Angus let out a loud sigh and they all resumed eating.
“Thank the Universe for small favors.” Cutty leaned back, sipping on his coffee before he continued. “You don’t know the hysterics some people have when you tell them they died. Ugly scene.” He picked up a piece of burnt bacon, pointing with it. “I certainly don’t want to be on the end of one of those conversations again.”
Bic chimed in, “For as girly as she looks, I don’t think she’s the bawling type.”
“But what am I?” Faith asked, trying to bring the conversation back to a question she desperately wanted answered.
“You’re like us, now. You aren’t mortal but you aren’t dead,” Angus explained. “Every person in the world is basically just a ball of energy being held together. That’s something we have in common with the humans. The difference is we aren’t hampered by a mortal husk. Normally, when you die, your energy moves on to another place. We don’t.”
“That sounds like a ghost.” Faith looked down at her hand, wondering if she was truly corporeal. “Are you sure about this?” Flashes of creepy horror movies ran through her mind. She didn’t even like ghost movies.
“First, Faith, stop making that face. It’s very unattractive,” Angus said. “Second, you are not a ghost in any way. A ghost is simply a trail of energy left behind, similar to someone’s footprints left in the sand. We, on the other hand, are most certainly here, in this house, eating this very tasty bacon. And as long as there’s bacon, shit just ain’t that bad.”
“So, did everybody here die at some point?”
“No. We were always like this. We used to work for a company that controlled the Universe, where Fate still works. We all decided to quit,” Bic explained. “I used to be Father Time. But don’t let the name fool you, I don’t have any kids.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” Angus said.
“Our swimmers don’t work,” Bic shot back.
“Yours get a lot of practice. You never know, one of these days they might figure the gig out.”
Bic waved his fork at Angus. “Man, don’t hate on me just ‘cause I’m not celibate, like you.”
“Having some standards isn’t the same thing as celibate. I like to get laid just as much as the next guy. I just make sure they have a pulse first.”
“Bic’s right. You’re going through kind of a dry patch. J Lo ain’t fucking you, dude. Give it up,” Cutty said to Angus but then turned on Bic and said, “But Angus has a point too. You might want to be careful. I really don’t see you doing the dirty diaper thing.”
Angus’ phone rang, and Bic and Cutty continued to debate their sex lives but it was hard to follow the rest of the conversation when Angus raised his voice into his phone. “We. Were. Eating. Can’t a girl get some breakfast?” There was a pause as he rolled his eyes. “Yeah, we’ll be there shortly.” He pocketed his phone and turned back to us. “We should probably head out soon,” he said.
Faith watched him sit down again and scoop some more eggs onto his plate. He leaned back over and started eating like he had all the time in the world.
Chapter Seven
Lars shaded in another piece of the demon tattoo and wondered why he’d agreed to do this piece. Stupid humans. They had no idea. If the guy lying there ever met a demon—hell, ever saw one from fifty feet away—he’d shit himself. But humans worshipped all sorts of stupid crap.
“Dumbasses,” Lars said.
“Huh?” the guy lying on his bench asked.
“I’m not talking to you,” Lars told him, not caring that they were the only two in the shop.
The door of the shop opened, giving Lars a distraction from his dark thoughts, and Angus and Faith’s scents mingled with the smell of the ink. He didn’t need to look up to confirm it was them, but he did anyway.
He’d only meant to glance at her but he couldn’t look away. She smiled in greeting. He responded with a slight nod and then continued his perusal.
Now that she was clean, her thick hair was honey colored, with streaks of light blonde, and the lights bounced off it as it fell past her shoulders in thick waves. Her skin was flawless. Actually, everywhere he looked she was perfection. He’d known there was beauty underneath all that dirt but he was taken aback by just how much.
He could see his stare was making her uneasy. He hesitated another second but then finally looked back down at his client.
He was drawn to her on every level of his existence and he couldn’t figure out why. It wasn’t that she was beautiful, which she was, but he’d dated models. Dated might be overstating the encounters somewhat, but the point was that he’d had plenty of beautiful women. They were fleeting fancies. None of them had grabbed at his guts and pulled at him the way she did. If he could figure out what it was about her that called to him, maybe he could stop this need to want to walk over there and take her.
“Hey, the tattoo isn’t supposed to go over there,” his client said.
Lars looked down to realize he’d made a line halfway down the guy’s ribs while he’d been distracted. Shit. Looked like the demon would be blowing smoke now. Whatever. “I’m trying something different. You’ll like it.”
“But what—”
“Shut up, unless you want to go down the street to the crappy shop on the corner and have that untalented jerk finish it.”
He looked back over at Faith and Angus. He couldn’t stop himself from noticing that Angus was checking out her lower half as he walked behind her.
“You’re late,” Lars said to Angus a bit sharply, and noticed his client was also checking out Faith. He planted a hand in the middle of the guy’s back and pushed him firmly down onto the bench. He landed with a satisfying humph.
“I don’t know why people come here,” the client complained.
“Then leave.”
The client stayed right where he was, even though Lars had removed his hand.
Lars got up to go walk over to Faith and Angus, realizing he should be offering them some sort of welcome. Then he asked, “Where’s Cutty? I thought he was driving her over?” instead. Cutty came to the shop more. He would’ve been able to get Faith settled in without Lars having to say or do much at all.
“Bic and Cutty wanted to go check out a fire that happened last night. See if any traces of Malokin’s involvement were left behind,” Angus said at a volume the client wouldn’t overhear.
Faith turned her back on them as she looked about the place and Angus made a silent whistle as he eyed her without her knowledge. He mouthed the words, Who knew?
Lars didn’t bother responding that he’d had a pretty good idea. He was also the connoisseur of the group. He knew a hot chick when he saw one, even buried under a couple of layers of dirt and grime. But yeah, she was a piece, and he was kind of wishing she were covered in dirt and grime again. If he wasn’t going to sleep with her, he certainly wasn’t going to sit back and watch Angus do it instead.
Faith walked farther into the shop and stopped, looking unsure of what to do. Angus followed after her like a mama duck. He placed a protective hand on her shoulder and said, “One of us will be back at seven tonight. If you need anything, call me. We’re all programmed into your new phone.” He tapped his hand on the purse Faith was holding. His voice dropped a little lower as he continued speaking. “There’s some cash in there, too. I put it in this morning, just in case you need to buy anything.”
Lars watched as Faith clutched the purse close to her chest like she was carrying the Hope Diamond inside. “Thank you so much, Angus. I’ll pay you back.”
“No need,” he replied, waving the idea off.
“Are we getting back to the tattoo soon?” Lars’ client asked.
“Shut up,” Lars said and took several more steps away from him toward where Faith and Angus were now standing.
He couldn’t understand it, but the fact that she was so grateful to Angus for the few dollars or whatever pitiful amount he’d given her, churned his insides and made his temper rise. “She doesn’t need your money. She’s got her own,” Lars said.