David sniffed the air and looked up. Being a shape shifter, I knew he had to have a keen sense of smell and excellent night vision. It seemed to be a species trait.
“Did you get a visitor, by any chance?” David asked.
“Nothing I couldn"t handle.” Auric shrugged.
Again, I felt like rolling my eyes. I could have handled the little demon, too. Which made me frown. If someone meant to kill me, why on earth would they send such a weakling to attack me first, and give the whole jig away? Anybody who knew me would have known it would take something a lot bigger than that.
Something about this didn"t make sense, making me more determined than ever to get home and call Dad. I had a special phone line to Hell. My father"s way of making sure I kept in touch; not that I needed to use it often, with his almost daily impromptu visits. Someone still had a hard time letting go.
Back to the situation at hand, I realized something else. Auric"s friends didn"t seem to be shocked about the fact a demon had attacked. Just who were these mysterious hunks?
Christopher, the wizard, didn"t look happy, and he frowned at Auric. “The magical wards I put on your place should have prevented demonic entry.”
I sheepishly put up my hand and waved it. “Guilty.” When Christopher looked at me questioningly, I explained. “I"m like a walking no-magic zone. Spells don"t work around me; I probably deactivated your wards when I entered his place. Sorry.”
“But you didn"t affect my sword,” said Auric, placing his hand on the hilt.
“Your sword is blessed, right?” I asked on a hunch.
“Yes. Does that make a difference?”
“I"m Satan"s daughter; of course it does. Your sword is imbued with holy magic. It"s the only type of magic not affected by me.”
Too late, I realized that perhaps I shouldn"t have said that last bit out loud; maybe the first bit as well, judging by the saucer-sized eyes on David and Christopher. To tell the truth, I figured Auric would tell them at some point anyway. But telling them about my weak spot, mainly blessed items, that was just dumb. After all, I didn"t really know these guys, and here I"d just given them an important clue if they ever decided to get rid of me instead of date me.
My dad always said I talked before thinking. Oh, well, the damage had been done. I"d pretend I didn"t say it, and hope they didn"t mean me ill.
Auric"s arm curved around my waist, a masculine gesture I quite enjoyed, and he squeezed me as if to reassure me. We walked towards my place as he filled his friends in quietly about the demon.
His friends, surprisingly, didn"t question me about the whole being related to the devil thing, which I appreciated since I found myself busy basking in the feeling of being so close to Auric.
Not to mention how distracted he kept me with his fingers lightly stroking the skin of my waist.
I"d have to remember to always wear short tops around him.
“How is it you live so close to the bar and me, yet I"ve never run into any of you guys before?”
“We were busy,” was Auric"s short reply. His friends pretended to be checking out the sky.
“Busy doing what?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.
Auric, instead of answering, drew me up on my tiptoes and kissed me soundly. When he finally stopped, I found myself breathless and flushed. But I hadn"t missed the fact he"d evaded my question once again. A mystery. It annoyed and thrilled me at the same time. I"d told him my dirty, awful secrets, well some of them anyways; he owed me the same in return if he wanted to put those luscious lips on mine again. Wait, he just had. Damn.
I didn"t know if I liked the fact that his kisses distracted me, and even worse, he"d noticed it.
What could I say? The man kissed like a god. The term “mind blowing” came to mind. I wondered if this effect he had on me would wear off over time. I"d have to kiss him some more and find out. A hard task, but one I looked forward to.
Coming into sight of my building, the shadows darker here due to the lamppost being burnt out again, the men slowed down and formed a protective wall in front of me as a shadowy figure detached itself from the wall it had been leaning against and moved towards us.
Standing on tiptoe and craning, I tried to see around them, but they formed an effective barrier.
So I walked around them to greet the oncoming figure.
From behind me, I heard the snick of a sword being loosed from a scabbard and raised a hand to wave them down. “It"s okay, I know him. He"s a friend.” I turned to the cloaked figure. “Charon, what are you doing here? Is everything all right at the bar?”
“Your father sent me. We must speak. Alone.”