Page 37 of Fiends and Familiars
“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Lucien threw his hands up in the air, then eyed a few items on Cassie’s desk as if he were considering throwing them. Thankfully he thought better of the impulse, otherwise I had no doubt he would have been spending several nights sleeping on the front lawn.
Cassie picked up the stack of papers, tapped them to even the edges, then handed them out to Ty. “I have no idea what the lifespan of a resurrected squirrel is. Either way, you’ll just need to wait until he dies again. And I suggest this time you don’t allow him to escape and resurrect himself if you intend to keep him in hell.”
Ty turned an interesting shade of red, then snatched the papers from her hands. “Squirrels don’t live very long. In fact, some squirrels have very short life spans.”
“Oh no you don’t.” I pushed past Lucien to get into Ty’s face. “You lay one finger on my squirrel, and you’ll be the one with a very short life span. You and your hellhounds stay away from him, if you know what’s good for you.”
It was an empty threat fueled by anger and fear. I couldn’t kill a demon. I didn’t think anyone could kill a demon except maybe an angel or Satan or God. I couldn’t kill him. I couldn’t do anything to hurt him. And I honestly didn’t want to. Just being this close to him was doing weird things to my breathing, my heartbeat, my shaky legs.
And from the expression in his face, he was battling the same very unwelcome emotions as I was.
“He can’t stay in your house forever, Addy,” Ty warned. “And the moment he leaves, he’ll probably get flattened by a car, or attacked by a neighbor’s dog. Maybe he’ll eat poison, fall from a tree, or a giant eagle will swoop down and grab him from off your lawn.”
I sucked in a breath. “Not if I can help it.” Then I turned and stomped away, shouting back as I flung open the office door. “And don’t call me Addy!”
Slamming a door never felt so good, nor did stomping my way down the stairs. Drake half flew, half hopped beside me, hissing supportive comments. I managed to hold on to my anger all the way out to my truck, feeling it give way as I started my vehicle and pulled out to the road. Halfway home, the anger had completely faded away leaving me shaky and emotionally bruised. Damn it, I liked this guy. The first guy I’d met in forever that I was wildly attracted to. The first guy who I’d actually had truly mind-blowing sex with—both physically and in my dreams. The first guy I felt I might actually love, who might actually be the one, and he was a complete asshole.
Why couldn’t I find a nice demon like my sisters had? Why? I whimpered something out loud, felt a sympathetic brush of Drake’s wing, and pulled over to the shoulder where I put my truck in park and put my head in my hands.
And then I cried.
