Page 77 of Dropping Like Flies

Besides, if I carried on being scared, Griffin would probably say to hell with what I wanted and burst in here to rescue me for the second time this week. With that in mind, I sat up straighter and held his gaze, refusing to be the first to blink.

He looked momentarily surprised before narrowing his eyes. “You’re wasting your time. I’m only going to say the same to you as I did to Tweedledum and Tweedledee. You can make up as many stories as you like about demons, but that doesn’t make them true.”

I laughed. “Oh, I made them up, did I? You said no such thing?”

“I didn’t. Perhaps it was the bang to the head that had you imagining it.”

“Perhaps. Anyway, I’m not here to talk about the case.”

“You’re not?” More surprise. I wasn’t buying him being as composed as he was pretending to be. “What are you here to talk about, then?”

I rested my elbows on the table and leaned forward. “Griffin.” I let the name hang there for a few seconds. “I wanted to share our good news with you.”

“Good news?”

There was no mistaking the way his jaw tightened. So he really did have feelings for Griff. It hadn’t just been another layer of bullshit. “We’re engaged,” I said, “and planning on getting married soon. We don’t see any point in waiting.” Let Baros make of that what he would.

Flynn lifted his chin, his blue eyes frosting over. “You’re lying.”

“No, I’m not. He asked me to marry him and I said yes. That afternoon, actually, just before you conned me into thinking he was in danger.”

Flynn sat back in his seat and regarded me coolly. “Why are you telling me this?”

I allowed myself a smile, one far more genuine than I’d have believed myself capable of before entering the room. “I just wanted you to know that you really didn’t win, that we’re stronger than ever.”

Kendrick, who’d been silent up to this point, suddenly spoke in my ear. “Keep going… it’s working. I’m starting to hear his thoughts.”

“He told me you were crap in bed,” I outright lied. “That even if I hadn’t come back into his life, that he wouldn’t have looked at you as anything other than convenient.”

Flynn stood, his shoulders tight, and his face contorted with rage. I dropped my gaze to his crotch disparagingly as I remained seated. “He said you had a small dick as well.” I had to admit that as unprofessional as it might be, I was enjoying myself. There’d been a few criminals over the years that I would have loved nothing more than to go to town on, but it would have detonated my career if I had. This, though… This was for a purpose.

“He never said that.”

My smile this time erred on the side of patronizing. “Oh, come on. You know Griff has a more abrasive side, so why be surprised at him using it against you? You didn’t really think the two of you were going to be love’s young dream, did you? I figured all that crap you spouted about being a shoulder for him to cry on was showboating for my benefit. You know, just to make what you thought were my last moments more difficult.”

“I…”

Flynn was red in the face now. If I carried on goading him, he’d jump across the table and attack me. Again. I did what Kendrick had instructed me to do, immediately changing tack. “Tell me about this demon you were trying to summon? What did you want it to do?”

“I told you,” Flynn said, his teeth gritted, “there is no demon except for the one in your imagination.”

“Gezgomar,” Kendrick said in my ear. “I got the name as clear as day.”

It was the same name Professor Rafferty Hart had provided, proving he’d been on the right track.

“Gezgomar, right?” I said. “The demon of death.”

Something flickered across Flynn’s face as he sank back into his chair. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Who’s Janessa?”

A muscle twitched in his cheek. “I don’t know that name.”

“That’s funny,” I said. “Because Aaron said you talked about her at length. You remember Aaron, right? You should do. He was your last victim. Your last ever seeing as you’ll be locked up for the rest of your life.”

“His sister,” Kendrick said. “She died.”

“I’m sorry she died. Was it recent?”

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