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She shrugged, trying to look nonchalant and failing. “There are only so many restaurants in town that are open for breakfast. And this is the best.” She flashed that too-bright smile at Stellan. “Best customer service around too.”
She was trying to separate Stellan and me for a reason. But was it just because she obviously wanted to jam her tongue down his throat and try to convince him to carry her out of here?
Stellan leaned back in his seat, putting his arm over the back of the booth. It was obvious he wasn't going to move anywhere.
She deflated. “Fine. I just wanted to ask you in private if you knew who she was.”
She gestured at me.
Stellan looked confused. “Why wouldn't I know who she is?” He looked at me as if the two of us were in on a joke together. “We came in together, right? Or did I dream that?”
“You and me together? Sounds like a dream,” I said just as breezily. His gaze was fixed on me, ignoring her, and I could feel her tension crackling. My smile deepened slightly, feeling genuine, when Stellan’s bright smile seemed to radiate between us. He was making a show of only having eyes for me.
“That's Delilah!” she said in exasperation. “The daughter of the Demon. She changed her face, but she's the same girl from high school.”
Stellan rubbed his forehead as if he were exhausted by his hometown already, but his smile didn’t dim. “I see.”
“I didn't know who you were until you came on the news,” she said without looking at me. “Stellan. Are you safe? Is she a threat to you?”
A few men at the bar stood up and they formed a circle around our table threateningly. They were all old and punchy, and I was sure Stellan’s reflexes and mine were quite a bit sharper.
One of them was carrying openly though, carrying a revolver in his belt when he came to get coffee and biscuits and sausage gravy, and I was willing to bet the others were too. I did not have time today to deal with Meal Team Six
“Everything is fine,” Stellan said. He didn't seem rattled at all. He seemed mildly annoyed. “I don't need anyone looking out for me. I've got Delilah here.” He swept his hand toward me. “She’ll keep me out of trouble.”
“He doesn’t sound right,” Roxy said to the men desperately. They seemed like they might just feel drunk and heroic enough to be dangerous. “She’s doing something to him.”
“She’s no threat,” Stellan said, slightly more sharply. “And she would never hurt me.”
Those were all lies, but I wasn't going to argue with him under the circumstances at the moment.
Stellan pulled out his wallet and dropped two twenties on the table. “That should more than cover breakfast. It's time we got out of here.”
“Oh, she's not going anywhere,” one of the men said. “Not until we’re sure she’s no threat.”
Stellan looked bored. He leaned back in his booth again. “I hope we’re not going to make this tiresome.”
“She was a bitch in high school, but I never realized how fucking awful she was,” Roxy said.
Stellan rose abruptly, and Meal Team Six took a step back despite themselves.
I silently prayed that Stellan wouldn't escalate the situation. He was probably armed too; the guys almost always seemed to be when they left the Sphinx. But I didn't think a shoot-out in the bar and grill was going to make it any easier to uncover the mysteries of Sophia's secrets.
“Be careful, Stellan,” I reminded him. “We don't want to end up on the news ourselves.”
Cain and the others would be here before we knew it if there was the slightest hint of us in the news or the police blotter. I was kind of surprised they weren't here already. It was a matter of time.
Unless they didn't think it was worth coming for us. I would have thought that maybe they were in on it with Stellan except for his obvious concern about what would happen when they caught up to us.
“You think you can treat her like shit because she's the Demon's daughter,” Stellan said quietly. “You just want someone to vent your rage and misery. You'd never think about what it might have been like to be her.”
He glanced around at them, looking persuasive as a hotshot trial lawyer as he adjusted his jacket. I didn’t think any of them noticed how he unzipped it, as if he were getting easier access to his gun. “She was just a child living with a serial killer, with a monster, who forced her to see unspeakable things. If you'd lived through that same situation, you would have been broken beyond repair. And yet Aurora is the nicest, kindest person I know.”
I stared at him in shock. But Stellan was still talking. “But you're all monsters, even though you don't have any reason to be.”
Stellan offered me his hand. I slid out of the booth and he pulled me behind him, his broad shoulders blocking me from these people who were way too belligerent for such an early hour in the morning. I breathed in Stellan’s aftershave, always crisp and delicious, and for a second, all I could see was his powerful back under his black jacket. He seemed…protective.
He took a step forward and one of the men moved out of his way. Once we reached the doorway, he opened the door for me, still keeping an eye on the men as if they might come after us.
