He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my forehead. I closed my eyes, savoring the touch.
When he pulled away, I couldn’t make eye contact, so I walked to the window and peered out, unsurprised to see a demon out on the sidewalk, staring up at my window. He was muscular and tall, with pale yellow skin that made him look like a fit Minion. He was even bald. He just needed funny goggles and blue overalls.
Too bad he had a big old sword in his hand.
Great. This was just great.
“Another one?” Roarke asked.
“Yep.”
Roarke came to join me at the window, standing far enough away that we didn’t touch. But I could still feel the heat of him. I ignored it—tried to, at least—and focused on the fight below.
The green door that led to our apartments burst open, and Nix ran out, leaping up to deliver a flying kick to the demon’s chest. The demon was so preoccupied with staring at my window that she landed the blow solidly. She’d always been best with hand-to-hand. A legacy of defending the shop from burglars for years.
The demon jumped to his feet, far more quickly than I’d have expected for a demon his size. Nix was unarmed, but I wasn’t worried. She had this guy in the bag.
As expected, she ducked his sword blow, then kicked out and swept his legs out from under him. She was on him before he’d fully hit the ground, landing a mean punch to his jaw. She nailed him again, this time from the other side, and he passed out cold.
Nix jumped to her feet and dusted off her hands, then picked up the demon’s blade and plunged it through his chest. She left the sword sticking upright, then leaned against Cass’s old black car and watched the demon slowly disappear.
“You three are tough as nails,” Roarke said.
“Yeah.” Pride warmed my chest. “We are.”
The closest Underpath portal to Cwm Y Ddraig was located about ten miles away near the walled castle town of Caernarfon. I followed Roarke out into a graveyard in the shadows of the castle wall, stumbling over a fallen headstone. Threatening clouds hung low overhead, crowding around the surrounding mountains and promising snow at any moment. Chill winter air froze my lungs and made my cheeks sting.
“At least it’s daylight,” Roarke said.
“No kidding.” Because of the time change, we’d arrived here in daylight, thank fates.
I followed him through the tombstones toward the wrought iron fence. Just as we stepped out of the gate, a big black car pulled up, and a demon popped out. He’d pass for human among most people, but my new demon-savvy senses picked up his demonic nature from the strange gleam in his eyes.
“Just in time. Thank you, Florus,” Roarke said.
Florus walked around the vehicle and handed Roarke the keys, his gaze glued on me.
“What’s she?” Florus asked Roarke.
“None of your business, is what she is,” Roarke said.
I eyed Florus warily, waiting to see what he would do. All demons weren’t evil. So this one shouldn’t necessarily attack me on sight. But I was so used to the other demons—the ones who usually served as mercenaries or who’d just recently escaped the Underworld. They were trouble.
Florus’s nose twitched, as if he smelled something weird, then he turned to Roarke. “That all you need?”
“That’s it for now, thanks. Give my best to your family.”
Florus nodded and ambled off down the road, disappearing in a poof of gray smoke when he was about ten feet away.
“He’s another one of your minions?”
“I prefer to think of them as staff,” Roarke said as he climbed behind the wheel of the car.
I jumped in and sighed gratefully as warm air blasted from the heaters. “So how does it work? With the demons. He seemed much more…benign.”
“I told you not all demons are evil.”
“Yeah, I know.” I’d literally just been thinking about it, but given my line of work, it was sometimes hard to remember. “But what’s the deal with the ones who work for you? Do they live on Earth?”
He nodded as he pulled onto the narrow road and punched Cwm Y Ddraig into the GPS on the dash. “They do. They’re demons who’ve proven to be trustworthy and valuable members of society. So I allow them to live on Earth with their families, scattered all over the globe, in return for their help in situations like this.”
“Whoa.” I turned to look at him as we drove out of the town surrounding the castle and into the woods. “So you bend the rules for them? Because demons aren’t supposed to live on Earth. If they were, I’d be out of a job.”
“You could still hunt treasure.”
“True. But don’t change the subject.”
He grinned. “No. I don’t break the rules. I have a special dispensation from the Order of the Magica. They agree that it’s good to have some demons on our side.”
Roarke slowed the car as the GPS told him to turn in twenty meters.
“Turn here,” the dulcet tones of the GPS commanded.
But there was no road, just more trees.
Roarke turned anyway.
“Wait!” I pressed myself back into the seat.
Instead of plowing into a tree, the car bumped onto a tiny dirt road, and the vision of forest turned into a narrow lane, barely wide enough for our car.
“I’m going to guess the town of Cwm Y Ddraig isn’t visible to humans.” I glanced at the GPS unit in the dash. “So I assume the GPS lady is a supernatural.”
Roarke grinned. We followed the tiny lane for about fifteen minutes before pretty slate buildings appeared ahead of us. Light glowed warmly in their windows, and snow sparkled on the bushes in front of the houses.
The sound of a band of some kind—more the marching sort of band than the head-banging kind—echoed through the trees.
The houses that we passed were quiet, their dark slate roofs speckled with snow, but as we neared the center of town, the sound of revelers joined the music of the band.
“I think they’re having a festival,” I said as Roarke slowed the car to a crawl. We were near the center of town. Every inch of space around us was taken up by houses and gardens.
“What does your map say you’re looking for?” Roarke asked.
I pulled the copy of the map that Nix had made for me out of my pocket and unfolded it. I didn’t want to hurt the original. Nix’s crazy good gift for conjuring meant that the replica was an exact match—perfect in every way. The best photocopier a girl could ask for.
I peered at the faded map for a moment, waiting for the letters to make sense.
“We’re looking for the Eastern Rail,” I said.
“Does it say where it’s located? Or show a picture?”
“Nothing on the map. Give me a moment.” I closed my eyes and called upon my dragon sense, hoping to catch something. But nothing tugged at my middle. No familiar feeling of direction. I just didn’t know enough about the place. I tried to imagine what the old railway might have looked like and worked up every ounce of desire to find it that I could muster.
Still, I got nothing. Maybe I should have brought Cass or Nix along. Their stronger dragon sense would have helped.