“Your work ethic couldn’t have anything to do you’re your roommate’s incessant questions, could it?”
“That might have been a factor.”
“She’s been here every day. In fact, you missed her by a half hour,” James said. “I’ve never realized anyone could be so damn inquisitive about demons. If you wanted to tell her the truth, you could have also had the decency to make yourself available for questioning.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for my next earth-shattering revelation,” she said.
Something in her voice made him give her a sad smile. “What happened that night?”
“Didn’t Betty tell you?”
“She didn’t have all the details. I don’t remember anything after our investigation at the cemetery myself, except bits and pieces of trying to sleep that evening.”
That was a lot of empty ground to cover. Elise sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. “It was Ann. She was working for Death’s Hand. She tried to fight me, and they both lost. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Betty told me as much, but that doesn’t explain why I’m healing from several major injuries. Or what happened to almost two hours of everybody’s life.”
“Your wounds aren’t that major. The doctors said they missed your major organs.” Of course, Elise was confident that she had actually punctured one very significant organ, but resurrecting him had healed almost everything. “I have a question.”
“Yes?”
“Ann said that you hadn’t told me the truth yet. That there was something about you that would…” She trailed off, gazing at the smooth line of his nose and the curve of his chin. Ann said I would want you to die. “She said you hadn’t told me something.”
“Demons are liars,” James said.
“She wasn’t a demon. I’m not sure she was evil at all. I think she was…confused.”
“Then she must have been confused on this point as well. I have no idea what she’s talking about.” He spoke forcefully, and his hand tightened on hers. “You know you can trust me, Elise. I would never lie to you.”
“I know,” she said. “I know.”
They sat together in silence, watching the cars empty out of the parking lot. It would be at least an hour until the belly dance class, which was taught by an instructor named Kendall. They didn’t need to wait. But Elise didn’t feel like moving, and she doubted James did, either.
“I’m glad you came back, but you didn’t need to avoid me. You can tell me everything when you’re ready.”
“I wouldn’t stay away for long.” She took a deep breath. “What do you think?”
“About what?”
“Do we…” Elise picked at her thumbnail, avoiding James’s gaze. She swallowed. “Are we going to have to run again? Should we go into hiding?”
She could feel him watching her. He gave a heavy sigh. “Do you want to run?”
It was a question that had been prying at her all week, no matter how hard she fought to distract herself.
Running would be the smart thing to do. Performing a huge exorcism—and having a city filled with the walking dead—ruined any chances they might have had of hiding.
But Elise had her job, and so did James. More importantly, it surprised her to find that avoiding Betty and Anthony all week made her a little lonely. Elise didn’t want to leave them. For the first time in her life, she had friends. Real friends. People willing to go to battle with her. People she would die for, if she needed to.
“No,” she said. “I don’t want to go.”
The corner of James’s mouth twitched into a smile. “Good, because neither do I.”
She thought that response would make her feel better. Instead, Elise felt they had just agreed to do something very unpleasant—something potentially deadly.
“Then we’ll stay,” she said with a tone of finality.
They sat together in silence, hands clasped, until the next class came in and life resumed its normal routine.
Somewhere very far away—somewhere very dark—someone else listened to that conversation.
It had been a long time since He had seen Elise, or heard her speak. He had dwelled in darkness for some years, and although he could not tell if it had been ten or ten thousand, he longed for the succor of light—however momentary.
And then it came in a single burning, brilliant moment. He felt her power and saw her eyes blazing with fury. He saw her fist clutching the sword as she plunged it into the heart of a demon. From another time, another place, He saw her anguish.
He had found her.
He saw it was very good, and He smiled.
The Darkest Gate, Book 2 in the Descent Series, is available at your favorite online retailer.
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Demons & Djinn: Nine Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Novels Featuring Demons, Djinn, and other Bad Boys of the Underworld Page 190
