by Jen Pretty
“I am nothing like him,” he said in a low voice.
I scoffed. “Really? So you knew nothing about a demon in the basement? Cause you didn't look surprised at all about finding one there after he nearly killed me.” I put my hands on my hips, but my stomach chose that moment to protest the lack of food again. The loud gurgle stole all my thunder.
Julian's eyes dropped to my stomach, then slid back up to my eyes. “Harlow, I swear to you, I had no idea. Which is something you would know if you had opened any of the packages I sent you, one of which contained a video of Collin summoning that demon. I had no idea the basement had anything more than file cabinets.”
“So, what? That doesn’t prove a thing.”
Julian just shook his head.
Nick's hand slid up my back to rest on my shoulder, and Julian's eyes narrowed in on it like it was a snake about to bite him before he spoke again.
“Maybe not, but someone needs to take care of Collin.”
“Yeah, thanks for volunteering me for that, too.”
Julian's face still hadn’t broken from the mask of indifference he wore when he was around Collin. It was the most annoying thing ever.
“We are the only ones who can take him down. Even I am not as fast as you and Nick, but I am strong enough to capture him if we work together.”
I glared at him.
“Come on Harlow,” Nick said. “You know we have to do this.”
I gave him a dirty look. His head should have exploded with the power of that look, but it didn’t and it's just as well. He was too handsome to have his head blown up.
“Fine,” I said, looking back at Julian. “But if you do any shady business this time, I will kick you till you’re dead.”
Julian's lip ticked up and a flood of warm feelings circulated through me. I shoved them away, reminding my body we were still mad at the half-demon jerk-face.
“Good. We fly out tonight at seven. The car will take you to a hotel.” Julian sat back down in his chair and focused his eyes back on his paperwork, dismissing us.
I turned and stormed back to the elevator, pressing the button about a hundred times. It was hard to storm off when you had to wait for the elevator. It finally arrived, and Nick and I stomped onto it. Well, I did; Nick just kind of sauntered like always. I turned back before the doors closed and found Julian's dark eyes watching me. His face wasn’t blank now. He had a look I didn't want to examine too carefully, but almost like regret.
The limo dropped us at the hotel just outside the city where Julian and I had stayed. It was a strange hierarchy among the half-demons. I assumed that this was now Julian's hotel since he was now the leader of the city. The woman at the check-in desk just handed us each a key card. How thoughtful of him to get us two rooms.
Nick and I laughed on the way up the mirrored elevator, but I wanted some time to myself, so we split up, each entering our assigned rooms, me dragging my suitcase behind me.
I wasn't sure what was in Nick's room, but mine was full of flowers. Every surface had a vase with fresh-cut tulips.
The one closest to the door had a box and a card. I didn't touch those. I went straight to the bathroom and turned on the taps in the deep whirlpool tub, adding foam bath so I could make a bubble mountain. I remembered the last time I had done that. Then I raided the well-stocked mini bar. I didn't have to fight any demons or gargoyles or whatever today, so I took what I could carry and lined them up along the edge of the tub.
Thankfully, I didn't drown.
When I staggered out of the bathroom, wrapped up in the fluffy robe the hotel provided, a knock at the door met me.
I opened it, expecting it to be Nick, but it was Julian, carrying a tray that smelled suspiciously like pizza.
“Peace offering?”
I snorted, but let him in. He had pizza. No one in their right mind turned down pizza.
His eyes caught the still untouched box and card beside the flowers, but he didn't comment. He set the tray down on the small table and removed the lid.
Yup, it was cheesy, delicious pizza, all right. It smelled like pepperoni.
“I will eat your pizza, but don't think you are off the hook. I nearly died.”
“I know. I’m sorry. That was my fault, I should have been with you. Instead of letting Collin lead, I should have kicked him out long ago, but I didn't want the job and I let him go on too long without keeping an eye on him.”
“Well, you know what you can do with your sorries,” I said.
He nodded, his face solemn.
I slid a slice of the pizza off the plate and took that first good bite. The cheese was stringy and perfect. I hummed with joy and my body thanked me for offering something to soak up all the alcohol I drank in the tub.
“I need to ask you a question, Harlow,” Julian said, sitting down in the chair across from me.
I chewed the pizza in my mouth and swallowed before answering, finally remembering my manners. “What's that?”
“Are you dating Nick?” I choked on the fresh bite of pizza in my mouth. Coughing and trying not to die consumed my brain for a few minutes but once I could breathe again, I looked up through watering eyes to see Julian still staring at me.
“Not really,” I said.
His jaw ticked and brows lowered. “I’d be happier if you said not at all.”
“Well, I’d be happier if I didn't have scars on my neck and nightmares about scaled monsters strangling me every night, but we don't always get what we want.” I took another big bite of my pizza.
“Are you drunk?” he asked.
“Not drunk enough,” I replied.
A smile creased the corners of his mouth and he got a twinkle in his eye. My body decided we should forgive him for any past transgressions immediately. My body was definitely drunk. I told it to calm the hell down.
“Who are you talking to, Harlow?”
Oh shit, I guess I said that out loud. “No one. Look, it's been nice catching up, but I think I’ll pass out for a few hours if you don’t mind.”
“Sure. I’ll just sit here for a while if it's all right with you.”
“Whatever, it's your hotel.”
I curled up in the blankets and I was out before my head had time to spin with all the alcohol I drank.
“Harlow,” Julian whispered.
“Ugh nm,” I replied intelligently.
A dark chuckle floated around me like a warm gust of summer wind. I snuggled deeper in the pillows. A hand brushed the hair back from my face.
“I’ll make it up to you,” he whispered. I think he thought I was still asleep. He sounded so earnest and sincere. He was making it hard for me to have any intense negative emotion about him. Particularly as I slept without a nightmare for the first time since I was last here. There was something about Julian that made me feel calm. Even before a demon strung me up, or the previous leader of the half-demons nearly killed me, Julian had affected me.
I lay there as his hand played with my hair. I could feel his warmth and assumed he was sitting on the bed beside me based on my position and his hand. I imagined him sitting there with a book or something in one hand and absently playing with my hair. It was something couples did, just sat around together, some useless action that connected them without it being a big deal. But it was too comfortable for how my brain was feeling about the half-demon. I wanted to move, but I couldn't make myself. My body had taken control and it liked the mindless hair business.
Julian sighed. “You don't have to pretend you are asleep.”
“I’m not pretending,” I whispered.
He chuckled, and I opened my eyes in time to see him with a smile on his face. God, he was gorgeous when he smiled. Time to change the subject. “Where is Collin?” I watched his face change from relaxed and happy to blank and distant and regretted changing the subject.
“He is down in Mississippi. He killed the leader and has been gathering the local half-demons. I don’t know what for because he has insulated hi
mself with extremists.”
I let that sink in for a minute. A whole group of super-powered half-demons? Great.
“What time is it? Do we leave soon?” I asked, sliding out of bed.
“It’s five. We have to leave in an hour. Nick sent me a text saying he wants to stop at the mall, of all places.”
I knew exactly why he wanted to stop there. In the back of a tiny store called Belt ‘n Tie was a stock room packed with merchandise not meant for the regular public. It was an outlet for gargoyle hunter clothes and paraphernalia.
I strode into the bathroom and pulled on the clothes I had worn here since my suitcase was not holding anything I wanted to wear on the trip south, then walked back out ready to go.
“We should go early, I need things at the mall, too,” I said, whipping out my phone to text Nick. My battery was dead though. Damn it. Hopefully, there was somewhere to plug it in on the plane. I walked out of the hotel room and knocked on the door to Nick’s room.
The door creaked open while I was still trying to convince my phone it wasn't dead, so I didn't look up as I said, “We need to go early.” My phone lit up for a second and then died again.
“Nick, I guess it's for you.” My eyes shot up into the glinting eyes of Chelsea. She was one of the local hunters in New York, but I had never seen her look like she did more than file her nails. Now she was wearing a hotel bathrobe and looked way too proud of herself.
Nick walked to the door, and Chelsea opened it wider so I could see Nick in low slung blue jeans and no shirt. His blond hair was all messy like he had been in bed, but I didn't assume he was sleeping.
“Yeah, I need to buy things at the mall,” I said. “My phone died or I would have just texted you.” With that, I turned on my heel and went back to my room.
“Harlow, wait,” Nick said.
“She is fine, Nick,” Chelsea said, but I was not fine. I was feeling on the betrayed side right now even though I didn't have a leg to stand on, since I had just been enjoying Julian's hands playing with my hair. Shit, I had no time for this. I stumbled back into my hotel room. Julian was no longer sitting on the bed, but I heard the shower running, so plopped down at the table and grabbed a cold slice of pizza from the tray that still sat there. This was quite the shit storm I was kicking up for myself. I gave my head a shake and decided I needed to focus on the bad guy. All other guys were off the table.
Just as I was setting my new no-guy rule in my mind, the bathroom door opened, and Julian walked out in a cloud of steam with a towel around his waist and his bare chest on full display. He walked past me as I wiped drool off my chin, his lip flicked a small smile and I cursed the half-demon for his deliciousness. I watched him go by, and once his back was turned I realized he had a giant tattoo on his back that looked like an angel and a demon fighting.
It was fitting for a half-demon.
He grabbed a garment bag out of the small closet and then returned to the bathroom and disappeared behind the door.
I looked down at my suitcase and thought about taking out my net and beating myself over the head with it.
CHAPTER SIX
Once everyone had all their clothes on, and the bimbo huntress Chelsea had left, we sat in the back of Julian's limo in awkward silence. Julian had a smile on his face, but Nick looked pissed, and I was forcing my face to show absolutely no emotion. Just blank, quiet contemplation. No, not contemplation. I wanted to have nothing in my head. Zero thoughts. What does that look like? I struggled with that for a few minutes.
“Harlow?” Julian’s sudden voice startled me. “Why do you look like you are trying to do complicated math in your mind?”
Huh, I guess my blank face could use work. “I’m not thinking anything,” I said and tried a different expression I hoped better portrayed my lack of feelings about anything that happened this morning.
Julian chuckled softly. “Now you look like you are surprised by something you’ve seen.”
Damn it. I covered my face with my hands. Luckily, we were pulling up to the mall. “Okay, I need underwear, so how about I do that while you guys do whatever and I’ll meet you at Belt ‘n Tie.”
“Your errand sounds much more fun,” Julian said.
Nick shook his head and growled. “Look, Chelsea just came over to talk about gargoyles that were causing problems-”
“You don't have to explain it to me,” I said.
“-nothing happened. She spilled her drink.”
I laughed. “And all her clothes fell off?” I asked. Okay, so I was a bitch. It was none of my business whom Nick slept with. We had kissed twice, and I had spent the night in bed with Julian who, right now, looked about as pleased as a pig in poop.
“She had to get the stain out.”
“And then your clothes fell off. I understand. It happens to me all the time.” I added sarcasm to that last statement, and by the way he scoffed and threw his hands up in the air, I could tell he got it. I rarely win this kind of argument, so when he didn't say any more, I felt victorious, but then Julian had to open his mouth.
“You slept quite soundly, last night,” he said looking at me. Fuck.
Nick’s eyes whipped to Julian and then back to me. “You slept with Julian last night?” His face turned red and his brow lowered, making his eyes look like deep holes in his face in the low light of the limo.
“No, I slept by myself last night. Julian just happened to be there.”
Nick laughed, but it didn't sound happy. “Harlow, damn it.”
Luckily the limo had stopped, so I slid out the door and left the two men behind. This was not a great way to start the day. I hit the food court first and got coffee. Thank God for coffee! I sipped it and wandered to the “big box” store at the end of the mall. I needed super powered sports bras if I would be chasing that winged half demon around. I purchased those and some everyday underwear and socks. As I was leaving, I saw a Wonder Woman t-shirt. It was blue with short sleeves and had a picture of the heroine herself on the front with her fist raised in victory. I couldn't resist, so I bought that, too.
When I got back to the Belt ‘N Tie, the store was empty. The racks of belts and ties were precisely the same. I wondered how much business it did apart from gargoyle hunter business. I helped myself through the door into the narrow back hall and down to the storage room where I found Nick and the shop owner, Roderick, in a discussion about the quality of a new leather he brought in.
Julian was nowhere in sight.
“Hey, here she is!” Roderick said with exuberance. “How are you doing, little sis?” He swung his head, tossing his hair out of his eyes. Last time his hair was black, but now he had dyed it dark blue. He still wore his sunglasses, though.
“I’m all right,” I said. “How about you?”
“I’m great. Even better now that your beautiful face is here. Long time no see. How's that net working out for you?”
The net Nick bought from Roderick was my new favourite. I didn't have a history with it, but it had been well-constructed. “It’s excellent. Great craftsmanship.”
The smile on Roderick's face lit up the storage room. “What can I get for you today?”
“I need at least three pairs of pants, and if you have boots in my size, I could retire these.” My boots had been through a lot in the last six months. They were barely holding together anymore and my toe was threatening to poke out the end. They needed a quick burial at sea. Or maybe a dumpster out behind the mall.
“Of course, I do!” Roderick exclaimed. “What size are your feet? Six?”
“More like seven and a half,” I said, looking down at my boots. The leather pants I had been wearing the last two days were nasty, too. I couldn't wait to get into clean clothes. Roderick sent me to look through racks of pants. I chose a couple of pairs of hard-wearing leather pants and one pair of thinner, more flexible pants. I tried them on and looked super-hot in them. Also, I was sure I would bake in Mississippi in them. So be it. It would surprise me if we didn't ru
n into any gargoyles. Crazy Collin liked demons, and they attracted gargoyles like flies to roadkill.
Satisfied, I kept the thinner pair of pants on to wear out. Roderick had a few shoe boxes with leather boots for me to try. One pair was tall, but instead of laces they had a zipper for quick on-off. They covered the lower part of my calf and fit under my leather pants — double protection from the ankle biters.
Sold.
I kept them on too, and once I paid for my purchases and Nick paid for his, we walked out with our bags, giving Roderick a last wave goodbye.
“We ready to go?” I asked. Nick's face fell into the perfect resting bitch face. I needed to practice that in the mirror. Maybe he could give me pointers when we forgot all this weirdness.
“Yeah, let’s get this over with.”
“That’s the spirit,” I muttered.
The mall was still light on traffic, being a weekday and the morning, but some old ladies were striding along and I had to dodge to the side to avoid their pumping elbows. I guess they were getting exercise. They certainly weren’t strolling along enjoying a morning of shopping. Nick and I took the escalator down in uncomfortable silence, and I trailed along behind him to the limo that still crouched conspicuously taking up several parking spaces. Julian was leaning against the side in his tailored suit talking on his cell phone. His jacket was unbuttoned and he had one hand in his pocket. Yum.
I scolded myself for that thought as we approached.
“I have to go. I’ll call back when we land,” Julian said before closing his cell phone and pushing off the side of the sleek black car. “You get everything you need?” he asked looking at me and then dropping his eyes to my shopping bags.
“Yup, ready to roll,” I said in a cheerful tone.
The driver popped the trunk and I stuffed my purchases into my suitcase. Now it was packed with things I could use. I zipped it up, climbed in the back, and we were on our way to the airport.
The limo let us off at the VIP entrance and we strolled along the quiet hall with vaulted ceilings. Julian led us to a lounge, though it was pretty much just a fancy bar. High brown chairs were circling small tables and lining the bar.
