Isaac brightened. “Okay, yeah.”
Shadrach tugged him toward the door. “Great. I hope you like convertibles.”
Isaac’s brows rose. “I’ve never been in a convertible before.”
Up the stairs, Shadrach’s door opened up at the end of a long, luxurious hallway. Plush carpet blanketed the floor, and tasteful glass light sconces on the walls emitted a glittery, golden light. The hallway itself was wide and tall, giving the building a sense of grandeur. Isaac craned his head back to look up at the vaulted ceilings.
“I can already tell this is a part of town I’ve rarely set foot in,” he remarked as Shadrach led him down the long hall.
Shadrach aimed a pout over his shoulder. “My apartment didn’t already give you that vibe? Maybe I should redecorate.”
Isaac’s laughter echoed off the walls around them. At the end of the hallway, they emerged in a glass and marble lobby. The night sky was visible through the wall of clear glass at the front of the building, and tasteful, recessed light strips lined the ceiling, glowing in the crevices. Shadrach led a gawking Isaac to one of the golden elevators and pushed the button.
At Isaac’s questioning look, he said, “Parking garage.”
“Ah.”
The parking garage was no different than any other, with concrete and pale, intermittent lights. Shadrach watched Isaac’s eyes linger on all the different sports cars, his gold-flecked green eyes darting from the cars to Shadrach as he waited for Shadrach to show him which one was his.
Shadrach led him to the right wall, where fewer people parked because it was further away from both the elevator and the exit. When he clicked the button, a sleek red car beeped and lit up, and Isaac’s face lit up.
“Wow, thatisnice,” Isaac remarked, brushing his fingers over the Ferrari logo. The red top was raised, and the interior, from what he could see, was black leather.
Shadrach dangled the key in front of his face. “Go on.”
“Are you sure? This car is probably worth more than I make in a year.”
Shadrach chuckled, crowding in close to hug him from behind. “Killer, you forget that you currently makenothinga year now that you’re no longer with your guild. And of course they wouldn’t pay you this kind of money.”
Isaac tilted his head toward Shadrach. “Exactly how rich are you?”
“I honestly don’t know. I have many different accounts under many different names. I even buried some pirate treasure in Jamaica at one point. I’m not even sure it’s still there.”
Isaac searched his face intently. “Are you serious? Pirate treasure?”
Shadrach nodded. “Gold bars.”
“How many?”
He blew out a breath. “It was four hundred years ago, I don’t know. Fifteen? Twenty? Come on, let’s get moving. I can answer your questions just as well in the car.”
When they were ensconced in the car, Isaac glanced over at him curiously.
“What?” Shadrach asked, noticing his attention.
“Wereyoua pirate?”
Shadrach smiled. “Is that so hard to believe?”
“Is it hard to believe the demon who wears thousand dollar suits once lived on a dirty pirate ship? Maybe.”
Shadrach brushed some imaginary lint off the lapel of his suit jacket. “I’ll have you know, we weren’t as dirty as the movies made us out to be. And for the record, there’s nothing better than piracy for a demon. We don’t need much food or water, so long stints on a pirate ship were ideal even if those resources were scarce. We didn’t have to worry about things like scurvy.Andthere was a lot of treasure to be had. The trouble was keeping it. Which was why you’d find a remote island and bury it, so no one else could find it.”
Isaac guided the car out of the parking garage, using the access card Shadrach handed him at the entrance to open the gate.
“You know, it’s nice, in a way,” he finally said, as the car emerged into the moonlight. “You got to keep your treasureandenjoy the fruits of your labor, because you’re immortal.”
“Yes,” Shadrach agreed. “Most of the pirates I ran with back then were lucky if they were able to pass their wealth on to their children. Many of them died in action or were caught and hung for their crimes.” He shrugged. “It pays to be immortal.”
