Page 33 of Starved Until Sunset

“You’re welcome.” Cody took another sip of coffee. He would need to lead Demmy to it, apparently. Sometimes it was best to get Demmy talking about things from the beginning.

“Amelia tell you what happened?”

“Yeah.” Demmy finally looked at him, and Cody was struck by his expression. He looked tired, practically depleted, which he could understand given their location and the circumstances. But a touch of sadness lingered there as well.

“Do I not want to know?”

“Probably not. She thought she saw someone she knew standing in the road and swerved to avoid her.”

Something low in Cody’s belly tightened. He’d had a car accident similar to that not long ago, though he’d actually hit the person. And that person had turned out to be the reanimated corpse of their recently departed mayor.

The familiar anxiety started up: racing thoughts, heart rate accelerating, muscles tightening. This part of him had been quiet for a time, ever since they’d put the nix down, but it was starting up again, just like it did the night before when the bats had descended on him. He knew it was best not to know, that knowing would disrupt the quiet and peaceful—and, yes, boring—day to day routine they’d established.

But people he loved had been affected, and Cody was definitely not going to let that slide, no matter if the perpetrators were human or monster.

“Does she know why this woman was standing in the road?” Cody asked, leading the way to an answer half of him wanted to avoid and the other half needed to hear.

“No. Because…” Demmy took a breath and slowly let it out. “This woman had died last week.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

In the two days since Amelia’s accident, Demetrius and Cody had talked around the subject off and on since the cafeteria. It was a delicate—and tiring—mental and verbal dance, as neither wanted to set off the other. Demetrius was acutely aware of Cody’s resistance to anything remotely paranormal or supernatural. And he wasn’t faulting Cody for feeling that way. With all they’d been through, Demetrius could absolutely understand Cody’s position.

Because they’d been such close friends before things had taken a romantic turn, Demetrius knew Cody was watching what he said. They were treating each other so carefully, it was very possible they might never have an actual discussion about Amelia seeing a woman who had died the week before walking down the road. And if they never discussed it in greater detail, they would never look into it. That may have been safer, but it also left the people they cared about open and vulnerable to whatever new evil had crept into their midst.

“Penny for your thoughts.”

Demetrius looked up at Cody on the ladder he was bracing. Cody had turned on the ladder to face outward and now looked down at him. He removed a glove and pressed a knuckle into his eye. He wasn’t wearing his hard hat again and henna highlights in his wavy brown hair glowed in the afternoon sunlight.

“I’m thinking you’re going to bust your fontanelle since you’re not wearing your hard hat.”

Cody grinned as he pulled his glove back on. “Did you just infer I am a big baby?”

“Those are your words, not mine.”

“Uh huh.” He went back to work untangling a clump of half-deflated balloons from the wire supporting the town’s only stoplight. “Don’t think for a minute I don’t know what’s got you distracted.”

“Your amazing ass?”

“Besides that.”

“How good you look in your hard hat and jock?”

Cody gave him a long look, hands paused with balloon string wrapped around them. “Is that a glimpse into Demmy’s fantasy life?”

“What? No.” Demetrius’s face was practically on fire.

“Details noted.”

“If I told you my real fantasy was you wearing your hard hat when you’re supposed to, would that be noted as well?”

“Not likely.”

Demetrius sighed. “Okay, fine.” He was quiet a moment, then said, “I was thinking about Amelia’s accident.”

“Color me surprised.”

“Do you feel any inclination at all to look into it more thoroughly?”