Ruined (The Eternal Balance #1)(34)

“So then the descendants of Cain are demons?”

The priest smiled. “I think it’s a metaphor for the anger and jealousy in all humans rather than a literal meaning.”

Or, it could be the tall, dark guy I’d loved since childhood was an actual, honest-to-God demon, just like he said…





Chapter Fifteen




Jax

I watched Sam leave the church. Judging by the stiff set of her shoulders and the grim expression that weighed her mouth down at the corners, she didn’t get the answers she wanted.

I followed as she made her way down Topper Avenue, staying far enough behind so I wouldn’t be spotted. Coffee. A magazine. She even stopped to look in several of the storefronts. Things I knew she had no interest in. Barbet’s Baby Emporium. Fisher’s Pet Shop. She was stalling.

Sam stopped in front of Hellman’s Fine Jewelry. It was now or f*cking never. I stepped from the shadows and came up behind her, and peered into the window. “Way too high-maintenance for you.” She was looking at a pair of white diamond earrings with a weird little squiggle thing on the bottom. “Plus, they’re so bland. Diamonds? You’re more of an emerald kind of girl.”

“Stalking is a crime, you know.” She turned from the window and started walking again. There was a chill in her voice that stung. I understood, but it still hurt.

Screw it. At least she was talking to me. That had to be a good sign. No rushing off screaming at the top of her lungs. “Depends. Demons stalk. It’s generally what we do.”

Sam didn’t stop, but her entire body tensed. Okay. Might be a good idea to ease up on the jokes.

“I know you’re probably—”

That time she froze. After pulling me off the street and into a side alley, she poked me hard in the chest. “You know? Somehow I doubt you know anything going on inside my head.”

I folded my arms and leaned back against the brick building. “Then tell me.”

She backed off, then collapsed against the brick wall beside me. “I—I’m not even sure what to say. I have so many questions. Questions that I don’t think I even want answers to.”

“Then don’t ask.” I shrugged, trying to keep it casual.

“What?”

“Don’t ask the questions. Think the worst of me and leave it at that—because I promise you, most of the horrible things going through your mind right now are true. But you have to trust me so we can beat this thing. Demons don’t stop, Sammy. We need to find out why this is happening and end it, or it’s going to end you.”

Her eyes went wide. “And how do we do that?”

“I don’t have it with me, but I am a card-carrying member of the evil-infested. Like I said, the cops are out of the question. They wouldn’t have the first clue how to deal with this. I do.” The lie tasted bitter. I had no clue what to do, but it worked. A thin line of pink rose through the gray and twirled around her shoulders. Hope.

Part of me was elated at the possibility that she’d be able to see past my darkness, while another part was terrified of what that could mean for her. What I was would only drag her down. “It’s okay you hate me for leaving…for what I am…but you have to know deep down inside that if I’d known you were in danger, I would never have left you.”

“How do I know I can trust you not to feed me to your demon buddies?”

“Demons don’t have buddies. Plus, I know who really stole Officer Davies’s patrol car in ninth grade.” I leaned closer. Close enough to smell the raspberry scent of her shampoo. After all these years, she still used the same brand. It brought a rush of memories, both good and bad, that left me reeling. “I never told. I think that makes me trustworthy.”

A flush rose in her cheeks and she backed away. “Fine. Then how do we deal with this?”

“First we need to find out the identity of the demon. One of them, at least. On the inside it’s a monster, but on the outside, it looks, walks, and talks human. More than likely, it’s got a job and a home. Relationships. We need to track it down. We can’t stop it if we don’t know where to find them or why they’re even after you.”

“You said you’d been to its apartment, right? There must be something in there. Something with a name on it.”

I shook my head. “Nope. I looked. It’s full of furniture, new clothes, and corpses. Everything else is empty. It’s like the place is for show or something. I don’t believe it actually lives there.”

“Doesn’t matter. There still has to be a name on the rental agreement.”

Sam seemed to have calmed a little during the ride to the demon’s apartment complex. Her colors showed more confusion than fear, and she wasn’t avoiding my gaze anymore. Even talked a little.

She folded her arms, glaring at the door. “So how are we going to do this? The sign on the door says they’re not back until two. We just stand here and wait?”

We were outside the rental office. Inside, the demon stirred, remembering the last time I’d been there. “They’re not going to just tell us the name of the person renting that apartment. I suggest a little breaking and entering. We have less than an hour before they get back.”

She broke into a grin. “I like where this conversation is heading. May I?”