by Jen Pretty
He gave me a wicked grin as if he had read my mind.
My hair was still long and damp, and I wore my favourite sweatpants and a t-shirt that said: "Sometimes I bite." I was not even close to his level of hotness, but you wouldn't know it by the hungry look on his face.
"Good morning," he purred.
I cleared my throat and wiped the drool off my chin before replying. "Hey."
My verbal game was strong. I spun on my heel and raided the food cart to claim some coffee and bacon. Rory wasn't here, so the bacon was untouched, hot and greasy.
Fists full of coffee and bacon, I collapsed in the chair beside Julian. He folded up his newspaper and adjusted himself in his seat so he could look at me. "You ready for today?" I stuffed more bacon in my mouth and grumbled. I didn't want to go see those Demon Division bastards.
Julian rose to his full height, towering above me for a moment before he scooped me off my chair and turned sitting with me in his lap. I squeaked and held my mug out so I wouldn't spill any on him or myself.
"You dork, I could have burned you," I said sipping the hot coffee, so it wasn't so full and not as likely to spill all over us.
"I wouldn't die," he said offhandedly.
"Must be nice to be invincible." I relaxed into Julian's chest and popped the last of my bacon into my mouth.
He just hummed, then picked up his paper again and unfolded it around me. Behind the paper curtain, it felt protected and private.
The evening before I had curled up beside him in the bed, drunk on wine. He played with my hair until I fell asleep.
"What are we doing here?" I asked him.
"You want to have the relationship talk?"
I hummed for a second. Did I? "I guess."
He refolded his paper and dropped his eyes to mine. "I want you in my life. I don't care how you want to label the relationship."
I cleared my throat. "I've never really had a relationship."
He brushed the hair from my face. "Until now."
"Okay."
"Okay," he said with a grin.
His lips came down on mine. He tasted delicious, like coffee and my bacon. "Mmm."
His hands roamed my body, sending shivers and chills across my skin. My heart kicked up, and I fumbled my half-full coffee cup until he took it from my hand and set it on the side table. He lifted me by the hips, and I organized my legs, so I was straddling his lap. My hands roamed across his warm chest under his shirt and slid over his shoulders.
He pulled his lips away. "We should get going."
I groaned, and he chuckled.
He was so warm and delicious. Shit. Even that chuckle did silly things to my stomach.
He stood and set my feet on the ground. I copped one last feel of his muscular chest and turned to find some clean clothes that would be appropriate for these demons.
Back in the bedroom, I pushed the curtains open to greet the morning light. It warmed my skin through the glass, and I peeled my comfy clothes off, choosing a proper demon hunting outfit instead. My tight leather pants looked painted on when I pulled them up and buckled the wide belt low around my hips. My long sleeve tee skimmed my hips, leaving a narrow gap of skin. It was my favourite look. Hot ass kicker.
I pulled on my leather boots that looked like army boots, but they had zippers for fast on/off.
I had my long blond hair pulled up in a high ponytail that swung behind my shoulders.
Stepping out of the room, I found Julian pulled together with a tie and suit jacket, making him look like a wealthy businessman. Which he was.
His eyes traced up and down my body before settling on my face. "You look amazing."
"You too."
He wrapped his arms around my back and stole a kiss. I clung to him to deepen it, but there was a knock at the door.
He rested his forehead against mine for a second.
"Come on, Harlow, stop shagging your demon, we have to go," Rory's voice called from beyond the door. Since when was he up and at 'em?
I growled and crossed to the door, flinging it open to shoot an angry look at my first lieutenant on the other side of the door.
He just smirked. "We have to go see the Division. No time for that look."
"Yeah, yeah. Fine, let's go."
We took the elevator down to the lobby and walked out to where the car was waiting for us. It took us across town to a low office building with no windows in a sketchy part of the city. The rest of the buildings in the area had graffiti all over them, but this one was bare. The limo dropped us off and left before the locals could move in.
Eyes followed us as we walked up to the building. Julian banged on a steel door, and a moment later the sound of a lock shifting proceeded the door squeaking open on rusty hinges.
A half-demon with wide horns like a longhorn bull peered at us from the darkness. Julian greeted him with a nod, then pushed me forward into the building.
Beyond the door, the space was immaculate. The large reception area glittered in the light from the glass chandelier hanging high in the ceiling. A female half-demon with green scales on her face that deepen to black on her neck stood at a tall desk with a smile on her face.
"Julian and Harlow," Julian said to the woman.
She smiled and picked up the phone. Julian leaned against the counter and inspected his fingernails. His face wore a bored expression.
I was so anxious; I could hardly believe he could just stand there calmly. I wanted to walk right back out the front door, but the bull-headed half-demon was standing there like a bouncer.
"Don't worry, Harlow. It will be fine." Rory slung his arm over my shoulder like he frequently did in the last few months, but this time, Julian was standing right in front of me.
Julian raised an eyebrow and looked at the other man. He said nothing, though, and a moment later, an elevator door opened, and a thin young half-demon walked off with a nervous look on his face.
"This way Lord Julian and Lady Harlow," the young man said without looking either of us in the face. He kept his eyes firmly focused on the floor.
I immediately wanted to protect him like he was a child. He was taller than me and probably stronger, too, but I could tell he didn't want to be in the elevator with Julian.
"Thanks," I said with a cheery smile. "What's your name?"
He glanced at Julian then looked down and stepped back into the elevator, holding the door open for us.
I looked back and found Julian's face had slid into his dark mask. It was kind of scary. I waited until Julian stepped on and then put myself between them. Rory joined us, and the thin man pushed a button, letting the door close.
"You don't have to be afraid," I said.
"Harlow, what are you doing?" Julian asked.
"He's afraid of you," I accused.
Julian's face didn't change. He looked at the boy then back to me. "Are you collecting men now?"
"I'm not collecting anyone."
Rory snickered, and I glared at him. Luckily the elevator doors opened, and we filed out. The young man followed us, his eyes cast down. I wanted to talk to him. If these demons weren't treating him well, I would do something. I wasn't sure what. I ran out of time to think about that though as Julian threw open a conference room door and walked into the room beyond as if he owned it. Sitting at the head of the table were four finely dressed half-demons.
The Demon Division.
"Morning, Julian. I see you are as surly as always," a man said. His horns were easily three feet long and spiraled up like a mountain goat’s. His face was coarse but human. There was no way he could walk among humans. None of them could, in fact. I recognized one face, though.
Darla had come and healed me when a half-demon impaled me in Jackson. She smiled passively at me, then let her eyes wander back to Julian. She definitely wasn't looking at his face. I wanted to comment but didn't want to piss off the half-demon who could heal me or kill me with a touch.
"Francois," Julian said with a slight bow o
f his head. "I would frighten small children if I walked around smiling all the time."
The horned half-demon grinned. "Perhaps, that is true."
"Enough, pleasantries, let's get down to business." This came from a fully scaled woman. Her long hair was black, matching the scales that covered her completely. The only contrast was her red eyes.
I must have missed the pleasantries part of the day, but anything to get me out of here faster worked for me. Rory's presence at my shoulder was the only normal thing in the room, and he wasn't that normal. I knew beneath his shirt covering his whole back was a giant tattooed pair of wings that would somehow spring to life when he wanted to fly. He was an odd-ball in the half-demon world. Kind of like me.
"Yes, let's begin," the final half-demon of the Demon Division said.
"Very well," Darla said. "Young Harlow, you know me, but I will introduce the rest of the Division. To my left is Francois. I believe Julian mentioned his name, though didn't introduce him." She tsked at Julian before continuing. "On my other side is Alard." This one hadn't spoken yet; his dark eyes had been burning through me the whole time though. "And beyond him is Vivian."
Vivian gave me a quick smirk. Quite the charmers.
"Good, now we have that out of the way," Darla continued, "let's get to business. We need the demon that Collin loosed captured. I understand he is familiar to you."
I had a moment of panic as I thought perhaps she knew he had claimed to be my father. I wasn't sure what would happen if that news got out. Luckily as I stammered, she continued.
"A gargoyle in your city held him for many years, and a few years ago he possessed you?" her unblinking eyes held mine, and I nodded, internally sighing in relief.
"Very well. He is causing problems here in New York. We would like him captured." Darla gathered up papers in front of her as if she had finished and would leave.
"What about Nick?" I asked. I hadn't seen him yet, but we should involve him in this.
Her gaze shot back to me. "Nick is on suspension."
"What? How do you suspend a gargoyle hunter?"
The half-demon who hadn't spoken yet slowly rose to his feet. "The same way we suspend a half-demon," he said, his voice so low, I almost couldn't hear him. He tipped his chin down, his eyes changed from brown to red. "In our cells. He will remain there until he has paid for his crimes against us. You should beware your actions. We do not take kindly to anyone killing our kind."
I gasped. They had Nick in a prison cell? "You mean what he did in Jackson? You can't do that. He was just protecting himself."
Alard had fully risen now and stood nearly eight feet tall. He stretched wings out behind himself. Shrouding the entire end of the conference room with the span of his wings. "Not when he continued to destroy us after returning to New York."
"Oh, shit." I glanced at Julian, but his face was blank, there was no way to know if he knew about this or not. He must have known, though. It was his city.
"Good, now take care of this problem, Huntress," Darla said with a dismissive wave. The four members of the Demon Division exited through a door behind them, leaving us standing in the room. I still didn't know what to do about Nick. I needed to talk to him or something. Had he really been hunting down and killing half-demons in New York?
"Let's go, Har," Rory said, his hand coming up to my arm to guide me out of the room. Julian had already turned and was walking out ahead of us.
The young half-demon from the elevator stood inside the doors and was cowering in the corner by the buttons. When Julian turned, I noticed his eyes had bled to red, too. He was angry. No wonder the poor guy was terrified.
"Knock it off," I said with a scowl. "You're scaring him."
Julian looked at the smaller man then took a deep breath and visibly relaxed though his face was still blank. He no longer radiated anger; that was something. I wanted to ask him about Nick but knew it wouldn't do me any good until we were out of this place.
We took the elevator down. Just before the elevator doors opened, the young half-demon said, "Steven." His voice was barely above a whisper.
I looked at him and smiled. "Is that your name?"
He nodded.
"Nice to meet you, Steven. My name is Harlow."
He swallowed a few times before speaking again. The doors opened, but I waited, giving him time to fit his words together. "Can I come with you?" he asked.
I smiled. "Of course, you can." Too bad for Julian if he objected. This half-demon wasn't happy with the Division, so he didn't have to stay here.
He fell into line behind Rory as we walked through the reception area. The woman behind the desk watched but said nothing.
Outside the sun was shining and warm when it hit my face. The locals still stood in the shadows and alleys as the limo rolled up to the curb in front of us.
Julian pulled open the door before the driver could get out, but instead of sliding in, he grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side. His eyes trained on mine with an intensity I didn't like.
"Come on Stevie," Rory said to the small man. "Let's give these two a minute."
They both got in, and Julian shut the door without breaking eye contact with me.
"Did you know?" I asked.
"That your boyfriend and my cities best hunter was slaughtering half-demons right under my nose? No, I didn't know, Harlow." His voice was cold and sent a chill down my spine. I took a step back, and he let go of my arm. I glanced past him and noticed a figure standing on the roof of the office building.
"Let's talk about this later," I said, raising my chin to the building.
Julian turned and looked over his shoulder just as the figure disappeared. I spun back and pulled the car door open, sliding in to sit beside Rory.
Once Julian was in and the car was moving down the street, I pointed my finger at Julian and gave him my best angry look. "And he is not my boyfriend."
Rory scoffed, but I ignored him. Nick and I had some kind of relationship before Jackson, but I had barely heard from him since.
I still didn't believe he would kill innocent half-demons. Maybe if he was being attacked or if they were evil, but not innocent people.
There was no way.
I was 98% sure... 75% positive.
CHAPTER SIX
Back at the suite, Julian pulled out a bunch of news clippings he had cut from the local paper. It was about a dozen murders and some possessions that were written off as some new drug that was circulating and making people crazy.
"Why didn't you tell me about this?" I asked, shuffling through the clippings.
"Would you have come sooner?" Julian asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
He had a point, probably not. I mean, who goes running off to chase down a demon? But I might have come when I read the last news article. A demon had possessed a little girl of eight years old just the week before. They thought it was an accidental or deliberate poisoning with whatever new drug was affecting people around New York. They displayed a photo of her on the page, her pigtails and gap-tooth smile were prominent. That girl did not deserve demon possession.
Okay, so very few people deserved demon possession, but an innocent little girl? I wouldn't have let that stand. I'm pretty sure, anyway.
I held it up. "How did she get possessed?"
"The hunters think she was in the park and someone dropped a gargoyle in the parking lot. She must have been closest. They found the shattered remains of a gargoyle by chance. It was a park near where the girl lived.
"Fuck. That dirty bastard." I whispered. My pop would get it. I would send him straight to hell. Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars.
"We should talk about Nick," Julian said, as he settled himself down in a leather armchair, crossing one leg over the other.
"There is no way he was killing innocent people." There. I had said it. I may have distanced myself from Nick as he began his commando shit, but I was sure he hadn't lost his mind.
Julian grunted. I
assumed that was an agreement, though his face looked pensive.
"How can we get him out of prison?" I asked, sure I could break him out like in the movies.
Julian looked at my face and then shook his head. "Not the way you are thinking."
I frowned at him. He wasn't a mind reader. "Fine, how?"
"We can prove he is innocent, and they will let him go. Hopefully."
"What do you mean, hopefully? They have to let him go if he's innocent."
Julian just blanked his face and picked up another article. Hopefully didn't sound good.
I turned away from the articles. I couldn't keep looking at the little girl who a demon had possessed. Hopefully, she had some therapy, so she didn't turn into a crazy person.
My feet padded through the suite to the bedroom where I found Rory flaked out on the bed asleep. I chuckled and rooted through my bag to find my hoodie. I was cold suddenly, and I was sure it had everything to do with my poppa demon floating around in the city somewhere.
"Harlow," a small voice said from behind me. I had forgotten there was anyone else here besides Julian and Rory until I heard the soft voice of Steven.
"Hey, Steven," I said.
He sat straight in a chair in the bedroom, his feet flat on the floor and his small frame dwarfed by the large armchair.
"Is it okay if I sleep for a few minutes?" he asked.
"Of course. You don't have to ask me. Just look at this lazy oaf," I said, giving Rory's foot a smack as I walked past.
"Oh, okay. sorry to bother you," Steven said.
"You are not a bother." I gave him a wink and slipped into the bathroom.
The poor guy had definitely been mistreated, and now I was even angrier at the Demon Division. They imprisoned my friend, gave me orders to track down demons and hurt poor sweet Steven. They would get an earful from me once we had Nick back.
I took another shower because I felt grubby after spending a few minutes with the slimy Division jerks, then stepped out to find Rory and Steven curled up in the big bed together.
Okay, they weren't together, but they were both asleep, their faces peaceful.
