Her lips formed a thin line of anger in hindsight. “That he was able to move physical matter made me suspicious. When I came out of the bathroom, he was wearing my pink bathrobe.”
Kellen snorted, his nostrils flaring, his lips flashing an amused smile. “Your bathrobe? Huh. Seems harmless enough. Maybe you’re just panicked over nothing. Maybe he’s just one of those ‘looking for a good time’ demons you’re always talking about. The ones who just like screwing with people versus possessing them or wreaking havoc.”
The inhalation of breath Delaney took shuddered. She shook her head. “Nope. He was very clear. He said I was supposed to come with him to Hell.”
Kellen’s intake of breath was crisp. “Jesus Christ . . .” he muttered. “So how’d you get rid of him?”
She let go of the pillow and grabbed a dog. While Clyde hadn’t been terribly frightening, she had a bad feeling in her gut this was just the beginning of things to come. No demon could just whack you and drag you back to Hell. They had to win you with a contract. It was simple, really. Minions from Hell preyed on the weak. Mostly those who had no sense of self-worth or those whose moral barometers were so skewed that even if a demon didn’t come along and strike a bargain with them, most likely they’d end up in Hell all on their own anyway.
Then a contract was drawn up, and typically that contract benefited the contracted for a time, and then—wham—the fine print in that binding contract came along and doused you with a bucket of cold water. Demons were masters of deceit—if you told one you had a headache, he’d offer to fix it, and while you’re all thinking aspirin and soothing gel eye packs, he whacks your head off.
“That’s the strange part. How I got rid of him, I mean. All it took was me waving a prism that had been blessed under his nose and he was writhing in pain. Which means he’s a weak demon—or a new one. So why the fuck would Lucifer send a noob? I’m no lightweight in the spirit world. I know spirits who can protect me—at least for a little while, anyway.”
Kellen rose from his place on the floor, heaving her overweight pooch over his shoulder like a toddler, stroking his back. “So you think this has to do with Vincent?”
Delaney hauled her three-legged fur baby up into her lap and held him to her chest, burrowing her face in his neck, gulping to fight back her fears. “Well, when was the last time someone threatened to see me in Hell?”
Kellen’s nod was curt as he put the dog back on the floor and scooped up another. “When the shit went down with Vincent.” His tone was solemn, much the way it always was when they even vaguely touched upon what had happened just a month shy of fifteen years ago. The day she’d been handed this gift to yammer with people no one else could see but her.
A day so horrible, neither she nor Kellen had been able to take it out of its Pandora’s box and discuss it at length. Not in nearly fifteen years.
Her eyes instantly began to water, but she brushed at the corners of them impatiently. “Right. So would you do me a favor tonight?” Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have been much bothered by the expulsion of a demon. But those were random demons, few and far between. Clyde had been sent for her. Of all the demons she’d encountered in fifteen years, no one had ever come with a specific intent like that. So having another presence in the house, for all the good it’d do her, brought reassurance. False, but a modicum of security, anyway.
Kellen pointed to where she sat and grinned that disarming, charming grin that made women want to mother him. “Couch?”
Delaney nodded with a distant smile, pulling the sweater she’d thrown on closer to her chest to thwart the chills racing along her arms. “Hope you packed fresh man-panties. Do you mind?”
He returned her smile and winked. “Only if you promise to let me sleep with the one-eyed monster. There’s nothing like waking up to his googly-eyed, vacant stare while he breathes his stench on me.”
Delaney held out her hand, and Kellen took it, giving it a supportive squeeze. “Just tonight or at least until I can get in touch with Marcella. I’m not overly worried, because this Clyde was as lame as they get, but just for safety’s sake.”