“How’s Delaney?Really.”
Ryder was over six feet tall, and his stride was naturally longer than mine, but he shortened it without me saying anything. We stopped at our vehicles, parked around the back of the station.
“She’s good, most of the time,” he said. “But other times…I don’t know.”
“The staring off into space thing?”
He nodded. “That, and she doesn’t laugh like she used to. It could be because we’ve been together for a while. Maybe she’s losing interest.”
“Or maybe her soul has been in possession of a demon for over a year, and that is a lot of strain for anyone to bear.”
He stared at the station as if he could see through the walls to his girlfriend inside.
“I need you to keep track of her, any changes,” I said.
“All right. What should I be looking for?”
“Anything that isn’t normal? Maybe you could keep a diary or journal and just note her behavior and moods? We can take a look after a week or two to see if any patterns emerge.”
“You want me to spy on your sister.”
“It’s not technically spying.”
“It’s spying.”
“It’s observing. I want you to observe her so we can help her.”
He hooked his thumbs in his jean pockets, pulling the flannel shirt away from the dark green Henley he wore beneath it. “Do you know how to get her soul back yet?”
“I have a date,” I cringed, “with Bathin. Today. I’ll knock some information out of his head.”
“Sounds…violent.”
“Oh, it will be if he thinks he can take my sister away from me.”
Ryder’s eyebrows went up, but the look in his eyes was respect. “I’d almost feel bad for the demon, thinking he can tangle with a Reed woman and come out on top, but that bastard is using my girlfriend’s soul for leverage. That doesn’t sit well with me.”
“Or me.” I pushed my bangs out of my eyes. “So, the books?”
“Yep.” He lowered the tailgate and leaned in to drag a moving box toward him.
“Found them in the old house on Quay Avenue I’m remodeling. Thought you might be interested.”
“I expected a book or two.”
“Twenty.”
“And you think they should be locked away in my library?”
“Well, half of them are in languages and symbols I can’t read. They’re old. A couple appear to be handwritten. All that is a pretty good indication I should hand them over to Ordinary’s historian/librarian/knowledge-keeper.”
I smiled because it was always nice when someone acknowledged my responsibilities weren’t just policing and being at the right place at the right time.
“Thanks. I’ll look up all the people who lived in the house so we can get an idea of where the books came from.”
I popped the lock on the cruiser’s trunk, but before I could lift it, it was pushed open from inside.
“Freeze,” I yelled, pulling my gun in one smooth motion. Ryder was half a second behind me, dropping the box with absolutely no hesitation, his weapon drawn.
