Page 36 of Devil in the Details (Vegas Slayers #2)

“True,” he replied. “On the other hand, I’m pretty sure if someone really started looking into my past, they’d discover this life I’ve constructed for myself doesn’t hold up under close scrutiny.”

He didn’t sound too worried as he spoke those words. Bravado, or the simple understanding that he’d always be able to bounce back no matter what the world might throw at him?

Delia thought it would be nice to have that kind of confidence.

This wasn’t about him, though.

No, it was about Ty Carter…how something about him simply didn’t add up, even if she couldn’t have explained why she felt that way.

“What if Ty is like you?” she asked.

“You mean, a quarter demon?”

She nodded.

“Definitely not,” Caleb said at once. “I’d be able to sense that.

True demons are harder, just because they know how to mask their identities when it suits their purposes.

Whereas we quarter demons always knew who each other were.

” He paused there, his expression almost sad.

But then he straightened and added in a much brisker tone, “Anyway, I already told you that the only quarter demons in existence were the guys I knew from Greencastle, and they’re all in Hell right now. ”

“And there aren’t any other hybrid people out there?

” Delia asked next, remembering how he’d told her there was a family of psychics in California whose father was an angel.

She still had a hard time wrapping her brain around the concept, but what would have been the point in making up something like that?

“The McGuires,” he said.

“The ones who are half angel?”

“Yes,” he replied. Something about his tone sounded almost reluctant, but that didn’t stop him from adding, “Rosemary and her two sisters.”

“No brothers?” she asked, doing her best to puzzle her way through all this, and Caleb shook his head. “Does that mean angels can only have female children, just like demons only have males?”

“I’m not sure about that part,” he said. “But, based on a couple of things my father said, I have a feeling that there are more angelic offspring in the world than any of us knew about.” Another hesitation, and he added, “What, you think Ty Carter is part angel or something?”

“I don’t know,” Delia responded. Right then, she thought what she didn’t know definitely outweighed anything she did, especially when it came to the supernatural stuff.

“All I know is that he summoned me to a haunted house I’d never even heard of, and after I was around him, suddenly I could hear other people’s thoughts. ”

Caleb took a bite from his piece of pizza and chewed in a meditative way as he appeared to ponder the conundrum. “But you’ve only heard Aaron thinking. No one else, right?”

Well, that question was easy enough to answer. “No. And I’ve had plenty of clients coming and going since then, so you’d think I should have been able to pick up on at least some of their thoughts.”

“Maybe, maybe not.” Caleb set down his half-eaten slice of pizza and wiped his fingers on the napkin in his lap.

“All this stuff…it’s not cut and dried. It’s possible that Aaron Sanchez presented some kind of threat, and that was why you could hear what he was thinking.

Your clients weren’t a threat, so there was no reason for the gift to kick into gear. ”

Had Aaron even been a threat? At the time, she’d just thought he was being a little pushy and entitled, but certainly not dangerous.

However, that was before she knew that he’d had a chunk of money appear out of nowhere…

before she’d discovered that the condo where he lived just happened to be owned by Aegis Holdings.

All of which could still be a coincidence and nothing more.

After the way they’d parted, she sure as hell wasn’t going to call him and inquire about his living arrangements or where he’d gotten the money to pay off his student loans and buy himself a luxury car, so she supposed it would all have to remain a mystery for now.

“But even though Ty Carter looks perfectly normal on paper, that doesn’t mean there still couldn’t be something supernatural going on with the guy,” Caleb continued.

“If he actually is part angel, then sure, I suppose being around him could have had just as much to do with the expansion of your psychic talents as anything else. What that doesn’t explain is why he would care whether you were able to hear other people’s thoughts. ”

Delia wasn’t sure about that, either, although she had a few ideas on the subject.

What if Ty Carter was unable to directly intervene with the demons that might possibly be roaming around Las Vegas?

What if the only thing he could do to help was try to beef up her defenses so she’d be better able to spot trouble coming?

Possibly. It was hard to say what any of this meant.

Now Caleb was almost smiling. “Have you tried to listen to my thoughts?”

“Of course not,” she replied, knowing she sounded indignant. “That would be rude.”

“I suppose so,” he said. “Still, I think you should give it a try.”

Was he joking? His expression was faintly amused, although Delia didn’t get the impression that he was teasing her.

“I don’t know how,” she said. That might have sounded like a cop-out, but it was the simple truth. When Aaron’s thoughts had invaded her mind, she hadn’t been consciously trying to listen to him. It had just…happened.

Maybe Caleb’s shoulders lifted ever so slightly. It was hard to say, because he’d reached for his slice of pizza at the same time. “I’m going to pull a Yoda here and say you shouldn’t try. Just…let it happen.”

Easy for him to say. Also, Caleb Lockwood was about as opposite from the little green Jedi master as any person could possibly be, but she thought he had a point.

All right. She closed her eyes, mostly because she thought the fewer distractions she had preying on her mind, the better. Yes, she could still smell the rich scent of melted cheese and crisp pepperoni, but it wasn’t too intrusive.

Of course, she’d always completely sucked at meditating since she could never get her hamster wheel of a brain to let things go and Zen out, so if that was a prerequisite for reading other people’s minds, then she was doomed to failure before she even got started.

But that wasn’t a very healthy point of view to maintain regarding the situation, so she did her best to banish it as well.

For a fraction of a second, her mind went utterly blank. And in that blankness, she thought she heard a whisper of a notion, one she was pretty sure hadn’t originated in her own brain.

I really hope that guy isn’t an angel.

That was it, come and gone before Delia could barely begin to grasp the words. Still, she was almost positive that had been Caleb, not her.

“Were you just hoping that Ty Carter isn’t really an angel?” she blurted, and Caleb sat up in his chair, eyes widening slightly before he got control of himself.

Then he smiled.

“Yes, I was. So…you picked up on that?”

“I guess I did.” She hesitated, wondering if she should press him on the issue, and then figured the hell with it. “Why is it such a problem if Ty is an angel, or part one? Wouldn’t he be an ally?”

“It would be nice if that were the case,” Caleb replied.

“But even if you put aside the problem of him helping a quarter demon like me, angels aren’t always the most reliable beings in the universe.

They like to stand back and observe, which I suppose makes sense when you’re someone who takes the long view but isn’t so great if you need some immediate help. ”

Delia supposed he had a point there. “But you don’t think he’s consciously interfering.”

“No. In his own way, he might be trying to help. I just don’t think we can rely on him.”

Well, she hadn’t been planning to. “It’s fine,” she said, and Caleb lifted an eyebrow.

“Really.”

“Sure,” she replied, and found herself grinning back at him. “After all, we beat these demons before…and we can beat them again.”