Page 5 of Stalked By Pestilence

I sighed and checked my purse for my car keys, just in case. My head wasn’t really screwed on straight after my encounter with Songbird. “Okay, guess it’s time for this bitch to move along.”

Dom didn’t seem the least bit torn up about my loss of prey. “Yeah, he left pretty quickly after you went inside. Still gives me the creeps, though.”

I beamed at him. “Well, I would’ve ditched him, anyway. I know how to listen to my friends.”

The big, burly sweetheart put a hand over his chest in mock offense. “Is that a dig at me for theone timeI didn’t listen? That was four years ago.”

“It happened, and therefore I must remind you about it until one of us is dead in the ground. It’s the law,” I told him in my best serious voice.

Dom made a lot of noises in protest. “I guess I can’t argue with a lawyer.”

My smile faded a bit at the mention of my old nine-to-five, but I reclaimed it before Dom could suspect anything. “Exactly. Well, I better get going. Losing prime night-light here. I’ll chat with you later, big guy.” He started to push off the door tocome after me, but I lifted my hand. “I only parked around the block. I’ll be fine. Go home to that pretty wife of yours, or she’ll never forgive me.”

He glared at me. “You know my shift doesn’t end for another two hours.”

“Still,” I said with a dismissive wave and started the short trek back to my car.

The wind had been taken out of my sails a bit. Maybe this was a sign. Maybe Old Emily was already dead and buried.

I lifted my chin and straightened my spine.

Yeah, who needed a stupid hookup, anyway? Not New Emily. She was a badass, mature bitch with her shit together. She went to bed at nine—no, eleven. Definitely before one a.m. And she woke early, like seven. No, nine. Definitely before noon.

With renewed vigor, I decided then and there Old Emily was dead. New Emily was going home.

I turned the corner and nearly slammed right into whoever had decided to park themselves in the middle of the fucking walkway. Stopping short, I got ready to curse out the stranger, but a set of blue eyes had the words catching in my throat.

My eyebrows knitted together in confusion. My car was a short hop away, meaning that Blue Eyes had been waiting for me where I parked. But how did he know it was here?

I was horny, not stupid.

Leveling a glare on him, I took a step back. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Something about his grin was off. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. The comment Dom made about him being creepy crawled back in almost as quickly as he stepped forward. I put an arm out, having way too much faith in its ability to thwart him.

“Back up, buddy. I asked you a question,” I demanded on a snarl, going straight for my keychain pepper spray. I’d gotten it because Asha begged me to. I never thought I’d actually need to use it. Of all fucking nights, it had to be the one I decided to be New Emily on.

Blue Eyes paused and his stare dropped to the hand I had in my bag. He took another step, hands raised like I had a gun pointed at his chest. “I just wanted to talk, gorgeous. I got a bit huffy earlier, but I’m good now. I really want another night with you.”

I didn’t like the way he twisted the words around his mouth, like they were the little lies he told to bring my guard down. I’d been a lawyer a long enough time. I’d been around deceptive shits and their silver tongues. I knew a lie when I heard one.

But something about all of this was weird. It almost felt like he’d been body-snatched, or maybe the mask had come off. Maybe this had been him all along. Either way, New Emily was already knee-deep in shit.

I eyed my car. If I could get inside and lock the doors, I might be able to ditch him like I was the main chick inFast & Furious. If not, I could always talk my way out of a vehicular assault charge. But I had to make it to my car first, and I didn’t have enough foresight to unlock the damn thing on my way around the corner. The minute I did, he’d guess my plan. With no other option, I did what I did best. I dialed up the charm.

I took another step back, and the asshole followed. “Is that right, baby boy? You want to talk?” I dragged out each word the way he liked, my hips swaying with another few backward steps.

He recovered the distance by moving forward, his smile spreading. I took another few steps, and like before, he instinctively closed the distance. I got ready to make a dash for my car thesecond he was far enough away from it, but something happened I couldn’t explain.

It was only a flash, but his eyes changed. His face wasn’t his. It was barely human. Pitch-black skin, fangs, mottled flesh that almost appeared to be melting off his skull, and glowing red-orange eyes. The only word I could think of was demon.

I froze, startled by the brief flash of a nightmare. His face had already gone back to the pretty boy I recognized, so I had to be losing it, right?

I wanted to blame the alcohol, but I’d only had one shot tonight. Hardly drunk territory. I’d wanted a clear head and to escape a hangover tomorrow for New Emily and all the plans she was about to make.

Blue Eyes stopped and his gaze flicked up, aimed directly behind me. It widened enough to catch my attention, and despite it being the stupidest thing I could do, I glanced over my shoulder to see what he saw.

A huge figure loomed in the streetlight.