Demonspawn (37 page)

I sat on the couch, ignoring dinner. So much
for another night out with Victoria and Bill. Not if we didn't know
where Bachner was. “Are you kidding? I'm telling you, they had a
huge thing going on there. Guns, plans, maps, and that damn
vampire.”

“I believe you. I'm just saying, there's
nothing there now. They know we're on to them, and they packed up
and left.”

“They gotta be somewhere else. Probably still
in the city.”

“I know. But where? And what the hell are
they up to? Bad things are gonna happen if that vampire they have
gets out.”

“I wouldn't worry about that too much. They
must have blown up the research center to cover up the virus.
They're vampire killers. They don't want that to spread. Believe it
or not, whatever the hell it is they cooked up in that place, I
think Bachner and us are on the same side.”

”Maybe. But I'll feel much better when we
find Bachner and he says 'Yes, we killed the last feral and the
virus is dead.'”

“Then he'll go after you.”

“Well, he can certainly try.”

The front door opened. I turned to make sure
it was Cindy. She gave me a smile and wave. She just got off work
herself, wearing a gray skirt with a white shirt and gray jacket.
Looking hot and professional. She stopped for a second, seeing I
was on the phone. I motioned for her to come inside. Despite all
the crazy things going on, I missed her.

“What's the next move?” I asked.

“We find them. It's that simple. I got some
friends out snooping around. And I have no idea what Bill is doing,
but hopefully he'll get with you.”

“So we wait?”

She didn't sound happy. “Afraid so. The sun's
down, so I'm gonna get to work, hit the streets. You get a night
off, rest and relax. I've been pushing you harder than I thought I
would.”

“I've been handling it so far.”

“Yes, you have. Don't worry, I'll call if I
need you.”

“Okay. You take it easy.”

I hung the phone up.

I leaned on my knees. I knew in a perfect
world, Bachner had discovered the vampire virus, and killed that
vampire they had in a cage. The virus would be dead and gone. Then
we could get back to something that was almost normal.

Cindy was getting a soda out of the fridge. I
almost forgot she was there. My mind was going in so many
directions.

“Was that Red Hot?” she asked.

I smiled. I almost forgot about that
nickname. “Yeah.”

“Sure you're not interested in her? I can
give you some good advice.”

“Ha, yeah. Like I gave you? No, we're just
working together right now.”

“More demon stuff?”

“Yeah, you could say that. Don't worry, I'll
tell you all about it later.”

“Cool. You know if you need someone to talk
to, I'm here.”

“I know. But I'm okay. Getting things under
control.”

She nodded. “I talked to Leese today. She's
doing alright. Still a little down, though.”

“I'll bet.”

“She's lucky she's got a big brother looking
out for her.”

“That's my job. I'm gonna give her a day or
so, then check up on her. She knows she can stop by whenever she
needs to.”

“Yeah, she'll be fine. She's actually at the
game tonight with her friends,” she said, pointing at the TV.

I was jealous for a second. We hadn't been to
a game in a while. Cindy leaned in the kitchen doorway. I remember
when I thought to myself that the next time I got the chance, I'd
tell Cindy exactly how I felt. I couldn't the other night when the
gang was over. But I was home, and she was with me, relaxing like
we always did. There was so much going on, and there might have
been no such thing as a perfect time. But it was now or never.

“Uh, Cindy,” I said from the couch. I could
already feel my stomach knotting up. “We gotta talk about some
stuff.”

She finished a drink of soda and took a deep
breath. “Me first.”

I was surprised. “Everything okay?”

“No.”

I kept quiet. She tossed her soda away and
actually started pacing. She was making me nervous. I had to get up
and move too. I got a soda from the fridge, just to keep my hands
busy and stand with her. I don't know why, but I was terrified of
what she had to say.

“Cindy. You can tell me anything, you
know.”

She finally stood still long enough to give
me a sad smile. “Maybe not this time.”

“You want to sit down?”

“No.”

I leaned against the wall and waited
patiently. It took her about a minute to say something.

“Shit. This has been on my mind forever. And
I don't know where to start.”

“How about the beginning?”

“That would be high school.”

I didn't say anything, just gave her a
puzzled look.

“Every guy I've ever dated, they always end
up saying the same thing. 'You spend too much time with that friend
Alex of yours. Either you stop hanging out with him, or we're
through.'”

I smiled. “I had a few of those talks
too.”

“Yeah. And every time, I picked you. Didn't
do much for my dating.”

I was tense. I didn't like where this seemed
to be going.

She started pacing again. Her hands were
actually shaking.

I tried to brace myself for the
friendship-only
talk.

“I can't believe I'm doing this.”

“Cindy, what's going on?”

I took a step toward her and put my hands on
her shoulders. She backed away, almost like I was a snake. I put my
hands up and stepped back.

“Sorry.”

She looked frustrated. “No, Alex. I didn't
mean-”

She made a disgusted sigh and rested her
hands on the back on the couch.

“When college started, I kept comparing every
boyfriend to you. I wanted them all to be like you. 'Why can't they
all be like Alex?' Then it finally clicked one day. I wanted
you
, and couldn't have you. How the hell do you tell your
best friend you got eyes for him? All I've been trying to do is
find excuses to get close to you. I even moved right next
door.”

My jaw hung open a little. She wasn't
done.

“So I watched you date all these other women,
who I knew weren't right for you. Every day, trying to hide being
jealous. I was getting sick of it. So last week, I finally decide
to try to move on, and go on a date. And it's the same shit all
over again. I just wanted him to be you. He was a nice guy, but it
wasn't fair to him.”

So
that's
why she was mad at me. It
was making a little more sense.

“Sorry, I'm rambling. I've been whining to
Leese about this for a year now. I know she's getting tired of
hearing it. So here goes.” She took another deep breath. ”Alex, we
should try going out a few times. You know, like
real
dates.
We both know each other better than anyone else, and I think there
could be something between us. What do you think?”

I'd never seen her so nervous. It was
actually funny. For so long, I struggled with my feelings whenever
I was around her. She did the same, even longer than me, and I
never even realized it.

I stood there staring at her. So much went
through me. The first girl I'd ever known. We both stood up to the
kindergarten asshole together. She knew most everything about me,
even the fact that I had wings inside me. Here she was, in my
apartment, stuttering over her words to ask me out on a date.

“Uh, Alex? Say something? Did I mess that up?
Want me to leave you alone?”

I wanted to kiss her so bad.

So that's what I did.

I caught her off guard. I kissed her harder
than I meant to. She didn't respond for a second, and I heard her
make a startled sound. I thought I went too far. I was getting
ready to pull away when I felt her hands slip around my neck. And
off we went.

There was definitely something between
us.

We wrapped our arms around each other and
just kissed. Real light, getting used to each other's lips. I lost
track of time, but she eventually pulled away. She had the
brightest smile I'd ever seen. She was still shaking a little.

“Did you want to say something?” she
asked.

I shook my head. Our lips were only inches
apart. “Nope. You pretty much covered it.”

“Leese kept telling me. I didn't believe
her.”

She laughed, and we kissed some more. After a
while, it was my turn to pull away.

“Cindy, listen,” I said. “You really don't
care? You know, about me-”

I didn't even get a chance to finish the
question about me not being completely human. She shut me up with a
kiss. She pushed my lips apart with her tongue and pressed up
against me. Her body felt great. Our breathing started picking up.
It wasn't just a kiss anymore.

I was making out with my best friend. Our
hands started going all over the place. The gentleness faded away,
and passion took over. We'd known each other since we were five. We
used to play in the dirt together in her parents' backyard. We used
to babysit Alicia when we were in middle school. Maybe it should
have felt strange, but it didn't at all.

She was the first one to go for the
clothes.

I felt her hands grabbing at my shirt. I
didn't fight her trying to take it off. I helped her shrug out of
her coat and took her shirt off. Just an amazing body. With a smile
on her face, she shoved me backwards. I fell over the arm of the
couch and landed on my back. I looked up to see Cindy in her skirt
and bra. I can't remember if my mouth hung open or not, but
whatever I did, got a laugh out of her. She climbed on top of me,
very slow, very sexy, and pressed her chest against me as she
kissed me again.

“I guess you don't mind me being a freak. I
mean, I do have wings,” I managed to say, this time with a smile,
instead of a frown.

She returned the grin and looked at me. She
had a glow about her. I'd never seen her happier, and I was the one
she was happy about. Wow. Not even flying through the sky compared
to how I felt as she looked me in the eyes. She played with my
hair. I had a hand resting on her lower back. Just the fact that
our bodies were touching, flesh to flesh, drove me nuts.

“A freak? I thought you were gonna ask if I
cared that you were a white boy.”

We laughed, and kissed again.

The longer we made out, the more our barriers
dropped. It wasn't long before I had her skirt pulled up to her
hips and was rubbing her legs and firm ass. She had a hand on the
front of my pants and grinded against me. Between nibbles on my ear
I heard her quite clearly.

“You don't know how long I've wanted this,”
she whispered.

“What took us so long?”

She undid the top of my jeans. My heart
started hammering. Cindy was gonna take it as far as we could go.
And I wasn't gonna stop her. As she fumbled with the snap, I leaned
up and kissed the top of her breasts. She moaned and wrapped her
fingers in my hair. I wanted her so bad. And she wanted me. I felt
goosebumps on my skin as she went for my pants again.

Unfortunately, the goosebumps were only half
from Cindy.

“Alex,” the voice said.

I turned my head to see Detective Bill
Sloane's face staring at me.

“What the hell!” I called out.

Cindy jumped from the couch. I scared the
hell out of her. I stood next to her and looked at Bill, who stood
behind the couch. His eyes weren't on me, though. He looked Cindy
up and down. Can't say I blame him. Only a bra, her skirt pulled up
to her hips, showing off a pair of thin black panties. Cindy was
looking at me, more confused than afraid. I jumped in front of her
with my back to her. She wrapped her arms around my waist and
pressed against me. It was strange to cover up someone from the
prying eyes of a ghost.

“You got good taste, Alex. Look, we got
major
problems.”

“Bill, that's just not cool,” was all I could
say.

“I would have knocked, if I could.
Listen
to me. We've gotta go.”

Cindy was quick. “Who's Bill? Alex, are you
talking to a ghost?”

“Yeah.”

She gripped me a little tighter. She had some
fright in her voice. “Well, uh, is it a good ghost?”

I gave Bill a look. “At least I
thought
so.” I held Cindy's hand and stayed in front of her.
I felt the same tingling that I had the last time I tried my latest
trick with Victoria. I heard Cindy take in a breath behind me, and
I knew she could see him.

“Cindy. This is Detective William
Sloane.”

“Call me Bill. Listen, the warehouse address
you gave us, it's empty.”

Cindy squeezed my hand. “Holy shit,” she
said. “Alex, how are you doing this?”

It was tough talking to two people at once.
“I got a magic touch. I know, Bill. Victoria called and told me.
She's looking for them.”

“Well, I
found
them.”

As soon as he said it, the ballgame actually
went off TV. All there was was a tone and a
technical
difficulties
message. Hadn't seen one of those in quite a
while.

“The stadium,” Bill said. “Those bastards
sneaked their little pet bloodsucker to the stadium and let it
loose near one of the back doors. Took me forever just to figure
out how to get here to tell you.”

“What? Camden Yards? The game we're watching
right now
? They're trying to
spread
the virus? Was
Bachner there?”

“I don't even know who Bachner is. I don't
know their names.”

“Bachner? Virus? What the hell is going on?”
Cindy asked.

We should have been a little more aware of
the fact that we were half naked with a ghost in the room. A minute
before, Cindy and I were in our own world on the couch. She was
still pressed against my back, but my mind wasn't on her gorgeous
body.

I picked up Cindy's shirt off the floor and
handed it to her. Then I grabbed the cell phone from the coffee
table. It seemed like it took her forever to answer.