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I stared at him, infuriated that I couldn’t just hate him. “What are you asking for, then, Dante?” I delivered the question without a single drop of venom in my tone.

He met my stare, unwavering. “I want you to come with me. To the stronghold for The Order in Virginia. Where you can learn about your history. Where you can train. Where you can be safe.”

I leaned onto my forearms, narrowing my eyes on him. “Be safe?” I laughed without humor. “Yeah, that sounds boring. And cowardly. I’ll pass.” I didn’t miss how a “stronghold” for The Order sounded too much like a cult for my liking.

“Hadley, now that you’re activated, you’re going to have armies from heaven and hell and everywhere in between looking for you.” He sounded miles away from the carefree, arrogant Dante he had been moments ago.

I sipped my drink, if only to have something to do. “Well, they know where to find me.” I wiggled my fingers, which luckily weren’t glowing, but he got the point. “And I’ll deal with them.”

It was now Dante’s turn to glare. The change in his energy was heavy, menacing. “You’ll burn yourself out before fighting even one percent of those looking for you. You’re too cocky, Hadley. You cannot handle this power alone. You’ll die. And I’m not going to let that happen.” The words stained the air and clung to me like oil.

Dante, in protective alpha mode, should’ve sickened me. But he seemed powerful. Attractive. You know, if he weren’t trying to take away my agency.

“So what are you going to do?” I challenged. “Cuff me, drug me, curse me? Drag me kicking and screaming to this ‘stronghold’.” I gagged at the name.

He shook his head. “No. You coming with me has to be your choice. But what else are you going to do? Stay here?” He waved his hand to indicate the bar. “Are you going to help Colton put himself back together? You going to save him now?”

He flung the words without poison, yet they smarted just the same. And I didn’t imagine the small glint to his eye. He was jealous, or maybe angry at Colton. Who knew?

Regardless, he’d made a point, highlighting something I knew was true. If I didn’t run, I could stay. And he was right. Colton and I would naturally gravitate toward each other, both wounded and betrayed and lost in different ways.

Yes, Colton needed fixing. Saving. And he’d look for that from me. I saw that this morning. He was lost. And though I wasn’t a savior—most of all to men—part of me wanted to be. Wanted to be the person who helped Colton heal, who got a second chance at life in Dreadwood Falls.

But whatever future I might’ve had there was dead and buried. And I’d come to hate Colton and myself if I stayed there, I already knew that. It was not my destiny to save a man. Fix one. Even if I weren’t some half-angel freak.

“I could find someone else to train me.” I traced a groove in the bar top with my index finger. “Someone who talks less and didn’t deceive me for years. That sounds like a good plan.” My tone bled fury because it was more of a comfortable emotion. Much easier to be mad at Dante for his deception instead of being hurt.

“And how would you go about finding someone who knows how to train you, knows you exist, and doesn’t want to kill you?” Though there was only a slight edge to his tone, his true fury was evident in how white his knuckles were around his glass.

“Donny.” I swallowed a swig of whiskey. “Donny will know someone.”

As I said it out loud, I felt a little lighter. Yes, that was a plan. As much as I hated to admit that the motherfucker was right, Dante had a point. There was this power inside me, waiting, curled like a snake, ready to strike. I could not handle it. Control it.

Therefore, I needed help.

“You tell Donny anything about what you are, you’re signing her death warrant.” He rubbed his temples.

My stomach pitched at the intensity in his voice, the ferociousness. “You have no idea how complicated this is. How rare you are, Hadley. Anyone who knows who you are will either try to kill you or be killed by those who want you. That’s your reality.”

My throat tightened as my body heated. Though I was loath to believe Dante, a part of me knew he was telling the truth. The power inside of me felt monumental, world-bending. And the look on the demon prince’s face… I downed my whiskey, wishing it could erase the memory.

I let the sounds of the bar fill my head so I didn’t puke everywhere when faced with my absolute lack of options.

Dante. He was my only option.

And how horrifying was that?

“I’m not fucking you,” I finally told Dante.

“You will.” He raised his left brow. “Not even you have that kind of restraint.”

The words weren’t spoken with the kind of teasing that was characteristic to him. No, it was a rumbling, smooth tenor that crept underneath the hem of my shirt, peaking my nipples, making me rub my jean-clad thighs together.

He was reminding me of the ever-present electricity that crackled between us. Now that I had come into my powers—what was I, fucking Harry Potter?—it was even more present. The deep well of power within me warmed in his presence, my body vibrating.

Dante had said the power was tied to my emotions. And this was the longest it had been since I’d been laid. My body quite obviously needed a release. That’s all it was.

Dante was the closest half-decent male specimen in this place.