Flint looks to Alder. “I want a pet gator,” he announces, a hint of a whine in his voice.
Alder rolls his eyes. “No.”
“Why not? That’s about the most kickass thing I’ve ever seen,” he counters.
“No,” Alder replies evenly again.
“He pet his chin!”
Alder gives him an exasperated look. “No.”
I try not to laugh at the back and forth. I’m surprised that I don’t see even an ounce of judgment in their eyes. Instead, Flint looks downright jealous.
“Come on!” Flint says with a grin that makes me smile. “We could get a whole congregation of gators going, train them to do things, entertain the bar patrons.”
“Our bar patrons scare off the gators, so I doubt that plan’s going to work out well for you,” Alder provides, like he’s used to talkin’ Flint down from his cockamamie ideas.
“Fine,” Flint concedes with a sigh, and they both turn back to me. “So. Any questions about us being demons?” he asks me, bringin’ us back to what was goin’ on before Daddy showed up and Todd rocked Flint’s world.
My smile falls and my brow furrows. I didn’t get a chance to check their pants, but there weren’t any cameras on their shirts, they’re not wearin’ any jewelry that could hide one, and their hair is too short to be buried in there. I start lookin’ around me, like maybe the camera is hidden somewhere else, but how would Shelia have known that I’d come talk out front? I check the cars parked on the street, but none of them have glass dark enough to hide a camera or Shelia and her brother sittin’ in one and watchin’.
“What are you looking for?” Alder asks, his own eyes scannin’ everythin’ around us.
“Shelia or Allen, or a camera or somethin’ that helps the crazy you’re talkin’ make sense,” I confess.
“We don’t know Shelia or Allen, and we’re not here fucking with you. We’re serious, and I think deep down, maybe you know that,” Alder tells me matter-of-factly. “You can see us clear as day. This is what we really look like, Medley, and we’re telling you the truth. We’re demons.”
We stare at each other, neither of us blinkin’ or sayin’ another word for a beat.
“So, you really are...purple. I’m not hallucinatin’ that you have a gardenia behind your ear?” I ask, my voice soundin’ oddly brittle and dry.
He nods. “The flower I wear changes, but that might be a confusing place to start. I’m an Ūnus demon, but more specifically, a Farina demon,” he answers, as he runs a hand through his bright yellow hair, the flower tucked snugly in place.
The flower changes? Is it like a mood ring or somethin’? I chase that thought away and focus on the important facts being shared.
“I’m also an Ūnus, and I’m a Nacre demon,” Flint provides casually.
I run my gaze over his marbleized white and gray skin, and truth settles heavy in my stomach.
I...I don’t think they’re lyin’.
8
“You two are...demons.” Now there’s a sentence I never thought I’d say.
“Yes,” Alder replies evenly.
I can’t tell yet if I appreciate their bluntness or if I wish they had softened the blow a little. You’d think they’d wanna butter a girl up before they go droppin’ a demon bomb.
I watch them for a moment, weighin’ all the facts of my entire life as I take in their words while they settle somewhere between my stomach and my soul.
They look dead serious. No hesitation or smirks cross their faces. And from what I saw last night at the bar…well, I know now that I wasn’t hallucinatin’ or drugged. I’m lookin’ at the evidence of that right smack in front of me. No human looks the way they do.
After a long moment of my brain workin’ overtime, I swallow hard and give a terse nod. “Okay.”
Alder’s head rears back in shock. “Okay?”
“Yeah, okay,” I repeat. “You say you’re demons, and that you have a job opportunity for me. That can’t be good, so I’m gonna need you to explain yourselves quick before my daddy gets back with the shotgun.”
Flint chuckles.
“Alright, I’ll explain,” Alder says, takin’ the reins. “We believe that you’re like another young lady we recently met. Her name is Delta. She thought she was human...until she was drawn to a Hellgate too.”
I pick up my green and blonde hair and start fannin’ the back of my neck. I don’t know if it’s just the swelterin’ Georgia heat, or all this talk of Hell and demons, but I am burnin’ up.
“Keep goin’,” I say, doin’ a circular motion with my finger.
Alder hesitates for a moment, like he expected me to ream him with questions. “Well...Delta learned she was a demon.”
I continue to fan my neck. “Alright. And what the hell do you want with me?”
Alder cocks his head. “You’re takin’ this a lot better than we thought you would.”
I squint at him. “How did you think I’d take it?”
Flint answers. “Maybe you would faint or scream or something?”
“Do I look like a fainter or a screamer?” I volley back, annoyed.
Flint’s lips curve up. “Maybe not the fainting part, but one night with me and you’ll be screaming, alright.”
I walked right through the front door of that one. But damn, that picture he just put in my head makes me squirm, my legs pressin’ together slightly.
I clear my throat just to make sure it doesn’t go all husky. “Answer my question,” I say sternly, lookin’ back at Alder. “What do you want with me?”
“To help you,” he answers quickly.
I tilt my head and scoop up my hair, shovin’ it up in a messy ponytail. “Help me how?”
“Again, we don’t have all the details, but Delta started being able to see through demon wards—to see us for what we truly look like. Just like you did last night in the bar.”
“But when I first got there, y’all
