Page 22 of Devil in the Details

“The same,” he replied, a bit of that devilish glint back in his dark eyes.

Another note, and the waitress took Caleb’s menu and headed back to the kitchen.

Once she was safely gone, Delia said, “So…someone else at the tournament is a demon?”

He might have winced a little at the “also,” and she realized that had been kind of tactless. Yes, Caleb had demon blood running through his veins, but far more of him was as human as she was.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “I could have sworn one of the guys playing at my table was using some kind of magic to influence his cards, but he didn’t win, so maybe I was imagining the whole thing.”

Delia had scolded herself today for seeing things that most likely weren’t even there, so she could relate. On the other hand, Caleb wasn’t the sort of person who manufactured that kind of stuff out of thin air. If he thought he’d seen something, then he probably had.

“Did you sense anything off about the guy?” she asked as she reached for her glass of chianti, and immediately, Caleb shook his head.

“Not a damn thing. That’s part of the reason why I was so startled to see that weird shimmer around his cards.”

No, that probably wasn’t normal behavior for a pack of playing cards. “Did anyone else notice?”

At once, he said, “Not that I could tell. And usually, I can get at least a whiff of sulfur from a demon — metaphorically speaking, anyway — when I’m close enough to one. This guy seemed utterly human.”

“Could he be a part demon like you?”

It seemed Caleb didn’t much like that idea, because his brows drew together and he picked up his glass of chianti and took a sip. “Doubtful. As far as I know, our community in Greencastle was the only one like it in the world.”

“But you don’t know for sure,” she pressed, and his shoulders lifted.

“No, I don’t. It doesn’t seem very likely, though. Ours was…a special case.”

Delia supposed that was one way of looking at it. From what Caleb had told her, the demon lord Belial had been summoned to this plane and then took over the body and spirit of the very person who’d summoned him, a man named Jeffrey Whitcomb. During his time on earth, Belial had brought his lieutenants here and had them pass themselves off as human, marrying mortal women and having half-demon sons who in turn went on to have a generation of quarter demons, Caleb’s group. The original demons had returned to Hell at some point, and the half demons had all been banished during a confrontation with a group of demon hunters back in California, with only Caleb managing to escape after several years of captivity on that other plane.

Knowing all that, Delia could see why he didn’t believe there were any other colonies of demons or part demons in the world. Yes, they came here to wreak havoc or go slumming or however you wanted to look at it, but they never stayed long.

However….

“Just because it doesn’t seem likely doesn’t mean it might not be true,” she pointed out, and now Caleb looked almost pained.

“I suppose. I mean, sure, the possibility has crossed my mind from time to time. But it could also be that this is just a regular demon masquerading as human, one that has some way to hide its nature from someone like me.”

“Is that a thing?” Delia asked, and again he shrugged.

“I don’t know for sure. My father didn’t explain very much about the demon world. He told me about my powers and how to use them, but the rest of it he sort of pushed aside, as if he thought I was going to be living here and not in Hell, so there wasn’t any reason for me to know about most of that stuff.”

Kind of short-sighted of him, but she’d been able to read between the lines and guess that Caleb’s father hadn’t exactly been a candidate for one of those “World’s Best Dad” mugs. All the same, you’d think he would have passed along at least a few tidbits of useful information to his son, just in case some contingencies became a reality.

“Any way to find out if it is a ‘thing’?” she asked.

Caleb let out a breath and swallowed some more chianti. At the rate he was going, he’d definitely need to order another glass.

Not that she could really blame him.

“As far as I know, not really,” he replied. “It’s not as if there’s a hotline I can call to get the skinny on all things demon. But at least now I know to be on my guard.”

Both of them already had been, thanks to the mysterious smudges they’d found at his former house. However, this felt different.

“You still beat him, though, right?” she said.

Caleb’s chin lifted, and he didn’t look quite as deflated as he had a moment earlier. “I sure did,” he responded. “So even if he was a demon in disguise, he’s out of the tournament. I suppose he can still hang around and cause trouble as a spectator if he really wanted to, but he won’t be playing.”

Well, that was something. She had to wait to reply because the waitress returned with their food and a basket of garlic bread. Most of the time, Delia tried to watch her carbs, but she wasn’t about to do something so foolish while having dinner at an Italian restaurant.

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