Darker Days (27 page)

Chapter Thirty-seven

I folded my arms and took a step back. “I’m
not
doing it. The month is up. I’m off the hook.”

“Please?” Mom begged. “Just this once. You can keep the payment.”

“No way. Last time I did one, I got saddled with that thing.” I nodded to the corner of the office. Smokey was nestled on my old pillow—I’d given it up after a nasty round of demon dog yak—gnawing on a yellowing bone that looked suspiciously human. It looked old so chances were he hadn’t killed anything. Recently, anyway.

“You know you love him. He’s grown on you.”

I snorted. “Yeah. Like a genital wart.”

“Is that a yes?”

“Fine. But only if I get the Suffield case.”

She shook her head. “Not a chance.”

“Then no deal.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Haven’t you done enough
dealing
for awhile?”

We hadn’t really spoken about the deal I’d made with Valefar. I didn’t think she knew what to say, really. She was furious, and I was pretty sure she was spending her nights researching ways to get me out of it, but there was no reason to hash it out. What was done was done.

“Fifty-fifty,” I pushed. “You keep the case, but I get shotgun.”

She thought about it for a moment.

“What could go wrong?” I pressed. “I’ve got a demon doggie—” I nodded to Lukas. “And a guard doggie.”

“Yes. Quite the entourage.”

“And let’s not forget my superhero cape.”

We’d been doing a lot of this since that day in the Morgan house basement. Compromises. As my mom, she was furious about what I’d done. Irresponsible. Reckless. Stupid squared. But as a girl after my own heart, she understood. In the same position, she would have done exactly the same thing.

“Course, she didn’t
say
that, but I knew.”

I watched her from across the room, and deep down, I knew we were the same, me and Mom. We’d stop at nothing to keep the other safe. And even though she’d tried to fight the lack of normal my entire life, I could tell she was proud. She was even starting to accept it.

Slowly.

“Dishes for a month.”

“Two weeks.”

“Three.”

“Three and radio control for a month.”

She sighed and set a stack of papers down on top of the filing cabinet. “Done.”

“That was Vida on the phone,” Lukas said from behind Mom’s desk.

“How’s she readjusting?”

We’d been able to save all the hosts except for the one Pride had taken. Melissa Hanover, a daycare worker from Jersey who’d been at the Penance hotel visiting her sister, was still among the missing. Unfortunately, she’d remain that way. The others had been lucky. They remembered everything that happened, but escaped in relative health. Sure, there were probably some serious therapy bills in their future, but they had their lives. And their freedom. That was more than poor Melissa could say.

They’d all gone back to their lives, content to never look back. All of them except Vida, that is. In the weeks following her return to reality, she’d kept in touch on an almost daily basis. Regardless of the trouble Lust had caused while wearing her body, I was starting to like the girl.

“She was wondering if Klaire would stand on her behalf. She’s filing paperwork with the court to emancipate herself.”

Mom nodded. “I’ll call her back later.”

Things at school were mostly back to normal. After what happened to Kendra, Cassidy all but forbade her to so much as speak to anyone with the last name Darker. Thankfully, Kendra was standing up to her mother more and more lately and assured me nothing would ever stand in the way of our friendship. Hell. She even managed to get rid of her horns and was practicing—with strict supervision.

Lukas nodded and reached for the phone. A moment later, it started to ring.

We’d only seen Dad once since everything had gone down. He was still setting things up in the Shadow Realm, but assured us he’d be home next week. He also warned us that Lukas, who now had his demonic blood pumping through his veins, would start to develop
demon-like resources
. Of course, when we asked him what the hell that meant, he’d bailed like someone had lit his ass on fire.

Dad wasn’t the only one who’d bailed. A week after everything went down, I heard from one of the football jocks that Garrett had transferred schools. He was now attending East Lake high. I’d tried calling him once, but got his voice mail. I hadn’t tried again. Honestly, I would never admit it to anyone, but I was secretly glad. In the deepest recesses of my mind, I understood what happened wasn’t his fault. Vida had wammied him. But that didn’t change how I felt. I still woke up in a cold sweat some nights. I would try again. Eventually… I just needed some time.

Mom nodded to Lukas, talking excitedly into the phone. “You know he can’t live on the couch forever, right?”

“Well then start paying him. I’m more than happy to help him find a place of his own.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s just what I need.”

“What about teen pregnancy and drinking binges? If Lukas had his own place, we could have major grope fests! Total teenage normalcy. That’s what you wanted, right?”

“I’ve changed my mind. I’m
chaining
him to the couch.”

“Hey, like you always say—be careful what you wish for.”

“Yeah, yeah. Because it will bite you in the ass.”

Something whizzed between us and pinged against the wall. A marker.

“Consult?” Lukas mouthed. The boy caught on fast.

Mom nodded and waited for him to hang up. “What ya got?”

He leaned back, smiling. “A woman in The Ledges swears the Sandman just tried to kill her.”

Acknowledgments

To my parents for simply being who they are, and my brother, who continues to be my technical guru, thank you for always being there. To my husband, who makes every dream I have a reality, I don’t deserve you. Hopefully the universe never figures out its mistake.

Thank you to my editors, Erica and Liz. You guys are always so giddy when I come to you with a new story. I can’t wait to pitch you my latest idea. It involves zombie llama and pumpkin pie…

A huge thank you to my first readers, Katy, Christa, Terri, Mary, and Lori. Your enthusiasm made all the difference in pushing these characters forward.

And to my amazing publicity team, Dani and Anjana, and everyone else from copyedits to Pamela who designed my drool-worthy cover, a thousand thank yous. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. It takes an entire village to raise a book and I’m eternally grateful.

About the Author

Jus Accardo is the author of YA paranormal romance and urban fantasy fiction. A native New Yorker, she lives in the middle of nowhere with her husband, three dogs, and sometimes guard bear, Oswald. When not writing, she can be found volunteering at the local animal shelter or indulging her passion for food. After being accepted to the Culinary Institute of America, she passed on the spot to pursue a career in writing and has never looked back. As far as she’s concerned, she has the coolest job on earth—making stuff up for a living. She is the author of the Denazen series:
Touch
,
Toxic
, and
Tremble
, as well as the Darker Agency series and the upcoming new adult
Ruined
. Visit her online at
www.jusaccardo.com
.

Also available from Entangled’s digiTEEN line:

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