Rylie Cruz 3 - How to Date a Demon (9 page)

I let out a deep breath and looked
from side to side. With Jennifer nowhere in sight, I turned around
and went back inside. I’d just entered my office and sat down,
tapping my fingers against the wood and trying to think of some way
to help Jennifer, when a knock sounded on the door. I rushed over,
praying that Jennifer had snapped out of it and returned home. It
wasn’t safe to leave Jennifer out there acting like Lily’s
slightly-less crazy relative. If she was still acting the same way,
well, I’d find a way to make her right again.

When I opened the door, a man was
standing in front of me—another extremely handsome man. What was in
the water around here? Not that I was complaining, but it was
weird. The guy had blond hair and arctic blue eyes and he smelled
like oranges and spice. Had he been eating orange slices? Whatever.
I stared at him expectantly.

“
Are you Rylie Cruz?” he
asked.

I didn’t know whether I should answer
yes or no to that question, but I had to do something right today,
so I said, “Yes, I’m Rylie Cruz. What can I do for you? Do you need
an appointment for matchmaking?”

“
No, I’m looking for
Jennifer Matthews.”

He took me off guard with that
statement. It wasn’t what I’d been expecting him to say. No one
ever came in and asked for Jennifer. Was he the police?

“
She’s not here. What do you
want with her? Is she okay?”

I looked over his shoulder. I didn’t
open the door any further. I had to know who he was
first.

“
I haven’t seen her, that’s
why I need to talk to you. Can I come in?” He gestured toward the
space behind me.

I contemplated saying no, then finally
relented and said, “Fine.”

He stepped inside the room and looked
at the chair. “Do you mind if I have a seat?” he asked.

I gestured toward the chair. “No, go
right ahead.”

I sat behind my desk and watched him,
waiting for this man to tell me what the heck he wanted with
Jennifer.

“
So, you’re here for
Jennifer.” I stared him straight in the eyes.

He was going to give me the answers I
wanted one way or the other.

“
Yes, I need to talk to you
about her.” He looked at his wristwatch.

“
Do you know her?” I
asked.

“
I don’t know her.” He
didn’t even blink when he said this.

“
If you don’t know her, then
why are you looking for her?” I crossed my arms in front of my
chest.

What kind of weirdo had I attracted
this time?

He folded his hands in his lap and met
my gaze. “She’s in danger.”

He seemed awfully calm for such a
statement. He was a complete wackadoodle. “Danger?” I tried to keep
my voice calm. “Again, if you don’t know Jennifer, then how do you
know she’s in danger?”

“
You just have to trust me
on this. Have you seen Jennifer today?”

“
Of course I have. She’s my
roommate.” An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of my
stomach.

“
Well, I have to find her.”
He looked around the room, then focused his attention back to me.
“Like I said, she’s in danger.”

“
First off, maybe you should
start with telling me your name.”

He gaze remained on me as he smiled.
“My name is Cole Palmer.”

“
Okay, Cole Palmer, that’s a
start. Now can you tell me what it is exactly you are doing. Why
you want to talk with her?” My eyes narrowed.

“
I’m a demon hunter and I
need to talk her about her demonic possession.”

I swear it was as if someone had
punched me in the stomach. It hadn’t been what I wanted to hear.
Another demon hunter? So he had to know Neil. “What are you talking
about? The demonic possession thing?” If I ignored his words would
that make everything okay?

I knew something was wrong with
Jennifer. But if this guy was making up stories about Jennifer, I’d
be highly perturbed. I’d jump over my desk right there and strangle
him with my bare hands. Cole had spiked hair and a boyish face. He
wore jeans and a white t-shirt. Hunting for demons must have been a
good workout because he was in good physical shape. He had a little
scar on his forehead and I wondered if he’d gotten it from fighting
the demons.

“
What have you done with
Jennifer?” I demanded.

“
I haven’t done anything.
I’m here to help her, don’t you understand?”

“
No, I don’t understand. All
of this is just come out of nowhere. You tell me she’s possessed by
demons, but it’s so hard to accept. I don’t want it to be the
truth.” I gave him an exasperated look.

“
Unfortunately you have to
accept it. She’s possessed by a demon. Thank heavens it’s only
one.” He glanced at his watch again.

“
So, tell me how you know
she’s possessed by a demon.”

“
I know because one of my
incompetent demon hunters screwed up last night.”

“
And because of his screw-up
my friend is in danger?”

How was that possible? She had been
acting weird before Neil came along. As much as I didn’t want to
defend the guy, facts were facts.

“
A demon got hold of
her.”

“
Well, I don’t understand
how this demon got hold of her.”

“
During this fight that
should have never happened.”

“
So you think last night
when she went outside to help your lame-ass demon hunter she was
possessed? She was trying to help break up a fight.”

“
I’m aware. One of the men
was possessed and got a hold of Jennifer’s soul.”

“
I don’t know about all that
because…”

I hesitated and he studied
me.

“
Because?” he
pushed.

“
Because she was acting
strange before this happened. The other night, when I came home her
eyes were glowing red and she felt feverish. She’s been doing a lot
of uncharacteristic things.”

Before we could discuss this more, a
knock sounded on the door frame. I glanced over and saw Jack
standing there with the funniest expression on his face when he saw
Cole sitting in front of me. How long had he been listening to our
conversation?

It looked like he was jealous, but he
had nothing to worry about. It wasn’t like him to be like
that.

I met him at the door. “Jack, this is
Cole Palmer. He’s looking for Jennifer. He wants to help
her.”

“
What does she need help
with?” he asked while staring at Cole.

“
Jennifer left this morning
and she wasn’t feeling better, if you know what I mean.”

“
Did you try calling her
cell phone?” Jack asked.

I nodded as he entered the room. He
sat on the edge of my desk and fixed his gaze on Cole. A nervous
vibe hung in the air.

How to Date a Demon, Rule
#9

Your date has probably
already heard every hotter-than-hell joke ever told.

Cole shifted in his seat as if he was
tiring of Jack’s macho stare-down. What did he want with me? Why
had two demon hunters shown up at my door all of a
sudden?

“
So, who was this guy that
Jennifer had a date with? A demon hunter? What is that?” Jack
asked.

Cole moved his gaze to mine, not
taking his dark, piercing eyes off of me. There was no way he’d let
me out of answering our questions.

I leaned forward and attempted my most
professional posture. “I fixed her up with a Neil Allen. He just
came in here the other day and wanted to find a date. Are you
telling me that was a coincidence?”

“
That was all you knew about
him and you fixed the guy up with your friend?” He frowned
accusingly at me.

Jack’s body tensed. I felt as if he
might pounce at any second.

How dare this guy come in and question
me like this. I didn’t owe him any answers. “I don’t know where you
found me or why you want me to answer any of your
questions.”

He frowned as if he was growing
increasingly annoyed with me. “I’ll explain soon, but right now I
think we need to find your friend. Or do you not care about finding
her?”

“
You have some nerve
questioning my concern for my friend?”

Cole shrugged, but didn’t respond.
Instead, he asked, “Do you have any more information about Mr.
Allen?”

“
I have some information.
Why do you ask?”

He cleared his throat and glanced from
Jack to me. “I need to speak with him as well. Do you have his
address?”

“
What?” I scrunched my brow
in confusion.

Jack stood up, but I put my arm in
front of him to stop him from kicking the guy out. As crazy as he
seemed, I needed to hear what he had to say about Jennifer. “Why do
you not know where he lives if you work with him, and furthermore,
why should I give this to you? It’s confidential information and I
can’t let you see that.”

“
Do you want to find your
friend or not? I guess I can forget about this and let you figure
it out on your own.” He relaxed his posture and leaned back in the
chair.

“
Of course I want to find
her, but I can’t let you see that information.” Irritation spiked
along my nerves.

He let out a deep breath and ran his
hand through his hair. “Then you have to help me find her some
other way because I have to find her.”

I’d call his bluff. I studied him,
then said, “I don’t know if this will help you, but he said he
lived close by.”

“
If you really want to find
your friend, then look up his address,” he said in a stern
voice.

“
You have to tell me why you
need the address and why you have to find her?” I crossed my arms
in front of my chest.

“
Rylie, I don’t think we
need to talk with Mr. Palmer any longer.” Jack stood.

I didn’t answer Jack, but continued
staring at Cole, waiting for his answer.

Finally, Cole said, “She’s with a
demon and she now has many people who want to hunt and kill
her.”

My heart jerked in a crazy rhythm.
Exactly what I didn’t want to hear. My worst fear for her had been
confirmed. “What? That’s crazy.”

Jack was still listening to our
conversation, shaking his head. I was sure he was wondering how
things had gotten weirder than they already were. But somehow
things had gotten much stranger and now I didn’t know what to
do.

“
So you say Jennifer was
acting strange before this date?”

I nodded.

“
Hmm. That is odd.
Nevertheless, I have to know why and how this fight happened when
she was with Neil.”

“
How do I know you are who
you say you are?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“
I have a driver’s license
and a business card. You can look up any information you want about
me.” He pulled his wallet from his back pocket.

Before we finished the conversation
about Neil and Jennifer, Quinton appeared in the doorway. He was
the vampire I had met just weeks ago and he was helping Jack become
accustomed to the vampire lifestyle. He wore ripped jeans and a
white shirt with the sleeves rolled halfway up his forearms. With
green eyes and a strong jaw, he was good-looking. Well, if you
liked the cocky vampire type.

Quinton had that usual smirk on his
face, the same sly smile I’d seen many times, as if he’d
interrupted the three of us having sex or something.

“
What’s going in here?” he
asked as he leaned against the door frame, folding his arms in
front of his chest.

He must have noticed the tension in
the air.

“
Hi, Quinton.” I threw my
hand up in a half-hearted wave.

“
Are you ready?” He looked
at Jack.

Jack nodded. Quinton’s somewhat
pleasant tone with Jack was surprising. Since when did they become
good friends? It wasn’t long ago they couldn’t stand each
other.

“
Rylie, can I talk to you
for a moment?” Jack gestured with his head toward his
office.

I looked at Cole, and then at Quinton.
“If you’ll excuse me for just a moment, please.”

“
No problem. Go ahead.” A
smile played at Quinton’s lips.

Cole nodded.

When we reached the door to Jack’s
office, he whispered, “I don’t trust a guy who just flashes some
fake business card and claims to be looking for your friend who is
in serious danger. Where did he come from?”

“
I don’t know. He just
showed up looking for Jennifer.”

This was getting so strange. I kept
saying the same thing. These men had just shown up out of the blue?
No way.

“
I don’t want to leave you
alone with him now.” Emotion showed in his electric blue
eyes.

“
I’ll be fine.” I took his
hand in mine.