Wanted: Undead or Alive

Another Bad Day for Moose

The plane landed at a tiny airport in a tiny town I'd never visited before because there was nothing there to visit. An old guy in bib overalls pushed a rickety metal staircase up to the open door. When I got to the bottom, he handed me a set of keys and pointed at the Honda, parked in a nearby gravel lot.

I thanked him.

He grunted and ambled away.

It was an easy drive back home—twenty miles on paved country roads. When I saw the first familiar landmark, tears welled up in my eyes. I blinked them away and sniffed hard. No way was I going to walk in and face Mx. Landry all red-and-puffy-eyed. I parked under Walmart, took a deep breath, and stepped out of the car just as the elevator door slid open.

Overwhelming relief washed over me. Gratitude. Joy. Anger. Frustration. Worry. Desire. I clung to the open car door for balance as the onslaught of emotion slammed into me. It left me panting for breath.

Nick stepped closer and most of the feelings ebbed away, leaving relief and desire to rule the day.

A bead of sweat rolled down from my temple.

"I'm glad to see you safe," Nick said.

I gulped down the lump in my throat and managed to say, "I know."

Did a hint of pink color his pale, luminescent cheeks?

"Thank you for your help," I said.

"It was the least I could do."

He came close enough for me to smell that fabulous spicy aroma. He leaned toward me. Only desire remained now. I might have whimpered. Only a little, though.

Nick gritted his teeth and stepped back. "Nothing has changed."

Was he kidding? Everything in my life had changed in the last three days. My ratty old boots were pretty much the only thing that remained the same.

That's not what he's talking about.

Right.

Focus.

I cleared my throat. "I think I know what's going on."

His brow arched higher. "Come inside."

We descended toward his offices, pressed to opposite walls of the elevator. The doors opened, revealing Mx. Landry peering at us from behind the big window.

"Your ignorance is dangerous and expensive," they said.

"I got some information, though," I told them.

They jerked their head toward the silver door, and the latch popped open.

The three of us took seats in the conference room, Nick and I on opposite ends of the table, as far apart as possible, and Mx. Landry between us with a yellow legal pad and pen in hand.

Nick already knew about Valynais and the deal between the angels and the demons, so I let him fill Mx. Landry in about that bit. Nick's desire rolled off him in waves, topped by curiosity and something darker—something like hunger but much, much more dangerous.

When he was done talking, he turned to me with a neutral expression that did not, in the least, betray the fact that what he wanted more than anything in that moment was to cut someone's head off and have a hard fuck. Not necessarily in that order.

I clenched my hands together in my lap. "Uhm..." I cleared my throat and proceeded to explain my theory about the holy woman and her baby daddy. "I don't think Sathanas is there because of the baby. I think he's there because he's trying to find Valynais, and Valynais is there because of the baby."