Free Night Call (Book 2): Demon Dei by L.J. Hayward Page A

Geraldine’s death.”
    Rustling her feathered wings, Amaya nodded. “I take him out before he can find you.”
    “Yes. And once that’s done, I’ll have another job for you.” His hood turned toward her with a distinct air of forbearance. “Unless of course you have somewhere else to be.”
    She glared at him. “Actually, I don’t.”
    “Good. For a demon, you seem reasonable, Amaymon. Maybe we could come to some agreement once all this is done. Child of Asmodeus.”
    Amaya’s shoulders slumped. Brilliant. Once his murderous intent was done, his nasty little mind was reverting back to a pubescent state.
    And here, she’d thought she’d escaped the succubus tag a long time ago.

Chapter 8
    In the elevator to Ivan and Brad’s apartment, I drilled Mercy about not doing anything strange. She took it with a bored shrug and studied the silver fingernail polish she’d spent all evening applying. I knew she was taking it all in, though, so I wasn’t too worried.
    Ivan answered the door. He was still in his work clothes and seemed really nervous.
    “Problem?” I asked.
    He looked Mercy over. I’d had some luck in moderating her outfit. Hot pink shorts, black stockings with steel-capped work boots and a tight t-shirt proudly saying ‘I’d Kill for a Nobel Peace Prize’.
    A while back, Mercy had been pretty popular around the local club scene. She’d fronted a band called Nasty Kitten. A lot of people didn’t remember her or the band now. Ivan and Brad were among the few who did and they’d recognised Mercy from a distance. I just hoped neither of them thought to bring up her past tonight. She remembered nothing of it, though I had told her once. It meant little to her. I didn’t know how she would react to someone asking her about it.
    “Hope not,” Ivan said, looking at me again. “Erin’s here.”
    Okay. I could deal with that. Again, not so sure about Mercy.
    “Give us a moment, please,” I said to Ivan and drew Mercy back down the hall  a bit. “ Merce, Erin’s in there. Are you going to be okay with that?”
    Back when I’d liked Erin, Mercy had felt my emotions and been jealous of Erin. Or overly protective of me. Not sure which. Anyway, the poor kid had panicked, thinking I’d leave her for Erin. If I was lucky—hah!—maybe Mercy would have forgotten about it all.
    “Erin?” She shrugged. “Whatever.”
    Aw. The Terrible Teens. I supposed I wouldn’t get much sense out of her for another couple of months.
    “All right. Come on. Remember, act normal.” I thought for a second, then clarified, “Human normal. Not vampire normal.”
    She just stamped up to Ivan. “Hi, I’m Mercy.”
    He hesitated, then said, “Ivan.”
    “May I come in?”
    The old myth about vampires not being able to come in uninvited was false. I’d just instilled some manners in my girl.
    “Sure.” Ivan stepped back and waved her in. I followed. “I’m glad you came,” Ivan said to me as we walked through the entry hall. “Brad and Chris are really hoping you can help.”
    “I’ll do my best.” Which was as much for me as it was for him. I was going give this investigating lark a red hot go. Fingers, toes, knees and eyes crossed.
    Ahead of us, Mercy disappeared into a room off the hall. I could hear her announcing herself to all and sundry. I hurried in, just in time to see two men introducing themselves.
    A guy about Ivan’s age, blond and worn looking, introduced himself as Brad. An older man, perhaps a handful of years older than me, turned out to be Chris Davis. He was a portly guy, with touches of grey in his hair, and a sad, round face.
    Both of them seemed nonplussed with Mercy’s forthrightness.
    “Matt Hawkins,” I said to them. So far, no sign of Erin and Ivan hadn’t followed me in.
    “Mr Hawkins.” Brad held my hand with desperate strength. “I’m happy you’ve agreed to help us.”
    “Yes,” Chris said softly. “Anything you can do would be appreciated.”
    “Matt, please, and