“C’mon, c’mon.” She thumped a big black button and tapped one booted foot impatiently.
The machine whined with a clang of noisy music, then died out. Her shoulders sagged. “Bummer. Short circuit.”
The morning grew brighter, sunlight chasing away the shadows.
Her gaze flicked to the ceiling murals depicting brutal, bloody wars between angels and demons.
He headed for the kitchen. He should go and check the generator housed in the back building and re?—
“So, did that really take place?” she asked, and he glanced back. “The wars? Were you there?” Her sparkling eyes shifted his way, then back up again. “Nah, I don’t think so. You were probably looking after pesky humans embroiled with demons.”
The generator rebooting could wait.
Rolling her dark eyes, an action he’d seen Echo use when riled at him, she paced the length of the two machines, stopping at the hockey game. She slammed something that hit the sides hard, the sound ringing in the cavernous room.
“Hey, Lore?” She leaned against the game table, her hands braced on the surface, fingers tapping the wood. “You wanna play with me?” An impish grin tugged at her mouth. “It’ssooomuch more fun with two.”
He merely stared as she waited.
Did she ever remain still for a second?
That acrid odor beneath the apple fragrance drifted to him again. “You smell of something burned.” He scanned her, trying to find the source. “What happened in your room?”
She shrugged. “Like I said, lit a candle, rats, scared…yep.”
A falsehood.
But he let it go.
She removed her cell, glanced at it, then pushed it back into her pocket.
“Ten more minutes,” she murmured and strolled over.
“Why the glamour?” he asked.
She blinked, stopping a foot away.
“I heard the demon mention it before he attacked you.”
“Damn, Kas,” she muttered beneath her breath. Then, out loud, “So I could have breathing space while my friends hunted him down. Fat lot of good that did. How did he even know I was at the bar?”
“There are always ways and means.”
She cast him a frustrated look.
“He didn’t have to locate you himself,” he explained. “He would have used his minions to aid him. And since he knows your smell, it was easy.”
Her shoulders slumped, and she paced again, in front of him this time. “I know… My fault. I only seem to end up with jerks. Now, one wants to drain me. And he’s got minions hunting me, too. Just how powerful is he?”
“Powerful enough to have a horde crash into the bar, so a midlevel demon. All demons have the ability to coerce humans to do as they want.”
“Talking about my life is too depressing.” She marched past him, her arm brushing against his, and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving behind an agitated vibration. Then, the sounds of cupboards opening and shutting echoed.
Lore rubbed his arm at the tingle her touch invoked and joined her in the kitchen as she rummaged through cupboards. Sighing, she opened the fridge and retrieved a soda labeledCoke. She cracked the tab and drank some of the liquid.
Lore watched her for a second. “If we are not together and you feel unsafe, call my name. My full name.” It startled him thathe’d actually offered her the loophole when he never had with anyone else in his long life.
Her face flushed, she shot him a terse look, didn’t answer, and consumed more of her soda.
