Despite the twinge in my knee, I managed to walk to the door without a limp or a grimace. In truth, I was feeling a ton better than I had when he’d helped me back to the house. But I’d feel even better once I knew what the hell was keeping Giguhl and got the lowdown from Rhea on my father’s tests for the next evening.
The demons weren’t in the courtyard. Adam had no idea I was looking for them instead of Rhea, so he strode right through the area and made a beeline for the villa. I limped behind him, figuring the demons might have taken their discussion inside.
We made it to the second floor and were halfway down the hall toward Rhea’s room when a grunting noise reached me from inside a door. I paused and listened. A moan joined the groaning. Either someone was injured or there was some serious sexing going on in there. I pursed my lips and considered my options.
As I stood there undecided, Adam turned back with a frown on his face. “What are you doing?” he whispered.
I shushed him. “Something’s going on in there.”
Adam tilted his head and listened. A high-pitched squeal cut through the door. We jerked back and exchanged shocked looks.
“C’mon,” I said.
Adam grabbed my arm. “What? You can’t just barge in there.”
Time to come clean with my suspicions. “What if it’s Giguhl and Valva? Adam, he could be making a huge mistake. We have to stop him.”
He sighed the sigh of the martyred. “Seriously, Red? You don’t even know if that’s Valva’s room. Besides, I don’t know about you, but I’m not real eager to witness those two making the beast with four horns.”
I chewed on my lip, undecided. “Adam, we can’t risk Tristan finding out. You saw how protective he is of her. If he sees Giguhl nailing her, he’s going to freak and we might lose any chance of him helping out.”
He sighed. “All right, but I’m keeping my eyes closed.” He reached past me and pushed the door open slowly. It was dark outside, but the inside of the room was deep midnight. Only a slim stream of light peeked from the cracked door across the room.
More groaning and the sound of squeaking springs assaulted my ears. Adam nudged me from behind, his hand on my shoulder. I glanced back and true to his claim, he had his eyes clamped shut. What a baby.
I crept in farther. “Giguhl,” I whispered.
The only response was male grunting on the other side of the door.
Adam nudged me. “Even I could barely hear that. If you’re gonna do it, put some volume on it so we can get out of here.”
I swatted him away and stood straighter. “Yo, Giguhl!”
The sex sounds cut off. Panicked scrambling. A whispered argument.
“Guys, we know you’re in here,” Adam called. “Might as well come out.”
I crossed my arms and prepared to deliver a lecture to the demons. Except the body that ran by the cracked door wasn’t green or gold. It was flesh colored. I also thought I caught a flash of red hair.
My stomach dropped with embarrassment. “Oh.” I breathed. “Sorry, we thought—”
The door flew open a foot or so and a head emerged. This one had no horns and the hair was black. A second later, I recognized my father’s enraged countenance.
“Oh shit!” Adam yelped.
Nyx’s face appeared over Tristan’s bare shoulder. When she saw Adam and me standing there with our mouths open, her cheeks flamed red. “Sabina!”
Tristan’s initial surprise quickly morphed into outrage. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“I… I… I—”
“We’re so sorry,” Adam said smoothly. “We thought you were someone else.” Then he put his hands on my shoulders, pivoted my body, and pushed me out the door.
I stumbled over the threshold and into the hall. “Keep walking,” Adam warned, pulling me along now.
He guided us down the stairs, through the villa, and into the courtyard. He didn’t stop until we were in the olive grove behind the bungalow. A small sitting area had been set up around a fire pit. He pushed me onto one of the benches.
While I sat in shock, Adam busied himself lighting the fire.
“Adam?” I said finally.
He looked over his shoulder from his kneeling position. “Yeah?”
“You know how some things can’t be unseen?”
His lip twitched. “Yeah.”
“Was my father really naked?”
“I’m afraid so.”
I shuddered and scrubbed my hands over my face. “Jesus. It’s bad enough to have to witness that, but with Nyx? Am I the only one who finds it weird he’s with a vampire?”
“Yeah, why would a mage be into a hot vampire chick?” He cocked an ironic brow at me.
“That’s different. You aren’t with me because of some unresolved psychosis from a past love affair that may or may not have been orchestrated by a psychotic human. Face it, Tristan has issues.”
“The same could be said for the fact you’re with me.” He leaned toward me and whispered, “Daddy issues.”
I tilted my head and shot him a look. “I do not have daddy issues!”
“Riiight.” He rose and brushed his hands on his jeans. Behind him, the fire roared to life.
“Because that guy isn’t really my father. He was a sperm donor. That’s it.”
“So the fact that he was alive all this time and didn’t try to find you doesn’t play into this at all?”
I crossed my arms. “Absolutely not. It’s just that… he’s… he’s being unfaithful to my mother’s memory.”
Adam’s mouth fell open and a sharp laugh escaped. “Oh please. Sabina, your mother died almost fifty-five years ago. Surely you don’t expect a male to be celibate for five decades. Especially after he found out about Cain’s love spell.”
“Um, hello, she didn’t just die. She died giving birth to the kids he knocked her up with. Then he just disappeared.” I shook my head. “It’s not right and I’m not buying the whole ‘males have needs’ line of bullshit.”
Just then, the crunch of approaching footsteps reached me. I sat up straighter and looked toward the noise. I groaned audibly when I saw Nyx approaching.
“Awkward,” Adam said under his breath. He must have also realized Nyx had been close enough to hear our conversation.
I blew out a breath. “Hey, Nyx.”
She walked up with a solemn expression. A few tense seconds passed as we each tried to think of things to say. She rubbed her arms against the chill. “Sabina, may I speak with you privately?”