“No,” Kris said, instant, instinctive. Multiple voices echoed his answer a heartbeat later.
“It’s a better idea than me staying.” Justin stared down at the kitchen table: smooth dark wood without answers. “I am a demon. We all know that. Everyone knows that now.”
“No,” Kris said again, holding his hand, feeling the ground start to slip away, imagining Justin’s hand already slipping away. “That’s not—that isn’t an answer, Justin, please.”
“What kind of a life am I going to have?” Justin turned to look at him, but the looking must’ve proved painful; those bonfire eyes drifted over Kris’s shoulder, then back down. “Who’d ever trust me not to drink souls or seduce humans? And if I stay here I’m dragging all of you into it. They’ll say Dad made a deal with my mother for academic tenure or so
