Free Demons Amongst Us (The Book of Demons Saga #2) by Raquel Dove Page A

had.  At first, he thought it would be the ideal job.  After a lifetime of serving with the FBI and other special police task forces, he was offered this position to ease him into his retirement.  He had always loved museums, and the Smithsonian, being a top-notch place, was one of his favorites.  So he had signed on without a second thought.  One month into the job he had realized his mistake.  There was never any action, the only sounds throughout the wide halls were his footsteps echoing as he made his rounds.  The exhibits had lost their luster after only a couple days.  The one exhibit he still enjoyed visiting was the Hope Diamond.  It was the most beautiful piece of jewelry he had ever seen.  The sparkle it gave off was unlike any other, and he was one of the few people to be lucky enough to see it without any others interrupting his view.  It was never more beautiful than when it twinkled in the case spotlight in the middle of the night.  He wasn’t supposed to go see it, except for during his regularly scheduled course that was laid out by the director of the museum security, but nobody would ever know the difference.  They never did.  Most people thought the room would be cloaked in some sort of elaborate laser based security measures, but that was far from the truth.  All the security was located within the small pedestal glass case that held the diamond. 
     
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    “Wait,” Alex said in a harsh whisper, grabbing Balthazar’s arm as he reached for the glass case.  His brows shifted inward, in a silent question as he looked back at her.
    “I’m sure there is some sort of an alarm,” Alex whispered.  “Be careful.”
    Balthazar nearly rolled his eyes.  Alexandra was actually telling him to be careful.  Alexandra.  The most clumsy, unrefined, careless person he had ever met.  She picked up on his imaginary eye roll and shot him back a scowl.
    “There is no need to instruct me, girl,” Balthazar said .  Alex’s lips tightened and she put a hand on her hips, silently stomping her foot.  Balthazar gave her the slightest of smirks and reached once again for the glass case.  As soon as his claw touched the glass, he froze.  Alexandra watched him for a tense moment before she realized he wasn’t moving.  Her eyes followed his gaze to the entrance of the room, where an old man dressed in a security outfit stood staring at them, jaw slacked.  They all stood there for a sliver of a moment, staring in shock at each other. 

Chapter Nineteen
     
     
    Gary blinked his eyes a couple of times, unsure of whether what he was seeing was real, or just his boredom getting the better of his imagination.  When the realization finally hit that there were actually two people trying to steal the Hope Diamond his training kicked in.  He reached for the gun at his hips but was shocked when a clawed hand wrapped around his throat before he had even put his hands on the hilt.
    “Balthazar,” Alex shouted at the demon lord from across the room, “ don’t hurt him!”
    “His intentions were to harm us,” he said, his voice as cold as the North Pole, while his eyes burned a whole through Gary’s face.  Gary’s hands came up, wrapping around the wrist of his attacker. His eyes were wide as he tried to pull free.  He choked out an unintelligible word as Balthazar’s grip tightened on him. 
    “Balthazar,” Alex screamed at him again, as if she thought he was ever going to take a command from anyone.  “Put him down, please.”
    That word got him.  Well, that word and the pleading in Alexandra’s voice.  He never wanted to harm or disappoint her, and now was no exception.  Besides that, he really did not want to listen to her berating him for killing this inconsequential human for the next who knows how long until she got over it.  He opened his hand and Gary fell to the ground, gasping for his breath.
    “What are you?” was all he could manage to choke out as he looked up at