teen, and no man would ever lay hands on her again without her explicit invitation. “You got three seconds to remove that or your new name’s going to be Lefty.”
He held his hand up in surrender. “You got a ride nearby?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll follow and—”
“No. I’ve had enough favors for one night, and now I have to clean this crap up before anyone finds it.”
“My people’ll deal with it.”
“Really?” She deserved one lucky break tonight. But honestly … did he really know a group who would come in here, clean up smelly demon goo and not report or arrest her? “Do you work with law enforcement?” Working for the morgue, she’d met a lot of the local LEOs—law enforcement officers—but never Rambo. He tended to stand out.
Isak smirked. “Not even.”
Believe it or not, that was good news in her world. VIPER employed a long list of different people that included a large number of Beladors, many of whom worked with local police, the FBI and other agencies. But if his people didn’t work with any of hers …
She might stand a chance after all.
Even though she had no idea who this guy was, she’d bet Tzader would know or could find out.
Continuing toward the smoldering hole the Birrnhad left in the warehouse, she reached the loading dock, where the hot air was muggy but fresh. She jumped down to the parking lot and started walking.
Heavy boot steps followed right behind her. “Look, I don’t think you realize what you’re up against. Hotlanta is steaming tonight because someone has unleashed major mojo on the city. And they’re not here to play with us, little girl. They’re here to feast on entrails.”
Little girl? Mr. Macho had no idea who he was dealing with, and right now, he was lucky he wasn’t limping. “I’ll take my chances.”
“What’s your name?”
“It definitely isn’t Little Girl. Honey. Or Babe, Baby Cakes. Now run along, little boy. Us girls need to be alone.” Because she couldn’t clean up the demon crap with him standing watch over her.
Unless she used her hands.
Nah. I’d rather VIPER burns me. ’Cause that’s just g-r-o-s-s.
Evalle had barely reached the middle of the parking lot when sirens rang out, coming closer.
Ah, crap … police were headed this way and would most likely enter the same way she had.
Please don’t let there be some stray kid with a cell phone
. That’s all she’d need tonight. Her face on the local news, fighting a demon. Her luck, it’d be picked up by the AP and on YouTube and she’d bemore famous in twenty-four hours than Paris Hilton on a bender.
Look on the bright side
. It might make Sen choke on his fury so hard that he’d stroke and die before he could cage her.
C’mon, think, Evalle, think
. She needed every minute she had left until daylight to figure out who’d sent the Birrn. Why it’d had Celtic branding and what the demon’s master wanted with an Alterant.
Her …
Oh, and come up with an explanation for the slashed body in the morgue that didn’t involve her being accused of eating the woman’s heart.
Some nights it didn’t pay to leave the house …
With the blue light specials flashing outside the gate, her most immediate problem was the lack of time to deal with the flaming pile of demon churras on the floor. Could she sell the cops on the idea that she was a disgruntled employee trying to plant prairie pastries on her old boss’s desk?
Not with my luck tonight.
What were the chances she could trust Isak’s people to clean up this mess?
She turned around as Isak jumped down from the loading dock and jogged in her direction. She gestured toward the cops. “Nice present. Thank you so much for the arrest record, Mr. Shoot-to-kill. Appreciate it. Know any good bail companies?”’Cause with his hair trigger, he should be getting a volume discount from someone.
He stopped in front of her, his weapon slung across his back. “I don’t need no stinking bail company. I’ve got
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