Try Me (21 page)

"No.” He smiled wearily. “We'll start cleaning tomorrow, after they're done."

"Do you need some help?” After all, I wasn't doing anything.

Mom's expression hardened. “No. Just catch the bastards who did this."

Strange how such harsh words could soften my heart. Mom didn't blame me, didn't accuse me of doing it myself. Instead, she trusted me to find the people who had and punish them. “We will,” I promised her.

As Mom turned back to stare into the devastation, Rick pulled me aside and led me to their car. “I was going to call you tomorrow. I've had someone looking into your genealogy, to find out whatever he could about your background.” He opened the trunk and pulled out a small box full of papers. “This is what he found.” As I took it gingerly, he added, “I didn't tell him we were looking for demons, but asked him to trace your ancestry back several generations and note anything odd that came up about them."

Wow. “I-I don't know what to say.” Here I'd thought he'd forgotten to ask Mom about her background and instead, he'd gone out and gotten as much information as possible.

"You don't need to say anything. Consider it a Thanksgiving present. I just hope you find what you're looking for in there."

"Thanks, Rick.” I gave him a hug and carried the box carefully back to the truck. Maybe this would help me figure out what other kind of demon blood ran in my veins. If nothing else, it would keep me occupied for awhile.

Dan dropped us off at the condo and I tried to be quiet, but it wasn't necessary. Gwen was at work and Shade was sitting on the couch in jeans and a T-shirt watching television in the dark. Princess was lying in his lap and his bare feet were propped up on the coffee table. Wow. The guy had no clue how gorgeous he was. Heck, even his feet were long, elegant, and pretty.

I glanced around. No one else was there. “Hi,” I said cautiously when he turned to look at me. “Where's your babysitter?"

"All gone. We cleared the last of them. No thief."

"How are you feeling?"

"Bored. But I feel fine."

"No more blitzing in and out?"

"Very rarely. Princess seems to help.” He petted her silky ears.

Oh, yeah. I just now realized I could see his expression. “She keeps you grounded, too, huh?"

He nodded and Princess glanced in my direction. I AM GOOD FOR MY HUMAN.

"I'm sure you are,” I said, suppressing a smile.

Fang jumped up on the couch to touch noses with her. They shared some private communication then jumped off the couch and disappeared outside together. I shook my head. “Now there's a match made in someone's demented mind."

"Like us?” Shade asked softly.

Oh, crap. I felt my face heat. “Not what I meant,” I mumbled.

"I know. But I think we should talk.” He patted the cushion on the couch next to him. “Come, sit."

Emotions roiled within me. I really wanted to get to know Shade, but I was still so uncertain about everything. I needed to escape to my room until I knew myself better and exactly how I felt, but I had promised to talk to him. And maybe this would be a good time to take Dan's advice, too.

I carefully set the box Rick had given me on the coffee table and sat down next to Shade, perching on the edge of the cushions. He placed his hand on mind and I saw incredible sadness, longing, and regret in his expression. Pain twinged through me—I'd put that there. Lola was pretty satisfied from her recent feeding, so she wasn't as greedy as normal. Maybe I could get close without fighting my nature. I scooted back, toed off my shoes, and propped my feet up on the table, too. This way I wouldn't have to see his heartache, coward that I was.

He clicked off the television and twined his fingers with mine. I let him. It felt so nice, so normal. Like a real dating couple hanging out together. And why not? We might both be part demon, but a good chunk of us was still human. At least, I knew seven-eighths of me was. I wasn't sure about Shade.

Maybe if I eased into this discussion, it wouldn't feel so difficult. Especially in the dark. A lot of things could be said in the dark that couldn't be revealed in the bright light. Leaning my head against his shoulder, I asked, “How much of you is demon and how much human?"

"Same as you,” he said quietly.

Another thing we had in common. “I've been wondering . . . what exactly is a shadow demon?” I'd never gotten around to looking it up in the encyclopedia.

He laid his head on top of mind and snuggled me closer. “A full shadow demon can exist in more than one dimension at a time and phase in and out of them at will."

"And you?"

"I'm mostly human, so I stay in this dimension, but still have continuous contact with several others."

"Hence the swirling ribbons of light,” I suggested.

"Yes, hence."

"Can you see those other dimensions? Do they look like ours?"

He hesitated for a moment. “Not like ours, but I can't describe it. I don't see them so much as I sense them. I exist in the shadows, sort of insubstantial. I can't interact with anything but the energy."

"What does a shadow demon do?” That part wasn't clear to me at all.

"We act as a conduit, to allow the energy to cross the boundaries of the dimensions. You remember how I pulled energy to heal Dan from one of them?” At my nod, he added, “That's what I do."

"So, there are other kinds of energy?"

"Yes. Many kinds."

His voice sounded final, discouraging me to ask more questions. But when had that stopped me before? “Like what?"

After a long pause, he said, “I'd rather not discuss it."

"Bad?"

"Yes, some are very bad."

And that proved what kind of a guy he was, that he hadn't allowed himself to use any of that, only the good energy. At least, that was all I'd seen him use. “What about this world's energy? Do you take some from here and send it to the other dimensions?"

"Every time I take energy from somewhere else, I exchange it for some here, to keep them in balance."

That made sense. “What kind of energy? And what does our energy do for them?"

"This world is very solid, or at least that's how it seems to me. I exchange that stability for things in the other places that we need."

"What if—"

"Please, Val, I'd rather talk about us, about what's going on between us."

"Sorry,” I muttered. “But you're fascinating, you know?"

He kissed the top of my head. “You, too. But I'd like to know how you feel about me, about what Micah wants me to help you with. Is it . . . repulsive to you?"

"No, of course not.” Hating that I'd put that uncertainty in his voice, I hugged him then flipped one of my legs over his so I could straddle his lap. Clasping his face between my hands, I said, “How can you think that? Couldn't you tell how much I enjoyed what we did the other day?"

He looked baffled and still a little hurt. “I thought so, but you've been avoiding me . . ."

And he looked so lost with those big sad puppy dog eyes, I couldn't resist kissing him. I tried to press my mouth to his, but I was still new at this, so I ended up smooshing our noses together. “Oops.” Oh, yeah, what a seductress.

"Try again,” Shade murmured.

He tilted his head one way, I tilted the other, and we fit together perfectly. I intended to give him just a short kiss and pull away, but Shade put his arms around me and I melted into him. The kiss went on and on, and when I tried to pull away for a breath of air, he slipped his tongue inside my mouth.

Oh, yeah. Now Lola was perking up and percolating in all the right places. But I didn't want this to be about Lola. I wanted it to be about me, the human me. Shade's hands roamed my back and we explored each other's mouths for a while until I felt too shaky to go on.

Pulling away, I collapsed next to him and tried to still my frantically beating heart as well as Lola's raging hormones. Oh, my. “Did that feel like I was repulsed by you?"

"No . . . “ Shade pushed me gently down on the couch and pulled me into his arms until we were lying entwined together like one huge knotty being. I hoped he couldn't hear the fast thud-thud-thud of my heart against his chest. I didn't want to come across like some huge, inexperienced doofus or something. But this felt so special, so very right. I wanted to lie with him here forever, just like this.

"Okay, if you weren't disgusted, why were you avoiding me?"

I sighed. Truth time. And it was a little easier now that my head was lying on his chest and I couldn't see his face. “I'm still trying to understand what it means to be part lust demon, Shade. It's like my body is all gung-ho about experiencing all the lusty pleasures of life, but my mind and emotions haven't quite caught up yet."

"You mean you're not ready yet to uh . . . do the full Monty?"

I chuckled but nodded into his shirt, feeling embarrassed just talking about it.

He squeezed me tight. “That's okay, love. I don't expect you to."

Oh, wow. This was so totally stupid, but when he called me Love, I about melted into a big puddle of goo. Thank heavens Fang wasn't here to laugh at me. “You don't?"

"No. I know you're not ready yet. Losing your virginity is huge for a lust demon."

I sighed. He did understand. “Yeah."

"Of course, I don't really like waiting,” he teased. “But I will. You're worth it."

Oh, my. Every time Shade opened his mouth, he made me feel even more special. Was this the perfect guy or what? But I didn't get it. Here was this totally hot guy who was nice, sweet, understanding . . . and could have any girl he wanted. Why me?

I didn't realize I'd said that last part aloud until Shade responded. “Why not you? You're strong, passionate, loyal . . . and really, really cute."

I wrinkled my nose. Cute. I'd never expected to be called that.

"Besides,” he added in a softer tone, “you see me. Not the shadow demon, not the freak with the whirling interdimensional energy occupying his skin. You see me."

Oh. I felt all proud of myself, yet embarrassed that I felt that pride. “Well, you're something special,” I assured him. And I knew quite well what it felt like to be treated like a freak. Speaking of which . . . “Uh, that reminds me. I kinda mentioned you to my mom."

"You did?” For some reason, that made a huge grin split his face.

"Yeah, and she wants me to invite you to Thanksgiving dinner."

He turned all still and quiet. “And you don't want to?"

"Of course I want to. It's just that . . . I'm not sure how they'll treat you. It might not be a great holiday."

He relaxed. “I know your family is important to you, and I'd like to meet them. Don't worry about me. I'm used to dealing with people's reactions to my weirdness."

I sighed—might as well face the inevitable. “Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you."

"I won't.” He paused and ran a finger down the side of my face. “So you won't mind me helping you with your . . . with Lola?"

"No . . . but for now, can it just be you and me? She doesn't need you right now, but I do."

"Of course.” He lifted my chin with his finger to bring my mouth to his.

We kissed softly and I lay my head back down on his chest as we snuggled. This was so nice, so peaceful. I resolved to relax and enjoy it while I could. Soon enough, we'd be back to hunting thieves, staking vampires, and soothing angry demons.

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I woke in Shade's arms sometime late the next morning when Fang poked me in the side. GET UP, SLEEPYHEAD. TIME TO FEED YOUR FAITHFUL HELLHOUND.

I AM HUNGRY, TOO, Princess added. NOT DOG FOOD. I WANT GWEN FOOD.

"All right, all right.” I disentangled myself from Shade and got up stiffly. It had felt nice lying in his arms all night, but the uncomfortable couch was no substitute for my own bed. Groaning, I staggered to the kitchen as Shade turned over and threw his arm up over his head.

I opened the refrigerator and surveyed my options. Hellhounds could eat anything without repercussions, but they preferred protein. Since bacon and eggs were something I knew how to cook, I put them on the stove. I was nowhere near as good a cook as Gwen, but at least it was edible, and the two hellhounds didn't complain.

The smell of bacon cooking woke Shade, and he joined us for breakfast. It was strange watching him eat. His food disappeared into the constantly moving boundaries of his face, but it was impossible to make out where his mouth was. I wondered if all the food he ate ended up in this dimension, or if some ended up somewhere else. If it ended up elsewhere, did that mean it was exchanged for food there? Ew. Ick. Didn't even want to think about that.

Neither of us were morning people, so we ate in silence for awhile until Shade said, “I haven't been to my place in awhile. I should probably go home now that I'm feeling better and we don't need to test anyone else.” He stretched. “It'll be nice to sleep in a real bed again, too."

I nodded. I could understand his wanting to go home. And too much togetherness could be a bad thing. I didn't want us to get on each other's nerves before we'd even started a relationship. At least I hoped that's what this was.

He stopped eating for a moment. “Are you working tonight?"

"No.” Realizing he didn't know what had happened the night before, I told him about the store, the warning messages, and Dan's suggestion to take some time off.

"Then would you like to do something together?"

Absurdly pleased by the thought of a real date, I said, “Sure. But can you . . .” I gestured at his general swirliness, which would make it difficult to appear in public.

"Not easily. But I thought we could go to my place or stay here, rent a movie, and order in."

I smiled shyly. “Sounds good. Why don't you come back here? I'd like you to be near Gwen when she's home, just in case."

"Cool.” He rose and took the dishes to the sink, and even rinsed them off and put them in the dishwasher. He was well trained, too. “Where's your cell?"

I pulled it out of my pocket. “Here. Why?"

He took it from me. “To program in my number.” He pushed some buttons then handed it back to me. When our hands touched, I saw a smile flash across his face. “In case you need to call me."