Free Hollywood Demon (The Collegium Book 6) by Jenny Schwartz

heard on the news of used car salesmen cheating single women. “Do you want me to go with you?”
    “What?” She stared at him.
    “At the car yard, a woman on her own. You might get cheated.”
    She laughed. “Sorry. I’m not laughing at you, just…laughing. This is one ordinary thing I can do. I’ll be fine buying a car.”
    “Can I ask why you laughed?” There was a car yard in the near distance and another just beyond it. He tried to decide between them.
    “The Collegium offered practical courses as well as training in magic for those who’d work in the field. I studied mechanics. I understand engines, I can drive most things, and I like cars.”
    “Huh.” He remembered the big rig she’d arrived in. “I guess you’ll be okay. This car yard do?” At her assent, he turned in.
    “I appreciate your offer to help.” With the laughter still in her eyes, she looked young and pretty. Heart-catching.
    He stared at the car salesman observing their entrance. It would help Clancy’s bargaining that he’d driven the old warded SUV and not the Rocinante. Still. “If you don’t find a car you like, call me and I’ll pick you up.”
    “You’ll be in a meeting.”
    “I can still answer a phone.” He recited his phone number and waited for her to enter it in hers. “Call me so I’ve got your number just in case.” His phone blipped and her name showed. “If anything worries you, phone.”
    “The demon isn’t going to bother me.” She got out of the car.
    They didn’t know Faust wouldn’t attack her. However, Mark was counting on the demon’s past behavior. It liked to skirt the edge, doing just enough to torment him, but not enough to provide proof that the Collegium would pursue.
    “Have a good meeting with NASA.” Clancy smiled and shut the door. She ignored the salesman and walked toward a family sedan with a $6,999 price tag. Her cardigan slipped from one shoulder and she hitched it back before shoving her hands in its pockets. She looked casual. She’d seemed confident and positive she’d enjoy car shopping.
    Mark put the SUV in reverse and backed out of the yard. In the rear vision mirror he saw the car salesman approaching Clancy, smoothing his tie.
     
     
    The wind blew in the open windows of the small, white car. Such an ordinary little car with excellent fuel economy and only one previous owner. Low mileage. Good condition. Clancy had the radio on, and if the sound was tinny, she didn’t care. She sang along to an old blues song.
    Bargaining for the car had been fun. She’d seen it as soon as Mark drove them into the yard, but she hadn’t made a bee-line for it. She’d haggled in Jakarta, and Indonesians knew how to bargain. So, she’d had her strategy and she’d kept to it, and she’d gotten the car for five hundred less than her budget. That meant she had five hundred dollars to play with. A quick search had found her the nearest art supplies store.
    She drove into its car park with a neat flourish and parked, switching off the engine and giving the steering wheel a fond pat. Wandering through the art supplies store was fabulous, although five hundred dollars didn’t go nearly as far as she’d hoped. Ouch! She packed her purchases into the back of the car and slipped into the driver’s seat. There she paused.
    She was accustomed to living and working alone, but Mark had done her a favor—too many favors if you thought about it. He’d given her a lift to the car yard, a job, and okayed her to stay on the estate. The least she owed him was reassurance that the demon hadn’t eaten her.
    Bought car. Driving home. See you there. Not the world’s most effusive text, but…her phoned buzzed.
    Congrats. Mark’s text was even briefer.
    She smiled and dropped her phone onto the passenger seat. The engine of her little car purred happily to life, and continued to purr as she crawled slowly through LA traffic.
    She got home with evening drawing in, parked to the side of her