Page 89 of Demon Loved
“I know my father — and the other elders and Angela and Connor — will be glad to hear that,” she said. “They’ve had to work so hard to make sure everyone is safe.”
Belshegar nodded, his gaze moving from her to the street below them. Since it was now Friday morning, there was a bit more traffic than usual as people made their way up here for a long weekend, whether they were coming from Phoenix or Flagstaff or points even farther away.
And Brianna wasn’t going to let herself feel the slightest bit guilty about the way the “be back at” sign had remained firmly in place in the gallery’s front window. She’d borrowed her friend Bellamy’s line about a “family emergency” and had told Chelle that she wouldn’t be able to work this weekend, and although Chelle hadn’t sounded too thrilled — especially since she was off in Sonoma and couldn’t do much about it — she hadn’t put her foot down and said Bree needed to get to work or find a new place to live.
However, the idea of relocating had already floated through her mind as she and Belshegar were getting ready this morning. The apartment had suited her just fine when she was on her own, but she could already tell they’d be on top of each other if they spent too much time in the place.
Maybe it was a little too early to be thinking about cohabiting, and yet she couldn’t imagine doing anything else. They loved each other, and she knew they were going to be together. Why not start thinking about the future?
He must have also been considering much the same thing, because he said quietly, “Do you think it’s going to be a problem? The two of us and your clan, that is.”
“Absolutely not,” she said, making sure she sounded as firm as possible. “For one thing, my father’s origins are just as otherworldly as yours, and the McAllisters made him an elder. If they aren’t just as accepting of you, then they’re a bunch of hypocrites.”
“They are definitely not that,” Belshegar replied, still in that quiet, musing tone. “And I will admit that knowing your clan welcomed your father so kindly has helped to put my mind at ease.”
“I know they’ll do the same for you,” she said, and meant each and every word. Part of being a McAllister was knowing how to roll with whatever life might throw your way.
Again, they went quiet, and she knew she needed to speak the words…just to be sure.
“So…you really are staying?”
His hand found hers. “Of course I am. I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”
Warmth filled her then, a very different kind from the heat she’d experienced a little over an hour earlier when they’d been lost in one another’s arms. “I love you,” she said simply.
“And I love you.”
Her fingers tightened on his. “But we’re probably going to have to find someplace else to live. This apartment is way too cramped.”
Again, he didn’t seem at all put off by her suggestion that they live together. “You might be right. And I will admit that I would like to live someplace with more land. Back on my world, I had many gardens to tend, and it would be good to be able to do that here as well.”
He’d mentioned his gardens before, so his comment didn’t surprise her too much, even though at the time, she’d thought he was talking about his place in Los Angeles. “We’ll figure it out,” she told him. “But we’ll probably need to find a house somewhere down the hill…not many of the homes here in Jerome have big yards, and the ones that do have owners who have no intention of going anywhere.” A thought occurred to her, and she added, “It might be fun to find something in Page Springs, especially now that Bellamy and Marc have bought the Rainbow Canyon winery there. Then we’d have friends close by.”
“‘Friends,’” Belshegar repeated in musing tones. “Yes, it would be good to have friends.”
Of course, all this was pie in the sky if they couldn’t come up with a way to fund such a purchase. They’d have to buy, since rentals in Page Springs were few and far between. And while Bree had some money saved up, she knew it wasn’t anything close to what they’d need for a decent down payment on a house. Because of the place’s popularity as a tourist destination, properties in the Verde Valley tended to be expensive.
But maybe her parents could loan them some money. Or….
“You are worried about financing such a project,” Belshegar said, almost as if he’d read her mind. “Homes here are quite costly, are they not?”
“They can be,” she admitted.
He let go of her hand and spread open his palm. Sitting on it were several large, clear stones. Even though they hadn’t received their final faceting, Bree thought she knew what they were.
“Are those…diamonds?” she asked, knowing how shocked she sounded.
“They are,” Belshegar said calmly.
“Where in the world did you get diamonds?”
“I made them,” he said simply. “It is easy enough to convert energy into matter, so I converted it into something that has value in this world. Would these help to buy a house?”
“Probably more than one,” she said with a grin. Clearly, he hadn’t been lying when he’d told her he still had access to all his demon abilities.
“I believe one is all we will need,” Belshegar said, then slipped the diamonds into her hand and closed her fingers around them.
The gems were cool and ever so slightly sharp against her skin. Brianna couldn’t begin to estimate how much they were worth, but she had to guess it was well over a million dollars.
