by T. F. Walsh
With cutlery in hand, he joined her and dug into his breakfast. “Where’d you get ingredients from?”
“Called the hotel kitchen, and they sent me pancake batter, butter and syrup. Wanted to say thanks for letting me stay with you.”
Swallowing the food, he swiveled on the chair to face her. “Told you last night. Your company is enough. But more of these pancakes would be great. They’re delicious.”
“Good to know. But my recipe is better, just so you know what you’re missing. Used to make them every weekend.”
Levi stuffed another forkful into his mouth. He studied the way Cary cut hers into smaller chunks, then swirled each piece in maple syrup.
On the bright side, it gave him the ideal opportunity get to know her without the complications of sex. Though, he couldn’t stop his mind going there. He studied the slight slope of her shoulders, the strands of hair framing her face. Even the way she chewed her food turned him on. Damn. Shoving the thoughts back into their place, he refocused on his meal and finished in record time. Cary scooped several more onto his plate.
“Well, with all this food you eat and your muscles, I’m guessing you pump. No wonder you’re so huge.”
He swallowed the mouthful of food. “Do continue.”
She studied him with a flirtatious grin as her attention fell on his bicep, and out of instinct, he flexed the muscle. Cary doubled over in laughter but quickly brought it under control. “Just saying you’re a big guy and a terrifying opponent in a fight.”
“You got great tricks too. Not shy either. I mean, I’ve seen seasoned hunters run from demons.” Impressed was an understatement. If her tenacity last night was a sign of her ability, Levi would help her sharpen those talents.
Cary swung around in her seat, her knees grazing his leg. The connection made him question his decision to keep his distance.
She wiped her mouth but missed a droplet on her chin. “I’ve dealt with my fair share of evil. If there’s one thing I learned, it’s that showing fear will only get you dead faster.”
Levi nodded and reached across, wiping the syrup from her chin with a thumb. He stuck it into his mouth, adoring how she studied him with a jealous stare. Was she deciding whether to take her droplet back or lean in for a kiss?
With his pulse spiking, he fought the desperate surge to whisk her into his arms. Why wasn’t she making a move? Damn, any other situation and he’d have her under him. He couldn’t, no matter how much his fingers tingled with the urgency. If she approached him, well then, that was different.
She tucked her lower lip between her teeth. The room seemed to close in around him as his focal point remained on Cary’s mouth. Her teasing gaze tempted him, while her knee slid against his thigh.
“Well.” Her voice sliced through the charged air, and she swung away from the counter, hopping onto her feet. “Better get ready. Test day at Argos.”
Out of instinct to never let anything he wanted get away, his hand snaked out and banded around her wrist. There wasn’t any rush to leave, plus, he enjoyed her company. And most importantly, he wanted to kiss her and tell her exactly what he was going to do to her if she was willing. But those weren’t the words that came out. “I’ll arrange for a cab to drive you there.”
She nodded as if she struggled to speak. Her sights fastened onto Levi, dipping to his chest, and then sweeping across to his hand. A slight smile curled on her lips. “You’re a nice guy. Not what I expected.” She pulled her hand free and fast-paced it upstairs.
Fuck. Nice guys never won at anything. He’d misjudged her. Was she waiting for him to take charge? To pin her up against the wall, strip her naked, then run his tongue across every inch of her body. Hell, he’d contemplated it, but he didn’t want to push his luck. What if he’d read the signs wrong and had just blown his chance?
He climbed to his feet and lifted his hands into the air, arching his back. The day was early and if she wasn’t interested in him behaving, well, he’d accept the challenge.
With Cary gone to Argos, Levi strolled along the sidewalk, his thoughts in shambles. He had to make up his mind about her. Would he make a move, or keep his distance? He cringed as the words nice guy circled in his head. Under no circumstance would he make her feel obliged to repay the favor of staying at his place with sex. He didn’t party that way.
Yet, another part of him couldn’t stop picturing an innocent Cary in his arms as he carried her to bed last night. The distraught expression on her face when she found herself locked out of her apartment. His gut tightened, and he doubted it had anything to do with pity. Maybe he saw a side of himself in her—feeling as if he battled the world.
He walked into a local café, the tantalizing aroma of coffee making him salivate. In the back corner, Chase bit into a breakfast burger. He lifted his chin Levi’s way. His wide cheekbones and blue eyes contrasted against pitch black hair. Apparently, the ladies loved his look.
Chase and him had agreed to go out speck hunting together.
“You’re never late. So who is she?” Chase wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
Levi sat across from him. “You’re right, but it’s not what you think.”
When the waiter approached, Levi ordered a large, black coffee.
“Tell.” His buddy returned to his meal, and in three bites, he finished the burger.
“Nothing to tell.” He had no intention of bringing up Cary or trying to explain what a fantastic night he’d had without sex. His friend would call him a wuss. Levi intended to keep her to himself. Though again, if she worked for Argos, she’d become a buzz on everyone’s lips. And Chase wasn’t shy to approach the females. Hell, neither was Levi, but if Cary wanted to play, he was her man. Besides, once he left Argos, there’d be no rule breaking about dating work colleagues.
“I’m helping out a girl who needs a hand. She’s gonna work for Argos as a hunter.”
His friend’s eyes widened, and he leaned forward in his seat. “You’re shitting me? A female hunter? It’ll be a first.” A wicked grin split his mouth. “What’s she like?”
“Not your style.” The words flew from Levi’s lips faster than he expected.
Chase gulped down his latte and stared at Levi. “I get it. You’ve claimed her. I won’t steal her from you.”
Levi shrugged off Chase’s comment.
Just then, the waiter appeared and set a cup of coffee in front of Levi. The nutty brew caressed his senses.
“After yesterday,” Chase continued, “Brent’s furious. He’s being an ass to everyone. So thanks. And until construction finishes, we’re working out of the warehouse.”
“Other hunters have destroyed shit when capturing jumpers.”
Chase rubbed his jaw and smirked. “But you’re the first to destroy the Argos building.” He broke into a chuckle. “Anyway, heard Argos is reporting the incident to the cops and blaming you. But they’ll hold off on charging you for now.”
“Brent’s a fucking asshole.” If they pressed charges, the police would pry into his past and discover the murder he’d been wrongly accused of. Sure, he’d been proven innocent, but his record remained marred. And it could threaten his bounty hunter business back in Ann Arbor. He didn’t need bullshit when he’d been just doing his job. “Screw Brent.”
“Not sure what to tell you. Do what he wants and avoid trouble. Then get on with things, you know?”
Levi shifted in his seat and took a large gulp of his coffee, the heat scalding his throat. “I’m out of Argos and going it alone after this crap ends.” First, he needed to catch the possessed car. The sooner he did that, the quicker he could cut ties with Argos.
“I won’t be far behind you. Between us, I’m planning on joining another group of hunters in Canada. No more bureaucratic hypocrisy, or being told when to hunt and not getting paid. We’re constantly trying to prove ourselves.”
Levi’s thoughts swept to Cary. How was her test with Argos going? Was Brent being an asshole to her? Except, Le
vi had seen Cary in action and she’d show the guy. If anything, he’d be so blown away, he was bound to offer her a job on the spot. Though, a part of Levi didn’t want her to get the job that quickly. He was getting used to the idea of sharing his hotel room with her for a week.
Chapter 7
The guy pitted against Cary smashed a fist into her face. A shattering sensation rolled through her skull, and her legs weakened. She rubbed her eyes to clear a blurred vision and reeled backward through the Argos warehouse.
Every second of the test fight Brent had insisted on, flooded Cary with memories of her father’s training. She couldn’t walk for days and she’d needed sunglasses to conceal the black eyes. But he’d prepared her for real evil and to never back down.
She curled her hands into fists and smirked at the guy who was the size of a rhinoceros.
While she could bench press more than any female bodybuilder and a lot of men, the bulldozer was way out of her strength league. But each punch she delivered was a step closer to avoiding homelessness. Use your size and agility. She squared her shoulders at the memory of her father’s words.
She beckoned her sparring partner with a curled finger. “Come and get it.”
He charged.
Cary held her breath, muscles tightening. At the last second, she sidestepped his blow and swerved behind him. She kicked her boot into the back of his knee, and he collapsed forward.
Without hesitation, she lunged on his back and snaked an arm around his throat. “Asshole,” she whispered in his ear.
The dickhead chuckled.
His meaty hands latched onto her upper arms, squeezing them. He tugged her forward in a sudden thrust.
Her stomach sank as her feet lifted off the ground. She flew in a bird-like pose sideways, hands extended out in a panicked flap, before dive-bombing. Her hip struck concrete, and her mind clamored for relief from the pain snaking down her leg.
Rhino guy grabbed her ankle and dragged her toward Brent at one end of the warehouse. Her top rode up her stomach.
Cary wasn’t a rag doll and kicked her foot into his hand.
His hold loosened.
She yanked her leg free and rolled away. With haste, she leapt to her feet, and planted her feet squarely apart, fists ready. She’d deal with the dizziness turning the inside of her skull into a tornado later. First, finish the task and prove to Brent that she had the stamina to fight a larger opponent than her.
“You’re like a leech, but prettier,” he said.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.” No matter what, she’d show Brent she had fighting skills.
Rhino guy stormed toward her.
She darted toward the enemy. At the last moment, she set a foot just above his bent knee and threw herself upward. Her legs snapped around his neck, the momentum driving him onto his back. His grunt had the corners of her lips lifting. Yep, he was down. A quick fist to his face did nothing as he bucked, his hands shoving into her butt, tossing her aside.
She landed on her stomach, the cold cement a slap to her face.
He crashed against her back, his weight squashing her. Body flat. One cheek pressed to the ground like a pancake.
“Give up, or want to keep playing?” he growled in her ear.
With her lungs compressed and air trapped in her chest, she managed a wheezing sound.
“Jack, enough.” Brent’s explosive voice released her from the squish of death, but it meant one thing. She’d failed. Brent would say she wasn’t good enough. Well, fuck him. She was better than every other hunter at slaying demons. Why wasn’t she battling one of those?
Rhino guy offered her a hand which she shoved away. “I’m fine.” She hadn’t meant for her words to growl, but hell.
Brent’s footfalls were a marching beat. “Cary, my office.”
She dragged herself to face the tragic ending of her job before it even started. Brent had seen her fight a possessed, and that should be enough. Not fighting a dude twice her size. Upon entering the office, she took a seat across the desk from him. In his three-piece black suit, Brent belonged in a high-rise office with glass windows overlooking the city, sipping expensive glacier water from a crystal glass, not surrounded by brick walls or dust covering everything in sight. Filing cabinets. Desk. Her hands.
“I’m going to do you a favor, Cary.” He brushed dust off his neat suit. “Even if this job doesn’t work out for you, I want you to have eye surgery if you continue to confront demons.” His thick eyebrows pulled together into a perfect line. “I never offer our eye surgery to non-employees.”
Perching on her seat, she gripped her knees, while her mind drowned. He wasn’t giving her the job. Was he now offering her the consolation prize? She didn’t do pity. “What’s the surgery for?”
“It gives hunters the ability to see the aura of a possessed person.”
She shifted in her seat, dread pushing against her, creeping down her spine.
Could hunters see her demon side? Technically, she already had the ability to see auras of people possessed, so could the procedure cause her to lose the capacity? Sure, she could also heal faster than any human and survive great injuries, but not having her sight power would make hunting demons beyond difficult.
She swallowed past the thickness in her throat, frozen in her seat. Her feet were set in concrete, and all she could do was sit there as a chill encased her. Could Brent see her aura? Was that why he stared at her like she was a monkey in a zoo? What if he knew about her the whole time and now he’d exorcise her?
When Brent glanced at his feet, she flinched. Was that where he packed the holy water?
“Are you okay?” Brent asked, one of his eyebrows arching.
If he wanted her dead, surely he would have done it by now. And Rhino guy outside would have used a lasso not his bare hands.
Levi must have had the surgery, which explained why he saw the speck car’s aura. But he hadn’t attempted to kill Cary. So, perhaps it didn’t show her demonic aura. Cary sank in the chair. Thank goodness for small favors.
Brent chuckled, the soft sound similar to her father’s whenever he caught her lying. “Don’t worry. The procedure won’t hurt. I’ve had it done, along with most of the Argos staff. I’d prefer you had it completed before we proceed to the next test.”
More stupid tests? But she refused to appear unreasonable and kept her mouth shut, but nodded. She had to do her best and prove to Brent she’d make a perfect hunter.
While she already viewed demonic auras, maybe the surgery would strengthen it. What if it gave her the ability to see through walls? Then she’d be unstoppable. Though the pit of her stomach lurched as it always did when doubt crept forward. What if it blinded her? Or removed her ability to identify demons? Worse, it could somehow reveal her kind to the surgeon. Her breath rattled on the way down.
She reluctantly nodded.
“Good.” He stood and walked past her. “I’ll get someone to prep you at once for the procedure.”
She twisted in her seat to follow him walking out of the office. “Now?”
He didn’t respond and vanished into the main part of the warehouse.
Sweat pooled down her spine, and she wiped her brow. Everything was happening too quickly. It took her a week to work up to calling the dentist for an appointment. Her hands shook. Give her a demon any day over a doctor.
A female with the most gorgeous blond curls swung into the room. “Hi Cary, I’m Tasha. Brent asked me to take you to the surgery. Are you ready?”
Cary stood, pushing down her top that had crawled up her stomach. “Sure. I think.”
Tasha’s smile was radiant and in a strange way, calming. “It’ll be fine. Doesn’t even hurt. The only downside is that you’ll have both your eyes covered for the next twenty-four-hours. When I had my surgery, I walked into the wall of my apartment so many times, my face hurt for two weeks.” When she laughed, her curls sprung across her shoulders.
Cary nodded and followed Tasha outside. Parke
d cars crammed the laneway behind the warehouse, though it had been empty when she arrived by the cab that morning. “Is it really twenty-four-hours?” Sure, Levi had welcomed her into his place. But how would he feel about having a blind companion? He never signed up to babysit. Not that she needed nursing. Nope, she’d just stay in her room and sleep. Damn, she’d go stir-crazy with a major dose of cabin fever.
Tasha unlocked a black SUV and headed to the driver’s side. “It’s just to make sure your eyes heal completely that’s all. It’s an intrusive surgery, a lot more than your average eye procedure.”
Hating the sound of that, Cary changed the topic for her own sanity, or she’d jump out and dart to the next state. “Nice car.” She climbed inside. A powdery smell of leather engulfed her senses as she buckled into the seat.
Tasha cranked the car awake. “Wish it was mine. It’s Brent’s. Mine is just a small hatchback.”
For most of the trip, Cary stared out the window as they passed through the city—empty lots, abandoned buildings, and young guys hanging on the corners. Not the good part of town, and she hoped the surgeon wasn’t in that area.
She contemplated telling Levi about her surgery ahead of time, but she didn’t have his cell number. Besides, what would she say? He already let her stay at his apartment.
Her attention shifted to Tasha, who drove extra slow through the traffic, and asked, “Are you a hunter at Argos?”
Tasha shook her head. “A spell maker. I write incantations for trapping demons and also create runes for weapons.”
“Like a witch?” Her father had told her witchcraft existed, but not in the fairy tale, wave your wand kind of way. The real stuff, drawing energies from the universe and manipulating them. It wasn’t something that just happened, according to her father anyway. Though, Tasha seemed more the next-door neighbor who worked at the local library with her frilly, white blouse and bubbly personality.
“You can call it that. I only do white magic, nothing evil. Ever.” She cut a glance over her shoulder at Cary, her eyes smiling, but behind them lay something else. “Been practicing since I was a child. My mom had the same ability. I’m about keeping innocents safe, so when Argos offered me a job straight out of school, I was all over it.”