Free Night Series Collection: Books 1 and 2 by RS Black Page B

clearing?”
    I clipped my head.
    “Okay.” He nodded. “I’ll grab some of the others and meet you back here in ten minutes.”
    My heart twisted, grateful that he wouldn’t try to pry the truth from me. I suspected he already knew it in some way, but I valued the respect he’d shown in not pursuing it further.
    “I have to make a phone call first.”
    “Grace?” I asked.
    He nodded. “We can’t wait on her any longer, we need whatever Intel she’s got, don’t you think?”
    He really didn’t need to ask my permission, it was a courtesy for him to even do so. I was only second in command, he was Big Boss Man, but I nodded anyway.
    “Yeah, if she doesn’t already know, then I think this would interest her.”
    He started misting.
    “Oh and, Luc,” I said softly, “thanks.”
    He vanished. If he heard, he never said.
    Returning exactly ten minutes later with Vyxyn and Bubba in tow, Luc ushered me to his side. I quickly discarded the bandage and tape. The wound was semi-closed, no longer bleeding and fact was, I’d rather walk around with an open sore than have to stare at those awful smiling faces another second.
    “Yeah,” I asked when I got close enough. He pulled me aside so we had a little privacy.
    “Talked to Grace, day after tomorrow she wants to meet up. She asked for you, I said yes.”
    “Luc, you know I hate the city.”
    Demons have a natural aversion to confining spaces. Maybe it has something to do with the thought of being locked in the dark, or maybe with the curse we’re all destined to face, whatever it is, any metropolitan area always feels like its crashing down on me. Choking me and hemming me in. I can handle my trailer, that’s home. It’s safe. Warm. But a city built up with skyscrapers and closed in shops...that made me break out in a cold sweat thinking about it.
    He shoved his hands down his pockets. “Yeah, but I have a carnival to run. Be more than happy to trade responsibilities with you.”
    I snorted. “Dream on.”
    He shrugged. “Fact is, Dora, I trust you more than the others.”
    And it really was as simple as that. I rolled my eyes.
    “On the upside you’ll get to visit with Grace, it’ll do you good.”
    I sighed. “Yeah, I guess. I just wish she’d pick a different meeting spot. You’d think after all these years working together she’d know by now...”
    “Blah, blah, blah.” Vyxyn sauntered up, tucking a strand of her bright bubblegum pink hair behind her ear. She drummed her lacquered pink nails on her hip. It was hard to say what caught the eye more, her fluffy cat ears headband or her Alice in Wonderland meets circus clown on acid attire. She was a visual kei, a meld of punk and goth with a Japanese flair. “You two harpies done yappin’ yet? Or can I get back to my ride? Because I swear if my prey gets away before I’m done, I’ll kill one or both of you.” She snapped her gum.
    Vyxyn meant it too. Her demon was Envy. She was doomed to covet what she didn’t have. For Luc and I, it was our power over the family. Vyxyn didn’t like anybody, not us, not anybody. She was a loner with brain’s enough to know she wouldn’t survive on her own, so she’d joined the family. Not out of loyalty but more so out of a sense of preservation.
    To trust her was a mistake. She was the kind that to turn your back would wind you up on the floor, knife sticking out of your chest while she sat on you pilfering everything, right down to the last stitch of clothing.
    “Shut it, Vyxyn,” Luc snarled, “we’ll leave when I say we’ll leave.”
    Her green eyes grew wide, started to swirl.
    I smiled.
    “What's your problem?” she snapped, clearly not happy.
    Would it be terribly naughty of me to goad her on? I smirked, wanting to so bad.
    Her nostrils flared, heavily mascara’d eyes narrowing into slits of unadultered rage.
    “And just where were you earlier? I ran past your station and you weren’t there.” It hadn’t been her break time, I knew