Rylie Cruz 3 - How to Date a Demon (8 page)

He looked from me to Jennifer and back
at me. “What happened to her when she came back in here?” he asked
with panic in his voice.

He knew that she had been acting
strangely, so why was he asking? I wondered what had happened on
her trip home. Would Jennifer remember?

“
She was burning up and her
eyes were glowing. Look, I don’t know what kind of freaky crap
you’re into, but Get a Mate is a reputable business and I won’t
tolerate any weird junk going on. Not only does it affect my
business, but when my best friend is involved, well, that is just
not okay. You got that?”

“
Rylie, listen to me. I have
to get Jennifer help right away.”

“
What kind of help are you
talking about?” I asked.

Jennifer moved further away from him.
“I’m not going anywhere with you, creep.”

Neil was such a good-looking guy. I’d
obviously been swayed by his looks and hadn’t realized what a freak
he was. And I’d put Jennifer in this dangerous situation. How was
that for a commercial for my business? Come to Get a Mate where we
set you up with freaks.

Neil paced across the floor. When he
turned to face us again he let out a deep breath and ran his hand
through his hair. “Where do I start?” he asked.

“
I’d say you’d better start
somewhere in a hurry because I’m losing my patience.”

Jennifer nodded. Was it that hot in
the room? Sweat was beading on her forehead. She didn’t look as if
she felt well at all. Should I ignore the glowing eyes that I’d
seen earlier? Sure, people said it was the sign of a demon, but she
was talking perfectly normal now. What could I do?

“
I guess I should tell you
the truth,” Neil said.

I nodded. “I think that would be a
wise decision.”

“
I’m a demon hunter.
Sometimes the business can be a little tricky.”

Jennifer and I stared, wide-eyed. “A
little tricky?”

He didn’t answer my question. Instead
he continued, “Anyway, a few demons showed up at the restaurant
tonight. I never wanted Jennifer to be involved. I never thought
she’d come outside to defend me, which was really sweet,” he said
looking at Jennifer.

A little smile spread across her
face.

“
Are you freaking kidding
me? Why didn’t you tell me this information before? I would never
have sent her out with you.”

“
That’s why I didn’t tell
you. No one wants to be involved with a demon hunter. It’s too
dangerous.”

“
Well, now you know why. She
could have been killed.”

“
So tell me what happened to
her outside,” I said.

“
Why did you ask what I did
when I came home?” Jennifer asked.

At least she’d found her tongue again.
Her voice sounded normal, but she sure didn’t look well
still.

“
Look at her,” I
yelled.

“
What’s wrong with me?”
Jennifer asked with panic in her voice.

Okay. I didn’t want to freak her out,
but lipstick was smeared across her face and I was pretty sure it
wasn’t from a make-out session. Why in the hell did Stephen have to
be married? Heck, even Jennifer’s old flame Todd sounded like a
good option at the moment compared to the crazy demon hunter in our
living room.

“
There’s no easy way for me
to say this.” Neil paced across the floor again. “So I guess I’ll
just have to come out and say it.”

“
That would be peachy.” I
sneered at him.

Jennifer gripped the sofa with both
hands. It looked as if her head might start spinning and pea soup
might come spewing out of her mouth at any second. I motioned for
Neil to get on with it.

“
I think Jennifer is
possessed now. One of the demons is trying to take over her
body.”

“
What the hell?” It felt as
if I’d been sucker-punched. “What are you talking
about?”

“
When I was fighting with
these men, they took advantage of Jennifer and jumped into her
body.”

“
You’re crazy.” Jennifer
snorted.

I wasn’t so sure that he was crazy—not
about this anyway. But he couldn’t be right because she had been
acting weird before he came along. Though something had happened
when she’d gone outside and talked with him.

“
How do you know this
happened?” I asked, afraid of what his answer would be.

“
Because I saw it happen,”
he said matter-of-factly.

I swallowed hard, but Jennifer just
laughed. It sounded menacing, now that I thought about it, and not
like her usual chirping laughter. This was like an evil villain
laugh and it sent a chill down my spine. Was she slipping away
again?

“
How is that even possible?
What kind of scam are you trying to pull?” she snapped.

“
It’s like the perfect
storm,” he said. “She was in the right place at the right
time.”

“
That’s it? That’s the only
explanation you can give?” Jennifer asked.

He threw up his hands. This guy was
really starting to rub me the wrong way. Maybe I needed to call
Lily and sic her on him. He’d regret messing with us when he got a
load of her. He’d probably rather run into demons any day of the
week than deal with her.

“
It can’t be that easy,” I
said.

“
Oh, it’s not easy. I never
said it was.”

“
You sure make it sound that
way.”

Jennifer stood. I felt her agitation.
I couldn’t say that I blamed her. This guy was getting on my last
nerve too. And to think he had duped me into thinking he was a good
guy. How wrong was I?

“
The heightened emotions,
the time of day, the right person who is susceptible to being
possessed. Heck, she may even have a link with this demon.” Neil
shrugged his shoulders.

“
That’s it.” Jennifer picked
up the fire poker from the fireplace and pointed it at Neil. “I am
not connected to a demon, thank you very much. I may be a little
nervous on first dates and ramble, but I am not an evil person. Now
take that back.”

I eased the fire poker from her hand.
After seeing her glowing eyes, I wasn’t sure I trusted her with
that thing.

“
I know this is a lot to
take in at the moment, but I’m telling the truth and I’m really
sorry that this happened. If she comes with me then maybe I can
speed up the search and find out what this demon wants and get rid
of it before anything bad happens.”

Jennifer snorted and crossed her arms
in front of her chest. I knew exactly what she was
thinking.

“
If you think she’s going
anywhere with you, psycho, you have another think coming. Do you
honestly think she would leave with you? It’s not happening, buddy.
So you can just put the chloroform away. You won’t need it
tonight.” Irritation raced up my spine.

He stared as if he was all out of
things to say. As well he should be. I’d heard enough from this
guy.

Jennifer jumped up. “I’m not listening
to any more of this. There is nothing wrong with me.”

She did have a point. Jennifer did
seem fine now. Maybe it was a temporary thing. She’d go to bed and
everything would be back to normal in the morning. Well, as normal
as things could be when you were around me.

“
I think we should call the
police, Rylie. They can drag his ass to jail.”

“
Jennifer’s right. I think
it’s time you left, Mr. Allen.”

“
You’re making a huge
mistake.”

I picked up my phone. “Don’t make this
any harder than it has to be,” I said, pointing the phone at
him.

He threw his hands up in the air.
“Fine. But call me when things get out of control and you don’t
know what to do, because I can guarantee that things will go bad
and you will need me.”

I snorted. “In your dreams, buddy. In
your dreams.”

Jennifer reached for the fire poker
again. This time I didn’t stop her. He was on his own. Maybe he’d
take the hint and leave.

Neil held his hands up in surrender.
“Okay. I’m leaving. But like I said, you have my number. You’re
going to need it.”

Jennifer and I stared in disgust at
his cockiness.

When he sauntered out the door,
Jennifer looked at me. “Can you believe that guy? He had some
nerve.”

“
Jennifer, I am so sorry for
fixing you up with some sleaze-ball like that. I had no
idea.”

She shook her head. “Everyone makes a
mistake once in a while. Just know that I will never let you fix me
up with anyone ever again.”

“
Duly noted,” I
said.

I hoped Jennifer didn’t change her
mind and picket my office like Lily had. Or worse, they might form
an alliance against me. That was the last thing I needed. I locked
the door and grabbed Jennifer’s arm. “Come on, you need to go to
bed. Sleep this off and in the morning you will feel like a new
woman.”

Would that woman be a she-devil? I
mentally shook off the thought. No, nothing like that could happen.
I wouldn’t allow it to happen. I was just glad that slutty Jennifer
had disappeared. Should I tell her how she’d been acting? Maybe I’d
wait until the morning. She’d had enough information for that
night.

I escorted Jennifer to her door and
she paused. “What do you think he was talking about when he said I
was connected to a demon?”

I shook my head. “He doesn’t know what
he’s talking about. I wouldn’t lose an ounce of sleep over it if I
were you.”

She sighed. “You’re right.”

“
Again, I am sorry for
everything.”

She hugged me. “Don’t worry about it,
Rylie. Let’s not even mention his name again.”

I nodded. “Okay. I’ll see you in the
morning.”

I padded off to bed, relieved that
Neil had gone without a fight. But something didn’t feel right. A
nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach told me that something was
off. I told myself that it was just my usual neurotic thoughts at
work and that everything was fine. Now if only that were
true.

I slipped into bed and pulled the
covers up close. I’d just started to doze off when something caught
my attention. A growling noise came from the foot of my bed and
something told me it wasn’t a little mouse.

I flipped on the light. Nothing was
there. I scanned the room, but saw nothing. I must have imagined
it.

The next morning, I was sitting at the
table, eating my breakfast, which consisted of bacon with a side of
even more bacon, when Jennifer sashayed out of her bedroom wearing
an outfit that was even more absurd than the attire she’d worn the
evening before. If that was even possible.

Her white shorts were impossibly
low-cut and very short, showing her ass cheeks. She looked at me
with a smirk, crossing her arms in front of her chest. This didn’t
look good. I thought she’d be better as soon as the sun came up,
not worse. She had been fine when she went to bed.

“
Are you going to say
anything about my outfit?” she asked, spinning around.

“
Are you going to work
dressed like that?”

She huffed. “I’m not going to work
today.”

“
What do you mean you’re not
going to work today?” I pushed my plate away.

Her eyes narrowed. “I said I’m not
going.”

It was growing increasingly hard to
keep my cool. Maybe Jennifer had the right idea though. She’d scare
the animals. Jennifer was a great veterinarian, but calling in sick
today was probably the best idea she’d had in a long
time.

“
That’s probably for the
best. You’re obviously still not feeling well. Maybe you should go
back to bed,” I said.

“
So you don’t like my
outfit?” she asked curtly.

She wasn’t going to let me out of this
one.

“
No, as a matter of fact I
don’t like your outfit. Why are you dressed like that?”

She blinked in surprise. “Hey, don’t
you worry about what I’m wearing. My clothes look good. I’ll wear
what I want, when I want.”

Okay, I wasn’t going to argue about
this with her. I had to talk with her about her behavior. “Honey,
don’t you think you’ve been acting a little bit strange? I mean you
know the way you’re acting and dressing isn’t normal for you. If
you dressed like that all along, fine, but this isn’t typically how
you are. It’s uncharacteristic. Can you see why that would worry
me?”

“
There’s nothing wrong with
the way I’m acting or dressing. But there’s a lot wrong with you
and, in fact, I’m sick of your shit. Now leave me alone.” Jennifer
turned around, flung open the door and marched out.

The door slammed shut, rattling the
walls. I thought the door might fall off the hinges. Yep. Something
was definitely wrong and I had to figure it out what it was before
I lost my best friend forever.

I hurried out the door, down the steps
and out onto the sidewalk. I looked around the street for Jennifer,
but she was too fast. She was nowhere in sight. Where did I go from
here? How did I begin to find her? I couldn’t allow her to roam
around like this, not in her current condition. I had to do
something, but I had no idea what.