Free In the Demon's Company (Demon's Assistant Book 2) by Tori Centanni Page B

keep showing you up and dragging you off on covert missions.” She gives Gabriel another once-over, makes a frustrated noise. “Call me when you’re done playing Super Spy.”
    She spins on her heel and walks away before I can point out she doesn’t seem to have a problem when that ‘weirdo’ is Xanan.
    “Sorry. Emergency.” Gabriel tugs at my arm and I follow him. We reach the parking lot before the bell. Campus security walks loops around the school but none of them appear to be doing a round now. All the same, I rush off across the street as fast as I can so we’re not stopped and questioned, and I don’t relax until we’re a few blocks away.
    “What’s going on? Where are we going?”
    “I had another vision. And this time, the blue-haired demon was in it.”
    “Oh,” I say, considering the implications of that. “Does she die?”
    He shakes his head. “No. But she’s there when someone else is supposed to. The vision is hazy. They’re never like that. Usually they’re so crystal clear, I can’t get the images out of my head. I’d assume she was there to make a deal with this person but that makes no sense, because I never see Azmos in the visions. Whatever’s going on, we should check it out.”
    “The visions give you an exact time?” I ask.
    He rolls his eyes. “No. But the vision tends to happen the day before. This one is happening today, if it’s happening at all.” A little thrill runs through me, along with a sense of relief at having something useful to do. Of course, relief is tangled with nerves. But if this demon is like Azmos, there isn’t much to be afraid of and she might be able to give me some answers about my teacher’s death.
    We walk down the Hill toward downtown, but instead of heading to Pioneer Square, we stop at major bus stop on Third Avenue. Even in the middle of the day, the street is chaotic, with people coming and going from all directions, some leaving on buses, others just trying to push through and get to the next block. People crowd around waiting for their buses, some on phones, some reading books. A guy lurking in a corner next to the minimart is openly dealing drugs despite the police van parked on the corner to deter that kind of thing. Another group of middle-aged men loiter, music blaring from the speakers of some hidden stereo in one of their coats.
    “Where are we going?” I ask.
    “A house,” Gabriel says, which does not really answer my question. We climb aboard a bus that goes toward Ballard. We find a sideways seat in back. Gabriel taps his foot anxiously on the floor. A man across from us looks pointedly at his leg and then glares at me.
    “Myron seems nice,” I say, just to make conversation.
    “Nice is not the word I would use,” Gabriel says, but he stops tapping his foot.
    “He was helpful,” I say. It’s nice to know there are other sources of information. Azmos only seems to tell me what he thinks I need to know. And he sorely underestimates that. Gabriel gives me an unreadable look. It’s full of something but I’m not sure what. For some reason, I keep talking. “I get the impression he regrets breaking up with you.”
    Gabriel’s look hardens. He folds his arms over his chest. “Why do you assume he broke up with me? As it happens, I broke up with him.”
    Heat creeps into my cheeks because I had assumed that. “I don’t know, I just thought—”
    “I get it. I’m damaged goods, so of course he’d want to be rid of me. Anyone would.”
    “No, that’s not it at all,” I say, wishing I hadn’t opened my big fat mouth.
    Gabriel sighs. “I thought it was lucky when we first met. When you’re mired in the arcane world, it’s impossible to have a relationship with someone who isn’t, which severely limits your options.” My heart hammers in my chest as images of Cam’s face—disgruntled and frustrated by all of the demon interruptions—flash across my mind. “But even then, sometimes things don’t work out.