Read Online A Darker Past (Entangled Teen) (The Darker Agency) by Jus Accardo - Free Book Online

them wasn’t an option. I hadn’t really thought it was, but hey. A girl could dream, right? “But since you’re inquiring so nicely, it was the demonic kind.”
    “There was a demon in the basement of Town Hall?” Dad forgot about the comb. “Was it there for the trinkets?”
    This was my least favorite part. Confession. “It was kind of in one of the trinkets…”
    Mom gave an exasperated sigh, and Dad’s eyes grew impossibly wide. Oops. This was his first official Jessie-screwed-up speech. “Actually, in was in a mirror next to the table, but yeah. You get my point…”
    “You let it out.” Mom glanced sideways at Dad, then fixed her gaze on Lukas as if to say, you were supposed to be watching her . He turned away.
    I was nothing if not generous, and it would have been wrong of me to take all the credit. “If you want to split hairs, another one of Lukas’s deranged exes let it out.”
    “One of his exes?” That caught her off guard—not an easy thing to do. Score one for me!
    “Apparently, he was quite the player back in his day. Lucy? Yeah, her name’s really Elaine—how was he even able to see her, anyway?”
    Dad shrugged. Casual as could be. “Shadow demons can see the dead.”
    Huh. Wasn’t that handy. “Well, she’s the one who broke the mirror.”
    The corners of Lukas’s lips tugged downward. “I have no idea what a player is, but something tells me you’re not speaking about sports.”
    “Blame isn’t important,” Dad said, ignoring him. I disagreed, but whatever. Adults were entitled to their opinions—even if they were wrong. “What exactly did you two let out?”
    At least he’d included Lukas in it. “Some demon—didn’t catch his name. Probably because he was too busy laughing at me as I tried to quartz him.”
    Mom’s mouth fell open. “Quartz didn’t work?”
    “Didn’t even tickle him. All I know about him is that he was flinging lightning like bananas from a monkey. Had to be an Elemental.”
    “I can give you a sketch,” Lukas said. “Maybe that will help identify him. He seemed to know of Valefar and was very interested in Jessie’s ability to shadow.”
    Dad slammed a hand down on the desk. Several of the boxes wobbled, one toppling over the side, and I jumped about ten feet in to the air. “You shadowed in front of him?”
    “Um, I didn’t realize we were keeping it on the demonic down low…”
    He whirled on Mom. “We need to find out who came out of that mirror.”
    She threaded her fingers through his and nodded. “Anything not killable with quartz is going to be a problem, though that doesn’t sound like an Elemental demon. They’re quartzable on their best days.” She fixed her attention on Lukas. “We’re going to check out the basement at Town Hall. You’re in charge.”
    My mouth fell open. “Seriously? Put the embodiment of rage in charge? I’m deeply wounded.”
    “The ex -embodiment,” Lukas corrected with a shift of his shoulders. He was trying not to grin, but I saw the smirk anyway. “I’ve proven myself to be the more responsible one.”
    Was he kidding? He’d nearly leveled half the town a few months ago. Granted, he’d been toting Wrath around, but still. “Give me one example.”
    He folded his arms. “That harpy a few weeks ago.”
    “No way,” I said, jabbing a finger at him, then turned to Mom. “He’s the one who instigated the whole thing.”
    Lukas ignored me and kept going. “Last month, there was the nest of hellhounds behind the park.”
    “Oh no. I’m not taking the blame for that one. You totally looked at them crooked. Then set them off by sneezing. We would have been fine if you’d been quiet.”
    He didn’t waiver. “And then, last week, there was the gulan.”
    “Oh. Well, that one I take a little credit for.”
    Mom balked. “A little credit? Didn’t you throw a soda can at it?”
    I had, but it’d only been half full. Not like I chucked a rock or fired a bottle rocket at its head.