Page 6 of The Nephilim's Touch
I yelp and jump when Pike teleports behind me. When I spin to face him, he’s staring at the demon sprawled on my floor.
“Where the fuck did you find Van?”
Once again, I take in the demon’s appearance. “Thisis Van?” He does look a lot like Warwick now that Pike says that. “He ran into me? Literally.”
“Fuck.” Pike’s eyes go wide when he squats and notices the device. “He’s in big fucking trouble, too.”
“Is that what the…thingy is? Trouble?”
Pike nods. “Looks like he’s been given a month for… whatever his punishment is. Poe must have finally found him.” He threads his fingers through his hair and stands again to pace. “We should tell Warwick.”
“I’m sure he’d like to know his brother is back in town.” I wipe at the crusty blood around the weird countdown device. I can’t help it and press a hand to Van’s cheek. A bit of color comes back to his flesh. “He’s almost sweet, isn’t he?” I thought I said the words to myself, but Pike snorts above me.
“Sweet, he is not. Loyal as fuck, absolutely. And if you piss him off, watch out.” Pike squeezes my shoulder. “It’s good to see him again. Not like this, but still good.”
I nod. “Will you help me get him into bed?” I wave to my sad excuse of an offering for the demon. “He probably shouldn’t be moved too much until he’s awake.”
When I try to pry off the device, Pike stops me. “You can’t remove it. It’s his punishment, and until he either succeeds or fails, it must remain.”
Pike already has Van up on his shoulder and carries the demon to my bed. While Pike gets Van settled, I rush to my kitchen and grab the big bowl I use for popcorn. I fill it with hot water as I rummage around for dishtowels. There have to be dishtowels somewhere. I had a whole stash of them?—
“He’ll be okay,” Pike says behind me, making me jump again.
“I don’t want to leave him.” I turn off the faucet and frown at my lack of dishtowels. Maybe they’re under the sink? I kneel to rummage around in the cabinet. “I feel responsible. Like if I wasn’t in the way when he teleported, he’d be okay.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s entirely on Van.”
I turn to glare at him.
Pike lets out a sign and rubs a hand over his chest. “But I don’t want him left alone either. It’s like if I leave, he’ll disappear. He’s magic-less right now. He can’t disappear if he wanted to.” Pike drags a hand down his face. “Warwick needs to know. Can I leave Van in your hands?”
“Absolutely.”
“Thanks. Don’t be surprised if Wick shows up. But also don’t be surprised if he doesn’t show up. He’s not as volatile as Van, but he’s at least as unpredictable, and I can see him being pissed off enough that he doesn’t wanna see Van anytime soon.”
“So I can come in late?” I ask as I finally find my dishtowels crammed way in the back of the cabinet. All three of them. I would have sworn I had more.
“Take the night off and let me know as soon as he wakes up.”
“I can’t just?—”
Pike holds up a hand. “Don’t worry about lost wages. I’m paying you to be his caretaker tonight. Deal?”
I give a quick nod and gather my supplies. “Deal.” My eyes fall on my table and my bag from The Magic Shop somehow made it inside. Curious.
“Let me know as soon as he wakes up.”
“Will do!” I waddle to my room with water sloshing up the side of the bowl.
Pike chuckles as he poofs out and I get to work cleaning up a sexy demon who happens to be in my bed now.
4
VAN
Something smells divine.Like sunshine and rain and rainbows, if rainbows had a scent. I breathe deeper, trying to take in more of the scent, trying to drag it across my tongue to taste it. My body aches, which isn’t something I’m used to at all. Even after a brawl in the Hell realm, I’ve never hurt this much. What the fuck did Poe do to me?
There’s a slight weight on my chest.
