His face brightened when saw her. “I knew you could do it.”
Lavie looked about ready to burst with happiness. “Sierra helped me rescue them.”
“Sierra?” he echoed, his voice cracking. He made a face, as if my name tasted sour. The demon took a drag hard enough to extinguish the end of the cigarette and inhale all the smoke.
Okay, so maybe that was one of his demonic abilities.
“
This
is Sierra?” He looked at me with suspicion as he threw the useless butt out the door. “You’re Sierra Fox?”
“The one and only,” I said, holding out my right hand. He hesitated for a moment too long, so I removed my offer of a handshake. Then he extended his left hand. What? No one shook with their left hand, did they? Oh well. I slipped my hand into his and felt a blast of warmth wash over my palm, up my wrist and arm. A sense of something familiar swirled inside my head—almost a sense of déjà vu, like we’d crossed paths before. “Have we met?” The question slid from my mouth before I could stop it.
He shook his head, avoiding my eyes as he pulled his hand away. “I don’t think so. Nope, we’ve never met. Never.”
The back of my left hand felt like tiny hooks were stabbing my skin hard enough to itch.
What the hell just happened?
“Must be because Lavie and Papan keep talking about you,” I said, distracted. “I expected you to look…different.”
“We’re not all warts and horns.” Saul closed the front door and stepped into the living room. “So, what did I miss? Is something going on?”
“Sierra busted me having sex with Oren, and flipped out.” Ebony rolled her eyes.
“
He
knows?” I said, incredulous.
“Of course he does,” Ebony said. “It was his idea. Why do you think he made himself scarce for a few hours?”
“So everyone knew about this?”
“I didn’t,” Lavie said, beaming at Saul.
“Let me get this straight, it was Saul’s idea for you to have sex with my grandfather?”
“Wait, what?” Ebony’s smirk fell. “Your grandfather, what’re you talking about?”
Uh-oh
, I’d put my foot in it now. She didn’t know yet.
“Oren’s your grandfather? How is that possible?”
“Eb, just let it go, I don’t have the energy to get into this right now.”
I half expected her to jump down my throat and make a big deal about being kept out of the loop, but either the afterglow—
ew!
—or the fact she had her own secrets, kept her quiet.
“Okay, I won’t push. But I expect a full explanation soon.” She flashed me a toothy grin. “Anyway, I need a cup of herbal tea. Plus I have to sweep the protective circle off the kitchen floor. Don’t want Saul slipping on the salt in the middle of the night.”
“You’re still staying at Roe’s?”
“Yeah, but I couldn’t exactly do
this
over there, could I?” She disappeared into the kitchen and Oren murmured he’d be right back, before following her.
“So you got the imps, then?” Saul sat on the couch, which I noticed for the first time had a sheet and blanket thrown over it. “Were there many?”
“See for yourself.” Lavie swung the backpack off her shoulders and placed it on the coffee table. She kneeled on the other side and unzipped the bag. “Go on, you can come out now, guys.”
The imps strolled out of the bag, their big black eyes continually blinking as they surveyed their new surroundings. When they spotted Saul, some actually purred like they’d found their long-lost master. He leaned forward, and I couldn’t help but peek down his shirt. So much for lanky—I could see the muscles on his chest and abdomen from here.
He opened his palm out in front of him. “Go on, then. Come to me, my little friends.”
“What do you do with them?” I asked, fascinated by the interaction. The small creatures climbed onto his hand and up his arms, before settling on his shoulders.
“Sierra, I’ve already told you—”
“It’s okay, Lav.” He flashed a bright smile and turned his focus on me. “I offer them refuge. They can live happy lives with me, or I can get them back to their own patch.”
“Why are they here?”
Saul shrugged. “Some slip through the cracks, others are summoned, but most are brought over by other demons to use as slave labor.”
“That’s so sad.”
“Yeah, it is,” Lavie added. “And they’re so cute.”
“Where are you going to put them while you’re here?” I looked around, wondering how Ebony would feel about this many cute—but demonic—creatures lazing around her apartment.
“I’ll take them home with me.” Saul looked away, glaring at Lavie’s backpack. “I only stay here overnight, and spend the day at my place.” He grabbed the slim laptop sitting on the side table, placed it on his lap and started typing. “Lav, the funds just hit your account.”
“Great, thanks.” She leaned towards me and whispered, “He always pays on time, and I’ll be sure to give you a cut.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I said.
“I know.” She grinned. “I want to.”
“Lavie—”
“If you don’t want it, put it towards that poor girl’s funeral.”
I already planned to donate some of the money from the warehouse payment to Juliet’s parents. The fact Lavie had even suggested this made me glad to know such a thoughtful person. “Thanks, I’ll do that.”
She seemed satisfied with my response. “I’ll transfer it to your account now.” She pulled out her phone and started tapping commands.
“So, how’s Papan’s mission going?” Saul asked, but his eyes were glued to the screen.
“I’m not sure.” Shit. What I’d really wanted to say was,
“It’s going great, I talked to him before and he’s on his way home already.”
But of course, that would be a lie. Truth was I had no idea how he was doing or where he was. I’d called him heaps of times but kept getting his voice mail. I didn’t want to, but I was starting to worry.
He’d only been gone for four hours, so I shouldn’t be this anxious.
“I can tell you where he is right this instant, if you like.” Those big, blue eyes flashed my way for a split second, before looking back down at the netbook sitting on his lap.
“Can you do a little scrying or something?” I joked.
“Nah, nothing so dramatic,” Saul said, placing the laptop on the coffee table next to Lavie’s bag. He spun it around so it was facing me. “He’s driving my van so I can track the exact location. See this dot”—a red spot progressed along a line representing a road—“that’s where he’s at right now. As you can see, he’s moving in the right direction. It shouldn’t take long to reach his destination.”
Seeing the dot helped ease my worry. I still didn’t like that he hadn’t answered my calls, but he had a lot on his mind. Or the music could be too loud. Yet, shouldn’t he have called to let me know what happened with Michael and the pooka kids? Willow hadn’t even called me yet, so I had no idea what was going on with anything.
I needed something else to concentrate on.
“So, how do you know Papan?” I’d never asked him. Hadn’t actually thought it important enough until the demon was sitting in front of me inside my friend’s apartment.
“Papan and I go way back,” Saul said with a shrug. “We met years ago, while he was still part of the Wilson Pack. I almost joined the police academy with him, but found my own path in this world.”
“How does a demon become good, exactly?”
Saul’s eyes narrowed but he kept them on the monitor. “Demons aren’t all bad. I’m indifferent. I don’t care about fighting for either side, I just want to exist and live my own life.” His gaze flicked to Lavie but she didn’t notice because she was still focused on her phone. “I’m just like everyone else, with a few added perks and a predestined fate.”
I looked at him for a moment, trying to decipher the last bit of his answer—
added perks and a predestined fate.
What did that mean? I shrugged off my curiosity and watched the red spot moving along the road or highway. The more it moved, the farther Papan got from me.
My chest constricted at the thought. “So you know where Papan’s former pack lives?”
“I sure do.”
“Can you tell me?”
He sat back on the couch, studying me. “I can’t tell you exactly where it is, but you might have heard a legend or two about panthers being spotted in the Penrith area.”
I nodded. Anyone who lived in Sydney knew about that. Throughout the years, there had been numerous reports of black panthers stalking the Penrith region and even as far as the Blue Mountains. They were stories, myths and legends no one actually believed. Even if the local rugby league club was named after the animals.
“Well, there were never any panthers…”
“Are you telling me the legend comes from people spotting werewolves?”
He nodded, stretching a hand over the couch’s backrest so the imps could climb off his shoulders and sit on his muscled arms. “If Papan gets into trouble, I’ll tell you where he is. Those are his instructions.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” It definitely sounded like something Papan would do. His stubbornness to keep me safe was both chivalrous and frustrating at the moment.
“You do that.”
I was starting to get a little weary of this guy. Lavie might be totally smitten with him—because her demeanor revealed what she hadn’t mentioned—but there was something odd about Saul.
The back of my left hand still felt warm and prickly.
“There, it’s done!” Lavie pocketed her phone and looked across the room at the nice-looking demon. They shared a private smile and I suddenly felt like the third wheel.
“I think we should get going, Lavie.” My previous mention of scrying had reminded me about the idea I’d had on Friday night. Besides, I needed to start looking for a kid to dangle like a carrot in front of the shadows.
She looked hesitant for a moment but nodded. “You’re right. Besides, the horns I took need to be cured.”
“You got horns?”
“Six of them,” she said with a smile. “And not just any horns, they’re swami horns.”
Saul whistled. “I’m impressed. Put one aside for me. And for Carson—you know he’ll want one.”
“Sure.” Lavie grabbed her backpack and placed one of the straps over her left shoulder.
“Thank you for saving these little guys,” Saul said with a wink.
“You’re always welcome.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Great,” she said, and her skin flushed.
I headed for the front door, not bothering to say bye to Oren and Ebony. I really wanted to leave this apartment.
“Bye Saul,” Lavie said, following close behind.
I held the door open for her and she walked out. I was about to follow when Saul called my name, so I looked over my shoulder.
“Nice to see you again,” he said with a cunning look on his chiseled face. “Oh, and if you look in your pocket, you might find one of the answers you’re looking for.”
I glared at him for so long, time seemed to stand still.
Again?
How could it be nice to see me again if this was our first meeting? I finally got my legs to respond and stepped outside, slamming the door behind me and scratching the back of my left hand.
“Is everything all right?” Lavie asked, with a shadow of concern on her face.
“Yeah, fine.” But it wasn’t. Nothing was fine because my life was getting messier with every step I took. “You want to go and eat something at Monster Coffee Break?”
“Sure. You know I love that place.”
We made our way across the inset balcony and when she started descending the stairs, I checked the back pockets of my stretchy jeans. In one of them I found a folded piece of paper. The back of my left hand tingled when I pulled it out and my pulse quickened. How did he know? Did he put it in there? With shaky fingers I unfolded the piece of paper.
On the torn, lined paper were the scrawled words
Parents Against Shadow Things—ask Lavie about it.
“Hey, Sierra, are you coming?” Lavie called from the foot of the stairs.
“Yeah,” I said.
“I feel like pancakes,” she said. “Hunting always makes me hungry.”
I pocketed the paper and wondered what the hell the words meant.
Chapter Eleven
Sitting across from Lavie inside the Monster Coffee Break diner had become a bit of a ritual. We came here whenever we could, but this was one of those rare occasions when we were here during the day. We usually hung out in the late hours of the night or in the wee hours of the morning when the graveyard shift was pumping.
I couldn’t help but think about last night. Although the waitress Sheila did her best to avoid our booth, I did catch her eye once. She smiled and inclined her head, which I could only assume was a greeting. Or her way of telling me Henry was taken care of. And since Gareth mentioned they’d found his body, I already knew. I wanted to corner her to find out more but decided to let it go. Some things even I shouldn’t push to get answers for. I was just grateful Sheila had helped so much.
“These pancakes are amazing,” Lavie said, between bites. She’d already polished off a strawberry milkshake and was well into her second one. “You should have some. Or you can have some of mine?” She offered her plate.