Jenna Black - The Devil You Know

“I can tell you from personal experience that he’s right,” Andy said. He’d been so quiet, I’d almost forgotten he was in the room. His eyes were haunted and miserable as he stared into some inner distance.

Brian’s jaw worked as he thought that over. Both Adam and I managed to keep our mouths shut, which was no doubt a very good thing. Finally, Brian let out a deep, frustrated breath and returned to the couch.

“What exactly do you suggest I do? Morgan suggested I take some vacation time, but I can’t just take vacation on the spur of the moment.”

Dominic shrugged. “Can you call in sick? The easiest way for Der Jäger to get to you is just to brush by you on the street. We have no idea who he’s taken as a host, and as you know he can transfer to you in less than a second. You need to severely limit your contact with other people.”

Brian is a goody-two-shoes through and through. I could tell from the look on his face that the idea of lying about being sick didn’t sit well with him. A lawyer who’s uncomfortable lying. You gotta love it. But though he was angry about the whole situation, he wasn’t a dummy. With that first shot of indignation out of his system, he had to know how limited his choices were.

“Okay, so I call in sick. Then what? I lock myself in my apartment and hide there until someone tells me it’s safe to come out?” He looked almost sullen, which was completely unlike him.

“Actually,” Dominic said, “I don’t think that would be a great idea, either. I doubt Der Jäger would have much trouble breaking into your apartment, and if you’re there all by yourself, you’ll be far too vulnerable.”

Suddenly, I knew where he was going with this, and my emotions rioted. I would have blurted out some kind of incoherent protest, if only my brain were functioning well enough to muster one. Instead, I sat there at a loss for words, not even knowing how to label what I was feeling.

“I’m confident that I’m safe with Adam,” Dominic said, “seeing as he’s a demon. But I’m not so confident that Morgan and Andrew are safe together, being only human. If you would stay here, too, the three of you could guard the door in shifts.”

Yup, that’s what I thought he was going to say. It was a great way to try to salvage Brian’s male ego, but I didn’t know if I could bear it. It had taken more willpower than I’d thought I had to push Brian away in the first place. If he was right here in the apartment with me, would I be able to resist the temptation? If I gave him even the faintest hint that I still loved him, I’d never be able to shake him. Of course, Adam might have let the cat out of the bag when he shoved Brian through that doorway.

And in the deep recesses of my selfish heart, I wanted him back so desperately, I could taste it.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a quick smile flash across Brian’s lips, gone in the blink of an eye. “Now that’s an imprisonment I think I could bear,” he said, and I saw a calculating gleam in his eye.

I groaned and lowered my head into my hands. One of the ways I had guarded my heart against Brian had been to keep him as far away from me as possible. That light in his eye told me he had hopes our forced proximity would let him break down my defenses. “Thanks a lot, Dom,” I grumbled, once again wondering whether this was some kind of matchmaking scheme. But that was ridiculously self-centered of me. The fate of the world lay in the balance, and I suspected Dominic of matchmaking? Yeesh!

“Fine,” I said, trying to sound annoyed, even while my heart leapt with hope I tried my damnedest to suppress. “Brian can stay here for a while. But we can’t just sit around waiting for Der Jäger to attack. We’ve got to do something about him.”

Adam raised an eyebrow at me. “Do you have something in mind?”

I gave him a narrow-eyed glare, but I was proud of myself for not making a smart-ass remark. We both knew I didn’t have a plan. At least, not yet.

“Let’s play defense first,” Adam said. “We can’t do much that’s very useful until we’ve got some sense of security.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a Taser. “I thought it might be a good idea if you had a backup piece,” he said, putting the Taser on the coffee table. “Just in case. I’d like the three of you to sit tight for tonight. Dom and I are going to go interview some, uh, persons of interest.”

I clenched my teeth. Hard. I had a sneaking suspicion these “persons of interest” were my parents. I shot a pleading look at Dom—I knew my protests would be useless with Adam. Dom gave me a reassuring smile, and I hoped that meant he wouldn’t let Adam do anything drastic. Not that he had the power to stop Adam from doing whatever he damn well pleased.

“After that,” Adam continued, “we can get together again and talk strategy. Maybe we’ll figure out a way to trap Der Jäger.”

I hoped so, but I knew our problems would be far from over even if we did. Der Jäger was an illegal and a rogue, which meant he would be executed by the state if caught. Unfortunately, the state thought exorcizing a demon would kill it. If an exorcist sent him back to the Demon Realm, that wouldn’t do us a lick of good, because he’d be back in no time.

If I wanted to get Der Jäger off my tail, he, and whatever hapless human host he inhabited, would have to be burned.

If I could put off until tomorrow making a plan that called for burning someone alive, I was more than happy to do so. But I couldn’t put off thinking about it, and the churning that had been eating away my stomach lining all day just kept getting worse.

After Adam and Dom left, my big brother once again abandoned me to the wolves by running off to his own room. I wanted to remind him how well it had worked out last time he’d left me alone with Brian, but I managed to refrain. When the door thunked closed behind him, silence, dense and oppressive, settled on the living room.

Brian was still sitting on the couch, but I was far too antsy to hold still, so I wandered around the living room pretending to tidy up while I tried to gather my wits about me. And convince myself that leaping into Brian’s arms and kissing him senseless was a bad idea.

His quiet sigh made something clench in my gut.

“So, are you planning to look at me or speak to me?” he asked. “Or are you just going to ignore me and pretend I’m not here?”

I’d gathered a pile of magazines from the coffee table, but at Brian’s gentle rebuke I dropped them onto the end table and forced myself to sit back down and face him.

“Sorry,” I said. “This is kind of awkward, you know.”

He crossed his arms and leaned back into the cushions of the couch. I realized neither one of us was being terribly watchful, so I picked up one of the Tasers and shifted position so I’d have a clear shot at the door if I needed it. That didn’t save me from Brian’s questioning glance.

“Your friend Adam seems to think you still love me.”

I winced, remembering Adam bellowing something to that effect when he’d brought Brian back to the apartment. I’d hoped Brian was too distracted by all the rest of this mess to have noticed. I just couldn’t seem to catch a break these days.

“If he’s right,” Brian continued mercilessly, “then why are you so determined to push me away?”

I swallowed a sudden lump in my throat. I could try to deny that I loved him, but who the hell would I be kidding? Certainly not Brian! “Because I didn’t want you to get sucked into this shit.”

He cocked his head, his lawyerly instincts perking up. “In other words, you knew you were still in trouble even after that demon abandoned your brother.”