Page 54 of Demon Apathy: Sunderverse
I just wanted to… a warm sensation spread over me as if a radiant sun had suddenly materialized at my side. I leaned into it, knowing that Drevan had just joined me. My unease dissipated, though not entirely.
“A Lucia Sunder here for Solar Hudson,” the man said into the phone. He paused to listen, and after a short reply from the other side, he hung up, none too gently.
“This way.” He led me toward an elevator, waved a card in front of an electronic reader, then punched a number in the keypad. “This will take you straight to the twelfth floor, then go to apartment 1201. No detours allowed. We have cameras,” he added the last bit as if he expected me to break into people’s places to steal their heirloom silverware.
In the past, I would’ve replied with a smart-aleck comment—my pride making me susceptible to goading—now, I was above it, so I ignored him. It was liberating, to be honest.
As the elevator ascended, I inhaled deeply, basking in the warmth of Drevan’s presence. “I wish I had that Queller,” I said out loud, unsure of where that had come from. It wasn’t as if I was used to running around armed, but I suddenly felt vulnerable without it.
The elevator dinged, and the door slid open. I was startled by a figure blocking my path, but it turned out to be a bedraggled-looking Solar.
“Hey,” he said with an awkward smile. “Follow me.” He turned and marched ahead and guided me through a door with the number 1201 pinned on it.
Inside, it was dark, with only one lamp on down a long corridor. He guided me further into the apartment, all the way toward the glass wall that led to a balcony and offered a beautiful view of the Upper East Side. Moon light glowed through the glass, illuminating a section of a lavished living room.
“Thank you for coming,” Solar said, alcohol in his breath. He was drunk.
“Sure, I’m glad to help with anything I can.”
“Um, I think you were right from the beginning. Demons are involved in my sister’s kidnapping.”
“I told you so. I hope we didn’t waste precious time. Um, have you contacted the League of Demon Hunters? I know the director and—”
“No, no, I…” he stopped and started again. “Listen, I’m going to be straight up with you. I think the people I… work with took my sister. I’m in a bit of trouble with them. They’re not the best people around. If I get the league involved, it might put my sister in further danger, and I don’t want to do that.”
Witchlights!Someone else had inherited Rebecca Hudson’s acting abilities. He was worried abouthisass, not Lunar’s, but he’d made sure to sound concerned for his sister’s benefit. But of course, this was to our advantage. We didn’t need the league involved. Grant would try to keep this under wraps if the news got to the LDH, but if other demon hunters caught a whiff that demons were involved in a supposed kidnapping, it could cause trouble.
“I see,” I said. “Yes, I agree. We shouldn’t do anything that puts her life in further danger. But what made you change your mind?”
“I got a call from my sister. She slipped away from those assholes and found a phone. She called me and managed to tell me that demons are involved. Then they cut her off, so I don’t know anything else.”
“Why do people tangle with demons?” I shook my head. “They’re so dangerous.”
“Is there any way for you to track them and find my sister?
“There are ways,” I said. “But I need something to go by.”
He considered for a long moment, then said, “Well, there’s this guy. His name is Richie. “He is…” He paused, furrowing his brow. “If you tell anyone what I’m about to tell you, I’ll deny it, okay?”
“Hey, I’m not here to judge you. I’m here to help you find your sister. I have siblings of my own, and I can only imagine what you’re going through.”
The crease across his forehead eased. “Richie is a guy that deals in antiques.”
Antiques?!I honestly thought he would say drugs.
“People pay good money for the right trinket,” he explained as he noticed my surprise. “My job is to find buyers or pieces, also to do exchanges. A month ago, he had this hunting horn made out of ivory. I found two people interested in it. They got into a bidding war that I kept secret from Richie. In the end, it sold for fifty thousand dollars more than expected. I only gave Richie half of that. Unfortunately, he found out, and he wants his money back, but I don’t have it. He threatened to—”
A light suddenly came on overhead. “Sol, is that you?”
My heart jumped, knocking against my ribs. I turned to find a tall woman, wrapped in a white silk robe, standing by the light switch. She tightened the robe around her body, apprehension shaping her features.
“Who is this?” Rebecca Hudson asked.
Maybe I should have been star struck like that day at The River Café, but I was too scared to be in awe of the Oscar-winning diva—not that she looked like anything but a pissed-off mom at the moment. In fact, she kind of reminded me of my own mother, which was probably the reason I would’ve welcomed an alien abduction to escape the wrath I could sense bubbling under the woman’s skin.
“Um, just a friend.” Solar sidled up to me and put an arm around my shoulder.
I stiffened, sending all the wrong signals a mother’s intuition would never miss.
