“Pleased to meet you.”
Kai stared at him, not moving. The man was still touching Brooke.
Brooke shot Kai a glare. “I work with Charles, and he’s a good friend.”
Kai drew a breath in an effort to rein in his anger, and realized two things. The scent of another person drenched Charles. It exuded from his pores, so thoroughly were the two scents entwined. And…that other scent belonged to a man.
A horn beeped on the street, interrupting their conversation. “Oh, there goes my Jay!” Charles said, waving exuberantly at a white Mercedes.
Brooke waved and smiled at the olive-skinned man in the driver’s seat. “Hey, Jay!” she called before turning to Kai with a pointed look.
Kai gazed back at her, his primal possessiveness fading to grudging acceptance. He cleared his throat and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Charles. Maybe I’ll see you again at the end of the day. I’ll be back to pick up Brooke.”
Charles drew himself up to his full height, a few inches shy of Kai’s towering frame. His brown eyes bored into Kai’s. “Mm-hmm. You better treat my little Miss B right, you hear?”
Brooke snorted and rolled her eyes. “Stop it, both of you. Charles, let’s go inside. Kai, I’ll see you later.” She grabbed Charles by the arm and hauled him toward the door.
Kai watched them go, unable to help overhearing the rest of their conversation.
“You sassy girl! You roll in with Mr. Tall, Blond, and Angry at seven–thirty in the am! Dish, girlfriend!”
“He’s just a friend, Charles.”
“Hmm, well, your friend looked like he wanted to take me down when I hugged you.”
Kai let their voices fade from his ears when they boarded an elevator. Friends . They barely had civil conversations, but they shared a bone-melting kiss and a late-night cuddle that only one of them knew about. He didn’t think of Brooke as a friend, but if not a friend, then what was she?
He pushed the tangled thoughts of her out of his head. It was time to debrief with the others. Once he got back to the house, they would come up with a strategy for dealing with future Neshi encounters on Earth.
He scowled. There was one surefire way to subdue a Neshi, but it involved just as much danger as fighting one on a city street.
C HAPTER 7
“ H ELLS BELLS ?” SHRIEKED B ROOKE AND Nicole in unison.
The sisters sat on one of the brown leather couches in the great room at Demon Central, ready to hear whatever plan the Lash demons had concocted during the day. Brooke curled up at one end, with Nicole in the middle and Gunnar at her side. Brenin leaned against the stone fireplace, flipping a pen end-over-end, while Kai paced the room with his jaw set in a grim line.
“That’s what they’re called,” Gunnar said, twisting a lock of Nicole’s hair around his finger.
“Let me get this straight,” Brooke said. “You’re saying this little plant can incapacitate a Neshi demon? Just by touching it or inhaling the scent?” She had a hard time believing a little sprig of lily-of-the-valley could take down a creature like the one who attacked her last night. Well, not the Earth variety of lily-of-the-valley, since Rilan had explained that the blooms on hells bells were deep crimson.
“That’s right,” Rilan said from his position on one of the armchairs.
“Then why the heck don’t you have any on hand?” Brooke asked, shaking her head.
“Because we’ve never run into Neshis on Earth before,” Brenin said matter-of-factly. He tossed his pen toward the ceiling, caught it and resumed his flipping.
“Okay, maybe this is a silly question, but why not have some lying around just in case?” Brooke tried—she really did—to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.
“Hells bells only grow in one small area of Torth. The region is inhospitable, and the plant is hard to track down. We had no need for it, so we never planned to collect any,” Rilan explained.
“But you need it now,” Brooke said.
Rilan
Kai stared at him, not moving. The man was still touching Brooke.
Brooke shot Kai a glare. “I work with Charles, and he’s a good friend.”
Kai drew a breath in an effort to rein in his anger, and realized two things. The scent of another person drenched Charles. It exuded from his pores, so thoroughly were the two scents entwined. And…that other scent belonged to a man.
A horn beeped on the street, interrupting their conversation. “Oh, there goes my Jay!” Charles said, waving exuberantly at a white Mercedes.
Brooke waved and smiled at the olive-skinned man in the driver’s seat. “Hey, Jay!” she called before turning to Kai with a pointed look.
Kai gazed back at her, his primal possessiveness fading to grudging acceptance. He cleared his throat and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Charles. Maybe I’ll see you again at the end of the day. I’ll be back to pick up Brooke.”
Charles drew himself up to his full height, a few inches shy of Kai’s towering frame. His brown eyes bored into Kai’s. “Mm-hmm. You better treat my little Miss B right, you hear?”
Brooke snorted and rolled her eyes. “Stop it, both of you. Charles, let’s go inside. Kai, I’ll see you later.” She grabbed Charles by the arm and hauled him toward the door.
Kai watched them go, unable to help overhearing the rest of their conversation.
“You sassy girl! You roll in with Mr. Tall, Blond, and Angry at seven–thirty in the am! Dish, girlfriend!”
“He’s just a friend, Charles.”
“Hmm, well, your friend looked like he wanted to take me down when I hugged you.”
Kai let their voices fade from his ears when they boarded an elevator. Friends . They barely had civil conversations, but they shared a bone-melting kiss and a late-night cuddle that only one of them knew about. He didn’t think of Brooke as a friend, but if not a friend, then what was she?
He pushed the tangled thoughts of her out of his head. It was time to debrief with the others. Once he got back to the house, they would come up with a strategy for dealing with future Neshi encounters on Earth.
He scowled. There was one surefire way to subdue a Neshi, but it involved just as much danger as fighting one on a city street.
C HAPTER 7
“ H ELLS BELLS ?” SHRIEKED B ROOKE AND Nicole in unison.
The sisters sat on one of the brown leather couches in the great room at Demon Central, ready to hear whatever plan the Lash demons had concocted during the day. Brooke curled up at one end, with Nicole in the middle and Gunnar at her side. Brenin leaned against the stone fireplace, flipping a pen end-over-end, while Kai paced the room with his jaw set in a grim line.
“That’s what they’re called,” Gunnar said, twisting a lock of Nicole’s hair around his finger.
“Let me get this straight,” Brooke said. “You’re saying this little plant can incapacitate a Neshi demon? Just by touching it or inhaling the scent?” She had a hard time believing a little sprig of lily-of-the-valley could take down a creature like the one who attacked her last night. Well, not the Earth variety of lily-of-the-valley, since Rilan had explained that the blooms on hells bells were deep crimson.
“That’s right,” Rilan said from his position on one of the armchairs.
“Then why the heck don’t you have any on hand?” Brooke asked, shaking her head.
“Because we’ve never run into Neshis on Earth before,” Brenin said matter-of-factly. He tossed his pen toward the ceiling, caught it and resumed his flipping.
“Okay, maybe this is a silly question, but why not have some lying around just in case?” Brooke tried—she really did—to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.
“Hells bells only grow in one small area of Torth. The region is inhospitable, and the plant is hard to track down. We had no need for it, so we never planned to collect any,” Rilan explained.
“But you need it now,” Brooke said.
Rilan
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