Dead End Diner: Book one

by Bea Biddle

  "Is he-? Is he dead?" Karen heard herself ask, it was a dumb question.

  Cef whipped towards her. "What were you thinking?" he yelled.

  ”I was trying to help you,” Karen countered. ”Which I think I did.”

  ”You-” Cef began, waving an angry finger at her, but couldn't argue with her. Damn, she was right. ”Don't you ever play bait again. You could have- I could-” He growled loudly instead of finishing that sentence.

  "What are you doing here?" Karen demanded, "Why are you here? Were you following me?"

  "I-" he hesitated, "I was in the neighborhood." Lying again? What was this human doing to him? He hadn't wanted to follow her when she left the diner, he even told himself very sternly that he wouldn't. And yet, he did. He had been watching them at the café, he had been watching her expression, secretly taking pleasure in the fact that they did nothing but talk. He was jealous, he had suddenly understood that all too well. He was completely and utterly jealous, no matter how much he tried denying it. Demons don't get jealous, they move on to the next one. They don't stick around to be walked all over again and again. "Aren't you glad I was?" he asked harshly and motioned to the dead Demon by her feet.

  Karen noted that she wasn't at all phased by the corpse on the floor. She was around dead people all the time, this one didn't even bother her. Surely that must qualify as a work injury somehow. But that wasn't important. "You are such a liar," she hissed at him. "You were spying on me."

  "Can someone please explain what's going on?" Colin whined from the counter, he had stood up with help from the table, his legs were shaking and his breath came out in strained huffs. "There's a dead man on the floor. There is a dead man on the floor! Why is there a dead man on the floor? Karen, we need to get out of here." He ran over and took her hand in his. "Karen? Karen, are you listening? Come on, I can help you, I can help you out of this gang you've somehow gotten yourself into, just please come with me, come back to me," he pleaded and begged her. "We can forget everything that happened. I swear, I won't turn you into the police. Just come with me now." He tugged violently at her arm, making her fall into him.

  That was the last straw for Cef. Curling his hand into a fist, he punched him. A nice clean punch to the face. "Oh no, oh my- fuck!" Colin groaned as he held his nose tightly. "Oh shit, oh fuck," he continued, blood started dripping from his hand.

  "What did you do that for?" Karen moaned in annoyance as she was forced to support the whining Colin.

  He rocked back and forth on his feet, tears in his eyes, his groaning and moaning got worse. "It's broken, I'm pretty sure it's broken," Colin muttered but he was ignored.

  "I needed to shut him up somehow," Cef stated. Secretly, he had wanted to do that since first meeting the rat, and when an opportunity presented itself, he didn't have to think twice. There had probably been better ways to shut him up, but Cef pretended not to know any. "You should go," he said gruffly. And as if on cue sirens could be heard in the distance.

  Karen had almost forgotten that this was a jewelers. Of course, everything would be wired. "Great," she breathed.

  "I can't see," Colin whined, "Have you blinded me?" he asked. Cef grunted at him, he wondered what Karen saw in that puny excuse of a human. It was almost an insult to all humans to call him one of them.

  "Just come on, Colin," Karen said in a sigh and pulled his arm across her shoulders, ignoring his cries of pain. "What's going to happen to him?" she asked and motioned with her head towards the dead Demon.

  "The same thing that happens to all of us when we die," he answered.

  Karen didn't know what he meant but then, right in front of her eyes, she saw the body decompose. She watched it rot at an unbelievable speed, she saw flesh disappear, she saw bones break down at an alarming rate. The sight made her feel sick, the sound, the horrible sound of the body crumbling and falling apart would give her nightmares. But she couldn't stop watching. In about five seconds, no more, the body was gone, turned to dust, leaving no trace of it ever having been there in the first place. Except for the clothes he had left behind, and the ruined shop they were standing in. "I see," she said and swallowed. She felt sick but composed herself enough to force Colin through the shop towards the back. There had to be a backdoor, there just had to be. She turned to Cef. "Aren't you coming?"

  He shook his head. "Just leave, go take care of your mate." Cef turned his back on them, lifted the cabinet that blocked the hole in the wall and stepped outside in the harsh sunlight.

  "He's not-" But there was no point arguing about that anymore. Cef had left. She pushed forward, dragging Colin after her.

  Once in the back alley, Colin finally stood up on his own feet and let out a nasal cry of pain. "Is this what you do for a living, Karen?" he asked her between huffs and puffs. "I thought you were a waitress."

  "I am a waitress."

  "Karen, I can help you, I can get you out of the gang environment, I promise," he took her hand in his again. If he did that one more time Karen was going to be the one punching him in the nose. "If you'll be mine again?"

  He was rubbing his blood all over her hands and she found that even more disgusting than seeing a dead body decompose unnaturally fast. Funny world. She snatched her hand away for the umpteenth time. ”Colin, stop it.”

  "Are you on drugs?” he asked, ignoring her. ”Is that what all this is about? Drug money? Do you rob places to settle a drug debt?" he went on, "I can help with that too, just say the word, Kare-bear. Let's just go home and figure this out together.”

  "Colin," Karen yelled, on the brink of tears. "Listen to me, for once just listen. You don't even come close to anything that I want, let alone need, in my life anymore. Do you understand me?" She let her tears flow freely then, and it was as if she was finally getting through to him. He didn't talk back, he didn't talk over her, he just stood there. One broken nose and he finally listened to what she had to say. "I can't be with you again, even if you hadn't cheated on me. I am different now, and I need more than- than-" She looked him up and down, waving her hands at him for emphasis. "I need more than this, I need more than you could ever give me. I need something different than what we had." Colin didn't answer her. His face spoke volumes, he had actually heard her. "I have somewhere else to be right now," she finally said and ran from him, ran from the alley.

  She ran back to the café with a giant smile on her face. She had left her jacket and wallet in the confusion, luckily they were still there, next to her unfinished cup of cold coffee. She noticed the police across the street, they had finally shown up to. The rest of the customers were lining the windows, pressing their noses to the glass, eying the situation. She sprinted to the counter, paid for the coffee, even for their uneaten food that she could tell was still in the kitchen, leaving the money on the cash register. The staff had been distracted by the crime, she couldn't blame them.

  Once out of the café, she made a quick detour. It was still early in the morning, not many shops were open, the souvenir shop would have to do. She hailed a cab from further down the street, patiently waiting in the back seat the whole drive with her nerves in tatters and her heart beating so hard she thought it would jump right out of her chest. She thought back to the conversation she had with Sylvester. It was all so obvious, so painfully obvious.

  She paid the cab and ran up the creaky old stairs. She stopped outside the door, trying to catch her breath before she entered. Trying to compose herself. Her hair was a mess, her clothes were even worse. Her makeup was probably halfway down her face. "Dammit," she mumbled trying to wipe her face clear, trying to fix her hair, but she had no mirror to check it. She shrugged, what did it even matter?

  There was no answer when she knocked on the door, she started worrying that maybe he hadn't gone home, after all, maybe he had gone to Sylvester to bandage his arm. "Yes?" came the belated reply through the door and her heart did a somersault.

  She took a deep breath and stepped inside. If Cef was surprised to see her he didn't s
how it. His arm was freshly bandaged, but even better, he was shirtless. Of course, he's shirtless, she told herself, fighting the urge to lick her lips, Why wouldn't he be? He was sitting on a stool, she saw the brush in his hand and the canvas in front of him. He was painting. She started laughing inside. Yes, of course. He's shirtless and he's painting. Why not? That's completely natural. He looked like he belonged on the cover of a trashy romance novel. All he needed was a half-naked woman on a couch in front of him. It would have the title The Sinful Secrets of Portraits, or maybe, The Paintings of Passion. She accidentally cracked a smile.

  Cef grunted when he saw her expression. "I already told you, it calms me down. Did you come here to mock me?" Karen shook her head. She didn't care, she didn't care one bit about what he was doing as long as he didn't put that shirt back on. Her smile widened at the thought. He put his brush down and pulled the dirty paint covered sheet over his canvas. He stood, arms crossed over his chest, his fingers drumming on his biceps. ”Did you want something?” he asked roughly.

  “You mean, besides thanking you for saving my life?” Karen asked. Cef shifted from one foot to the other, biting the inside of his cheek, his eyes never really met hers. She suddenly found the big, scarred and rough looking, warrior impossibly endearing. ”Cef?" she asked, still finding it impossible to wipe the grin off her face. "Why did you follow me today?"

  He snorted at the question. A few dark dreads fell from the hastily tied bun at the back of his head. ”I'm not going to apologize for it,” he stated defiantly. ”If I hadn't been there then...” He let the sentence drop.

  ”Were you... jealous?" Karen asked, trying hard to keep the hopefulness out of her voice. It was a risk asking, but she had to know. She only prayed she wouldn't hate the answer. He said nothing, bit his lower lip thoughtfully. "You were jealous," she confirmed with an elated laugh, feeling as though she could fly out of happiness at that moment. "You followed me because you were jealous."

  ”I- I guess I- I mean-” Cef growled. He was backed into a corner. Insecurity gripped at him and he didn't like it. He was a Demon, damn it. This shouldn't happen to him. ”If you think you can just charge in here and accuse me of-”

  "So, I got you something," Karen abruptly cut him off, changing the subject entirely. He grunted in confusion. But she just dumped the plastic bag, with N.Y. in large letters on, onto the kitchen bench and started rummaging through it. "I noticed your beanie got destroyed. Sorry about that, I know you loved it." She pulled out a hat, a cap with the Statue of Liberty on it and gold letters spelling out I Love New York. "They didn't have much to chose from," she explained giving the cap a disapproving look, "I don't really see you wearing gold anyway. But then there's this one." She pulled out a bright pink beanie, also with the words I Love New York on it and a blonde wig sewn into it. He took one look at it and the corner of his mouth twitched upward in a little smile. It was hard to see but it was definitely there and Karen celebrated a small victory inside. "Not your thing?" she asked, "Well, I have more. How do you feel about orange?"

  "Why are you doing this?"

  ”Can't a friend help out another friend? I just wanted to do something nice for you.” It was her turn to avoid his penetrating stare as his dark eyes burned into her. She felt hot and flustered, his presence so dominant in the small apartment, so annoyingly overpowering she almost cracked, but she needed more time, she needed more courage. ”Do you want to look at more hats? I have a couple more. Don't worry, they're not all orange and pink. I'm sure I found a dark green one, although it might be more appropriate for Saint Patrick’s Day." She pulled out a green, fluffy bowler hat, complete with a red beard attached and the letters N. Y. in sparkly blue writing. "Yeah, the selection in that shop was horrible. We're not even close to Saint Patrick's Day."

  ”Why?" he asked her, ignoring the steady stream of words that spilled out. They weren't important, her previous statement was. "Why do you want to do something nice for me?"

  ”Because," she answered with a shrug. She could feel the heat in her cheeks rising. "Because I- Just because."

  "Karen, why are you here?" Cef asked. His feet moved on their own accord, stepping over to her, closing the gap between them. She was blushing. She was in his apartment, blushing, and smiling so sweetly he felt a pang in his chest he couldn't explain.

  Karen swallowed hard, she found it hard to concentrate when he was so near. And shirtless. "I- I-”

  "Your mate, little Colin, would be worried." He just couldn't help it. He wanted to punch himself for a comment like that. Now was not the time. What was wrong with him?

  Karen didn't even care. She knew that just half an hour ago she would have been angry and would have wanted to hurt Cef for that, bark some snarky reply. But instead, she finally lifted her eyes to his. "I couldn't care less about Colin. He is not my mate." Taking a deep breath, she gathered all the courage she could possibly find, and said, ”I don't want him. Cef, I want you.”

  Fourteen.

  The room fell silent. Cef didn't move a muscle, didn't blink, but the steady rise and fall of his chest at least proved he was alive. Karen barely breathed. The words had come out so fast and now she wasn't sure if he had properly understood.

  Cef swallowed audibly, his voice low and gruff as he asked, ”What did you say?”

  ”I want you,” she repeated. She felt like laughing. Those three little words she had running in her head all the way there, both hoping and fearing saying them out loud but knowing she had to or she would lose her mind. Getting them off her chest had felt more freeing than she had expected, it was a weight off her shoulders that she hadn't even known she was carrying around. Cef still said nothing, just stood there so close to her she could feel the heat radiating off him.

  ”Again,” he demanded, ”Say it again.”

  Karen sighed impatiently. "I said that I want you," she pressed out, punching her fists on his broad chest. "I want you, you giant, dumb Demon." Grounding out the words through laughter and exasperating sighs. "Although, I don't really know why. You are the most frustrating, the most annoying, the most pig-headed and bossy-" He silenced her by taking a step forward. Involuntarily she stepped back, the wall appeared against her back. He was still just watching her, a wall of flesh looming above her, unmoving. He was so close she could practically taste him.

  He took a deep breath. Before she knew it, he had both of his hands flat against the wall on either side of her head. She was trapped. And she liked it. She wished he would speak, she wished he would touch her, wished he would do anything other than the torturous silence. Even if it was just to tell her she was barking up the wrong tree, that he didn't want anything to do with her at all. She deeply hoped he wouldn't, but it was hard to be sure with him.

  The harsh sunlight lit up the room behind him. It danced along his tanned skin, played on his tense muscles and emphasizing his width, all his hard angles and all the mouthwatering, trembling, sinewy brawn of his impressive physique. Karen felt her throat constrict at the sight. He was so beautiful, he was such a devilishly rugged and beautiful man. His black horns reflected the shine with every breath. She had never been close enough to study them, but now she saw that they were not smooth, they had ridges, they were battle-worn with cuts and dents. They still managed to give her butterflies, she got excited every time she looked at them.

  Another deep breath, his eyes shut as he took in her scent, and exhaled slowly. She watched as a shudder ran down his back. When he opened his eyes again his hooded gaze tore through her, his eyes darkened. "Karen," he whispered, his voice sending shock waves down her spine. His familiar crooked grin spread slowly, and it made her stomach flutter. "I only have so much restraint left in me, I can't pretend I don't want you any longer. If you are not certain, then you need to run. Now."

  She didn't. She stayed right where she was. Her heart hammering against her rib cage, she could feel her pulse in her throat. He admitted it, he just admitted he wanted her too. She was practically soaring abov
e the clouds out of relief and happiness. She smiled up at him, her nails digging into the cheap plaster on the wall, swallowing hard and unable to stop the stupid giggle from bursting out. "I want to touch you, may I?" she finally whispered, her voice breaking. He couldn't possibly misunderstand those words.

  He stepped closer, closing the gap between them yet still a hair's breadth away, teasing her painfully. His elbows on the wall, his face hovering above hers. ”You are not going to run away this time?” he asked, his voice strained, rough, but it washed over her like the smoothest of silk. She shook her head. ”The human isn't going to burst in?” She shook her head again with another giggle. ”Your phone?” he pressed, urgency showing.

  ”It's off," she breathed, wishing she could wipe the stupid grin off her face but failed miserably. "I promise."

  He made a sound deep in his throat, a rough purr, as he leaned closer, his lips hovering dangerously close to hers. She sighed longingly, desperately wishing he's close the gap already. He was so close, and it was too far away, she needed him so badly it hurt her that he wasn't touching her. But then he did. His thumb brushed her chin, his feather soft fingertips played along her jaw, and her knees almost gave out from under her.

  His eyes narrowed at her parted lips, his own curling into a devastatingly sexy grin. ”I am going to have you,” he said softly, more to himself than to her. A promise he could not wait to fulfill.

  Karen should have found that statement absurd, but all she felt as the words left him was her own excitement growing. Her body vibrating with yearning. ”That was the idea, yes,” she heard herself say.

  His grin widened. She was eager, he could tell, she had run up the stairs. He had heard her coming but didn't dare entertain the notion that she could be coming for this, for him. He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip, feeling her tremble against him, feeling her push against his hand. Her face was flushed, cheeks burning with a blush that he desperately wanted to keep on her face, her makeup smudged around her eyes, but she had never looked more beautiful to him that she did right then. And she was his. "I've done things. Before. Back in- Things that I am not proud of," he stated, "I haven't always been-"