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Holy shit, please, no.

I pull open the kitchen door to find Miko about to bite into one of my cookies, and I snatch it from his hand.

“That one’s for Amanda,” I bite out, and make quick work of taking all of hers off the cooling rack and dumping them into a separate tub. I feel their eyes on me as I move around the kitchen. “They have lower calories,” I splutter, as if that explanation explains my erratic behavior.

“Ohhhkay. I could have eaten one with less calories, Immie. I wouldn’t have died.” Miko grins, and I choke. My insides freeze while I will my body to move, for my mouth to work, and to simply look normal when I feel anything but under their scrutiny.

“Immie, your face.” Jensen’s tender touch brings me out of my stupor while the heat of Miko’s observance radiates from him.

He knows.

He knows something isn’t right.

“Are you okay, baby?” Jensen smooths over my cheek, and his gentle voice coaxes me from my panic.

“I’m okay.” I nod.

Then he turns to Miko. “I’m not sure about leaving her.”

I roll my eyes. “I’m fine. Go do whatever you need to do. I’m going to the training pool; it’ll help distract my mind.” I wave toward the door. “Besides, I’ve dealt with worse.” I shrug, and Jensen stills. His jaw locks tight, his body becomes taut, and my heart squeezes in my chest with an immediate need to comfort him. I push up on my tiptoes and wrap my arms around his neck to press a kiss to his cheek, and he turns into me, pulling me closer.

“I’m sorry,” he rasps, and I know he’s referring to the incidents with Amanda. Then he pulls back and fixes me with his hazel eyes, and the room becomes smaller as he consumes every inch of it. “We’ll talk later.”

“Okay,” I whisper before he bends and places a kiss on my forehead, and I close my eyes and bask in his aura. It’s a kiss I feel deep in my soul, a reminder of his love for me.

I snap my eyes open, and the room is empty. Miko and Jensen are gone, and for the first time since moving in here, something sinister slithers up my spine and loneliness creeps in.

Amanda may be gone, but she’s very much still here.

With that thought in mind, I race to the patio doors and check that they’re locked, then I double-check the latch on the front door, the study, and the laundry room. I rush from room to room, securing each of them. Locking out the demons and keeping the monsters at bay.

But what if they’re already inside?

CHAPTER FORTY

JENSEN

My leg bounces, and I take another pull of my beer and exhale. Every punch our fighter connects is a step closer to me being able to get back to Immie.

I shouldn’t have left her. It was a dumb idea, but bringing her here wasn’t an option, especially given how vulnerable she is around people she doesn’t know.

I’m grateful Clint, our driver, messaged to say she got to her swimming class okay, but I haven’t heard anything from either of them since.

“You’re anxious tonight,” Miko notes, and I grunt.

“What happened with Immie?”

I concentrate on the fight in front of me because I’m unable to deal with his emotions once the words seep from me with venom. “Amanda hit her.”

“What?” he balks, so loudly, he garners attention from the next table. “You’re sure?”

“Of course, I’m fucking sure. The bitch struck her, and it’s not the first time.”

“How do you know it’s not the first time?”

I finally turn to face him. “Because I felt it in my soul. Besides, Amanda admitted it.”

He nods, but how can he possibly understand, especially as a man who is so unfeeling, so deranged.