pushed the door on the right marked ladies .
“You always make a target of yourself, lass? Or do ya just have a death wish today?” A weird little guy was beside me, when he hadn’t been an instant before. He leaned against the wall by the door.
I’d backed away too fast and slammed against the other side of the hall. My stomach roiled, my heart thumping in my throat. “Where’d….How—Who are you? What do you want?”
“Relax,” he said, folding his arms and crossing one ankle over the other. “If I was here to take your head, I’d have it by now. Believe me.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“Aye, but it’s what you were thinkin’. At least for a wee bit there in between the ‘How’d he do that?’ and the ‘Should I make a run for it or just scream?’ thoughts.” He leaned toward me and winked. “I don’t recommend either.”
His accent made me think Irish, maybe Scottish. Couldn’t tell which. He was only two or three inches taller than I was, which made him pathetically short for a man, and his cockiness totally unjustified. He had the kind of red hair that’s more brassy, almost orange, and he wore it long to his chin, with kinky wild curls and enough freckles to make me think boy rather than man.
But his mannerisms, the way he held himself, moved, and smiled, with a wise glint in his green eyes, belied the first-glance impression, adding years to his age. I figured he was a year older than I was, maybe two. And judging by his rumpled clothes, a brown leather vest, T-shirt, loose jeans, and battered work boots with broken shoestrings, he wasn’t a nine-to-five kinda guy.
“You read my mind?”
“Aye. Wasn’t hard. You’ve got no shielding a’tall. Bess to work on that. Been reading you since you walked in the door there. Couldn’t help it if I’d tried. You’re like a bloody bullhorn.”
“What are you?” Crap, two days as an illorum, and I was already about to be hacked to ribbons for a second time.
His hand dropped to the hilt of a sword at his side. I hadn’t noticed it until he touched the silver pommel. “What do you think, lassie? Right now, I’m what’s standing between you and certain death, I am. Where’s your sword?”
His gaze dropped to my side and my hands flexed. There was nothing to grab. I’d left my sword in the Jeep. Sue me. The thing kept poking me in the ribs or the small of my back when I sat. There was no good place on my belt to keep it.
“Near enough,” I said.
“Is it now?” He pushed off the wall, closing the distance between us. My stomach’s reaction to another illorum had calmed, but the invasion of my comfort zone had it clenching all over again. “Take a whiff, lassie. A deep one. Smell anythin’ rancid, do you?”
I inhaled. “Rotten eggs. A demon,” I said, scrunching my face at the smell. I’d breathed too deeply; the taste coated the back of my tongue, filled my lungs, and churned through my stomach. I turned and went back to the end of the hall, scanned the restaurant.
Everyone looked normal. “Where is it?”
The illorum shrugged. “I’d say that’s somethin’ you should be knowin’. Should be spottin’ them on yer own if you mean to live past the day.”
“See, that’s just not helpful. Why are you bugging me if you’re not going to help?”
He smiled. It was a nice smile, with straight white teeth and dimpled cheeks that gave him an odd appeal.
“It’s been a while since I’ve come across someone so new to the ranks. And…” He shrugged, almost bashful. “You’re not so harsh on an old man’s eyes to be lookin’ at.”
“You’re hitting on me?” Puh-leeze .
“And warning ya,” he hurried to say. “Don’t be forgettin’ that. I saw ya sittin’ there, not a scrap of metal to defend yourself. You were demon bait if I ever saw it. What kind of eejit goes around unarmed?”
Okay, so fighting demons I couldn’t even pick out of a crowd had me a little panicked. But shutting down horny
“You always make a target of yourself, lass? Or do ya just have a death wish today?” A weird little guy was beside me, when he hadn’t been an instant before. He leaned against the wall by the door.
I’d backed away too fast and slammed against the other side of the hall. My stomach roiled, my heart thumping in my throat. “Where’d….How—Who are you? What do you want?”
“Relax,” he said, folding his arms and crossing one ankle over the other. “If I was here to take your head, I’d have it by now. Believe me.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“Aye, but it’s what you were thinkin’. At least for a wee bit there in between the ‘How’d he do that?’ and the ‘Should I make a run for it or just scream?’ thoughts.” He leaned toward me and winked. “I don’t recommend either.”
His accent made me think Irish, maybe Scottish. Couldn’t tell which. He was only two or three inches taller than I was, which made him pathetically short for a man, and his cockiness totally unjustified. He had the kind of red hair that’s more brassy, almost orange, and he wore it long to his chin, with kinky wild curls and enough freckles to make me think boy rather than man.
But his mannerisms, the way he held himself, moved, and smiled, with a wise glint in his green eyes, belied the first-glance impression, adding years to his age. I figured he was a year older than I was, maybe two. And judging by his rumpled clothes, a brown leather vest, T-shirt, loose jeans, and battered work boots with broken shoestrings, he wasn’t a nine-to-five kinda guy.
“You read my mind?”
“Aye. Wasn’t hard. You’ve got no shielding a’tall. Bess to work on that. Been reading you since you walked in the door there. Couldn’t help it if I’d tried. You’re like a bloody bullhorn.”
“What are you?” Crap, two days as an illorum, and I was already about to be hacked to ribbons for a second time.
His hand dropped to the hilt of a sword at his side. I hadn’t noticed it until he touched the silver pommel. “What do you think, lassie? Right now, I’m what’s standing between you and certain death, I am. Where’s your sword?”
His gaze dropped to my side and my hands flexed. There was nothing to grab. I’d left my sword in the Jeep. Sue me. The thing kept poking me in the ribs or the small of my back when I sat. There was no good place on my belt to keep it.
“Near enough,” I said.
“Is it now?” He pushed off the wall, closing the distance between us. My stomach’s reaction to another illorum had calmed, but the invasion of my comfort zone had it clenching all over again. “Take a whiff, lassie. A deep one. Smell anythin’ rancid, do you?”
I inhaled. “Rotten eggs. A demon,” I said, scrunching my face at the smell. I’d breathed too deeply; the taste coated the back of my tongue, filled my lungs, and churned through my stomach. I turned and went back to the end of the hall, scanned the restaurant.
Everyone looked normal. “Where is it?”
The illorum shrugged. “I’d say that’s somethin’ you should be knowin’. Should be spottin’ them on yer own if you mean to live past the day.”
“See, that’s just not helpful. Why are you bugging me if you’re not going to help?”
He smiled. It was a nice smile, with straight white teeth and dimpled cheeks that gave him an odd appeal.
“It’s been a while since I’ve come across someone so new to the ranks. And…” He shrugged, almost bashful. “You’re not so harsh on an old man’s eyes to be lookin’ at.”
“You’re hitting on me?” Puh-leeze .
“And warning ya,” he hurried to say. “Don’t be forgettin’ that. I saw ya sittin’ there, not a scrap of metal to defend yourself. You were demon bait if I ever saw it. What kind of eejit goes around unarmed?”
Okay, so fighting demons I couldn’t even pick out of a crowd had me a little panicked. But shutting down horny
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