Rylie Cruz 3 - How to Date a Demon (19 page)

I swallowed hard and glanced over at
Cole. “Let’s go inside.”

“
Do you want me to give you
a boost up to the window?” Cole fixed his gaze on me, not
blinking.

“
What? I’m going through the
front door, you jackass.”

He snorted. “Have it your
way.”

Old trees covered with moss shaded the
regal home that towered above us. Darkness had settled over the
city. The moon cast a glow across the yard. I walked up the path
behind him and reluctantly passed through the door when he held it
open. After Cole’s hesitation, now I was having second thoughts
about crashing this party. But I had to suck it up. I had to find
Jennifer.

A sick feeling churned in my stomach
and a lump formed in my throat. My mouth probably dropped to the
floor when we stepped inside the foyer. An wide, elegant mahogany
staircase took up the middle of the space. The ceilings were high
and a parlor, where the bulk of the people gathered, was to our
left. I wanted to see all of the décor, but I knew there was no
time for a grand tour of the home. Fine art and antiques were
placed in just the perfect spots over the house; everything had its
place. Unfortunately, I knew Cole and I had no place in this home.
How long would it take before someone discovered that?

When I stepped inside the parlor, my
eyes were drawn to the floor-to-ceiling windows covering the wall
to our right. Candles added ambiance to the room. The soft flicker
from the flames added a glow to the space. A crystal chandelier
hung from the ceilings of in the middle of the room and a marble
mantle rested atop the fireplace. Soft yellow-colored walls were
accented by the golden fabric from the drapes that pooled on the
floor in puddles of silk. Wood doors and intricate molding adorned
the rooms. The whole place screamed rich and elegant.

The crowd was full of gorgeous
twenty-somethings. It was as if they were having a modeling
convention in this place. The men wore suits and the women were
gowns and diamonds. This was no ordinary cocktail party. They stood
in groups, chatting with drinks in hand. The rooms were full to the
brim so maybe no one would even notice that we weren’t supposed to
be there.

Well, accept for the fact that we were
both a little underdressed. I glanced down at my jeans and sneakers
and looked at Cole’s tight T-shirt. In spite of our attire, no one
even looked up when we’d entered the front door. I’d almost
expected for someone to ask us for our invitation.

Cole took a drink off a waiter’s
passing tray.

“
Hey, we’re not here to
party.” I scowled.

“
I’m parched. I didn’t drink
at the bar, so give me a break.” He raised the glass to his mouth
and took a drink.

“
Fine, but only one. I don’t
want to deal with a drunk,” I warned with a wave of my
hand.

“
Yes, ma’am.” He gave a
little salute.

I lured Cole over to the corner of the
room. I had hoped for a tall lamp to hide behind or maybe a potted
plant or something. Alas, there was nothing. I felt vulnerable and
exposed. We might as well have been standing there in the
nude.

Cole snatched an hors d’oeuvre off a
passing tray. He raised the cheese and cracker to his lips. I
smacked it from his hand. The snack tumbled to the floor. I glanced
around to see if anyone had noticed. Everyone seemed too consumed
in conversation to notice. Thank goodness.

“
Hey, what the hell did you
do that for?” He picked it up from the floor.

“
Give me that.” I yanked it
from his hand and sat it on an empty plate on the table next to
us.

Cole scowled.

“
That look doesn’t bother
me. This is not cocktail hour. We didn’t come here for dinner.” I
glanced around again.

“
You’re traipsing me all
around town. You can’t expect me not to be hungry. I need
sustenance. Besides, you wanted us to blend in. What better way
than to eat and drink?” He took a swig from his glass and
smiled.

I glared. “You’re going to get us
killed. You have a death wish and you want to bring me down with
you, don’t you?”

“
Your face is going to
permanently have that scowl on it if you don’t stop. Don’t be so
dramatic. If their eyes start to glow red, then we’ll
run.”

“
Oh, is that all? That
simple, huh?” I rubbed my temples. My head was beginning to
throb.

“
Pretty much.” He
winked.

Groups of people, or should I say
demons, stood around the edges of the room. In the middle of the
space, people moved back and forth to the music.

“
Do you want to dance?” Cole
gestured with a tilt of his head.

“
Are you crazy?” I lowered
my voice. “Like I said, we’re not here to party.”

“
In case you haven’t
noticed, a few people are looking at us. We need to act like we
belong here or we could be in big trouble.”

His last word echoed in my head. I
swallowed hard at the thought. “Okay. But not too close,” I
warned.

Cole grabbed my hand and I wanted to
yank it away immediately, but I knew that I couldn’t. His hand was
warm and surprisingly soft for someone who chased down demons all
day. He pulled me onto the floor right in the middle of all these
demons. He obviously liked living dangerously. I, on the other
hand, wasn’t too keen on the idea.

How to Date a Demon, Rule
#21

Keep a devil-may-care
attitude.

The music pulsed and we swayed in time
with the rhythm. His moves were actually not bad for a demon
hunter. The more I moved the hotter it grew in the room though. It
wasn’t the normal sweating from dancing. No, something wasn’t
right. Heat emanated around us. Was it coming from the demons
surrounding us? Cole moved closer and my heart thumped faster. He
was too close and his hips were moving way too much. How long was
the song anyway?

“
You’re a good dancer,” Cole
whispered close to my ear.

I looked out across the dance floor,
avoiding his gaze. “Thank you.”

“
Where did you learn to
dance like that?” he pressed.

Maybe talking would distract my
thoughts from how close our swaying bodies were to each other. “I
took ballroom dancing classes. My mother taught them. That was
right before her belly dancing and after the holistic healing
classes. She’s tried a lot of different professions before she
found the one she liked.”

“
What about you? Did you
find the profession you like?” He flashed his white
teeth.

“
I may not be good at it,
but I do like playing matchmaker,” I said.

“
No one’s perfect and I’m
sure you’re good at what you do.” The warmth from his body
encircled me.

“
That’s not what you said
before.” I looked into his eyes.

He stared for a beat. “Sometimes I say
things I don’t mean.”

My brows drew together. “Sometimes… or
all the time?”

I didn’t give him time to answer. The
movement and the heat was too much for me. I turned and hurried
away, brushing past a couple who had been staring at us.

Cole caught up to me and grabbed my
arm. “What are you doing?”

“
It was too hot out there.”
I pulled my arm away from him and wiped my forehead.

I left out the other reason that I’d
stopped dancing. He didn’t need to have all the info.

He steered me by the elbow to the
corner of the room.

“
I feel like everyone is
watching us,” I said.

“
Well, they’re not. Yet. But
if you keep acting weird they will watch us.”

I let out a deep breath, trying to
regain control. “Okay, you’re right. We came here to find the guy
and we’re not going to find him just standing around. And we’re
definitely not going to find him on the dance floor.”

“
You need to try and act
cool. I realize that may be kind of difficult for you.”

I cackled mockingly. “You’re a funny
guy. Come on, let’s check out the house and see what we can
find.”

“
And you said I’m the one
with the death wish? We should stand over in this corner and try to
blend in, not rummage through the house.”

“
We’re not rummaging through
the house. We just want to see where that guy went and if Jennifer
is here.” I scanned the room to see who might be still watching
us.

Was he a demon hunter or not? Why was
he afraid of the demons?

He ran his hand through his thick dark
hair. “You’re right. We should try to find him.” He took another
drink from a passing tray, took a big gulp, then sat the glass
down. “Let’s roll.”

He didn’t seem all that confident.
Maybe I should be worried. “Question for you,” I
said. 

“
By all means feel free to
ask any question.” He smiled.

“
Thanks. I’d planned on it
anyway.” I lowered my voice again. “What do the demons do to
humans?” I glanced around. “Like if we get caught, what are they
going to do to us? What’s my fate?”

“
Just the standard demon
stuff. Suck out your soul, banish you to hell. Or worse, they could
make you one of them.” His mouth remained in a straight
line.

I shuddered. I waited for him to smile
or laugh and let me in on his joke, but he didn’t.

“
So, you’re not joking,
huh?” I asked with widened eyes.

“
Would I kid you?” He gave a
sweet grin.

“
How the heck am I supposed
to know? I don’t know you.” I frowned.

He looked around. “Come on. We’ll
check the place out, but be prepared to run.”

My stomach turned with that. How did I
get myself into these situations? We moved across the room and into
the foyer. I followed Cole over to the tall, wooden pocket doors.
Luckily, they were already open. A few people stood around
chatting.

The room wasn’t nearly as crowded as
the other room, which was probably a bad thing. We could be noticed
a lot easier now. I fidgeted with my hands. If I wasn’t careful, my
nerves would give us away.

Unique pieces spread across the room.
Artwork with the word Lagniappe printed on it hung on the wall. I
couldn’t quite describe the home’s décor. It was New Orleans style…
eclectic with touches of French, rustic, romantic and tropical.
Soft golden silk draperies hung from the windows and pooled at the
hardwood floors. The windows were open allowing the cool breeze to
float through.

A long, glossy walnut dining table was
paired with rustic chairs, a black-and-white photograph and the
splash of greenery. Cream-colored sofas sat adjacent to the
fireplace. Many candles flickered around the room. Rich woods
paired with furniture in various shades of white and pops of green
and gold made the rooms comforting and homey. That feeling was an
illusion though. I knew I shouldn’t feel comfortable in the
home.

We stood in the corner, trying to
blend in with the crowd. Cole slurped on his drink. Yes, he’d
managed to find another drink. I hoped he could hold his liquor. I
supposed it would have been better if we’d been chatting with each
other. But my nerves wouldn’t allow it. I was pressing back the
urge to transform into a werewolf. It happened every time I was
stressed.

As we stood awkwardly in the corner, a
man approached. Uh-oh.

“
Just act cool,” Cole
said.

That would be easy for me, but I
wasn’t so sure about him. I could be the epitome of cool when need
be. The man was taller than Cole, but not as muscular. He wore a
dark suit that fit him perfectly with white shirt and blue
tie.

“
Hello. I’m Derek Spencer.
And who might you be?” He looked at us and I knew he was
suspicious.

I knew we needed an invitation to get
into this place. He was going to throw us out on our asses at any
second… if we were lucky. More than likely he’d try to steal my
soul.

“
I’m Rylie Cruz and this
is…” I gestured toward Cole.

“
Gilbert Williams,” Cole
interrupted as he stuck out his hand for the man to shake. “Pleased
to make your acquaintance.”

Gilbert? I almost burst out in
laughter. That had been his spur-of-the-moment name
choice?

Derek slowly took Cole’s hand and
shook it. Did this guy know what Cole did for a living? Did he know
there was a demon hunter in their midst? Was he a demon like Cole
had said? None of them looked remotely like what I’d imagined a
demon to look like.

“
Which group are you with?”
Derek asked, looking from me to Cole.

Now we really were in trouble. I
couldn’t answer that question and I only prayed that Cole could
give a reasonable response. But by the length of time it was taking
him to answer, I had a feeling he didn’t know what to say. Just say
something, anything, I thought. Maybe I could fake an illness and
get us out of there.

“
We’re with the Lideats,”
Cole blurted out.

My first reaction was to smack Cole,
but I figured that would really give us away. I held my breath as
my heart hammered in my chest. Derek didn’t speak and remained
expressionless. See, I knew it. We were so busted.