Demon Hunting In the Deep South (7 page)

He seemed unaffected by the contact, but it nearly sent her through the roof. She was having hot flashes from touching a guy’s
thigh,
for heaven’s sake. But, oh, my God, what he did for a pair of jeans ought to be a felony. The denim molded to his quads and . . . uh . . . other places.

She realized she was staring at his crotch and jerked her head up. Her gaze collided with Ansgar’s, and she nearly died a fiery death right then and there. Sweet baby Jesus, he just caught her checking out his package.

And it was some package. Birthday, Christmas, and Bat Mitzvah rolled into one. All it needed was a big red bow.

Holy cow, she did not just think that!

She spent the rest of the trip back to Hannah staring out the window as if pine trees and kudzu were the most fascinating things in the world. Maybe if she wished hard enough, the floorboard would open up and she would be sucked out of the van, roll down the highway and into a ditch, where she’d lie in a roly-poly ball of mortification forever and ever. Amen.

No such luck. She was stuck in the van with Captain Pheromones.

A small eternity later, they pulled into Hannah and cruised past the Dairy Spin.

“The Sweet Shop is closed until five,” Addy said. “You want a burger?”

“No.”
Evie saw Addy’s eyes widen in the rearview mirror. Her face grew hot. She was being a rudie again. Much more embarrassment and her darn face would explode. “Uh . . . I mean, no thank you. I’m not hungry. Please take me home.”

Home
was a 1920s Craftsman bungalow in the heart of Hannah, an older section of town with houses dating back to the turn of the twentieth century. Addy and Evie grew up a few blocks from one another on Magnolia Street, and Addy’s mother still lived in the same house.

Evie loved her home with its deep, square-columned front porch, gabled roof, and stone accents. She even loved the hopelessly outdated bathrooms and the tiny kitchen. She couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. In spring, Magnolia Street was festooned with bright patches of azaleas, clumps of blue and white hydrangea, and fragrant wisteria. Summer meant the sweet smell of freshly cut grass and the steady hiss of sprinklers on manicured lawns. Neighborhood children rolled down the sidewalks on their bicycles, roller skates, and skateboards, and dads performed the age-old ritual of grilling animal flesh over barbeques in backyards.

Summer was a recent memory, and fall was now upon them. In two days it would be Halloween. The maples, dogwoods, and redbuds were aflame, and there was a crisp tang in the air, a welcome relief from the sticky heat of summer.

Evie couldn’t wait to get away from Ansgar. She felt like she’d been dipped in fire ants. What was it about him that set her on edge? Aside from the fact he oozed danger and sex and was supernaturally gorgeous.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm her racing heart. She was being ridiculous. The guy was a demon hunter, for heaven’s sake. He had places to go, demons to kill. He wasn’t interested in a frumpy woman from an itty-bitty town at the ass end of nowhere. She was acting like an idiot.

They pulled up in front of her house, and Evie got out. She thought about hurling herself onto the sidewalk while the van was still moving, but managed to exit the vehicle with relative dignity. All in all, she was rather proud of herself.

Okay, so maybe she caught her shoe in the hem of her dress and almost fell on her head. But no one noticed. She hoped.

Addy rolled down her window. “I forgot about your car. Want me to take you out to the mill to get it?”

“Thanks, but I’m too beat. Can we do it tomorrow?”

“Sure thing.” Addy’s brown eyes held concern. “Try and get some sleep. You look exhausted.”

Evie leaned through the open window and gave her friend a quick hug. “Thanks, babe,” she whispered in Addy’s ear. Tears stung the back of her throat. “I love you all the way to your gizzard.”

Addy hugged her tight. “Love you more.”

Addy waved good-bye and drove off. Evie stood at the end of the drive and watched the pink van turn down Maple Street and disappear. He’s gone, she thought. Her chest felt hollow and funny.

She might not see him again. That’s what she wanted, right?

But if that was the case, then how come she felt so sad? So
bereft,
like all the happiness in the world had been leeched away, leaving nothing but dreary, unrelenting grayness. She turned and staggered toward the house. The driveway blurred and the monkey grass lining the walk melted in a ribbon of green.

Blip!
She was at her front door. It was like she flew or something.

She fumbled with the key through her tears. At last, the lock turned and she stepped inside. The curtains were partially drawn, the living room dim. A large shape passed in front of one of the windows, blocking the late-afternoon sun.

“Ah, there you are,” a deep voice said. “I have been waiting for you.”

Chapter Seven

E
vie shrieked and stumbled back, slamming her heels against the door.

“Forgive me,” Ansgar said. He towered over her, seeming to take up all the air and space in the room. “I did not mean to startle you.”

“What are you doing here?” She sounded breathless and giddy. But how could she help it when her heart sang and her skin tingled with little bursts of gladness? He was
here
. He didn’t leave. “How did you get in my house?”

“Mortal locks are not effective against the Dalvahni.” A frown marred the perfection of his chiseled features. Lifting his hand, he brushed a tear from her cheek. “You are weeping. What has happened to distress you? Is it Meredith?”

Evie wiped the back of her hand across her wet cheeks. “No, I thought . . .” Her throat tightened. She shook her head, unable to continue.

How could she tell him the truth? That she was crying because she thought she’d never see him again. Which made no sense at all. How do you miss a person you’ve just met?

Hunching her shoulders, she tried to step around him.

He blocked her. “Why are you crying?” he demanded gently. “I must know.”

She shook her head again, her eyes on the floor. “It’s nothing. Really.”

“It is not nothing if you are distraught. Tell me.”

“Please,” she whispered. “Let me go.”

“Not until I know what troubles you.” He tilted her chin. It was impossible to think straight when she was surrounded by his enticing scent, like clean linen and evergreens touched with frost. “Look at me.”

Three little words, but they throbbed with power. His sorcerer’s voice made her drunk with longing. Fire and ice, shadow and light, steel wrapped in velvet.

Silken. Sensual. Compelling.

She felt her defenses crumbling beneath the seductive onslaught.
Oh, for crying in the beer, tell the guy how you feel. Aren’t you sick of the shrinking violet routine? So what if he laughs at you. You should be plenty used to that by now. Throw it out there and see what happens.
She was suddenly feeling rebellious.

Summoning her courage, she lifted her gaze to his and stepped off the ledge. “I was sad, because you left. I-I thought I might not see you again.”

She braced herself for his rejection.

“Evangeline.”

His cool voice held a husky note, and his silver eyes turned smoky gray. He cupped her face in his hands. Heat poured off his big body, and his touch made her shiver with longing. She wanted him, all of him. She wanted his strong, long-fingered hands on her body and his mouth upon her skin.

He bent his head closer. “Evangeline, I . . .”

Brand materialized in her living room. “There you are, brother. You exited the vehicle with such haste that Adara was worried. We feared something untoward had happened. But you seem to have things well in hand. Adara will be delighted to hear you are keeping your promise.” He raised his dark brows. “And with such
fervor
.”

Ansgar dropped his hands and stepped back. A muscle twitched in his jaw. “Evangeline was upset. I was endeavoring to soothe her.”

“Ah, is that what you call it?” Brand’s eyes held a sardonic gleam. He seemed to be enjoying Ansgar’s discomfiture. “I will leave you to it then. I bid you good day.”

He disappeared.

“What promise?” Evie demanded.

“I told Addy I would keep you safe.”

She scuttled away from the door. She needed distance from Ansgar in order to think. Being around him made her brain shut down and got other parts going. Why’d he have to be so gosh-darn beautiful and smell so good? And, to top it all off, he had a voice like liquid sex. It put an ordinary girl at a serious disadvantage.

She clasped her hands in front of her, trying to remain calm. “That’s sweet. It really is. I appreciate the offer, but that won’t be necessary.”

“You misunderstand. You have no say in the matter.”

“Addy put you up to this. She is such a worrywart, but you don’t have to stay. I promise not to tell her if you leave.”

“No.”

Her jaw sagged in astonishment. “What do you mean
no
?”

“I will not leave you. The thing that slew Meredith is still out there. You are in danger. It is my duty to protect you. I will stay with you until the matter is resolved.”

“You can’t stay here! This is a small town. People will talk.”

Ansgar propped his shoulder against the door and crossed his arms. “Let them talk. Would you rather be dead?”

“You don’t know that thing is after me. Maybe it’ll go away.”

“Do not be a fool. I was there this morning. I felt the creature’s presence, its evil intent. The kill today has but whetted the beast’s appetite for blood. It will strike again.”

Fear iced Evie’s skin. Ansgar was right. The thing that killed Meredith enjoyed bloodshed and inflicting pain. She’d sensed it. But stay alone in the house with Ansgar? She’d melt into a pool of frustrated hormones.

“I’m sorry, I appreciate your concern, but you can’t stay in my house. It’s out of the question.”

“Why not?” He looked around. “I see no impediment.”

“Because I don’t want you here,” Evie said, goaded beyond good manners. “Is that plain enough? You’re too good looking, too tall, and too dad-blamed
hot
to be around. You make me a nervous wreck.”

She groaned and put her hand over her eyes. “I’m sorry, that was rude. I’m not acting like myself today. But so help me, you could irritate the shingles off a house. Go away.”

“Very well.”

Blip!
He disappeared. Evie looked around. No super sexy demon hunter. Gone, just like that. One minute he was lecturing her about danger, duty, and the evil monster on her trail, and the next he vamoosed.

In spite of an abundance of furniture, including a faded couch, a coffee table, and several overstuffed chairs, the room seemed empty without him.

Or maybe not.

Her skin tingled with awareness. Gone my hind foot, she thought. She wouldn’t get rid of him that easily. She’d been around Brand and Addy long enough to know the Dalvahni were bullish in their determination to get their own way. Alpha males with an overabundance of testosterone, to put it mildly.

“You might as well show yourself,” she said. “I know you’re still here.”

Ansgar reappeared. “I went away. Was that better?”

“No, it most certainly was not. Making yourself invisible is not the same as going away.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re still here, that’s why!” Evie sighed in resignation. “You’re not going to leave no matter what I say, are you?”

“I cannot. Something might happen to you.”

“So? What do you care? You hardly know me.”

“It is Addy,” Ansgar said with perfect seriousness. “She has threatened me with bodily harm if you are hurt. She is a most intimidating female.”

Evie chuckled. “Liar. I don’t think you’re afraid of anything.”

“You are wrong.”

“Oh, yeah? What are you afraid of?”

“Perhaps one day I will tell you.” He gave her a narrow-eyed glance. “But, at the moment, I require sustenance. As do you, I suspect.”

Food, he wanted food. He was a big man. No doubt he had an equally big appetite. And she hadn’t been to the store in weeks. What on earth was she going to feed him?

“I’ll see what I can find.”

She hurried through the dining room past the antique oak cabinet that held her grandmother’s china, and into the sunny kitchen at the back of the house. This was her favorite room, the one that held her happiest memories from when her mother was alive.

Before the dark times. Before death and her father’s descent into alcoholism.

Afternoons baking cookies with her mama and evenings spent doing her homework at the small table in the corner where they ate their meals. The bank of windows surrounding the square kitchen table looked out on the backyard, where Evie kept an herb garden for her soaps and a profusion of flowers for the fairies. Roses, sweet peas, and snap dragons, to name a few.

The state of her larder was worse than she feared. She opened the refrigerator first. Nothing there but diet soda and a half-empty pickle jar. The freezer compartment contained two frostbitten Lean Cuisines and a bag of green peas. Rubber peas, her daddy called them. Not exactly tempting provender for an oversized, hungry demon hunter.

A search of the cabinets turned up a few canned vegetables and a box of stale crackers. Pitiful. She hadn’t been hungry lately. When
was
the last time she went shopping? Thinking back, she realized with a sense of shock that her last real trip to the grocery store had been months ago, not weeks. Granted, she and Addy went to lunch once or twice a week, but what had she been living on?

“You are disquieted,” Ansgar said from the doorway. “Is there something I can do to help?”

Evie slammed the cabinet shut. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting company. There’s not much to eat in the house. I’m afraid the best I can offer you is a fluffernutter sandwich.”

“I am not familiar with this concoction.”

“It’s peanut butter and marshmallow cream spread between two pieces of bread.” She glanced at the basket on the counter. Empty. “Oh, shoot. I’m out of bread, too. Guess it’s going to have to be the Dairy Spin, after all.” She made a face. “But my car is still at the mill.”