Demon Master (Demonsense series Book 2) (11 page)

“Yep,” Leander replied. “You?”

“Yep,” McClain responded with a small smile. And so it was out, the mutual acknowledgement that both were powered, and shared a talent. “Do you live around here? I don’t think I’ve seen you in the store before.”

Leander extended the hand with the bird and lifted it in McClain’s direction. She flew around McClain’s head in a couple of excited circles before settling back on his shoulder, the one draped in a small white towel.
 

“No, I live downtown, in Pioneer Square. I just moved to Seattle a couple of weeks ago and I’m exploring neighborhoods. I can never resist checking out a new bookstore.”

“What brought you to Seattle?” McClain asked.

“Basically just a desire to try living someplace new. I’m self-employed as a freelance editor, so I can basically live where I like. I visited Seattle last year, and the place just resonated with me.”

McClain shrugged. “I grew up here myself, so it’s just home to me.”

The two men continued to chat, veering from Seattle neighborhoods, back to books, then on to music. Leander managed to make the man laugh a number of times, which was always a good sign. Then McClain mentioned some traditional Irish musicians as favorites, and Leander pretended more interest than he felt. There was an awkward moment when another customer came in and had a question for McClain, when Leander feared the conversational flow might not recover, but to his relief, McClain re-engaged him as soon as the customer had been directed to the correct part of the store, and better yet, he soon offered up an invitation.

“Look, seeing as how you’re new here in town, why don’t you come to our place this Friday? We’re having our annual St. Patrick’s Day bash. I’ve got some friends who play traditional music who usually show up, and it’s a good group of people, powered and normals both.” The last part he said in a lowered voice, with a glance to the back of the store where the other customer was shopping.

Leander felt a warm rush of satisfaction.
Got it in one,
he thought,
even faster than I wagered myself
. “Wow, yeah, I’d love to. Is there anything I can bring?”

“It’s BYOB. Sophie and I provide the snacks and some beer to get started with.”
 
McClain pulled one of the bookstore’s cards off of its blue ceramic dragon holder and wrote his home address and number on it, then handed it over with a flourish. “You’re welcome to bring a guest, of course.”

“I hate to say I don’t know anyone here in town yet, so it’ll just be me.” Leander replied with just the right blend of embarrassment and attempted nonchalance. Bruce smiled warmly at him, and told him what time the party was starting. Leander paid for his book, thanked him again, and said his goodbyes to McClain and Lulu the bird. He walked back to his car with a swing in his step.
Damn, I'm good!
he told himself.

Bree
drove over to Bruce and Sophie’s for the St. Patrick’s Day party in less than a party mood. She had spoken to Dion before leaving home, and he’d told her another Keeper had been killed at an exorcism yesterday. It wasn’t one she knew, but it upset her just the same. And then there was the whole issue of Daniel. When she and Daniel had parted on Tuesday, she’d forgotten that they were likely to see each other tonight, before the planned get together tomorrow for the trial possession. It was sure to be awkward.
 
She’d gone over and over the interaction with Daniel in the last few days, and she thought she had a better idea what he was feeling. Sheer arrogance on her part, probably, that she understood him. Yet it was pretty obvious that he was hurt, had felt rejected by her sudden withdrawal. She thought the old wound of feeling rejected by his parents for the kind of talents he’d developed had been triggered. Maybe it was no surprise her mind had gone to an image of him being possessed when she allowed herself to be close to him. He did have Binder and Demon Master talents and who could fully trust someone with those abilities?

As to her own feelings, she hardly knew how she’d react to being around him. She was annoyed with him for abandoning the field before trying to talk things out with her, for making assumptions. She was afraid that giving in to their attraction for each other would make it impossible for them to work well together. And that was the hell of it. They actually did do very, very well together when it came to power work. They were doing important demon research, work maybe few others were attempting, given it's illegality, with potentially huge positive outcomes if they got it right. She wanted to somehow get back to the relative ease they’d developed with one another over the past couple of months. Trouble was, Bree didn’t know how to make that happen.

Unfortunately, the drive wasn’t long enough for her to come to any useful conclusions. She parked in front of Bruce and Sophie’s and pulled up the hood of her raincoat in preparation for the dash to the house.
 

Bruce and Sophie lived in a cute, purple painted Craftsman style bungalow not far from Bruce’s store. Bree trotted up the front steps and onto the porch, where she stamped her feet and shook out her raincoat a little before knocking on the door. The sounds of music could be heard even with the door closed, and when her friend Sophie opened it, a rush of laughter and the buzz of conversation swelled out along with the music.
 

“Hey sweetie, welcome to the mayhem!” Sophie greeted her. Sophie’s long, wavy hair was down and made a dark cape over the back of the billowy light green blouse she was wearing. She helped Bree out of her wet coat, then inspected her. “Ooh, cute outfit.”
 

"I wanted to make sure no one would pinch me." She had chosen a green dress with a scoop neck and long fitted sleeves. She had tights on underneath for warmth, and was wearing a pair of short brown leather boots that were good for dancing, should the mood strike.
 

And Bree did feel her mood lift, looking into the crowded living room. Quite a few people were here already. The live music hadn’t started up yet, and some old Santana was playing on the stereo. She saw her friends Kevin and Steve, along with their six year old son Hunter sitting on one of the couches. Hunter had an etch-a-sketch on his lap and was busily preoccupied. Kevin caught sight of her and waved a hand in greeting.
 

Sophie asked for her beverage preference, then went off to the kitchen to fetch a glass of wine while Bree made her way over to Kevin. She leaned over and gave him a quick hug and peck on his rounded, pink cheek, and did the same for Steve. Steve was tall, blond and pale, a near opposite of Kevin’s rather pudgy stockiness. Steve was wearing, with no noticeable shame, a headband with green glitter shamrock antennae. Hunter was so absorbed that it took a moment for Bree’s presence to register, and when it did, he launched immediately into an explanation of what he was doing, sure that she was there to talk to him.
 

“It’s downtown. I’m making the skyscrapers. It’s a good thing to make because it’s all straight lines. See, I can make lots of little windows, but they kind of have to connect all together.” He tapped the etch-a-sketch screen authoritatively with one forefinger as he talked, then glanced up at her, blue eyes shining under brown bangs.
 
Kevin reached over and gently pushed the bangs aside. “He’s quite good at this, you know. He’s been in a real phase of designing buildings. Maybe he’ll end up an architect like Steve.”

“I’m not sure I can make the Space Needle with this,” Hunter went on with single minded intensity. “You have to sort of move both knobs at the same time to get bendy lines, and it’s hard.”
 

Bree admired his handiwork, caught up on a bit of news with Kevin and Steve, then started to wonder what had happened to her drink. She decided to go back to the kitchen, where no doubt Sophie had been detained. She greeted several other friends and acquaintances as she squeezed her way across the living room and down the hall.
 

When she reached the kitchen doorway, the first person she saw was Daniel. Bree’s stomach gave a nervous lurch at the sight of him. He was leaning against the counter across from the door, and he was all in black. Black jeans, a black t-shirt with some kind of writing on it, and an open black button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He’d gotten a hair cut, and his hair was standing up in punkish spikes. He was holding a bottle of beer by the neck and taking a sip when she first caught sight of him.
 

The movement at the door must have caught his eye because he looked at her as she paused there. Bree could have sworn an actual electric current passed between them. Daniel didn’t smile or make any kind of greeting. He was listening to Bruce, who was in the middle of some animated story. Bruce’s friend Howard was standing with them, his back to Bree, and when he shifted his weight, he blocked Bree’s view of Daniel, which was a relief.
 

Bree realized with some embarrassment that she’d been standing frozen in the doorway. She glanced around quickly to see if anyone had caught that little interchange, and saw Sophie regarding her with wry brown eyes over the shoulder of someone she was in conversation with. She was holding two glasses of white wine. Bree went over to her, claimed one of them and took a grateful sip.
 

She joined in Sophie’s conversation with their mutual friend Georgia, her back to Daniel, but she was acutely aware of his presence. She heard the sound of his laughter at one point, and the rumble of his voice, but she couldn’t register what he was talking about. Her attention was so divided that she was having a hard time following the conversation in front of her. She took several determined sips of her wine.
 

Given the mixed crowd, there was no talk of powered politics, just the normal kind. She and Georgia were comparing acupuncturists, and Sophie chimed in with some interesting examples of using acupuncture in childbirth. She was a midwife, and loved to talk about her work.
 

The crowd in the kitchen gradually shifted with new arrivals as people went in and out for drinks. Hunter scampered in at one point to get a cookie, hung on Bree’s leg for a bit, then scampered out again. Sophie disappeared to answer the door several times, and to socialize with people in the living room, then Bruce took a turn. Bree had gradually drifted closer to Daniel, and she was on the edge of the group he was talking with when Bruce came in with someone she didn’t know.

“Hey, everybody, this is Leander. He just moved here from California. So be sure and give him shit for invading our righteous state of Washington and spreading his callow attitudes and values.” This was greeted with laughter all around, giving Bree a chance to check out the newcomer.
 

He arrested her attention immediately, not just because he was so glaringly handsome, but because of his vivid coloring and unusual outfit. He was wearing a white poet’s shirt, the kind women always wanted men to wear so they could fantasize a lover from a more romantic time, along with tight fitting, green suede pants. Where did a man even find green suede pants? They were tucked into knee high black boots with gold buttons up the side. It was ridiculously costume-like, but he carried it off somehow, making it look bold and funny. Bruce immediately started razzing him on the clothes, and Leander grinned engagingly.

“Hey, someone has got to bring the light to all you neo-grunge, moss covered Seattleites. I am here from California to help you,” he riposted outrageously.
 

Bree couldn’t help but smile at the picture he presented. He was indeed surrounded by a fair amount of plaid and old jeans. He looked like a parrot among the sparrows.
 

And Daniel, she reflected sourly, was the crow. He was the only one in the group not laughing at the interplay between Leander and Bruce. He was staring at Leander with an intensity not masked by the casual way he lifted his beer for another drink. It was clear that he was reading Leander. It was one of those things that Readers sometimes couldn’t help doing, but in powered circles, you weren’t supposed to be that obvious about it. Bree felt her own Reader sense stirring in response, but she consciously muted it. She didn’t want to go there tonight, didn’t want to try to figure anyone out. She drained her wine glass with determination, and turned to the counter behind her to pour a refill from the ranks of wine bottles open there. By the time she turned back around, Bruce had brought Leander over to her. Sophie arrived at the same time, and Bruce introduced them both.
 

Bree switched her glass to her left hand so she could shake Leander’s hand. His blue-green eyes crinkled engagingly with his smile, and he held her hand a fraction of a second too long. “Bree is such a pretty name,” he commented. “For some reason, it makes me think of the wind in Spring.”

“Well, aren’t you full of, ah, charm,” Bree replied, making it clear she would like to have used another word there at the end.

“A chilly, brisk Spring wind,” Leander added with a twinkle.

Bree tried to look unimpressed as everyone around her laughed, but she couldn’t keep it up, and finally cracked a smile.

“Ah, the thaw, the tips of the green shoots emerge, and there is hope again!” Leander turned to Sophie. “And here is your beautiful wife.” He bent over Sophie’s hand extended hand and kissed it.

“Yeah,
my
beautiful wife,” Bruce answered, putting an arm around Sophie with a mock glower.
 

“I’m glad you could come,” Sophie said politely, ignoring her husband. “Bruce told me you two had quite the long conversation about books at the store the other day.
 
Nothing makes my man happier.”

“People like me would be desperately unhappy without good bookstores like Bruce’s. I’ve seen quite a few of the independents go out of business in recent years,” Leander replied more seriously.
 

“We’ve had a couple of close years, but there’s been something of a movement in town lately about trying to buy local, so we’re benefiting from that,” Bruce answered.