Page 15 of Unholy

If anything, the smugness worsened. “Haven’t I?”

“No,” Luke said stubbornly, staring with determination out the window. When he felt sneakered feet hook around his heel and drag his leg closer, he didn’t try to move away, his stomach fluttering. The wounds around his ankles throbbed in time with his pulse, a low-grade reminder of his close call, and Malachi’s feet carefully avoided them. It was a thoughtfulness Luke didn’t expect.

The waitress appeared then, taking their orders with a pen and notepad. Luke ordered a cheeseburger and fries with a glass of water. To his surprise, Malachi ordered the exact same thing but with a soda.

“Did you treat your wounds? You don’t smell like blood anymore,” Malachi said when she wandered away.

“You could smell my blood?”

Malachi smiled faintly, like that was amusing.

Luke shook himself. “And yeah, I have a first-aid kit in the car. They were shallow enough. Shouldn’t scar.”

“And you don’t have to rush back to the guild and tell them about what happened?” he asked curiously.

He shook his head. “I do my reports in the morning.” He heaved a sigh. It wasn’t wise to be giving sensitive information aboutanythingregarding the guild’s inner workings to a demon. Why was he letting his guard down so easily? “Tell me something about you now.”

Malachi’s foot flexed, pressing against his calf, above the edge of his boot and safely away from his sore ankle. “Me?”

“Yes.” He cast about for something to ask, something that took the attention away from him and his work for the guild. Something that would make him feel less like he was betraying them. “What’s the club like? I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard stories.”

His dark brows rose. “The club? In Extremis?”

“Mm-hm. Is it as bad as the paladins say? They recommend we don’t go there alone.”

His red eyes were brimming with amusement. “Hawk went there alone. It worked out well enough for him.”

“He was kidnapped off the street by our people and banished for all time for doing that. I wouldn’t say it worked out,” he deadpanned.

Malachi shrugged. “He seemed happy enough when I saw him there with Talon the other night.”

Luke blinked. “You saw him? He’s doing okay?”

“Of course. What’d you expect?”

Luke shrugged. “You hear about a guy being tempted by a literal demon, you expect there to be some regret later. Fire and brimstone or something.”

Malachi rolled his eyes. “I can’t speak to the fire and brimstone, because I don’t remember Hell, but I’m pretty sure they fucked in one of the VIP rooms that night. Didn’t look like much regretting was going on.”

Embarrassment flushed through Luke at the frank statement and the images they conjured. What did sex with a demon look like?

No, stop it. He didn’t want to know. He didn’tcare.

Malachi moved his foot back and forth in a slow, soothing stroke, and the heat of embarrassment turned into a low burn of something else entirely.

The waitress arrived with their food, and when she flitted away again, Luke asked, “You don’t remember Hell?”

Malachi shook his head, picking up his soda. “Nope. A brief, incredible pain, but mostly nothing. I think…” He tilted his head back thoughtfully, and Luke’s eyes trailed down the pale column of his exposed throat. “I think the pain was when I became a halfling. There’s this… sense that I’d made some kind of choice and expected what was coming.”

Luke blinked in surprise. “Made the choice? You chose to become a demon?”

“We all did. Supposedly. Like I said, I don’t remember much about it. Others remember more than I do. We weren’t forced into this. We wanted to come back to Earth, and this was the price of admission.”

“Why?” Luke asked, leaning forward with interest. “What’s the point of making you all into demons?”

He shook his head lightly. “I don’t think we can come back otherwise. Something about crossing back over is impossible unless you’re demonic. The veil only goes one way for human souls.” He nudged Luke’s plate. “Eat.”

Luke leaned back, belatedly realizing how obviously he’d been hanging on every word. “Right, yeah.”

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