Free Lost Girl: Hidden Book One by Colleen Vanderlinden Page B

irritation rolling off of him.
    “Yeah, but now
everybody
knows it,” Brennan said, still laughing.
    “I need answers, Nain. Now,” I said, standing up and walking over to him. “And I need them before I Hulk-smash you.”
    “Yeah? Try it, Molls,” he said. His entire posture changed, ready to take me on.
    “You knew that was going to happen,” I said, feeling my anger spike. I felt raw, ripped open.
    “I had a feeling,” he admitted.
    “And you didn’t think to share that little tidbit with me?” I shouted.
    “I wasn’t sure. What the hell was I supposed to say? ‘Hey, Molls, those little imps might decide to serve you, so be ready to have an imp army at your disposal’?”
    “You could have said something. Could have warned me that this was even a possibility  What the fuck am I supposed to do with them?” I shouted, gesturing up toward the roof.
    “Why do I have to give you all the answers? You’re smart. Figure it out,” he said, snarl in his voice.
    And that did it. We started yelling at each other then, and I called him several choice names, and he kept drilling home how weak I was for someone so strong, and the more we shouted and argued, the higher our powers spiked, until it felt like the air around us was going to explode with it.
    “I never even fucking wanted this,” I shouted, and he was about to respond when Ada cut in.
    “Hey, angry demons!”
    We both looked at her.
    “One: do you feel the building shaking? You want to bring down a few tons of rubble on us, because that’s what you’re about to do if you don’t calm the hell down.”
    I forced my power down a little, felt Nain’s draw down a bit as well.
    “Second: both of you are doing that freaky-ass demonic glowing eyes thing, and it’s gonna give me nightmares. Knock it off.”
    “My eyes are not….” I began, then I looked at Nain. His eyes glowed, orangey-red. “Oh, that is creepy,” I murmured.
    “Actually, I think it’s kind of a hot look on you,” Brennan said to me. “Nain, not so much.”
    I shook my head, felt the last of my power slither away from me. The next time I glanced at Nain, his eyes were normal, but still burning holes through me.
    Ada laughed. “Thank you for not destroying our humble abode,” she said. Then she looked at Nain. “Honey, it’s been decades since I’ve seen your eyes do that.”
    He glanced over at her. “It’s been decades since I’ve dealt with anyone as infuriating as her,” he said jerking his head toward me.
    “You know what I think? I think you two should go somewhere, preferably an open area, maybe that empty lot across the street? And you should talk about this.” Ada said. “Try not to level the neighborhood.”
    Nain walked out, and I followed. He stalked across the deserted street, and sat on what was left of the brick wall that used to surround the lot. I sat next to him. I could still feel irritation rolling off of him.
    “I need answers. You’re the only one who can give them to me. You know that,” I said quietly. “I don’t want to fight with you right now.”
    “Liar.”
    I shook my head. “All right. I do want to fight with you. But I need answers more than I need to fight.”
    “Fine.”
    “Can I trust them? If I have them help me, won’t they just run back to their old master and tell him what we’re doing?”
    Nain shook his head. “They can’t. Once they give their allegiance to a new master, they serve them, completely. It’s not possible for them to double-cross you.”
    “Why not?”
    “It’s just not how they work. You’ve read fairy tales about beings that can’t tell a lie if you catch them during the full moon, or give them something, or shit like that, right?”
    I nodded.
    “Okay. This is the real-life inspiration for stories like that. They can’t lie, now that they’ve sworn to serve you. The moment they bent knee to you, they gave up the ability to serve any other.”
    “Until someone stronger comes along,” I