Free One Handsome Devil by Robert Preece

impossible."
    "Why? Because I didn't wiggle my nose?"
    Katra made choking noises.
    "I told you I was dangerous. Imagine what that kind of power would do to a person."
    "I think that's what you did to Sara last night,” Katra quipped.
    "Shut up, Katra,” Sara suggested.
    "Uh, yeah. Maybe that was over the top. So what are you going to do with that hunk of metal?"
    Jack shook his head, then stared at the engine. As she watched, he slid the reforged part back through the engine block and into the cylinder.
    He concentrated on Katra's sick engine as if it was the only thing in the world, making invisible adjustments with his hands deep inside the solid metal.
    "Start your car now,” he said.
    "Are you giving me orders?” Katra fired back.
    "Katra, please.” Sara didn't want to imagine how life would be if she had to constantly make peace between her best friend and her favorite demon.
    "All right.” Katra stomped toward the car and shoved the keys into the ignition.
    "Your hands,” Sara gasped at Jack. If they were still in the engine when Katra started it, they could be ground to pieces.
    "Don't worry about me."
    The roar of Katra's aging Chevy drowned out any further comment. Jack sucked in air. The hard muscles of his forearms bunched into strong knots. Then, he nodded and slowly tugged his hands from the purring engine. “I had to reshape the pistons a little,” he admitted.
    Sara shook her head. One thing for sure, if Jack decided to hang around, he didn't have to worry about making a living. Any garage in the country would hire him. Katra's car hadn't sounded that good since high school.
    "Call me gone,” Katra called out when Jack lowered her hood. She squealed away in a cloud of burning rubber.
    "We should get going, too,” Sara said.
    Jack turned to face her. His hands were blackened, covered with grease and oil from Katra's engine. A smudge smeared across his nose.
    He followed her gaze with his eyes then smiled. “That I can fix.” With a flash of white heat, the oil vanished. “Now we can go.” Heat patterns rose from his shadow.
    Greatly daring, she reached out a single finger and touched his hand, then jumped away as if she'd touched an oven. “You're hot."
    "I had to melt the metal. It wasn't bad. Nothing like what I face most days."
    She shook her head. How could anyone endure burning fire for century after century? She would have gone crazy. But, while Jack had a number of crazy ideas, overall, he seemed as sane as anyone she'd ever met.
    An idea popped into her mind. “Could you see into the engine or did you have to touch whatever you were adjusting?"
    "I could see."
    "Is there a distance limitation? I mean, could you see into the earth for thousands of meters?"
    "Maybe."
    Things were looking up. A talent like that would certainly help in the petroleum engineering and prospecting business. Maybe Jack wasn't here for sex. Maybe he was here to help her get rich. “Let's go to Oklahoma."

Chapter 5
    "Are you hungry?” Sara's stomach gurgled and she realized she'd completely forgotten breakfast. “We can grab lunch before we hit the lease."
    Jack gave her an uncomfortable stare. “Demons don't eat.” His pause sent a chill arrow through her heart. “At least not normal food."
    "Not even Mexican?” She wasn't sure which was worse: Jack's implications, or a lifetime without food. For that matter, if anyone had told her yesterday that she'd miss breakfast because of great lovemaking, she would have called them crazy.
    He shook his head. “I could try if it bothers you."
    "Darned right it bothers me.” She'd feel like an idiot sitting there chowing down while Jack just watched. All she needed was a boyfriend who made her feel like a glutton.
    "All right. I can do that."
    That handled the first part of her problem. “So what do demons eat?"
    "You don't want to know."
    Sara felt certain of that. Still, she'd spent the night with Jack and she needed to know the basics. “You don't eat people, do