The Demon Within (31 page)

When her search came up empty, Brie sighed. “I don’t suppose you have a smoke?”

“Sorry.” Caly’s feet took her to the well-used trail behind the barn. Even with the limited night sky, she marveled at how crisp and defined everything looked. With Brie at her side, she didn’t feel like such a freak. Brie accepted her, faults and all, without question.

“How can you stand it?” Brie’s voice sounded hesitant, like she really wanted to know but was afraid to ask.

“Stand what?”

“Living with them? Living like them?” She looked away in the darkness, but not before Caly caught the yearning.

Caly’s mind went blank. How does a person explain humans with their ephemeral emotions and erratic actions? Demons lived by a whole different set of rules. “What alternative do I have? I’m different. No matter where I’d go, that wouldn’t change.”

With a glance back at her house, Caly resolutely turned away. “The group back there knows the truth. They might not understand everything, but they treat me like one of their own. They force me to be better.”

Caly looked at Brie and smiled. “They’re my friends.”

“Friends?” Brie didn’t sound sad, only curious and that made Caly realize just how different her life was in the other world.

“You could stick around and find out.”

Brie shrugged and looked away. “Maybe.”

A short silence followed. The pull between them was relentless, like a person dying of thirst with water within reach. For a distraction, Caly asked the question that had always bothered her. “Where did you go after the separation?”

“Into hiding.” Brie swatted away a branch, her face impassive. “I watched you from a distance for a while, but the old goat didn’t give me a chance to get close. Maybe it was for the best. I’m not sure I could’ve pulled away again.”

Caly looked down at her hands. They were clenched so tight, the pads of her fingers grew numb. Brie had been her best friend. Her confidant. Caly knew they’d needed to separate, but she missed the lonely girl she used to know. “You went back to your kind.”

An amused laugh escaped Brie. “You could say that. I found a little band that accepted me.” She gave Caly a look out of the corner of her eye. “Kind of like your group back there. We don’t fight like you, but we’re trying to find a way to live together in peace with the humans. As you might guess, we’re not popular amongst the demonkind.”

“No, I guess not.” A sad smile curved Caly’s lips. The human in Brie, a parting gift from their joining, made her want things that she couldn’t have amongst the demons, made her care when she couldn’t afford the sentiment. Caly could commiserate.

“But otherwise, the group is a lot like yours. We’re allies, but we have our assholes, too.” Brie gave her a brief but amused glance.

Caly snorted. “Don’t think that will change. Men can be jerks no matter what race.”

A small grin crossed Brie’s face, but a fragile hope filled her eyes when she looked back toward the barn.

“Give him time. You throw him off balance. Until Jarred can put you into a box, he’ll be suspicious.” Caly smirked, picturing the Ivy League Jarred she knew falling in love with Brie. “He’ll walk around like a bear with a sore paw.”

“Pahh,” she waved a hand. “I can handle him. He just makes me so furious I want to mess with him.”

“Wait until you get to know him.” They shared a laugh, the tension easing as they arrived back at the house. The lights in the barn were off, everyone down for the night except the perimeter guards.

“What’re you going to do about your missing friend?”

Caly bit back the protest that he wasn’t her friend. He was a member of the team, and that’s all that mattered.

She had only one recourse. “Rescue him.”

Chapter Twenty-three

S
tanding in the doorway of the kitchen, Caly bite her lip, watching Ruman and Brie interact. They had been sitting across from each other for the last five minutes and never once looked away. She felt like an intruder just observing them. Jealously argued to split them up, shove them apart and stand between them.

“Demons belong with demons.” Jarred’s voice floated behind her. “Look at them. They’re a perfect match.”

Caly did look; she couldn’t peel her gaze off them. Ruman appeared fascinated with her double. There wasn’t much different between her and Brie, so what made Brie special and her a non-entity? She rubbed her hand down her well-worn leather. Would makeup make her appear more attractive? Maybe more feminine clothing? She reached up and fingered the chopped ends of her hair.

Footsteps sounded behind her as Jarred walked away. It brought her back to herself with a nasty jolt. A wave of disappointment struck her. What the hell was she doing? She didn’t have the time or the patience to maintain anything girly. Fighting for her life had always been a priority. Today was no different.

Caly cleared her throat and stepped into the room. Surely she was overreacting. She and Ruman had been through so much. That had to matter.

“You left Caly alone. She arrived at the bridge by herself. You’re supposed to be her guardian.” Brie didn’t smile or remove her accusing gaze from Ruman’s.

“I never thought she’d be so foolish as to head out by herself.” He sighed and leaned forward, resting his forearms on the tabletop. “I should’ve known better. It’s like she senses danger and runs toward it.”

“She was the same as a kid.”

Interest darkened his eyes. “Tell me more.”

The feelings of inadequacy rushed forward, irritating the snot out of her. But irritation was better than losing the fight to her doubts.

She didn’t want to revisit her past, especially in front of Ruman, and waved her hand between them. She didn’t have a claim on Ruman, but her logic didn’t ease the burst of pain that he would go behind her back to dig in her past. “Hello, I’m right here.”

They both looked up at her, annoyed at being disturbed.

“We have more pressing matters to deal with than gossip. Maybe the two of you’d like to join the discussion?” Caly couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Without waiting for a reply, she turned on her heel and left, her fingers tapping a fast tattoo against the blade tied to her upper thigh.

To hell with them. They could have each other. What she needed to do was get Henry back, kill the Fallen, and everything could go back to normal.

Back to her life before Ruman.

Before everything became so confusing.

Somehow, that thought wasn’t as comforting as it should’ve been.

* * *

The library was packed when they reached it. Ruman held the door open for Brie. Both kept close to the exit, their backs to the wall out of habit.

He trusted Caly, which only made his job harder.

He regretted the pain he caused by digging into her past, but it was the only way he could get her to face it. She needed to learn she deserved more than life as a trained killer. She deserved happiness. And he wanted her to choose that life with him.

Curiosity forced his attention back to Brie. The similarities between the two women were amazing. But when around Brie, he didn’t feel all the conflicted emotions that bombarded him when near Caly.

If he could find what made him react to Caly, maybe he could gouge it out. If he didn’t, he feared his growing emotional attachment to her would end up costing her life. Even now, memories of them together still haunted him. The way she felt beneath him, her taste, her smell. Against his will, his body hardened at the thought of Caly naked in his arms.

His gaze landed unerringly on her, irresistibly drawn to her. The leather outfit showed every detail of her body. A body that fascinated him as much as her sharp mind. Everything about her reminded him of their time alone, and what they would’ve done if she hadn’t called a halt.

He was balanced on a fine edge. If he fell, his name would be added to a long line of angels who lost themselves over a mortal.

For some reason, he didn’t feel anxious about the fact. If it meant he could have Caly for just a few precious minutes, he’d surrender without a struggle.

But he had to save her first. He had to keep his distance to prevent his feelings for her from crippling his ability to do his job. Brie would be his buffer. If he failed and lost Caly, damnation would be too good for him.

“We have only hours to plan our attack. If we don’t find Henry tonight, what’s left of him won’t be worth saving. Dusk is our best offense.” Caly rubbed her brow, and Ruman wished he could get her to rest more. She looked too pale ever since their return.

“No one has to tell me he’s been a pain in the ass. It’s understandable if some of you may not want to volunteer for this mission. No one will think less of you.”

No one so much as twitched. Caly flashed a smile that did weird things to his chest.

“We know he refused to stay at the house with the rest of us, but has he told anyone here where he’s been lodging?” Tension filled the silence.

“What about that girl we spotted with him?” Kelly looked to David, nudging him so hard he nearly slipped off the chair. “Felicia something.”

David caught his balance. “Blonde, stacked.” He held his cupped hands some distance out in front of his chest. “Only saw her across the street with Henry. I didn’t catch her name.” He cleared his throat when Kelly locked her unblinking gaze on his. “What?”

“Then we’ll search another way. David, check your computer for any missing persons reports or an increase of deaths in any specific area.”

Eager to dodge Kelly’s caustic death stare, he flipped open his laptop. Keys clattered as David became lost to the world.

“Brie, any idea of the numbers we might face?”

Ruman narrowed his eyes at the way Caly singled out her double. She should know better than to make her the center of attention in a room full of demon hunters.

“Caly.” Those hard eyes turned his way, and his breath stuttered in the need to take her into his arms and watch her melt back to the warm woman, not the hardened killer before him.

“Everyone knows Brie’s a demon. To pretend otherwise would be like trying to ignore a beer guzzling biker in spandex and a pink tutu.” Caly dismissed him, focusing on Brie like he ceased to exist.

His vow to keep his distance vanished. When he got her alone, she’d realize he wasn’t so easy to dismiss.

“Brie?”

“Demons are adaptable; we blend in easier in places that have a higher population. The larger the city, the higher the density of demons.”

“Easier to choose your prey?” The jeer came from the opposite corner of the room.

Before Ruman could protest, Caly rounded on the heckler. “Jarred, if you’ve nothing to add, go to the basement and prep the weapons.” The stubborn man crossed his arms, but kept his trap shut. Ruman saw Brie nail Jarred with an impassive look, but beneath, a piece of her soul crumbled.

“He’s right. In the last few weeks, attacks have escalated. The demons have become more aggressive, killings have increased.” Brie flipped the hair out of her face then reached for a pack of cigarettes only to come up empty. Her fingers shook, and she clenched them into fists.

Ruman narrowed his gaze. That wasn’t anger, that was hurt, a strictly human emotion. He snuck a glance at Caly and wondered if she suspected anything.