Demon Retribution (Shadow Quest Book 3) by Kiersten Fay

attached—possibly
permanently—to her upper arm.
    Relenting, she pulled Zoey along till they
reached the middle of the room. The man was gone, and so was the
alien body.
    “ Zo,” Kyra
whispered.
    “ Yeah?”
    “ I think we should make a
run for it.”
    “ Shouldn’t we call the cops
or something?”
    Kyra hesitated. “I can’t…get involved with
the authorities.”
    Zoey didn’t say anything, and Kyra didn’t
want to look to see the total bewilderment on her friend’s
face.
    “ We’re going to run out of
here as fast as we can and then catch a cab for you. Go straight
home, and if anyone asks you about tonight, tell them I sent you
home early and you know nothing. Okay? You. Saw.
Nothing.”
    “ W-What?”
    “ Don’t call the cops. Don’t
talk to anyone about tonight. Ever.”
    “ Ky?” Zo’s voice sounded
confused, shaky.
    When the door chimed yet again, Zoey
screeched.
    Kyra maneuvered into a protective
position.
    Same as the night before, the man put his
palms in the air, a reassuring gesture, as the door eased to a
close behind him. She found it strange that the gangster hat was
back in place.
    Zoey’s grip began to cut into her
circulation, but Kyra ignored it. The room went still as she
watched the man with bated anticipation.
    A few breaths passed in silence, and the
man’s stance remained nonthreatening. Kyra wanted to blurt out a
million questions: Who was he? Where did he come from? Who were
those aliens?
    And to have him verify if he was truly, as
he’d said the night before, here to protect her. But the shaking
human beside her needed to be safely away before she delved into
any of that.
    “ Let me send her home,”
Kyra pleaded. “She doesn’t need to be involved.”
    “ Involved in what?” Zoey
shrieked.
    “ Nothing,” she insisted,
still waiting for the man to say something.
    The man replied in a reasonable tone, “They
may not leave her be.”
    “ Who?” Zoey’s voice went up
an octave.
    Kyra wanted to know who as well, but more,
she wanted Zo out of the line of fire, if it were even possible.
“Let her go home and then you and I can...talk.”
    “ Last time I tried talking
to you, you shot me.” He held up three fingers in a silent
accusation.
    “ Correction. Last time I
saw you, you had broken into my apartment and snuck into my room
while I was sleeping.” She left out the naked part. “My reaction
was justifiable.”
    She expected an objection, but he just
shrugged and said, “It was.”
    Zoey’s kung-fu grip let up a bit.
“You’re…you’re that guy, from the other night.”
    They both ignored her. Kyra asked, “Are
there any more of them nearby? Is it safe for her to leave?”
    He nodded. “They were alone.”
    “ I’m not going anywhere.
Tell me what’s going on!”
    “ Zo, please. I’ll call you
later and explain everything,” she lied. “But now you have to
go.”
    Kyra didn’t wait for her to agree or object.
Passing by the man, she pulled Zoey outside into the cool night and
headed for the closest main street. Almost as soon as she raised
her hand in the air, a cab pulled to a stop.
    “ Go home, Zo. I’ll call you
later tonight. Okay?”
    Zoey gave a tired nod. The expression on her
face clearly said she was still in shock. Kyra held her guilt at
bay as the cab pulled into traffic.
    Turning back to Little Jitters, she spotted
a couple of people heading for the door. Her pace increased, and
she arrived in time to curtain her body against the entrance.
“We’re closed!” Her voice sounded strained.
    The two women gave her a snide look, and
then glanced around as if expecting to see more Little Jitters’
employees race out of the darkness. “Your sign says you close at
ten. It’s only nine-fifty,” one of the women announced.
    “ Sorry, but everything is
shut down, and we are closed.”
    “ But he’s in there,” the other accused.
The man behind the glass was now perched at the solitary table,
perfectly at ease.
    “ He works