Torn(57)

Now, though, she came up behind me as I polished the bar with some Brasso and an old rag.

“She’s your little sister?”

I didn’t turn around, but I could see her reflected in the brass I’d just polished. “She is.”

“I didn’t even know I’d lost Alice,” she said, her voice hitching.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“I wasn’t a very good sister to her.”

Her words, so familiar to me, hung heavy on my heart. I looked across the pub, my eyes finding Rose. “You did the best you could.”

She took a bar rag and started drying the already dry glassware. “Do you know how to find them? The demons? Do you know how to tell them apart from the humans?”

I turned, wanting to see her face, and when I did, all I saw was controlled anger. “No,” I said, thinking of Kiera and her demon-sniffing schnoz. “I don’t.”

“I do.” She licked her lips. “I want to help you. Will you let me?”

“Every demon I kill makes me stronger,” I said, then looked up and met her eyes dead on. “I need to be pretty damn strong if I’m going to win in the end.”

“I get it,” she said. “Those two, for starters.” She nodded to two burly guys nursing beers and a basket of cheddar fries. Both were wearing Red Sox caps, and both were making it a point not to look in our direction. “Egan used to supply them with herbs and stuff for their ceremonies.”

“And stuff?”

Her eyes went hard. “I didn’t know,” she said, referring to the fact that I’d told her Egan had also been in the business of supplying the demons with sacrificial girls. “And now that I do, I don’t have any compunction about you taking them out. I’ll even hold them down if it’ll help.”

“It wouldn’t,” I said, “but thanks for the support.” I checked on Rose, who had put her head down on the table and gone to sleep. A quick shiver of worry ran up my spine. Johnson might not be popping out to shoot off his mouth much, but he was making his presence known in other ways. Like the fact that he was slowly killing my sister. Stealing her energy. Snuffing out her soul.

I needed him out. And soon.

And as much as it terrified me, I was beginning to think I was going to have to risk killing Clarence so that we could find the vessel and set Deacon’s plan in motion. I’d bring the wrath of hell down upon us, but if it meant saving Rose, then maybe hellfire was worth it.

Except I wouldn’t really be saving her, would I? I’d be trapping her inside a vessel. Trapped, just the way I feared I would end up if the demons got their claws in me.

Could I do that to her?

I looked at her, and drew in a breath. Dammit, I just didn’t know.

I shook off the melancholy and forced myself to go back to polishing as Rachel went back to checking the inventory behind the bar. We were both engrossed when the door opened, sending a flood of sunlight across the dimly lit pub. I looked up and saw Kiera silhouetted in the doorway.

She stood for a moment, getting her bearings, then moved across the room toward me in long, confident strides. “Nice place,” she said. “Need another waitress?”

“Excuse me?” I was doing a bad job of hiding my amusement. And, yeah, now that I had Zane’s seal of approval, I admit I was warming up to my partner even more.

She rolled one shoulder. “Not like our regular gig pays that well,” she said. “Or, like, pays at all. I need a job. Figured you could use me.” She flashed a wicked grin. “I’m strong. Bet you don’t have anyone who can carry a pub tray like me.”

I figured I could give her a run for her money but didn’t say so. After all, I was now management. And management didn’t play who’s-got-the-bigger-dick with the staff.

I glanced over my shoulder at Rachel, who was listening with unabashed interest to our conversation.

“My partner in crime,” I said, by way of explanation, glancing quickly at the burly Red Sox fans in the corner. “Kiera, my sister, Rachel. Alice’s sister,” I clarified, in a much lower tone.

“Then give the girl a job,” Rachel said, tossing Kiera a tank top from behind the bar and telling her to go get changed.

“I like this,” Kiera said with a grin. “Honest employment. Who knew?”

“So we’re not selling the pub?” I asked once Kiera was out of earshot.

Rachel glanced toward the demons, then shook her head. “Not if keeping it helps you and her.”

“It does,” I promised her. The pub was demon central. A lot like those roach motels, the vermin just seemed to be attracted to the place.