I ran my hand through my hair, grabbing a fistful at my scalp as I tried to process the news. The news that yet another innocent person would die—all because of me.
“So, what’s going to happen to him?”
“She’ll feed on him, and it will slowly suck the life out of him. After about two weeks, he’ll look like an old man. He’ll be an old man.”
“Feeding on him? How does—” I stopped, noticing the pointed look Logan was giving me.
“Lust demon,” is all he said.
“Oh. Ew.” I shuddered. “How can we help him? Can we reverse it?” I asked desperately.
Logan blinked at me, taken aback.
“We aren’t doing anything. Maybe when Matt sees his girlfriend, she’ll trigger his memory and break Della’s hold—if their connection is strong enough. Any reminder of a deep attachment can break her spell. But I’m not going to go running off after Della to leave you unprotected from Aiden. He’s a Regent, Paige. He’s pretty powerful.”
“But—that’s not the right thing to do. We have to do something to help Matt,” I insisted, staring at Logan in shock. He merely gave me an indulgent smile that bordered on condescending. “Look, it’s really admirable that you want to save him, but you have to understand that—”
“Don’t talk to me like I’m an idiot,” I snapped, irritated.
The muscle in Logan’s jaw flexed as he gritted his teeth together. “I don’t think you’re an idiot. You know I don’t think that.” He pushed off the table to face me, confusion and annoyance flashing across his face. “But we don’t how powerful your ability to move between the two worlds could be. You need to be protected. Why are you so worried about Vogel, anyway?” Logan spat his name out.
“Because Travis already lost his life. And now you’re telling me Matt is in danger of losing his, all because I’ve got some weird supernatural ability to be able to open portals between two universes!” I cried, angry. “No. No! I won’t be responsible for it. Della’s death has to be the priority.”
Logan shoved his hands in his back pockets and looked down, his jaw clenched so hard I thought he might crack a tooth.
But when he turned his face up to meet mine, he merely nodded in agreement, one quick jerk up and down.
“Okay, fine,” he said. “But if it’s a choice of saving you or that jerk-off Vogel, I’m saving you.”
“Well, I’m not going to argue with that,” I agreed. “Obviously, I’m a fan of, you know, being alive and all that.”
Logan waved his hand toward the center of the roof, quickly pulling out his sword as he walked.
“So, how was the rest of the party?” I changed the subject, hoping to dissolve some of the tension between us as I twirled my sword in a wobbly figure eight. Logan merely shrugged in reply before reaching out to swap our weapons.
“No good?” I asked, handing over my sword.
“Couldn’t tell you.” He grabbed my sword and stared up at the blade, balancing the tip of the handle in his palm. “I left after I found out Della wasn’t coming.”
“Seriously?” I asked, surprised. Logan flicked his palm upward, causing the sword to pop into the air, where he grabbed it and held the weapon at his side.
“Paige, I told you I was only going to see if Della showed up. She didn’t, so I left. I was only there for about a half hour or so.” He stopped, a devious smile spreading across his face. “I’m pretty sure I pissed off that Andie chick by leaving.”
“I figured you’d stay if it was fun,” I said, forcing my voice to sound casual and not like I wanted to jump in the air and do a victory dance. Suck it, Andie!
Logan stared at me as if I had fireworks shooting out of my nostrils.
“Seriously, Paige? After the way they talked—”
He stopped short, biting his lip as if he were trying to bite back the words.
“About me, right?” I finished for him with a resigned sigh. “It’s okay. I’m used to it.”
“Well, you shouldn’t be,” he said, his knuckles white as he gripped his sword handle. “They don’t know you. Their small opinions don’t define you. Being different doesn’t make you worthy of scorn. And if I ever get to hang out with anyone, just for fun—” Logan continued, looking me straight into my eyes, taking a deep breath “—it’s not going to be with them.”
“Oh,” I said, my voice slightly unsteady. What happened to shy, uncertain Logan?
“So, today, I was thinking I should just attack you,” Logan began, then hastily added, “with the sword, I mean. Not, like, attack you. You know. I want you to work on your defensive skills.”
Oh, there’s shy, uncertain Logan.
“I’m also going to teach you some basic self-defense moves that are good to know in general.”
I nodded, holding my sword up warily as Logan started his assault slowly, before building up to a furious attack. I managed to deflect one out of every five hits, but since he was using my sword, the strikes were merely surprising—not painful.
But he could have been clobbering me with a sledgehammer, and it still wouldn’t have had the impact that his arms did when they were wrapped around me, holding me tight as he tried to teach me more self-defense.
“Try to head-butt me,” Logan said, his cheek touching mine as he held me from behind, holding my arms immobile. “Gently, though,” he cautioned, and his breath tickled my cheek, causing my pulse to speed. “I will definitely bleed if you smash my nose in.”
How romantic.
I squirmed in his arms as I tried to break his hold.
“If you can’t throw your head back, try to smash my foot,” Logan advised as I wriggled in his arms, causing his lips to brush against my neck. The accidental touch had me wanting to squirm for an entirely different reason, but Logan quickly released me from his arms.
I spun around to see him rubbing the back of his neck, looking down.
“What?” I asked, pretending that the last thirty seconds didn’t happen—and that accidentally kissing my neck didn’t make Logan practically flee to the other side of the roof.
Remember this when you’re tempted to read into the sweet things he says, Paige.
“Um...throw a punch at me,” he blurted out.
“Seriously?” I made a fist and held it up. “Why?”
“What if it’s hand-to-hand combat? I want to know you can protect yourself.”
“I doubt I can knock out a Regent, no matter how good of a teacher you are.”
“It’s a good skill to know, regardless,” Logan said, defensively holding his palms out so I could punch them.
“You’re recoiling your fist when you make contact with me. Don’t do that,” he instructed, taking hold of my closed fist and slamming it into his other palm. “Keep going. Really throw your weight into it. That’s the key to a solid punch.”
I nodded, and after the next three punches, he grimaced.
“Damn. That’s good.” Logan rubbed his palm on his shirt, then shook his hand, wincing. “Maybe you could take out a Regent.”
“Take him out for pizza, maybe.”
“I thought you were a secret ninja, remember? Show me what you’ve got. Or are your arms tired?” Logan frowned in an exaggerated pout as he held his palms up again. Oh, confident Logan had decided to show up again—and he was being merciless. “Poor widdle Paige.”
“Fine, let’s do this.” I knew he was deliberately goading me, but still, I narrowed my eyes, quickly targeting Logan’s palm again. Only this time, my aim was off—in my haste to show off, I missed his hand entirely and pitched forward, crashing into him like the smooth operator that I was.
“Whoa!” Logan exclaimed, grabbing me around the waist, stumbling back a few steps as he tried to steady me.