His combative stance felt threatening, provoking her into action. She raised the dagger again, holding it defensively in front of her, praying enough of the holy water remained on its blade to protect her. Demons normally traveled alone. She’d never had to fight more than one at a time before and always in the past she’d had surprise on her side. None of them had expected her to fight back, especially after they turned on the charm.
“It’s not a thank you I want, Ash. It’s answers, and I want them now. Why are you here?”
He lifted one brow and began to circle slowly, forcing her to shift her footing on the slippery, salt-slushed asphalt to keep him in her sights. He put his hands palms out where she could see them in a gesture meant to show he was harmless. Michelle didn’t buy that for a second. “I could ask the same thing of you. Personally, I was just out for some fresh air.”
“How can you walk during the day?” she challenged him.
“Just like I walk at night. On two legs. Same as you.”
“Are there more like you?”
“I’d like to think I’m one of a kind.” His eyes narrowed as he tossed out a few questions of his own. “Why are you following me? What do you want?”
She wanted to catch him off guard. “What do you know about the missing girls?”
His eyes flared at that and he stopped his circling. Okay, that question shook him. So he was involved. Goddammit, how could she have allowed herself to think for one minute that he wasn’t?
He stood to his full six foot four, sexuality oozing off him in waves of heat that banished the chill of the night. “What?”
“The missing girls. What do you know about them?” Michelle couldn’t think clearly when he looked at her that way. She tried hard to fight off this second, more subtle line of attack.
His nostrils flared. “What do you know about them?” he demanded in return.
“Only that you’re somehow involved.” Lessons learned long ago had taught her that demons and trouble naturally gravitated toward each other.
He shook his head. The yellow was back in his eyes, deepening to a rich amber color. “Assumptions can be dangerous, sweetheart.”
“Stop it, Ash.”
“Stop what?”
She blinked her eyes, trying to clear her head. “Stop wasting your charm on me. It didn’t work for him,” she pointed the tip of her dagger to where the dead demon had fallen, “and it’s not going to work for you.”
Ash had the nerve to look insulted. “I’m not doing a damn thing to you.”
She hoped he was lying because if he could do this to her without any effort, she hated to think what he could do if he tried.
A fine shiver moved through her as she brought the conversation back around to the missing girls. “Are you telling me you’re not involved?”
“Hell yeah, I’m involved. I’m involved because my sister went missing a few months ago. And if you don’t get that dagger out of my face I’m going to take it from you and you’re probably not going to like it.”
Michelle took a step back and immediately remembered the picture in his room, recalling the similarities between the two. “Your sister? Is she demon too?”
Looking suddenly weary, she felt something inside him give as he pitched his voice low, so low she had to strain to hear. “Half.”
Half?
As she studied him a moment longer she spotted something in his eyes, something beneath the amber glow that looked suspiciously like sadness, and it slammed into her heart.
Half-demon?
She’d never heard of such a creature. As she took a moment to process that new piece of information, there wasn’t a damn thing she could do to separate herself from her emotions. Jesus, how awful must that have been on a kid? Not much wonder he’d been in trouble with the law.
More than a little unnerved by the unexpected sympathy, she processed what he’d said. Half-demon meant half-human. Understanding dawned in small increments. “So that’s how you can walk during the day. You’re half-human.”
He nodded, a wash of conflicting emotions passing over his face. “Just so you know, I hate cops as much as you seem to hate demons. But it appears that we’re here for a similar reason and I think we’re both intelligent enough to know we’re better off working together than against each other if we want to get to the bottom of things. So, as the old saying goes, if you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”
That would be great, except it wasn’t her back she wanted him to scratch.
Damn Ash and his demon charm.
“I have new information,” he said, showing good faith by making the first move.
“What is it?”
“First, put down your dagger.”
It seemed she was supposed to show good faith as well. Not bloody likely. She didn’t lower her blade. “So you’re saying you want to work together then?”
A slight, reluctant smile softened his features. “Yeah, imagine that? We worked together a few seconds ago and look what that got us. One less full-blooded demon in the world.”
Michelle still wasn’t convinced. “I didn’t think demons killed their own kind.”
The smile left Ash’s face. “He’s not my kind,” he said evenly. “He wanted drugs and I don’t deal drugs.” He dipped his head to look into her eyes and it was all she could do not to melt to the ground. His tone softened, sounding surprised. “Besides, he was going to kill you. I couldn’t let him do that.”
Rattled by the unexpected tenderness in his voice, she shot back the first thing that popped into her head. “I thought you hated cops.”
He raked his fingers through his dark hair. “Yeah, I do. Look, let’s just forget I said anything about working together, all right?”
Her mind raced. Was it possible that he really wasn’t a cold-blooded monster? That he was simply looking for his sister? She replayed the events of the night, recalling the way he’d declined Barbie doll’s invitation and
