Besides, demons were territorial, and now that I wanted her and she wanted me, there’d be an almost animal drive within me until I claimed her.
Fuck.
Punching Frank’s number into my phone, I held it to my ear, waiting for him to answer as I strolled through the dark streets. Nikki lived in an area bordering the best and worst of this city—it was almost as if you could draw a line and go from one area to another with a single step. The higher end of the city was full of parklands and high-rises, high-end businesses, expensive luxury apartments, and retail outlets. Bordering that was a small middle area of townhouses and restaurants, where the rich came to eat and the poor came to work. Then you came to my domain, the darker side, one area mostly industrial, the other full of apartment buildings cramming as many people into as small a space as possible. Not to mention the throbbing night scene, which kept the crime in the area flushed with dirty money, plenty of people looking for drugs, even more willing to make and sell them.
Nikki had said her coworker was dirty, and I wasn’t surprised. Many of the cops here were. I imagined it was difficult to stay pure when you lived in an area so polluted with corruption, it would be easy to be seduced by money and power, regardless of who was offering it.
Despite Frank living in a penthouse apartment at the other end of the city, close to where he worked at one of the largest architecture firms in the state, I headed downtown through the raging nightlife where the area was fueled by crime and illegal decadence and felt more like home.
But I didn’t miss Hell.
My inclination to get involved in criminal activity was bordering on nonexistent. Since being on Earth, I’d managed to find steady work as a furniture mover for a boutique custom shop, producing items that seemed much too high-class for the location of the shop in this city. Smithy paid cash, which suited me, and he liked me because I could lift the same as two men.
I could lift more, but I felt I needed to keep what he knew about my strength within reasonable and believable realms. No need to unnecessarily explain to a human what I really was.
On the other hand, Frank had chosen hard work, education, and commitment and had joined an architecture firm started by Mike—another demon, of course—and with them both together, it took off.
Frank answered seconds before I was ready to hang up the call. “Evening, Cade,” he said. He sounded out of breath, almost panting.
So I asked, “What did I interrupt? Fucking or fighting?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know, you creep?” I could practically hear the wink in his voice.
“I would actually. Nuno mentioned you attend some sort of fight club or some bullshit. I need an outlet, so tell me where to go.”
“You’re in luck, brother. I’m here now and just finished handing some little fucker’s ass to him.”
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you to pick on someone your own size?”
“Are you challenging me?”
I considered the question. Frank would certainly help work out my desire for a fight better than most demons who were only here for a visit. Earth attracted the younger demons, those seeking a thrill and a fuck, maybe to just mess about with humans on the surface for a change to the tortured souls in Hell.
Frank was older than me and bigger. I was no lightweight, but he was built—an imposing figure that couldn’t be hidden by the expensive suits he wore.
Did I want to fight him?
Kind of, yeah.
Siblings tended to fight more than strangers between demons, some sort of built-in need to take each other down, as though there was a battle for nutrients or survival when no such fight existed.
“Yeah,” I finally said, ignoring the increase in my heart rate at the thought, adrenaline already kicking in. “I’ll fight you.”
“You say it as if I asked you on a date.”
“Don’t be so cocky. I’ll give you a run for your money.”
“Are we placing bets now too?” Frank laughed.
“Not all of us are rich bitches like you, asshole.”
He was still chuckling when he gave me the address—an abandoned warehouse near the edge of the city. I was a handful of blocks away. He added, “Don’t be jealous because I live the life even most humans could only dream of.”
“Don’t wear yourself out on the weaklings.” I sneered.
“You should hope I do.”
The phone clicked against my ear as Frank hung up.
