Page 16 of Demon Queen
I gave him a polite smile. “I appreciate the offer.”
“And the young demon, he’s surprisingly good with humans. He probably wouldn’t accidentally take a bite out of any customers.”
“He’s good with humans? Dorian said that he might accidentally rip out my spine.”
He snorted. “Maybe he doesn’t want you to let your guard down around other demons. Most demons are very, very bad with humans. Drigo’s the exception, at least until baby demon came along. He thinks humans are cute, like kittens or something.”
I nodded at him as I let us out of the kitchen side door. “You like kittens?”
“Fluffy snuggly kittens are absolutely sweet.”
“Catherine will give you a lecture about kittens growing up into cats.”
“Catherine?”
I shrugged. “She was there last night. You probably didn’t notice her.”
“The quiet one? I noticed her, all right. It’s the quiet ones you have to watch out for. Also, the way she noticed right away who was the most dangerous, who was the most unstable, and moved according to that knowledge almost instinctively. Very good qualities for a human to have if she’s going to wander into places like the Den.”
“Yes, she’s very competent.”
“What does she do?”
“She’s a private detective. She used to work on the police force, but she was fired for…I shouldn’t be telling you her personal business.”
“Something about being incorruptible, I’d bet. She had that look about her, too upright to be in a place like that. You also had that look, only also terrified. Honey said it was to celebrate your upcoming wedding?”
I gurgled and beamed brightly at him. “She did say that.”
“Will the guy mind you working so many hours in the den’s bowels?”
I looked down the sidewalk and coming towards me was Maurice. Could I use him as my supposed fiancé to keep distance from Dorian?
Maurice’s expression warmed when he saw me looking at him. No. I wasn’t getting tangled up with any men. Absolutely not. “I’m not seeing anyone,” I said firmly and walked towards the passenger’s door of Straldi’s blue car, waiting for him to open it.
“Candy? I hardly recognized you without your costuming, but of course you’re as lovely as ever,” Maurice said, taking my hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it. He was using his Cajun charm on me, but after seeing Dorian’s bare chest, both glamoured and demon king, it wasn’t as impressive for some reason.
I tugged my hand away from him. “Thank you. Thanks again for all your hard work to make last night a success. Jack, this is Maurice, a fellow confection specialist. We have a lunch appointment, so I can’t stay and chat. You can text me if we need to work out any problems.”
Straldi glanced from me to Maurice before he opened the door of his pretty sports car and gave Maurice a regal nod. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he purred in an accent that made Maurice’s sound cheap. “We must rush if we’re to beat traffic. In you go, darling.” He helped me in with way too much care, then closed the door, saying something else to Maurice that I didn’t hear before sauntering around the car and sliding in beside me.
He pulled out too fast, pressing me against the seat while I tried to organize my thoughts. Leaving my shop took a lot of effort and concentration, just like dealing with Maurice. I was all out of effort and concentration so I closed my eyes and trusted Straldi to get me wherever we were going.
“He won’t do,” he finally said.
“He makes excellent cakes,” I murmured.
“That, I believe.”
“Where did you come up with the accent? It was very nice.”
“You don’t prefer the ink’s?”
“Ink? Like an octopus?” I asked, opening my eyes and seeing that we were only a few blocks away from the warehouse.
“Like an incubus. You know, the demons who love to feed on beautiful virgins.”
I frowned at him. “Dorian is a succubus?”
