Wanted: Undead or Alive

A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight

Mx. Landry hung a cross around my neck and another on my wrist. They gave me one of the holy water guns. "If you shoot them with holy water, the demon may be expelled from the host. If you shoot them with a bullet dipped in holy water, you may kill the host and you'll spend the next month filling out paperwork and sitting in front of a review board. With Moose, you got lucky. Still, it's good to have options. Choose wisely." They handed me the silver sphere. "Don't look into the trap."

"What will happen?" Visions of being sucked into some kind of extra-dimensional holding space flashed through my mind.

"The bright light will hurt your eyes."

"Oh, right." I remembered that happening before. I took the keys and headed out to the garage.

The Lexus had soft leather seats. After the door snicked shut, new car smell enveloped me. I'd never actually smelled a new car before—only the air fresheners that claimed to smell like new car. The difference was like the difference between watermelon flavored candy and actual watermelon.

My fingertips caressed the leather-wrapped steering wheel. I found buttons to operate the radio and the cruise control. The power button glowed on the dashboard, so I pressed it and the engine cranked over with a gentle hum.

Technically, the Lexus and my Aveo could both be classified as modern vehicles. They both had seats, and wheels, and gasoline-powered engines. That's pretty much where the similarities ended. I sent up a silent prayer to St. Christopher to help me not wreck the pretty SUV I didn't own.

Nick opened the passenger door and slid into the seat next to me.

I became suddenly aware of how roomy the back seat was. Are you a literal sex demon?

He looked over at me. His right brow arched high. "Whenever you're ready, Ms. Nowicki."

Ready for what? My heart leaped into my throat and choked me before I realized I hadn't actually said anything out loud. Damn. My mouth was painfully dry. Good lord. Pull yourself together. I shifted the car into drive and left the parking garage behind us. I tried to think up just about anything to cut through the silence. "Why is your office under a Walmart?"

"The property has special qualities that make it an ideal location for our purposes."

I took a right and headed downtown. "Like, it's open twenty-four/seven so people don't notice the traffic?"

His mouth twitched, and I'd have sworn he was trying not to laugh. "Sure. That, among other things." He pointed at a side street I'd never been on. "Go that way. Watch your mirror. Make sure no one is following you."

I braked too hard and just about put us both through the windshield. "Sorry. This car is more responsive than mine."

"An ox-drawn cart would be more responsive than your car."

A sudden need to defend my tiny blue rust bucket welled up in me. "It's not bad. It gets great mileage. It just needs new brakes, is all."

"Is that all?"

"Well, and an exhaust system and a battery."

"I see," he said.

I scowled at him.

He gazed into my eyes.

I forgot what I was mad about, bumped over a curb, almost crashed into a mailbox shaped like a big-mouth bass, and redirected my attention to the road.

As the sun sank below the western edge of the world, we zigzagged through residential neighborhoods and three different shopping center parking lots. No one followed us for more than a block or so. While we drove, Nick talked about the demon.