Rylie Cruz 3 - How to Date a Demon (15 page)

“
I admire your desire to
help your friend,” he said sweetly. “You’re very loyal.”

I was momentarily rendered speechless.
What was he up to?

I shrugged as I continued walking down
the street. “That’s what friends are for. She’s my best friend and
she would do the same for me. She has done the same for
me.”

“
You were captured by a
demon?” he asked.

“
No, it was a werewolf
thing. Long story.” I waved off his question.

“
Fine. We’ll do your plan,”
he said warily.

Nope it was too late. I didn’t need
him around as a distraction. And that was all he was—a hindrance.
The best thing for me to do was get away from him. I would distract
Cole and then take off running. I already knew he couldn’t keep up
with me. I felt his stare on me. Did he suspect what I was about to
do?

I would do what this woman had told me
with or without Cole’s help. As a matter of fact, it looked as if
it would be a better option to do it without him. I’d walk a little
bit further with Cole, then I’d lose the guy. I’d go on this
mission without him. He was just like dead weight anyway—holding me
back. I knew that I said sometimes you needed help, but you had to
pick who helped you wisely, and I felt like Cole wasn’t the right
person for the job. Call it a gut instinct.

He glanced over at me.

“
What? Do I have food on my
face? What’s wrong?” I asked. I wondered if I had hair sprouting on
my face. It wouldn’t be shocking with all the stress I was
currently under.

“
No, you were checking me
out, so I thought I’d check you out too.”

I snorted. “I was not checking you
out. You’re a little conceited, don’t you think?”

He flashed a smile. Damn
him.

When I reached an alleyway, I darted
to my left and ran as fast as I could. If I moved fast enough, I
could make it back to my apartment, change my clothes, and give him
the slip before he even knew what had hit him. Some demon hunter he
was. He was so pathetic.

I glanced over my shoulder, but I’d
zipped in front of a group of people, so there was no way Cole
could see me. He’d never find me. I chuckled internally. I
wondered if he remembered my address. Probably. He was stupid, but
he wasn’t that stupid.

What was with people following
me?

Someone was following me as I ran down
the sidewalk. I felt his presence, but when I looked over my
shoulder, I didn’t see anyone running with me. I sprinted down
another alley and weaved around a few trash cans. I zipped around a
pothole and stumbled, but luckily righted myself without falling
flat on my face. If only I could make it back to my place without
being attacked by whoever was following me. I knew it wasn’t
Cole.

Glancing over my shoulder, I noticed a
man quickly gaining on me. Who the hell was he? Why did I always
have someone freakin’ following me? It was really growing old. I’d
grown accustomed to werewolves following me, but I didn’t think
this man was a werewolf. There was something odd about him, but I
couldn’t put my finger on what exactly that oddity was. One thing
was for certain, he was good-looking. He had blond hair with strong
features and plenty of muscles.

Was a demon following me? They were
like zombies. My apartment came into sight and I couldn’t wait to
slip inside and lock the door, although I wouldn’t be able to hide
out in there for long. I had to go back out there on the streets
and search for Jennifer. If the jerk following me didn’t back off,
I’d have to change into a werewolf and kick some demon
ass.

My feet moved faster than ever as I
practically glided back to my building. I peeked out the window.
Thankfully the man was nowhere in sight. I’d given him the slip…
for now. With any luck, Jennifer had returned. A werewolf could
dream, right? I slipped through the apartment door and let out a
deep breath. Thank goodness I had lost him.

The apartment was so empty and lonely
without Jennifer. The tick-tock from the clock was the only sound.
Jennifer’s bunny slippers were by the door where she’d left them. I
slipped into my comfortable jeans, a sweatshirt and my sneakers. I
had to be able to move quickly and my business attire wasn’t great
for those types of activities.

I grabbed some cash and my cell phone
and stuffed them into my pockets. Before heading out the door, I
pulled my hair back into a ponytail. I was ready for some serious
maneuvers now. I made my way down the stairs and poked my head out
the front door. No one suspicious was in sight, so I stepped down
the stairs and onto the sidewalk. Where did I begin?

“
Not so fast,” the male
voice said from over my shoulder.

What the hell? Why couldn’t I get rid
of Cole?

How to Date a Demon, Rule
#16

If you give the devil a
ride, he’ll always want to drive.

“
Why are you back? Why can’t
you leave me alone?” I huffed.

“
I have a job to do. That
job is finding your friend,” Cole said.

“
Does that really mean you
have to tag along with me?” I walked faster.

He nodded with a sigh. “Apparently, it
does. You’re not exactly the most delightful person to hang out
with.”

I glared. “How dare you. I am a very
pleasant person. You try losing your best friend to a demon and see
how you feel.”

He stared me straight in the eye and
said, “I did lose my best friend to a demon.”

I couldn’t really come back with any
witty quips about that. It looked like I had my demon-hunting
partner back. Lucky me. Had he really lost his friend or was he
just saying that? I didn’t know what to believe anymore.

We were headed down the sidewalk when
Cole stopped me. He was doing a decent job of keeping pace with me.
We hadn’t said much to each other since we’d left my building.
Enough with the small talk with this guy—find Jennifer and he could
be on his merry way.

Without warning, he shoved me into the
alleyway, pushed me against the wall, and held his arm across my
chest. The action had caught me off guard and knocked the wind out
of me. One minute we were walking along, and the next, we were
smashed up against each other next to a brick building. He didn’t
look at me, but instead he poked his head around the corner of the
building. As if this was an everyday occurrence. Heck, maybe it was
in his world, but I wasn’t having any part of it. Cole wouldn’t get
away with treating me that way. He could do that to demons all day
long, but not me.

“
What the hell do you think
you’re doing?” I asked with a growl.

My skin prickled and I felt the
familiar sensation when my eyes began the change. A pull tugged
inside of me. Hair would be sprouting on my arms at any second if
he didn’t back off immediately. I’d hate to have to jam my knee
into his nether regions repeatedly.

He answered me with a
shush.

The man actually shushed me. Did he
cherish his family jewels? I thought not, based on his behavior.
This guy had some nerve. If he thought he could push me around like
he did the demons, then I’d show him a thing or two. I shoved his
arm off me with a not-so-friendly push.

He didn’t respond to my actions. It
was as if he didn’t even notice. Like this was his everyday
behavior. What a bully. Probably it was his everyday behavior, but
it wouldn’t cut it in my world.

“
You touch me again like
that and you’ll be on your way to hell with a one-way ticket,” I
said.

“
You see those men there?”
He pointed out toward the street.

I peered around the side of the
building as he pointed out three men walking in our direction.
There was a ton of people walking. How the heck was I supposed to
know who he was pointing at? I assumed it wasn’t the group of
elderly men, so I looked past them.

“
Are you talking about the
ones wearing the suits?” I asked.

“
Yes, they are demons. And I
think they are looking for us. Call me crazy, but I don’t think
it’s a coincidence that they’re walking this way.”

Ah, the demon hunter was being hunted.
Oh, the irony. That was what he got for being bad at his job. It
served him right for trying to be the tough guy.

“
They look pretty normal to
me. Where are the horns? Where are the pitchforks?” I smirked,
proud of my little quip.

Okay. I was no standup comedian, that
much was obvious, but I thought it was pretty humorous. He didn’t
smile, so I assumed he didn’t find it funny. Tough
crowd.

He glanced at me. “Very funny. No,
they look like humans. Like any average Joe. Well, almost except
for the occasional glowing eyes.”

Jennifer had the glowing eyes. What
other symptoms did she have that he wasn’t telling me about? I
doubted it was as simple as glowing eyes, as exemplified by her
strange behavior. Based on his track record with keeping details
from me, I knew he wouldn’t tell me any more so I didn’t bother to
ask.

“
Oh, so that’s why you
man-handled me?” I focused my attention on the men.

The demons wore suits and were
stylishly dressed. They stood out a little in the crowd, but they
just looked like business-men instead of tourists. Attractive
businessmen, I might add. I expected demons to be ugly hideous
creatures with warts, scaly skin and horns. As I studied the men’s
faces, I realized that I recognized one. It was the man who had
chased me on my way back to the apartment.

“
That man followed me,” I
said.

Cole looked at me with wide eyes.
“What? When?”

“
Yeah. Earlier when I gave
you the slip.” I mentally patted myself on the back.

He scoffed.

Obviously that was a sore spot for
him, so I continued. “He followed me, but I lost him too. I thought
there was something strange about him.”

His expression tensed and he didn’t
speak for a second. Finally, he said, “Why would they follow you?
This isn’t good. They already have Jennifer, so why would they
follow you too?”

“
Do you know them?” I
asked.

“
Yeah, I’ve been helping
another hunter track these three for a while. We’ve almost got them
where we want them in order to get them back to hell.” His brows
drew together as he studied the demons.

“
Do you think the one who
followed me is the one doing this to Jennifer?”

“
It’s a very real
possibility,” he said, looking across the building again. “Which
one followed you?”

“
The blond,” I
said.

“
I’m not prepared to fight
them right now,” he said as he stepped in front of me and leaned
close as if he was shielding me from them.

My heart beat a little quicker. He
still smelled all orangey and spicy. It was a nice combination,
whatever it was. His eyes were bluer in the light. I should have
pushed him away, but something was stopping me from doing
that.

“
We’ll let them pass by for
now. We have no other option,” he whispered.

“
Do you really need to stand
so close?” I asked.

His breath was minty fresh. I felt the
bulk of his muscles as I placed my hands on his arms. His gaze met
mine and he looked as if he was enjoying this way too much. His
lips were practically touching mine and I could have sworn I heard
his heartbeat.

“
They won’t see us if we
stand together.”

That was a lame excuse.

“
How long do we have to wait
like this before they’re gone? Won’t they sense you if they’ve been
following you?” I asked breathlessly.

“
They can’t track me like a
bloodhound. They’re not that good.”

I rolled my eyes.

The demons passed by the alley. I held
my breath waiting for them to notice us, but they didn’t even look
our way. It still sent a chill down my spine. I felt like they’d
turn around as soon as they’d passed and realized that we were
there right under their demonic noses.

“
If you are looking for one
of them, then why don’t you catch him now? And for that matter, why
are you only looking for one? If they are demons, don’t you need to
send all of them back to hell?”

“
It’s not that easy,” he
said. “The timing has to be right. I can’t just do it anywhere. It
could get really messy.”

I clucked my tongue. “Yes, I suppose
it could.”

“
I think the coast is clear
though. We can get out of here.”

Cole still stood way too close. He
didn’t move.

“
You don’t have to be this
close now since they are gone then, huh?” I said, looking him in
the eyes.

He stared for a beat, then leaned
back. “No, I guess you’re right. I think we’re safe
now.”

He didn’t sound all that confident in
that statement. This guy didn’t know what he was doing. Leave it to
me to get involved with a half-ass demon hunter.

“
Take your hands off her,” a
male voice echoed down the alleyway.