Page 63 of One Bad Knight

“I’m leaving town. But I need you to watch over someone for me. Someone who could be in danger.”

Krystan unwrapped the chocolate cake and set it on the table. Snarp jumped on top of the cake and attacked it with vigor. His beak clacked and cut at the shell of icing as he made happy gargling sounds, gobbling down cake and frosting.

“What kind of danger?” Travis asked, leaning in.

Then it all spilled out. How I met Kat, everything that happened the night I killed her father, and how I was back because I feared the demon would return and take her soul. Things I’d never told anyone, they came out in a torrent.

I told myself it was because they needed all the information to fight what might come up. But it was more than that. The more I spoke, the more I felt the binds loosen around my soul.

I even told them about the relationship I had with Kat. I didn’t go into detail, but I explained how we’d grown too close, and I was no good for her. That she’d found out what I’d done and could never trust me again.

“Lie,” Krystan said. They had been silent this whole time, but she interjected with her accusation. “What? Did you forget we had our own little supernatural encounter and I’m now a human lie detector?”

“It’s way cooler than seeing ghosts,” Travis said under his breath.

She wheeled around to face him. “How can you say that? The ghost you see all the time is my grandma.”

“True, I love your grandma, but maybe you should be the one spending a little more time reading those smutty romance novels out loud for her amusement.” His cheeks flushed slightly.

We were getting off course. “I think you missed where I killed Kat’s father, used her as bait, and lied to her. Kat can’t trust me,” I said.

“Lie,” Krystan sighed.

Anger began to swell in me, and she must have seen it because she put both hands up. “Listen, I’m not saying it to piss you off. Maybe you are lying to yourself too, but all I know is deep down you know she trusts you and that you deserve that trust.”

I supposed in a certain light that could be true, but it wasn’t the whole of the issue. “Either way, I’ve made my decision. She needs to be watched over in case something happens.”

“Why us?” Travis asked. “Why not Calan or Leonidas?” He blinked when I gave him a hard look. “I mean, I’m just curious, man. You’ve known them way longer and they are more qualified.”

I dropped a thick wad of bills on the table. “Because I thought you were in the business of demon hunting.” The black van out front said, in big bold letters, Whack A Ghoul.

“More like extermination, but yeah.” Travis shrugged his shoulders.

A heavy sigh came from Snarp, who had rolled over on his back, nestled in the cream of the gutted snack cake. Fluffy filling and chocolate chunks decorated his body as if he were trying to camouflage himself as a Ding Dong. His body heaved with a tiny burp before he sighed again and slumped back, snoring almost instantly.

Krystan eyed my thick roll of money. “You chose us because you don’t want to owe us anything. If you asked your brothers, you would feel beholden to them.”

I didn’t say anything, but she was right. I didn’t want ties to anyone.

“But you see, here’s the problem, Gatsby,” she said, resting her slim fingers on the money. “We owe you.” She slid the money back toward me.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Take the money,” I said, moving it back to her.

“How many times have we asked for help, and you showed up?” she asked.

“Don’t you mean how many times was I actually of any use?” I sneered.

“Sure, you want to count only that, and leave outallthe times you simply showed up to look into the face of some world-ending event or creature alongside us? It’s still worth a hell of a lot more than this.” Krystan slid the money to me again, shooting me a steely warning glare.

“It’s not fair to you to ask this,” I insisted, but I didn’t push the money back on her again.

Travis and Krystan exchanged a look I didn’t understand.

“Dude,” Travis said in a soft voice. “It’s not about fair. We are kind of… well… friends.”

Cold shock snaked through my gut.

“I’d say family at this point, because we certainly don’t always like one another and we have to deal with all the same weird crap, not to mention the shared history,” Krystan pointed out, picking up the sleeping Trystan from Travis’s arms.