Jay squinted at her. “No. I wouldn’t.”
“You would,” she corrected him. “Everyone cheats.”
“That’s not true,” Kaidan said. Everyone gawked at him and he shrugged. “Well, it’s not.”
“What the hell do you know about it?” Ginger asked him.
“Nothing, I suppose. I know I need another drink.”
We all watched him get up and go back into the house.
“What’s his problem, then?” Marna asked her sister.
“What’s not his problem? Probably hasn’t been laid in a whole hour. Gettin’ snippy.”
Jay was pinching his chin hair in thought. All at once our group became quiet and I heard a door slam. Kaidan stood on the deck watching me. When I looked around the other Neph were staring at me, too, or above me, around me. And then I heard a whispered voice say, Do not be afraid.
Who said that? I somehow knew it was spoken in my mind, not something anyone had said out loud. What was going on?
“Jay,” Marna said carefully, “would you be a luv and get me another drink? A little mixed-up number?”
“Sure, be right back.”
Kaidan passed him, coming down. The others stood, so I did, too.
“Whose was it?” Ginger asked.
“I couldn’t tell for certain,” Kaidan said.
“He looked familiar. I would swear it was Azael. But what was he doing?” Marna asked.
“Azael?” Ginger spit. “What bloody purpose would he have with her?”
“Is Azael a demon?” I asked, getting a shiver and peeking around the darkened yard behind me. The name sounded familiar. “Don’t you guys see them all the time? Why are you so freaked out?”
“Not just any demon,” Blake whispered. “Satan’s messenger. And they don’t acknowledge Neph or pay any attention to us, but he was circling you.”
“Shiza!” Ginger hissed a foreign curse at me. “What are you not telling us?”
My stomach knotted. I locked eyes with Kaidan, who froze, listening to something. In a slow movement, he turned his head. We all followed his gaze to the darkened corner of the house, where a man stepped out. He wore jeans and steel-toed boots with a black leather jacket that sported a big amber badge dead center. His head was smooth, and the long beard was once again trimmed to a goatee. My body gave a hiccup of surprise, and joy surged up inside me, just as I was certain sheer terror surged up inside of my companions.
He ghosted his way past the deck toward us, and everyone but me took a step back.
“You’re a hard one to find,” he said to me in a deep, menacing grumble. “No cell phone?”
“No, sir.” I wasn’t at all scared; in fact, I was forcing back a smile. But sheesh, he was bad-a, all the way. He kept his eyes trained on me, not yet acknowledging the others.
“Who’s the human with you?”
I didn’t know how much of a charade he wanted me to put on in front of the others, so I played it safe.
“A guy from my school.”
He gave another grumble. And as if on cue, Jay walked out across the deck and came down the stairs to us, drink in hand. He stopped and a series of emotions played across his face and aura as he stared at my dad, finally settling on fear.
“Jay, this is my father.” Better to nip this in the bud fast. His fear fizzled enough to let in some surprise, and he managed a smile.
“Oh, wow, hi... sir.”
“Good to meet you, Jay,” my father said in a low voice. “You were just headed home. Have a good night.”
Jay’s eyes glazed over. My father was influencing him! I felt offended on Jay’s behalf, even though he wasn’t being forced to do anything harmful.
“Yeah, I mean, yes, sir. I was just leaving. Good to meet you, too. Here’s your drink, Marna.” He handed it to her and they gave each other bashful looks. “Well, night, everyone.” Jay gave a wave and he was out of there. All eyes went back to my father. I supposed I should do a round of introductions.
“Father, this is Marna and her sister, Ginger, daughters of Astaroth.” He nodded and the girls stared downward, not moving a muscle. “Kopano, son of... Alocer?” Kopano nodded that I was correct. “This is Blake, son of... I can’t remember his name. I’m sorry.”
“Son of Melchom, sir.” He gave a small bow of his upper body, never lifting his eyes.
“And this is Kaidan—”
“Son of Pharzuph,” my father cut in, his lip having gone up in a scowl as he stared at him. I had to give Kaidan a lot of credit for not peeing himself under the heat of my father’s accusatory stare. He gave a respectful nod and kept his eyes averted downward, just like the others.
I wanted to put a hand on my dad’s forearm to make him ease up, but I didn’t need to, because he turned his stink eye away from Kaidan to me.
“You’re leaving with me, girl. Time to start your training.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
SEEING DEMONS
The ball was in my father’s court, so I waited with impatience for him to talk. Seeing my dad behind the wheel of the basic rental car was strange. Too normal or something. I was dying to tell him what Sister Ruth had left me. After ten minutes of silence, I began to worry. When my leg started bouncing, he reached over and laid his big hand on mine.
“Know that I love you, Anna.”
“I do.” But there was something ominous in his voice.