Broken Heart 06 Come Hell or High Water by Michele Bardsley Page A

Heart."
    "Are you hungry, then?" he asked. He tapped the side of his neck. "You can have another pint, if you like."
    "No! I want to eat my emotions. I need comfort food, damn it."
    His brows went up and he opened his mouth.
    I raised my hand in a "stop" gesture. "Don't even."
    Connor picked up Scrymgeour and stepped toward me, his gaze wary.
    "You're taking him with us?"
    "I promised him I wouldna leave him again."
    "You, making a promise?" I asked.
    "I never make a promise I canna keep."
    Somehow, I didn't doubt that. And I should have, because he'd already proven he was a highly skilled liar.
    "C'mon, lass."
    I grasped the hand Connor held out, and then the world fell away.
     
    We appeared, side by side, on a very comfortable black sofa. The dimly lit room smelled sickly sweet, like a rose-filled funeral parlor. Black furniture, and red accent pieces - like that vase with dead black roses in it - filled the place. Scrymgeour leapt out of Connor 's lap and started sniffing around. Then he meandered out of the room, through an open door that led to a staircase.
    "Kitchen," said Connor.
    "Really?"
    "It's like a real house. Jenny created it on the first level - sorta in the ether. It's difficult to get to if you don't know how to get here." He tapped his temple. "She's very powerful. Not only can she zap from hell anytime she wants; she can be a portal for other demons."
    "Demons like Lilith?"
    "It's why I protect her," he said. "Lilith can't get her hands on Jen here."
    "And dare I ask why Scrymgeour ventures into the kitchen?"
    "Jen keeps scraps down there for him."
    "Demon parts?" I asked.
    "Oh, aye. We hack 'em up fresh an' everything." He smiled broadly.
    I laughed.
    Jennifer, in her va-va-voom vixen form, sauntered into the room. "Wow. This place is a real drag. What was I thinking?" She waved one slender arm. The entire room changed. Everything turned white with crystal accents. Behind us, the windows melted into nothing and revealed an ocean view. The sun was setting, casting pink lights on the waves tickling white sand.
    "Better," she said. She leaned down and hugged Connor from behind. "You healed fast, brother!"
    "Phoebe let me torment her," he said.
    Jennifer sent me such a knowing look, I popped off the couch and walked to the marble column that had appeared during the instant makeover. I leaned against it and stared at the undulating water.
    Jennifer joined me. Red beams shot out from her and I looked away from the brightness. When I returned my gaze, I scrabbled back and screamed.
    "What? You don't like dogs?"
    The massive three-headed creature was a Doberman pinscher gone horribly, horribly wrong. I gaped up at the middle head, wishing I could be anywhere but under the ginormous chin of a drooling mutt. The heads on either side of the middle one looked down at me, probably thinking I was a really neat life-sized Phoebe-flavored chew toy.
    She barked and the sound vibrated right through me. Vampire hearing wasn't always a bonus. I yelped.
    "Jen," called Connor as he joined me. He took my hand, and I let him hold it.
    She sighed, and her doggy breath gusted over me. I nearly passed out from the stench. Wow. Jennifer really needed a Greenies.
    The dog sat on its haunches and one huge leg came up and scratched behind its pointed ear. "You tell her about the talisman yet?"
    "No," I said before Connor could open his mouth. "And I don't know what it has to do with me."
    "Everything," said Dog Jennifer.
    That was so enlightening. I looked at Connor, and he shrugged. "I tol' you, lass, Astria needs to reveal the prophecy to you. It's not like you trust me, after all."
    "You haven't given me much reason to trust you," I said. "Did it occur to you to just tell me what was going on?"
    "Oh, he couldn't do that," said Jennifer in her reverberating gruff voice.
    Connor quelled all three mutts with a look.
    "Why not?"
    He ignored my question, but I filed it away for later. He couldn't avoid answering me forever.