Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Why go home…
Luke sat alone at his desk, hating the fact that Sorcha’s words had really impacted him.
It’s home. Why wouldn’t I want to go back?
But then he’d never realized how empty that single word was. Home.
A place where someone belonged.
The only people he had feelings for were his mother and Helly.
To a lesser degree, his father. But he wasn’t protective of Old Scratch in the same way he was for his mother or Helly. As his father used to say, if you can’t protect yourself, don’t expect anyone else to do so.
And while he’d had fun with Sorath, he could see the fallen angel anytime he wanted. He actually saw him more here than he’d seen him in Hell.
Same for his mother.
So why was he so hell-bent on returning?
“Don’t be stupid. You don’t belong here,” he sneered at his melancholy.
What was he supposed to do? Get a house in the burbs? Have some little demons of his own?
The very thought made him want to vomit. He wasn’t a father any more than Lucifer had been.
He could barely corral Helly, and the Closet Demons were impossible. He couldn’t imagine trying to actually parent something.
As if she sensed his dark mood, Helly appeared in front of him. “What’cha doing, boss?”
“Moping.”
“Can I help?”
He snorted at her question. “You want to mope, too?”
“If it’ll make you feel better.” She flopped down in the chair in front of his desk. Then, she pouted like a toddler who had broken a favorite toy. “So, what are we moping about?”
He started not to tell her, but he was interested in her opinion. “Do you miss Hell?”
“Not at all. Why?”
That was what he figured. Still… “Did you have friends or family there?”
Her eyebrow shot north. “What?” The way she asked that was comical.
“I’m serious. Did you leave friends or family behind?”
She seemed baffled by his question. “After all these centuries, you’re asking me about this now?”
“It dawned on me that I never asked you about it before. Bad oversight.”
She cocked her head to stare at him. “Who are you and where’s my dominus?”
“It’s me, Imp. I was just curious.”
She got up and propped her head against his desk so that she could stare up at him like a small child, seeking something. “You’re my only family, dominus. Didn’t you know that? It’s why I left with you.”
He would have considered himself more a burden for her than family…
Then again, family could be a burden, couldn’t it?
“Surely you have other friends and real family.”
She shook her head. “You are my real family. Ever since you were born and your mother grabbed me by the neck and told me to guard you or die. I’ve had no one but you.”
“That hardly forms a bond.”
“It does if you don’t want to die.”
He pursed his lips. “You know what I mean.”
“I do and I admit that you were a little hard to love when all you did was cry, pee, shit and vomit. But after a while, you learned to wipe your chin, use the bathroom and talk. Eventually, you became fun.”
“Eventually?” he asked incredulously.
She nodded. “And if it matters to you, I did learn to love you before you became fun.”
He gave her a piercing stare at something she’d never said to him before. Something that was incomprehensible. “You love me?”
“I do.” She offered him a bright smile. “I have for a long time now. You’re my baby, dominus. Why wouldn’t I love you?”
He scoffed. “I’m your assignment.”
“You’re my best friend. My only friend, actually. And I’ve cherished the centuries we’ve spent together.”
That made him feel terrible. “I haven’t been kind to you.”
“Better than anyone else.”
That made it all the worse. And in that moment, he hated himself for every cross word he’d ever given her. Every order he’d barked or growled. She deserved much better than that and he would try to remember in the future that she was his family, too. “I’m such an asshole.”
“You’re my asshole, and I find no fault with you.”
She was like his mother. Actually, she was better. His mother found fault with him all the time.
Helly had never done such.
With a frown, Helly closed the distance between them. “What’s wrong? Really?”
“I never realized until today that I’m alone.”
She pulled her head back and frowned. “You’re not alone, dominus. I’m here. Always.” She moved to pull him into her arms.
Normally, Luke would have rebuffed her for that gesture. But tonight…
He folded the tiny imp into his arms and held her tight against him. Closing his eyes, he savored the hug. “This is a first.”
She nodded against his shoulder. “Weird, isn’t it?”
Laughing, he released her. “Maybe. A little.”
“We never have to speak of this again.”
That actually made him smile and he was grateful for it. “Thank you, Imp.”
“I’m here to serve. In most ways. Remember, you’re like a son to me so there are limits to the serving. I hope. Please don’t ever ask me to serve like that. It would be all kinds of gross.”
Shaking his head, he gently pushed her away. She was right, they were family. And he should have seen it sooner.
In all his life, she’d been his only real constant. The one who’d been with him through the worst moments. Even now, he could see her popping in when he’d been banished. Determined to stay with him no matter where he went.
He ruffled her hair playfully. “Do you want to go back to Hell, Imp?”
“I will follow you to Hell itself.” She flashed a fanged grin at him. “Wherever you go, dominus, I go.”
He appreciated that thought, but it didn’t answer his question. “I’m not asking if you will. I’m asking what you want. Do you miss home?”
“Oh. I do not miss anything about it.”
For some reason that surprised him. “Nothing?”
She gave him a gimlet stare. “It was an entirely different experience for those of us who weren’t the prince of Hell.”
That made sense. And he felt guilty about it. Especially where she was concerned. “I never noticed.”
“Why should you? You had everything you wanted.”
Maybe. But he’d realized something after being around Sorcha…
He wasn’t the most important creature in the room at any given time. Others mattered, too.
Such a simple concept and yet it’d taken him far too long to realize it.
“Come, dominus…let’s leave your office and have some fun.”
“Only if you call me Luke.”
Helly choked. “P-pardon?”
“It’s time you called me something other than lord. I’m no one’s lord here and as you said, we’re family.”
“Okay, I’ll try. But I make no promises.”
Saturday night… Sorcha still couldn’t believe that she was out on a date. It’d been so long that she could barely remember one.
Her mother would die of shock if she told her.
Which was why the only one who knew was Luke. And he wasn’t happy about this at all. He’d been spitting and cursing all day.
But while he continued to complain, he couldn’t say anything bad about Rory.
The man’s part angel. How bad can he be?
She kept coming back to that fact. Her only real question was if Rory knew it.
Sorcha glanced about the unique pirate decor from her seat in a wooden booth. “They really bought into the whole pirate motif, huh?”
“Yes, they have. This was originally a pirate’s den in 1753. You can read the history on the back of the menu.”
Hmm… She flipped it over. Sure enough, it was all there. Interesting.
She turned the menu back over so that she could read it. “What’s good here?”
“Fried chicken is my favorite. But I promise it’s all good. I’ve never had anything that wasn’t delicious.”
Sorcha tried to focus on the paper in her hand, but the ghost to her right was making it really hard to do so. It didn’t help that the ghost weirdly reminded her of Jack Sparrow. A little more clean-shaven, but Johnny Depp had some serious competition here.
Worse, he kept trying to tell her something. He wasn’t speaking. Just gesturing toward the gated cellar stairway. The brick there looked about three hundred years old, as did the old wooden stairs and the green shutters that rested above a creepy red light.
Still, the ghost kept gesturing at it with purpose. It was so annoying that she finally gave up trying to read. “What is that area over there?”
Rory glanced at the stairway where the ghost stood. “It goes to a cellar, and rumors say there used to be tunnels where they’d drag passed out men from here to ships so that they could shanghai sailors.”
Made sense. No wonder the ghost was looking so distressed. He was probably trying to warn patrons not to drink too much and fall victim to being kidnapped.
How she hated her powers.
Which made her wonder something. “Do you have any peculiar habits or abilities?”
Rory glanced up with a frown. “Like what? A third nipple?”
“Or a parent who’s not quite human?”
He laughed out loud. “My mom can be a bear if you wake her up too early. Other than that, no. Why?”
She shrugged. “Just wondering. Personally, I can pick up things with my toes.”
“Okay.”
Awkward silence fell as he looked over the menu, and she continued to wonder if Luke could be wrong about the detective. He seemed so “normal.”
Which took her thoughts back to her partner.
It wasn’t until this moment that Sorcha realized how much she enjoyed Luke’s company. If he were here, he’d be telling her what the poor departed soul wanted. As well as the history of this place.
She wouldn’t be surprised if he’d sat at a table here and hustled souls for his father. Indeed, she could easily picture him dressed as a pirate, drinking from a tankard while he chatted up the desperate sailors.
A part of her wanted to pick up her phone and call him to ask about it. But even she knew how rude that would be while on a date with another man. Not that Rory was bad or boring. He was just so…
Normal.
While she’d craved normal during the years she’d dated the horrible hairy monster known as Bert, Luke had taught her that there was something to be said for those who were offbeat.
But you’re not on a date with Luke…
She needed to put him out of her thoughts, for at least tonight, and remember that she was on a date with someone else.