Page 14 of Demon Queen
I shook my head slightly and continued to the stairs behind the checkout counter and went up to my office on the second floor. It took him some time to get over his awe and follow me.
The office had bulletin boards on all the walls with the next year’s displays in the planning stages. I’d wanted Halloween to be the most elaborate ever, but if I was going to be spending so much time with at Dorian’s club, I’d minimize everything and stick to basics.
“You made that abomination?” he asked, coming into my office.
I took a large bite of omelet and then went to my desk and opened my laptop. “You mean the Marie Antoinette statue? Yes. Would you mind sitting? Your pacing distracts me.”
He looked surprised, like he hadn’t realized he’d been moving. He took a seat in one of the small, uncomfortable chairs with scrollwork on the arms while I focused on my paperwork. How much could I pay Dorian without it cutting into my business growth? That was a good number. How much could I pay him if I cut back in my business’s overhead as much as possible? Profits would decrease, so it wouldn’t be sensible long-term, but at the same time…
“You’re just going to sit there looking at spreadsheets? Do you mind if I walk around the shop?” Straldi asked then took my empty plate along with his. “You seem secure here.”
“Yeah, thanks. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to go to…” I took a second to swallow hard. The thought of leaving the shop again so soon was absolutely overwhelming. “To the Den,” I finished with a smile before I refocused on my spreadsheets. But I would go and meet the demon that may or may not be myown precious bundle of sweetness. No one accidentally ripped out another person’s spine. Right?
“You do that. When does your shop open?”
“It’s closed until Tuesday when it’ll reopen with regular hours. After opening a new display, everyone needs recovery time.” I needed so much recovery time. I needed at least a month to think about the fact that demons were real, that Honey was a werewolf, and that my son, my sweet baby was being targeted by the Zombie Queen. Zombies? Maybe two months just for that new reality, but no. I had a few hours. I didn’t have time to panic. I had to get to work.
He left and I refocused, stopping to answer my phone when Catherine called me.
“Well?” she asked, sounding slightly nervous. She didn’t get spooked easily, but last night had been way too much for any sane person. Or crazy person.
I swallowed hard. “I’m not sure. He seems older than twelve, but I don’t really know how demons age. Except that they live until they’re killed. Like…forever.” That was still brain-melting. I shook my head. "But he’s someone with wings, so maybe he knows others who are younger. Dorian rescued him from the Zombie Queen, so maybe there are others like him.”
“Demons? Zombie Queen? What are you talking about?” Her soft voice got an alarmed edge, like she was worried I’d finally truly cracked, and not just in a ‘can’t leave her house’ kind of way.
I blinked. Had she somehow missed the reality of monsters during last night’s epic trauma? Lucky girl. “Um. Nothing. It’s fine.” It wasn’t fine. It was so not fine, I couldn’t even begin. Thinking about that whole thing…Yep. I needed a few months to wrap my head around it. Instead I got hours.
“Will you tell him that he has a son? That was your ex in the fancy cosplay, right?”
I held my breath. Pain. So much pain. “Did you not see him? He has spikes coming out of his head which apparently means that he’s the king of demons. You don’t get knocked up by a demon king.”
She laughed. “Not personally, but I try not to judge other people’s choices. Seeing him dressed up so elaborately, he kind of matched you. He owns a fight club, and it’s weirdly themed, but your candy shop is equally over-the-top. He might be sympathetic to your problems. I mean funding. He could hire a whole slew of private detectives.”
I winced. I hadn’t paid her for years. “I can pay you?—”
“No, you can’t. You’re family, even if you don’t come visit. I can’t believe you left your house. I’m so proud of you.”
I wanted to climb under my desk and staple myself to it. “I’m still in shock about that. Also that I’m going back tonight.”
“Again? To find out for sure if he’s…”
“Also, I got a job there washing dishes. I’m going to pay off my debt while I investigate the demon.”
“Are you really going to work there, as in leave your house every single day? Will you be okay?”
No. I’d never be okay again, but what did okay mean, exactly? I put a hand on my stomach while my omelet thought about jumping up my throat. “It’ll be good for me to get more fresh air.” If it didn’t kill me. Or the monsters. Or Dorian.
“Right. Well, if it’s Wilkie, it’ll all be worth it, right?”
I nodded too fast and took a deep breath. “Absolutely.” My stomach settled and I hung up with Catherine feeling better. I had one priority: find my son. That’s the only thing that really mattered. Dorian couldn’t be the center of my world, because he’d been displaced and there was no going back. Thank heavens. I couldn’t survive another breakup like the last one.
I took a shower, dressed as normally as possible then set up a payment plan that would take fifteen years to pay off, includinga ten percent interest that would squeeze my business, but not kill it. I’d have some frugal years, but I didn’t have a ton of extra interests anyway. Not like I went on vacation or, heaven forbid, travelled.
If Dorian wasn’t an actual personal threat to me, everything would be fine. Back in the day he’d been excellent company, almost painfully intelligent when I’d ask him about my homework, and he’d never approached me until after that unfortunate couple’s tea tasting.
It was on the lake in the Botanical Park’s Japanese gardens. It sounded so magical, cherry blossoms blooming during the elaborate outdoor tea tasting. I’d been frowning at the flier in the mostly empty dressing room when he walked by.
“Are you going?” His eyes were sharp, clever enough to catch the fine print on my paper. He was also amused. He’d found my obsession with cherry blossoms more than slightly ridiculous, but he worked selling a fantasy so it didn’t bother him. Most of the other girls had no patience for that or my other whimsical dance routines.
