A Darker Past (The Darker Agency #2)(16)

The demon snapped his fingers, and with a grunt, Lukas was thrown backward by a crackling trail of electricity. He took out several tables on the way, knocking ancient trinkets in every direction. His left foot clipped an opulent-looking dresser, too, sending it toppling sideways. It crashed to the ground, pieces coming lose and bouncing cross the floor as he smashed into the wall on the far side of the room. The static left in the air made the hairs on my arm and back of my neck jump to attention. I tried to scream.

Focus back on me, the demon sniffed the air again, then smiled. Every time his eyes met mine, I felt a ravaging chill course through my limbs. Like a total-body ice cream headache. His gaze roamed my body, and I had to bite down on my tongue to keep my teeth from chattering.

With his free hand, he lifted the hem of my shirt and bent to my stomach. I couldn’t see what he was doing, but a second later, a warm, moist trail flicked across my belly, and it was all I could do not to howl and thrash. But that was it. One slimy lick and it was all over. He straightened and released his hold on me, taking a step back. I didn’t try bolting. There was no way in hell I’d make it more than a half centimeter. I’d underestimated him before. It wouldn’t happen again.

“You belong to Lucifer’s lapdog. How interesting.”

“I don’t belong to anyone,” I said with bite. Stupid to talk back to the über-demon? Probably. But this was one area where I just couldn’t keep my mouth shut. I was an independent contractor who’d made a deal to save people she loved. I’d rented my soul out for the next fifty-five years. Rented—not sold.

He leaned close and sniffed again. His acting like I was one big scratch and sniff was starting to get annoying. “You are an anomaly. Because of that, I won’t kill you yet. I have more important things to tend to.” He placed a meaty hand on either side of my head and leaned in close. His breath, warm and with a hint of sulfur, streamed across my face. “But tell your Master the tides are about to change.”

He took two steps back, and his form blurred. Within seconds, he was nothing more than the purple smoke that had puffed up from the broken glass.

I dashed forward and dragged a semiconscious Lukas over to the pile of antiques. I snatched up the boxes, shoved them at Lukas, and then shadowed us the hell out of there.

…

By the time we got the back to the office, Mom and Dad were waiting impatiently like typical overprotective parents.

Mom held the door open. “Everything go okay?”

“Of course not,” I said, losing the small box I’d stuffed precariously on the top of my pile. It fell to the floor with a soft thud. With the toe of my sneaker, I carefully nudged it over the threshold and across the hardwood floor. “We ran into a little bit of trouble…”

Mom rolled her eyes. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to go looking for trouble?”

“Of course,” I replied, winking at Lukas. He told me all the time. Sometimes three or more times a day. His nose did this little scrunching thing, too. It was all very cute. “But what fun would that be?”

Dad came up beside her and unwrapped the tablecloth I’d used to transport the Darker items from the table display. He picked up several trinkets, cringing when he came to a small silver comb. “It’s a good thing we got this stuff away from them. It’s humming with energy.” He set the comb down and looked up. “What kind of trouble did you say you had?”

“I didn’t say, actually.” I gritted my teeth. Apparently not telling them wasn’t an option. I hadn’t really thought it was, but hey. A girl could dream, right? “But since you’re inquiring so nicely, it was the demonic kind.”

“There was a demon in the basement of Town Hall?” Dad forgot about the comb. “Was it there for the trinkets?”

This was my least favorite part. Confession. “It was kind of in one of the trinkets…”

Mom gave an exasperated sigh, and Dad’s eyes grew impossibly wide. Oops. This was his first official Jessie-screwed-up speech. “Actually, in was in a mirror next to the table, but yeah. You get my point…”

“You let it out.” Mom glanced sideways at Dad, then fixed her gaze on Lukas as if to say, you were supposed to be watching her. He turned away.

I was nothing if not generous, and it would have been wrong of me to take all the credit. “If you want to split hairs, another one of Lukas’s deranged exes let it out.”

“One of his exes?” That caught her off guard—not an easy thing to do. Score one for me!

“Apparently, he was quite the player back in his day. Lucy? Yeah, her name’s really Elaine—how was he even able to see her, anyway?”

Dad shrugged. Casual as could be. “Shadow demons can see the dead.”

Huh. Wasn’t that handy. “Well, she’s the one who broke the mirror.”

The corners of Lukas’s lips tugged downward. “I have no idea what a player is, but something tells me you’re not speaking about sports.”

“Blame isn’t important,” Dad said, ignoring him. I disagreed, but whatever. Adults were entitled to their opinions—even if they were wrong. “What exactly did you two let out?”

At least he’d included Lukas in it. “Some demon—didn’t catch his name. Probably because he was too busy laughing at me as I tried to quartz him.”