoos—even half his face—that would be a lot of skin to remove. But Meph, being the idiot he was, just looked excited by the threats. “Oh yeah? Well, I will—”
“Shut. The fuck. Up.”
Everyone’s gaze shot to Belial, who suddenly appeared seconds away from a major temper tantrum. Completely out of the blue. Sure, Meph was annoying, but that wasn’t news. As far as Raum could tell, Bel had been unprovoked, which wasn’t normal.
A temper tantrum for Bel was not just an outburst of emotion. Things would burn. People would scream and possibly die.
Bel’s fists were balled so tightly, the veins bulged in his arms all the way up to his neck, and hellfire danced across his sky-blue eyes like a warning. He also looked several inches taller than he had a moment ago, and for a guy already standing at seven feet in human form, that made him pretty fucking big.
Faust whined softly.
“Okay, okay, we’re all good.” Ash held his hands up. “Just a little friendly teasing.”
Meph nodded and forced a smile, but his grip tightened around Iris. “Yep, we’re all buddy-buddy. Everyone loves everyone. Best friends over here.”
While Bel took deep breaths, Raum stared into the empty bottom of his espresso cup. Great. Now he couldn’t ask for more coffee without risking setting Bel off, and his headache wasn’t even close to gone.
Ash inched toward the door, probably figuring now was a good time to make an escape. “I’ll be back later, and you can tell me how the meeting went with Murmur.”
“If he even tries to fuck with me,” Bel rumbled ominously, “I’ll make him regret it.”
“No one will fuck with you,” Meph assured him.
“Get the fuck off my counter.”
Meph wisely slipped off the edge and started backing toward the hall with Iris. He flashed a grin at Raum before the two of them disappeared from sight.
At the corner by the door, Ash turned back to Bel with a frown. “You know, you still haven’t told us how you contacted Murmur in the first place to set up this meeting.”
Coffee time having reached its conclusion, Bel started pulling pots and pans out of the cupboards and generally making a lot of loud noise. “I have ways.”
“What ways?”
Raum raised a brow at Ash. Now didn’t seem the best time to be drilling Bel about his secrets.
“I don’t get why you’re always so cagey about this,” Ash went on. “We all know you have someone in Hell working for you. Don’t you think it’s in our best interest to know who it is?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“It’s none of your business.”
“Actually, it is, because it pertains to our safety and, consequently, Eva’s safety.”
“Ash,” Raum muttered.
Ash glanced at him. “We deserve to know.”
“Do we have to know right now though?” He shot a pointed look at Bel.
Ash blew out a breath. “Fine.” He pointed at Bel. “But we’re not done talking about this.”
Belial eyed the offensive finger. “Keep pointing that at me and I’ll rip it off.”
Ash rolled his eyes. “See you later.” The door slammed, and he was gone.
Silence reigned for several moments until Bel suddenly pinned Raum with a threatening look. “What?”
The hellhound still sitting at Raum’s feet whimpered softly, so Raum scratched behind his ears to calm him. “Nothing.”
Bel glared at him. A lesser demon would wither under that stare, but Raum had been on the receiving end of it many times, and he was used to it. He just stared blankly back.
Say what one would about him, he was extremely even-tempered for a demon. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d raised his voice above a conversational tone, and he never lost his temper.
On the flip side, he rarely smiled and sometimes forgot how it felt to laugh.
He was just … empty. Sometimes he thought if he were to peel back the outer layers of his personality and look into his mind, he’d find nothing but blank space.
“I know you’re thinking something, so just spit it out,” Bel said.
Because of that, Raum sometimes did stupid shit. He liked loud noises and crowds and parties because it distracted him from the hollow feeling. He was reckless and impulsive because the rush gave him a little burst of exhilaration. Every time he stole something, he felt alive for a split second before it faded back to nothingness, leaving him empty and wanting more.
And sometimes, he liked to poke the bear a little bit.
“You’ve been uptight lately,” he told Bel. The mother of all gross understatements.
Bel’s eyebrows climbed his forehead like he couldn’t believe Raum had the audacity, which was fair. Raum had just told Ash off for provoking Bel, and now he was doing it himself. Again: sometimes he did stupid shit.
“Your point?”
Raum tilted his head. “When was the last time you went into a full-on rage?”
Bel pinned him with the scariest glare known to man. But, to Raum’s surprise, he actually responded. “Few months.”
Raum’s brows rose. “That might be a record.”
Silence.
“Have you ever considered giving in to it? Maybe letting the rage out is good and holding it in isn’t.”
Bel’s hands balled into fists, and Raum knew he’d finally crossed the line. But he wondered if he was on to something. Maybe the key to mastering the anger wasn’t fighting it but expelling it.
But that meant controlling it. And Bel had never been able to do that.
While Belial continued to pin him with a flaming death glare, Raum slipped off the stool and headed toward the door. “I’m going for a run.” Faust scurried after him to escape the fury emanating from the kitchen.
Just as they stepped into the hallway outside, a plate smashed against the wall, right where he’d been standing.
Raum closed the door quickly, and he and Faust hauled ass to the elevator. They didn’t relax until the doors slid closed and the lift started to descend.
He blew out a breath. “Jesus.”
He’d been denied his espresso quota, had to watch Meph and Iris make out and listen to his brothers bicker, and had a plate thrown at his head. All before nine o’clock.
Today sucked.
RAUM AND FAUST WALKED SIDE BY SIDE DOWN THE block, dodging pedestrians easily since no one wanted to get too close to Faust.
The hellhound puppy was still small enough that he didn’t have to shift to go in public, but he was still a big black dog with red eyes. He wouldn’t look fully hellish until he was mature, but there was still something off about him to the average human, and most people were instinctively wary.
The hound was technically Iris’s, but Raum had been spending time with him over the last couple weeks since he had the most success with his training. Faust was growing quickly, and he needed discipline to blend in on Earth.
Once they turned off the main drag and there were less people on the sidewalks, Raum took up a jog, and Faust fell into a trot beside him. Raum never put a leash on him when they ran together. He knew Faust wouldn’t take off, and he didn’t give a fuck about dog-owner laws or scaring people. Humans could suck it.
They ran until Raum’s body was warm and his blood was pumping, the bite in the air no longer cold against his heated skin. Eventually, they reached Faust’s favorite park, and he slowed to a walk as they stepped onto the muddy brown grass.
In the last week, the temperatures had risen, and the snow was finally melting. Patches of ice still persevered in the shadows and at the bases of the trees, but the air was fresh with the scent of early spring.
Faust took off to sniff and piss on every tree, and Raum walked without caring where he was going. He tipped his head back and watched the sparrows in the trees.
He liked sparrows. They were cute and tiny, but they were badass. They beat up weaker birds who got in their way. Their little cheeps were his favorite sound in the morning when he had coffee on the balcony. Without them, all he’d hear would be the traffic.
And the emptiness in his head.
It seemed like every one of his brothers had some new purpose. But what did he have? Morning walks with Faust. Watching his brothers bicker. Fighting the urge to tear his ears off when he had to listen to Meph and Iris fucking through the wall between their rooms. Going to the gym to work himself to exhaustion. Stealing pointless shit he didn’t want just to scratch the itch a little.
Escaping Hell was supposed to have been a new beginning, and it was for everyone but him. Worse, he didn’t even have Meph to keep him distracted anymore. Meph spent every spare minute with Iris now, and—
The sound of barking snapped him out of it.
Seconds later, an enormous brown dog bolted past him, so fast he felt the wind gust on his leg. The dog headed straight for Faust, who was currently sniffing the hand of a woman who seemed to have appeared from nowhere.
“Faust!” Raum shouted, warning his dog away from her before the inevitable occurred.
Too late.
The brown dog barreled into Faust. The woman, who had the misfortune to be in their path, took the weight of two large dog bodies as Faust was knocked into her from behind.
By the time she hit the ground, Raum was already running. The dogs ignored her, now fighting viciously, their snarling and snapping inches from her arms held protectively over her face, their paws stamping on her prone body.
Raum reached the chaos and didn’t even think about hiding his strength. He picked up both dogs and tossed them. He wasn’t worried about Faust, and maybe getting the wind knocked out of the other dog would calm him down.
Animals out of the way, Raum crouched beside the woman. She lowered her arms and their eyes met.
And the world disappeared.
A stunning pair of dark eyes met his. Big eyes. Almost too big for her face. Her skin was light brown, and her hair was sleek and black and straight, wound into a thick braid that lay on the dirt like twisted rope. Swooping dark brows complemented her features, and her nose was prominent, with a bump at the bridge and a point at the end, offsetting the unusual size of her eyes.
She stared at him, and he stared right back at her, neither of them saying anything.
Until he suddenly remembered she was flat on her back in the mud.
Shaking himself, he offered a hand and helped her stand. She looked a little shaken but otherwise unharmed, and as soon as he noted that, he started noticing other things about her body.
Like curves. So many curves. She wore a skintight matching athletic outfit that was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. Full breasts overfilled her long-sleeve crop top, and her voluptuous hips were accentuated by the cut of the high-waisted leggings. Both were a soft pink. Against her brown skin, it was hot as hell.
“You okay?”
She nodded mutely, still staring at him, her eyes wide and unblinking.
He stared back at her.
He wasn’t the smooth talker Meph was, but he sure as hell knew how to charm a woman. Except right now, he didn’t. He wanted to make sure she wasn’t hurt. He also wanted to know if her ass was anywhere near as fine as he was imagining.
As the awkward silence lingered, the distant sound of barking and snarling filtered through the static in his head.
He spun around and took in the scene. Faust and the brown dog were battling it out, and Faust was kicking ass. Not a surprise. Puppy or not, he was a hellhound and had the added strength of any supernatural being.
Raum put his fingers between his lips and whistled sharply. The sound pierced the commotion, and just like Raum had trained him, Faust stopped dead. He opened the jaws fixed around the other dog’s throat and trotted back like everything was A-okay.
But then there was the matter of the giant brown dog who knocked down helpless women on his way to attack other people’s pets.
Raum looked at Faust, pointed to the ground at his feet, and said, “Stay.”
Faust planted his butt on the dirt.
Then Raum ran toward the other dog, who was already up and swinging his big head around as if looking for someone else to attack. Raum whistled again, getting the animal to look at him. It started to growl, so he growled right back. They approached each other like a face-off.
Raum stared him down.
The dog dropped his gaze.
As a rule, animals hated demons. Their instincts told them they were in the presence of something other, and they feared it. Cats went feral, dogs either cowered or went into attack mode, and other animals simply fled the vicinity.
But not with Raum. Animals always loved him, and he loved them back. And he had no idea why.
He kept staring, and the dog sank onto his haunches and dropped his head. He stared a bit more, and the dog slid forward onto his front legs, lying down. Still, Raum waited. The dog rolled onto his side and whimpered softly.
Finally, Raum crouched by his head and patted his neck. “Good boy.”
The dog’s tail thumped on the ground.
Raum noticed the leash and collar around his neck just as a woman with pale skin and a messy salt-and-pepper bun burst onto the path. She made a big show of waving her hands, shouting and obviously upset.
Raum inwardly rolled his eyes, thinking, Now what?
“I’m so sorry!” She was so distraught, he almost feared for her health. Or at least the hair on her head she was nearly tearing out as she clutched her temples. “I know how out of control he is, and I would never take him to a public park! I was just loading him into the van and he took off.”
Raum said nothing, still patting the dog’s neck, wondering why the woman was apologizing to him. It wasn’t like he’d been the one getting knocked on his ass.
Speaking of …
He twisted around, looking over to where he’d left Faust beside the woman in pink. Faust still sat dutifully.
But the woman was gone.
He fought back an irrational surge of disappointment. Like she was going to want to hang around after being flattened by a dogfight? And why would he care if she stayed anyway?
“How on earth did you do that?” the new woman asked. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Raum shrugged. He didn’t know why animals responded to him, and he sure as hell wasn’t about to open up about the black hole in his past to some random human. He didn’t even like thinking about it himself.
“Is that your dog over there?” the woman asked. “Just sitting pretty?”
Raum glanced at Faust and nodded.
“Incredible.” She pushed her glasses up her nose, studying Raum with a calculating gaze. “You must work with animals? Are you a dog trainer? Or do you work with wildlife rescue, maybe? Or—”
“No.”
“What’s your job, then?”
He hesitated. He considered saying, I’m a wanted fugitive, but went with, “Unemployed.” Both were true.
“I’m Caroline,” the woman said, sticking out a hand, “but everyone calls me Caro.” She looked to be in her fifties or sixties. The sharpness of her eyes gave her a unique face, though it was obvious from her stained jeans and messy hair that she didn’t give much thought to her appearance.
Raum stood, his new canine friend remaining at his feet. He shook Caro’s outstretched hand but didn’t offer his name. He doubted she cared. Ninety percent of human interactions were just people finding excuses to talk about themselves. At the end, they walked away without remembering anything the other person said because they were only interested in their own issues.
But Caro surprised him by saying, “What’s your name?” And she was still shaking his hand.
“Raum.”
“Nice to meet you, Raum.” Caro finally dropped his hand and tilted her head, sizing him up. The same way he often did to others. It made him a little uncomfortable. “Do you want a job?”
He blinked. It wasn’t what he expected to hear.
“I work at an animal shelter,” she said, surprising him yet again. “Tiny here is one of my dogs.”
Tiny? Jesus.
“We were coming back from a vet visit, and he’d been sedated, so I thought he’d be fine on the leash. But he got the drop on me and pulled it right out of my hand before I could get him in the van. I thought for sure he was going to do something terrible. Scared ten years off my life.” She shook her head. “Imagine my surprise when I ran here and found him lying meekly on his side.”
Raum glanced down at the animal. “He’s just scared.”
Caro nodded as if this pleased her. “So, you want a job? I’ll pay you to come in and work with the feral ones. If you can do half as much for others as you did with Tiny here, I’ll consider you a miracle worker.”
Raum rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t need money.” He and his brothers had amassed a fortune in Hell before they escaped, which they exchanged for Earth currency at the Blood Market. And if he ever ran out, he still had stashes of loot all over the underworld.
“Too bad. This job is too tough for volunteers.”
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“I don’t need to. We all have a past, and any man who shows kindness to an animal is a good man in my books. If you’re living … under the radar, I’ll pay you cash in hand. As long as you help my dogs, I don’t care where you came from.”
He couldn’t take a job at an animal shelter. It was too risky mixing with humans in that kind of setting. It was one thing to party and get drunk with faceless crowds he’d never see again. It was another thing to interact on a regular basis with people who didn’t know what he was. With everything going on with Murmur right now, it was an added risk they didn’t need.
So it surprised the hell out of him when he said, “Okay.”
Caro beamed. “You’ll do it?”
“Sure.” I’m an idiot.
“When can you start? Tomorrow? Eight a.m.?”
Raum slouched on the kitchen barstool, head propped up on one hand, the other wrapped around an espresso cup. It was his second one, but he was going to need a couple more before the ache behind his eyes went away.
“Raum was right before,” his brother Asmodeus was saying, making Raum regret whatever it was he’d said. He wanted no part in this. “It’s the safest course of action. It’s been almost a month since you reached out, and since no one’s turned up on our doorstep, we can assume that means he’s on our side.”
Asmodeus reached up to the cupboard and grabbed another cup. Though he lived on the floor below with his Nephilim girlfriend, Eva, Ash often came upstairs for coffee in the mornings.
Raum’s other brother Belial was on barista duty as usual, since he never wanted anyone touching his shit. The former King of Hell guarded his kitchen like he’d once guarded his underworld lair.
Over by the fridge, their fourth brother, Meph, was sitting on the counter—to Bel’s annoyance—with his arms around his girlfriend, Iris, a witch with bright blue hair and tattoos. She stood between his legs, her back to his front, and he was whispering shit in her ear, making her laugh and blush.
At least they weren’t making out. If it was too early for conversation, it was definitely too early for witnessing that.
As for the rest of their crew: Iris’s twin, Lily, and Lily’s boyfriend, Mist—formerly Hell’s Hunter before his defection—were at Lily’s apartment, and Eva was likely still asleep downstairs. She’d never been an early riser—constant gigging as a musician had made her a permanent night owl.
Raum could get behind that. Mornings were overrated.
The newest member of their weird family, a hellhound puppy Iris had named Faust, sat at Raum’s feet with his head in his lap, eagerly awaiting head scratches.
Raum gave him a few. Faust scooted closer, wanting more.
“He’s going to ask for another fucking favor,” Belial growled, slamming the portafilter against the knock box harder than necessary to dump the used coffee grinds.
“It’s not like we have any other options,” Ash said. “You’re supposed to meet with him tonight. We’re kinda past the point of reconsideration.”
“We do have another option: chop his fucking head off.” The grinder fired up as Bel prepared another shot.
Ash raised his voice to be heard over the noise. “We’ve been over this. Like, ten times.”
They had. And they still couldn’t agree.
As powerful demons who’d escaped Hell, breaking every rule in the book, their number one priority was making sure no one knew where they were hiding. When Raum had first learned that Murmur—a Duke of Hell known as “the Necromancer” and an all-round shady backstabber—knew their location, he’d been the one talking Bel into requesting a meeting so they could negotiate.
Murmur had been open to it before—in exchange for an open-ended favor from Bel, he’d helped rescue Mist, Lily, and Iris from Hell. Sure, he’d turned around and betrayed them right after, tracking them back to Earth and then selling their location to the highest bidder. But if they worded the contract specifically enough this time, they could make sure it wouldn’t happen again.
But now … Raum wasn’t so sure.
“If you try to kill him and fail, we’re fucked,” Ash said, sliding onto the barstool beside Raum as Bel ran the next espresso shot. “He’ll retaliate out of spite.”
Ash was right, and only a fool would think Murmur would be easy to kill. The Necromancer was known for the army of souls bound to his service. No one knew how he’d prevented them from being trapped in the Nine Rings—the place where souls went upon arrival in Hell—but however he’d done it, they obeyed him mindlessly. Formless ghosts empowered by necromancy made formidable foes.
Then again … if anyone was up to the task of killing Murmur, it was Bel.
It was said that the only demon in Hell who could best Belial was Lucifer himself, and even that was a point of contention among many. There were factions of demons tired of Lucifer’s rule who plotted to overthrow the High King and put Belial on the throne.
Unfortunately for them, Bel had no interest in ruling Hell. He just wanted to be left alone in his kitchen with a fridge full of food and a cookbook.
“This would be so much easier if demons still wanted your first-born child,” Meph said unhelpfully. “We could just steal a baby and give it to him. Problem solved.”
Iris laughed, shooting him a look over her shoulder. “We’re not stealing a baby.”
“Murmur could be a good dad. You never know.”
“Yeah, and I could be the Easter Bunny.”
Meph grinned. “Oh, yeah? Then where are your cute little ears, baby?”
Iris stuck her tongue out, and he grabbed her jaw and leaned down to kiss her. As usual, they didn’t stop once they started. The mutual looks of disgust exchanged between the rest of them were a bonding experience no one wanted.
“This is a goddamn embarrassment,” Bel snapped, sliding the fresh shot toward Ash and smacking a hefty palm on the counter. “We have no bargaining power and no choice but to give Murmur what he wants. It makes us look fucking weak.”
“What else can we do? He knows we’re in Montreal, and that’s probably the most valuable information in all of Hell right now. He already sold it to Valefor, and he’ll sell it to someone else now that we killed Val. His asking price for silence is going to be high.”
With that optimistic proclamation, Ash sipped his coffee and dragged his fingers through his hair, pulling it back from his face. That jet-black, hip-length mane was his secret pride, and as a former lust demon, he would always be a little vain.
“What if we found something to bargain with?” Raum suddenly said, and everyone looked at him. Faust lifted his head off his lap. Even Meph and Iris stopped kissing for a second.
Raum wasn’t shy about speaking, but he tended to stay silent until he actually had something useful to say. Meph was already good at filling every possible silence with noise, and there was no need to compete.
“If we find something he wants and take it first, then he’ll have to bargain on our terms.”
“And how do you propose we do that?” Bel asked. “Like Asmodeus so helpfully stated, if he thinks we’re trying to fuck him over, he’s going to fuck us back. Hard.”
“Kinky,” Meph said.
“Shut up, Meph,” everyone said simultaneously.
Except Iris, of course. She just laughed and patted his leg like he was adorable and not annoying. The poor witch had really lost her marbles since they’d started dating.
But then she stiffened suddenly and said, “The book.”
There was confused silence.
“Suyin’s book, The Book of Gamigin. Murmur had Valefor steal it for him, remember?”
Suyin, the leader of Iris’s coven, still wasn’t aware that Iris consorted with demons, but ever since the grimoire had been stolen, she’d been on high alert.
“That was Murmur’s price for giving Val our location so he could go after Meph,” Iris reminded them. “Whatever that book is, it’s important to Murmur.”
“I knew who Gamigin was,” Ash said, sipping his coffee, “but I never heard of him writing a book. Demons aren’t exactly known for their literary endeavors.”
Raum snorted into his espresso cup. Speaking every language was just an innate part of a demon’s nature. If reading and writing required any effort for them to learn, he was pretty sure all of Hell would be illiterate.
“I don’t know if he wrote it,” Iris replied. “Maybe it’s just named after him.”
“Pretty sure he’s dead,” Bel said, “so you won’t be able to ask him.”
“I still don’t get why Murmur wants it,” Meph said.
“Let’s steal it,” Raum blurted.
Once again, everyone stared at him. This time, he knew it was because he couldn’t keep the anticipation out of his voice.
He cleared his throat and tried to pretend he hadn’t reacted as he had, but Meph knew him too well. The bastard started to grin. “You would get a boner at that, wouldn’t you?”
Raum shot him a glare.
He didn’t like to talk about his addiction. It wasn’t even an addiction. It was just a mild itching that lived under his skin that grew into unbearable burning, crawling torment if he didn’t assuage its need from time to time.
So what if he had a stash of stolen goods in his closet so large he could no longer risk opening the doors? So what if no matter how often he fed the urge, it was never satisfied?
He could control himself. He could.
He’d once lived in constant war with other demons over territories he didn’t want, simply so he could raid their lairs for treasure like a fiendish dragon. He’d kept stashes of loot all across Hell in secret locations.
But he’d risen above that now. He was in control. The insatiable need no longer ruled him.
Yet he couldn’t deny that he liked the idea of stealing Murmur’s grimoire.
Until Belial said, “No.”
“Why not?” Meph jumped to Raum’s defense. “We know Murmur wants it. If we steal it, he’ll have no choice but to bargain with us to get it back.”
“It’s too risky.”
“And straight-up murdering him isn’t?”
Bel’s jaw shifted. “It’s simpler. Less complications. That’s how I like to do things.”
“You’re being obtuse,” Meph said.
“You’re so obtuse, I didn’t realize you even knew such a big word,” Bel retorted.
Ash looked at Raum. “Bel’s right. Way too much could go wrong, and once again, we risk Murmur getting wind of it and turning on us. Not to mention, you seem to forget that Bel is supposed to meet with him tonight. We can’t pull off that big a heist in so little time, and if we try to reschedule it’ll look suspicious.”
Raum made a sound of frustration. “But—”
“We’re not stealing the book.” Bel pinned him with a sharp look. “End of story.”
And that was that.
Belial passed out another round of espresso, and after a little more persuasion from Ash, he finally agreed to grant Murmur one more favor in exchange for his silence and a bunch of other carefully worded clauses typical of demon contracts.
After that, they fell into silence, interrupted only by Meph and Iris being gross.
Raum ground his teeth. Funny how they let the most unstable one in the group call the shots. Bel had a way of bullying everyone into going along with his plans, and sometimes they agreed to the dumbest shit just to keep him from losing his temper. It was amazing Ash had talked him into negotiating.
They were all treading on thin ice. While Raum was surprised they’d lasted this long as fugitives hunted by both Heaven and Hell, he couldn’t help thinking it was only a matter of time before someone slipped up again and the shit really hit the fan. Murmur was a wild card, and even with a contract keeping him silent, there was no telling what he’d do.
“Eva’s playing at the nightclub this Saturday,” Ash said. “I expect you all to show up and support her.” He pinned them all with threatening looks.
“You’re not playing with her?” Iris asked.
He made a face. “I play jazz. This is club music.”
“He acts all snobbish,” Meph whispered loudly, “but really it’s just because he can’t figure out the DJ controls.”
Ash shot him a murderous glare.
“I heard you trainwreck at Iris and Lily’s birthday.”
“I will kick your teeth in.”
“I’ll cut your hair in your sleep.”
Iris gasped. Even Raum winced.
Ash’s eyes narrowed. “If you touch a single strand of hair on my head, I will peel every inch of tattooed skin off your body with a butter knife until you don’t have a single drop of ink left.”
Considering every inch of Meph’s body was covered with tattoos—even half his face—that would be a lot of skin to remove. But Meph, being the idiot he was, just looked excited by the threats. “Oh yeah? Well, I will—”
“Shut. The fuck. Up.”
Everyone’s gaze shot to Belial, who suddenly appeared seconds away from a major temper tantrum. Completely out of the blue. Sure, Meph was annoying, but that wasn’t news. As far as Raum could tell, Bel had been unprovoked, which wasn’t normal.
A temper tantrum for Bel was not just an outburst of emotion. Things would burn. People would scream and possibly die.
Bel’s fists were balled so tightly, the veins bulged in his arms all the way up to his neck, and hellfire danced across his sky-blue eyes like a warning. He also looked several inches taller than he had a moment ago, and for a guy already standing at seven feet in human form, that made him pretty fucking big.
Faust whined softly.
“Okay, okay, we’re all good.” Ash held his hands up. “Just a little friendly teasing.”
Meph nodded and forced a smile, but his grip tightened around Iris. “Yep, we’re all buddy-buddy. Everyone loves everyone. Best friends over here.”
While Bel took deep breaths, Raum stared into the empty bottom of his espresso cup. Great. Now he couldn’t ask for more coffee without risking setting Bel off, and his headache wasn’t even close to gone.
Ash inched toward the door, probably figuring now was a good time to make an escape. “I’ll be back later, and you can tell me how the meeting went with Murmur.”
“If he even tries to fuck with me,” Bel rumbled ominously, “I’ll make him regret it.”
“No one will fuck with you,” Meph assured him.
“Get the fuck off my counter.”
Meph wisely slipped off the edge and started backing toward the hall with Iris. He flashed a grin at Raum before the two of them disappeared from sight.
At the corner by the door, Ash turned back to Bel with a frown. “You know, you still haven’t told us how you contacted Murmur in the first place to set up this meeting.”
Coffee time having reached its conclusion, Bel started pulling pots and pans out of the cupboards and generally making a lot of loud noise. “I have ways.”
“What ways?”
Raum raised a brow at Ash. Now didn’t seem the best time to be drilling Bel about his secrets.
“I don’t get why you’re always so cagey about this,” Ash went on. “We all know you have someone in Hell working for you. Don’t you think it’s in our best interest to know who it is?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“It’s none of your business.”
“Actually, it is, because it pertains to our safety and, consequently, Eva’s safety.”
“Ash,” Raum muttered.
Ash glanced at him. “We deserve to know.”
“Do we have to know right now though?” He shot a pointed look at Bel.
Ash blew out a breath. “Fine.” He pointed at Bel. “But we’re not done talking about this.”
Belial eyed the offensive finger. “Keep pointing that at me and I’ll rip it off.”
Ash rolled his eyes. “See you later.” The door slammed, and he was gone.
Silence reigned for several moments until Bel suddenly pinned Raum with a threatening look. “What?”
The hellhound still sitting at Raum’s feet whimpered softly, so Raum scratched behind his ears to calm him. “Nothing.”
Bel glared at him. A lesser demon would wither under that stare, but Raum had been on the receiving end of it many times, and he was used to it. He just stared blankly back.
Say what one would about him, he was extremely even-tempered for a demon. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d raised his voice above a conversational tone, and he never lost his temper.
On the flip side, he rarely smiled and sometimes forgot how it felt to laugh.
He was just … empty. Sometimes he thought if he were to peel back the outer layers of his personality and look into his mind, he’d find nothing but blank space.
“I know you’re thinking something, so just spit it out,” Bel said.
Because of that, Raum sometimes did stupid shit. He liked loud noises and crowds and parties because it distracted him from the hollow feeling. He was reckless and impulsive because the rush gave him a little burst of exhilaration. Every time he stole something, he felt alive for a split second before it faded back to nothingness, leaving him empty and wanting more.
And sometimes, he liked to poke the bear a little bit.
“You’ve been uptight lately,” he told Bel. The mother of all gross understatements.
Bel’s eyebrows climbed his forehead like he couldn’t believe Raum had the audacity, which was fair. Raum had just told Ash off for provoking Bel, and now he was doing it himself. Again: sometimes he did stupid shit.
“Your point?”
Raum tilted his head. “When was the last time you went into a full-on rage?”
Bel pinned him with the scariest glare known to man. But, to Raum’s surprise, he actually responded. “Few months.”
Raum’s brows rose. “That might be a record.”
Silence.
“Have you ever considered giving in to it? Maybe letting the rage out is good and holding it in isn’t.”
Bel’s hands balled into fists, and Raum knew he’d finally crossed the line. But he wondered if he was on to something. Maybe the key to mastering the anger wasn’t fighting it but expelling it.
But that meant controlling it. And Bel had never been able to do that.
While Belial continued to pin him with a flaming death glare, Raum slipped off the stool and headed toward the door. “I’m going for a run.” Faust scurried after him to escape the fury emanating from the kitchen.
Just as they stepped into the hallway outside, a plate smashed against the wall, right where he’d been standing.
Raum closed the door quickly, and he and Faust hauled ass to the elevator. They didn’t relax until the doors slid closed and the lift started to descend.
He blew out a breath. “Jesus.”
He’d been denied his espresso quota, had to watch Meph and Iris make out and listen to his brothers bicker, and had a plate thrown at his head. All before nine o’clock.
Today sucked.
RAUM AND FAUST WALKED SIDE BY SIDE DOWN THE block, dodging pedestrians easily since no one wanted to get too close to Faust.
The hellhound puppy was still small enough that he didn’t have to shift to go in public, but he was still a big black dog with red eyes. He wouldn’t look fully hellish until he was mature, but there was still something off about him to the average human, and most people were instinctively wary.
The hound was technically Iris’s, but Raum had been spending time with him over the last couple weeks since he had the most success with his training. Faust was growing quickly, and he needed discipline to blend in on Earth.
Once they turned off the main drag and there were less people on the sidewalks, Raum took up a jog, and Faust fell into a trot beside him. Raum never put a leash on him when they ran together. He knew Faust wouldn’t take off, and he didn’t give a fuck about dog-owner laws or scaring people. Humans could suck it.
They ran until Raum’s body was warm and his blood was pumping, the bite in the air no longer cold against his heated skin. Eventually, they reached Faust’s favorite park, and he slowed to a walk as they stepped onto the muddy brown grass.
In the last week, the temperatures had risen, and the snow was finally melting. Patches of ice still persevered in the shadows and at the bases of the trees, but the air was fresh with the scent of early spring.
Faust took off to sniff and piss on every tree, and Raum walked without caring where he was going. He tipped his head back and watched the sparrows in the trees.
He liked sparrows. They were cute and tiny, but they were badass. They beat up weaker birds who got in their way. Their little cheeps were his favorite sound in the morning when he had coffee on the balcony. Without them, all he’d hear would be the traffic.
And the emptiness in his head.
It seemed like every one of his brothers had some new purpose. But what did he have? Morning walks with Faust. Watching his brothers bicker. Fighting the urge to tear his ears off when he had to listen to Meph and Iris fucking through the wall between their rooms. Going to the gym to work himself to exhaustion. Stealing pointless shit he didn’t want just to scratch the itch a little.
Escaping Hell was supposed to have been a new beginning, and it was for everyone but him. Worse, he didn’t even have Meph to keep him distracted anymore. Meph spent every spare minute with Iris now, and—
The sound of barking snapped him out of it.
Seconds later, an enormous brown dog bolted past him, so fast he felt the wind gust on his leg. The dog headed straight for Faust, who was currently sniffing the hand of a woman who seemed to have appeared from nowhere.
“Faust!” Raum shouted, warning his dog away from her before the inevitable occurred.
Too late.
The brown dog barreled into Faust. The woman, who had the misfortune to be in their path, took the weight of two large dog bodies as Faust was knocked into her from behind.
By the time she hit the ground, Raum was already running. The dogs ignored her, now fighting viciously, their snarling and snapping inches from her arms held protectively over her face, their paws stamping on her prone body.
Raum reached the chaos and didn’t even think about hiding his strength. He picked up both dogs and tossed them. He wasn’t worried about Faust, and maybe getting the wind knocked out of the other dog would calm him down.
Animals out of the way, Raum crouched beside the woman. She lowered her arms and their eyes met.
And the world disappeared.
A stunning pair of dark eyes met his. Big eyes. Almost too big for her face. Her skin was light brown, and her hair was sleek and black and straight, wound into a thick braid that lay on the dirt like twisted rope. Swooping dark brows complemented her features, and her nose was prominent, with a bump at the bridge and a point at the end, offsetting the unusual size of her eyes.
She stared at him, and he stared right back at her, neither of them saying anything.
Until he suddenly remembered she was flat on her back in the mud.
Shaking himself, he offered a hand and helped her stand. She looked a little shaken but otherwise unharmed, and as soon as he noted that, he started noticing other things about her body.
Like curves. So many curves. She wore a skintight matching athletic outfit that was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. Full breasts overfilled her long-sleeve crop top, and her voluptuous hips were accentuated by the cut of the high-waisted leggings. Both were a soft pink. Against her brown skin, it was hot as hell.
“You okay?”
She nodded mutely, still staring at him, her eyes wide and unblinking.
He stared back at her.
He wasn’t the smooth talker Meph was, but he sure as hell knew how to charm a woman. Except right now, he didn’t. He wanted to make sure she wasn’t hurt. He also wanted to know if her ass was anywhere near as fine as he was imagining.
As the awkward silence lingered, the distant sound of barking and snarling filtered through the static in his head.
He spun around and took in the scene. Faust and the brown dog were battling it out, and Faust was kicking ass. Not a surprise. Puppy or not, he was a hellhound and had the added strength of any supernatural being.
Raum put his fingers between his lips and whistled sharply. The sound pierced the commotion, and just like Raum had trained him, Faust stopped dead. He opened the jaws fixed around the other dog’s throat and trotted back like everything was A-okay.
But then there was the matter of the giant brown dog who knocked down helpless women on his way to attack other people’s pets.
Raum looked at Faust, pointed to the ground at his feet, and said, “Stay.”
Faust planted his butt on the dirt.
Then Raum ran toward the other dog, who was already up and swinging his big head around as if looking for someone else to attack. Raum whistled again, getting the animal to look at him. It started to growl, so he growled right back. They approached each other like a face-off.
Raum stared him down.
The dog dropped his gaze.
As a rule, animals hated demons. Their instincts told them they were in the presence of something other, and they feared it. Cats went feral, dogs either cowered or went into attack mode, and other animals simply fled the vicinity.
But not with Raum. Animals always loved him, and he loved them back. And he had no idea why.
He kept staring, and the dog sank onto his haunches and dropped his head. He stared a bit more, and the dog slid forward onto his front legs, lying down. Still, Raum waited. The dog rolled onto his side and whimpered softly.
Finally, Raum crouched by his head and patted his neck. “Good boy.”
The dog’s tail thumped on the ground.
Raum noticed the leash and collar around his neck just as a woman with pale skin and a messy salt-and-pepper bun burst onto the path. She made a big show of waving her hands, shouting and obviously upset.
Raum inwardly rolled his eyes, thinking, Now what?
“I’m so sorry!” She was so distraught, he almost feared for her health. Or at least the hair on her head she was nearly tearing out as she clutched her temples. “I know how out of control he is, and I would never take him to a public park! I was just loading him into the van and he took off.”
Raum said nothing, still patting the dog’s neck, wondering why the woman was apologizing to him. It wasn’t like he’d been the one getting knocked on his ass.
Speaking of …
He twisted around, looking over to where he’d left Faust beside the woman in pink. Faust still sat dutifully.
But the woman was gone.
He fought back an irrational surge of disappointment. Like she was going to want to hang around after being flattened by a dogfight? And why would he care if she stayed anyway?
“How on earth did you do that?” the new woman asked. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Raum shrugged. He didn’t know why animals responded to him, and he sure as hell wasn’t about to open up about the black hole in his past to some random human. He didn’t even like thinking about it himself.
“Is that your dog over there?” the woman asked. “Just sitting pretty?”
Raum glanced at Faust and nodded.
“Incredible.” She pushed her glasses up her nose, studying Raum with a calculating gaze. “You must work with animals? Are you a dog trainer? Or do you work with wildlife rescue, maybe? Or—”
“No.”
“What’s your job, then?”
He hesitated. He considered saying, I’m a wanted fugitive, but went with, “Unemployed.” Both were true.
“I’m Caroline,” the woman said, sticking out a hand, “but everyone calls me Caro.” She looked to be in her fifties or sixties. The sharpness of her eyes gave her a unique face, though it was obvious from her stained jeans and messy hair that she didn’t give much thought to her appearance.
Raum stood, his new canine friend remaining at his feet. He shook Caro’s outstretched hand but didn’t offer his name. He doubted she cared. Ninety percent of human interactions were just people finding excuses to talk about themselves. At the end, they walked away without remembering anything the other person said because they were only interested in their own issues.
But Caro surprised him by saying, “What’s your name?” And she was still shaking his hand.
“Raum.”
“Nice to meet you, Raum.” Caro finally dropped his hand and tilted her head, sizing him up. The same way he often did to others. It made him a little uncomfortable. “Do you want a job?”
He blinked. It wasn’t what he expected to hear.
“I work at an animal shelter,” she said, surprising him yet again. “Tiny here is one of my dogs.”
Tiny? Jesus.
“We were coming back from a vet visit, and he’d been sedated, so I thought he’d be fine on the leash. But he got the drop on me and pulled it right out of my hand before I could get him in the van. I thought for sure he was going to do something terrible. Scared ten years off my life.” She shook her head. “Imagine my surprise when I ran here and found him lying meekly on his side.”
Raum glanced down at the animal. “He’s just scared.”
Caro nodded as if this pleased her. “So, you want a job? I’ll pay you to come in and work with the feral ones. If you can do half as much for others as you did with Tiny here, I’ll consider you a miracle worker.”
Raum rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t need money.” He and his brothers had amassed a fortune in Hell before they escaped, which they exchanged for Earth currency at the Blood Market. And if he ever ran out, he still had stashes of loot all over the underworld.
“Too bad. This job is too tough for volunteers.”
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“I don’t need to. We all have a past, and any man who shows kindness to an animal is a good man in my books. If you’re living … under the radar, I’ll pay you cash in hand. As long as you help my dogs, I don’t care where you came from.”
He couldn’t take a job at an animal shelter. It was too risky mixing with humans in that kind of setting. It was one thing to party and get drunk with faceless crowds he’d never see again. It was another thing to interact on a regular basis with people who didn’t know what he was. With everything going on with Murmur right now, it was an added risk they didn’t need.
So it surprised the hell out of him when he said, “Okay.”
Caro beamed. “You’ll do it?”
“Sure.” I’m an idiot.
“When can you start? Tomorrow? Eight a.m.?”
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