Eighth Grave After Dark

“Okay, well, I’d stay longer, but I have to pee.”

“Oh, of course,” Mrs. Loehr said. She leaned in and gave me a quick hug. Mr. Loehr did the same, and I was overwhelmed by the emotions coursing through the three of us. How was I going to hide this from Reyes until I could talk to him about it? Really talk to him.

Mr. Loehr gave me his business card. “My phone number is on there. We’re staying at the Marriott on Louisiana.”

“Got it. I will call you the minute I’ve talked to him.”

“Could you tell him—?” Mrs. Loehr started. “Could you tell him we love him? We only want the best for him.”

“Absolutely.”

I watched as they hiked up the trail that led to the access road above us. They got in Mr. Alaniz’s car and drove off as I fought another wave of hysteria.

How on earth was I going to tell Reyes?

I looked toward the Twelve as they paced just beyond the border, their hides glistening like silver fish in a pond. I could only see bits that appeared occasionally, like a mirage of crystal reflections that disappeared as quickly as they’d appeared, their muscles bunching and rolling with sheer power. They growled as I got closer, their snarls vicious and their teeth snapping like starving piranhas, begging for a piece of me. How close could I get? How long was their reach? Could they reach across the border and drag me to them?

I didn’t dare get any closer. I couldn’t risk Beep, but I was looking for their mark. According to Osh, all creatures from hell had a mark, a symbol of what they were and where their power lay. I thought that perhaps if I could see their marks, if I could draw the shape of them, that would somehow lead us to an answer. It would help us in our investigation. It would help us figure out how to kill them.

But even as close as I got, I couldn’t see a mark. I really didn’t know what to look for. I saw the silver of their hides, but they were black, so black that they absorbed light rather than refracted it. The silver was literally a reflection off such eternal blackness. But I didn’t see a mark. I had yet to see what other supernatural beings saw, though. Maybe if I were more in tune with who I was, with what I was, I would see right through the beasts.

One growled and I saw another flash of silver, this time off a set of razorlike teeth. It lunged at me and I stumbled back, tripping on the low heels of my ankle boots. I caught myself before tumbling onto my backside. Thank goodness, because Beep would not have been impressed with my coordination.

Just as I regained my footing, I heard a male voice from behind me. “One p-push, and you’d be their next m-meal.”

Startled, I turned to see Duff standing behind me. He was a departed man in his late twenties who wore a baseball cap, glasses, and a stutter. I’d always found him adorable. The stutter got me every time. But lately he was kind of creeping me out. No idea why, considering almost everything he’d said to me lately seemed to hold a veiled threat.

He smiled when he saw me, but he hadn’t been wearing a smile when I first turned around. He’d been transfixed, mesmerized by the beasts snapping and snarling a few feet away, pacing beyond the border, waiting for me to stumble into their grasp. It seemed as though he admired them, but he recovered quickly and forced a warm expression.

“What are you doing, Duff?”

“J-just checking on you.”

“Why?” I asked suspiciously. “Did Reyes send you?”

“N-no. No, I just came on my own. I s-saw you leave. I thought m-maybe you were in trouble.”

“Why would you think that?”

Duff had been creeping around a lot lately, appearing at times and places where he had no right. He was turning into quite the stalker, and after Vatican Boy, I’d had about enough of stalkers. I kept meaning to talk to Reyes about him, but I also didn’t want to ban him from our lives without cause. I feared, however, it was coming to that. He said some strange-ass things. Then again, maybe he just had really bad social skills. I’d met people like him. Cookie’s cousin Lucille, for example. Or her second cousins. Or her uncle on her mother’s side. Her whole family, in fact, was a Harvard study waiting to happen.

But Duff was getting a bit weird for my taste. I liked weird, don’t get me wrong, but he was creepy weird, as though every move he made had an ulterior motive. As though he were testing his boundaries, pushing his limits to see how far he could go with me. He was about to find out.

But nothing could have prepared me for what he said next. “I wonder what would happen if someone just pushed you over the line.”

I followed his gaze to the string that marked the boundary; then I turned back to him. “Are you threatening me?”

His eyes widened. “N-no. I would never. I just, I mean, I j-just wonder what they’d do. The hounds.”

“Rip me to shreds.” Well, that was enough crazy for me for one day. “Excuse me, Duff. I need to get back to the wedding party.”

“S-sure,” he said before disappearing. I couldn’t help but notice the short but intense glance he’d placed on my midsection. Beep, seeming to notice as well, did a somersault. At least it felt like it. I turned to leave and slammed into a departed thirteen-year-old gangbanger.

“Angel,” I said, enthusiasm raising my voice an octave. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. I hadn’t seen him in a while, and his presence had been sorely missed.

He hugged me back carefully, as though he might squish the baby between us.