Demon Crossings (12 page)

Fen didn’t let her drive. She was still feeling sulky about it even after he drove off and she went inside the house. She’d just gotten a plate down from the cabinet and was starting to put together a sandwich when she heard voices outside the mudroom. Aiden must have come back while she was gone. Maybe she should have left a note. She shook her head. She didn’t know anything about living with another person. Not that she and Aiden were actually living together but…

“She’s human.” Christian’s voice. No mistaking who they were talking about. She froze, unsure of what to do.

“She’s more than that.”

“But you can’t know what that means. We get cut and we heal in a day or two. She gets cut and she could bleed out in minutes.”

Something heavy landed on the floor of the back porch and Aiden said, “Then we make sure she doesn’t get cut.”

A pause. “You can’t guarantee that.”

“No.”

She should let them know she was there. That would be the honest thing to do. But she stood there with a jar of mayo in one hand and a butter knife in the other, straining to hear Christian’s muffled reply.

“No,” Aiden said again, more firmly.

Christian made a disgusted noise. “It’s not right. We can just bring her over and let her point us in the right direction. Rachel can get Grace back through while we go after Hallie. If we know she’s alive and we know where she is, then we don’t stop looking until we find her.”

“We need Grace.”

“Just how far are you willing to push this? Are you willing to have her death on your hands?”

There was a long pause, so long Grace started to worry they’d moved inside the house. She put the knife down. Finally, Aiden spoke, his voice low and harsh. “If it means Hallie comes home then yes I’ll risk everything and everyone.”

The back door opened and Grace didn’t try to escape or pretend she hadn’t heard anything. She turned slowly and looked at Aiden and Christian standing in the mudroom. Both of them stared at her.

“Grace.” Something flickered in Aiden’s eyes but then he nodded and stepped inside.

“Aiden,” she said. “Hi, Christian. I’m making a sandwich. Have you eaten?”

“I’m actually on my way out.” Christian waved, deciding not to leave through the house after all. Coward. Aiden closed the door and kicked off his muddy boots before coming up the two narrow steps into the little galley kitchen.

She turned back around and slapped some roast beef onto the bread. “And you? You hungry?”

He was standing behind her now, waiting for she didn’t know what.

“I’ve already eaten.”

She put everything away while he watched. “Grace.”

“You don’t need to say anything. You know I heard it. And I get it.” Picking up her plate, she carried it over to the table and sat down. “I really do.”

He stood in the center of the kitchen, hands shoved in his pockets, with a frown on his face. She wondered if he’d try to lie to her, explain it all away, or worse, pretend that he really cared about her. But he didn’t.

He blew out a slow breath. “Can I get you something to drink? There’s some sun tea.”

“That would be great.”

Her throat was achingly dry. He got down two cups, but she was spared the heart to heart when she heard her phone ring. She’d tossed it in her purse when she hadn’t been able to get a signal and then left her purse by the front door. Maybe that was a sweet spot. Scrambling out of the chair, she practically ran down the hallway to grab it.

Without even glancing at the number, she answered, “Hello?”

“Hey, Grace.” It was Mike. “How’s the search coming along? You were supposed to be back yesterday.”

She swallowed, staring out the screen door. Mike sounded worried and she was going to have to lie to him.

“I ran into a few problems…” She trailed off trying to decide how much to tell him. There was no reason for him to be suspicious but he was a detective and it was in his nature.

Just like that, his voice went flat. “Problems.”

“Nothing serious. I ran over a…dog on my way out of town.”

“Which town is that?”

God, it sounded like he was taking notes. She laughed but it rang false even to her. “Some tiny town in Iowa. Anyway, the car had to be towed and I’m still sorting that out.”

“Do you want me to come up and give you a ride home?”

“No.”

“I don’t mind. I’ve got a few days—”

“Look, I’m not having any luck with this case and I’m thinking…” She glanced over her shoulder. Aiden was still standing in the kitchen looking down at the counter, not even pretending not to listen. Turnabout being fair play and all that. “…maybe I shouldn’t have picked this one up.”

“It’s not like you to give up,” Mike said, wheels turning. She heard him sigh. “That last case—”

“I know.” She closed her eyes. She definitely didn’t want to talk about that now. “I need a little time to get my head back together.”

A pause. “Okay. You got anything you want me to pass on to the grandmother?”

“No. Nothing but dead ends right now.”

“Let me know if you need any help. And Grace?”

“Yeah,” she said cautiously.

“I mean it. You need anything, you call me.”

She thanked him and said goodbye, then just stared at the phone for a minute after she hung up. Slipping it into her purse, she headed back to the kitchen.

Aiden had moved the glasses to the table. “Friend of yours?”

“Yeah.” She frowned, still not knowing what to make of the call. Mike had never been nosy about her cases and theirs had always been a purely professional relationship.

“Will he be a problem?”

His pale eyes were narrowed on her, the muscles in his jaw tight. Slowly, she straightened. “I told him I’d be back yesterday. Forgot about it. The grandmother might have called him for a status report or something. He’s the one who referred her to me. I’ve got to call her sometime too.”

“Who is he to you?”

“A friend.”

“A lover?”

She took a bite of her sandwich to buy time to think. It was none of his business. But, she reminded herself, he didn’t really care about her personal life. He was only making sure no one would chase her to his doorstep. Or track Maia through her. She shook her head. “No. I told him I had trouble with the rental and that I ran into a dead end here.”

Slowly, he relaxed into his chair. “You don’t think he’ll follow you then?”

“I’m not sure how to answer that, Aiden. You’re not planning to bury me under the floorboards are you?”

“The danger to you is real. I thought you understood that.” He looked away, tapping his fingers on the wood. “Christian thinks we should have you get a fix on Hallie and then send you back across before we go after her.”

“I heard.”

“And?”

She sighed. “I’m going. It’s my decision. You’re not responsible for me.”

He gave her a sharp, hard look and she thought he was going to reject that. From what she’d seen, Aiden thought he was responsible for everyone who wandered into his sphere. And the people here seemed to accept and encourage that.
No thanks.
She was her own person and she liked it that way.

He drank his tea and she watched him from beneath her lashes, the sweat on the glass, the movement in his neck as he swallowed. There was a little scrape under his jaw and she wondered if that was from the fight or if he’d nicked himself shaving. He got up and set the empty glass in the sink. “There’s a storm coming in tonight. I have some things I have to take care of. Have you made a decision about Maia?”

“Fen took me over to talk with her dad.”

He nodded. She imagined not much escaped his notice in this town let alone under his roof. She swiped her finger through the condensation on the glass. “I’ll call the grandmother and tell her I can’t help her. Do you mind if I borrow your truck later?”

He raised his eyebrows.

It took her a minute to realize he wanted to know where she was going. No one had ever bothered to keep track of her before. No one had ever cared enough to. The novelty of it softened her voice. “If I’m going to be staying here for a few weeks, there are some things I need to pick up.”

“In town.”

She smiled. “I thought I’d try the grocery store first but a Target or a mall would be better.”

“Sure. The keys are on the hook. I won’t need the truck for the rest of the day. You should take the twins. They’ll show you around.”

The trip into town to buy clothes and toiletries took up most of the day. Grace called the grandmother first and left a message along with the information that her phone service was sporadic.

At the last minute, she changed her mind about going alone and decided to take Aiden’s advice and call the twins. Rane came with her. Elin, the town librarian, had to work. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been shopping with anyone. It was nice, even if Rane’s taste in clothing ran toward Goth and she mocked Grace for buying tank tops and boxers from the men’s section to wear to bed. Clothes. Shampoo. Lotion. Some disposable razors. She’d paused in the condom aisle and Rane gave her an amused look when she moved on.

“Better safe than sorry.”

“Better to avoid temptation altogether.”

Rane’s brows lifted. “You’re living with temptation. I don’t see how you’re avoiding it.” When Grace looked at her sharply, she laughed. “Your idea of temptation, not mine. Aiden’s got a good heart but he’s too serious for my taste. And old.”

“He’s not…Oh hell.” Grace blindly grabbed the first box that her hand touched and tossed it in the cart. “Not that anything’s going to happen.”

“Of course not.” Rane grabbed some double chocolate chip cookies from the end cap as they headed into the grocery section. “For the record, I think you’d be good for him, you know, if things work out and you decide to stick around. He’s been…grim lately.”

“He thought his daughter was dead. Now, he knows she’s trapped and in danger. When we get Hallie back, I’m sure his mood will improve.”

Rane shrugged. “Maybe.”

Grace pushed the cart halfway down the aisle before she worked up enough courage to spit out the question she really wanted an answer to. “What was his wife like?”

Rane, bless her heart, didn’t so much as crack a smile. She answered without missing a beat so maybe she’d been waiting for it all along. “Bea’s family was true blooded Æsir, one of the few left, and Aiden’s father was the Odin back then. Bea was practically raised to marry Aiden. She was nice, always tried to live up to what people expected from her. The kind of person who never met a stranger, open, soft-hearted. She loved company, loved playing hostess. Hallie had—has—her smile.”

That lively grin from the picture flashed through her head. Grace couldn’t be more different from the woman Rane described.

Rane caught her expression and laughed. “Sorry. You want the dirt. Okay, well, she hated confrontation, never stuck up for herself when it came to a disagreement. She chattered constantly. And her ears were kind of funky looking.”

“Her ears,” Grace repeated.

Rane shook her head dolefully. “Malformed almost—no earlobes. She couldn’t go out in the sun or she freckled everywhere, even with sunscreen. God, she hated that.”

But Rane’s eyes were bright and fond even as she listed off what she must have thought were horrible flaws.

Great.
How was Grace supposed to hate a dead woman with freckles? She remembered that funeral wreath in the foyer from the night of the wreck. Was he still mourning his dead wife? Marking anniversaries and talking to her ghost? Did it feel like cheating to him when he’d pinned Grace to the wall and made her come? Was that why he hadn’t wanted to take it any further? She stood there with the freezer door half open and the glass fogging up. “Did he love her?”

Rane’s eyes softened and she nodded. “Yeah, I think he did.”

Grace turned her back to the woman trying to decide between mint chocolate chip and rocky road. She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Did the demons kill her?”

“Drunk driver.”

The woman behind her closed the freezer with a snap and pushed her rattling cart past, giving them a curious look. Grace grimaced. “I’m sorry. I’ve got to watch what I say.”

Rane shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. There are a lot of crazy people in the world. She’ll just think you’re one of them.”

That stung. Grace had gone to a lot of trouble not ever to fall into that category again. She’d built her whole adult life around being normal. And here she was chatting about fire demons in Target, buying condoms for a man…god…she’d met yesterday and hoping, in a sick helpless sort of way, that she’d get a chance to use them. Preferably tonight. Before the fire demons tried to eat her again.

It was starting to get dark by the time they headed out of town. Even driving seventy most of the way, it took nearly an hour to make it back to Ragnarok and drop Rane off at her bungalow a block from the diner.

When Grace got back to the house, Aiden was there and helped carry in the bags. She’d gotten stuff to make fajitas because she figured it was quick and easy. So, she set to work slicing peppers while he put the cold food away. It was strangely, comfortingly domestic. When he was done, Aiden came up beside her to lean against the counter.

“We need to talk…about the other night.”

She pressed the knife hard into the cutting board and cut another sliver off the pepper. She nodded but waited for him to go first.

He cleared his throat. “If you’d be more comfortable staying with the twins or even Christian or Fen, they’d be happy to have you.”

So much for the condoms.
Setting the knife aside, she took a deep breath and turned around. She’d really hoped they could ignore her behavior the other night and start over, or laugh about it. But the expression on Aiden’s face was serious and he wouldn’t have suggested she leave unless he wanted her out.
Damn.
“I’m sorry I threw myself at you.”

“You were upset.”

God, this was awkward. “And I’m sorry you had to…take care of me.”

“Had to?”

Vaguely, she was aware that his head had come up and he was staring at her. But she didn’t want to know what he was thinking, she just wanted this conversation to be over. “It won’t happen again. I don’t fall apart like that, not ever. But…
demons
. I understand, well, if not everything that’s going on, at least enough that it won’t throw me like that again. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is I get that you’re not interested…”