Demon Retribution (Shadow Quest Book 3) by Kiersten Fay Page A

here.”
    “ We just want a simple
coffee.”
    “ Oh, shoot! We just ran
out.”
    The first lady gawked. “Do I need to contact
your manager?”
    Patience gone, Kyra leveled the woman with a
hard stare. “Let me give you a really great reason to do just that.
Get the fuck out of here!”
    Both women’s jaws fell. Kyra backed inside,
ass first, and then twisted the lock into place.
    She smiled and waved to the women through
the glass. “Thanks for coming!”
    Oh yes, her manager was going to get a call
in the morning. Didn’t matter. She wouldn’t be coming back.
    As a string of dampened curses faded down
the street, she whirled to face the room. The expression on the
man’s handsome face was misleading, or so she believed. No way he
could be so utterly composed and blasé after the violence that just
occurred.
    Leaning back, he claimed an adjacent chair
as a footstool with his legs propped and crossed. One arm rested on
the tabletop. His hat tilted slightly forward, shading his eyes
from the overhead light.
    Her mind went to work, trying to figure him
out. At the moment, he wasn’t a threat. But that didn’t mean she
could trust him, or that he wouldn’t turn on her at the first
opportunity. She was positive he was alien to this world, same as
her, but what race he hailed from escaped her. He could be a
dragonshifter. That would explain his speed and strength, and even
his presence here—if he was, in fact, to be her protector. The
dragons had been trusted allies to her people. Though, she had to
wonder if that was still the case.
    “ Who are you?” She finally
demanded.
    “ Cale.”
    When he said no more, she raised a brow.
“That’s it? Just Cale?”
    “ The full name’s Calic
Uthair, but Cale is fine.”
    “ And you know who I
am?”
    “ I hope so, or I’ve been
following around the wrong girl all this time.”
    “ Following me? Since when?
Your idiotic B-and-E stunt?”
    “ No, I’d say for about
three weeks.”
    Her breath caught painfully. She wheezed,
“Three weeks?”
    “ That’s when I found you.
Too easy, too. Honestly, I’m surprised the Kayadon hadn’t
discovered you before tonight.” He paused. “They hadn’t, had
they?”
    She reigned in her chagrin. “Kayadon? Is
that what those things are?”
    “ Mm, were.”
    “ Okay. Yeah, I’ve
definitely never seen one before. Where is the body, by the
way?”
    “ Out back with the others,
burning.”
    She smelled it then, a sour, hot stench.
“Are you nuts? You can’t light bodies on fire in the city!”
    “ Outside the city’s
better?”
    “ Someone will call the
police, the fire department. They’re probably already on the
way.”
    “ So, we should go then.” He
showed no signs of moving.
    A sudden thrill of nerves
fluttered through her. “Where is it you think we should go?”
    “ I’ll take suggestions, but
we should probably think about getting out of the city.”
    Kyra ran her hands through
her hair. “Look, if I’m going to run off with you, you’re going to
have to do a lot better than, ‘Hi, I’m Cale. Come with me if you
want to live.’ Who are you? Why are you here? Those aliens knew me…how? Do you know
of my family? Are they alive? Have you spoken to them?”
    He dropped his feet to the floor and leaned
forward. “What was the first question again?”
    “ Are you screwing with
me?”
    His mouth turned up on one side, “A little.”
He eased back into the chair and winced, grabbing his shoulder.
    “ Are you hurt?” Right away,
she felt stupid for asking. Of course he was hurt. And, now that
she was thinking a little more clearly, so was she. Her back felt
like she’d been dragged across cement. Probably because she had
been.
    “ It’s nothing,” he said
dismissively.
    Sirens in the distance moved her into
action. “Shit, they’re coming.” She hurried to grab her things from
behind the register. “Oh, double shit! Zoey forgot to take her
mother! Dammit!” The story she’d fed Zoey