Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet

Reyes stepped back as though uncertain as she flung herself at him.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you.” She turned in to him. “Thank you so much. You saved our lives.”

After an awkward moment where Reyes resigned himself to being accosted by a twelve-year-old, he let his arms fall loosely around her. She squeezed tighter.

I stepped forward and rubbed her back, my heart swelling with adoration. I didn’t realize she knew Reyes had shown up the night Earl Walker attacked me. I didn’t realize she knew anything about what had happened.

She looked over at me, then whispered into his ear. “I know what she is, too, but I would never tell anyone.”

Reyes offered her the most charming grin I’d ever seen. A soft giggle of delight bubbled out of her before she backed out of his arms. She sidled close to me, her eyes taking on that dreamlike luster I knew so well.

“You coming in?” I asked.

He winked at Amber, then turned to me. “Not tonight. I have business.”

“Of course. But I really want to talk to you about—” I thought about how to say demon possessions without saying demon possessions. “—the occupancy issues we’ve been having.”

One corner of his mouth tilted into an almost grin. “About that, I really need you to stay in your apartment for the next few days.”

“Can’t, but thanks for asking.”

He glanced around, then said with a menacing tone, “Don’t make me insist.”

“Seriously?” Did he honestly think that would work?

He dragged in a deep gulp of air, then seemed to give up. After a moment of thought, he touched the bottom of my shirt again. “I’m glad you came to see me.”

I rubbed my fingertips along the back of his hand. “I’m glad you’re free.”

A breathy scoff escaped him like I’d said something funny.

“What?” I asked.

He stepped closer, even with Amber there, even with Uncle Bob behind me, rubbed a thumb over my bottom lip, and said, “There is a fine line between freedom and slavery.”

9

Two drinks away from girl-on-girl action.

—T-SHIRT

“You okay?” Uncle Bob had asked after I closed my front door. As always, the air crackled with electricity in Reyes’s wake. But I thought it was sweet that Ubie would be concerned about me. He was the one quaking in his discount loafers. He was beginning to understand what Reyes was capable of, and quaking in his loafers was a very appropriate response. Especially since he was the one who put him behind bars.

“I’m fine, thanks. How are you?”

“Late,” he said. “I have a date.”

I tried not to look too surprised. “With a person?”

He frowned. “No, a soda machine. Of course a person.”

Amber giggled, recovering from Reyes’s presence faster than her mother or Gemma did. I gave them a few minutes to absorb everything while I teased Ubie, who only had to recover from his near near-death experience. I was so glad Reyes hadn’t ripped him to shreds. I liked him much better un-shredded. Unlike, say, my preference for lettuce or heavy metal guitar solos.

Getting the feeling I was going to have company for a while, I headed toward my shower. “Well, you better get home,” I said to Ubie. “You can only keep a date tied up in the basement for so long before they become resentful.”

Just as I entered the bathroom, I heard him say, “Talk to your dad.”

Not likely. The shower felt wonderful, even with a furry beast knocking me to and fro. I hadn’t seen this much action in one day for over two months. My body didn’t know what to do. How to act. It wanted my sofa—which might or might not go by the name of Sharon—and cheese puffs, but I realized I was going to have to wean off both. Slowly at first. Maybe I’d downgrade to a recliner and cheese crackers, ease off gradually, then try something healthy like cleaning house and eating an apple.

I shuddered at the thought. Cheese puffs were so comforting. And they were orange. No, I probably shouldn’t rush into anything. I came up with a plan B. Clean house while eating cheese puffs. Comforting and productive.

After Artemis dived into the earth below me, I stepped out of the shower and dressed in a pair of plaid lime green pajama bottoms that had no smart-ass saying whatsoever. But I made up for it with a top proclaiming SARC- was my second favorite -ASM word. Ready to face the masses again, I went back out into the living area.

Cookie and Gemma were in the kitchen, trying out all my cool new gadgets. Hopefully, I’d get a meal out of their efforts. Amber gathered her books when I came out and she stepped over to me. “You’re really loud in the shower,” she said.

I could only imagine what Artemis knocking me into the wall repeatedly sounded like from out here. “Yeah, I tripped.”

“Seven times?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, okay. Well, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry, Charley. I didn’t mean to do that. With Reyes. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“Embarrass me?” I gathered her into my arms. “Amber, you could never embarrass me.”

“Never?” she asked.

“Never.”

“One time, I yelled across the store to Mom and asked her if she wanted the regular or the super-absorbent tampons. I added that, according to the box, the super-absorbent were for those heavy days. Then I asked her to rate her heaviness on a scale of one to ten.”