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“You and Sharah should come out to dinner with Shade and me. I think…I think it would be a good thing for all four of us. Maybe when this ghost crap has calmed down again?”
He snickered. “How about when I’m in a walking cast and not so dependent on these damned crutches? And, Delilah? I’d like that.”
I yawned. “Okay, let’s get on with it, as nice as it is to talk about something other than death, demons, or dismemberment. So, we have another egg to deal with?”
Back to business, he leaned his elbows on his desk and nodded. “Unfortunately so. And who knows how many others might be out there? This one, Shamas and another officer found this afternoon. Not as big, doesn’t look ready to hatch, Shamas said. But eventually, you know it’s going to. And then we’ll have another round of spirit demons on hand.”
“Not if we can destroy it first.”
“What happens if we crack it open before it’s ready?” Delilah picked up an apple off the bowl of fruit sitting on Chase’s desk. She stared at it a moment, then put it down. “Cookies?”
Chase snorted. “No cookies. Eat the apple. Sharah’s taken me off most sugar. And she’s made me cut out almost all junk food except for my tacos—which I might add, she can’t stand. But she gives in on those, and I give in on the rest. I’ve lost a few pounds and I actually feel better.” He pointed to his foot. “Except for that.”
Menolly frowned. “I want to go check this thing out. I missed all the action today and I should know what they look like, if nothing else.”
“You can’t even attack the spirit demons. It takes silver to hurt them and you can’t even touch silver.” Delilah tossed the apple into the air, caught it, and then polished it on her shirt before biting into it.
I thought over her question. What would happen if we cracked it open before it was ready to hatch? Would a bunch of immature spirit demons come pouring out? Apparently, they needed to be fed before they grew enough to break out of the shell.
“You said there are zombies there already?”
He nodded. “Well, skeletons, actually.”
“They’ll probably do just as well as zombies because they’re animated and contain magic. Which means somebody’s feeding it. We better get over there. Menolly, you can attack the bone-walkers and keep them from feeding it while we go after the egg. If they have a human shield there again, we have to keep any more of the Aleksais Psychic Network members from becoming demon chow.”
I pushed to my feet, not really wanting to head back out into the blustery night. But there was an egg out there, and we had to take it apart. “Give us the address. Then you go home and rest. We may need you later.”
Chase handed me a piece of paper. “You might want to call in the Supe Community Militia again.”
“We’ve got them on standby. One phone call and they head out to meet us.” Delilah headed to the door, with Menolly following.
I lingered behind for a moment, waiting till they were out on the main floor. “Chase…” I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say, but I knew I had to say something. So much had happened since we’d first met.
“Yeah?” He wearily moved his foot onto the floor, holding his leg by the knee so the splint didn’t come down too hard.
I stopped by the side of his desk, leaning on the edge. “A lot’s happened since you brought me that rope that Bad Ass Luke used to garrote Jocko. I remember that day, you were trying to look up my dress.”
He snorted. “Yeah, I was. I admit it.” He held on to his crutches, staring at them. “I remember the first day I met the three of you. I couldn’t believe how full of life you were. Delilah made me nervous, and Menolly scared the crap out of me. But…I couldn’t take my eyes off you. I was totally caught up in fantasies of how I would seduce you and then…and then…well, back then, I didn’t have an ‘after the act’ in mind.”
Laughing, I shrugged. “I’ve been there. Hell, I didn’t expect to end up married.”
“To three men, no less?” He winked at me.
“Oh, I could see myself with three men. But married? That was something I didn’t plan on.” I paused, trying to find the words for what I wanted to say. “Chase…you’ve grown. So much has happened to you—to all of us. I just want you to know that whatever happens…with the demons, with anything…we’re here for you. Sharah, too. We’ve got your back. Whatever you need, you’re part of our family, and so is your family. Because, unexpected or not, with a baby on the way and Sharah moving in, that’s what you have now.”
He caught my hand as I stood. “Thanks, Camille. We’ve been through hell and I have a feeling it’s only going to continue. I have no clue what the future holds, except that—barring a deadly accident—it holds a lot of long years for me. But I know that right now, in the present, I’m damned glad we’re all in this together.”
“Just think. You’re going to be a father, Chase.” I smiled at him.
“Wow. Yeah,” he said, a look of wonder on his face. And with that, he let go of my fingers, and I patted his cheek and followed my sisters out the door.
The rain hadn’t let up. In fact, it was worse. The night was relatively warm, though, and at least we weren’t going to be fighting in the freezing cold. We’d long ago resigned ourselves to getting soaked while working, and now I made sure everything I bought—bustiers to skirts to boots—could take a little rain, if not a deluge.
“So, the egg’s in another cemetery?” Smoky asked.
I nodded, my eyes firmly on the road. “Yeah, but it’s an old one; there hasn’t been anybody planted there for years. It’s tucked back behind an abandoned church. And guess where it’s located?”
Morio groaned. “The Greenbelt Park District?”
