Page 75 of Demon's Desire

“Look at this!” I pointed at them. “These are burned into the fucking floor. How does that happen?!”

Suddenly Soul’s eyes went wide, and he stood up. “Fuck…” He looked out the windows for a second, then grabbed my arm and stepped back. “Come on. We’re getting out of here.”

“What? Why?” I asked as he began to pull me toward the stairs.

“Order an Uber, right now,” he instructed. “I’ll explain on the way home, but not until we’re alone.”

“But we are alone,” I reminded him. “Is someone coming?”

“Not yet. Not that I know of.” He sighed and rubbed his face as we headed for the back. “Order the quickest car you can, no matter how expensive it is.”

“Okay, okay.” When we reached the kitchen, I pulled out my phone and ordered one to pick us up from the restaurant next door. “Alright, it’ll be here in two minutes. Let’s wait outside.”

“We’re going to stay in here until the car is right outside,” Soul insisted.

I blinked, but I could tell from his tone of voice that I shouldn’t argue. Something was going on. He wasn’t just being demanding. He was worried.

Only a minute and a half later, my phone pinged, so we went out the back door, through the alley, and out around the building once again. Soul kept looking around. When I got to the car, I opened it and lingered outside for a second so he could get in. “Hi there.”

“Hey.” A woman nodded at me. I got in the car and she immediately frowned. “Um… You alright?”

“Yeah!” I answered a bit too quickly. “Why?”

“You smell like smoke,” she muttered as she cracked each of the windows.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry.” I smiled apologetically. “You know Hundred? The bar that caught fire the other night?”

“I know of it.” She glanced at me in the rearview mirror as she started the car. “Why were you there?”

“I had an interview with the owner for one of his other bars,” I explained. “I asked about the damage so he showed me where the fire was. I didn’t realize the smell would linger.”

“Mhm.” She sighed as she pulled out onto the street.

I glanced sideways at Soul, who was looking out the back window. “There’s only one way footprints could be burned into the ground like that, Mia. And it’s supernatural.”

My eyes went wide suddenly. I started to ask him what that meant, but paused when I remembered where I was. I swallowed hard and looked down, opening a note on my phone. I typed ‘Does that mean there was another demon there that night?’

“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “It could be a number of things. But it would explain why all the DJ equipment wasn’t as burned. Whatever it was, it was controlling the fire. I can only guess that it kept the speakers on so the music would be a distraction, like a cover. It could make noise without being caught.”

I furrowed my brow and went to type again. ‘So there are supernatural creatures that can control fire? Also, if Jackson was there that night, why wouldn’t he bother to stop it?’

“There are supernatural creatures that can do almost anything,” he told me. “Even demons. Different demon families develop different skills. Most demons can’t fly. That was just my family. I’ve heard of demon clans that can teleport, one that can manipulate sound waves, and a couple that can use fire, if that creature was a demon at all.”

‘Was it after us? Or just a coincidence?’ I bounced my leg against the seat rapidly. I hoped it was a coincidence.

“Honestly… I don’t know… But it’s a bit exciting, isn’t it?” He looked at me and I suddenly noticed a grin on his face.

For the record, I did not think it was.

17

When I got back to the apartment, Kelly was back from work. She apologized for what she’d said that morning, but it was clear that her apology was directed at me, not Soul. It almost seemed like she was trying to ignore him. Granted, I didn’t think he even noticed. He was more excited about the idea of another demon being involved with the fire than anything else.

I probably should have told Kelly, but I decided not to for the moment. She was still clearly upset about Soul’s presence, and I didn’t want to make it worse. Instead, I just tried not to panic all afternoon. It was difficult to fall asleep that night, even with Soul wrapped around me. He would do anything to protect me. That should have been comforting… but it wasn’t. The whole situation just gave me a bad feeling.

Still, eventually I fell asleep. I didn’t wake up the next morning until my phone went off around ten thirty. I sat up and rubbed my eyes as I grabbed it off of the nightstand.

“Hello?” I tried to sound as awake as possible as I looked around the room. Soul was standing next to the window, and he turned around and looked at me.