Page 44 of Semi-Reckless

“Well, I had a job here in our call center. I sat down all day, taking phone calls and talking to mostly paranormal folk—you know, vampires, shifters, witches, demons—about concerns they have.” She briefly explained the triage process before adding, “But I never really wanted that job. I want to be out in the field. So, that job is open. I think you’d be great at it.”

“It sounds wonderful,” he whispered reverently.

Roan snorted, and she reached back to smack his thigh. “My mom and dad run this place. You’d have to go through our employment vetting process, which is really just meeting my mom and grandma and making sure you’re not a danger to anyone here. But other than that, I’m pretty confident they’d hire you on my recommendation.”

He blinked at her. “You’d…you’d recommend me for a job? Here?”

“I would. And lots of great people work here. You’d make friends in no time.”

“Her family takes in strays anyway,” Roan said. “They’d probably consider you one of their own immediately.”

He glanced down at his hands before raising his eyes to hers and biting his lip. “But what about…you know…”

She frowned, then it occurred to her what he was afraid of. “Oh, you mean the melting things? On Kurg, is that a power you can usually control?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, well, in that case, I’m not really worried about that. We have people here who can teach you to control your powers. And until then, we can ward your spaces like we warded this one.”

“My spaces?”

Haven smiled. “Sure! You’d have a house here on Section 8 grounds. All employees do. It won’t be super fancy, but it sounds like it’d be better than anything you’d ever have on Kurg.”

His eyes narrowed on hers. “How do I know you’re being truthful? That you’re not just stalling until you can figure out a way to kill me?”

Now he was starting to sound like he belonged here. A little healthy suspicion never hurt anyone. “One of my powers just happens to be the ability to share my thoughts with anyone I touch.” She extended a hand toward him and wiggled her fingers playfully. “My mouth might be able to lie, but my brain can’t. See for yourself.”

Skepticism was written all over his face, but his desire for a boring desk job and a chair of his very own must’ve overruled it, because he took her hand in one of his giant meat hooks after only the briefest of pauses.

His eyes fluttered shut as she opened her mind to him completely. She let him see her crazy family, her loyal friends, her love with Roan…he saw it all. Shudders flowed through him as he took it all in. And when he finally let go of her hand, he was silent for a full minute. All he seemed capable of was blinking at her, wide-eyed.

Finally, he whispered, “You have an amazing life.”

“So could you,” she said quietly. “All you have to do is take it. Leave Kurg and all those fuckers who’ve treated you worse than we treat our pets behind, and focus on creating a future full of choices for yourself here in this dimension. What do you say, friend?”

His smile started off as nothing more than a quirk of one lip. But it eventually grew into a full-fledged grin that lit up his whole face. “I say yes…my friend.”

She gave a little fist pump that made Roan chuckle before saying, “Oh, one other thing. You need to choose a name, because we can’t keep calling you the Kurgan. It’s rude. So, what would you like to be called from now on?”

He thought for a moment before blurting, “Ted. Ted Smith.”

Haven blinked at him. No one had ever looked less like a Ted Smith than this demon. “Why Ted Smith?”

He shrugged. “I dunno. It just sounds so…normal. Doesn’t it?”

For this place? Sure. Why the fuck not?

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ted. Welcome home.”

CHAPTER 22

It only took a couple of hours to get Ted situated in his new home on the Section 8 grounds, close to Haven’s house. One of Hunter’s vampires at the Council headquarters was able to replicate the warding Carl had put on the basement to make sure he didn’t accidentally burn the place down. And after having been awake and on his feet for hundreds of years, she imagined he planned to sleep for at least a few days before showing up for work.

But he would eventually show up for work, because Harper, having listened to their entire conversation, had hired him on the spot. She’d called in her mother to evaluate him, just to make sure she hadn’t missed anything, but Tina had deemed Ted “a good egg” almost immediately. He should be proud. Not too many demons earned such high praise from the Tina Petrocelli.

Addy agreed to help Ted learn to control his powers. Mischa had volunteered to do it, but Hunter had reminded her that Addy’s bond with Gabriel made her less flammable. But since Addy was a music teacher, she was probably more equipped to teach someone than Mischa was, anyway. After all, Mischa had a great many strengths and virtues, but patience wasn’t necessarily one of them.

Ted had immediately bonded with Benny, who offered to take him bar hopping once he got his powers under control. And once they figured out how to disguise the fact that he was a giant, purple-skinned, horned demon. So, bar hopping might not happen anytime soon. But as far as friends went, Ted could do a lot worse than Benny Scarpelli.

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