Haunted by Shadows (Demons of New Chicago #2) - Kel Carpenter Page 0,2

ear right as Ronan gave me a look. I didn’t bother giving either of them a response.

The riverboat was upscale. Only half a dozen two-top tables were seated on the deck. Twinkling lights ran along the edge of the overhang. A waiter was already standing at one of the tables, a neutral expression set in place. She was a few inches shorter than me, but she had pointed ears. Half-fae, if I had to guess. Explains how she managed to land a job at a place like this.

Ronan and I sat across from each other with only a two-foot table between us.

I squared my shoulders as she placed the menus on the table and then poured each of us a glass of water. The wind whipped over the lake, batting against the thick siding around the deck that was designed to keep the worst of the cold away.

“Welcome, Mr. Fallon,” she began. The rest of her speech was lost on me.

My eyes narrowed on Ronan, who was now smirking widely. As if sensing my rising ire, he lifted a hand and said, “Thank you, but we’ll need a moment to look over the menu.”

She bowed her head graciously and moved to give us space.

“You took my last name,” I said. Both my hands were clenched into fists on top of the table in an effort to not reach for my guns.

“I didn’t have one,” he said with a shrug. “Where I come from, we’re known as the son or daughter of our parents. That’s not the way of your world, though, so I adjusted.”

“How gracious of you.”

“I thought so.”

My fingers twitched, and it was like he knew what I wanted to do, even if I was stopping myself. “If I thought I could shoot you enough times to keep you down, I would.”

He inclined his head, not at all bothered by my death threat. “But then you’d never find Bree, assuming it worked—which it wouldn’t.”

“Unfortunately.”

The server chose that moment to reappear. “Have you had a chance to look over the—”

“I’ll have whatever is most expensive on the menu,” I said. “Since Mr. Fallon here is paying.”

The waitress opened, then closed her mouth. Ronan simply continued to smile. I wondered if he knew it was pissing me off.

“Make that two,” he said, “And a bottle of your best red.”

She nodded once and went to place our order, leaving us.

I squared my shoulders like we were at a showdown and not dinner.

Considering he was holding my sister hostage to get me there, it wasn’t far off.

It was why I didn’t expect his next statement.

“Tell me about your life.” He demanded it. Expected it. It wasn’t a question at all.

“If you already know everything, I don’t see the point.”

“I know pieces of it. Things that I’ve gathered and then filled in the blanks. I want to hear it from you. I want to know you.”

“You want to own me,” I corrected. “I don’t understand the point in getting to know me.” He chuckled.

“They’re one and the same in this case. You showed me that. The only way I’ll have you is if you choose it. So indulge me. I want to know everything.” He settled back with one arm sitting loosely on the table and the other on his lap. Three inches to the right of my left hand was a silver knife. I could put it through his hand if I wanted. Wouldn’t kill him, but it would hurt like a bitch. Maybe test that dedication he claimed to have.

The only problem—if it wasn’t as strong as he claimed, then I’d be fucked. Again.

“Everything is a tall order,” I mused, instead reaching for my glass of water. I took a sip, the crisp cold hitting my throat and grounding me.

“Then start at the beginning. What’s your earliest memory?”

I stiffened. Ronan lifted a brow.

While I could push it down and be obstinate in this, there wasn’t much point. He already knew, to an extent.

“The day we learned magic existed.”

“‘We’ being the humans?”

“Yes,” I said softly. He looked like he wanted to say something about it but didn’t. “I was sitting next to my sister on the floor in our living room, playing with Barbies. We were watching cartoons when the tv started blaring. My parents ran into the living room right as the sound cut out and the screen changed. The forty-three seconds that played after that changed the world.”

I didn’t tell him what I’d seen. If he looked through my past, he