A Darker Past (Entangled Teen) (The Darker Agency) by Jus Accardo Page B

chocolate wasn’t helping. I kept thinking about what Dad said about Lukas becoming a demon. The fact that he hadn’t come clean bothered me. Leaving it alone was probably the smart thing to do, and that’s what I’d planned, but I should have known that would never stick. “I need to ask you a question.”
    “Okay…”
    “How come you didn’t tell me about the demon thing?”
    He took a deep breath and was quiet for a moment, letting his head dip low. When he lifted his chin and his eyes met mine, there was a spark of darkness there. More than annoyance, but slightly less than anger. “Damien told you.”
    “You didn’t think we should know about that? That I should know?” What I really wanted was for him to tell me Dad forbade him to come clean. I’d been annoyed when Dad first told me, but thinking about it more and more, I was pissed, and just a little bit hurt. I didn’t have any illusions that relationships were all honesty and rose petals scattered in a path across the floor, and since the night we’d put the Sins back in the box, we hadn’t really talked about the actual definition of ours, relationship or not. Lukas was working at the agency. With me and Mom. The fact that he was a potential ticking time bomb should have come up.
    “It’s not as though I was keeping it from you.” His voice rose and he stood. The book in his lap slid to the floor as his eyes met mine with the spark of challenge.
    If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was trying to intimidate me. The annoyance faded, giving way to ire. I squared my shoulders. “In this century, not telling someone something important is the definition of keeping secrets from them.”
    “That’s just it,” he snapped. “This isn’t important. It doesn’t change anything.”
    “Sure it does.” I snorted. “According to Dad, you’re one big emotional time bomb.”
    “I have it mostly under control.” Arms rigid at his sides, he curled his fists tight, to the point he was trembling.
    “Mostly?” I hopped off the desk and folded my arms. He was getting angrier and angrier, and a small voice in the back of my head said not to push the issue, but I couldn’t help it. Pushing him was the perfect way to prove my point. “So you were totally in control at Kendra’s when you decided to blindly charge an unknown demon? Or earlier when you wanted to rip my clothes off?” I cleared my throat. “Both times?”
    “Rip your—I never—” He balked, and for just a second, paled. But it didn’t last. His expression turned stormy, and his jaw tightened. He came around the desk to stand in front of me and slammed his hand down on top of a stack of papers. “I was locked in a box for a hundred and thirty-one years. I was stabbed and killed and brought back to life. Now I’m becoming a demon. I think I’m allowed a little adjustment. I don’t have to report my every move to you, Jessie.”
    His tone kind of hurt. He was right, of course. The last thing I wanted to do was stifle him. But I couldn’t help feeling like we were at a turning point. That his withholding the information meant something substantial. “I agree. All I’m saying is that you should have told me about this.”
    He came a little closer. “And what would it have changed?” His voice was sharp and his expression one of fury. All he was missing was the flash of red in his eyes and the ensuing chaos that followed, and it would be Wrath all over again. “The way you look at me? How you feel?”
    “Well, that’s just the stupidest statement ever,” I yelled. I planted my hands on the desk, leaning over to meet him. He was half past losing it, but somehow I just didn’t care. Maybe it was all my years facing down bigger and badder things, or maybe it was the demon side of me, rearing its fearless and infinitely stubborn head. “My dad’s a demon. I’m half demon. My damn dog is a demon.”
    He backed away, blinking several times. Some of the tension drained from his