Page 34 of Monsters of Midlife

“What do you mean who it is?” Caroline asked, utterly confused. She glanced over her shoulder to look up at me to see if I had any idea what they were talking about.

Unfortunately, I did. I knew exactly what they wanted to know. I was pretty sure Caroline didn’t have the answer though.

“We want to know who’s going to die,” the leather-vested satyr said.

Caroline’s eyes opened wide. “What do you mean, who is going to die? No one’s going to die. At least, I don’t think anyone’s going to die. Why would someone die?” She looked at me completely confused. “I mean, I almost died when my house sank into a big hole, but I have no plans of dying anytime soon.”

“We aren’t talking about you dying,” the other satyr said.

“Why in God’s name would you think someone was going to die?” Caroline asked.

“It’s what happens when a banshee sings,” I said, my voice completely dead pan. There was no way I was going to let the satyrs know I was just as aware as they were that a banshee singing meant someone was going to die and it was either going to be someone in this bar or a close relative.

“No one’s going to die,” Caroline said. “Like I know you guys are all supernatural and things and now all of a sudden you think I’m a banshee because everyone started crying when I was singing but that’s not necessarily the case. It might just be what you’re thinking. So, I don’t have any instinct that anyone in here is going to die. I think you guys should all just go back to your merrymaking while I go off with Mr. Grumpy Pants here so he can lock me away in a closet and keep me safe from whatever it is he thinks is chasing me.”

By then Tony was up close and personal on my side. “You don’t have any idea who is going to die?” he asked. “I’ve never actually met a banshee before so I’m not quite sure what your powers are like.”

“Well, I’ve never met a banshee before either,” Caroline said. “So, I have no idea how any of this is going to play out. I can tell you one thing for sure; I have no premonition of anyone dying.” She looked up at me. “Can we go now?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” I said, giving her a steely glare. She should’ve left when I first told her to leave instead of causing all this fuss. I stepped around her and right through the middle of the two satyrs. Tony nodded them back. He wasn’t stupid enough to cause a problem with a demigod, even if the demigod was half monster.

We stepped outside of the bar and the sea salt in the air filled my nostrils. Alameda always reminded me of some of the salt flats where the often rifts were, but there were no rifts here. This was a perfectly safe place, one of the safest in all the world, even from monsters.

I hoped.

It wouldn’t be long before the demons at least located where she was.

“What about Sophie?” Caroline asked, glancing back into the bar.

“I’m here,” she cried, bursting out of the front door. “Sorry it took me so long. I just had to say goodbye to a couple of friends. Can you believe you’re a banshee?” she asked in exaltation.

“No, no I can’t believe it,” Caroline said in all truthfulness

“Maybe this isn’t the best place to talk about it. Let’s get back to my house and this time don’t you dare leave it.” I growled.

“Like for how long?” Caroline asked.

“Not until I tell you that it’s safe,” I said. “It won’t be safe as long as the demons are after you.” There was no point in telling her it was probably monsters going after her. I was still trying to wrap my head around that myself. “Sophie you’ll have satyr backup now. You’re not to go anywhere. I trusted you before and I’ll give you one more chance at this.”

“Thank you, Your Grace,” Sophie said giving a sarcastic curtsy.

“It’s her life at risk.” My voice rose and I whirled on her, chaos rippling through my body. “Do you understand?”

“Down, monster killer,” Sophie quipped. “I got it. We go to your house, satyrs come to guard us, and we stay there until further notice.”

“You’re going to buy into this?” Caroline asked.

“Yes, I am.” Sophie looked over at me. “And you should too. He’s no joke. He’s going through a lot of trouble to keep you safe and if he’s doing that, there’s a good reason. One of the reasons is, you’re actually in real danger. And the other reason is probably because he’s probably still in love with you.”

“Enough!” I exclaimed. The last thing I needed was her knowing I had a thing for her. It was probably going to be the fastest way to get her to run away and get herself killed by some crazy demons. “Ava told me you would be helpful Sophie.”

“Don’t blame her,” Caroline said, fixing me with a steely gaze. “I am under no confusion that you actually have a thing for me. I think you made that point perfectly clear this whole time, but since that’s the case, you must really think something’s going to kill me, so fine. I’ll give you two days to find the thing that’s trying to kill me and after that I’m out.”

I glared at her back as she flounced off toward the house.

Chapter 22

CAROLINE

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