Ian is sulking.

He's barely said a word to me all morning. Not since I told him what I'd done to him last night and why. Afterward, he'd threatened to leave me by the side of the road.

I know he didn't mean it.

Well, actually, maybe he did mean it; but that doesn't matter now.

He can't leave me behind any more than his truck can drive off without its engine.

What matters now is that I'm sitting across from him in a crappy little diner in some nowhere town, happily enjoying a passable breakfast of toast and eggs, while he works his way through a massive plate of pancakes, sausages, and bacon.

What matters now is that I'm free of Karin's grasp.

Of course, now I'm bound in a whole new way to a man who can turn into a bear.

But whatever.

I'll take bear-man any day.

He's kind of sweet, actually, and I find myself wanting him to like me. We might just make a good team—if he doesn't eat himself to death first, that is.

"So...you didn't, like, eat a rabbit, or some berries earlier?" I ask, squinting at him.

He glares at me over his plate, a bit of jam stuck in the short red hairs near his mouth. Without thinking, I reach over and snag it, and he jerks away from my touch.

"Ouch," I say, sucking the jam from my finger. "It wasn't that bad, was it?"

"I don't know," he says angrily. "I don't remember it."

I wave my hand at him. "Sure you do. The important bits anyway." When his expression doesn't lighten at all, I fidget in my seat.

Turns out I don't like being on the wrong side of his mood. It might be an effect of the bond, or it might not. It's hard to tell this soon.

"You're mad," I state, pouting a little.

He sighs, wipes his mouth on his napkin, and leans back in his chair.

"Yeah, I'm mad," he agrees. "But I don't even understand what I'm mad about. I mean, 'Demonic pact?' 'Human-demon hybrid?'" He shakes his head. "Maybe you've noticed, but I'm kind of a basic guy. I don't have a lot of book-learning and, I don't know—maybe I haven't been hitting the right clubs or something—but I don't know what the fuck that means."

I take a sip of weak, tepid coffee. It's not so bad when it's hot, but once it cools off it sucks ass, and I need a refill. "So...What do you want to know?"

"Like...is Sam even your real name?" he asks, massaging his forehead. "It seems a little mundane for a demon—no offense."

"Human-demon hybrid," I remind him. "And yeah, it's my real name."

He blows out a breath and runs his hands through his hair. "So, how does that even work? Did your mom have the tail, or your dad?"

I roll my eyes at him. "Neither."

Then I sigh. The memories aren't really mine anymore, but they still hurt. I don't like to dredge them up if I can avoid it, but it seems like if I want Ian on my side, there's no avoiding it right now.

"My human side was born as Sam Asato," I begin. "My parents met in Japan when my mom was over there teaching English. They fell in love, and my dad took her on this big tour of all these temples and shrines and things. By the end of it, she was pregnant. They got married and moved back here. He split when I was about six—right when my problems started to get bad."

I pause for another sip of what passes for coffee in this place and glance around for the waitress, but it seems like she's gone into hiding or something. Ian waits, his own food seemingly forgotten.

"What kind of problems?" he prompts when I don't go on.

I take a deep breath, reminding myself that I'm not Sam Asato anymore.

"I got possessed," I say at last. "A lot. I don't know if it had something to do with being conceived someplace my parents shouldn't have been fooling around, or if I'm just a fluke, but it seemed like every stray spirit that wandered past took me for a ride. Some didn't even mean to. Some were just curious. Some were...bad."

I stop and shut my eyes, trying not to remember too much.

"My mom tried everything—brought me to every kind of exorcist from Shinto priests to rabbis, but nothing worked. The older I got, the worse the problem became until finally...she couldn't take it anymore."

My voice has gone kind of flat, and I continue the story like I'm talking about someone else, which—I remind myself—I am.

"One day she just...locked me in the basement and left me there. She brought me food and stuff, of course, but she wouldn't talk to me. She said she never knew who she was talking to anymore. Then, somehow or other, Karin found out about me and offered her some money to take me off her hands."

I laugh tonelessly, and I can't meet Ian's eyes.

"I think she would have let him take me for free at that point, but if Karin knows anything it's that a deal's a deal."

Ian's brows are so closely drawn they almost meet over his eyes.

"This Karin dude—who is he?" he asks, a gruff note in his voice that reminds me of a bear.

"He's a necromancer and a demonologist," I scoff. "Or he thinks he is. He's been studying that shit for years, trying to summon spirits and demons to 'do his bidding.' The problem is, he sucks at it. I was his ticket—someone who got possessed as easy as breathing. He figured he could summon whatever he wanted and it would possess me, and then he could make it serve him. Only the first time he tried it, he fucked up big time."

I pause again, looking out the window next to our table at the magenta bougainvillea blooming outside; like maybe it's beauty can help me tell my ugly truth.

"He summoned Samasa," I say. "He thought the similarity in our names—Sam Asato and Samasa—would help the demon bond with the vessel more fully. It did, too— just a little too well. Sam Asato and Samasa bonded so completely they become a single entity. Me. Sam. I have the memories of both, but I'm not really either. I'm something new."

I look up and find Ian watching me with his mouth slightly open.

"Uh...so what are you, exactly?" he asks.

I shrug. "Samasa was an incubus. Or a succubus. Whatever the, um...the 'other party' preferred." The meal seems a little thoughtless, considering. "I retain those traits—sort of," I add.

"Sort of?" he says, raising a brow. I can't help the little smirk that curls the corner of my mouth.

"Well, I don't need sexual energy to survive. But I can make people feel good when I touch them. Real good. Better than drugs, as Karin discovered."

Ian's face twists with disgust, and I rush on, not wanting to dwell. "More than that, I have like, 'demon sight,' or something. I can see other spirits—human or inhuman—and read the energy around people. Does that make sense?"

To my surprise, he nods. "I've got...a friend...who can do something similar. He's got second sight, anyway."

"Oh."

The way he says 'friend,' makes me think there's more to that story, and I feel a weird sensation in my chest. It's a little seed of jealousy, I realize, and it makes me smile. The bonding took hold, after all.

"Well," I shrug, swirling my cold coffee. Where was the waitress, anyway? "Karin might've fucked up his original plan for me, but he found...other uses. Like, finding him spirits and demons, and identifying people with Gifts he could exploit. He became a pretty good necromancer after that. Captured a bunch of low-level entities to do his dirty work. You know—" I smirk, "killing people, hunting things."

Ian gives me a blank look.

"So, why'd you have to...do what you did last night?" he asks.

"Because I'm still subject to the rules of the demonic bond—the pact, the deal. For an incubus, that's sex. I made you an offer last night, and when you spoke my name, you accepted. I belong to you now—willingly—until the deal's completed. Which is way more than enough to override the shitty claim Karin had." I laugh.

"So...we didn't actually...?" he asks, looking like he's sitting on hot nails.

"No, we just fooled around a bit," I assure him with a smile. "You said you weren't interested in me, right? So I figure I'm safe with you. We've got a deal, and that makes me yours until the deal's done. And until then, I'm out of Karin's reach. Just get me to Alaska, and I'll take it from there."

He runs his hands through his hair again—a habitual gesture, it seems—and slumps in his seat.

"Look, Sam, I wanna help you. But...I'm not the guy you want. I'm not good for you. Can't you, like, cancel the deal or something?"

I frown at him. "No, not unless we finish it. We can, if that's what you want. But..." I bite my lip and look up at him. "I feel safe with you, Ian. Won't you take me to Alaska? Please?"

He sighs. "Okay, but...Can't Karin just send his other demons after you? I mean, I'm pretty tough as a bear, but I've never gone up against a demon before."

I frown, considering. I'd planned for Karin to send his hounds—Pax and Roman—after me, but I hadn't thought about something less corporeal.

"Oh yeah..." I say, looking up as the waitress comes around at last, a blank expression on her face and an empty coffee-pot in hand. "I hadn't thought of that."