Page 18 of Devil Bound

“Hmm.Early onset dementia is really—”

“I don’t fucking have dementia!”

It was just my damn luck that the cafeteria was relatively full and that I had almost shouted.People heard.They stared.It was the Devil’s fault, but somehow I ended up with all the blame and embarrassment while he just stood there, all swagger and a very nice ass in a pair of very expensive designer jeans—no!I was not looking at any part of him below his neck.Not ever again.

“I don’t have dementia!”I repeated, but much quieter.

He leaned in.“Nelly, you just said that.Did you forget?”

I groaned.“I came here to get coffee, okay?Because I have work.I’m going to get some coffee now, and then I’m going to go and do the work I have to do.Good luck with your tires.Bye.”

I left him standing there and got my coffee, paid for it in record time, then hurried past Lucifer, who had picked up one of the apples.It was an especially shiny one with pristine red skin.

His eyes met mine as he bit down, the skin crunching under his teeth.

I blushed all over again, but hopefully he didn’t see it as I walked away, the coffee in my hand.I’d never tell anyone, but the steaming coffee wasn’t as hot as the Devil eating an apple.

9

Lionel

Approximately one year ago.

Nottwohoursaftermusing about the Devil, sex, and apples, we were on our way to a potential crime scene.I was glad for the distraction, if not for someone dying.

“How’s it going with Dr.Lily?”Christine asked.

She’d suggested carpooling, and we were headed to a residential area to confirm that an older lady had died as the result of taking a bad fall.I didn’t need the rubber boots in the trunk of my car, so I’d readily taken her up on the offer.

“She’s nice.”

Unfortunately, Dr.Lily had made me think about sex, and then I’d seen the Devil, and those two things didn’t go great together.No, that wasn’t it.The Devil and wanting sex went all too well together, and that was the entire fucking problem right there.

Christine, her hands at ten and two, glanced at me.“Okay.Are you doing all right?After the shooting?”

Only then did it occur to me what she was asking.

“Shit, Christine.You don’t have to feel guilty.You did the right thing.He was coming at us with a hatchet.”

“I know it was a justified shooting.Doesn’t change the fact that seeing something like that happen right in front of you can leave you raw for a while.”

“I passed out, so I didn’t really see all of it.”

“Still.”

I shrugged.“I’m good.”

I was getting side-eye.Not too much though.Detective Rice knew to keep her eyes on the road without anyone having to tell her.

“Sometimes I can’t get a good read on you, Hawkes.Like when you reanimated that crow with the broken neck on the roof.”

I didn’t hang out on the roof of the police building as much as others did, but the one time I’d gone up there, a crow had died hitting a wall or window, and her mate had been there, cawing in grief, close to the body.The crow’s reanimation wasn’t going to last forever.I hadn’t added much in terms of pushing back decay.I had hoped the other crow could use the time to accept reality.Christine had seen me do it, and my explanation hadn’t resonated with her even though it was perfectly logical.

“I told you why I helped the crow.”

“Hawkes, you made a dead bird fly.”

It had been for the living crow, but I chose not to argue.“I’m really fine with this.I’m still alive when I could have ended up with a hatchet in my head.”