Demon's Doorway (28 page)

Alex sighed and leaned against the soda machine.

"I've heard of marriage doing many things," Paul said behind him, from the other end of the break room. "Talking to yourself isn't one of them."

"Funny."

*****

Cindy was already home when Alex parked outside their house. Alicia's car was in the driveway, which wasn't an unusual sight. Alex's younger sister spent just as much time at their house as she did her own apartment. He didn't get the feeling just because Cindy's last name had changed that Alicia would be around any less.

He heard their quiet voices as he entered the house, from the bedroom.

"Cindy, Alicia. I'm home."

"Go away. No one wants you here."

"My wife does. She told me."

"No, she doesn't. We've got a guy back here. We're shoving him through the window now."

Alex smiled as he walked down the hall to the bedroom. Cindy and Alicia were rummaging through the closet, picking through blouses. They both wore their work clothes, Cindy her gray skirt, Alicia her scrubs.

"Hey, baby," Cindy said.

She was all smiles as she kissed Alex on the lips. He tried to back away, but she playfully grabbed his shirt and pulled him on the bed.

"Let's see if we can make Leese sick," she said.

"Cindy, be careful. My clothes are dirty."

"But I like them dirty."

"Oh, guys, come on. Seriously," Alicia said. "I haven't eaten yet. Cindy told me about the night you guys had last night."

Alex froze, gripping Cindy a little tighter. "She did?"

"Yeah. Haven't you gotten enough of that? Your wings gross me out with your clothes
on
. I don't want to picture them with clothes off."

He let out a quiet sigh of relief as he looked into Cindy's eyes. He tried to be honest with Alicia as much as he could, but wasn't ready to tell her about people breaking into their room.

Cindy laughed as she stood up, and Alex sat on the edge of the bed, watching his sister.

"Why are you stealing Cindy's clothes?"

"I have a date tonight," she said, her eyes lighting up. "Well, I think it's a date. I'm pretty sure. Everything happened so fast."

He looked at Cindy. "And you call
me
clueless. Who's the lucky guy?"

"Kevin. So, please, Alex. I'm your damn sister. Give me some advice. What does he like to do? I'll probably take him to the harbor, but what else? Should we see a movie?"

"I don't know. I never went to the movies with the guy."

Cindy smacked his shoulder, telling him to be nice.

"Ouch. Okay, okay. Alicia, look, he's not going out with you to see Baltimore. He wants to spend time with you. You could probably watch a movie at your place and be fine. So, just do whatever. Don't stress about it. Your face turns all red when you stress."

She finally let out a relaxed smile, and took a deep breath. She held up an array of clothes.

"I'm gonna borrow these. I'll bring them back this weekend."

He shook his head. "Four shirts? For one date?"

"I don't know which one looks best yet."

"Don't worry about it, Alex," Cindy said. "That just means I'll have to wear less clothes."

Alicia wrinkled her nose. "And that means it's my time to leave. Cindy, I'll give you a full report tomorrow."

She left the bedroom and showed herself out through the front door. Cindy kicked off her heels and pulled her blouse over her head, ready to be out of her work clothes.

"I'm proud of you," she said. "I know that wasn't easy."

"Yeah. Not only am I encouraging Alicia to date a guy who doesn't live here, but he also rides a broom."

"Seriously? He can do that?"

"No. At least…I don't think so."

"All you can do is be supportive. And you did that."

"It's not gonna work out."

"A lot of people said the same thing about us."

"Well, there's gonna come that moment when Alicia asks me why I didn't tell her Kevin is a witch."

"She's a big girl. She can handle it."

Alex nodded, and wanted to change the subject. "Speaking of handling things, about last night…is everything okay?"

She removed her skirt and slipped into a pair of shorts. "Yeah. Why wouldn't it be?"

"Where do we start? Maybe with the guys dressed like cops that busted in our room?"

She laughed, and stepped forward to hug Alex around the neck. "I'm fine. I was kidnapped and tossed in a van once. Remember?"

"I don't think I'll forget."

"A few guys saw me naked. That's all. I'm more worried about you. You're the one that beat the shit out of all of them. Are you okay?"

He shook his head, amazed at his wife's words. "How did I get so lucky?"

"It wasn't luck, really. You were getting beat up in kindergarten—"

"That's not how it happened."

She laughed and playfully slapped his ass. "Take a shower, and I'll make something to eat."

Cindy was nearly to the living room when he remembered one last important thing.

"Oh. Hey, baby, it won't be for a while, but I've got another case coming up."

"Okay. So, a few late nights."

"Yeah. Is that cool?"

"Of course. Just let me know when. You know, if you had a cell phone, it would be a lot easier."

*****

Kevin poked his head into Victoria's massive living room. The vampire was pacing in front of the muted TV, her cell phone to her ear. He didn't want to interrupt her, but only needed her attention for a second.

"Hey, Victoria?" he whispered.

She looked in his direction, easily hearing him from across the room.

He made a driving motion with his hands. "Can I borrow the Jeep?"

"I'll call you back," Victoria said, and hung up the phone. "What's going on?"

He joined her. "I'm meeting up with Leese in two hours. But, of course, I have no car."

"The Jeep is yours for however long you're here," she said, smiling. "Her address is already in the GPS. So, are you nervous?"

"No. I probably should be, but I'm not."

"Good. You'll be fine. Just relax, and have fun."

"I will. And I promise, this weekend I'll study."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Don't worry about it."

"I'm going out in this," he said, gesturing to his jeans and plain shirt. "Do I look alright?"

She batted her eyes and clasped her hands to her cheek. "If only I was three centuries younger."

The front door opened and slammed shut, and Jack stepped into the living room. Kevin did his best to hide the scowl from his face. With Jack's keen eye, he wasn't successful.

"Victoria. Glinda."

"Hey, Jack. Thanks for coming."

Kevin pointed back and forth. "What's up with you two?"

"You have plans tonight, and so do we."

"Plans?" Jack said. He crossed the living room and sat on the couch, kicking his feet up on the coffee table. "What's Glinda doing?"

"I'm not cutting anyone's tongue off, that's for sure."

"Obviously. You don't have the guts."

"Guys," Victoria said, taking a breath. "Kevin has a date."

"With the blonde?"

"With
Leese
, yeah," Kevin said. "She's more than just her hair color."

Jack looked him up and down. "And that's what you're wearing?"

Kevin frowned. "What's wrong with this?"

"Nothing," Victoria said quickly. "You look fine."

"Whatever," Jack said. "So, since you're going out on a date with the lovely Alicia Teague, that must mean you've come up with a cure for me."

"Nope."

"Ah. Well, Anatol Grigori, anything else on him?"

"Jack," Victoria said, danger in her voice. "Give it a rest."

"I'm just making sure I understand what's going on, that's all. My daughter is an ocean away, but Glinda has a date. I couldn't be happier."

Second thoughts swirled through Kevin's mind. Before they could completely form Victoria waved him away.

"Go. Ignore the asshole, and get out of here."

He turned to leave, but Jack called after him.

"Hey, Glinda. You want some advice?"

"No."

"You're gonna get it anyway. Don't try to make any crazy moves. But by the end of the night, hold her hand. She'll love it."

He frowned at what sounded like possibly good advice. Victoria merely shrugged and smiled.

"Oh, one more thing," Kevin said. "Listen, I can see Bradley isn't too happy with me right now, but I have no idea what I did. Is he mad about me selling potions? Him and me, are we cool? He's not gonna try to kill me, is he?"

Jack laughed. "The last thing you have to worry about is Bradley. You're completely safe from him."

Kevin saw anger flash across Victoria's face, but then she forced a smile.

"Jack's right. Don't worry."

"Okay, thanks."

He gave one final wave before leaving.

Kevin expected his nerves to get to him as he drove to Leese's house, but somehow remained calm. Perhaps it finally hit home that there were worse things than spending an evening with a beautiful woman, such as fighting demons, or holding a severed tongue to a man's mouth while forcing him to drink healing water.

He passed the vet's office, and wondered how King was doing. He'd have to subtly ask Leese for an update without giving himself away.

The clock on the Jeep's dashboard read seven o'clock when he parked outside her apartment building. He was a full hour early. Groaning, he ran his hands through his hair. There had to be something he could do in the surrounding neighborhood for an hour. Go for a walk, browse a few stores, drive and sight-see.

Or he could simply knock on her door early.

A smile touched his lips. "Why not?"

He left his coat in the Jeep and climbed the two flights of stairs to her apartment. A cute brunette with purple streaks in her hair, with a skin tone that could rival Victoria's, answered the door.

"Hi. Are you Kevin?"

"That's me."

"Come on in. Leese is in her bedroom, getting ready. I'm Tracy." Tracy glanced at the clock hanging in the kitchen. "Are you early?"

"I'm very early. Sorry."

"No biggie. You can hang out with me."

Tracy led him to the living room while he checked out the apartment. He could only see the kitchen and dining room, but everything was neat and tidy. The living room had a simple couch across from a TV, with a computer in the corner. Jealousy poked at him. Roommate or not, Leese was living in her own place. He was still stuck in the basement, working at the mall.

Tracy politely offered something to drink, and Kevin declined. They sat on opposite ends of the couch.

"There's a cat around here somewhere," she said. "But you won't see him. Clover doesn't like strangers—"

Clover, a gray tabby, ran from down the hall and jumped across Tracy. She let out a yelp as the cat bounded across the couch and sat in Kevin's lap.

"Holy shit, Clover!" Tracy said. "Well, so much for not liking strangers."

"Cats love me."

"I can see. My ex-boyfriend used to come over all the time. I don't think he saw Clover once."

"Hey, Tracy," Leese called. "What do you think?"

Kevin and Tracy turned to see Leese walking down the hall. She wasn't looking up at all. Her gaze was settled on a blouse in each hand, and she didn't notice Kevin.

He thought his heart stopped a moment.

Leese wore nothing but a lacy bra and a pair of black tights, which hugged her legs perfectly. Her hair was still wet from the shower, her blond locks not quite touching her shoulders. Her skin, which was definitely on display, was on the opposite end of the spectrum from Tracy, being bronzed from the sun.

"I really want Kevin to drool," she said. "Which top do you think? The blue one shows off the twins more, but the gray one…."

She stopped talking when she finally looked up. Her face turned a shade of white, then red, when her eyes fell on Kevin. Tracy covered her mouth to stifle a laugh. The silence stretched as Leese didn't move, still holding out the blouses.

Kevin cleared his throat. "Well, if you're wearing those tights, you won't have to worry about me drooling. But if you wear the blue one, my head might explode. So, I think the gray one is safer."

Leese said nothing. She simply turned around and disappeared down the hall. Kevin watched her until she turned into a bedroom. Tracy finally uncovered her mouth, laughing loudly.