Rylie Cruz 3 - How to Date a Demon (18 page)

“
We’ll find Jennifer,” he
said, glancing over at me.

“
That’s more like it,” I
said.

How to Date a Demon, Rule
#19

Your date isn’t evil, just
up to no good.

We passed all the familiar spots in
the French Quarter and I couldn’t help but notice some of
Jennifer’s favorite places. Unfortunately, her favorite café and
boutique were closed, so that ruled out those options. Maybe we
should check the Victoria’s Secret at the mall. No, she only wanted
to go there when I needed to be embarrassed about my granny panty
choices.

Cole was quiet as we walked the
street, which surprised me. I’d almost come to believe anytime he
was being quiet was a bad thing. I glanced over at him. He looked
straight ahead, seemingly lost in thought. He didn’t notice me
watching him, or if he did, he didn’t let on to it.

I studied his features. He had a
strong jaw and I noticed another little scar on the side of his
cheek. Had he gotten that one from fighting a demon too? Or
fighting a demon hunter? Maybe it was from a woman who’d finally
gotten sick of his sharp tongue. Okay, taking the
might-or-might-not-be-a-demon thing out of the equation, I guessed
he wasn’t that bad, but he wasn’t good either. At that moment, I
wondered what Jack was doing. Was he thinking of me? Wondering why
I hadn’t shown up at the conference yet?

After a short distance, we’d made it
to the bar. The façade was distinctly New Orleans and all that I
loved about my hometown—cast-iron railings and quaint courtyards. I
could do without the Mardi Gras parties when my werewolf relatives
converged on my apartment’s balcony, but everyone had their
dysfunctional family activities to deal with, I guessed.

A few people milled around the front
door. Mostly tourists who looked somewhat lost. Unfortunately, I
knew the feeling all too well. My whole life seemed to be one giant
wrong turn. I scanned the faces for Jennifer, but no luck. She
wasn’t in sight. I prayed I’d find her inside the bar.

Jazz music spilled out from the door
when we entered. The bar was jammed between a restaurant on one
side and a gift shop on the other that sold items unique to the
French Quarter. Old New Orleans atmosphere dripped from the walls
and ceiling surrounding us. The red walls reminded me of vampires
and art covered most of the space.

Cole followed me into the dimly lit
room. No one seemed to notice that we’d entered. That was a good
thing. I wanted to keep a low profile. The fewer people who noticed
us, the better we’d be. I made a mental note to ask the bartenders
if they’d noticed anyone who fit Jennifer’s description. Something
told me that they’d remember her if they saw her.

Cole leaned in close and asked, “Where
would you like to sit? Is that corner over there okay? We can get a
good view of the room from there.”

“
Yeah, that’ll be fine,” I
said.

My pulse thumped in rhythm to the
music. Something about the place gave off a strange vibe and spiked
my anxiety. Cole gestured toward the table, then placed his hand on
the small of my back leading me through the bar. So he had some
gentlemanly traits after all. What a surprise. We weaved through
the maze of people to the corner. Tall tables with stools placed
around them took up the space. A sign with the words Bon Vivant was
to my left.

He pulled out the chair for me and I
sat down. He took the seat beside me. I’d been hoping he wouldn’t
have sat so near. Although if he said something out of place it
would be easier for me to push him off the stool. The table to our
left had a couple engaged in what appeared to be a deep
conversation. The table to the right was empty.

“
Would you like a drink?”
Cole asked over the noise of the crowd.

“
Do I want to sip on wine
instead of looking for my friend?” I gave him an incredulous
look.

“
I meant like a glass of
water or something. I wasn’t going to throw back a few beers or
anything.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest.

I pointed at him. “Don’t you shake
your head at me. You never know with you.”

“
What does that mean? You
don’t even know me.” He focused his attention on me.

“
I know your type and that’s
all I need to know.” I picked at the edge of the table, ignoring
his stare.

He shrugged. “If that’s what you want
to believe. So do you want a glass of water or not.”

I stared for a beat, then said, “I
guess I could use a couple sips of water.”

Cole moved across the floor toward the
bar. I watched as he placed our order. He was a handsome man. I
couldn’t deny that. I shifted my attention when Cole made his way
back toward the table with two glasses of water in his hands. I
didn’t want him to catch me staring. The bar was full even though
it was early in the evening. The in-crowd usually didn’t show up
until at least eleven. That was when I was slipping into my cozy
jammies and having a late-night beef jerky snack. I was no party
animal.

I was glad we could hide away in a
corner and watch the room, although it would be harder to pick
Jennifer out of the crowd. Plenty of people lined the bar and a
band played at the front of the room. The lead singer stood in the
center of the stage, gripping the microphone, while the saxophonist
and bass player stood on either side. The music was loud so maybe
Cole wouldn’t feel the need for chitchat. I scanned the crowd for
Jennifer, my eyes stopping on any blonde in the room. So far I’d
had no luck in spotting her. It looked as if this was a waste of
time. Another dead end.

Cole placed the glass of water in
front of me, then sat down next to me again.

“
Thanks,” I said, still
avoiding his gaze.

Cole took a sip of his water and held
the glass up to his mouth as he spoke. “Be subtle about this, but
there is a guy in the corner of the room watching us. I think I
recognize him from somewhere but I just can’t put my finger on
it.”

I held my glass up to my mouth. “Do
you think he can read lips? Is that why you’re holding the glass up
to your mouth?”

He placed the glass down and for the
first time I thought his cheeks turned bright red. “Never mind
that. Just check him out. Do you recognize him?”

“
No. Is he a demon?” A wave
of panic washed over me.

“
He isn’t, but I think he
has ties to them.” Cole continued watching the man.

Other than the guy who was still
standing in the corner watching us, I felt eyes on me. Were we
surrounded? I was beginning to feel very uncomfortable in this
place. My initial feeling had been right. Maybe it was time to
leave.

I scanned the room again and my gaze
fell on the man sitting at the table next to us. He was looking at
me, so I tried to look away quickly. I had been right though.
Someone was watching me. I had to chance a look at him again. With
any luck, he wouldn’t be looking this time. Nope. He was still
staring. Did I have a sign on my forehead that said gawk at me? I
knew the he was tall by the way his long legs stretched on under
the table. He had chiseled features and shoulder-length blond hair.
He looked like he’d made a wrong turn off the pages of GQ. He took
a drink of his beer and the gold ring on his finger glinted under
the light. That was when the dim light bulb in my head finally
brightened. I recognized the ring from the warehouse where Sophie
had taken Jack when she wanted to drain the blood from him. It was
the same ring and symbol.

“
You see that guy sitting
next to us?” I asked.

Cole whirled around and looked. What a
way to be subtle.

“
Look at me,” I demanded.
“Now turn around nonchalantly and look at the guy.”

Cole eased his head to the side and
took a quick look. “Yeah, what about him?”

“
His ring.” I pointed
discreetly. “Jennifer was wearing a ring exactly like that the last
time I saw her. It’s very unique and it had belonged to a vampire.
I’d never seen her wear it in the past.”

“
Where did she get it?” Cole
asked.

Hmm. Now I had to admit it had been
mine. “Well, it was mine… kind of. It had belonged to the vampire
who tried to take Jack’s blood. But when we got rid of her, it
became mine. I didn’t want anything to do with it, so I stuffed it
in my jewelry drawer. Jennifer must have taken it.”

The guy got up to leave without
looking at me again. Where was he going?

“
We have to follow him,” I
said.

“
Are you sure?” Cole sat his
glass on the table.

I grabbed Cole’s hand. “Yes, it’s the
only connection we have right now.”

How to Date a Demon, Rule
#20

Running with the devil is
never a good idea.

We made it back out of the bar and
into the night air. The sun had set and darkness blanketed the
area. Stars glittered in the vast and forbidding dark sky. I didn’t
look behind me, but I knew that the sliver of moon was there and
calling to me, reminding that my nights were numbered. Before long,
I’d once again have to shift into my beastly self. Thankfully, that
night was not tonight.

Unfortunately, the twinkling,
star-filled sky didn’t provide a protective embrace. But with
nighttime came one thing for certain: it was time for all the
crazies to venture out. Great. As if it wasn’t bad enough that
there were plenty of loonies roaming around during the day, we got
double the number under the cover of night. I spotted the guy and
we hurried our steps to catch up to him. He didn’t seem to be in a
hurry, so it was easy for us to hang back a little to see exactly
where he was headed.

“
Do you plan on following
him home? He may call the police,” Cole said as he walked beside
me.

“
I just want to see where
he’s going.” I motioned for Cole to pick up his pace.

“
Look, if you need a
date…”

I glared at Cole. “Will you please
stop trying to be witty? Because frankly, it’s not
working.”

Cole chuckled.

The man glanced over his shoulder and
I ducked behind a building. Cole finally realized what I’d done and
joined me.

“
You’re not very stealthy,”
he quipped.

“
Well, he’ll know we’re
following him now thanks to you,” I snapped.

Cole poked his head out a bit. “He’s
still walking at the same pace. I don’t think he noticed
us.”

“
No thanks to you.” I rolled
my eyes.

We stepped back onto the sidewalk like
a couple of cat burglars. I was confident that we weren’t nearly as
stealthy as we thought. The man probably knew we were following him
and leading us to our untimely deaths. I had no idea what I would
do if the man actually led us to Jennifer. If she was still acting
weird and refused to come home, how would I convince her to leave
with me? I couldn’t make her come with me if she didn’t want to.
All I could do was try to talk with her and snap her out of
it.

“
How do we break the hold
the demon has on Jennifer?” I asked as we followed the man down the
sidewalk.

“
I’ll kill the demon,” Cole
said matter-of-factly.

“
Just like that, huh?” I
asked.

“
Yeah, just like that.” He
looked straight ahead.

I thought about asking how he’d go
about killing the demon, but maybe it was better if I didn’t know.
And for that matter, wasn’t a demon already dead? Or not alive in
the first place? Whatever. The stress was making me
babble.

After a couple blocks, the man
approached a house and walked up the path, disappearing through the
front door. The house was brick with large white columns in the
front that went from top to bottom. Music spilled out from the open
windows and French doors onto the balconies of the historic home. A
black iron railing adorned the porches on the bottom and top
floors. An ornate gas lantern hung above the door.

“
I don’t think we should go
in there.” He shook his head.

“
How did you know I wanted
to go in?” I asked.

“
I can tell by the look in
your eyes,” Cole said.

I scoffed. “So why shouldn’t we go
in?”

“
Demons. There are nothing
but demons in there.” He gestured with a tilt of his
head.

I glanced over at him. “How do you
know?”

He clicked his tongue. “I’m a demon
hunter. It’s my job.”

I rolled my eyes. “Right.”

Should we go inside? That was the
question, regardless of what Cole said. Would anyone notice the
strangers around? If there were demons in there surely they would
notice Cole right away. Unless like Jack said, he was one of them?
No way. Cole had helped me too much at this point. I wasn’t psychic
and I didn’t pick up on people’s objectives, but I had a gut
feeling about Cole. No way was he a demon. I threw that notion out
of my head for good.

We had no other option but to go
inside. The guy with the ring was in there. Was it the same ring
Jennifer had been wearing? My stomach turned at the thought that
this guy might have taken the ring from her.