Page 60 of How to Trust a Hellhound
“Do they typically all gather in one place?” she asked.
“No, not at all. That’s another thing that makes Paradise Falls rather unique. We have quite a collection of beings here, and you don’t usually see that.”
We walked on, and Thea was able to identify demons as we traversed the town. There were a few around. By noon, I figured it was time to take her to the coffee shop. Hopefully, the angel would be there, and she’d get to sense the other side of the afterlife.
When we walked in, I grabbed us a table before we went up to order. Thea was looking toward the front of the shop, frowning. Quinton was looking grumpy behind the counter, as usual, but I figured it was Kushiel that was puzzling her. He was sitting at a table right next to the counter, drinking coffee.
“Sort of a demon, but not?” she asked.
“That’s an angel. He’s a good sort. Usually they’re rather insufferable. You sense the slight difference between them?” I asked.
She nodded, then turned her attention to Cassius. “He’s human. But… he’s something else, too. I can see his soul, but there’s… I don’t know how to explain it. There’s something extra there.”
“Very good,” I praised her. “Cassius is human, but he’s an oracle and can speak to ghosts. There are a variety of humans out there thathave a little something extra, as you call it. It doesn’t make them good or evil—you’ll be able to sense that in their souls—but if you ever go up against one who has something extra and is evil, take care.”
She nodded, and we chatted for a few minutes about the people in the shop and what she sensed from them. I was once again impressed with her ability to read people—she was exceptional.
She was in the middle of a sentence when I felt it—that vague itch under my skin. Thea trailed off, perhaps sensing my distraction. The itch quickly turned to a burn, and I had only one thought in my head.
Josh.
Chapter 21
Josh
Ifinished chatting with Barb and headed out to meet Thea and Wilder at the coffee shop for lunch. I was glad I’d gone into the office, but I also missed Wilder.
Was that weird? Maybe. I didn’t know. This was all so fast, but things had never felt so right for me before. Wilder seemed to know what I needed before I did half the time. He was kind, patient, caring, and he was sexy as hell. He showed me respect and gave me affection.
Part of me was waiting for something bad to happen. Could things really be this good? Was I going into this with blinders on and ignoring red flags, like I had with Rick? Not that Wilder had red flags like Rick; I never had to make excuses for his behavior towards me.
There had to be something wrong with him. Or maybe it was that something was wrong with me. I was kind of screwed up, after all. I had an appointment with the therapist in the afternoon, and I guessed maybe this was something I could talk to her about. Was I moving too fast? Was I on the rebound? Was I missing red flags? No one could be this perfect, right?
I snorted a little at myself. Well, Wilder was actually a supernaturalbeing that killed people, so maybe he wasn’ttotallyperfect. I mean, some people would say those were some pretty big red flags. Was I kind of ignoring that part of things? Yeah, maybe I was. But he was still Wilder, the guy who held me while I cried and took care of his family. Sure, he killed people, but only really bad people.
Was that making excuses for him?
I sighed. I didn’t know. All I knew was that he treated me like I was special and important, and I wanted to see him. Although I was fine all morning, I was feeling a little out of sorts now, and I knew Wilder’s presence would make me feel better. Was that codependent?
I was lost in my thoughts, and when the hand grabbed me and pulled me into the alley between stores, I didn’t quite process what happened right away. I fell backwards, landing hard on my ass with an oomph. My brain felt like it rattled in my head, and maybe that’s why I didn’t panic—I just felt confused.
“I’ve been waiting for you!” Rick hissed.
I looked up at him, shaking my head a bit. “Rick?” I asked stupidly.
Obviously it was Rick, and he was blocking my exit out to the street. He also looked… rough. He was disheveled and dirty, I could smell him from where I was sitting on the ground, and his eyes were darting around. He reminded me of a junkie, and my heart sank. What the hell had happened to him?
“It’s okay, baby, I’m here to help. I’ll get you away from them,” he said, turning away from me to look out at the street.
“Get me away from who, Rick?” I asked carefully, sliding backwards a tiny bit to get further away from him.
“The demons.” He turned to look at me, his eyes wild. “I know all about them, Josh, and we can help you. I know people. They’ll get rid of the demons for us, and everything will go back to normal.”
“Who’s ‘we,’ Rick?” I asked.
He focused on me then, smiling maniacally. “The angels, Josh. Ifound the angels, and they want to help us. They want to cleanse the world of the demonic scourge.”
He kneeled down in front of me, grabbing onto my knee, and I tried to slide backward, but his grip was strong. He was still smiling, and it wasn’t right.
