The Unlikeable Demon Hunter (Nava Katz #1)(84)

I nodded.

“You’re persona grata now?”

Again, a nod. I took a very large slug of rum.

She pursed her lips. “That leaves a guy. Ooh, don’t want to let your precious Fallen Angels know you were slutting around?”

I couldn’t help myself. I smiled.

Her mouth fell open. “Which one?”

I smiled wider.

Leo launched herself at me, smacking my chest. “Liar!” she howled, her disbelief clear. “Where?”

I held my cup up, out of splash danger. “You know the park by the theater on Seymour?”

“Yeah.”

I waggled my eyebrows at her.

Her mouth fell open. “You strumpet.”

“Jealous?” I smirked between sips.

“D’uh.” She leaned in, a manic gleam in her eyes. “Give me details.”

Bless Leo’s heart, she embraced her best friend role, listening to me dish and not complaining when I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to rant about Rohan or rave about how good he was.

“Yup, better than ever before. I heard you the first four times,” she said.

I’d been talking a while, mostly ranting at this point, and Leo had gone back to her homework. She sat at her kitchen table, books spread around her, while I munched salt and vinegar chips on the couch I’d commandeered.

Leo’s purple diary lay beside me, a little beat up but still astoundingly glittery. She’d gone to her mom’s and dug it out of storage. I’d read a few of the initial goopy entries which had been enough to make me believe her about being in love with Ari. That and all the hearts with their initials doodled over the pages.

“What’s the big deal about kissing anyway?” I asked.

She raised an eyebrow at me.

I pointed a chip at her. “It’s not the same for guys. It certainly shouldn’t matter to Rohan. You know how many girls he must have slept with?” I bit savagely into it.

“You think he’s slept with any guys?” she asked.

We both got lost in that image for a moment.

I shook my head. “Don’t distract me. I’m ranting about sexual inequality and power dynamics here. The issue is not that he couldn’t kiss me. It’s about control.”

“Boys like him do enjoy control,” she said, pencil in her teeth as she marked up her book with a yellow highlighter. “This should not be a surprise.”

“Great.” I tipped the bag into my mouth, determined to get every last drop of salt and fat. “He’s all pissy because I was the one calling the shots.” I got lost in the memory of ordering him to go harder, and shivered.

Leo spat out the pencil. “Come on my couch and you’re buying me a new one. Scotchgard does not protect against psychological staining.”

“Maybe I should have asked him for permission. Guys like that.” I pitched my voice an octave higher. “Ooh, Daddy, please may I?”

“That etiquette is especially appreciated when a man thrusts his dick in your face,” Leo agreed.

I buried my face in my hands. “I loathe him. But he was so good. I want seconds. Thirds. Thirtieths.”

“Sixty-ninths,” Leo quipped.

I looked up. “Oh yes. Most definitely sixty-ninths.” I sighed. “This is bad. I think I might be addicted to him.”

“Eh,” she shrugged. “Breathing is an addiction. But once you’ve stopped for an hour, it’s reasonably easy to quit forever. So how hard could this be to kick?”

“And to think I never figured out you were a demon before.” I licked my fingers clean.

“It’s because you’re so self-obsessed.”

“Probably.” I checked the clock. Time to head back. “’K, babe,” I walked over to where she hunched at the table studying, intending to hug her, then decided I didn’t want to touch her until she’d showered. “Schmugs.”

Leo shook her head at me. I hadn’t used our special shortened goodbye of “hugs, schmugs” since we became friends again. “Last time you schumgged me,” she said, “I didn’t hear from you for over a year. You suck, and I have no idea why I accepted you back into my inner circle.”

“Because I am your inner circle. Besides, who else is going to get you up close and personal to your teenage masturbatory fantasy?”

Leo blushed.

“Eww. Rubbing one out to thoughts of Rohan Mitra is strictly verboten from this point forward. Besides, don’t you have that Madison chick on speed dial?”

Leo gave a dreamy smile. “Ooh, yeah. She does know how to work her tongue. But that doesn’t preclude my fondness for boy parts. Hook me up with his friends.”

“Schmug me and I’ll consider it.”



I spent the rest of the week so bored out of my mind that I even adhered to Rohan’s stupid schedule. At least it passed the time, since there was nothing else to do right now other than train and study.

Rohan was still in L.A. and even if I figured out the best way to approach him, I wasn’t doing it over the phone. Drio wouldn’t let me help with investigating Samson. Kane was working a security contract–turns out he was a coder who did a lot of surveillance software development for both the Brotherhood in-house and David Security clients, and Baruch was using the time not spent with me to inventory our equipment and weapons. My brother had decided to go back to class and told me to quit calling and checking up on him.