But I was good at my job. Being a police officer in Ordinary meant I had to follow all the laws and rules of the mortal world, and also all the laws and rules of the supernatural world. I was not above the law. No one was above the law.
But with or without a soul, with or without a demon-touched soul, I knew how to do my job.
“It was on the mantel when I was there.” Firm. No doubt.
He didn’t so much as twitch, but something about him changed. If I were a werewolf, I probably would have known exactly what that meant. But I was just human.
Well, mostly.
“It’s been on the book shelf for the last six months.”
Timeticktickticked while I went over my memory again. “Behind the desk?”
“Behind the desk.”
Nope. I could see it there, clearly. On the mantel. “You sure someone didn’t move it recently?”
“We’re sure.”
“Well, someone must have moved it. It was on the mantel when I looked through the window.”
“The window on the door?”
“Yes. I didn’t take your carving. Why would I take something so valuable to the pack?”
His eyes widened a fraction. “I wasn’t accusing you of taking it. You’re…you’re looking out for us, Delaney.” He said that last bit like he was checking to make sure I knew it.
Right there—that was the thing. People had been acting differently around me ever since the whole demon-soul-return. I saw the way my sisters looked at me.
I saw the way the other people on the force: Hatter and Shoe looked at me.
I saw how Death, who preferred to be called Than while vacationing, looked at me.
No, scratch that. Than looked at me the same way he’d always looked at me. Sort of amused and slightly disinterested.
But I’d seen how quickly the other vacationing gods had spotted me on the street, in a shop, and had made it a point to stop and talk. To check in on me.
And I’d seen how Ryder looked at me too.
All of them (except Than) thought something might be wrong with me, or might go wrong with me and they needed to check in to be sure.
And…okay, I did have the weird little memory issues every now and again.
But whatever side effects I had from the soul thing, it wasn’t like I was broken.
“I know I’m looking out for you,” I told him. “I’m looking out for everyone. That’s number one on my job. You sure you don’t want to volunteer for reserve officer? You have the right attitude.”
He flashed me a sly smile. “Nope. Fighting fires and dating a vampire brings more than enough excitement into my life.”
“How is Ben?” I asked. “Really?” Ben was tough and strong, but he’d been tortured not so long ago, and it had taken him time—a lot of time—to heal.
Vampires could take massive damage, but even the undead had their limits.
“Good.” His smile was a little softer, as were his eyes. “Really good. He’s back at work now. Light duty. Has been for a couple weeks.”
“How’s that going?”
“Complains constantly. We don’t see eye to eye on what actually constitutes light duty. But the make-up sex is great.”
