She moaned inwardly. Your duty is to take care of me? That was probably the dumbest thing she’d ever said. And she’d said a lot of dumb things in her two months as a human.
His eyes lit up. Literally. “It would be my pleasure.”
“It wasn’t easy getting away from Nathaniel, you know. He’s very possessive.”
His gaze slid to Reggie on her shoulder and she could see an edge of nervousness in his expression. “As is your familiar. It is giving me the evil eye.”
There was a sudden ringing noise. Julian seemed annoyed and pulled out a cell phone from his jacket pocket to glance at the display screen.
“Please excuse me for a moment,” he said before he flipped it open and held it to his ear. He moved a little away from them. “Yes?”
“Reggie,” Val whispered, trying not to move her lips.
“Yeah?”
“I need to get Julian alone so I can get that key away from him and I can’t do it when you’re around.”
“Why not?”
“He’s scared of you.”
“I’m tingling with power.”
“Well . . .” She pulled him off her shoulder and set him down on the ground. “Go tingle somewhere else for a while.”
“But—”
“No buts. I don’t have time to discuss this with you. It’s now or never. Just go outside. Find
Nathaniel. He’ll keep you safe.”
“That guy hates me.”
“It’s him or Yasmeen.”
“I love Nathaniel.”
“Go.”
“I don’t want to leave you alone with Julian.”
Val glanced over at the demon on the cell phone, then down at the rat. “Just go. I’ll be okay.
There’s no time to argue.”
Without giving him a chance to say anything else, she turned her back and walked toward
Julian who was finishing up his call. He closed the phone just as she hooked her arm through his. “Let’s go somewhere private so we can get to know each other better.”
He smiled. “Excellent idea.”
“Who was the phone call from?”
“Head office. That’s how they get in touch with us these days. Rather modern, don’t you think?”
“Absolutely. Is that one of those camera phones?”
He patted his pocket. “No, not in the budget. The head office is notoriously cheap, but the phone keeps them from having a direct feed into my mind. Can be a painful thing at times.”
“I’d imagine it would be.”
He led Val to an empty room that contained a long, plush red couch and huge bed that she eyed uneasily. “So, what did you want to know about me?”
How can I get that key away from you? “Everything.”
He smiled. “That’s very flattering.”
How can I render a demon unconscious with a mere thought? “You’re just so interesting.”
His smile widened. “I try.”
And how do I open a portal back home to the Paradise Inn? “And incredibly handsome.”
He nodded in agreement. “You are as smart as you are beautiful, Claire.”
“So . . . why do you hate Nathaniel so much?” She sat down on the couch, as opposed to the bed, and tried to look comfortable.
He crossed his arms. “I don’t hate him. It’s more of a festering distaste, really. So much potential, and he squanders it with his silly morals. He could use his power to be truly great, but just his mere presence reminds me of his weakness. I despise weakness. Just because
Yasmeen favors him doesn’t mean anything. He will pay for his shortcomings very soon. His latest assignment has yet to be successfully tempted. I met her. She, too, is weak. If he cannot tempt even her then he has no chance.”
Weak? Val’s shoulders stiffened.
He came to sit very close to her on the couch. “Tell me how you met him. It is unusual for him to express interest in a human. Unprecedented, in fact. I didn’t know he was able to express interest in anything other than his own self-pitying reflection. You must be very special.”
“You have no idea.”
“No, I’m quite sure that I don’t. So tell me, how did you meet the halfling?”
“Blind date.”
Julian laughed at that. “No, seriously.”
“Okay. Actually, I was attacked in an alley. He happened to be going past at the time.”
He leaned back into the sofa. “And he rescued you? How terribly quaint.”