Harlow's Demons Complete Series

by Jen Pretty

  Julian's hand took mine under the table and he squeezed. He had a soft smile on his face and his eyes twinkled. He had enjoyed pinning me to the mats too much, I had noticed. But I rolled him off me and got away in the end with careful instruction from Kirk.

  I was looking at Julian so when his face went blank I glanced around until I noticed a man walking towards us.

  “Good afternoon, Julian. The Division asked me to introduce myself to you. I am the proper leader of this city. My name is Edward Fireside.”

  I chuckled at his name. A half-demon with the last name Fireside? Okay, maybe only I thought it was funny.

  “Mr. Fireside, won’t you join us?” Julian said, sliding towards me in the circular booth. I moved over closer to Nick, and we were one big happy family.

  The waitress showed up and took our orders, then hustled off again.

  “So, are you planning to take over again once we have Collin under control?” I asked Ed.

  “Yes, that’s the plan. I wasn't able to fight him off when he arrived. He’s a very powerful half-demon.”

  I still hadn’t seen an expression from him or Julian. It was like some half-demon game. Who can stay blank the longest? I had my bets on Julian. He was hardcore.

  The waitress returned with our food a while later. Julian and Ed spent time talking about some members of the Demons Division, but I knew nothing about them except for Darla. Not that I knew anything about her beyond the fact she could heal people. I ate my burger and fries with extra ketchup and slurped down my cola.

  “That's settled then. You will join us in the raid and hopefully take over for Collin as soon as we have neutralized him,” Julian said, setting his credit card down on the bill and waiving to the waitress.

  “Wait, what's happening?” I asked.

  “Edward will join us. He has strength and can assist in the recovery of his people,” Julian said.

  “Great. We need sculptors, too,” I said. If we had a bunch of demons on the loose, someone besides Nick and I needed to be collecting them in the sculptor's stones. The half-demons couldn't do it since the sculptor stones burned them.

  “That’s a good idea,” Nick said, pulling out his phone.

  While everyone was talking about logistics and other commando stuff, I took out my phone and called Lincoln. It rang through to voice mail four times before he finally picked up.

  “Hey, Linc. It’s me!” I yelled into the phone.

  “Harlow. You don't have to yell,” Linc said with a chuckle.

  “I thought you might be deaf now since you took so long to answer,” I replied in a normal voice. “Listen, we need sculptors here to collect baddies. Can you come and bring a few more guys?”

  “Sure. When do you need us?”

  I covered the phone with my hand and interrupted the guys. “When are we doing this thing?” I asked.

  “We have settled on the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow we can rest and get as much intel as possible, then go in hot on Friday,” Julian said like we were in the military.

  I relayed the information to Linc in regular human terms, and he agreed to come ASAP with a couple of buddies. Hopefully, we would have enough sculptors and stones to gather all the loose demons.

  My thoughts flew back to the asshole demon who possessed me so long ago — the one who had been missing from his perch all these months. I had to assume he was here. At least I hoped he was here. If he wasn’t here, where else could he possibly be?

  When I finally got my hands on that demon, I would freeze him permanently and keep him in my garden as a gargoyle. It brought my thoughts back to old lady Gertrude back home in Humber Falls and all her gnomes. She had tons of them. It was weird actually. Maybe I would just put the frozen demon in my closet with all the boxes.

  I glanced at Julian. He was still doing his impersonation of an army general. His brow furrowed and the line of his mouth severe. What the heck had he sent me in those boxes?

  Resting my head back in the booth, I closed my eyes and let my mind wander to Len and the pizza shop. He was probably slinging dough into the oven right now. I could picture him in my mind, his old man muscles flexing and sweat beading on his forehead. His easy-going nature was a calming force in my life. I knew where I stood with him and felt safe. This city was a dangerous place with people I didn't know how to deal with.

  “Harlow.”

  I flicked my eyes open to see Nick had left and Julian was standing in front of me. His hair was messy as if he had been running his hands through it.

  “Yeah,” I replied.

  “You ready to go?”

  I rubbed my eyes and rose to my feet. Julian didn’t back up, so I was almost chest to chest with him… well, face to chest since he was significantly taller than me.

  His hand came up to cup my cheek. “I want to take you out tonight.”

  “Is that a good idea?” I asked. I didn't want to meet up with Collin somewhere before we had all our people in place.

  “We will be safe where we are going.” He reached out for my hand, and I let him lead me away from the booth.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  He smiled at me, and I tripped over my feet. “You will see.”

  We walked out of the diner, and the limo was waiting. I slid in expecting to find Nick and the former leader of Jackson, but they were gone.

  “Where is everyone else?”

  The limo pulled away from the curb, and Julian turned to face me. “They’re going to enlist the local sculptors and hunters in our efforts.” His hand came up to cup the side of my face. “You and I will have a night to ourselves before the shit storm that is coming.”

  I couldn't remember if I had ever heard him swear before. He definitely hadn't used a phrase like ‘shit storm’ before.

  “All right, but will there be food?” I asked. It didn't matter that I had just eaten less than an hour ago, I needed to be fully fuelled up to kick demon ass.

  He chuckled. “Yes, there will be food.”

  Julian slung his arm across my shoulders and tucked me in beside him on the leather seat as the city rushed by outside the tinted window. Jackson was a pretty city, what I saw of it. There were lots of grand old buildings mixed with newer flashy high rises. If I didn't have a lunatic to capture, I’d have liked to see the touristy places.

  The limo stopped back at the hotel, and I raised a brow at Julian.

  “We need to change and maybe shower,” he said.

  I gave myself a sniff. Yeah, I could use a shower. “What kind of clothes should I wear? Or tell me where we are going so I know how to dress.”

  “Something fun,” he said before slipping out of the limo.

  Something fun. I didn't have fun clothes. I went through the list of things I had bought in New York. Leather pants and t-shirts. Then I remembered I had brought a small red silk dress from home since it was one of the few clean things left in my suitcase. I guess that was fun.

  I followed Julian to the elevator and then to our room. I grabbed the dress out of my suitcase and disappeared in the bathroom to shower and change. My hair was getting long again, almost time for a haircut, but I got it clean and combed and then blow-dried it straight. I’d brought little makeup with me, so eyeliner and lip gloss would have to do.

  When I slipped into the silk dress, I immediately regretted even bringing it. It hardly covered anything and was so light it felt like I was naked.

  I swung open the bathroom door and stepped out, still barefoot, but otherwise glamorous.

  Julian's soft gasp pulled my eyes up, and the look on his face was almost worth the exposed feeling of the tiny clothes. His eyes were wide and his mouth open.

  “Hello,” I said in a saucy voice. I had to wipe the drool off my chin when I took in his appearance. He was wearing worn jeans and a tight white t-shirt that displayed his muscles perfectly. He had motorcycle boots on his feet, and a leather jacket hung from his hand. “You ready to go?” I asked.

  Julian pulled h
imself together. “Yes.” He took out his phone and dialed. “I won't take the bike. Get me a car.” He glanced back at me. “A red one.” He hung up and took my hand, tucking it into the crook of his arm.

  “I could change if you’d rather,” I said

  “I would not rather,” he said, then led me out of the suite and down to the lobby.

  When we stepped out into the cooler night air, I regretted not bringing a jacket, but Julian slipped his leather jacket over my shoulders and led me to the passenger side of a fast, little sports car. It was red.

  He handed cash to a man standing at the driver's door and then got in, and we took off for our night on the town.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The car rolled up to a restaurant, but it wasn't like any I’d eaten at before. This one had a literal red carpet and paparazzi. Julian came around and opened my door, helping me out of the car. Good thing, too; since the car hugged the ground, it made the chance of me flashing my undies pretty high. My hand tucked into Julian's arm, and we walked together down the freaking red carpet to the click and the flash of cameras. It was surreal.

  “Why were they taking pictures of us?” I asked once we stepped beyond the doors.

  “Because only the rich and famous come here. I’m not famous, but I have enough money to be here, so why not have fun?”

  It was weird coming from Julian. He had been so serious since we started this little adventure; I thought my memory of him on his motorcycle as we rode across the country was just a dream.

  A man in a black suit led us to a table in the back corner. We went past dozens of people eating or drinking and chatting animatedly. They were all finely dressed in beautiful suits and dresses, making Julian seem underdressed in his jeans and t-shirt.

  I felt eyes on me and regretted the dress again, but as Julian pushed in my chair, he leaned down and whispered, “You look amazing,” in my ear. I regretted it a little less.

  We murmured for several minutes, lost in our own world. I loved having Julian's attention and watching his face change with his thoughts and emotions. It was a rare treat.

  When the waiter returned, Julian ordered wine, speaking in French. That was hot.

  Once the waiter left, Julian kept opening his mouth and then closing it again like a fish or a child who can't chew with his mouth shut.

  “What?” I asked finally saving him from his uncharacteristic moment of indecision.

  He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I want you to stay with me in New York when we leave here.”

  I scoffed. “Yeah, that won’t happen.”

  “Why not?” He looked confused.

  “Because I have a home and friends in Humber Falls. New York is big and smelly, and you have Nick there to keep track of your gargoyles.” Speaking of gargoyles brought me a feeling of dread. I would feel a lot better if I saw some here. I got a bit lost in my thoughts, and when I focused back on Julian, I realized he had been talking.

  “Your town is small and doesn't need you.”

  “Whoa. Who told you that? There are gargoyles there, and someone has to keep them in line.”

  “Lincoln can easily do it, or that boy who would already be a hunter if it weren't for his father.”

  I tried to picture pretty-boy Derrek chasing gargoyles in the twilight. A giggle bubbled up. “No, Derrek can’t do that. Besides, I like Humber Falls. It’s my home.”

  Julian rubbed his hands over his face then shook his head and looked away. “You have to come with me, Harlow.”

  I stared for a long moment. “Explain.” I remembered the conversation I had overheard when he was on the phone. He said he would handle me. Was this what he meant?

  “Look, the Division wants you watched. They are worried that your new power could get so strong that you could freeze us all. I haven't told them you sent me to hell that time you froze me, but word will get back to them eventually and that makes you a big threat to our kind.”

  The waiter arrived with our wine at that point. He took forever pouring it into glasses but as soon as he set mine down in front of me, I scooped it up and downed the whole thing. The waiter dutifully refilled it and set it slightly farther away from me, but that didn't stop me from chugging the second glass, too. The waiter gave up and set the bottle on the table before he turned and walked away.

  “Can we go back to the hotel?” I asked, pushing my chair back. I wasn't having fun at all. Wasn't this supposed to be fun?

  “I’m sorry, Harlow. Wait.” He took a deep breath and let it out, his face slowly pulling until he wore a smile. “We can talk about this later. Let’s have a nice night, OK?”

  “You are the one who brought it up. It’s not fun knowing demons are going to run my life from now on. I didn't even want to come to Jackson.”

  “I know. Trust me, please? It will just be temporary. They will see you aren't a threat and you can go back to your normal life.”

  I reached for the wine bottle, but Julian grabbed it and poured my glass for me, his eyes only straying to the glass for a moment before returning to me and begging me to understand. That was the problem, though. I was no different now than after New York, but suddenly what I could do worried the half-demons? They weren’t so concerned they wouldn’t use me to solve their Collin problem, but worried enough they wanted Julian to keep an eye on me.

  “I’m not moving to New York.”

  The waiter returned to take our orders, but I wasn't very hungry anymore. Julian ordered for both of us, and I watched the waiter walk away, wishing he would stay to stop the awkward feelings I had about being alone with Julian now. I had really stepped in it. The demon Division wanted me watched like I might turn into a rogue half-demon hunter and send them all to hell.

  I looked back at Julian. There was no way I could ever freeze him again and send him back to hell. I had to admit I had some powerful stupid feelings for him and living with him made my inner idiot do cartwheels.

  “Say something,” Julian said in a voice so low I thought I imagined it for a second.

  “What do you want me to say? I have to have a babysitter because I have too much power for a group of half-demon assholes.” I whispered the swear because the restaurant was crowded now and there were ears everywhere. There were eyes everywhere, too, when I glanced around, including a pair of cold, black, half-demon eyes.

  “He’s one of ours,” Julian said, noticing where I was looking.

  “You mean one of yours. I’m not a half-demon.”

  Julian leaned forward and captured my hand. “You are one of us. The Division doesn’t know about you yet, but they will. They always find out about everything.”

  I snorted and finished my glass of wine. It was helping a bit. The wine, I mean.

  A plate of steak and fried mushrooms with a side salad appeared in front of me with a flourish. I glanced up at the waiter; his face still plastered with a smile. I wondered if his cheeks hurt by the time he finished his shift… Maybe he had to get a face massage at the end of a long shift. I giggled a bit, picking up my knife and fork. Once the offensive salad was separated from the delicious steak, I cut off a hunk and shoved it in my mouth. It was a bit of a big piece, but I gnawed on it. Manners be damned.

  Julian cut tiny pieces of his steak and ate carefully. His face returned to blank when I finished my third glass of wine, but I didn't care anymore. Why should I care? I was being managed or something. Controlled.

  We finished eating in silence, and Julian got the check. As we walked out of the restaurant, the little sports car pulled up and the valet hopped out. I got myself in the passenger side and sat in silence and Julian drove. It wasn’t until the car stopped that I realized we weren't back at the hotel; we were at a night club.

  “What are we doing here?” I asked.

  “Dancing and drinking,” Julian replied simply before he got out and started walking towards the building.

  I climbed out and walked after him when I realized he was going to leave me in the car if
I didn't get out.

  Date night. So fun.

  Julian held the door and I passed him, entering the loud, dark club. There were flashing strobe lights and typical club music. The beat was heavy and made the sweaty bodies writhe to its base. I wove to the bar first and ordered a scotch, neat, from the hot bartender. He had tattoo sleeves, and I watched them twist as he moved to set a glass in front of me and poured the alcohol. I wished he wasn't wearing a shirt so I could trace the tattoo across his chest. I was sure it continued and looked terrific. He winked at me when he caught me staring, and I smiled before lifting my drink and throwing it back much faster than I should have.

  Warm breath on the back of my neck alerted me to Julian's presence. I knew it was him, though I couldn't say how. I leaned back into his chest and his arm came around, taking the now empty glass from my hand and setting it on the bar. Then he turned me and led me onto the dance floor, weaving between all the bodies.

  It was too loud to talk in there, and I didn't want to talk to him anyway. I just wanted a moment to forget. As if Julian understood that, he wrapped his arms around me and made me move to the music. He was a good dancer and I got so lost I forgot all about the demons and the gargoyles and Collin… I forgot about Nick and Len and my mother…

  Julian's hand slid down to my hip, and then a bit lower, bunching the light material of my dress. I was drunk enough that I didn't care if the whole world saw my undies, so I kept dancing as his hands roamed my body. I might regret it all in the morning, but for now nothing mattered.

  Downing shots like water, I lost track of time. The night was young, and for one night only, I felt young, too.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  My head was broken. It was thumping like I was still in the club, but I was not in the club anymore. Someone had wrapped me up in blankets and soft pillows. I slit my eyes open and recognized the hotel room.

  “Fuck,” I muttered.

  “There’s water and pain killers on the nightstand.” Julian's disembodied voice startled me and I spun to look for him. The quick movement made nausea flood in. I covered my mouth and lay still for a moment until the world righted itself. Then grabbed the bottle of water and the pill bottle from the small table by my head and popped a few before laying back on the pillow and waiting out the pounding in my head.