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He snorted, but inclined his head. "Perhaps you'd care to take my mind off her?"
If I hadn't been a vampire, he would have had me right there. I could feel his focus, the sensual thrust of his words. Incubi were sex incarnate, and there was a reason they never wanted for partners.
"Be careful what you wish for," I told him. "Trust me, there are some paths not safe for even demons like you to tread. I take no lovers, and with good reason."
As Roz headed down the street, Delilah broke away from Chase. "Drive safe, babe," she said.
"I'm heading back to the lab to give Sharah a ride home," he said.
Delilah blew him a kiss and headed over to Camille's Lexus.
As Chase pulled out of his parking spot, I watched him drive away. He looked weary. As had Sharah. I wondered what it must be like, working with the dead and injured day after day.
It was one thing to walk among the undead. We were trapped in our bodies, living in limbo but still in existence. But the healers and medics who worked in silence at the sides of those who'd crossed over, who tended wounds and held the hands of those in pain… they were a special breed.
And for someone like Sharah, niece to Queen Asteria, to stand her ground even when a horde of demons was headed our way… Well, in my book, she had more balls than most men I'd ever met. This wasn't even her world. But OW was one step away from Earth, and would be next in line when Earth fell. Without our help, both worlds were doomed. There was no question of "if it happened"… only when.
Iris was waiting up for us as we trekked into the house. She waved a video camera. She beamed as we came in. "I've got wonderful news!"
Camille dropped into the rocker and leaned her head back. "We could use some, believe me," she said.
Delilah slumped on the sofa and began to pull off her boots. "Man, am I beat. I got contracted for a possible case, by the way, so I should be bringing in some more money in a few weeks. Some sort of cheating spouse thing again, I think. Boring, but it pays the bills."
Now that we were responsible for our own expenses, we all were working harder. It had been kind of fun when the OIA paid our freight and our day jobs were covers, but now that we were fending for ourselves we had to make sure we brought in enough to cover expenses. Luckily, both buildings—the Wayfarer and the Indigo Crescent—had been bought outright by the OIA, who seemed to have dropped all interest in them when Lethesanar stirred the cauldron with her dirty little war.
Iris eyed Camille and Delilah, a frown playing across her face. "I notice neither one of you touched your suppers. They're still in the refrigerator. Something wrong with my cooking?"
"Of course not." Camille yawned. "We had to go meet Menolly down at the bar, so we didn't get a chance to eat. I could sure go for a plate of lasagna right about now, though."
"Me too!" Delilah flashed the house sprite a bright grin and looked ever so hopeful.
"Yeah, yeah." Iris snorted. "You both eat like farmers. I'll heat your plates in a moment, but before another—" Here she stopped and looked at me. "I know you have bad news, it's written all over your face. But hold it for a moment."
I held up my hands, shaking my head. "Not a word. Not a word."
"Good." She held up her video camera and motioned for us to gather round. Camille and Delilah groaned, but Iris wouldn't take no for an answer. "Get your butts over here. You're a long sight younger than I am and I'm not complaining, so hurry it up."
We gathered around her and she set the camera to playback. There, in living color, was our Maggie, taking her very first steps by herself. The little gargoyle clutched at the coffee table as she came to the end, holding herself upright, and then, one finger at a time, she-let go, balancing precariously as she toddled toward the camera, arms outstretched.
We could hear Iris murmuring in the background and then Maggie took two steps, let out a particularly loud mooph and fell back on her butt, her tail splaying out to the side. She started to wail and the camera went dark, but there it was, in full glory. Maggie's first steps on her own.
Delilah clapped her hands and Camille immediately headed toward the kitchen while I grabbed Iris and spun her around, proud as punch of our little girl.
"Put me down this instant!" Iris said and I complied. When Iris chose to be stern, her voice took on that do-not-disobey-me tone and nobody, not even me, ignored it. "And just where do you think you're going?" she added, pointing at Camille.
Camille stopped in midstep. "Nowhere," she said, turning with a grin on her face. Uh huh, score one for Iris.
"You're going to wake up Maggie, aren't you? Well, I won't have it. That poor baby's sleep schedule is scattered to the winds thanks to the three of you. You have to start coordinating your play time with her or she's going to be all out of sorts. I just got her down to sleep an hour ago and she's going to stay asleep, so keep out of my room. You can give her a kiss tomorrow. Menolly, you can peek in on her before you go down for the day, but don't you dare wake her if she's still snoring."
Her hands on her hips, Iris looked ready to take on the world.
Even I had to admit that I wouldn't want to face her when she was in fighting form. For one thing, none of us were quite sure just how strong a Talon-haltija's powers were. But we'd seen some fairly impressive displays and we knew they weren't the sum of her talents.
"Iris is right," I said, glancing at Delilah and Camille. "We should work up some sort of a play schedule. We all like to tote Maggie around, and it's not fair to her if we can't get our act together."
Delilah grabbed her laptop off the coffee table. "Let's just do it, then, while Iris is making our dinner."
Iris nodded her head. "Smart girls. And I thought you'd like that news. You can tell me what happened tonight after you get your schedule together. Post a copy on the bulletin board in the kitchen so I know who's planning what."
