Page 23 of Fiends and Familiars
Looking up, I realized my walk had taken me outside of this strange town and on a road that headed toward the mountains. A rustic establishment stood to my right with a sign proclaiming it to be a bar and pub. Pistol Pete’s.
I was feeling a bit hungry here in a physical form, and alcohol was known to have been the inspiration for many a daring plan. With that in mind, I headed in and sat at the end of the bar. That’s when I noticed that nearly every being inside Pistol Pete’s was not human.
A troll and a werewolf were holding hands and giggling at a table. A bleary-eyed dragon sat mid-floor, knocking back a shot of tequila. Three fairies were flirting with a satyr over by the dance floor. A bear shifter, a minotaur, and a witch were eating lunch at the bar.
Wait.
Not just any witch. This wasmywitch. I caught my breath, every cell in my body igniting at the sight of her. She was even more beautiful in the flesh than she’d been in her dream. Her auburn hair looked flame-kissed in the ambient lighting. Her eyes were a lighter brown than I’d thought, and her figure was just as enticing clothed as it had been naked.
I couldn’t accost her here, not with a building full of creatures that could collectively kick my ass. Plus, I’d felt oddly weakened since I’d entered this town. I had no doubt that if I got her back to my bed—I mean, my circle of hell—I could find out all of Faust’s plans, his location, and how to slip through the wards to grab him. I just had to somehow snatch her up without being pummeled by bear shifters and having a dragon fry me to a crisp.
She looked over and caught me staring, a blush staining her cheeks. Then she smiled, grabbed her glass of water, and made her way over to me.
“Figures you’d move into town after I left,” she said, sliding into the seat beside me. “You’re clearly not a shifter or a vampire. Fae? Elemental?”
“I’m the Master of the Hounds,” I told her. It seemed more impressive than just saying I was a demon, and I wanted to impress this woman who’d woven her magic around me in both her dream and now in this bar.
“Fae then?” She tilted her head and regarded me with a quizzical look. “So you’re in charge of the Night Hunt?”
I had no idea what she was talking about, but the hellhounds did hunt for souls, so I nodded. “And you’re a witch.”
She blushed again, her smile revealing the most entrancing dimples I’d ever seen.
“Yes. Adrienne Perkins. Call me Addy.” She held out her hand.
“Typhon.” I took her hand and raised it to my lips, feeling an electric spark shoot through me at the softness of her skin.
She sucked in a breath, her gaze on my mouth. “Typhon. Ty. That’s a nice name.”
I was so damned hard. All thoughts of Faust had left my brain, replaced by visions of her naked underneath me, calling my name with that soft, breathless voice.
“What…um, what are you doing tonight, Ty?”
That blush was just as sexy as her dimple.
“Spending it with you.” Who knew I could be so smooth? I was rather proud of myself for that response.
“Good.” The dimple made another appearance. “And what exactly are we doing? Dinner? Dancing? Putt-putt? Oooo, can I meet your dogs? I love animals. I mean, I really really love animals. They’re my thing.”
She clearly didn’t know. She hadn’t connected me with the demon in her dreams. She didn’t know it was my hounds that had been eating her liver treats, rib bones, and leftover ham.
And “Putt-putt?” What in the hell was that?
“Awesome! Putt-putt it is. When should we meet? Six? Seven?”
“Six?” I felt totally off balance, realizing that I’d lost any sense of what was going on in this conversation. “I don’t know where the putt-putt is. Should I pick you up?” I’d need to steal a car, but that was no big deal. Hmm, I should make it a really nice car. Not too ostentatious because I didn’t want to arouse suspicions. No, I wanted to arouse other things. A German sedan? Restored classic muscle car? Sporty two-seater?
She grabbed a napkin, then pulled a pen from her purse and wrote down an address before shoving it into my hand. “Pick me up at six. Call or text me if you have any trouble finding the house. Oh, and don’t mind the vulture and the squirrels. And the big dog that might be in the garage or in the front yard.”
The witch slid off her seat and took a step into me, pressing her lips against my cheek for a quick kiss. For a second I was completely immobilized. The warmth of her soft body against mine, nestled between my legs as she leaned in. The aroma of peppermint and lavender as her auburn hair brushed against my face. The nearly painful response of my body to her lips on my cheek.
By the time I’d recovered my senses, she’d left. I looked down at the address that I already knew on the napkin and the phone number, then tucked it into my jacket pocket.
“Dude, you are so going to get some tonight.” The bear shifter saluted me with his beer.
“Yeah, Addy isn’t shy about going for what she wants.” The minotaur nodded in respect. “Kudos, man. You’re golden as long as you don’t fuck this one up.”
Sadly, I was going to fuck this one up. I was going to let her seduce me, let her bring me inside of the wards of her house, then betray her to grab Faust and haul him back to hell. Part of me wanted to have sex before I did that, but I wasn’tthatmuch of a demon.
