“Is he dead?” James asks.
“No, I don’t think so at least,” I answer and Delphi drops down, tipping her head.
“His heart is beating really fast.”
People start to gather, and a man says he’s calling for help. I get to my feet and start to take a few steps back when a woman who says she’s a nurse hurries over. I look around, scanning the face of everyone passing by. Why does it have to be such a nice fucking night out? The street is too busy. The demon could have jumped into anyone.
“Holy shit,” Delphi exclaims. “You went after that demon with the confidence of a barefoot, tweaked out Florida man confronting a gator on the freeway.”
“You’re like a real life Van Helsing,” James brings his hands to his face and shakes his head, eyes wide as he stares at the unconscious man on the sidewalk. “Only you’re married to a vampire instead of hunting them. It’s funny, really, how they don’t make vampire hunter shows anymore since vampires came out of the coffin. Sorry, I talk when I’m nervous.”
I raise one shoulder in a shrug. “There are worse habits than talking.”
The man on the phone with the emergency dispatcher turns and looks for me. And that’s my cue to go.
“Come on,” I say and motion for Delphi and James to follow me back into the restaurant. The doorman of the hotel looks at me incredulously.
“How did you…” he starts, looking at my feet, needing to make sure he saw what he saw, which is a seemingly normal woman in three-inch heels jumping over a suitcase and then proceeding to tackle a full grown man to the ground.
“Ex boyfriends, right? Never want to take accountability,” I say and keep walking.
Larkin stands when she sees us, eyes wide. I smooth out my hair and make sure the tie of my halter dress is still in place, covering the nasty bite on my neck.
“Just act normal,” I tell Delphi and James.
“What the hell?” Larkin sits back down, eyes very faintly glowing yellow.
“The guy was possessed,” James rushes out, still shaking his head.
“Was?” Bazzel echoes, cocking an eyebrow. “Did you kill him?” He looks at me.
“No.” My brows push together as I replay it in my head. “It was weird.”
“Yeah,” Victoria quips. “You chased a guy out of here.”
“He was already running,” I retort. “I just followed him.”
“And now you’re back as if nothing happened,” Larkin says. “You might have the highest kill-count in the Order and be one of the best hunters they’ve ever seen, but now you’re a public figure, a politician of sorts. The general public recognizes you, andwelook at you,” she drops her voice and I know she’s talking about the other members of the coalition and their respective followers.
“What can I say?” I shake my head. “You can take the girl out of the Order, but you can’t take the Order out of the girl.” I bite my lip and inhale, still trying to make sense of this. “I don’t know your stance on demons, but something bad is happening.”
“We don’t have a stance,” Larkin presses. “Werewolves have enough issues within our packs that we don’t get involved in black magic.”
“Black magic and demons are mutually exclusive,” I start but then stop. There’s no point trying to explain this to her. I don’t need to convince her of anything to know what happened isn’t normal. The demon self-ejected to avoidme. It’s a common tactic I’ve seen demons use time and time again, especially with lower-level demons who can’t fight back the same way more powerful demons do.
But the way it left the body…I’ve never seen that before.
“I don’t mean to sound rude or anything by rushing out of here,” I start. “But I think I should go back upstairs.”
“No need,” Larkin says, eyes on the elevator. “Your vampire husband is already here.”
Chapter
Fifteen
“Hi,” I say as Xavier comes to the table. I scramble up and out of the booth, standing before him, His hands go to my arms, thumbs slowly caressing my skin. “Before you ask, I stopped this one from running into oncoming traffic.”
“The fact that men are literally diving in front of cars to evade you is telling, my love,” he says seriously.
