A Darker Past (The Darker Agency #2)(30)

Whatever it is. Ouch.

When I thought Lukas was dying, I’d said the worst of all four-letter words known to man. The most damning and the most dangerous. I love you. He hadn’t heard me. At least, I was pretty sure. He’d already slipped away. But they haunted me, mainly because he wasn’t as terrified of them as I was.

And as if he could see clear into my brain, Lukas took my hand and said, “Things are different for you, and I understand that. There was no playing the field in my time. You found someone, and you stayed with them. If you were lucky enough, you fell in love. I know how you feel about relationships and why, and I think that’s the reason I didn’t tell you.”

“Because you were worried what I’d think.”

He looked away. “What I’m becoming is as dark as the thing I shed when Wrath left me. Possibly darker.”

That hurt a little, but I shook it off. “Then I guess it’s cool that I’m part Shadow demon, huh?” I grabbed his other hand, forcing him to look at me. How could he think I’d be upset about this? “So, then we’re good. You and me? You don’t want to leave—”

His eyes went wide. “Is that what you truly thought?”

“You were so angry when you left. What you said…”

“I didn’t mean I needed to decide about you. You know how I feel.” He shook his head. “Shortly before you arrived, I found out about Patrick. I’m trying to decide what to do about him.”

Relief flooded through me, and I shook off a pang of embarrassment. He was right. I knew how he felt about me. How could I even think… “Do about him? I’d like to suggest taking whacking him off the table.”

Even in the dark, I could see his eyebrows rise in question. “Whacking?”

I sighed. My impeccable wit was lost on him. “Nothing. You mean, like get to know him?”

Lukas rolled his eyes. “I did some research. He’s the only surviving member of the Scott family.”

“Wanna know what I think?”

He sighed, but there was the smallest hint of a smile on his lips. “Why are you asking me, when we both know you’ll tell me regardless?”

“Good point. I was trying to be polite.” I grinned. “I think you should get to know him. Blood is blood. Knock on the door and introduce yourself. Big deal if you’re a million years—”

“One hundred and forty-seven.”

“Older,” I finished without missing a beat. “Mom and I will always have your back, and Dad, too, but maybe having someone blood related would help keep you grounded. Show you that you’re really not any different than you used to be. You’re improved. The new and improved Lukas Scott.”

“Maybe some day,” he said, sneaking a look back toward the house. When he turned back to me, his face was a mask of calm. “Right now there are other things to worry about. Did Klaire find anything about the demon from the mirror?”

I shivered as the wind kicked up again. The cold didn’t bother me as much since I’d started shadowing, but I wasn’t immune. I suppressed a slight shiver and said, “Nada. She’s gonna pay Cassidy another visit in the morning. I doubt it’ll get her anywhere, but she’s determined to try.”

“That woman is—” A shrill ringing filled the air. Lukas’s phone. As far as I knew, Mom and I were the only ones with the number, which could only mean…

“Yes,” he said into the speaker. A pause. “Yes. No, I understand completely. My apologies.” When he hung up, his expression was grim.

“How huge is the pile of shit I’m in?”

Lukas had been Wrath. He’d gone head-to-head with one of the most powerful witches in the world and faced off against the Seven Deadly Sins, the whole while staying brave in the face of inconceivable danger. But when it came to my mom? He was terrified—and rightly so. “I’d say you’re in pretty deep.”





Chapter Twelve


After I shadowed Lukas home, I sucked it up and shadowed myself back to the office. I popped into the main room specifically to avoid hitting Mom right off the bat, but she knew me too well. Instead of waiting in my room, she was sitting behind her desk, feet kicked up and nursing a cup of coffee.

“You know,” she said quietly. “I realize that on some level it’s unfair, but I expect more than this from you, Jessie.”

I was wrong for sneaking out, but I couldn’t help trying to defend my decision. “It’s not like I was getting horizontal in the backseat of some guy’s car.”

She stood and slammed a hand against her desk. I jumped. “That’s not my point. You and I are both very aware what crawls around out there—especially at night.”

“I can handle myself.”

She hit the desk again. This time the coffee sloshed over the edge, drops landing on a small pile of papers. “Regardless, you’re still my teenage daughter. What if something happened? I had no idea where you were.”

“Nothing was going to happen. I was with Lukas.”

Her glare was frosty. Borderline arctic. “Because that’s not an entirely different set of issues?”

“Well, look at it this way. You wanted me normal, right?” One look at her face and I knew joking wasn’t the way to go, even though I wanted so badly to push it. She’d basically asked for this. Her desire for me to go out and have a normal teenaged experience. Sneaking out was a classic staple. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about how we left things, and I needed to make it right. It was kind of our first fight. I thought he might have broken up with me, and—”