Eighth Grave After Dark by Darynda Jones Page A

meet him?”
    I bit my bottom lip in thought, then said, “If you will just give me two days, I promise he’ll come around.”
    â€œIs that our grandchild?” she asked, and the question stunned me to my toes.
    I ran my hands over my baby bump again in awe. “Yes,” I said, suddenly thrilled Beep would have real grandparents. Denise didn’t count. “Yes, she is.”
    â€œMay I?” She stepped forward, hesitant.
    â€œOf course.”
    She rubbed a hand over my belly as though I were Buddha. Which made sense. I felt like Buddha.
    â€œWhat’s her name?”
    â€œUm, well, Beep. For now.”
    They both laughed softly. Even Mr. Alaniz laughed.
    â€œOkay, well, I’d stay longer, but I have to pee.”
    â€œOh, of course,” Mrs. Loehr said. She leaned in and gave me a quick hug. Mr. Loehr did the same, and I was overwhelmed by the emotions coursing through the three of us. How was I going to hide this from Reyes until I could talk to him about it? Really talk to him.
    Mr. Loehr gave me his business card. “My phone number is on there. We’re staying at the Marriott on Louisiana.”
    â€œGot it. I will call you the minute I’ve talked to him.”
    â€œCould you tell him—?” Mrs. Loehr started. “Could you tell him we love him? We only want the best for him.”
    â€œAbsolutely.”
    I watched as they hiked up the trail that led to the access road above us. They got in Mr. Alaniz’s car and drove off as I fought another wave of hysteria.
    How on earth was I going to tell Reyes?
    I looked toward the Twelve as they paced just beyond the border, their hides glistening like silver fish in a pond. I could only see bits that appeared occasionally, like a mirage of crystal reflections that disappeared as quickly as they’d appeared, their muscles bunching and rolling with sheer power. They growled as I got closer, their snarls vicious and their teeth snapping like starving piranhas, begging for a piece of me. How close could I get? How long was their reach? Could they reach across the border and drag me to them?
    I didn’t dare get any closer. I couldn’t risk Beep, but I was looking for their mark. According to Osh, all creatures from hell had a mark, a symbol of what they were and where their power lay. I thought that perhaps if I could see their marks, if I could draw the shape of them, that would somehow lead us to an answer. It would help us in our investigation. It would help us figure out how to kill them.
    But even as close as I got, I couldn’t see a mark. I really didn’t know what to look for. I saw the silver of their hides, but they were black, so black that they absorbed light rather than refracted it. The silver was literally a reflection off such eternal blackness. But I didn’t see a mark. I had yet to see what other supernatural beings saw, though. Maybe if I were more in tune with who I was, with what I was, I would see right through the beasts.
    One growled and I saw another flash of silver, this time off a set of razorlike teeth. It lunged at me and I stumbled back, tripping on the low heels of my ankle boots. I caught myself before tumbling onto my backside. Thank goodness, because Beep would not have been impressed with my coordination.
    Just as I regained my footing, I heard a male voice from behind me. “One p-push, and you’d be their next m-meal.”
    Startled, I turned to see Duff standing behind me. He was a departed man in his late twenties who wore a baseball cap, glasses, and a stutter. I’d always found him adorable. The stutter got me every time. But lately he was kind of creeping me out. No idea why, considering almost everything he’d said to me lately seemed to hold a veiled threat.
    He smiled when he saw me, but he hadn’t been wearing a smile when I first turned around. He’d been transfixed, mesmerized by the beasts snapping and snarling a few