Page 17

I watched Rasmus frown at the beer deposited in front of him. Who frowned at a beer? Sir Grumpus did, of course. The wonderful food that arrived shortly after didn’t make him smile, either. In fact, the only smiling I ever saw Rasmus do was at the cottage when he thought he knew something I didn’t.

I shook my head at the possibility that Rasmus and Jack were simply two of a kind, but even if true, there was nothing I could do about them. I’d find the portal as quickly as I could and then be done with all demon hunters. Today was a marvelous day, and no one was going to ruin my I’m-finally-divorced-and-happy buzz.

I sighed and let his attitude go. “Let’s agree to disagree about Jack and change the subject. I don’t know if ya remember me talking about my cousin, Liam, but I want to look him up tomorrow. Liam’s the sort who walks that fine line between doing good and doing evil. When he crosses to the dark side, though, he occasionally calls up a demon to help him carry out his misdeeds.”

The only answer Rasmus gave to my comments was a grunt. His food was getting cold while he brooded, but that wasn’t my business. I rolled my eyes at his non-reaction and pressed on with my story.

“Liam saved a demon princess when he was a kid and has had the loyalty of her entire clan ever since. No, I don’t think my cousin opened yer portal to let them come here in groups—mostly because he’s not that powerful. Plus, my mother would have told me that by now because she and Liam’s mother tell each other everything. The bottom line is that Liam is pretty good at tracking down information. Plus, he owes me a big favor. I’m willing to collect it to be shed of yer kind.”

Rasmus scratched his nose, squirmed in his seat some more, and finally drank his beer.

Worse, he did all that without responding to what I shared. Finally, the man sighed and ate his food, totally squelching my attempts to be friendly. There was no gusto in his appetite, nor did he take any joy in his meal.

Everything pointed to one reality, which was that he wanted nothing to do with me. Honestly, it boggled my mind. I’d done nothing to scare him personally. Or at least not that I could remember. He saw Jack grow younger, and I knew he’d heard the story in my divorce spell. So why was he being so hard on me?

I sipped my drink and tried to decide whether the truth of his discomfort was worth digging out of him. The possibility existed that Jack had hired someone to spell Rasmus to do his bidding and be his supporter.

Would I be able to tell if that was the case? Would Rasmus know it about himself? Or was hating the world simply his normal setting? Curiosity didn’t only kill cats. Ma used to say I could be the poster child for anyone wanting to prove the perils of nosiness.

I set down my drink and lifted an eyebrow. “Did Jack spell ya to be his freaking champion?”

Rasmus choked on his burger as a bite went down wrong. He swallowed and coughed... and then had the nerve to glare at me like I’d shot his dog. “No, Jack did not spell me. He would never do that.”

My mouth formed a smirk at his indignant tone. “Never is a very long time, Rasmus. I didn’t think my ex-husband was the cheating sort, either. Nor did I ever in a million years think Jack would steal from me. I’m not saying he’s evil incarnate, but Jack is way more conniving than he looks. I’m not willing to be his fool again and I don’t care what ya think of that. Men seem to stick together when they find something—or someone—to hate.”

Rasmus waved the uneaten half of his burger in the air between. “What am I supposed to believe after what I saw you do to him today?”

After thinking about my actions for a minute, I shrugged. “Maybe ya could offer me a compliment for ending my marriage without hurting anyone, especially Jack. That would be a friendly sort of thing to do for someone who’s helping ya of her own free will.”

Rasmus stared at me. “You assaulted the man you married and extorted the council. You even threatenedmefor simply trying to reason with you.”

I leaned on the table and glared up into his chiseled face. “Today was personal between me and Jack. I restrained the council so no one would interfere. And I extorted no one. I demanded the return of my rightful property as part of a bargain I didn’t have to make. I could have taken it back any time I wished.”

“How do I even know your story is true? Jack told me you were the one who pushed him away. The other women helped him survive being left alone.”

I narrowed my eyes at his complete ignorance. Could he really believe Jack was the victim? “What I did today was liberate myself from the mistake my marriage to Jack turned out to be. I don’t need yer approval or acceptance. All ya need to do is decide if ya’re going to give me some credit or keep touting Jack’s lies like a cult follower.”

Rasmus firmed his mouth and glared. “I owe Jack my loyalty. I don’t owe you anything.”

I leaned back in my seat to sip my drink again. “I’ve got no problem with that since I haven’t asked ya for anything except to be the messenger yer council is paying ya to be.”

“If you won’t listen to Jack, why should I listen to you?”

I laughed at his belligerence. He sounded like a teenage boy. “I could have taken my property back by force, but no, here I sit wasting my time, sharing ideas ya have no interest in hearing. Why am I bothering with ya? I guess I thought sharing a meal might help us find some common ground so we could work together more easily. Don’t worry, though, it won’t take me seven years to learn my lesson with you. I’m done being friendly with yer kind.”

“You should be working with Jack on this—having dinner with Jack—and not having dinner with me. Your attitude toward him is unreasonable.”

“And your attitude toward him is naïve. Yer acting like I stabbed Jack while ya watched, but the truth is I divorced my betraying bastard of a husband exacting no revenge on him at all. It feels amazing to be free of that connection, and ya’re not ruining that for me. I won’t let ya.”

Rasmus went back to eating without responding to my lecture. Giving up my lame attempts to get him to like me, I signed the meal check with my room number and slid from the booth.

“I’m going to go call my daughter. She’s picking up my mother at the airport this evening. Enjoy yer meal, demon hunter. I’ll see ya at breakfast around eight. Ya might want to work on yer attitude tonight because I’m already tired of yer negative shit and we’ve barely started.”

I walked to the bar before leaving and thanked the man who sent me the drink. We chatted for a few minutes before I excused myself and headed to my room—alone.

Da always said even the good things in life came with their own set of troubles. Maybe Da was a glass half empty kind of person like the demon hunter. Either way, I was stuck working with him for now. For Da’s sake, I was going to be nice to Rasmus, no matter how irritating I found him.

Besides, I made my bed by insisting to work with only him. Well, I made my metaphorical bed. My real bed would be empty a bit longer.