Like he already knew my answer.
“All that smiling.It’s unnerving.”
He immediately sobered, though the corners of his mouth still wanted to curve.“Sorry.I can’t help it when I look at you.”
I snorted, because the alternative was melting into a puddle.“You’re ridiculous.”
“No, really.You have this… thing.”
“Absolutely not,” I said.“I do not have a thing.”
“Well, I think you do, and my opinion is the only one that matters.So.Lunch?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because.”I folded my arms.
“That’s not a reason.”
“It is for me.”
“It’s a lunch date, Piper.Not a life commitment.”
“Date is a four-letter word, McAllister.I’m not ready for that.”
He held my gaze, unoffended.Understanding flickered there instead.
Before he could reply, the temperature in the shop plummeted.
One heartbeat it was Texas-in-late-June hot, the next a cold draft slithered across my skin like someone had opened a walk-in freezer.My teeth chattered.My breath fogged in front of my face.
Black smoke seeped under the front door.
It crawled along the tile in a thick, unnatural wave, moving with intent—smoke that didn’t drift so much as hunt.
I sucked in a sharp breath and instinctively backed up, bumping into the sink.Nowhere to go.No escape.
The smoke coiled up, twisting, stretching—and solidified into something straight out of my worst nightmare.
The thing that stood in front of me was massive, its horned head nearly brushing the ceiling.Coarse fur matted its body.Two curved tusks jutted from either side of a broad snout.Where hands should have been, it had cloven hooves.
It leaned in, bringing with it a wave of rancid breath that smelled like rot and brimstone.
“Piper—” Owen started.
The creature swatted him aside like he weighed nothing.Owen crashed to the floor, the impact rattling the card rack beside him.
The beast planted both hooves on the tile and leaned over the counter, bringing its glowing blue eyes level with mine.The pupils were slitted like a snake.
“Where is Alice?”it rumbled, its voice deep enough to vibrate in my bones.
My throat closed.I couldn’t move.Couldn’t think.
It inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring.“You smell like her.Where is she?”
“Alice is dead,” Owen said hoarsely.
