“How much did he owe this Draegan guy?”

Greg laughed harshly. “More than you can imagine. I was worried about paying off a stupid money debt. I had no idea.”

“Tell me.”

He looked away for a long moment and his eyes were haunted when they met mine again. “Have you ever heard of a blood debt?”

I shook my head as dread coiled in my stomach.

“When the doctors told Uncle Leo they couldn’t do anything for Danny, he went to a demon named Draegan and asked him for help. Don’t ask me how he even knew anything about demons, because I don’t know. Draegan gave him some kind of medicine to give to Danny to drink. Whatever it was, it worked. But the price was steep. Uncle Leo signed a contract saying he would give his life to Draegan if Danny got better.”

“No.”

He nodded grimly. “Uncle Leo had a month to pay his debt. But he was killed in a car accident before he could.”

“But doesn’t that cancel the contract?”

“No. What Draegan didn’t tell Uncle Leo was that if he couldn’t or wouldn’t pay the debt, it could be collected from a male family member who shares the same blood. Draegan’s flunky told me Danny was the closest male relative so he has to pay the debt.”

I inhaled sharply. “No.”

“I’ve been trying to get them to take money instead. I even offered them this place, but Draegan won’t take it. I tried to go talk to him, but he won’t see me. All his people will tell me is that blood is the only thing that will cover the debt, unless Draegan decides not to collect. And he’s not going to do that.”

“Oh, Greg.” I couldn’t imagine what he’d been going through the last few weeks, dealing with something like this by himself and worrying about his cousin. “I promise we’ll fix this.”

He stared off into the distance. “I found out yesterday that there is another way to pay off the debt. I’m Danny’s first cousin, and we share the same blood.”

“No!” I jumped up and stood over him so he was forced to look at me. “No. That’s not going to happen, ever! Don’t even think about it.”

“Sara, if you just listen –”

“Stop. I don’t want to hear it. I’m not letting you die over some stupid debt, Greg.” My voice rose as I became hysterical.

He stood and put his hands on my shoulders. “It’s okay. Please, don’t get upset.”

“Don’t get upset? You’re talking about letting some demon take your life.” I gasped for air. “I’ll kill him before I let him hurt you.”

“No, you won’t. The only way to see Draegan is if he wants to see you. I asked around and word is he is strong, and he’s surrounded by these other demons who work for him. You can’t get near him.” His shoulders sagged. “Trust me. This is the only way.”

“I refuse to believe that.”

He pushed me away, physically and emotionally. “Sara, this is my choice. I know it’s hard, but you have to accept it. If you can’t do that, then... maybe you should go.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Yes, I do. I knew it was a mistake to invite you to stay here, but I just wanted to spend time with someone I actually care about before I...” He cleared his throat. “I never should have told you about this. I just wanted to tell someone. It means a lot that you want to help me, but you can’t.”

I spun away from him and ran to the stairs. He didn’t try to stop me, not that he could have. Did he really think I would stand back while some demon murdered him?

“What’s wrong?” Roland asked when I ran into the apartment and went straight for my phone.

“Nothing. I just remembered something I have to talk to David about.”

“Are you sure? You look upset.”

“I’m fine.”

He looked at me for a long moment before he turned back to his movie. “Okay.”

I carried the phone into the bedroom I was sharing with Jordan and shut the door. David answered on the second ring.

“I didn’t expect to hear from you today. Is everything alright?”

I sucked in a trembling breath. “I’m not sure. What can you tell me about a demon in LA named Draegan?”

Chapter 7

“Whoa!” Roland stared up at the high-rise building with his mouth hanging open. He wasn’t the only one staring. The thirty-story glass and steel structure was pretty impressive, even if I thought it was totally impractical in a state with an active fault line running beneath it.

Jordan craned her neck. “Nice.”

The building’s glass doors slid open and the four of us entered the pink marble lobby together, then stopped and stared again. In each corner stood a tall, abstract sculpture and there were more security cameras than you’d find at a bank. Directly in front of us was a pair of elevators and to our left was a desk, behind which sat a burly security guard. He watched us suspiciously then asked us what our business was there. I told him we were there to see Draegan, and he didn’t even blink an eye.

“Damn, who lives like this?” Peter said when the elevator doors closed.

“Rich demons, I guess.” I hit the button for the top floor then faced the three of them. “You guys ready for this?”

Jordan smiled and opened her long coat to reveal the knives strapped to her thighs. Then she turned around and pulled up the back of the coat to show us the short sword in the harness on her back. “I was born ready for this.”