Demons Prefer Blondes (Demons Unleashed #1)(91)

“Zip code, 48169.” Pointing at the map emblazoned on the screen, Kalli shifted in the chair and snorted. “And here I was expecting to see 666 in there somewhere. Nope! All they get is a little 69.”

Rafael blew out a deep breath. Leave it to Kalli to crack a joke when times were dire. “Bloody hell! This isn’t the time for jokes.” With an irritated growl, he clenched his fists. He struggled to fight the urge to pound his fist into the first inanimate object he came across. “I need to save Lucy—now!”

Kalli rolled her tongue ring between her teeth and spun the chair to face him. “I want to save Lucy too, but we can’t just up and travel there. First, we’ve never been there. We could get lost in the portal. Also, it’s too far, even if you’re able to focus on Lucy. On top of that, Belial’s probably blocked the area from any traveling.” She blew out a frustrated breath of air. “Bastard.”

Rafael drew his lips together. Excellent points. “How far is Hell?”

Kalli punched some more keys and hit enter. Scanning the website, she scratched at her rainbow mop of hair. “A couple hours by car.”

Computers, Rafael mused. Was there anything you couldn’t find or do nowadays? “Impressive. Time to throw away that atlas.”

“You need to get out more.”

“What am I doing now?” Crossing his arms, he narrowed his gaze. “So I guess we’re driving.”

“There’s one itsy-bitsy problem.” Kalli played with her tongue ring, the metal clanging against her teeth.

Bloody hell. Clinging to every last bit of control, he took a deep breath. “What is it?”

Kalli scraped a red lock of hair from her face and lowered an embarrassed gaze to the floor. “I don’t know how to drive.”

“You’ve been here for how many years and never learned?”

“You never learned either!” Kalli crossed her arms. “I distinctly remember an accident with a Model T I was sent to clean up.”

Now wasn’t the time to bring up the past. “I wanted to keep myself separated from Earth.”

He refused to dwell on Miss Amanda Newell, all the pain and heartbreak she’d caused him. His jaw twitched. At one time he would’ve cried, but now he just felt anger. Not at Amanda or Lamia, but himself. He wouldn’t let them get the best of him again. He would rescue Lucy, and he knew what to do.

Ripping his cell phone from his pocket, he punched in some numbers.

“Who you calling?”

Rafael, despite the direness of the situation, let a smile spread across his face. “We have friends who can drive.”

Kalli arched both of her brows, bemusement swirling in her gaze. “Friends?”

“Gerardo and Frankie!” he boomed, excitement lacing his tone.

Eyes widening, Kalli chuckled. “Why didn’t I think of them?”

“Gerardo?” Rafael cupped the receiver to his ear.

“Sí,” the Latino responded in his native language. “Who’s there?”

“Rafael.”

“Rafe?” The man’s effeminate Latino accent echoed in his ear. “Where’s Lucy? Kalli said something happened. What’s going on? Is everyone all right?” The words flew out in a jumbled rush.

“Lucy was kidnapped by a couple of Belial’s minions. They’re taking her to Hell. We need your help.”

“?Ay, Dios mío!” A string of other words Rafael didn’t recognize rang in his ear. Frankie’s frantic voice muffled in the background. “Lucy’s been kidnapped.”

There was no mistaking Frankie’s gasp in the background. “What happened?”

“Un momento,” Gerardo rattled off.

The scraping sounds of the phone shuffling scratched in his ear. In the background, Gerardo quickly relayed a brief and completely paraphrased explanation. “See! We have to go. Right?”

In truth, he didn’t like bringing humans into a demon’s battle, but he had no choice—not if he wanted to save Lucy.

“Yes, Lucy’s life depends on it.”

On the other end of the line, more hushed arguments followed by more scuffling. Now wasn’t the time to argue over a phone.

“What do we have to do?” Frankie’s usually soft southern lilt screamed urgency.

“We need you to take us to Hell, Michigan.”

“Hell? You’re joking. It’s way out in the boonies. There’s nothing there.”

How wrong Frankie was. “There is now, and we haven’t much time. Kalli and I are on our way. Be ready in—” He reached in his pocket and pulled out his old timepiece, the one he’d cherished for so long—the one given to him by the enemy. He flung it against the wall, metal, glass, and gears flying and skittering across the floor. “Five minutes.” With that, he clicked the button to disconnect the call.

Kalli stood there, arms crossed, twirling her lip ring with her tongue. “That’s an antique, you know.”

“It’s worth naught but a bitter reminder of a love that never was. I’d rather let go of the past and move on to the future.”

“Fair enough.” Kalli slinked over to the broken bits and scooped them up. “Always cleaning up after you, aren’t I?”