Page 71 of Demon Loved
Just in case.
But her apartment appeared to be empty, one small lamp on the bookcase opposite the door providing some faint illumination before she touched a switch and a much larger floor lamp flared to light, banishing the rest of the shadows.
He hadn’t quite been holding his breath, and yet he couldn’t help being relieved that everything seemed to be in order here.
“I’m not sure where to put your stuff,” she said, now sounding faintly worried. “There’s only one closet, and it’s stuffed to the gills.”
Although he hadn’t stopped to think about it, he realized that he’d been in Jerome for more than a week and hadn’t seen her wear the same outfit twice. Perhaps a pair of jeans or some sandals had made a repeat appearance, but overall, her wardrobe appeared to possess quite a bewildering variety.
No wonder the closet was already full.
“It’s not a problem,” he replied. “My things can remain in the suitcase until I need them.”
“Won’t they get wrinkled?”
“Probably,” he said. “But I can take care of that.”
For a long moment, her gaze met his. It seemed to say, Yes, I suppose you can.
“I know this must be awkward,” he said, thinking he might as well get everything out in the open as best he could. “It seems that we came to some sort of an agreement earlier, and yet — ”
She went over to him and pressed a finger against his lips. Just that mere touch was enough to set the human blood within his veins on fire, but he guessed that was not why she had done such a thing.
No, she needed a chance to speak.
“It’s okay, Belshegar,” she said. “We don’t have to figure all this out right now. Honestly, we should probably make sure there really will be a tomorrow before we start planning ours.”
Very sensible.
Despite her no-nonsense tone, she still seemed on edge, and he couldn’t blame her for that.
“I feel certain tomorrow will come,” he told her, “and the day after that, and the day after. Your prima and her consort seem very capable, and of course your father brings talents to bear that I am sure no other witch clan possesses. And there is also you.”
“Yeah, me,” she said, although she didn’t look terribly cheered by her inclusion in that powerful group.
Well, this was all very new to her. Up until an hour or so ago, she’d had no reason to believe she possessed anything but some very simple magical powers.
“Yes, you,” he said firmly. “You dealt the Collector quite a blow, between vanquishing his servant and destroying one of his precious artifacts.”
“And letting him know there’s a new witch on the block,” she added, a certain light in her clear blue eyes signaling that she was beginning to realize she wasn’t powerless here.
“Exactly,” Belshegar said. “I’m sure he didn’t expect that sort of resistance. With any luck, he is now second-guessing himself — which means we might have more time to prepare than you think.”
“I sure hope so.” She paused there, her gaze surveying the living room with its cheerful yellow-painted walls and the golden-hued landscape…another of Connor’s paintings, Belshegar guessed…hanging above the bookcase with its beveled glass doors, a piece that must have been at least a hundred years old, most likely more. It didn’t look like the sort of setting where an evil collector of magical items would stage an attack.
Apparently, Brianna thought the same thing, because she surprised him by yawning then, arms stretching out from her sides as she inhaled.
“Guess I’m more tired than I thought,” she said. “My mother was right.”
“It seems mothers often are,” he replied, although those words were based more on what he’d heard from other people than because of anything he’d observed personally. Elena Salazar’s civilian mother had been long gone by the time he arrived on the scene, but it seemed that Elena’s husband was very close to his mother.
And certainly it appeared that Hayley was quite protective of her daughter, even though Brianna was an adult, as humans reckoned such things.
“We should both go to sleep,” he said, and Bree’s head tilted to one side as she considered him.
“So…you do sleep?”
“I do,” he replied. “This body is human, even if the soul it contains is not. I don’t require as much sleep as you do, and I can go quite a long while without food and water if I must, but I am certainly not an automaton.”
