“Stay close to me.”

The demon’s voice was low against Elias’s ear as they stepped through the gymnasium doors. Music hit them first—some slow, syrupy song from a decade ago. Then the lights, the streamers, the sudden hush that rippled outward like someone had dropped a stone into still water.

Elias felt every eye.

The demon’s hand settled at the small of his back, fingers spread wide, possessive and warm through the thin fabric of his shirt. It guided him forward with lazy confidence, body angled just enough to claim space. In the borrowed human shape it looked devastating—tall, sharp-featured, black shirt open at the throat, eyes that still carried...