Page 28 of Demon Hunger
His face lit up even more, and his cheeks grew pink.
“Of course not.” He threw the towel on top of a duffel bag that sat on the grass and turned to give us his full attention, while Jenna worked on starting the recorder app on her phone.
“So this is your first time at this event,” Jenna said tentatively, probably going by what the announcer had said.
“It is.”
“And you won!” Jenna matched his smile, looking like reporting this sort of event was her thing.
“I did.”
“How does it feel?”
“Amazing.”
Jenna frowned and blinked several times, looking as if she didn’t know what else to say.
I jumped in. “So, what motivates you to do this?”
It was what we wanted to find out, after all, and it didn’t seem like an inappropriate question at the moment. Or maybe it was, considering Kody’s puzzled expression. He thought for a long moment, so long that it started getting awkward, and I thought he wouldn’t answer. Jenna and I exchanged glances, and I opened my mouth to ask another question, but at last, he spoke.
“My adoring fans, of course.” He spread his arms out as if to encompass us. It seemed like an odd answer. We were posing as reporters, and I didn’t see any fans around. In fact, people lost interest very quickly, moving on to whatever additional entertainment they could find.
“Of course,” Jenna enthused. “And what is next for you in the competitive eating circles?”
“I’d love to go to theAll About Hot Dogsevent, though I’m yet to find a sponsor. It’s in Los Angeles. You don’t happen to know anyone who could…”
“Not rea—” Jenna started.
But I elbowed her. “You never know. We may have a few contacts.”
“Oh, that would be fantastic.” Little stars seemed to sparkle in Kody’s dark brown eyes. He reached into his back pocket and produced a business card, which he handed over. “In case you find anything. That has my email address, my phone number, and my mukbang YouTube channel, so they can check me out.”
I slipped the card into my pocket. “We’ll do our best. You were fantastic up there.”
He beamed at the compliment.
“It was great to meet you.” Jenna put her phone away. We walked backward, waved goodbye, then turned around and left.
“So, what was your first impression?” I asked Jenna.
She shrugged. “He seems really nice. Nothing like Solar.”
“I know, right?”
“Do you think you really—?”
A loud, inhuman screech interrupted her question. She and I both crouched, our eyes darting in every direction, looking for the source of the awful sound.
A group of people ran past us, screaming. Jenna and I stepped back to avoid being trampled. In a matter of seconds, the crowd was stampeding toward the exit, shrieking, picking up their kids, and looking as if their eyes would pop out of their sockets from fear.
“Demons!” someone shouted.
Oh, shit!
I reached behind my back and pulled out Blazebringer. The sword glowed with intent as I charged forward in search of the fiend.
“Wait!” Jenna shouted.
