by Derek Adam
“No. Not really, Sutter.” I put the phone to my ear and stared off into nothing as the ringing started.
“It ain’t like this is a big deal. You fussed with demons before. I just never seen ya snap one like that. Poof! I didn’t know you could do that.”
“Me either.”
“If that was anything like the rides I take, it’s gonna be catty as hell when it snaps back, boy.”
I was more than just nervous. I’d seen a lot over the years, but I’d never seen a demon take that many blessed rounds and keep coming.
“Where were you with all that anyway? You coulda helped out, you know.”
“I figured you had it.”
“What gave you that idea; me hitting the floor?”
Sutter grinned at me and tipped the hat back on his head “Nah. Just didn’t want you gettin’ spoiled, is all. ’Sides. The girl gotcha.” He paused and made a face, scrunching his brow. “Least I thought she did…”
The line continued to ring and I hung the cell up, looking to Sutter.
“What do you see with her, Sutter?”
“Huh? Like how she looks?’
“Yeah.”
“Hoo… Rooster, if that were my flavor drink, boy, I’d drink her up like a jug o’ shine.”
“I don’t even know what that means. Sutter, her looks. How does she look. Is she different? You see more than I do. C’mon.”
“Oh that. No, she’s clean. Almost glowy.”
“Glowy?”
“Yeah. Like a glowy worm all shiny in the dark. She’s glowy. Ask Virgil, he saw it.”
“Saw what?”
“Saw she’s glowy. All shiny. Hell, I don’t know. She ain’t look like them, if that’s what you’re askin’. She ain’t people though.”
“You think I can trust her?”
“Rooster, ain’t nobody know that but you. But I like her. Ain’t felt a woman’s touch in a long time and that was nice…”
Sutter was grinning as he rubbed his face, squeezing his cheeks the same way Emma had grabbed him.
I nodded and looked down to my phone. It’d just keep ringing if I called Hitch again, but maybe his department knew where he was at.
Sutter looked at me again while he was still squeezing his cheeks.
“You like her.”
I mumbled and turned away from him. I didn’t need a century-old cowboy, who lived on hooch and whores, digging into my interests.
He wasn’t wrong though. She had my attention. I don’t know why.
Every little thing about her was catching my attention, from the way she carried herself to the way she spoke.
And then the similarities in our abilities.
The chances of running into her like that, out here.
Sutter was suddenly in front of me, and I came up short to stop from walking through him.
“Jesus Christ, Sutter!”
“Aaaah. You do! Rooster found a hen.”
“Stop it.” I looked up the number to the local dispatch office and called in. It rang twice before a woman answered.
“Yeah, I’m looking for Hitch… eh, Trooper Villano.”
Sutter was dancing slowly, making lewd motions with his hips and grinning at me. I stared at him flatly and glanced toward Emma’s room to make sure she couldn’t see him.
I never had to worry about Sutter embarrassing me before.
“Trooper Villano is on patrol. Is there something I can help you with?
“Do you know where I could find him?”
“He’s responding to a call right now.”
“Can you have him call me, please? My name is Luca and m-”
She cut me off, an irritated tone crossing her voice. “We don’t really do that unless it’s an emergency. If you have his cell, you can try him there. Is this an emergency?”
“You have no idea…”
“I can send an officer to you if you need assistance, sir.”
“No thanks.” I hung up and slid the phone into my pocket, placing my hands on my hips. I had no idea how to proceed from here.
Nothing unusual about that. Grandpa always taught me to embrace that, but it was frustrating concept.
‘You don’t need a plan, Luca. Sometimes you just gotta roll with it.’ It was a nice motivational speech, but it didn’t really provide a solution.
And I didn’t like to just let things happen.
Whatever that thing was, demon or whatever, was a hell of a lot stronger than anything I’d dealt with in the past. I needed a plan.
Other stuff might work. Holy water, maybe.
Maybe take its head off with a sword.
The way it rag dolled me to the floor, though, I wasn’t exactly keen on getting close enough to find out and be wrong.
Hell, I couldn’t just walk away either.
“Where’s Virgil?”
“Right here.”
I blinked as he answered from next to me, straightening as I flinched, closing my eyes with a sigh.
These two creeped up on me all the damn time and it didn’t usually irk me, but I was on edge right now.
“Just… both of you watch for anything out here. I need to check on Emma.”
Sutter gave me a thumbs up and winked at me, before repeatedly sticking his index finger through a hole he made with his thumb and index finger on his other hand.
Virgil looked to the gesture, then to me, back to Sutter again, and then looked to me with understanding in his eyes.
“OH… oh, Luca. Good for you. We’ll watch for you.”
“No, that’s not… Dammit, Sutter. You two are morons. Just keep watch; you know what to look for.”
“What should we look for, sir?” Virgil looked inquisitive, but I honestly couldn’t tell if he was messing with me or not.
He did it so rarely that it always caught me off guard. I stared at him, trying to judge the question and just went with it.
“Weird shit.”
“How weird?”
I started to turn away when Sutter called after me.
“Rooster.” Even with a single word, his voice was different. I turned back, expecting him to be humping the bumper of the truck or something like that.
He wasn’t. He was just standing there, looking at me, with his head down just a bit.
“What, Sutter?” He shuffled a bit.
“You shouldn’t ah… miss out on a good woman that could make ya great. Ya know, just ’cause she’s a lil’ difficult.”
“…okay…”
“The good’uns ain’t easy, but they’re worth it.” The three of us stood there in silence, both Virgil and I staring at Sutter.
“Weirder than him?” Virgil piped up.
“About the same but with more teeth.” I turned with a smirk, but Sutter’s words had a little ring of truth to them that stuck hard to me.
I debated knocking but had felt comfortable enough to just enter, knowing she was only making a phone call.
I assumed she was just checking in with whatever employer she had.
Still, there was some hesitation when I went to turn the handle to the door. I pictured walking in on her in the nude.
Or startling her and having her Chuck Norris kick me into the back of the truck.
…or shoot me in the face with her magic cannon.
I liked the idea of the nude thing… that one stuck with me and I kind of hoped for that.
That’s not how my luck went though. For me, I was more of the get-kicked-in-the-face type. Going for it like going all-in on a hand of Hold Em’, I went ahead and slid my extra keycard into the reader and opened the door.
I was terrible at poker and had never won money.
Luck didn’t really change here.
Emma was standing next to the bed, holding the phone, listening intently.
Fully-clothed, of course. I couldn’t expect much else. We’d only been here for a bit. She had stripped out of the extra clothes I had given her, and was dressed only in her leather body suit.
Damn, sh
e looked good…
Not that being here for days or weeks would make a difference. Emma didn’t seem the type of woman who stripped free of her clothes to make a phone call.
Then again, I’d never met a woman like Emma, either.
Maybe she was the naked type…
I slowly closed the door behind me and she turned to watch me as I entered. Her long straight black hair framed her face as she looked at me with hard eyes.
Not with anger, or irritation. They were just stoic. I felt my stomach knot. Her piercing eyes just did that to me. I could tell she had been deeply engaged in whatever conversation she was having.
But she softened a bit when she took me in and her lips curled into a smile on one side, for just a second, before she looked off and nodded, speaking quietly into the phone.
I stood awkwardly by the door, not wanting to step more into the room without being invited – which was silly because I’d just entered without knocking anyhow.
My hands went to my pocket, then I folded my arms, then just as quickly put them on my hips while I sniffled quietly and looked around.
Bella was curled on the bed. Her nose had been tucked up into her flank but my entry caught her attention. She watched me curiously with her ears up but it wasn’t long before she let her head flop onto the bed and rolled to the side, panting quietly with her eyes squinting.
It looked like Emma hadn’t even used the room. The bed was perfectly made. Had she actually slept?
No one had been in to tend to the room. Her towels were slung over a wood chair in the corner and the takeout boxes for the food were sitting on the table near me.
Along with the unopened bag of dog treats.
I couldn’t really make out what she was saying. Not that I was trying to eavesdrop.
There just wasn’t much else to do while I waited for her. The other party was doing most of the talking anyhow.
This was why I appreciated just working for myself. There was no one to answer to, no one to check in with. I could go where I pleased and be as comfortable as I like, in quiet seclusion.
At least until someone reached out for jobs like this.
Not… exactly like this. This was fucked.
Emma looked to me again and I found her watching me while she listened, looking me over.
That made it all the more awkward. All I could do was loft my eyebrows at her. She smiled at me again while she listened.
That wasn’t really the response I was looking for. I was trying to see if I should stay or go, so I pointed at my chest and thumbed over my shoulder while I still had her attention.
She shook her head at me and gestured for me to come in.
“No. Nothing like that,” she said a bit louder into the phone. “Yes. I can’t recall exactly but we have pictures. Yes. We.”
I stepped in and leaned against the long dresser opposite the bed to let her finish her call.
“It’s fine. I’ll check.” She paused again, nodding to herself. “I understand… Yes… When I’m finished.”
Her eyes met mine as she listened. “I’ll ask him… I said I’ll ask him… That’s his choice… No, I don’t need that. I’m fine.”
She dropped the receiver onto the base and sighed, looking at me as I folded my arms across my chest.
“That sounded like you had some explaining to do.”
“They’re more interested in you, I think, than what happened.” She walked to me and ran a hand through the length of her black hair, tucking it back over one shoulder as she approached me. “But they know what took place. There’s nothing unusual, according to them. Just something of a more powerful demon.”
“Any idea how to deal with it?”
“I have a few, but cutting them into small cubes like stew meat is fairly effective.”
I liked the way she thought, except…
“You’re not actually going to eat it, are you?”
She smiled and shook her head. “No, but those swords you have might come in handy.”
“I was thinking the same, but that thing made short work of me. I don’t think it’s something I can wrestle with. This might be above my pay grade.”
“I’ll take care of it.” She put her hands on her hips and looked off, her eyes going to the floor briefly before they met mine again. “And any more bodekin that might show up as well. It might take me some time to track them all, but… this is what I do.”
There was a moment of silence between us that felt thick, almost stifling. She looked like she had more to say but was hesitating.
I had the same inclination to speak, but I didn’t know why, or what to say. It was magnetic, like she was trying to pull words out of me.
“Do you want some help?”
She looked almost relieved, but shook her head. “I can’t ask you to do that. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”
“I want to.”
“You want to get hurt?”
“No.” I laughed, shaking my head at her. “You’re as bad as Sutter. I’m already here, and I’m not getting paid until it’s dealt with.” I bounced my head a bit and rolled my eyes. “I’m probably not getting paid at all. I can’t get a hold of Hitch now. All the same… I want to help.”
Her eyes gave away how she felt about my response and she nodded. She must have realized it because she looked away again. “Thank you… Luca. And thank you for earlier.”
I didn’t say anything. I just watched her change before me. She had been so tough and stern, like tempered metal all this time.
She was visibly relaxing before my eyes. It was like watching ice melt.
Emma had my attention before but this shift in her demeanor drew me to her softer features.
“Thank you for saving me. I shouldn’t have snapped at you, or questioned you, or… you didn’t deserve that.”
“It’s cool.”
I’m an idiot.
My response seemed to make sense to her though. I got a warm smile in exchange but she was still quiet, her hands together in front of her as she fidgeted a bit.
“I mean, you were right there, kicking its ass. I didn’t do much.”
“No really, you did. When it had its hands on me, Luca, I couldn’t fight back. It would have killed us.” She closed the distance between us a little and I swallowed hard.
I pressed my ass back into the dresser, but there wasn’t anywhere else to go. My back leaned a bit and bumped the flat screen television, setting it to wobble on its base.
Steadying it with my hand, I glanced down to make sure it wasn’t going to topple. When I looked back to Emma, she hadn’t come closer but was still in my space.
She laughed at me with a broad smile, larger than any I’d seen from her. “I’m not gonna hurt you, Luca. I just wanted to see you closer. I wanted to see your eyes.”
“You nearsighted?” I cleared my throat and relaxed a bit, but was still on edge as she stepped closer to me. There were just inches between us. Her eyes were almost level with mine and she was studying me so closely, like she wanted to see every fleck of color in my eyes.
“It’s nice.”
“...what?”
“Just…” Emma shrugged casually as she turned her head a little, looking over my face. “…I’m used to living in a world where everyone wears a mask. It’s nice to really see someone.”
“You’re so pretty,” I blurted and she blinked at me.
Goddammit.
“Uh… I… I didn’t mean that. I mean, you are, but you’re so old, I just didn’t mean to say it. I meant it. I just… was thinking it and it came out, and I’m sorry.”
Shut the hell up, Luca.
Her cheeks flushed with color and she looked down, laughing quietly before lifting her face to me.
“Thank you, Luca.” She said it sincerely. “It’s been a very long time since someone said that to me.”
There were so many stories in those eyes, the way she looked at me. Why, suddenly, was I so damn enamored with this woman?
I wanted to turn my attention and scoot the hell down the dresser, but having her this close to me… It was like a solar eclipse.
I tried not to look, as if looking too long was wrong and I’d come away blind, but there she was.
And I couldn’t stop.
I cleared my throat and shifted my weight against the dresser. “Emma, if… we ever get out of all this. When you’re done, you know, ginsu-chopping that fashionably bedazzled demon… do you maybe wanna get…dinner? Or coffee?”
I had pushed away from the dresser and was standing now, reducing the space between us. I thought maybe that might make her back up, but she held her ground and looked up to me.
“I’m not real big on dinner.”
“No… me either.” I started to lean in closer to her.
She lifted her chin as I leaned in.
“But I like coffee.” Her voice was quieter, almost in a whisper.
“What kind of coffee do you…” I trailed off as my eyes closed with hers, and our lips came together. It was the warmest, softest, yet most electrifying thing I had ever experienced.
I didn’t even move at first when our lips touched.
She didn’t either.
I don’t think either of us really thought about where to go next. I felt her lip tremble against mine, so I added just a little pressure. I didn’t want her to hesitate.
If she hesitated or pulled away, it would be gone. I couldn’t let it go.
I chased her, with the only thing between us the turbulent, warm breath crossing our lips.
She wasn’t my first kiss, by any means, but this was the first time I was instantly taken back and heard his words.
My grandfather, giving me “the talk” so many years ago…
‘Luca,’ he’d said, ‘it only takes one kiss. One right kiss to make your heart lose balance. If it does, let it fall, son.’
I held that kiss with her, until I realized I had stopped breathing and had to come up for air.
But I didn’t.
I felt my chest sting but I just held my breath, and we let our lips mingle, gently working together, before I raised my hands to touch her face.
She jumped with a gasp, grabbing my hands, startling us both as she broke the kiss.
“I’m sorry,” I quickly apologized, forgetting that her face was probably still tender from dealing with that thing.
She shook her head and blinked, inhaling slowly before sighing. “It’s okay, don’t be.”