Page 55 of Infernal Secrets

His fingers flexed around my throat. “Yes, he does.”

“I doubt that.” I swallowed as his hold tightened.

Cyn loosened his grip, which let me know he had no intent to truly harm me. True to his word.

When I first saw Cyn and Zeke interact, I thought they seemed close, but replaying Cyn’s reactions whenever Zeke got close to me, I suspected there was more to their story than “brothers” like Zeke suggested. Too often, Cyn’s behavior toward Zeke edged past protectiveness into something more.

But if Zeke saw Cyn as his brother, did that mean…

I met Cyn’s eyes. “Does he know how you feel?”

“Watch it.”

Sighing, I let my head rest against the wall and closed my eyes. “I have no intention of meddling in whatever you two have going on. I just wanna live a normal life without demons everywhere I look.” I opened my eyes and studied the pinch between his brows.

Beneath the attitude, I saw the uncertainty in his expression. I didn’t know what landmine I stepped on, but if I wanted to help them get home while keeping my sanity intact and my head on my shoulders, I needed to tread carefully.

“I won’t say anything,” I whispered.

Ezra cleared his throat. “Are you two done? The food is cold.”

Cyn’s hand lowered from my throat, and I slipped past him to return to the table.

“Ash, can you help me get the food? We can reheat it in the microwave.”

“I’ll help,” Zeke said, moving to his knees.

“No, it’s okay.” I glanced over my shoulder at Cyn, who stood facing the wall, staring at his hand. “Go check on him,” I whispered, taking the food to the kitchen with Ash on my heels.

I didn’t have the time or mental spoons to unpack whatever internal dilemma Cyn struggled with, but what I could do was help them out of this situation.

While it hadn’t been my intention to bring them into my world, my actions resulted in their predicament. Maybe that’s why leaving them to fend for themselves bothered me.

“So, you know what most of this food is?” I asked Ash, trying to distract my mind while we waited for the microwave to finish the first plate.

“Yeah, we know of it. We have the same fruits and vegetables as Earth. A lot of processed foods too.” He pulled one plate from the microwave and slid another in. “We’ve brought over seeds and saplings to Elyrdin, so farms grow what we want. We have our own crops too.”

“What about meat?”

“We don’t have Earth animals, and we can’t bring living creatures to the infernal plane. Plants and seeds are another story. But we have similar animals. The guys told me what tastes close to what I know, but I’m only just finding out firsthand.”

I took a plate from him. “Why only now?”

“I’ve never been to Earth. But your eggs taste like gornak eggs.” He set the last plate in the microwave. “Gornaks look a lot like chickens, but with meatier legs, claws, and a spiked crest.”

“Do they have feathers?”

“Yeah.”

The more I learned about Elyrdin, the more I wondered what it looked like. What else remained the same between our worlds?

Once we had the food warm and spread over the coffee table, I took my seat again between Ash and Zeke, ready to face the situation with a clearer head.

“Okay. I wanna make one thing clear before we move forward, or this isn’t gonna happen.” They turned their attention to me. “This is my home. You will respect me. I get you’re not human and could probably snap me in half…”

My gaze slid to Cyn, but when he did nothing more than lift his soda for a drink, I continued.

“But I’m as much of a victim of circumstance as you are. I didn’t mean to bring you here. I was having a really bad day, and I wanted to let off steam. My friends and I played with Ouija boards and other silly games as teens, and nothing ever happened.” I shrugged.