Page 14 of Delivered to My Demons

Hemlock did not look away from the stream. “You were sitting right here.”

“Yeah, I know. So…what happened? I got a little lost in my head.”

He blindly reached for the beer bottle and brought it to his lips, taking a swig before replying. “The fairy asked our mate a personal question.”

“Which was?” I didn’t argue about him calling her our mate, since I was already thinking of her that way anyway.

“She asked about a book she believes Poe is writing that she apparently hasn’t told a soul about.”

“Oh.” Our mate was clearly struggling to maintain her professional demeanor. She’d told us the interviews were about those she was talking to, and she kept details about her personal life out of them.

“Kristiana,” she said, her voice smooth and with a hint of compulsion my demon picked right up on. “This live is your time, and our viewers want to know all about you. It is sweet of you to ask about me, but I couldn’t possibly steal your spotlight. Oh, we have a Super chat. Markie2475 wants to know if you make your own clothes.” Poe giggled. I loved her giggle already. “I’m sure you could if you wanted to, but surely you don’t have time.”

“Exactly.” The fairy smiled into the camera. “It’s very busy here, especially at this time of year.”

“Oh, would you care to share just a little bit of what a fairy of your stature has to take care of before winter sets in?”

And, just like that, the fairy launched into a description of her “busy” fall, most of which involved hair care, new outfits, parties, and other things that made my eyes roll back in my head. But Poe had successfully lifted the spotlight from her and landed it on the other female. Who ran with it in glee and narcissism.

When the podcast ended, we reminded Poe of our invitation to visit.

And she accepted. It was…we needed to clean house!

Chapter Thirteen

Poe

“All right, Salem. I’ve got my clothes. My toiletries. My laptop. My chargers. My favorite blanket. Shoes. You and your food and your bowls. I’m so damned excited.”

Salem meowed at my list and got into her crate with no fussing at all—a first.

When Grendel and Hemlock told me how close they lived, I was shocked. Those demons, my demons, were less than three hours away from my house. If I had taken a road trip, as I’d planned to, or they had, or we’d gone to the city on the same day, we would’ve met before, I was sure of it.

Fate sure made a way when she wanted to.

I cranked up the music, since listening to podcasts felt more like work than fun, and pushed the button to start the engine.

Singing at the top of my lungs, I jerked in my seat when my phone rang, cutting into the music spilling from my dash speakers.

“Hello?” I answered, knowing who it was from their names running across the screen.

“Did you get on the road? I still think we should’ve come to get you.” Grendel. He was quieter than Hemlock, but not in a brooding way. More like, he actually thought about his words before he spoke. A rarity in this life.

“I’m on the road. GPS says three hours and twelve minutes, worrywart.”

“I could think of a lot worse qualities to have, Poe. How is Salem?”

I laughed. They asked about my cat. Of course, I made some seriously inappropriate jokes about it, but what kind of malesasked about my cat? None that I’d experienced. They already cared about me, and I had to admit, I cared about them as well.

“She’s not as pissy as I expected. Hissing a bit, but she’ll be okay once we stop. Are you two at the shop?”

The shop. That was what they called their workshop.

“No. We had some errands to run. Have a cute girl coming over later, so we need to get some supplies.” Hemlock’s voice made me shudder as it came through the car speakers.

“Is that right? Well, I don’t want to be a downer. I can turn around if you two are busy.”

“Don’t you dare, Poe,” Grendel barked. “If you turn around, I’m coming to get you. Don’t think I won’t.”

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