Mr. Nasty’s spell was shattered, too. Dooley and Mr. Fluffy sprang up. Mr. Fluffy hissed at the bits of dark fluff wafting around the living room and flew up to sit on the ceiling fan, tail twitching in agitation.
Lenora materialized by the couch. Dooley barked and then looked embarrassed, like she just remembered she could talk.
“Addy, Addy! Stranger! Stranger!”
“It’s okay, Dooley. I know her.”
Dooley trotted over and inspected the thrall. Dooley was an equal-opportunity crotch sniffer.
Lenora looked around the room. “I thought I heard something as I arrived, a scream and then a terrible wail. Is something wrong?”
“Demon,” Addy said through her teeth. Searing pain shot through her right arm, which hung useless by her side. The mixer clattered to the floor.
Lenora glided toward her. “You are in pain. I can help you.”
“Not on your life, lady. You keep your sharp little succubus fangs away from me. I’ll take an aspirin instead. What are you doing here anyway?”
Lenora shrugged. “I came to tell you your brother is doing better, although he will have to remain in the Hall of Healing for a few more days.”
“Thanks.” Addy limped over to the cabinet and found a bottle of pain reliever. Her arm hurt like hell. She shook three pills out of the bottle and swallowed them. “Mama didn’t see you do the time warp, did she?”
“Of course not. I am not a fool.” Lenora gazed at the shreds of black confetti that wafted about the room. There was a strange, almost hungry look in her eyes. “Is that the djegrali?”
“Yeah, what’s left of it.”
“You do realize it is weakened, but not dead?”
“What?” Addy looked around for another weapon. What was she supposed to do for an encore, microwave the damn thing?
Lenora plucked a wafting piece of black confetti out of the air and popped it in her mouth.
Addy’s stomach heaved. “Gross, you did not just do that.”
Lenora licked another floating shred of demon out of the air. It melted on her pink tongue like cotton candy. “It has a spicy tang. Probably all that concentrated evil. It is quite delicious. May I consume the rest?”
“Uh, sure,” Addy said. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll take a shower.”
“But of course. Do you mind if I watch television while I eat?” Lenora snatched a black wisp as it sailed past and ate it in two bites. “I have become quite fond of the show
Loins of Lust.
So much melodrama and strong emotion. Quite addictive.”
“Knock yourself out.”
Turning, Addy fled into the bedroom and shut the door.
Chapter Thirty-seven
A
ddy leaned against the bedroom door and closed her eyes. She needed a shower. She could not remember feeling dirtier in her life, not after mud bogging with Shep or cleaning fish down by the river. She was covered in bug funk and gobbler funk and demon funk, and sweat and plain old dirt. She was bone tired, and there was a ball of sadness the size of a Buick lodged in her chest. Her arm hurt. She could add grossed out to the list, because her brother’s freaky girlfriend was in the living room eating what was left of the creature of darkness she’d almost killed with a kitchen appliance. Her life was so weird.
Stripping off her clothes, she went into the bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror. From fingertips to elbow, her right hand and arm were bone white and stiff as marble. How was she going to explain this one to Bitsy?
Well, you see, Mama, I shoved my arm up this demon’s butt and then . . .
Oh, yeah, that would go over like a lead balloon. A tear ran down her cheek and dripped off her chin. She wiped it away angrily. She would not do this. She would
not.
Getting in the shower, she washed her hair and body as best she could one-handed. She dried off and put on an old pair of sleep pants and a T-shirt. By the time she was dressed, her arm and hand felt better. They were still hard to the touch and white as alabaster, but at least a little of the feeling was coming back. By tomorrow morning, her hand and arm would probably be good as new. That Dalvahni DNA was strong stuff. If only her broken heart would mend as easily.
Unbidden, the hurt welled up inside her, choking her. OhGodOhGodOhGod. He was gone. How would she bear it? How would she go on without him?
A gray shroud of grief enveloped her, heavy, unbearable. She sat down on the floor and burst into tears.
“Why are you crying, little one?”
Addy squeezed her eyes shut. That deep, husky growl
sounded
like Brand. Holding her aching arm next to her chest, she rocked back and forth. “I’m losing my mind.”
“Why do you say this?”
“Because you’re gone, and this isn’t real,” she wailed. “But it
feels
real, and I want it to be real. I want it like crazy. I can
smell
you, for Pete’s sake. But I know I’m imagining it because I miss you so much. And now I’m
talking
to you, and that means I’m losing it. Big time.”
A pair of strong hands lifted her to her feet. “Adara, you are not crazy. Look at me. I am here.”
She opened her eyes. Brand stood in front of her. She drank in the sight of him, his beloved face, the sexy mouth and chiseled features, his big, hard-muscled body. How could she have forgotten how gorgeous he was? It had only been a few hours.
“Brand?” Her mouth widened in a grin of delight. With a squeal of happiness, she flung herself against him. “I thought you were gone. I thought I’d never see you again.” She rained kisses along his neck, shoulder, and chest. “Oh, God, I’ve been so unhappy. I wanted to
die
I was so miserable.”
He put his hands on her shoulders and stepped back. He scowled down at her, his expression stern and disapproving. Why wasn’t he glad to see her? Her stomach did a sickening little flip-flop. He couldn’t stay. He’d come back to tell her he couldn’t stay. OhGodOhGodOhGod.
“You are hurt.” His tone was accusing. “How did this happen? You were uninjured when I left. I am sure of it.”
Suddenly, she was furious. Balling up her good fist, she slugged him in the chest. It was like slamming her hand into a brick wall. “How the hell would you know? You walked off into the sunset without saying good-bye.”
“I did not walk into the sunset. The sun was at its zenith when I left. But that is beside the point. How did you injure your arm?”
Addy squelched a sigh of exasperation. He was
so
literal. “Mr. Nasty did it. Or to be more accurate,
I
did it when I killed him.” She made a face. “Well, I sort of half-ass killed him. Lenora’s doing the rest.”
“Adara, you are not making sense. Ansgar and I slew the djegrali.”
“Yeah, but Mr. Nasty wasn’t at the park. He was waiting for me when I got home.”
Brand looked momentarily confused, and then outraged. Yikes, somebody had their leather panties in a wad.
“I leave you alone for a moment and you fight a djegrali?”
he roared.
“You could have been killed.”
Addy winced. “Brand, my ears.”
Ignoring her protests, he picked her up and strode over to the bed. He sat down with her in his lap and examined her arm. Bending his dark head, he kissed her frozen fingers, nibbled her palm and the top of her hand, and trailed his lips past her wrist and up her arm. She gasped in pain. Heat flowed from his hands and lips, thawing her frozen flesh. Her injured arm and hand tingled and grew warm. Healthy color returned to the tissue. She flexed her fingers. Good as new.
“Thanks,” she said, snuggling against him with a happy sigh. She kissed his chin, his neck, his chest, breathing in the scent of him and savoring the feel of his arms around her. He was big and warm and smelled oh-so-delicious, and he was
here.
“My arm feels all better now.”
“I am glad.”
His deep voice rumbled beneath her ear, and she thought she might die from the joy of it.
He wrapped his arms around her. “Tell me about the djegrali. How did you manage to defeat it if you were unarmed?”
He was patronizing her. She heard it in his tone. He didn’t really believe her. “I wasn’t unarmed. I had a hand mixer.”
“There is a device that mixes hands? To what purpose?”
“Not a
hand
mixer, Brand. That would be painful. I’m talking about something that mixes things
by
hand. You know, cakes and cookies and stuff.”
“You used a
cooking device
to defend yourself against the djegrali?”
“Yeah, and it worked, too. Maybe it isn’t flashy like a flaming sword, but it’s what the cosmos gave me.”
“Madness. Where is the djegrali now?”
“In the living room with Lenora, what’s left of it anyway.”
“
What?
”
He set her down and drew his sword. “Stay behind me,” he ordered, stalking out of the bedroom.
He looked around the living room, his green eyes ablaze and his beautiful face hard as stone. “Where is the djegrali?”
Addy trailed after him. “Relax, big guy. The demon is gone. Well, mostly.”
Mr. Fluffy saw Brand and sailed off the ceiling fan. Dooley leaped to her feet with a happy
woof
and galumphed across the room, tail wagging.
“Brand man? Dooley love Brand man.”
“Yes, yes, I am happy to see you, too.” Brand sheathed his sword and patted Dooley.
The cat flew in ecstatic circles around Brand’s head.
“Cat, Brand man, cat.”
“Yes, I see him, Dooley.” Brand looked up at the kitten hovering over his head. “Well met, my winged friend.”
Mr. Fluffy executed a double loop in the air. “Meow.”
“I think it’s time you two went outside.” Addy waved the dog and the cat out the French doors. “Be good, and you’ll both get treats in a little while.”
Crickets chirped and dusk painted the backyard in mysterious shades of silver, black, and muted green. Dooley and Mr. Fluffy romped on the lawn, enjoying a vigorous game of catch the flying cat.
Dooley was singing her favorite song,
“Cat. Cat. Stupid Cat,”
as she bounced stiff-legged around the yard in pursuit of Mr. Fluffy.
Addy closed the door. Brand stood in front of the couch glaring down at Lenora. Lenora was absorbed in her soap opera and did not seem to notice. She held a large white bowl that said POPCORN in red letters on it in her lap. Inside the bowl was a wiggling black mass that looked like scraps of crepe paper.
“Greetings, Sol’ Van.” Lenora did not look up from the television. “I thought I heard you.”
Addy rolled her eyes. A few minutes ago, Brand had been bellowing like an injured bull. People in Paulsberg probably heard him.
“Lenora,” Brand said in a dangerous voice. “What are you doing here?”
“I am having a snack and watching the device humans call ‘television.’ It is vastly entertaining.”
She dug her hand in the bowl and shoved a large handful of black scraps in her mouth.
“What are you eating?”
“Demon froth. Adara whipped it up.” Lenora held out the bowl to Brand. “Would you care for some?”
“No.”
Lenora shrugged and went back to her show.
Brand watched the thrall, an expression of sickly unease on his face.
“You had no idea she could do that, did you?” Addy asked, coming to stand beside him.
“No. It is . . . most unsettling.”
“I’ll bet it is. Maybe y’all had this thing bass-ackwards all along. Maybe you Dalvahni pretty boys should have stayed in the bedroom and let the thralls do the demon hunting. I mean
look
at her. She’s eaten the whole thing.”
Lenora set down the empty popcorn bowl with a loud burp.
“Why are you still here, Lenora?” Brand asked.
The thrall turned her fathomless gaze on Brand. “I like this place. I have decided to stay a while.”
“That is not possible.”
Lenora shrugged. “I have served the Dalvahni more than three thousand years. I need a respite. A . . . a . . . what is the word?”
“A vacation?” Addy said.
“Yes, that is it! I need a vacation.” She tilted her head, surveying Brand with a speculative gleam in her slanted blue eyes. “What about you, Sol’ Van? I felt you depart with the other Dalvahni. Why have you returned?”
Brand raised his brows. “Unlike you, Lenora, I have permission to remain here.”
Hope grew in Addy’s heart, fragile and tender. “Whoa, back up.” She felt breathless and shaky. “What did you say?”
“Ansgar and I told Conall about the unusual demonic disturbances in this place. He has ordered further investigation. I have been placed on permanent assignment here.”
Addy’s heart soared. “Here, as in Hannah? For good?”
“For the foreseeable future. Conall wants regular reports on the demon activity in Hannah. He is most curious about this place and about the demonoids.”
He was going to
stay
? It was too good to be true. “But how in the world did you convince him?”
He jerked her into his arms and kissed her until her head spun. “I told him that I love you.” He dragged his lips down her throat in a hot, lingering kiss that sent a thrill of longing down her spine. Magic man, she thought, dazed by a heady mixture of joy and desire. “That I cannot live without you, and have no intention of trying. I informed Conall that he could lock me in the bottommost dungeon of the Pit and place a thousand armed guards to keep me there, and still I would fight my way back to you.”
“Fascinating.” The thrall watched them with the same intensity she reserved for her soap opera. “What did Conall say?”
“I fear he does not understand.” Brand shook his head. “In truth, I do not understand it myself, only that it
is.
”
“If you love the human, you should ask her to marry you,” Lenora said matter-of-factly. “That is what they do on television.”
Brand tightened his arms around Addy and smiled at her, love and laughter in his eyes.
“I think she is right,” he said. “Will you marry me, Adara? I love you. I want to bind you to me with the human ritual called marriage, and then I want to take you to the Hall of Warriors and write your name in the Great Book, proclaiming you as my life mate and my woman.”
“Oh, this is better than
Loins of Lust
,” Lenora said. She frowned down at the empty popcorn bowl. All that was left of the djegrali was a greasy black smear. “Strange, the demon should have sated my appetite, but I feel hungry and dissatisfied. If you will excuse me, I think I will go see Shep.”
She vanished.
“Adara,” Brand said between kisses that left Addy panting and dizzy with lust. “I would have my answer. Will you marry me?”
As if on cue, the front door bell rang and Bitsy buzzed into the house. “Who’s getting married?”
Brand straightened with his arm around Addy’s waist.
Addy took a deep breath. This was going to be seismic. “Mama.”
“Yes, dear?”
“Brand has asked me to marry him.”
Bitsy clasped her hands together. “Oh, this is so exciting! I have two weddings to plan. We’ll have the ceremony at Trinity, of course, followed by a reception at the club. It will be the biggest party this town has seen in an age. I’ll have to call that caterer in Paulsberg, and we’ll go to Mobile to look for a wedding dress. You and Muddy can go together. It’ll be fun. And then we’ll have to decide on the cake—you know, three tiers or four and whether you want buttercream icing or the fondant, and—”