“Welcome to my life,” Abel said. He ran over to Caine and threw himself at his mate. Caine folded Abel into his arms. This was the real deal. Caine hugged him so close that he damn near crushed Abel to him. It felt good to be held by Caine, and safe. So damn safe.

  “Stay with your brother.” Caine gave him a quick kiss and set him aside. “I’m going after Bowen.”

  His mate was gone before Abel had a chance to say a word.

  “You better start explaining things to me,” Aaron said, his hazel eyes wide. “What the hell just happened?”

  “It’s a long story.” Abel joined him by the car. He wasn’t sure if he was allowed to tell Aaron about the “other” world, but Abel couldn’t let his brother think he was losing his mind.

  “It all began when Caine came into the gas station…”

  * * * *

  Caine cursed when he cut the corner and Bowen was gone. He tried to latch onto the connection between them, but for reasons unknown, Caine couldn’t pinpoint where Bowen was. It was as if his signal was all over the place.

  And why had Bowen been at Abel’s apartment in the first place? Did he know Caine had left? Had he been watching the place? Why? Frustration mounted at the unanswered questions. Caine was also cursing himself for leaving Abel alone. It had been a dumb fucking move, even though he’d been trying to figure out which guy, Deputy Crosby or Craig, was Abel’s stalker.

  “If you needed help, all you had to do was ask.”

  Caine closed his eyes and clenched his jaw at the voice behind him. It wasn’t often he heard it, and he loathed the sound. “I don’t need your fucking help.” He turned to face Panahasi. “And why would you offer? Don’t I have a bounty on my head?”

  Years of pain, anger, and resentment boiled to the surface as he stared into Panahasi’s whiskey-colored eyes. The demon leader shook his head. “A lie Bowen told you.”

  “But the paper had the official seal on it,” Caine ground out.

  “Falsified.” Panahasi’s gaze slid over him in a mysterious sort of way. Then again, the demon leader had always been enigmatic to Caine. They’d never really talked, not like now. They’d never crossed paths, either. The two of them stayed out of each other’s way, and that was how Caine liked it.

  “Yet he has everyone in Remtin convinced and after me for the bounty.” Caine started away, giving a small growl when Panahasi kept step. “I don’t need you following me. I already have enough unwanted interest in me.”

  “Yes, Tremblay and Carisio.” Panahasi nodded. “They’re child’s play. You’re more powerful than you think, Caine.”

  Caine whipped around, snarling, the urge to kill Panahasi right under his skin. “You don’t get to say my goddamn name!”

  Panahasi stepped to him. “I didn’t know until a few months ago,” he snarled right back. “You can’t punish me for something I wasn’t even aware of.”

  Caine’s chest rose and fell in quick successions. His fists shook at his sides. He curled his lip as angry tears threatened to fall. Caine’s lungs constricted, making it hard for him to breathe. “It doesn’t even matter.”

  But it did. Panahasi was right, but Caine’s pride wouldn’t let him admit that. He’d harbored too much hatred for Panahasi for thousands of years, and letting that go wasn’t even a possibility right now. It might never be one.

  They stopped walking, although Caine was itching to get back to Abel. He still couldn’t believe the little human was his mate, and Abel had been so brave with Bowen. How had Abel figured it out? How had he known that it wasn’t the real Caine he was dealing with?

  Caine’s life had become ten times more complicated since meeting Abel, but he didn’t regret going into the gas station that night. In such a short period of time, Abel had come to mean everything to him.

  He was the only good thing in Caine’s life.

  “I’m not giving up on you,” Panahasi said. “Now that I know the truth. And like I said, you’re more powerful than you know. You can destroy your enemies—”

  “Save the Jedi talk for someone else. I’m good. I haven’t, nor do I now, need you, Dad.”

  Caine walked away, thankful Panahasi didn’t follow him. He felt too raw at the moment, and he might’ve caved if he’d stuck around any longer. It seemed being around Abel was making him soft. Before he’d met his mate, Caine would’ve ripped into Panahasi, spewing evilness in order to hurt the demon leader.

  Now he just wanted to be left alone. Not true. He just wanted his mate. For thousands of years, Caine had been treated like trash in that brothel. The whore who’d raised him never had a kind word to say. In fact, she’d revealed Caine’s parentage just to twist the knife in his heart, a way to hurt him.

  Caine was done letting anyone else have the upper hand over him. Gazelle was damned lucky he hadn’t gone back and gutted her once he’d become a grown man.

  But sadly, she’d been the only parent he’d known, and deep down, in a very deep part of himself, he hadn’t wanted to destroy that. Until now, he’d never had anyone in his corner.

  But he had Abel, and Caine could do whatever he had to in order to protect his mate.

  When he approached the cop car, Aaron looked pale. He stared wide-eyed at Caine, his jaw slightly slack.

  Caine groaned. “You told him, didn’t you? I swear you can’t keep your trap shut.”

  Abel chuckled. “Yep, it’s the real Caine.”

  He pulled Abel into his arms and rested his chin on his mate’s head, inhaling his scent, bathing his senses in it. Caine had never known this kind of peacefulness.

  “How did you figure it out earlier?”

  Aaron was still staring at him as though Caine would turn into a fire-breathing monster and eat him.

  “You told me to be quiet and have a seat,” Abel replied. “You were too calm when I said I owned you.”

  Caine snorted. “You wish you fucking owned me.”

  “But I do,” Abel whispered. “At least I hope I do, the same way you own me.”

  Caine closed his eyes to those words. They were the sweetest he’d ever heard. “So you figured it out because Bowen was even tempered?”

  “Are you kidding?” Abel pulled back just enough to look up at Caine. “You’re a surly prick who loves to argue. And I may or may not be stubborn as hell and love a heated debate. Plus…” Abel gripped Caine even tighter. “You wouldn’t touch me, not even when I reached for you.”

  There would never be a day when Caine wouldn’t want Abel against him, touching him in some sort of way and making Caine feel like the luckiest demon around.

  “I said I was getting something to drink in the kitchen, and then I bolted from my apartment using the fire escape.”

  Caine knew how much the metal stairs scared Abel. He’d seen the queasiness on Abel’s face when they’d taken them before.

  “Luckily I saw Aaron and flagged him down.” Abel narrowed his eyes. “Where did you go? Why’d you leave the apartment?”

  “I was trying to find your stalker so I could end him,” Caine said. “Eliminate one of our problems.” He looked over at Aaron but spoke to Abel. “Is he gonna be okay?”

  “I’m-I’m fine,” Aaron said. “I knew some hinky shit was going on in this town. A lot of things didn’t add up.”

  “You know you have to keep my secret or creatures from Hell will escape and come after you,” Caine said.

  Abel elbowed him as Aaron paled even further. “Stop messing with him. He already looks on the verge of passing out.”

  “But you need to keep my secret, seriously,” Caine replied. “I’m not lying about someone coming after you. The Ultionem will send a vampire to erase your memory. Is that what you want?”

  Caine could easily do that himself. One blow across his hand and he could wipe Aaron’s mind clean. He didn’t want to do that. After all, Aaron was family now, and he’d rather them have a mutual respect for each other than starting things off by tweaking the guy’s brain.

  Aaron looked sharply at him. “First, don’t ever threaten to fuck with my head. Second, who the hell would even believe me?”

  Caine had been in Maple Grove before, when he was protecting Scott and Baxter. He knew at least two of the cops were shifters, but he kept that to himself.

  “We have a deal? He stuck his hand out instead, and reluctantly, Aaron shook it.

  “We have a deal.” Aaron nodded.

  Chapter Eight

  “You’ve lost your mind.”

  “I think it’s the best plan we have.” Caine paced to the window and looked out as the bright morning sun filtered through the wispy curtains. He’d been doing that since they’d gotten back to the apartment last night. Looking out the window. His agitation was exacerbating Abel’s.

  Now that the adrenaline rush was gone, the reality of what had just happened was sinking in. Abel still didn’t know why Bowen had come here in the first place. If he didn’t know any better, the demon had thought no one was home.

  He’d looked startled to see Abel there. Maybe Bowen had planned on ambushing the real Caine when he’d returned. That was the only thing Abel could think of, and he knew he wouldn’t get any kind of answers.

  “Are you gonna keep standing there with that look on your face?” Caine shoved his hands into his front pockets.

  “What look?”

  “Like you’re constipated.”

  “I was thinking!” Abel was also pissed. Caine wanted to leave him with Aaron at the station while he tracked down Bowen. Too much was going on. Abel just wanted the world to stop for an hour so he could think, take a breath, and figure this shit out.

  He was starting to feel mentally numb and unable to focus, which was leading to irritability.

  “We’re supposed to be in this together,” he reminded Caine.

  Caine pulled his hands from his pockets and crossed the room. Abel fell against him as his shoulders drooped. His mate curled his arms around Abel and simply held him. It was just what Abel needed.

  “Your wants and needs are important to me,” Caine said. He caressed Abel’s back, his fingers making Abel’s skin tingle. “But so is your safety. I don’t think I’ll ever make you realize just what you mean to me.”

  Caine was trying to be sweet and nice, but Abel saw right through it. His mate was telling Abel what he wanted to hear so he could go play Rambo while Abel sat at the station eating stale donuts and drinking disgusting coffee. He wasn’t falling for it.

  He pulled back and smiled up at Caine. “So when do we leave?”

  “In a few minutes. I’m glad you understand.”

  “Oh, I understand.” Abel kept his smile in place. “I understand that I’m coming with you.”

  Caine’s features darkened. “I thought we settled this.”

  “We settled jack shit.” Abel poked Caine in the chest with his finger. “Bowen tricked me and chased me down. I don’t know what his plans were, but I want him caught just as much as you do.”

  “You’re not going with me.”

  Abel pulled away and shrugged, speaking in a calm, even tone. “Fine, drop me off like an unwanted baby at the station. I’ll just wait for you to leave then follow you. Who knows what kind of trouble I can get into if you’re not closely supervising me?”

  Caine snarled and curled his hands into fists. “You’re stubborn as fuck. I should put you over my knee and spank that fire out of you.”

  A thrill jolted through Abel. He’d never been into that brand of kinky before, but the thought of Caine’s beefy hand coming down over his bare ass had Abel’s cock thickening. “You can’t threaten me with something I might like.”

  Abel walked to the couch, dropped down, and crossed his arms, giving Caine the most defiant look he could muster.

  An evil grin curled the side of Caine’s mouth. Abel had a feeling that smiles—even an evil one—were rare for Caine. “We’ll explore that later. But right now, I have to get going.”

  Abel hopped up, ready to follow his mate. Caine opened the door, and Abel snarled. He’d been hanging around Caine too long and picking up his habits.

  On the other side of the door was Aaron, with Deputy Crosby right behind him.

  “No you didn’t!” Abel shouted.

  “I knew you’d argue about this,” Caine said as the cops walked in. “So I went to your brother and asked a favor of him.”

  Abel turned his glare to Aaron. “You’re siding with him?”

  “Once he explained the dangers, yeah, I’m siding with him. Have you lost your mind, Abel? Do you know what could happen to you?”

  Abel could tell his brother was beating around the bush because of Deputy Crosby’s presence. Why’d Aaron even bring the guy?

  From the look on Caine’s face, he was wondering the same thing.

  “Sheriff Copache wanted Crosby to shadow me today,” Aaron said. “I had no choice.”

  “Gee, thanks for making me feel part of the team,” Crosby muttered.

  “Can we have a word?” Caine asked Aaron and jerked his head toward the kitchen.

  That left Abel alone with the Adonis deputy. This was one of the guys Caine suspected of being Abel’s stalker. Even if they’d just gone into the other room, Abel was gonna kick Caine in his nuts for leaving him alone with this guy.

  “Nice place you have.” Crosby looked around.

  Abel murmured a thanks. As subtly as he could, he moved to the other side of the room. Crosby might not be his stalker and turn out to be a nice guy, but until Abel knew for sure, he didn’t want the guy anywhere near him.

  Crosby rested his hands on his utility belt. “I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but if those guys are worried, maybe you should—”

  Abel held up a hand. “You’re not familiar with me enough to make that suggestion. You’re right. You have no idea what’s going on, so keep your opinion to yourself.”

  Now Abel felt guilty for saying that. He wasn’t normally a rude person, but he was on edge. He bit his lip to stop himself from apologizing.

  “You’re right.” Crosby nodded as he took a few steps forward. “I don’t know you well enough to give you such sage advice. I’m the new guy at the station who’s treated like an outsider, even though my record is flawless and I’ve already proven I’m a damn good cop.”

  “Sounds like a problem you need to take up with your coworkers.” Abel stepped toward the kitchen archway. Crosby definitely had some anger issues that he clearly tried to hide.

  If the deputy was Abel’s stalker, he sure wasn’t acting like one. His nostrils flared, and his brows were drawn tight. He looked as though he’d rather slap Abel than woo him with one of those crappy poems.

  Aaron and Caine returned. Caine looked between Abel and Crosby. “Is there a problem?”

  “No, no problem at all,” Crosby bit out. He glared at Aaron. “You know what, I’m gonna take off since you’ll be spending your time here. I’ll tell the boss that I stuck to you all day, but clearly I need some kind of decoder ring to be a part of your little secret club.”

  “Weston,” Aaron said, but Crosby walked out, slamming Abel’s door behind him.

  Aaron turned to Abel. “What did you say to him?”

  “Right, make me the bad guy,” Abel huffed. “He tried to tell me what to do, and I told him to mind his own business.” He frowned. “I think he’s a really disgruntled employee. He says he’s proven himself, but you guys still treat him like crap. Shame on you, Aaron.”

  Aaron frowned. “But you were just rude to him.”

  “But I don’t work with him,” Abel pointed out. “My opinion of him doesn’t count.”

  With a roll of his eyes, Caine headed for the door. “I’ll be back.”

  “You’re not leaving me here with—”

  “Hold your ponies.” Aaron held up his hands as he blocked Abel. “Although my head is still spinning from what you told me, we both know you tagging along isn’t safe.”

  “Deal with your spinning head on your own time.” Abel tried to get past his brother, but Aaron wasn’t playing around. He curled an arm around Abel’s waist and hauled him off his feet.

  “Not happening, pipsqueak.”

  “I’m gonna remove both your nuts!” Abel wiggled as he tried to get free. “Come back here, Caine!”

  “Calm down,” Aaron demanded as he dropped Abel onto the couch.

  His heart sank when Caine didn’t return. He slammed his fist into Aaron’s chest. “You bastard. You have no idea who he’s going up against. He could be killed, and you just let him walk right out.”

  His brother jabbed a finger at the door, his face molten. “If that demon is in danger, what are your odds if you go with him? Think, Abel. For once in your damn life, think before you act.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You’re ready to run out of here all gung ho without thinking about the danger.” He scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Caine told me he’s thousands of years old, and he’s been looking for his mate for a very long time. Now I’m not saying I understand fully what a mate is, but…” Aaron’s voice grew soft. “That man is crazy about you, Abel. He’s worried sick that something will happen to you. Besides, when was the last time we hung out? You look like you could use some sleep, too.”

  Abel had tossed and turned on the couch last night, unable to sleep for fear Caine would take off again. Aaron was right. Abel was so damn tired that his head hurt.

  “I’m still mad at you.”

  “I know.” Aaron sat on the coffee table and removed Abel’s shoes. “Lie down and get some rest. I promise to wake you if Caine returns.”

  As badly as Abel wanted to wait up for Caine, his eyes drooped when his head rested against a throw pillow. He yawned, fighting sleep, but ultimately lost the battle.

  * * * *

  Caine slipped into the dark alley and waited for his contact. The whole time he was there all he could think about was Abel. It had gutted him to leave his mate behind, but Caine was meeting up with Benny, an unsavory demon, and he didn’t want the bastard to gain any leverage.