And in the darkness a hand had reached out for her, a comforting voice telling her she was safe now. She had grabbed on to that hand like a lifeline. That hand had been Lou’s.
She knew he’d had other options. He could have wiped her memories, left her somewhere-a shelter or orphanage or something. But instead he’d taken her in, cared for her, and eventually made her one of them. He had accepted her, hadn’t turned her away, had patiently answered all her questions honestly, had put up with her tantrums and her anger and her grief over the loss of her parents. He’d held her through the nightmares and had entrusted her with the Realm’s secrets. He’d made her into what she was now. She’d loved him fiercely, had held on to him like any child would to a parent.
And then he was gone. Just like her other parents.
Now she was alone again.
She was an adult now. It shouldn’t matter.
That it did annoyed her. Lou had always told her she was a marshmallow. She’d worked hard to prove him wrong.
The hot sting of tears clouded her vision. Oh, no. Not here, not now. She blinked them back and slid on her sunglasses, surveying the bustling crowds once again, forcing her mind to empty.
Her gaze wandered, scanning the crowd until it captured a tall, thin man darting into a darkened alleyway. With her special sunglasses on, her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness there, outlining him as he paused. What was he doing? Curious, she pushed off the car and moved toward the alley, staying in between the cars in the parking lot so he wouldn’t see her. She paused at the corner of the brick building, peered around, and saw the man. Nice-looking, mid-thirties with thick sandy blond hair and a dark blue business suit. He carried a briefcase. He just stood there, though, looking out toward the other side of the alley, watching people go by.
The guy darted behind a filthy Dumpster. What the hell did he do that for? Wouldn’t his suit get dirty? Mandy started into the alley, but stopped dead in her tracks when a mist began to form around the man, starting up from his feet.
Oh, shit. Mandy couldn’t believe what she was seeing. This couldn’t be happening.
She crouched down behind a couple trash cans and watched.
The mist lifted up, surrounding the suited man. His eyes began to glow a pale blue. The mist covered him completely and he disappeared.
Fuck! She ran back to the SUV just as Michael came out of the bank, smiling.
He frowned when he saw her. “What’s wrong?”
“I just saw a demon.”
His eyes widened. “What?”
She motioned with her head. “Back there, in the alley.”
“What kind of demon?”
“Guy in a business suit. He crossed over from the street, slipped into the alley. Just stood there for a few, then ducked behind a Dumpster. Mist coated him, then he disappeared.”
Michael frowned, turned and looked over at the street. “It’s sunny over there.”
“Yes.”
“You know demons can’t handle sunlight.”
“Allegedly yes. But apparently this one could.”
“Are you sure of what you saw?”
She folded her arms over each other, irritation beginning to boil inside her. “Do you think I’m delusional?”
“No, of course not. But it could have been something else. Steam, for example.”
She rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm. “Come on.”
They moved into the alley, behind the Dumpster. Mandy led Michael to the exact spot where she’d seen the demon disappear. “Right here. See, no steam vent.”
Michael crouched down and inspected the ground, the wall, the Dumpster, before rising and wiping his hands. “This makes no sense. Demons can’t walk in daylight.”
“Correction. They couldn’t walk in daylight before. Apparently now some can.”
He shook his head. “Not possible.”
“Right. Neither is the existence of demons to nearly all the world’s population. Do you think I’m making this up?”
“Following this would delay searching for Dalton and Isabelle.”
“Oh, come on, Michael. Even I can’t put off the inevitable. Besides, I believe in Dalton. The sooner we find them, the sooner we can prove his innocence. There’s a damn good reason he took Isabelle and ran. But right now, we need to figure out what the hell happened here.”
“We can’t stay here, Mandy.”
She blew out a hard breath. “You go on ahead, then. I’m not leaving until I figure out what’s going on.”
He seemed to consider the idea. Fine. He could leave if he wanted to. This mystery was too good to pass up. And they were demon hunters, weren’t they? Their job was to hunt demons. There had been a demon standing right in this spot less than five minutes ago. And where there was one demon, there had to be more. Mandy didn’t like the idea of leaving the area crawling with the Sons of Darkness’ minions.
“Twenty-four hours,” Michael said. “I’ll give you one day. We’ll check things out. If nothing comes of it, we’re back on the road.”
She nodded. “Fine with me.”
“Okay, Mandy You saw the demon, so I’m putting you in charge. Where do we start?”
She’d never been in charge before. This was new. Lou had always told her that some day she’d get to lead a team. Now was her chance. Of course said team consisted of just her and Michael, but still, it was a start. Excitement drilled through her veins. “This is the downtown business district. My first thought when I saw the demon was, what was he doing down here? What does a demon need with a business environment in a major city?”
“Good point. And if a demon can pass as a businessman, anything’s possible,” Michael said as they made their way back to the SUV “The Realm has always feared that the Sons of Darkness would someday, somehow make inroads into our world. That they’d figure out a way to have their people live among ours.”
Mandy opened her car door and slid inside, turning to Michael as she slammed her door shut. “Infiltrating the human realm could have disastrous consequences. Commerce, politics, technology … think of the influence they could have in so many areas, Michael.”
His grimace said it all. “I’m trying not to. That’s why I’m hoping you’re wrong.”
For the first time, she hoped she was, too. The possibilities were endless. “Demons running our world … It’s unthinkable.”
“If the Sons of Darkness have somehow managed to create demons that look human, who can walk among and interact with other humans without detection …”
“How would we ever be able to identify them …to destroy them?” Mandy asked.
Mandy didn’t like the worry she saw on his face.
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to start figuring that out. If there are demons passing for human out there, we’d better start hunting them. Which means we need to find one so we can figure out what they’re capable of. I pray you’re wrong, that you didn’t really see what you thought you did.”
“I know what I saw, Michael.”
Suddenly this mission had become more important than finding Dalton. She wanted to prove to Michael that she had seen a demon, but at the same time she really wished she hadn’t seen it at all.
It could change everything.
Isabelle sucked in a breath, ignoring the pounding of her heart. Dalton was right. Getting close to him in order to figure out how to dig into her mind and drag out her demons-literally or figuratively-might spell disaster, given what had been happening to her lately.
“Any idea how we’re going to do that?”
