“I didn’t do anything bad.”
“Now, now,” Bathin said. “It’s not nice to lie.”
I glared at him, even though I didn’t feel the anger behind it for long.
“That’s him?” Jean shifted so she could get a better look at Bathin. Her eyes went wide. “Wow.”
And yeah, he was all kinds of good-looking in the suit slacks and white shirt which somehow hadn’t gotten dirty even though he’d carried a bleeding vampire in his arms. Or maybe he’d changed into a new shirt. Did he keep a wardrobe in some kind of magical bag I couldn’t see? Or maybe he had a portal through time that opened on a dry cleaners.
“I manifest as I choose,” he said, his voice a low roll through my mind. I wondered if he’d said it out loud or only in my head.
That made him chuckle again. He strolled forward and paused in front of the box of donuts on the counter. He took a moment to decide, then picked one coated in cinnamon and sugar.
“That’s Bathin,” I said, answering Jean’s question. “And yeah, he’s a demon.”
Shoe, still leaning on the wall grunted. I suspected he was recording everything about the demon with that incredibly photographic memory of his.
Dad told me once he wouldn’t trade his life with Shoe’s for all the money in the world. Said it was a mercy to be able to forget certain details of life.
The older I got, the more I agreed with him.
Ryder pushed past Bathin, knocking his shoulder into the demon as he passed behind the counter.
Hatter reeled himself up off the desk and offered one long-fingered hand. “And you would be?”
“Ryder Bailey. Reserve officer.”
“Pleased. That’s Shoe.”
Ryder released Hatter’s hand and crossed over to the other Tillamook officer. Shoe offered a hand and a grunt, but didn’t move away from the wall.
“Anyone want to fill us out-of-towners in on the demon sitch-u-ation?” Hatter asked in some kind of drawl that I knew was wholly put on.
“Delaney Reed traded her soul to me for three magic beans. It’s a beautiful story full of giants and talking harps and 14-karat water fowl.”
I flipped Bathin off. “It’s a bit of a mess, but it all boils down to Bathin being in town for a while. Until we get a handle on things.”
“And your soul?” Hatter asked.
“Oh, I have a handle on that.” Bathin was staring at Ryder when he said that.
I didn’t know if he was trying to make every person in the room glare, but he’d succeeded.
“We’ll take care of that,” Ryder threatened more than stated.
Bathin smiled, then his tongue flicked out to catch at the cinnamon at the corner of his mouth. It was very pointy, and very red.
“Wow,” Jean said again. She was a little flushed and breathing a little hard, which only made Bathin chuckle, and that just multiplied all his heat and sexiness. She made another sound, one that didn’t really form into words.
“Okay then,” I pushed the corner of her chair so she swivelled my way and couldn’t see tall-dark-and-douchey. “He’s a demon. We don’t like him.”
“Oh.” She nodded. “Right. Demon bad. I think I need some sleep, okay?”
“Sleep sounds like a great idea, honey. You need to go home and curl up in your bed.”
“Yeah.” A cloud fell over her and she went sort of tense. “That would be great.”
It was clear she didn’t want to go home. “Maybe I’ll just hit the cot? That way I’d be here if you need me.”
