Demons Like It Hot (44 page)

Oh, she had no doubts at all. Her feelings wouldn’t change. She’d never been so sure of anything ever in her entire life.

“That’s all I’m asking,” she said, a sly grin curving her lips. With that, she stomped past Matthias and headed up the path to the front entrance.

She threw open the door and promptly wished she could close it. She’d never seen her kitchen so busy. There were people everywhere. Cameramen bustled around, testing their cameras. The director adjusted his headset, and began barking out orders. Other people bustled about. Was this a major motion picture or a TV show? What had she gotten herself into?

Then again, she wasn’t a coward. She took a deep breath.

You
can
do
it!

Oh, brother.
There she went, channeling her inner Rob Schneider. But any little bit helped.

You
know
what? I can do it.
She had to. Connolly Park depended on her. Heck, the world depended on her. And even Matthias depended on her, even if he was too stubborn to admit it.

“Serah!”

She turned and spotted Daniel over in the corner discussing something with a woman. She took a huge gulp. A beautiful woman. She wore a bright fuchsia sweater that accentuated her more-than-ample bosom, and completed the ensemble with a tight, leather pencil skirt and stiletto ankle boots. The woman snapped her head up to lock gazes with Serah. Her turquoise gaze narrowed. She would’ve thought a color like that would be dazzling but, on this woman, there wasn’t anything brilliant about it. Absolutely soulless. Salome.

She couldn’t blow her cover. She had to remain cool. Quite a feat recalling the stories she’d heard about this bitch. She took calm, confident steps toward Daniel and the mystery woman. “You take your production seriously, don’t you?”

Daniel grinned. He did not miss a beat. He definitely had Academy Award potential. “Serah, may I introduce the producer, Sally Lohman.”

Sally extended her hand, with an unconvincing smile. Men had fallen for her charms? All Serah felt was the desire to yak up her caramel macchiato. Then again, the scent of curdled milk and roses didn’t help matters much either.

She took Sally’s hand, shivers of revulsion coursing through her. She gave it a quick shake and just as hastily pulled it away.

“I didn’t realize so much went into producing a TV show,” Serah said in an attempt to make nice with this walking cup of sour milk. “I hope I can make it through the entire taping.”

Sally grinned. “I hope so too.”

Yeah, I bet.

“Should I show you to the banquet area?” It wasn’t much of a banquet room, but it was large enough to serve fifty. Perfect for Salome’s little production.

“Certainly.”

“I had some of my hired help come in early and set it up.”

Hired help. More like hired hand. The magical hand of Kalli.

Serah inserted a key into the lock and twisted. She pushed open the door. “Daniel said we’d have about fifty, so I decided ten tables should be plenty. And there’s room for the camera crew.” She pointed to the parquet dance floor. “Just be careful. It’s new flooring.”

Salome nodded. “Indeed, I will.” She wove her way between the tables, drawing her fingers across the backs of the chairs.

“Perfect,” she murmured. She flipped up the white table cloth and rubbed it between her fingers. “Damask—nice.”

Her fingers traveled to the vase of roses in the middle of the table. She traced the tip over a thorn. “Great touch.”

“Do you approve?”

Salome shrugged. “It’ll do.”

Bitch!
She’d paid a lot for those tablecloths. She wanted to take that silver and plunge it into her heart right then and there. It would make things easier wouldn’t it?
Yeah, right, she probably had a second in command.

“You’re doing great,” Daniel said, coming to stand behind her. “That’s the best reaction she’s ever had to the table arrangements in the history of this show.”

“Wow. Charming lady.”

“She’s tamer than usual.” Daniel shrugged then whispered, “I’ve never seen her like this before. I hope she doesn’t suspect anything.”

“Let’s worry about that later.”

Salome came back from her inspection. She put a hand on her hip. “Daniel informs me that you’ve got a bodyguard. I hope he can make himself scarce during the production. We have a large crew, including our own protection. You will be fine.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that. He’s in the office, monitoring from there.”

“I suppose that will do.”

Damn right, it would. “But Lucy stays. We’re besties and we do everything together.”

“How sweet.” She snorted. “What about your sous-chef?”

“She’s off-site today, catering a business luncheon.” Probably one for Jupiter or Neptune, she supposed.

“Very well. Business must go on, I suppose,” Salome said with a shrug. “Be ready. The taping starts in a half an hour.” With that, she turned and dismissed them with a rude wave of her hand.

“Yikes! I’d never make it in showbiz.”

Daniel sighed. “Yeah, I know. I should have known better, right?”

“Actually that’s exactly how I expected a stuck-up Hollywood producer to act.”

“Have you met the director yet? He’s pretty cool.”

“Is he a demon?”

“I hope not. He’s always been nice to all of our guests, including Diner Diva.”

Then again, it would take a saint to be nice to that lady. Of course, the lady had been so annoying that she got her own spin-off show. Go figure. Serah wasn’t taking any chances though, not with so many rotten stenches lingering around.

The odors barraged her senses. Her kitchen had never smelled so rank, never, not even when she cooked Nonni’s favorite cabbage soup recipe. It was like she was climbing through a giant landfill with the reek surrounding her. She stifled the urge to gag. What she really needed, right now, was a super-powered gas mask. Like she could be that fortunate. She’d just channel the time she went to visit an old school friend’s farm for a week. Who knew pigs could be so malodorous?

“You need to get your makeup on. God, I hate this stuff,” Daniel said, wiping some foundation from his sweaty brow. “Adam Lambert I am not.”

“Well, I’m not Lady Gaga, for that matter.”

Daniel smirked. “Your friend could easily make you look like that.”

She didn’t doubt that one bit. “Kalli knows not to overdo it with me. She’s done my makeup plenty of times at the salon.”

“You should be in good hands then,” he said. He grabbed her elbow and led her back to the kitchen. “Let’s go meet Barry.”

“Barry who?”

“Barry Holland.”

“I’ve never heard of him.”

“It’s reality TV, not a big production.” Daniel led her over to a short, pudgy man, who was flipping through a sheaf of pages.

“We’re only doing tiramisu? Why doesn’t anyone tell me these things?” He huffed. “We’ll have to make it work.”

Daniel nudged his way in. “I’ve got a pre-recorded piece on the history of tiramisu ready to roll with it.”

Barry spun toward Daniel. “Oh? Whereabouts?”

Daniel bent over and grabbed the pages. He pointed to the middle of one of the pages. “Right here, where it says ‘Fade to recorded footage.’”

Barry scratched his head. “Oh, I must have missed that.” He glanced over to Serah, scanning her from head to toe and back up again, like she was a calf going to slaughter. His gaze met hers. “Is this Miss SanGermano?”

Serah nodded and extended her hand. He took it. Cold and clammy. Mother of God. He
was
a demon.

“I am.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Miss SanGermano. Daniel has told me all about you. And that tiramisu? It’s divine.”

Surprising he’d know anything being divine. “Daniel’s told me a little about you as well.”

“All good, I hope.”

Serah controlled the urge to smirk.
As
much
as
he
knows
. “Yes, it certainly was.”

“Good. Let’s get you to makeup.” He wrapped his cold arms around her hip and led her to an area they’d set up.

“I have my own makeup artist and hairstylist actually. Is that okay?”

“I suppose so,” Barry said. “Less work for our people, I guess.”

“Cool.” With that, she pulled herself from his clingy embrace and called Daniel over.

“What is it?”

“Sorry, to break this to ya, but Barry’s not as nice underneath his disguise.”

Daniel exhaled sharply. “Aww, man.”

And now she really dreaded the situation more than she had before.

Matthias used
Peragrans
to enter the office without notice. Daniel had surprised him. There, he found a laptop set up for him, with a direct feed into both the kitchen and the banquet room. He’d seen Serah’s introduction to Salome. She’d always been so vain. She’d kept the same appearance since he’d last seen her.

The only thing that had changed was her fashion.

He clicked over to camera number two. He wasn’t quite sure about the director from the start. He’d seen Serah’s reaction. He was a demon. Two demons down, fifty more to go.

She headed toward her bedroom-away-from-home and shut the door behind her. Unfortunately, there was no camera there to continue the surveillance.

The door swung open. He looked up. Lucy and Rafe stepped into the room.

“Kalli’s doing Serah’s makeup.” Lucy pushed the door shut. “It stinks out there,” she added as she plopped into the love seat and propped her knees up.

“Waterloo was worse,” Rafe said without remorse.

Matthias nodded in agreement. He’d hired himself out to humans for that battle. Luckily they had been English humans. It was a bloody battle. Both sides had lost many lives. He’d seen what had happened to the emperor he had once guarded. He didn’t like it one bit.

“You were at Waterloo too?” Lucy asked with wonder. “Probably the other side, right?”

Matthias shook his head. “I fought for the English as a hired mercenary.”

“Really?”

“In times of war, I’ve assisted many humans in their battles. The American Civil War and the Napoleonic Wars were two of the bloodier ones.” Matthias sighed. “My last war was the Great War.”

“World War I? What about World War II?”

“I detest modern warfare. I was a bodyguard during that time. These newer tactics aren’t the way I was taught.”

Lucy’s eyes flashed knowingly. “I understand.” He didn’t doubt that one bit.

“Who did you guard?”

Earlier, he would’ve told someone to mind their own business in a not so friendly way, but now he had no qualms sharing. “Benito Mussolini.”

Lucy’s expression pinched. “Didn’t he die by firing squad?”

Matthias nodded. “That was afterwards. I’d already moved to a different mission.” He shrugged. “I didn’t like where things were going in my life and I vowed to change. People like Mussolini did not fit with those changes.”

“We will make sure Balthazar doesn’t get your descendant. I promise.”

“Thanks. I appreciate that.” He really did. It was nice to belong, even if only for a few days.

The singer previously identified as Justin Bieber announced a call. With a small grin, she grabbed her phone and flipped it open. “Hey Kalli. What’s up?”

She nodded. “Okay, be right there.” With that, she closed the phone. “Serah’s ready for me to do her hair.” She leaned across the love seat and gave Rafe a quick kiss on the lips. “I’ll see you in the banquet room after they eat their treats.”

With that, she popped up from the couch and shimmied to the door. “Bye.” She snuck out and quickly shut the door as she left.

“You’re a lucky man, Rafe.” Matthias clicked the mouse and watched Lucy enter the room.

“I know.” Rafe rose from the love seat and came to face him, his silver gaze stern and stony serious. “You could be lucky too, you know.”

“Huh?”

“Stop being so stubborn.” Rafe threw back his head and chuckled heartily. “Never thought I’d ever say those words to anyone.”

“I’m not being stubborn. I’m being practical.”

Rafe shook his head, his expression pinched. “If I were practical, I’d be wasting away in limbo, moping for an eternity.”

“The Fore-Demons wouldn’t allow it.”

“In the words of Lucia Gregory, ‘Fuck the Fore-Demons. Do what makes you—and Serah—happy.’” He grinned. “I’m completely paraphrasing there.”

He’d heard Lucy talk before. Not much paraphrasing at all. “It’s complicated.”

“Serah loves you. If you do this, you’ll end up hurting her more. How about those complications?”