Free Demon Inside by Stacia Kane Page A

eights—a dead man’s hand.

    The waiter set her plate in front of her and stepped smoothly away, leaving them alone again in the shadowy corner. She tried to let the fragrance of the steak soothe her, to let the excellent wine seep into her muscles and relax her, but it didn’t.
    “I didn’t think you were superstitious,” he said, watching her.
    She shrugged. She hadn’t thought she was either. “Just considering everything that’s been going on…”
    “Stop worrying. I’m not worried.”
    “How can I not be worried? The—the police are coming to my office tomorrow. To meet me. They want to see Gerald’s file. I guess they think he might have killed himself.”
    “They can’t make you—”
    “They’re bringing his sister. I do have to release it to her, or at least copies of it.”
    “I’ll call Hunter. You should have a lawyer with you. Just in case.”
    “I thought you were my lawyer.”
    “Trust me, darling, the last thing you want when you’re dealing with the boys in blue is me at your side. Don’t give them more ammunition, not when you have a public image to protect.”
    It was the closest he’d ever come to answering outright a question she’d asked when they first met: “Are you in the Mafia?”
    Strange as it seemed, she hadn’t given the matter much thought since. She’d started compartmentalizing it, thinking of it simply as “demon business” and so not anything that involved her. Even her experience at the mall with Tera hadn’t really concerned her, aside from the embarrassment.
    But she hadn’t thought about how it might affect her career. Obviously he had.
    “Is that why you had Hunter come to the jail?”
    “In part. But he wouldn’t have been able to convince those homeowners to drop charges as easily as I could either, and that needed to be done. Although it wasn’t exactly easy—that lady was tough. I thought for a minute I might actually have to pay her off.”
    “How nice that you didn’t.”
    “Don’t be sarcastic. It spoils the digestion.”
    She raised her eyebrows, but couldn’t help smiling. The steak was delicious too, although something seemed off about it.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “It’s overdone.”
    “Really? I told them medium.”
    She cut a new piece and fed it to him off her heavy silver fork.
    “Tastes like medium to me, Meg. That’s the way you usually have it, so—”
    Oh God. She did usually have her steak medium, he was right. And this was perfectly cooked.
    So why then did she suddenly wish it wasn’t? That it was bloody rare and red, the way he ate his?
    “Must just have been the piece I had.” She shoved another forkful into her mouth. “Yep, that’s perfect.”
    “We can get you another one if—”
    “No, no, it’s great. Thanks. I think I’m just tired.” Desperate to change the subject, she said, “So when will you be back?”
    “Hmm? Late Wednesday, maybe, or Thursday, depending. Shall I just pick you up Saturday afternoon? Cart you off to my lair?”
    “Your lair?”
    “Oh, it’s a lair. It qualifies. It’s secluded, it’s secret, and I do private things there.”
    She blushed. “Will you have your car back?”
    “We’re taking the truck anyway. In case it snows.”
    They were spending the entire week of Christmas at his Meegra’s cabin in the woods outside the city. Greyson didn’t actually celebrate Christmas, of course, but most demons treated it as a winter holiday just the same.
    The first time he’d taken her onto the land she hadn’t even known the cabin was there, but it was, and she loved it. Almost as much as she loved the fact that, for the first time in years, she actually had plans at Christmas, real plans that didn’t involve her tagging along at Althea’s family celebration or watching movies by herself at home.
    Althea. She didn’t want to think about that now.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “I…I went to see my demons last night.”
    “And?”
    She shook her head. “I heard something.