Page 84 of Demon with Benefits
Except, when Iris went to lie, the words stuck in her throat. Something about this woman made her want to be a good person.
So she said, “No.”
“Oh.” Jacqui’s face fell.
There was another awkward pause until Iris found the guts to ask, “What were you talking about? Is Meph in some kind of art show?”
It sounded ridiculous to even say aloud. As if Meph would be into that. The idea was laughable.
Jacqui was silent for long enough that Iris started to think that, maybe, it wasn’t so laughable after all.
“But that’s crazy. Meph would never... He isn’t...”
When Jacqui spoke again, her voice was considerably cooler than before. “Meph hasn’t told anyone about the hellgate, and if you didn’t know about his work, then presumably, he didn’t tell you either. Out of respect to him, I think it would be best if you returned to Montreal.”
“But he—I—”
Jacqui sat with a polite smile on her face, hands folded in her lap. She was beautiful, with warm dark skin and high cheekbones that accentuated the subtle tilt of her eyes.
A surge of jealousy filled Iris, though she knew it was irrational. She knew about Eva and who her dad was. She’d been solemnly sworn to secrecy, not that she would have talked anyway. She had no desire to endanger the life of Ash’s girlfriend, who was kind and welcoming whenever Iris came over.
And now, here was Eva’s mom, perfectly lovely, with a friendship with Meph that Iris hadn’t been privy to. Iris trusted Meph enough to step through the hellgate to an unknown destination, yet he hadn’t trusted her enough to tell her about whatever he was making here. And she didn’t blame him.
“I’m looking for him,” she blurted, horrified to feel her throat constricting and her eyes stinging. She thought she’d gotten all the crying over with last night, damn it. “I can’t find him, and I need to—”
“He’s not here,” Jacqui said, frowning. “I haven’t seen him in a couple of days, actually. Did you try calling his phone?”
Iris pulled it from her pocket and held it up. “He left it at my place. He left after we—after I—I haven’t seen him since.”
“He didn’t tell Raum where he was going?”
She shook her head. And then, before she knew what she was doing, she was blurting out the truth.
“He told me he had feelings for me, and I shut him down. I just... panicked. But he’s so hard to understand, and he never does what I expect, and he swore up and down he didn’t want any commitment, so I never thought he would say that. And the few times I tried to get him to open up, he shut me down so fast, I—I guess I just kept my guard up so high that when he said that, I lashed out. And now I need to tell him I—”
She broke off and closed her mouth with a snap. Jacqui sat very still, as if assessing the safest way to avoid setting off the crazy witch. Iris almost laughed.
“He makes sculptures,” Jacqui said.
“He what?”
“Would you like to see some?”
“But I thought you said... ?”
“Yes, but I changed my mind. If we’re intuitive enough, art can be like a window to someone’s soul, don’t you think?”
“Um...”
Jacqui was already out of her chair, beckoning Iris to follow as she headed across the studio. “Here, I’ll show you what he’s put together so far for the opening.”
Iris was led to a cordoned-off area in the far corner, blocked by tall dividers. Inside was a collection of sculptures. There were over a dozen of them, some so big they were life-size.
She took one look, and her mouth dropped open.
“Aren’t they beautiful?” Jacqui said. “He’s been working nonstop for months. I’ve never seen anyone so driven.”
Theywerebeautiful. They were also horrifying. Dark and disturbing and hauntingly lifelike. Gut-wrenchingly animated.
