Personal Demons 2 - Original Sin (4 page)

“It should.”

He seems satisfied for the moment and smiles up at Frannie as she approaches with his pizza and soda.

Matt

This is perfect. The demon's got his own after him. Maybe that big demon will take Luc out for me. Take him off my hands.

I follow Frannie back toward the kitchen as she places Grandpa's order, but stop when I see Grandpa and Luc with their heads together. I move back to their table to eavesdrop. I can't believe how much Grandpa knows. An overwhelming sense of needing him—wanting to show myself to him—almost knocks me to the floor. If he knows about angels and demons, why not? Why shouldn't I tell him? I've got nobody, and Frannie has everyone. Why can't I have Grandpa?

I'm on the verge of fading in when the door opens and a couple with fourteen kids comes whirling in. A birthday party.

And I'm shaken back to my senses.

I can't have Grandpa, because it's against the stupid rules. We are forbidden to appear to our relatives. It causes too much pain and grief for the living. If I revealed myself to Grandpa just because I wanted to, I'd be risking my wings.

This is the reason so few of us are chosen as guardians, and why the training is so long and intensive. The temptations are nearly irresistible. Most guardians train for centuries before they're ready—at least until all their immediate family is gone—but I trained for only a decade.

I look back at Grandpa and step away from the booth. Maybe I'm not ready after all. Maybe I shouldn't have jumped the queue to be Frannie's guardian.

Maybe Gabriel made a huge mistake.

Frannie

That demon at Ricco's yesterday scared the snot out of me. Nightmares about the ground opening up and swallowing Luc in some gruesome demonic earthquake kept me awake all night. I kept getting up and going to the window to be sure the Shelby was still there. When he pulled out this morning, I felt sick. I thought about telling Matt to go with him.

I always expected Hell would keep coming after
me
, but I never thought about Luc—that they'd want him back too. Bile churns in my tight stomach as I drive, too fast, to get to him. Maybe Gabe should come back. I think we both need a guardian angel.

“I've been thinking.” Matt slouches in my passenger seat with his eyes closed. The wind from the open convertible causes his hair to dance and shimmer around his face, making him seem even more angelic.

“What about?”

When he opens his eyes to look at me, they're bright with hope. “Maybe I should try being visible.”

“You mean at the house? Could you, like, meet Mom and Dad?” My heart nearly leaps out of my chest as I shoot him a glance.

He shakes his head slowly as a forlorn smile settles over his face. “It's forbidden. I'm not allowed to show myself to any of my family—or anyone who would know me, really.”

“But could you have a life, sort of? I mean, like…I don't know…make friends and stuff?” I notice my white knuckles as I clutch the steering wheel and try to relax.

I glance over again as he shifts uncomfortably in his seat. He looks about to say no, but then he turns back to me, a storm in his eyes. The hope is still there, but clouded with doubt—and sadness. “I don't know.”

“So, why do you want to be visible?”

“I just think it would be easier for me to protect you. I don't like that there's this crazy demon tailing your boyfriend.”

An icy finger races up my spine as the image from my nightmare creeps back into my consciousness. I breathe a heavy sigh and shake it off. “Well, it'd be easier on me if I knew when you were around.”

I catch myself fidgeting in my seat and make myself stop. He doesn't need to know how uneasy it makes me to always be watched. He's just doing his job, and I'm so glad to have him back. I don't want him to feel bad about the circumstances.

He shrugs. “I also think I should get to know some of the people in Luc's building.” He gestures to it with a tip of his head as we round the corner into the parking lot.

“Like…Lili,” I say, pointing to where she's just appeared at the door, carrying a large trash bag.

Matt's head spins, as if spring loaded, in the direction of Luc's building. “Um…,” he says, just before he vanishes.

I'm still laughing as I pull into a spot near the door and kill the engine.

“Hey, Frannie.” Lili walks past my car and flings the trash bag over the lip of the Dumpster.

“Hey.”

She steps up to the driver's door. “I saw Luc pull out a while ago.”

“Oh.” I glance around the lot. “Wonder where he went.”

She shrugs. “Didn't ask. But come in,” she says with a wave of her hand toward the building. “You can wait for him in my apartment.”

“I'm really on my way to work,” I say, tugging at my Ricco's T-shirt.

Her long, dark hair spills across her face as she lowers her head. “Oh…okay.”

I instantly feel bad, realizing that this poor person knows nobody. She's probably lonely. “But I can wait for a little while, I guess,” I say as I climb out of the car.

Lili's eyes light up as she pushes strands of hair off her face with the heel of her hand. She reaches up and touches the crucifix that's come out from under my shirt.

“That's a cool piece. Kinda goth. Where'd you get it?”

I pull it up by the chain so she can get a better look. “Luc.”

She cracks a smile. “I was thinking your grandmother or something. That's…um…romantic?”

I laugh. “Not so much. It's kinda a thing for us.”

We head up to her apartment together, and I swear it looks like a bomb went off—a combination of being only half-unpacked and the lack of places to put anything. There's a beat-up green couch in the corner with papers and clothing—mostly sweatshirts and warm-up pants in various shades of gray—strewn across it. The only other piece of furniture is a barstool next to the short kitchen counter. No bed. She must sleep on the couch.

“Want something to drink?” she says, opening the ancient white refrigerator in the tiny kitchen. “I've got…uh…” She closes the fridge and points to the sink, looking a little embarrassed. “Water.”

I shake my head as I take a seat on the empty end of the couch. “No thanks. I'm good.”

She shuffles over and joins me, shifting the papers to the peeling linoleum floor. She curls up, lifting her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. “Sorry the place is such a dump. I'm kinda living out of boxes.”

I look around. It really is a mess. “Do you want some help organizing?”

“Naw…thanks. I really don't have that much stuff.” She looks more embarrassed, pulling her knees closer and studying her peeling green nail polish. “The truth is, I just don't have anywhere to put it except back in the boxes.”

“My mom has an old dresser in the garage, if you want it.”

She answers too quickly. “No…”

“Really. You should take it. It's just sitting there, collecting dust and taking up space. Mom will be happy to be rid of it.”

She tears her eyes away from her fingernails and looks at me. “Well…if you're sure you don't need it…”

“I'm sure. We can load it in your truck and bring it over.” I give her my best reassuring smile.

She ventures a small smile back. “Thanks.”

“And since you'll have somewhere to put some clothes…,” I say, fingering the gray sweatshirt on the arm of the couch next to me, “maybe you can expand your wardrobe a little?”

“What's wrong with my wardrobe?” she says, and I realize from the pinch of her face and her defensive tone that I've offended her.

“Sorry. Nothing, really. But it's June and it's only gonna get hotter. Aren't you gonna want something more…summery?”

She looks self-conscious, her eyes dropping to the floor, and I suddenly realize that money is the issue. “I'm good.”

“All the summer stuff's on sale at the mall. It's the best time to get some really great deals.” I'd offer for her to come shopping in my closet, but I'm sure that would off end her even more, and unfortunately, she's not really my size. She's at least six inches taller than me, and I can't figure out whether she's a little heavy or totally stacked. Hard to tell through the baggy sweatshirt.

“I pretty much don't give a crap what I wear,” she says, tugging at her sweatshirt.

“Just a few tank tops…maybe a T-shirt?”

“Maybe…” She looks back up at me. “Well…yeah…okay…” A full smile blooms on her face. “Great. When?”

I tick off my work schedule in my head. “Next Thursday afternoon. I'll see if my friends Taylor and Riley want to come. Girls' day out.”

Her smile falters. “Oh…if you want to go with your friends—”

“You'll love them, don't worry. And it will be good for you to meet some other people. They're both going to State too.”

She still looks uncertain, picking at her nail polish. “All right, I guess.”

“It'll be great. We can get that dresser then too.”

The purr of the Shelby through the open window draws my attention, and I smile.

“Sounds like Luc's back,” she says, rising from the couch. I'm surprised she'd recognize the sound of the Shelby so easily.

I pull myself off of the couch and follow her to the window. “You're good.” I watch Luc slide out of the car, grabbing a couple of grocery bags off his passenger seat, and make his way to the building.

Her smile is suddenly big and genuine. “No. You are. I knew it was him because of you.”

“Oh.” I ignore the warmth creeping into my cheeks.

“If you want to go…,” she starts.

“Why don't you come over to Luc's? We can hang out.”

Her smile is still there. “Yeah, just what you guys need. A spectator.”

My cheeks get warmer. “We don't…I mean…” I trail off, wondering why I care what this stranger thinks about what Luc and I do.

“Go,” she says, tipping her head toward the door. “It's okay.”

“All right. But I'll come by at noon on Thursday, and we'll go get that dresser.”

Her hair falls across her face as she walks with me to the door. “Okay.”

Matt

Frannie steps out into the hall just as Luc reaches his door, and I realize I'm still hovering next to Lili, where she stands in her doorway.

“Hey, Luc,” she says with a wave. As she steps back to close the door, I'm desperate for her not to. When the door closes, she'll be gone.

Before I realize I've even done it, I'm down the hall, kicking the bottom out of one of the grocery bags dangling from Luc's hand. An instant later, groceries are strewn across the hall, tomatoes and oranges rolling in every direction.

Lili steps back into the hall and scoops an orange and two tomatoes up on her way to where Luc is glaring at nothing in particular.

“Jesus,” Frannie says in surprise, stooping to pick up an onion. “Um…,” she adds as she lifts a dripping carton of eggs by one corner.

Lili hands Luc the produce she's collected. “Weird. It's like there was a bomb in that bag.”

“Thanks.” Luc's eyes shift around the hall as he takes it from her.

Lili picks up a bag of lettuce and hands it to Frannie.

“Thanks, Lili. We got it.”

“No problem,” Lili says, turning back toward her door.

I can't help following her up the hall, and when she closes it, something inside me squeezes into a tight knot. I lift my hands and lay them flat on the door, fighting to keep from pushing through. Finally, when I'm mostly under control, I turn back to Luc's and find the hall empty.

I slide through the wall into the demon's apartment, where Frannie is putting groceries away as Luc tosses the oozing egg carton into the trash.

He turns slowly toward me. “What was that?”

I shrug, hoping I don't look as guilty as I feel. “What?”

“The exploding grocery bag trick.”

I hold up my hands in feigned innocence because I can't open my mouth to deny it.

He shakes his head, his mouth pulling into a tight smile as he sorts through the remaining groceries.

“Matt was telling me on the way over that he wants to try being visible when he's here,” Frannie says, closing the fridge.

The demon's eyes lift to mine. “Why?”

I ease over to the table and settle into a chair. “I want to get a feel for the people in your building.”

“I don't even have a
feel
for the people in my building,” the demon says.

“What about that girl? Lili?” Lightning crackles under my skin, and I hope it doesn't show on my face.

“What about her?” There's a sharp edge to his voice.

I look closer, trying to read his eyes. Finally, I shrug. “Nothing, really.”

Frannie leans her hip into the table next to me and looks hopefully at Luc.

“I don't know…,” he starts, but then he catches Frannie's expression and his face softens. “I suppose it might be easier if you were visible. At least then we'd know for sure when you were around,” he says, echoing Frannie.

I smile, relieved, and swing my feet up onto the table. I tip the chair onto its back legs. “I think—”

Frannie's on me in a flash, shoving my feet off the table and sending my chair legs crashing to the floor. “For Christ's sake, Matt! You might not have to eat, but we do. Feet off the table.”

“Sorry,” I say, straightening in my chair. “So, I think we should start with people here. I can meet them and we'll see how it goes.”

The demon's head snaps up, and something flares in his eyes. “Lili?”

“I guess. And anyone else you know,” I say, knowing there's no one else.

Frannie sits in the chair across from me and glances at him. “What do you think?”

His eyes narrow. “I suppose.”

“Great. So next time Lili's here, we'll just pretend that I'm hanging out. You know…to see how it goes.”

Frannie beams at me as she pushes off the table. “This is gonna be great!”

I catch myself praying she's right as she gives the demon a peck on the cheek and heads to the door.

“Gotta get to work. You'll pick me up for Gallaghers'?” she says.

Luc smiles as he walks with her. “Like to see you try to stop me.”