Free Drowning In The Dark: #4 The Veil Series by Pippa DaCosta

the desire I felt for him tingled in places.
    I turned my head away. “Thanks for getting me out of there.”
    He strode closer. “Be careful, Muse. To stop Val, I need you.”
    Right. I blinked. Because he wouldn’t need me for anything else? I nodded, not trusting my voice. Was that all he had returned for? Was he using me? No, Stefan wasn’t Akil. He didn’t manipulate with every breath. He’d lied, but only to protect me. But, Stefan had said it himself. He was more demon now than human. What if he’d only come back to get what he wanted, by any means necessary, and part of that plan was messing with me? He’d once believed I’d plotted against him. Did he still? I met his level gaze and wondered what his demon was telling him as he looked down at me. Was I a tool? A means to an end? Was there revenge on his mind? The Prince of Wrath had a purpose now. His demon would have what he wanted.
    He must have read something of my concern in my expression. “Are we okay?”
    “Sure. I’m just…tired.”
    He seemed satisfied I would live, gave Jerry his thanks, and left. I squandered the rest of the day virtually comatose on Jerry’s couch in between bouts of heaving. Jerry hung around to make sure I didn’t choke on my own vomit. He asked me if the rumors about Akil’s disappearance were true. I told him the same as I had Stefan. I liked Jerry. He’d helped me out of some tight spots. But I didn’t trust him. There wasn’t anyone left in my life I could trust. Not even myself.
    “I wanted to ask you about P-C-Thirty-Four.” It was near dusk, and I’d spent enough time lounging around. I’d tried to leave twice already, but Jerry wasn’t having any of it. Now though, I shrugged my jacket back on, making it clear I was leaving, no matter what he said.
    “Do you want some?”
    “What? No.” I zipped up my jacket. “Wait, you have some?”
    “Sure.” He strode across the room and opened up a Seventies style cabinet to reveal an array of vials and a box of jet injectors. I couldn’t miss the entwined scorpion motif of the Institute.
    He shrugged a massive shoulder, muscles rippling. “When the Institute went down, Thirty-Four turned up on the demon black-market. Most of the militia use it if they can get close enough to demons to use the injectors.”
    “The militia?” I’d heard rumors of people taking matters into their own hands, and I couldn’t say I blamed them given the Institute’s ineptitude.
    “The public who think they know better than the Institute.”
    “What do you use it for?” Just the fact the drug had been in the same room as me gave me the chills.
    “I’m running tests, mostly. It’s potent stuff. It’ll drop a lesser demon in seconds. You already know what it does to half bloods.” He straightened and gave me an all-over assessment. “Speaking of which, I wanted to ask you about that.”
    “Sure, hit me with it. It’s the least I can do after you keep patching me up.”
    “What happens to your human body when your demon takes over?”
    “In this realm, she envelopes me, clothes and all. In the netherworld, we sorta combine, blur…” I didn’t really understand it. I wasn’t sure anyone did. Maybe Adam knew all the details, but he wasn’t about to share that sort of information with me.
    “When she rides you on this side of the veil, she’s obviously still an integral part of who you are. Inside and out?”
    “Yeah.” Whether she was me or I was her? Well, that was for a well-paid psychiatrist to figure out.
    He nodded and pulled at his earlobe. “Have you ever used drugs? Alcohol?”
    “Why?” I’d gone off the rails and tried pretty much anything and everything at one time. Akil hadn’t exactly been the best of role models, and I’d had what some might call a troubled upbringing. As for the alcohol…that was an ongoing problem.
    “What I’m getting at is: can you become inebriated in demon form? Do drugs work on your demon?”
    What a terrifying