Page 20 of Hell’s Half Acre

One second, they were on the street. The next, they were back inside Luke’s apartment with Helly waiting near the door.

“What happened?” the imp asked.

Luke ignored Helly’s question. “Are you all right?” he asked Sorcha as he pulled away from her. His fire and wings were gone, as was the fear she’d felt, but his fangs remained.

It took her a second to find her voice. “Not sure. What was that?” She gestured out toward the street. “One of the Feral Closet Demons?”

“No. That was Necos.”

Helly drew her breath in sharply at the word.

But Sorcha had no idea what he was talking about. “Necos?”

“Bounty hunters. Freelance shit-stains who’ll track down a target and take it to whoever contracted with them.”

She stumbled back into the arm of his couch and was grateful for its support. “I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I. They’re normally sent after creatures like me…or Helly. I’ve never known them to be sent after a human before.”

Sorcha’s hands were still trembling. “You said I wasn’t totally human.”

“I say a lot of stupid things.”

“Luke…”

He went to his kitchen and grabbed a giant bottle of rum before he poured two glasses. He downed the first one and brought the other glass to her, scowling.

“I don’t drink.”

He urged her to take the glass. “You might want to start.”

Rolling her eyes, she took the glass and then sipped it.

It hit her tongue like acid. Gasping, she handed it back to him. “That should come with an octane rating.”

His fangs gone, he grinned and knocked back the rest of her rum. “It probably does.”

Sorcha rubbed at her face with both hands as she tried to understand what had just happened. “I saw your wings.”

“Spectacular, aren’t they? Much better than your Dick’s.”

While she appreciated the fact he was trying to make her feel better, she really wasn’t in the mood for his teasing.

“What just happened to me?”

He shrugged with a nonchalance that would have been irritating if he was anyone other than Luke. “The bastard Necos came for you. At first, I thought they were here to get me. But when the lights went out and they didn’t come closer…there was only one target I could think of. You.”

Absolutely lovely. Like she needed another nightmare. “Why me?” She hated that high-pitched note in her voice. She wasn’t normally an overly emotional person, but having demonic bounty hunters out to get her was bringing a level of panic she really didn’t want to experience.

“I don’t know.” Luke held his hand palm upward in front of her. Out of nowhere, a holstered Glock 19 appeared. “I think it’s time you started carrying again.”

“Reyes said⁠—”

“I don’t care what she said. I’ll get this cleared with her in the morning, but until we find out what’s going on, you need to be armed.”

That sounded fine and dandy, except for one thing she wasn’t sure about. “Can this actually kill one of those?” She glanced meaningfully at the gun.

Luke screwed up his face, then shrugged. “Two shots to the head…will most likely slow them down.”