Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Sorcha sighed as they investigated the last sighting location in the woods that led to a Kroger parking lot where the wolf had been spotted two days ago.
Just as with the other sites, Luke and Laura felt and smelled nothing.
“Is it demonic?” she asked. “Maybe it’s just a really big animal?”
Laura pulled her blonde hair back with a ponytail band. “Has to be a demon or other critter. It’s definitely not my breed and a demon would be the only thing I can think of that could mask its scent from me. Even if it was another kind of shapeshifter, it would leave a scent I could detect.”
That was all Laura kept saying.
“Why would a demon be roaming the woods of a small town?” Sorcha looked at Helly.
The imp shrugged. “Not a demon. I’m an imp, but it could be all kinds of reasons. Maybe they’re hunting the set of The Walking Dead? A lot of demons have crushes on Norman Reedus.”
Laura snorted. “That’s set in Senoia…one town over.”
Luke laughed as his phone rang out with ACDC’s Hell’s Bells.
“Really?” Sorcha asked.
Ignoring her, he held the phone to his ear. “Hey, Captain. What’s up?”
While he took the call, she watched a golf cart of teenagers ride past them with their radio blasting.
Laura shook her head. “Good to be young, eh?”
“I wouldn’t know. My mother says I was born ninety.” Sorcha frowned as she saw a shadow among the trees. “You live here?” she asked Laura.
“Close by. Why?”
Hands on hips, Sorcha saw another golf cart speed by. The occupants all waved at her. “This is an unusual place. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Yeah, I know. I grew up in North Carolina and moved here a few years back when I came down for a conference at the movie studio. I fell in love with it. Are you from Georgia?”
“Not at all.”
Laura tsked. “Watch out in Savannah, then. With your sensitivities, it’s going to test you.”
She wasn’t kidding about that. Sorcha had only been there for less than a week and it’d been hard on her already. “I’ve noticed.”
Luke hung up and walked back to them. “Sorry, Laura. We gotta go.” He glanced at Helly and Sorcha. “We have a more pressing case in Savannah.”
Sorcha arched a brow. “How so?”
“Dead college student. The captain wants us back as soon as we can get there. This is high profile with the news crawling all over it.”
“What about the Dire?” Sorcha asked.
He met Laura’s gaze. “Can you keep an eye out and let me know if you find anything?”
“You know I will, cutie pie. Last thing I need is someone bringing attention to my species. We only need one Dire per region, and I’ve claimed this one as mine.”
Luke inclined his head. “Understood. I’ll be in touch once I find out what’s going on in Savannah.” He gestured in the direction of the Kroger parking lot where they’d left his car. “Shall we, Lady Detective?”
Sorcha had no idea why that gave her a bit of a chill, yet it did. “You know, you’re awfully polite for a demon.”
He led the way along the path. “We’re not all bad. And as Imp noted, I’m technically another species. Demons are their own thing. But they can be quite charming when they want.”
Helly grinned. “He’s right. Charm and perfection are what they’re known for.”
“Really? I always thought it was soul sucking.”
Luke sighed heavily. “Hard to suck someone’s soul when you’re an asshole.
And for the record, you can’t take a soul.
It has to be given over freely. So demons come in slick and insidious so that they can charm you out of it.
As I’m sure you know, people are attracted to shiny.
” He cracked a grin at her and threw his head back playfully so that his hair rippled around his shoulders.
“It’s why I shine so bright. I like being the candle to the moths. ”
Sorcha laughed at his exaggerated teasing. “Now, that’s the kind of arrogance I expect from the son of the devil.”
“Not arrogance. Just truth. We’re not at all like the ghosts you see.”
He was right about that. “True. Ghosts don’t try to possess anyone.”
Luke paused to pin her with a frightening glare. “You don’t know much about demons, do you?”
“Not really. I’ve tried to avoid them as much as possible. But I have definitely dated a few…on accident.”
Passing a look to Helly, he started walking through the woods. “Just like people, they’re not all alike. There are many different races of demons. And a complicated hierarchy.”
That was something she definitely didn’t know. “Really?”
“Yeah. The ones who want to take up residence in others…they’re bottom feeders and are as hated by us as they are by you.”
Huh… She’d have thought they were revered. “Why?”
“Because humans lump us together. Just like there are slimy humans, there are slimy demons. Those bastards make us all look bad.”
And Luke definitely wasn’t slimy. Proven by the fact that he opened the car door and held it for her.
Sorcha slid in as Luke walked to the other side and joined her. Pulling his hair back with the pink tie, he waited for Helly to get in and be situated before he turned on the car and headed back.
“So what do the higher-level demons do?” Sorcha was curious about the aforementioned hierarchy.
He gave her that wicked lopsided grin before he answered in a gravelly tone. “Seduce.”
That one word hovered between them. It wasn’t helped by the sudden image in her mind of him making love to her. Worse? She could practically feel him in her arms. His hard, muscled body moving under her hands.
What’s wrong with me?
This wasn’t like her. At all.
And yet she was attracted to him in a way she’d never been attracted to anyone. She’d heard the term “sex on a stick” most of her life. He was the only one she’d ever met who gave that term meaning.
Luke glanced over at her as he headed toward Senoia. “I’ve rendered you speechless.”
“I’ve noticed that you like to shock me.”
“Don’t take it personally. I like to shock everyone.”
“Is that what has you banned from Hell?” she asked in a teasing tone.
But it sucked all the humor out of him.
Helly leaned forward to whisper in her ear. “Don’t joke about that. He’s very sensitive about not being able to go home.”
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know.”
Luke let out a long-drawn breath. “Not your fault. I’m just not happy being here. Believe it or not, I prefer Hell to this world.”
She had a very hard time believing that. “How? Why?”
“Better the hell you know than the heaven you don’t.”
“That’s not a saying.”
“But it’s how I feel. All my family is there and most of my friends.” He glanced over at her and smirked. “And no. Your uncle Ted isn’t burning in any of our pits.”
While it bothered her that he’d heard her thought, she was relieved to know that. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. I had nothing to do with it. I mean, it was close. He definitely had one foot in Hell the whole time he lived. But he managed to pull it out at the last minute when it counted.”
Given the criminal tendencies of her uncle, that made her very curious. All her life, she’d heard her father say that if anyone was going to Hell, Ted would be driving the bus. “How so?”
“Regret. Contrition. He admitted what he’d done and sought to make it right.
It’s not enough to ask forgiveness. You must feel the weight of your conscience and truly wish you’d never given pain to others.
That’s a lot harder than you think. Most want to blame others and never take responsibility for the evil they do.
Nothing in life is worse than someone who feels justified in their hatred or bad acts.
That’s when the real evil takes over and does the worst damage to this world. And it’s how people end up damned.”
Sorcha hated how true that was. “Yeah. Too few want to face the truth of what they’ve done and who they’ve hurt.” Like her ex. He’d been a rotten piece of shit. One who’d gone out of his way to cause her and others pain.
She despised the word narcissist. It was used way too flippantly by those who wanted to label others and who didn’t really comprehend its meaning.
But having been in a five-year relationship with one who still wouldn’t let her go, she knew exactly the mental anguish such people caused.
Bert had never once been able to face anything he did.
Everything was her fault and she was the one who caused him to hurt her.
Why do you make me do these things, Sorcha…
Luke reached over and took her hand. “Don’t worry. Bert will pay for what he’s done. You’re not his only victim, and he has no remorse that will redeem him.”
“You sure?”
“Beyond. He’s not your uncle. He’s been earmarked as ours for a long time now.”
She appreciated his support, but… “I’m not sure I wish him to Hell for what he did to me.”
“Oh, it’s not your wishes that damn him. Trust me. It’s his actions. And he will never change.”
“How do you know that?”
Again, that terribly salacious smile. “My superpowers.”
She should be offended by the way he said that. But he was charming her with those hellish ways.
He let go of her hand and gripped the wheel.
Wanting to change the subject to something less personal, she went back to the original matter. “What details do you have about our murder in Savannah?”
“SCAD student.”
“SCAD?” Was that some new slang she didn’t know?
“Savannah College of Art and Design. It’s one of the local universities.”
She winced as an involuntary image of her sister went through her mind. “Did the murder happen on campus?”
He shook his head. “In a cemetery. Reyes thinks it looks like a sacrifice of some kind.”
That surprised her. “What?”
“Yeah. We get those sometimes. College kids are tricky. They play with things they shouldn’t.
Sometimes those things turn deadly. The police believe this is either gang related, human stupidity, an occult slaying, or that it might be paranormal.
They’re not sure and Reyes doesn’t want to make the call without my looking the scene over. ”
“Why?”
“Because I won’t be guessing. I’ll know instantly if my side had a hand in it.”