strange.
After Women’s Literature I met Vince in astronomy, and we once again exchanged polite pleasantries like nothing was wrong. I didn’t ask, but he didn’t say that anything strange had happened to him that day, either, so I assumed everything was okay. At two, he went to his math class and I went to the classroom next door for my next astronomy class, and at three I went to the university memorial center to buy a snack and start my reading assignments.
That was when things got strange.
I went to the cafeteria and walked up to the vending machines. I had a bag of chips in hand, and I had just hit the button to get a soda when I looked up and saw Stark watching me from a table nearby.
He smiled sardonically.
I got my soda and tried to calm myself with a firm reminder that he couldn’t harm me because of the charm that I had buried.
If Lyssa had done it right.
If she hadn’t, it was too late now. I took my things and walked up to his table, hoping my confidence would deter him if I didn’t have the protections I thought.
“Do you live here?” I asked.
His eyes wandered over me, and I waited for the air to suck from my lungs or the feel of claws digging into my side, but nothing happened.
“Out in public, and without Charlie, even,” he said lightly. “I saw your new dog earlier. How long do you think that’s going to last?”
“We’re managing. It wasn’t nearly as bad as you intended.”
His lips curled a little around the edges and his green eyes flashed. “There’s a fine line between courage and stupidity, Thorn, and an even finer one between chivalry and weakness. You’ve both crossed your lines.”
“We’re fine,” I insisted. He was trying to put me on edge, and I wasn’t going to let him. “How are you enjoying being the slave instead of the master?”
“That’s what he wants you to think,” Stark said, watching me closely and ignoring my question. “He’s already building an exit plan, and I think you know what I mean by that.”
“You’re lying.”
“Am I?” he said with pleasure. “I don’t lie often, Anise. I’ve always felt that the truth cuts deeper. You can ask Charlie about me. You can ask me about Charlie, too, because he always did my lying for me. He’s good at it, as I’m sure you’ve already learned.”
I opened my soda, staring at him very deliberately as it popped and fizzed, and then I took a drink. “I know him a little too well now to buy anything you’re about to say.”
“Really?” Stark cocked an eyebrow. “Because Charlie and I go way back. Has he ever told you how he came into my service? His first mistress was killed by werewolves, and he took a great amount of pleasure in butchering them for my sake after that. I didn’t ever want for blood or hide or anything else, and his hatred for them ran deep right up until the end, Anise. My new colleague—”
“Your new master,” I corrected.
“—he tells me that Charlie and I clipped quite a few branches off his family tree a few decades back. We’re wanted men in that pack, and my demise has become a thing of legend in certain circles. They knew who to call on when a demon by the name of Charlie showed up in their backyard. I recognized Walter’s face the moment I saw him, because he’s the spitting image of his grandfather,” Stark said idly. “I wonder if Charlie recognized him, too. I can’t imagine that he didn’t. Demons have fantastic memories, and Charlie skinned him from head to heel. Did he tell you any of that, Anise?”
I opened my bag of chips and crunched one slowly in my mouth before answering. “So what does Walter want, then?”
“It’s not impossible to kill a demon.” Stark leaned forward, unblinking. “But nearly so. They can’t kill Charlie, Anise, but they’ll stop at nothing to take him from you and control his fate. They’ll bind him and starve him with banishment. And even though they can’t kill him, I will. He’s stolen too much from
After Women’s Literature I met Vince in astronomy, and we once again exchanged polite pleasantries like nothing was wrong. I didn’t ask, but he didn’t say that anything strange had happened to him that day, either, so I assumed everything was okay. At two, he went to his math class and I went to the classroom next door for my next astronomy class, and at three I went to the university memorial center to buy a snack and start my reading assignments.
That was when things got strange.
I went to the cafeteria and walked up to the vending machines. I had a bag of chips in hand, and I had just hit the button to get a soda when I looked up and saw Stark watching me from a table nearby.
He smiled sardonically.
I got my soda and tried to calm myself with a firm reminder that he couldn’t harm me because of the charm that I had buried.
If Lyssa had done it right.
If she hadn’t, it was too late now. I took my things and walked up to his table, hoping my confidence would deter him if I didn’t have the protections I thought.
“Do you live here?” I asked.
His eyes wandered over me, and I waited for the air to suck from my lungs or the feel of claws digging into my side, but nothing happened.
“Out in public, and without Charlie, even,” he said lightly. “I saw your new dog earlier. How long do you think that’s going to last?”
“We’re managing. It wasn’t nearly as bad as you intended.”
His lips curled a little around the edges and his green eyes flashed. “There’s a fine line between courage and stupidity, Thorn, and an even finer one between chivalry and weakness. You’ve both crossed your lines.”
“We’re fine,” I insisted. He was trying to put me on edge, and I wasn’t going to let him. “How are you enjoying being the slave instead of the master?”
“That’s what he wants you to think,” Stark said, watching me closely and ignoring my question. “He’s already building an exit plan, and I think you know what I mean by that.”
“You’re lying.”
“Am I?” he said with pleasure. “I don’t lie often, Anise. I’ve always felt that the truth cuts deeper. You can ask Charlie about me. You can ask me about Charlie, too, because he always did my lying for me. He’s good at it, as I’m sure you’ve already learned.”
I opened my soda, staring at him very deliberately as it popped and fizzed, and then I took a drink. “I know him a little too well now to buy anything you’re about to say.”
“Really?” Stark cocked an eyebrow. “Because Charlie and I go way back. Has he ever told you how he came into my service? His first mistress was killed by werewolves, and he took a great amount of pleasure in butchering them for my sake after that. I didn’t ever want for blood or hide or anything else, and his hatred for them ran deep right up until the end, Anise. My new colleague—”
“Your new master,” I corrected.
“—he tells me that Charlie and I clipped quite a few branches off his family tree a few decades back. We’re wanted men in that pack, and my demise has become a thing of legend in certain circles. They knew who to call on when a demon by the name of Charlie showed up in their backyard. I recognized Walter’s face the moment I saw him, because he’s the spitting image of his grandfather,” Stark said idly. “I wonder if Charlie recognized him, too. I can’t imagine that he didn’t. Demons have fantastic memories, and Charlie skinned him from head to heel. Did he tell you any of that, Anise?”
I opened my bag of chips and crunched one slowly in my mouth before answering. “So what does Walter want, then?”
“It’s not impossible to kill a demon.” Stark leaned forward, unblinking. “But nearly so. They can’t kill Charlie, Anise, but they’ll stop at nothing to take him from you and control his fate. They’ll bind him and starve him with banishment. And even though they can’t kill him, I will. He’s stolen too much from
Similar Books
