He cleared his throat and tried to find his voice. “Hi, Elise.” He shouldn’t stare at her legs, either. Really.
She sat down at the reception desk, dragging a squat filing cabinet to her side. “What are you doing here? Did you feel like taking up ballet all of a sudden?”
“No,” he said. “I’m picking up Betty.”
“The coven’s not done for another half hour.”
“I guess I lost track of the time.”
The corner of Elise’s mouth twitched. “That’s fine. You can hang out with me while we wait for the witches to finish. They’re boring when they’re meditating.”
“Awesome,” Anthony said, and he tried not to sound too enthusiastic about it. He took the second chair and moved over.
The door between the entryway and the dance hall was open and James’s voice echoed through the studio. “How did that meditation make you feel? Ann?”
“I felt in tune with the Earth,” she responded. “It was relaxing. Finals have been crazy.”
Others made assenting noises. Elise made a face at Anthony, and he grinned.
“You feel like working? There’s a lot of paperwork to go through,” she said. “I need to find where James stashed last year’s registrations that came through the workforce education program. They have to be here. He’s organized, but in the most obscure way possible.”
“I would love to help,” he said, and Elise turned the filing cabinet to face him.
Anthony absorbed himself in his search, trying to forget how tedious he found paperwork. She focused on her laptop, fingers ticking away at the keyboard, and Anthony shuffled through the folders. Elise’s bare legs occupied the corner of his vision.
The seconds dragged. She hadn’t been joking about James’s bizarre methods of organization—everything was neatly tagged and labeled, but with indecipherable codes. He had no idea what “G-3B” had to do with receipts for cleaning supplies, or why the thick folder full of yellow-tabbed sheet music was marked “T6” (or why it was between the receipts and what looked like coven inventory lists), but it meant that Anthony had to read everything to figure out what it was.
He distracted himself from his chore by scooting his chair back enough to peek through the door to the next room. An assortment of women and men rested comfortably on cushions around a small altar. Smoke rose from a censer between them.
Anthony’s cousin sat beside James, her blonde hair pulled into loose pigtails. She listened raptly to the high priest, nodding along with everything he said.
“As we discussed last week, Marisa’s family is facing some troubles right now,” James said. “An exorcist determined that Lucinde may be possessed. I believe we should partake in a cleansing ritual.”
Elise began typing with renewed vigor. “Do you hear this?” he whispered.
“I don’t listen to their crazy witch nonsense.”
“Who’s the exorcist?” Ann asked.
“She prefers to preserve her anonymity,” James said.
“It would be so interesting to talk to her for my thesis. It’s on the supernatural and old-world religion in modern times.”
“I can pass along questions for you.” His tone left no room for argument. “What do you all think of my proposal?”
“An exorcist,” Anthony murmured. “It’s like they think they’re in a movie or something.”
Elise typed harder.
“Do you mean actual demons, or the kind of demons we regard as goddesses, like Lilith?” asked a man whose voice Anthony didn’t recognize.
“The two aren’t mutually exclusive,” James explained. “This one may be little more than an angry spirit, though. As such, it can be cleansed and cast out with ritual and positive energy.”
“I don’t think we should get into it,” Ann said. “Demons are risky business.”
Elise sighed and stretched in her chair, drawing Anthony’s attention away from the conversations in the other room.
“It’s hot in here,” she said, slipping off her sweater.
He had to look. Her tanned skin was flecked with freckles, creating alluring trails that dipped down into the neckline of her shirt and out along her shoulders. He would happily explore those paths with his fingers and lips, if he could just get the balls to make a move.
And then the sweater dropped enough for him to see the gashes—three deep, parallel slices on her arm. That was what James had apologized for. Had he hurt her?
“What happened to your arm?” he asked.
“What? Oh. I got attacked by a bush when I was out running last night.” She pulled her sweater back on. “It’s nothing.”
“I thought you said you felt hot.”
“I changed my mind. I’m going to close this door, okay?” She shut it, and the coven’s conversation became an inaudible mumble.
He struggled to think of something right to say. He had a hard time imagining James, who was a witch (of all the stupid things) and a dancer (even stupider) managing to injure Elise. But if he had, Anthony couldn’t let it slide. He just wasn’t sure he could take James in a fight.
Suppressing the wild and ridiculous urge to challenge James to a duel, Anthony held up a folder. “I think I found the registration forms.”
She gave it a quick scan. “That’s it. Great.” Elise immediately turned her attention back to the computer. “Thanks for the help.”
“Yeah, no problem,” he said, and then he took a deep breath. “Maybe you’d like to hang out tonight. There’s this band performing at the Knitting Factory. I know you listen to Black Death, and this band is supposed to be a lot like their early work.”
“Yeah? What time?”
“Doors open at eight…but we could get dinner, if you like. Before the show.”
Elise’s eyes narrowed. “Are you asking me on a date?”
He gave her his attempt at a suave smile.
“Yes?”
The time until she responded dragged on. It couldn’t have been longer than a moment or two, but the sudden racing of Anthony’s heart made it feel like hours, and Elise’s expression was unreadable.
She didn’t smile at his suggestion, but she didn’t laugh at him, either, which had to be a good sign.
“Yeah,” Elise said. “That sounds good.”
Relief washed through his body. The next second, it was replaced with nervousness. “Cool,” Anthony said, jamming his fists in his pockets. “Cool. Since I’m just in the duplex next to yours, we could go together. That way, only one of us has to drive. With the price of gas and parking and stuff.”
“Oh yeah. Gas is a huge concern from here to downtown,” she said. “I have things to do tonight, so I don’t have time for dinner, but I can meet you for the concert.”
“Then it’s a date,” he said.
Elise nodded, turned back to her laptop, and started typing again.
Why did he feel even more nervous now than before he had asked her out?
The door between the rooms opened, and the coven emerged. James exited first, accompanied by a leggy strawberry-blond.
“We’ll need more information on Lucinde before we decide to do a cleansing,” the woman said. “I don’t feel comfortable performing a ritual unless we’ve ruled out a health problem.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Lucinde has had extended hospital stays, so her medical records should be there,” Stephanie said. “I could look at them.”
James cast a glance at Elise. “We should discuss this somewhere quieter. Come upstairs.”
Ann trailed behind the last of the coven. Her ratty brown hair was pulled into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. She hauled a heavy backpack over her shoulder and wandered over, waving at Elise.
“Hi guys,” she snuffled, digging through her pockets and coming up with a packet of tissues.
He gave a weak wave. Through Betty’s chronic inability to dislike people, she had managed to collect some bizarre friends over the years—Elise included—but Ann might hav
e been the weirdest. She was an undergraduate at the university where Betty worked on her thesis. They met at the library while researching obscure blood diseases, which led to Ann joining the coven, and now she was Betty’s latest pet project.
“Weird stuff, huh?” Ann asked Elise.
She didn’t look up. “Yes.”
“What do you think about this whole thing with Marisa’s daughter?”
“I don’t think much about it at all.”
“Just seems too bad, you know?” Ann stepped closer to allow Morrighan to pass, and Elise rolled her chair a few inches back. “Poor kid. Still going to the gym tonight?”
Anthony stole a look at Elise. She had finally given her attention to Ann. He had no idea what her expression meant, but if Elise ever looked at him like that, he would have run in the opposite direction. “Yes.”
“Guess I’ll see you there. Bye!” She lurched out of the studio. The heavy backpack on her shoulder gave her a lopsided walk.
A squealing golden blur struck Anthony in the side, and he staggered.
“You came!” Betty exclaimed, squeezing her cousin tight. Anthony made a gurgling noise.
Elise’s cold look dissolved. “Did you leave any espresso at the Starbucks you violated?”
“I only had two triple fraps this morning,” she said, and then she gave Anthony another squeeze. Betty was not a small girl—she was equal to Anthony in both height and weight, and he had to struggle to breathe.
“Why does Ann know we’re going to the gym tonight?” Elise asked.
Betty released Anthony. “Ooh. I invited her to come along. That’s okay, right?”
“The gym is a public place.”
“Yeah, but I invited her to come, you know, work out with us. She looks like she could use some exercise, and I know she’s got to be lonely going to college so far from her parents, so please tell me you were nice to her.”
Elise chose not to respond, turning back to the computer instead.
“She was…polite,” Anthony said. Betty rolled her eyes.
“Elise! Did you have to scare her?”
“I said she was polite,” he protested.
“Yeah, but I know my roommate better than that. Look, if it’s a problem, you can skip the gym tonight and I’ll just hang out with Ann. Okay?”
“I don’t mind,” Elise said, although it sounded like she did mind very, very much. “I have to take these papers back to my office before we can work out. I’m going to go.”
“Yeah, yeah. I should change clothes anyway. I’m not exactly exercise-appropriate right now.” Betty pointed at her breasts, which were very prominently displayed in what was probably a continuing attempt to get James to look at them. “Ready, cuz?”
“Sure,” Anthony said reluctantly. “Let’s go.”
“Cool,” Betty said. “See you later, Elise!” She dragged him away by the elbow. “Come on, I want time to shower, too.”
Anthony sighed. “I don’t see why you want to shower before you go get sweaty.”
“One day I’ll explain the concept of ‘looking sexy for hot guys at the gym’ to you,” she said, ruffling his hair affectionately. “I heard you making plans with my foxy best friend. What are you guys doing tonight?”
“What? Nothing,” Anthony said, reaching in to unlock Betty’s door.
She shot Anthony a sly look. “Don’t give me that. I heard you flirting with Elise.”
His cheeks heated. Oh God. Now Betty was never going to let him forget it. “I was helping her find some papers, and we talked a little. That’s all. We were talking.”
“Shopping amongst the cougars, huh? I thought I’d raised you better than that.”
“You’re sick, Betty.”
“What were you talking about?”
She was staring at him, and Anthony had to say something. He thought of the gashes on Elise’s arms, and her long legs, and James confronting Elise about her injuries. He thought of her smile and the Knitting Factory, and secretive high priests with exorcists on-call.
But he only shrugged.
“Just the usual stuff,” Anthony said.
A half an hour later, Elise hadn’t left for the office. She was still staring at the same cell on the spreadsheet with her fingers poised over the number pad.
Anthony had asked her on a date. It was…well, weird. Elise had only dated one guy before—another kopis, back when she was eighteen. He turned out to be a total waste of oxygen, but Elise’s life had been too dangerous to share with anyone anyway. A normal guy like Anthony wouldn’t have stood a chance.
Things had changed since then, but she still hadn’t been on a date in years. Sex was nothing but a distant memory. Elise wasn’t sure if she was excited, confused, terrified, or all of the above.
James wandered back inside the entryway, Stephanie at his side.
“Thank you for your help,” he said.
“It’s for Lucinde,” the doctor said firmly, twisting a key off her key ring. Her fingers lingered on his when she passed it over.
“I’ll return this to you tonight.”
“I look forward to seeing you.” She strode out of the room, three-inch heels ringing out against the wooden floor. Stephanie smelled like she bathed in Victoria’s Secret perfume, and the scent mingled poorly with the odor of incense.
“The doctor has a great bedside manner,” Elise remarked.
“We’re going to retrieve Lucinde’s hospital records tonight. Stephanie wants to be certain that there isn’t some other problem we need to address before taking care of the metaphysical end of things, but she can’t walk out with Lucinde’s records for no reason.”
“She’s a better candidate for it than we are.”
“She also has a meeting with the board scheduled. It’s more convenient if we take them.”
“That’s called stealing, James,” Elise said. “She could get a slap on the wrist for taking them. We’ll get arrested.”
James pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “We have the key to the records room, which is usually unattended at night, so we won’t get caught if we’re quick about it. You don’t have to come.”
She gathered the papers on the desk. “This is a bad idea.”
“Fine, then I’ll—”
“I’m not going to let you do it alone. I’ll come along.” Elise hugged the folder to her chest, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “Look…you know I don’t care about stealing, but we can’t take long. I have plans.”
“Plans?”
“Yeah. I’m about to go to the gym, and then I have a date.”
James took a few seconds to respond.
“A date. I’m glad to hear it.”
Elise’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not mad? You hated my last boyfriend.”
“You were eighteen and he was an idiot. You should have fun.” He checked his watch. “When do you want to go over to the hospital? I was thinking seven.”
“That’s fine.”
James left to clean up the altar in the other room. “If he’s so certain dating Anthony is okay, then why aren’t I?” Elise asked the empty entryway. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t respond.
She stopped by the bank to deposit David Nicholas’s check before going to the gym. It made her feel warm to look on his signature and recall his expression as he slashed it underneath that large number, and Elise couldn’t wait to turn those warm feelings into her half of rent for the month.
“This check is bad,” the teller announced.
Elise had been drifting in a daydream of being able to pay off her credit card, but this announcement brought her back to reality as quickly as a blow from a hammer.
“What?”
“This check is bad,” he repeated slowly, one word at a time. “There’s a twelve dollar fine for attempting to cash a bad check. If you go down to the office of the—”
“How the hell is it bad?”
He typed at his terminal, looking bored. “This account number belongs
to our bank, but it’s been closed for a year. No money. Bad check. Twelve dollar fine. Understand?”
Elise made two mental notes: Firstly, that she should use a credit union instead of a bank apparently staffed by pure evil, and secondly, that David Nicholas was going to die.
The teller shredded the check as Elise watched, and her heart dropped into her stomach.
“Have a nice day,” he said with a big smile.
Chapter 5
Elise and James pulled into the parking lot in front of the hospital as the sun dropped behind the mountains, setting the sky aflame. A wet chill lowered the temperature several degrees. She shivered and shrunk into her coat.
“Nice summer we have coming along,” she muttered.
James locked the car. “Let’s get inside.”
They passed through the hospital doors and all sound died. It felt as though the volume on life had been turned down low in the empty halls.
James glanced down at his watch. “Stephanie said the records room is empty during shift turnover. If we head down now, we should have enough time to get in and out before someone comes down.”
“What happens if we get caught?”
He smiled mirthlessly. “We get arrested.”
Her forehead throbbed with the first signs of a headache. She shut her eyes and pressed the heel of her palm against her temple. “That doctor of yours better help us out if we get in trouble. It’s her fault we’re here in the first place.”
“But it isn’t her fault Augustin Ramirez refused to cooperate with us,” James said. A sharp pain lanced through Elise’s skull, and she gave a small gasp. “Are you all right?”
“I don’t know what’s wrong. I feel strange. Almost as though…”
Almost as though there was something that didn’t belong in a hospital.
She let out a slow breath and stretched out her senses, probing the strange presence.
“Elise?” James asked when she was silent for too long.
“It’s a demon,” she said. “Faint. Weak.”
“An actual demon, or one of the Gray?”
She tilted her head to the side as if trying to catch the faint strains of a distant song. It made her ache from crown to jaw. “Hellborn.”
Demons & Djinn: Nine Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Novels Featuring Demons, Djinn, and other Bad Boys of the Underworld Page 172
