Rylie Cruz 3 - How to Date a Demon (7 page)

I nodded. “I will. I’ll keep a close
eye on her tonight.”

“
Where did that Neil guy
come from anyway?” Jack asked.

Ugh. I didn’t want to admit how bad I
had been at setting Jennifer up with that loser.

“
She wanted me to fix her up
with someone and he seemed like a nice guy. He fooled me. I swear,
Jack, I think I’m losing my matchmaking touch. Maybe I need to give
up the business.” I swallowed the lump of sadness in my
throat.

“
You’re just upset right
now. You’re bound to run into a bad apple now and then,” he
said.

“
Well, I just had my bad
apple with Lily. I thought I was good for a while.”

He touched my chin. “You’ll feel
better about things in the morning. You just need to get some sleep
right now.” He kissed me lightly on the lips and my knees went
weak. “I’ll miss you. I’ll see you in the morning,” he
whispered.

“
I’ll miss you too,” I said
softly.

I hoped he was right about Jennifer. I
prayed things would be better in the morning. I needed to think
positive. Jennifer would feel better and be back to
normal.

Loud music sounded from my apartment
and I hurried through the door. Jennifer was dancing in the middle
of the floor. I rushed over and turned off the volume.

“
Why did you do that?”
Jennifer yelled. “I was having fun.” She stopped dancing. Her face
glistened from sweat.

“
I don’t think you’re in any
condition to dance. We need to get you in bed.”

“
Why did we leave Neil? I
wanted to invite him into my bed.” She wiggled her hips
again.

I rolled my eyes. “That’s the last
thing you need right now. You’re sick. You need to go to bed. Go on
in your room and I’ll get you some juice.”

“
No. I’m staying right
here.” She folded her arms in front of her chest.

I blew out a breath.
“Fine.”

I went to the kitchen and poured a
glass of the juice. When I returned to the living room, Jennifer
wasn’t there. I sighed. Now what was she up to? I set the glass
down and listened to see if she was in the bathroom.

Just then she came through the front
door.

“
How did you get out there?
What are you doing?”

“
I was going to look for
Neil.” Her lips curved into a sly smile.

“
No, no, no,” I said,
grabbing her arm. “You have to go to bed. You’re sick, now come
on.” I handed her the glass of juice.

Jennifer huffed and stomped into her
room. Just as I reached the doorway, she slammed it shut in my
face.

How to Date a Demon, Rule
#8

Please learn the difference
between an incubus and a succubus.

I’d already settled down into bed,
pulling the thick comforter up under my chin, when a loud bang
sounded from the front of my apartment. I sat up in bed and
listened. Noises around my place weren’t uncommon, but with the
nefarious activity as of late, I had to be on guard. I sank back
against my pillow again, but before I’d gotten comfortable, a crash
sounded again.

That was it—something was definitely
amiss. I remembered Jennifer and I jumped from bed, running toward
the front of the apartment. My heart thumped in my chest. The
prickle of skin on my arms rose. I had had to shift so much lately
that it was getting completely out of hand.

When I reached the living room,
Jennifer burst through the front door. Her blonde curls looked as
if she’d been in a wind-storm and that rats had a made a permanent
subdivision in her tresses all at the same time.

“
What the hell is going on?”
I asked.

Jennifer tossed her purse on the floor
and glared at me. Her eyes glowed a shiny red. I blinked, thinking
that my eyes had played a trick on me. Maybe it was the light from
outside coming through the living room window making her eyes look
that way?

No, the light outside wasn’t that
bright and definitely not red. This wasn’t right. It was no trick
of the light. Add in her strange behavior and the profuse sweating,
and I knew something was wrong with Jennifer. I’d heard about the
red eyes before, but in all my time dealing with the paranormal,
I’d never seen it in person.

Red eyes were a sign of one thing: the
devil. I swallowed hard as I stood in front of her. She narrowed
her eyes and glared at me without uttering a word. I was pretty
sure it wasn’t even Jennifer looking at me. Where was she? And how
had this happened?

“
Jennifer?” I asked in the
sweetest voice I could muster.

She looked blankly at me, but didn’t
speak.

“
Where have you been?” I
asked when she didn’t answer. “Are you feeling okay?”

That was probably the dumbest question
I’d ever asked and I’d asked a lot of stupid questions in my
lifetime. Of course she wasn’t feeling well. She had glowing eyes
and it looked as if she’d been in a bar-room brawl, for Pete’s
sake.

“
Jennifer, you’re scaring
me. Say something already.”

Should I call 911? What would I say? I
think the devil is inside my best friend? Would the pack police
help me? Heck, they had no idea what to do with werewolf
emergencies, much less demonic ones. What would Jennifer do to me?
I didn’t want to fight with her.

With my anxiety building, I was
already holding back my werewolf instincts to shift. Turning into a
wolf wouldn’t help matters at the moment. In fact, it would
probably only set her off.

I continued moving slowly toward her
in case I needed to take immediate action. This was one situation
that I’d never been in before.

“
I was looking for Neil. Do
you think he’ll ask me on a second date?” Jennifer
mumbled.

I was guessing there wouldn’t be a
second date. I was seriously losing my matchmaking mojo. Making
sure not to agitate Jennifer, I inched closer as if I was trying to
capture a wild animal. She was still standing with her fists
clenched and her focus pinned on me.

Just as I neared her, she collapsed to
the floor like a rag doll. Her body made a loud thud when she hit
the hardwood.

“
Jennifer!” I
yelled.

I dropped to my knees at her side. Her
eyes were closed and her skin was burning hot. I scooped her up in
my arms and lifted her to a sitting position.

“
Jennifer, speak to me. Wake
up.” I slapped her across the face.

She would so want to kick my butt when
she found out I’d smacked her. Finally, her eyelids popped open.
Her eyes were back to the beautiful shade of blue that I’d always
known her to have. Her skin was cool to the touch. What the hell?
That was beyond strange. Had I been dreaming? No, this was more
like a nightmare.

She furrowed her brow. “What’s going
on?” she asked in a groggy voice.

“
That’s what I’d like to
know.” I let out a deep breath. “Are you okay?”

Jennifer rubbed her head. “I feel
strange. How did I get here?” she asked, looking around our
apartment.

“
What do you mean, how did
you get here?” I asked, searching her eyes to see if she was really
in there.

She shook her head, then finally
answered, “I ran into Neil outside. That’s the last thing I
remember. Only I don’t remember much about that either.”

I scowled. That dirty rat. What had he
done to her? I’d tear him from limb to limb. What was he doing
sneaking around our apartment anyway?

“
Oh, God. Did he drug me?
What the hell, Rylie? What kind of freakin’ date did you set me up
on?”

What kind of date was right. If he’d
done something to Jennifer, I’d kill him with my claws.

“
Come on, let’s get you on
the sofa,” I said, lifting her to her feet.

With my arm propped under her arm, I
helped her walk to the sofa and she plopped down on the
cushions.

“
I’ll get you a drink of
water,” I said, rushing into the kitchen.

After grabbing a glass from the
cabinet and pouring the water, I hurried back to the room with
glass in hand, almost afraid of what I’d see when I returned.
Jennifer was still sitting on the sofa where I’d left her and her
eyes remained her natural shade.

Whew. Thank goodness for small favors.
Maybe now we could put this whole mess behind us. She took the
glass and drank the water, every last drop with two big gulps. She
handed me the glass and wiped her mouth with the back of her
hand.

“
Why don’t you tell me what
happened?” I asked.

She ran her hand through her hair. “I
don’t remember much. We were standing outside on the sidewalk and
these men showed up to talk with Neil. They looked real
badass.”

“
The same men from earlier?”
I asked.

She frowned. “What men from
earlier?”

“
Don’t you remember at the
restaurant? Neil went outside to talk with them and he was gone for
a long time?”

She looked at me blankly.

“
You thought he’d ditched
you, so you went outside to look for him. When I went out into the
alley, he was fighting with these men and you were beating one over
the head.”

She listened with wide eyes. It
sounded like a story I would be involved in instead of Jennifer.
But I’d seen it with my own eyes, so I knew it was true. Why was
she acting normal now? I needed to ask, but I’d have to broach the
topic carefully.

“
I jumped in? That’s totally
unlike me. Anyway, the next thing I knew, I’m on our apartment
floor. It’s as if I was abducted by aliens and dropped
here.”

She stared at me. I supposed she was
waiting for me to give her answers. I had none. This wasn’t good. I
didn’t like the sound of this one bit. I would call that rat Neil
and get to the bottom of this, pronto.

I rushed over and grabbed the phone
from the end table. I still had his file on the kitchen table so I
leafed through and found his number. With a shaky finger, I pushed
in the numbers and listened to the rings from the other end of the
line. Just when I thought he wouldn’t answer the phone, a loud
knock rattled our door. I met Jennifer’s terrified gaze.

“
Maybe that’s him,” she
mouthed.

My instincts told me it probably was
the rat. He had some nerve showing up here now. I was going to let
him have it.

Jennifer straightened on the sofa. Her
eyes were wide from terror. What had this guy done to her? I
couldn’t run a business this way. I was just lucky Lily wasn’t the
one who had gone on the date. She would never have shut up about
it, although I wouldn’t blame Jennifer if she never spoke to me
again after this debacle.

I hurried over to the door, but
hesitated for a brief moment before finally swinging it open. Neil
stood in the hallway with a stunned look on his face.

“
Rylie, is Jennifer
okay?”

I glared at him. “What do you think?”
I asked.

He stepped forward as if he was going
to invite himself in, but I placed my arm on the doorframe,
blocking his entry.

“
Whoa, what do you think
you’re doing? I don’t recall inviting you in.”

I didn’t want to break a nail dragging
his ass down the stairs, but I would gladly sacrifice my
Pretty-in-Pink polish for Jennifer’s sake.

“
I need to see her. Can I
please come in?” Dark circles ringed his eyes and a grim expression
twisted his mouth.

I eyed him for a second, contemplating
whether I should call the police.

“
Please?” he asked
again.

I let out a deep breath and stepped to
the side. “Fine. But if you try anything else, I will be forced to
kick your ass so hard that you’ll have to remove your shirt to… how
do I put this in a ladylike way… go poo.”

He looked at me
incredulously.

I nodded. “Yeah, I said it. Now what
do you want?”

After a brief pause, he rushed over to
Jennifer. She slid away from him on the sofa.

“
See, she doesn’t want to
talk to you. Consider the date over and I’m sorry I ever offered to
set you up. Now beat it.” I gestured toward the door.

“
Jennifer needs my help.” He
turned his attention to me.

“
Why in the hell does she
need your help? Don’t you think you’ve done enough?”

Jennifer stared as if she was in shock
and her mouth no longer functioned.

“
Why don’t you explain to us
exactly what went on tonight?” I said, crossing my arms in front of
my chest.

He had better have a good excuse for
what he’d done. What exactly had he done? Whatever it was,
something wasn’t right with Jennifer. The way she was when she got
home wasn’t normal, but she’d been acting way bizarre before Neil
had showed up at our door. How would I explain that? He didn’t have
anything to do with that. He couldn’t have.

“
I want an explanation and I
want it now,” I said in my best badass voice.