Page 57 of Hell’s Half Acre

He glanced down at Sorcha. “Yeah, why?”

“You don’t look all right. You look pissed.”

He stepped away from her, putting distance between them before he did something stupid and closed it.

“I am pissed.” Using his powers, he returned the store to its original condition. Since no humans were in here, they had no idea what damage had been wrought, and the last thing he wanted was more paperwork. He should have done this at the ice cream store, but he hadn’t been thinking about that at the time.

Wiping the blood from his brow and lips as they headed back to the street, he dropped the shield he’d put up to keep the humans away from the crime scene.

And the minute he did, he saw Rory standing next to the police officers, staring a hole through him.

Great. The one creature he really wanted to strangle and couldn’t.

By the smug grimace on Rory’s face as they moved closer, Luke could tell the Nephilim bastard knew what he’d done and wanted to kick Luke’s ass as much as Luke wanted to kick his.

Good. He was still in the mood to fight. That was one of the things he missed most about being in Hell. There was always someone who needed a good ass-kicking, and he was always willing to oblige.

Rory headed straight for Sorcha. “What are you two doing here?”

“Passing by. Saw the chaos and wanted to help,” Luke said before Sorcha could tell Rory the truth.

She had an annoying habit of always being honest. Not one of her better qualities, and yet he found it as charming as it was irritating.

Rory ignored him and looked at Sorcha. “Is that what happened?”

He saw the hesitation in her eyes. As the granddaughter of a preacher, she hated whenever he put her in any position where she couldn’t be completely honest. Thankfully, she nodded. “There were three perps and they ran out the back of the store.”

By the expression on his face, Luke could tell Rory didn’t believe a single syllable.

“Why are you here?” Luke asked in an effort to distract Rory. “This isn’t a homicide.”

That got his furry little goat and tied it to a fence. Rory suddenly became sheepish.

“I was…uh…just passing by and thought I’d lend a hand.” He was such a liar for someone who had one foot on the other side of the Pearly Gates.

Luke smirked at his sketchy response. “Why don’t I believe you?”

Sorcha cleared her throat as she placed herself between them. “Okay, before you two start fighting, I think we’ll surrender the crime scene to Rory and get on with our tasks.”

Rory nodded even though Luke was sure he wanted to say more.

Just as they started away, all their phones rang.

Luke answered first. It was Reyes.

“Hey, we just got a call from the locals. There’s a body in the Victorian District. I’m texting you the address.”

“Why are they calling us?” Luke asked, watching Sorcha who must be talking to Bernadette. After what happened with Lawson, SPD wasn’t as quick to call to them.

“Locals are claiming Voodoo or occult. Apparently, there’s a pentagram there that’s scaring everyone.”

Luke rolled his eyes. Though to be honest, he’d give his father credit. Working with Hollywood through his agents, his dad had convinced millions of ignorant people that one of the most powerful anti-hex symbols was Satanic. Now generations of humans refused to use the very emblem that could protect them.

One of his father’s better moves.

“All right. We’ll check it out.” He hung up while Sorcha refused to look him in the eye.

Bernadette…