“Yeah, I’ll pass, I rather like my intestines not on fire. But thank you for the offer.”
She sighed and patted her coffin-shaped handbag. “Your loss, akri-Jay-Jay. The Simi telling you that it fully enhances all the flavors of the innards, and can kill the ones you don’t like.” Pursing her lips, she looked around the store. “So where’s akra-Mennie? She promised the Simi some new sparklies!” There was something about Simi’s enthusiasm and happiness over the simplest things that was infectious and made being around her such a joy.
Provided she wasn’t sizing you or your entrails up for her dinner pot.
“We don’t know.” Nick gestured at the mess. “It was like this when we arrived.”
“Um, people.” Xev paused as he moved toward the doors. “Anyone else realize that the demon Simi killed is still on the ground over here, bleeding and not self-cleaning the way we like our demons to?”
“What’s that mean?” Nick asked.
“That it’s crossed into this realm and has its own corporeal body.” Caleb paled.
“And Xev’s right. We don’t like when that happens.” Kody turned even more ashen than Caleb—which was impressive given that her skin tone was darker.
“Why?”
It was Jaden who responded. “It’s a whole new level of wet–your-pants evil. More powerful. More brazen. And when you kill them, you risk a jail sentence because you leave behind a body for the authorities to use for a murder charge.”
Nick’s stomach shrank at those words.
“It’s what your father went to prison for killing. As you so eloquently once told Bubba, no one buys the old he-was-a-demon-who-needed-killing-Your-Honor plea.” Caleb pulled the body into the store and used his powers to clean up the sidewalk. “Teams of them have been known to set us up and get the humans to come after us for centuries.”
“Yeah.” Jaden stepped forward to examine the body. “They’ve razed entire villages. Dark Ages were a bitch.… Or a lot of fun, depending on your perspective.”
Caleb gave his father a disgruntled gape.
Jaden scoffed. “Please. Like you’ve never toasted marshmallows over your enemies’ corpses. You forget, I’ve seen you … no wait, those were their brains you toasted, weren’t they?”
“Their hearts, actually,” Xev said under his breath. “Then he ate them.”
Nick choked on that as he passed a concerned, wide-eyed stare to Kody. Note to self, don’t piss off Caleb anymore.
She gave him a droll smirk, but didn’t comment.
“Speaking of them munchies … can the Simi have the body? Akri won’t let me eat no people. But ugly demons nobody likes are usually on the menu.” She passed an eager, hopeful, and extremely adorable look at them.
“I got no problem with it.” Caleb glanced around at the others.
Nick cringed. “As long as I don’t have to witness it, I guess I can live with it.”
Clapping her hands together in instant joy, Simi jumped up and down in excitement and made a sound in the back of her throat that vaguely sounded like a happy dog panting.
Suddenly terrified by that amount of enthusiasm, Nick put a little more distance between them.
“Before you go, Simi…” Kody caught her arm. “I have a favor to ask. We need to find Aeron. Can you help us track him down?”
She was already digging her barbecue sauce from her purse. “Sure. But his friend would be better at it than the Simi. His nose is made to go a’sniffing.”
“Friend?” Nick scowled. “He doesn’t have any friends.”
“Uh-huh. And that’s just mean, akri-Nick! He gots that very nice wolfie friend what comes up to play with us when akri-Caleb at school. Sometimes we even goes out for eats.”
“Did you know about this?” Nick asked Caleb.
Caleb shook his head. “I had no idea.”
But the look on Xev’s face said that he might have a clue about it.
“You know who she’s talking about, don’t you?”
His jaw worked for several seconds before he finally spoke. “I didn’t think he’d go back for him. But it shouldn’t surprise me, either, I guess … given their relationship. I’m extremely curious where they’re hiding him, as he doesn’t blend. At all. Ever. I can’t imagine where they could put him that he wouldn’t attract a lot of attention … in either form.”
“Well, aren’t we Mr. Dark and Cryptic … shall we call him?” Nick pulled out his phone.
“I doubt he knows how to work that. I’m sure he’d sniff it and eat it if you gave him one.” He glanced at Simi. “Do you know where they’re keeping him?”
She nodded like a bobble head. “You know how akri-Caleb’s house is up off the ground and gots all that room under it for storage?”
Caleb screwed his face up. “Oh dear gods, he’s in my wine cellar? Seriously?”
She kept nodding.