Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Instinctively, Sorcha reached for her gun to shoot the intruder.
Until she realized that she didn’t have her weapon with her inside the bathroom.
And it wasn’t an intruder. It was Luke.
“What are you doing here?” they asked at the same time.
Sorcha would be amused if she wasn’t standing virtually naked in front of him.
He turned around immediately and offered her his back. “I didn’t realize you were showering.”
For one second, she thought he was being polite and considerate.
And then she caught sight of him in the mirror, staring at her.
“Really?” she snapped.
That annoying smile curved his lips. “Son of the devil, love. There’s only so much I can manage.”
“Out!” She pushed him toward the door.
Laughing, he opened it before she drove him into it. The moment he was in the bedroom, she slammed the door shut behind him.
And realized her clothes were on the bed outside.
Why, Lord? Why?
A deep laugh rumbled on the other side of the door. Two seconds later, her clothes appeared on the vanity beside her.
“Thank you,” she said begrudgingly.
“I’d say you’re welcome, but I prefer your birthday suit.”
Sorcha ground her teeth. She really wanted to hate him. Be furious over what he’d done. Take him to task.
How could she when what she really hated was how much she wanted to be naked with him? He was an easy creature to adore. There was just something about him that warmed her, through and through.
Pulling her clothes on as fast as she could, she opened the door to find him waiting in the bedroom.
“Where have you been?” she demanded.
“I went to notify Lawson’s sister about his death.”
“For three days? Seriously?”
Luke blinked twice, then cursed. “Damn it. I totally forgot.”
“Forgot what?”
“Time flows differently in the Pormundus. I’ve rarely been there since I was banished, and I forgot that a minute there is several human hours…as in Hell. To me, I’ve only been gone a couple of hours.”
That thought made her head ache. “Why would it work like that?”
He shrugged. “Ask the big guy upstairs when you meet Him. I don’t make the rules. I just try to survive them.”
How simple he made it sound, but she knew he wasn’t that accepting. He would fight to the bitter end.
“Well, while you’ve been gone, your demons have run amok.”
He rubbed at his forehead as if he had a severe ache. “Of course they have. How bad is it?”
“They burned down a couple of buildings in the Starland District. Started a riot in Forsyth Park, and wreaked havoc all over SCAD Beach. We’ve managed to recapture ten so far.”
He gaped at her list of crimes, which had kept them all on their toes. Rory was hellbent, pun intended, to put the demons under the jail.
Fear they might eat the other inmates had caused Reyes to call in favors from every politician she knew and a few she’d only met once at a party.
Luke sighed. “How much do I owe the city?”
“You owe the captain more than the city. She wants a word with you ASAP. We barely kept a handle on them while you were gone.”
“Who is the we you keep mentioning?”
“Trinket, Helly, Envee, Simi, and myself.”
He looked impressed with her news. “How did you manage to contain them?”
“Barbecue sauce, silly. Demons are always hungry for good eats,” Simi said as she opened the bedroom door. “Akra-Sorcha? The scanner thingy is howling again with another report about your demons. The Simi thinks you needs hear it.”
Sorcha walked past Luke so that she could listen.
Simi was right. It sounded like another demon—or dozen—was at City Market, terrorizing Byrd’s Cookies.
“Not the cookies!” Helly whined to Luke. “We have to save the store, dominus. You know there’s a specific order I go in at City Market for fine dining!”
What?
“Fine dining?” Sorcha asked.
Luke nodded. “Byrd’s, Kermit’s Key Lime Pie Shop, Savannah’s Candy Kitchen, and the Irish Pub. In that order.”
“And when the Simi’s with her, Bear Hug Honey! ’Cause the only thing Simi loves more than barbecue sauce and ice cream…honey!”
Helly’s eyes widened as if a new thought had just struck her. “We can dip the demons in honey, then barbecue them!”
“Yes!” Simi actually jumped up and down in her excitement.
Sorcha turned toward Luke. “See what you’ve been missing?”
He laughed. “Has Acheron helped any?”
“Not as much as I’d like.” Sorcha paused at the door to glance at Trinket, who was in his cat form, draped over the arm of the sofa. “You coming, Trink?”
“No. I’m sleeping this one out.” He rolled over onto his back.
“Let him pout.” Luke grabbed his keys and headed for Delilah. “Has Reyes said anything about my absence?”
“Well…she thinks you have intestinal woe.”
“Pardon?”
Sorcha flashed him a grin. “Whenever she asked where you were, I told her you ate a bad steak.”
He groaned out loud. “And she didn’t question you on it?”
“Why would she? Besides, it could have been worse.”
“How so?”
“Could have told her you were allergic to milk.”
Grumbling, he got into the car.
Sorcha joined him, along with Helly, Simi, and Envee. The group she’d affectionately named her Demon Brigade. “I feel like we need to install a siren on Delilah. Like the Ghostbusters or something.”
He snorted. “We don’t have a lot of Code 3s.”
“Beg to differ. You haven’t been here with us policing your demons.”
Luke scoffed. “I caught Envee.”
“Envee came along peacefully,” Envee said from the backseat. “The others, not so much.”
Luke grimaced at Envee in the rearview mirror. “Great. She’s been around Simi long enough she’s now referring to herself in the third person.”
“Don’t worry, boss, Helly won’t start doing that.” Helly flashed a large grin.
“So this is Hell…” Sorcha nodded. “I’m beginning to really understand where you hail from. Pun intended.”
Starting the car, Luke glared at her. “I’m using my powers to open the garage door so that I am distracted from the sudden need I have to choke you with them.”
Sorcha laughed at his empty threat. “Play nice.”
After turning onto the street, Luke literally made one single turn before they stopped a few blocks from their office at the corner of West Congress and Jefferson.
Sorcha frowned as he parked on the street. “Uh…is this really where we’re going?”
“Yeah.” He jerked his chin toward the building across the street to Byrd’s. “Right there.”
“Then why didn’t we walk?”
“Half a mile…in the heat which doesn’t bother me, but I know you hate.” He was right. She couldn’t stand the heat and humidity.
Still…
Unbelievable. While thoughtful, it confused her. “It took longer to get into the car.”
“Other reason I used my powers on the garage door.” He gave her a pointed stare. “Are we going to keep arguing about this or chase a demon?”
“Don’t go making sense while I’m looking for a reason to be pissy.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He swept past her to cross the street.
How weird that she’d never realized how close this was to their office. But then she lived on the other side of Savannah in a house she rented on West Victory. While close by way of car, her home wasn’t walking distance. Especially this close.
I’ve got to learn this city better.
And she had to hurry to catch up to Luke’s long strides.
Two uniform officers were already on site, but they weren’t inside the store. People were gathered and they seemed to be holding them back from the area as if waiting for backup.
As she and Luke approached, the officers turned toward them. “We need you to stand back with the rest of the crowd.”
Luke flashed his badge. “Keep taking care of the civs. We got this.”
The officers looked a bit skeptical, but Luke was such a commanding figure that few, if any, ever argued with his orders. She could only imagine how much more fierce he was in Hell where it was his natural element.
Helly and Envee stayed back with the crowd while Simi joined them.
The male officer started to balk.
“Undercover. She’s with us,” Luke said quickly.
Still skeptical, the officer returned to help keep bystanders back.
From this distance, the building looked quiet enough. Except for the shattered window that read Baking Savannah Sweeter.
“Are we sure demons are in there?” Sorcha asked.
Her answer came in the form of a shrill scream an instant before a body flew out the double doors and went careening away from them.
I hope that was a demon…
It wasn’t. By the looks of the hapless human and the school shirt he was wearing, he was a SCAD student in the wrong place. Before Sorcha could check on him, he got up, screaming, and ran down the street.
No sooner had he vanished than another body came flying through the doors. He, too, hit the ground hard, skidded, then rolled straight to Luke’s feet.
Simi visibly cringed. “Why they gots to tear up the Simi’s store? Can I eats them now, akri-Luke?”
“Depends.” Luke knelt down to the bleeding, blue-skinned demon who was trying to scramble away from him.
With a grimace, Luke rolled the demon over and pulled him to his feet.
A sudden billowy haze engulfed them. Without being told, Sorcha knew Luke was shielding the demon’s true form from the humans.
“Who’s inside the store, Harmmy?”
The demon started to run, but Luke caught his arm and held him in place. “You want me to turn Simi loose on you with her barbecue sauce? She is hungry.”
The demon’s skin turned to a light steel blue as it focused its three eyes on Simi. “Don’t eat me!”
Simi flashed a grin at Sorcha. “The Simi still gots it! Scaring demons for thousands of years!” She started for the door.
“Hold on a second,” Luke warned. He turned back to Harmmy. “How many are in there?”
The demon hesitated.
“Harmmy, I won’t ask again. If Simi gets hurt going in there, I’m the least of your concerns. Acheron and Thorn will tear you apart.”
Something that appeared to be fins blew out from the demon’s cheeks. “Six, dominus. Holler, Grudge, Vinny, Zagan, Malyce, and Treacle.”
The look on his face said that was quite a cocktail of chaos.
“What do I need to know?” she asked.
“Stay behind me.” He held his hands up, and Harmmy vanished.
Sorcha sucked her breath in sharply as she feared Luke had murdered the demon. “Did you just—”
“I sent him back to the closet.”