Demon’s Embrace(18)

“Why don’t you go have a shower, beautiful,” Alex said with a wink. “I’ll meet you in bed in a few minutes.”

She smiled, already suspecting that he wanted a few moments with Ronan to make sure he was okay with all of this. Even though it had essentially been Ronan’s idea, it seemed Alex didn’t want to risk their relationship with any misunderstandings.

Kali stepped into the shower, sighing as the hot water caressed her skin. She tried really hard not to dream of all the things she wanted in her future. It didn’t work.





* * * *





Ronan eyed his friend warily. He and Alex had known each other for a long time, yet right at this moment he had no idea what the fire demon was thinking.

“Are you going to be all right with this?”

“Of course,” Ronan said, feeling a little bit confused.

“So I don’t need to disable the weapons you own that could hurt me,” Alex said with his usual grin.

“No,” Ronan said with a quick laugh. “Well, not unless you plan on hurting Kali. Then you might want to run.”

“I have no plans to hurt her, but you already know that.” Alex tilted his head slightly to the side and looked at Ronan as if he were considering whether to say something else or not.

“Spit it out, Alex. You’ve known me long enough to know I don’t need sugar coating.”

“I was just wondering if you realize you’re the only human in this relationship.” Ronan ground his teeth together and nodded. He wasn’t sure Kali even realized she could do it, but seeing her coffee cup move by itself to slide into her hand several times over the last couple days certainly seemed to be a skill typical to some paranormals. He wasn’t aware of any humans who actually had telekinetic abilities. There were a lot of con artists and illusionists, but none had proven genuine telekinetic ability.

“You think she’s the Oracle’s receptacle?” Ronan asked quietly.

“Not really,” Alex answered slowly, managing to confuse Ronan even more. “The Oracles only possess knowledge. I’m not sure where Kali’s skill is coming from.” He glanced at the bathroom door and lowered his voice even more. “But it certainly isn’t a skill I would associate with a full-blood human.”

“Are you saying paranormals and humans can interbreed?”

“Some species, yes.”

“Fire demons?”

“Not sure,” Alex answered with a shrug. “I don’t know any other fire demons who’ve taken a human as their mate.”

It was finally beginning to dawn on Ronan that they hadn’t used condoms. Could Kali be conceiving a child even now? Unexpectedly, the thought filled him with a type of joy, an excitement he couldn’t quite explain, rather than the dread he would have felt had it been someone else.

He glanced up to see Kali watching them from the bedroom door.

“Kali,” he said with grim determination to ’fess up, “I’m sorry, baby.”

“What for?” she asked, looking really worried. He felt like a complete jackass. They were supposed to be protecting her, and instead he’d managed to put her at risk of an unplanned pregnancy.

“We didn’t use contraception,” Alex said, looking as concerned by Kali’s reaction as Ronan felt.

Kali smiled with obvious relief. “It’s okay. I have an IUD, so you don’t need to worry about babies or—what do you call baby demons?” She shook her head and continued without waiting for an answer. “I…was actually…um…” She took a deep breath and frowned at them both. “You don’t think I’m human?”

“We don’t know anything for sure, but the fact that you can move things using telekinesis would suggest something is different.”

“I can do what?”

Alex smiled, lifted a coffee cup from the sink, and placed it in the middle of the table. “Just reach for the cup.”

Kali looked skeptical, but she leaned over to grab the cup, jumping back in surprise when it slid toward her hand.

“I don’t understand,” she said, shaking her head, obviously not believing her own eyes. She closed them for a moment, rubbed her forehead, and whispered, “I’m pretty sure I’ve never been able to do that before. Shit! You know how I said before that I just sort of know things. I feel like I should know where this skill comes from, but…” She made that funny face again that Ronan was beginning to realize was her version of frustration. “It’s kind of like having a book with no index. I think the information is in there. I just can’t find it.”