"Your name's Calypso, she who conceals. Tell us, what're you hiding?" He cast a scathing look to Ruman. "Or should the better question be who do you think you're trying to fool? Did you think hiding a demon in plain sight would work?"
In his fervor, he glared at everyone in the room. "You made your decisions. Let's hope you survive the night."
The door slammed behind him as he left. Caly sighed and turned to follow. He was in danger, a demon had fed from him recently. She needed to warn to him.
"Leave him."
Caly looked down at the hand on her arm. It didn't offer a restraint, she could easily shrug him off, but something in Ruman's tone alerted her to the fact that he knew the reason she wanted to confront Henry.
"He-"
"In his current state, he'd never trust a word you said." Unrepentantly, he dropped his hand and stepped away from her. "You have more important decisions to make." From the challenge issued in his eyes, Caly knew he meant both what happened between them upstairs as well as the future of the group.
With those ominous words, he, too, left the room, abandoning her.
He wanted her to tell the truth, spill her deepest fear and expose her past to the group. Part of her screamed that it was a mistake. If they left, she couldn't keep them safe. But she wasn't sure it was her decision anymore. With death hovering like a specter, it was time to drop the subterfuge. These people thought they knew the score. They deserved to know the truth.
Taking a deep breath, Caly tried to put in words her betrayal. To hope for understanding would be expecting too much. "Henry was partially right. I am not what I seem, nor is Ruman."
It took over an hour and a lot of coffee before she finished telling about Oscar's lessons, and admitted to the demon infection. But she couldn't bring herself to explain Ruman or how she felt about him. She wasn't sure she could put it in words and was terrified to examine her feeling too closely. She wasn't brave enough to face the truth if he didn't return the way she felt. They listened to every word, their expressions grave until she could no longer look any of them in the eye.
Hollowness opened up in her gut as she waited for their verdict. She felt exposed down to the bone, one blow would break her. She'd grown up with many of them. They knew her, but Ruman and her past put a whole new twist on things. They were trained that demons were evil. No matter how they looked at it, she was part demon.
When no one tried to lynch her, Caly cleared her throat. "Take the rest of the night and think things through. I'll take first watch on the ridge." The future of the group was in their hands. She needed to be alone to decide what to do about Ruman. If they demanded he leave, could she cut him out of her life?
"No need." Casper, one of the two team leaders and the only member of the group with military training, shook his head. "Oscar trusted you and knew the truth. He trained you harder than any of us." He stood and snatched the last pastry from the middle of the table, dodging Kelly's swatting hand. "Henry's main concern is Henry. You'd give your life for any one of us without a second thought. That's leadership material."
He signaled the men, and they left for rotation. Some nodded to her, others avoided her gaze, but none of them tried to knife her while her back was turned. Progress.
Casper grunted when the last left the room. "The rest of the team will come around once they think the matter over. Where else would they go?" With a brisk nod, he left, too.
The stark question didn't make her feel any better but, considering what she dumped on them, everything went smoother than she could've hoped. She was still alive.
"What's your plan?" David's words jerked her attention back to her friends.
The understanding in his eyes had tears catch at the back of her throat. "We need someone to follow Henry. Whomever he's been in contact with is not human. From the look of him, I'd say they're using him for information and will soon dispose of him."
Kelly swore. "I've seen him with a woman in town more than once. Every time I've tried to catch up with them, they've disappeared. I believe he's staying with her."
"A succubus?" The interest in David's voice earned him a smack on the back of his head from Kelly.
"Don't you be thinking those thoughts. You can't handle a human woman, let alone one of those creatures."
A sheepish smile crossed his face. "Purely professional. I was just curious what one looked like, that's all."
Kelly pursed her lips and crossed her arms.
David caved, reaching for her. "Ah, honey. It's not like that."
Everything was so normal, Caly blinked. That was it? No protests? No threats? As the other two continued their spat, Jarred nudged Caly. "I found something in the tests you might find interesting."
Caly tensed, but she could detect nothing but curiosity and concern in his gaze. She looked at her three friends when understanding hit. "You knew, didn't you?"
Kelly and David quieted. David spoke for them. "We've suspected. It made sense. How you fought. How Oscar trained you harder. We figured you'd tell us when you were ready."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Heat burned her cheeks; her hands were so cold they felt brittle.
"You would've told us if you wanted us to know. We figured you were trying to protect us."
A lump of tears gathered at the back of her throat for the second time that day. A deep shudder went through her as all the baggage she'd been dragging around for years finally dropped away at their easy acceptance. If these people could accept her, could she finally accept herself?
She touched the darkness that hovered inside, but couldn't force herself to pierce the veil to find out what hid there, too afraid she couldn't live with herself if she didn't like what she found. She had to stay focused on the mission to save her friends. She'd lived with it for years. She could survive a few more days.
Jarred had information about the blood samples. "What did you find?"
"The anomaly in your blood isn't permanent. The chemical that thrives in your bloodstream dies once it's outside your body."
"Any clues as to what it is?" Caly avoided his too perceptive gaze and opened the drawer to search for a suitable sheath. She suspected her infection and the blade had bonded. The connection forged her body into someone strong enough to wield the blade.
"Like nothing I've ever seen. If I didn't know better, I would guess a liquid metal of some sort." Then he snorted. "But, of course, any metal in that quantity would kill us."
"Of course." Caly mumbled, not daring to look at him. The way her body reacted to the slight scent of demon on Henry left her little doubt. It made her question why she didn't get the same reaction around Ruman.
Or had she?
She'd all but attacked him when she woke. Instead of killing him, she'd jumped him like some love-starved teen. Heat bloomed in her face and her ears burned remembering the way she all but stripped him naked and forced herself on him.
Her attraction to the buffoon had intensified as if the newly enhanced demon part of her was programmed to lust after the jerk. The only explanation was that the bond must have amplified her emotions.
She was sure it was all Ruman's fault somehow.
The phone rang, and she snatched up the receiver, desperate for a distraction.
"I'm in trouble." It was Henry.
"Where are you?" Caly grabbed a pencil then pushed Kelly away when she tried to listen in on the call.
"West Fiftieth Street. Near the bridge." Static broke the connection.
"Henry?" Caly straightened, and her grip on the pencil snapped it in two. "Stay on the line. What's happening?"
The phone clattered on pavement. The sound of fighting filled the background. A short scream, quickly cut off, echoed in her ears.
"Henry?!"
"Don't come. It's a trap." The words were yelled in the background then the connection died. She looked at the phone as if it was at fault.
"What is it?" Jarred carefully took the receiver out of her hands and hung it up.
"It was Henry. I think he's dead." The address where he'd disappeared stared up at her.
Kelly slapped her hand over the pad. "Don't even think about it. I might not have heard everything, but I clearly heard him say it was a trap."
Resolve filled her, gave her a focus. Caly looked up, her gaze unerringly found Ruman as he entered the room. He studied her closely, his expression giving away none of his thoughts.
"If there is a chance he's alive, we can't leave him."
"Hell yes, we can. The man is a rat. Capital R.A.T." Kelly leaned back into the comfort of David's arms. "For all we know, he could be behind the whole thing."
Caly stared at Kelly, unblinking. "I know ."
"But-"
"I'm not asking you to come-"
"The hell you say!" Kelly's shout rang her ears, and David nodded.