“Rosalia is the Guardian?” Ash asked.
“Yes. And because that’s what Guardians do—hunt demons—she had more information about how to find them.”
“And how do you?”
“The most obvious sign is the temperature of their skin.”
Ash rubbed the tips of her fingers together, as if feeling the heat of her own skin and considering that. Finally, she said, “It’s obvious, but difficult to use for identification, I’d think. You’d have to touch a demon to know.”
Not necessarily. Modern infrared sensors could detect higher temperatures from a distance, and the differences were noticeable, especially if the demon stood near a human. No reason to mention that, though.
“It’s a problem,” he agreed. “I can’t walk down the street shaking everyone’s hand.”
“Or kissing them, like you did to me.”
So she’d figured that out? “If I’d shaken your hand, you’d have noticed me grabbing the Taser.”
“So? You could have just not let go of me. You know I can’t pull free without breaking the Rules.”
No, he couldn’t have just held on. He’d needed payback, however small. “You showed up with Rachel’s face, and I thought you were Madelyn. I wanted to electrocute you. So I got close enough to do it.”
She nodded, as if in understanding. “All right. The kissing makes more sense, then.”
No judgment? No pointing out that he was a sadistic bastard? Who the hell was this demon? He’d given her freebies all over the place, practically invited her to tear into his character, and she sat and nodded her head because it made sense.
“Is the hot skin the only difference?”
Her question made Nicholas realize that she’d been waiting for him to continue. He shook his head. “Demons count on people to explain away the unexplainable. A man disappears, and people tell themselves they must have been mistaken—that they just didn’t see him turn a corner. Someone moves too fast, looks inhuman for just a second, and they come up with excuses: They’re tired, their eyes are playing tricks, they—”
“Are going crazy,” Ash said.
“That, too. Most of the time, they shake their heads and laugh it off.” Others couldn’t, and some, like his father, landed in the care of doctors like Cawthorne—and then took a dive from the tallest bank tower in London. “But if you know what it might really have been, you look a little harder.”
“And then make sure you’re right by touching them?” When he nodded, she said, “So it’s all luck—a matter of seeing something at the right time? You’ll be looking for Madelyn forever, then.”
“We will be looking,” Nicholas reminded her. Though he’d be stupid not to get out of this bargain as quickly as possible. The more time he spent with the demon, the less he could figure her out. He hadn’t counted on that. When he’d made the bargain, he’d been certain of his ability to predict her reactions.
He should have been able to, goddammit. He should have been dodging her slings and arrows, not reminding himself that he shouldn’t be attracted to her, that he shouldn’t be amused by her. He’d expected subtle insults, not . . . whatever she was doing.
“We,” she echoed. “And based on what you’re saying, it really will be forever. Or until we die of old age.”
She wouldn’t grow old. Nicholas didn’t correct her, though.
“It’s not just luck,” he said. “You called their methods unoriginal, and you aren’t wrong. And that’s how you look for them.”
“A trail of dead dogs?”
Jesus. And people thought Nicholas lacked sensitivity. He wasn’t bothered by her question, but he definitely wouldn’t be letting her talk to the Boyles, even if she did learn to shape-shift.
“Not dogs. Dead people, sometimes. If someone says that a loved one came back to talk to them, there’s a good chance it was really a demon. If someone undergoes a complete personality change, a demon might have taken their place. If members of a vampire community start disappearing, they are probably being killed by a demon. If vampires start killing humans, there’s probably a demon in the background, prodding them into it. They use humans and vampires to do what they can’t: break the Rules.”
“I see.” She was quiet for a moment. “That’s still a lot to look for.”
“A lot of shit to wade through, and a lot of dead ends,” he agreed. Except for when it involved vampires, humans did everything he’d just mentioned without demon influence, too. “But I’m just looking for one demon, and I already know how she works. So I’ve been searching for something similar.”
He’d searched for a mother whose personality had undergone a sudden transformation. He’d searched for a husband who’d been committed to a psychiatric institution. He’d searched for a wife who’d taken over her husband’s business—probably in the financial sector—and who’d begun working all hours of the day and night, transforming the business into a burgeoning success.
He’d also searched for a kid battered by every recent change in his life. The ones marked by razor scars across their wrists or who’d spent nights in the hospital having their stomachs pumped. That had been the worst part of the search. He’d found far too many of those kids, and not a single one of them had ended up there because of a demon.
Did Ash know that part of his history? He hadn’t been wearing a shirt in Madelyn’s bedroom. If Ash had spotted the scars on the insides of his wrists, she could guess their origin, just as she’d guessed what Madelyn had done to Ringo. Not that it would matter if Ash had guessed; he was no longer self-destructive. All of the rage and pain he’d felt as a kid had cooled and hardened, and he’d channeled it into revenge.
“You searched for her and found me, instead,” Ash said.
He’d find Madelyn, too. “Yes.”
“And I resemble the assistant she killed—a woman you once dated.” Her brow furrowed in a way that told him she’d been distracted by some detail again. “But I can’t figure out why Rachel would date you, no matter how charming you were. As Madelyn’s assistant, her association with you created an enormous conflict of interest and was completely unethical.”
That had never been a problem for Nicholas, not where Madelyn was concerned. “Why is a demon bothered by something unethical?”
“I’m not bothered.” She frowned, as if trying to decide whether she should be or not. Finally, she shook her head. “What I don’t feel is beside the point. I’m trying to figure her out—and everything I’ve learned about Rachel says that she wouldn’t behave unethically. Do you think Madelyn told her to date you, to undermine your takeover bid?”
“Probably.” He’d used Rachel for the same reason: to undermine Madelyn. He had to assume the demon would have done the same thing. “If so, Rachel didn’t follow her directions well. She tried to make us reconcile instead of destroy each other.”
And Rachel had never understood that there’d never be a chance in hell of that happening. But then, Madelyn had been a different woman with her—a ruthless businesswoman, but not a cruel one. Rachel had been convinced that Nicholas’s hatred was just born out of ancient misunderstandings and a teenager’s rebellion.
“Did that amuse you?” Ash looked away from the road to study his face. “Or did it irritate you?”
Both, depending on how hard Rachel pushed him. He wouldn’t tell the demon that, though. She was here to learn about herself, not about him.
Her eyes narrowed. Ah, now she was irritated by his refusal to answer. “At least Rachel’s relationship with you makes sense now. I knew it couldn’t be your charm.”
Maybe she was right. “What did you think it was?”
“You said she was smart. So I assumed she dated you for your money.”
“Rachel had more than enough of her own.”
“As much as you do?”
No, but enough to live well for the rest of her life. Now, her assets hung in limbo. Only six years had passed since Rachel had gone missing, and she’d never been officially ruled dead. A demon with her face and identification could access them . . . which was why he’d taken the passport back as soon as they’d passed through customs.
When he didn’t respond, Ash bared her teeth, just a little—and there were those fangs. “I suppose money isn’t incentive enough to put up with you, anyway.”
He grinned. “Probably not.”
She was still watching his face rather than the road. If her driving hadn’t been so smooth, he might have been worried. As it was, he just wondered what she was looking for.