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“I’m not hovering.”

I shifted, and a strand of hair fell across my face. Before I could push it away, Kalon reached out. His fingers brushed my temple gently, tucking the strand behind my ear.

The movement was slow. Careful. His hand lingered longer than necessary. I didn’t pull away.

Now we were making eye contact.

Close eye contact.

The kind where another person’s breathing made you aware of what yours was doing.

“You’re safe here,” he said quietly.

My pulse ticked up slightly. “That’s . . . comforting,” I said.

His gaze dropped to my mouth. I felt it. Felt the tiny pause when the room held its breath, and my brain, traitorous and sleep-deprived, whispered that this would be simple.

Then Kalon pulled back. “You’ve had a bad night,” he said. “I’m not going to use that.”

Oh.

That was unfairly decent of him. Suddenly, my very normal, very quiet apartment with the very large demon sitting next to me was too small, and my brain was doing math I didn’t approve of.

This would be easy.

That was the problem.

Kalon would be easy in the way decent things were easy. He would ask. He would wait. He would probably kiss like a man who knew where to put his hands and when to stop using them. He would walk me home and check the locks and never make me wonder whether he had been standing over me in the dark.

A girl with sense would pick the man on her couch over the one hiding in the shadows. My gaze slipped to the roses on the counter.

My body flushed with heat. The dark part of me was whispering, But he came back.

“Seriously,” Kalon said. “If anything feels wrong, call me.”

“Okay.”

“And if someone shows up here again—”

My phone buzzed loudly on the table.

I frowned and picked it up.

Mandi: OH MY GODS Sam: Liv tell me you’re seeing this

Mandi: LIV‼️

My stomach tightened.

“What now,” I muttered. I opened the link and the screen loaded.

I was met with a picture of the woman from the shop hanging from a streetlight, her neck bent wrong.

And written across her forehead in thick dark letters—

CULLED.

“Well,” Kalon said. “That’s new.”