Page 54 of I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker
“Of course!” I made sure the door was locked before I followed her. “I didn’t forget what you like.”
By the time I made it to the kitchen, Jackie was sitting with Kaa on her shoulder. Kaa put her face close to Jackie’s ear, as if she was telling her a secret. I rolled my eyes—I already knew what was coming next.
“What did you do?” Jackie snapped her fingers at me. “Why is this precious baby upset?”
I rolled my eyes. “Really? Since when is she a precious baby?”
“Since always!” Jackie fussed. “You upset her. Don’t lie. That’s what all this sushi is really for.”
“You’re both ridiculous. I still don’t understand why she likes you. She hides from everyone else.”
“I’m special, duh.” Jackie rubbed Kaa’s head with her finger. “She needs someone to love on her. Clearly, you’re over here treating her like a bald-headed stepchild!”
“She tried to attack Raymond. I stopped her, and now she has an attitude. She’ll get over it.” I reached into the cabinet above the sink and pulled out the bottle of plant food. Kaa immediately perked up. She loved the stuff. “She’s just like you, pouty until fed.”
I poured a bit of the liquid food into a glass cup then added water to dilute it. When it was ready, I shook it at the drama queen then headed for Kaa’s favorite pot. As soon as I poured the mixture into the soil, she was there. She slithered into the pot, rooted herself, then looked at me with that strange smile of hers. The petals around her head stretched out, an extension of her smile. She had forgiven me.
I returned to find Jackie, already done with the first tray of sushi and opening the second.
“You plan on sharing?” I quickly grabbed the second bag, pulling it away from her.
“Girl, you know you have to act fast!” She stood and headed for the fridge, opening it to find a fresh case of beer. “Oh, you reallydolove me!”
“Yeah, I do, so much that I put that nasty stuff in my house for you.” I turned up my nose. It wasn’t something I enjoyed, and despite previous vows to never waste my money on the stuff, I’d had several cases delivered the night before.
“Oh, to have people who understand you!” She skillfully popped the top off the glass bottle then returned to the table.
While she chugged the beer, I opened a container of dragon rolls, grabbed a piece, and popped it into my mouth, followed by a piece of ginger.
“With your fingers?” Jackie slid me a pair of chopsticks. “Act like a lady, please!”
“That’s funny coming from you.” I snatched the pair of chopsticks and opened them.
“So, give me the rundown.” Jackie cracked open her second beer. “Tell me more about your shadow daddy.”
“Shadow daddy?” I almost choked on my food. “Is that what we’re callinghim now?”
“You hooked up, right?” She tapped her chin. “More than once? That man has gotten under your skin. You can’t deny it.”
“Anyway.” I rolled my eyes. “None of that is important right now. The threat is the focus.”
“I’m right, I know it.” She laughed. “If he wasn’t under your skin, we wouldn’t be talking about any of this, but I digress. You said he’s looking for help?”
“Yes,” I confirmed. “I told him I would call you, and he said he had some people he thought could help us. So, he went to go find them.”
“Did he say what that help would look like?”
“No, and I didn’t ask.” I paused. “Now that I think about it, I’m not even sure where he went. I guess he could be in hell right now. You think he’s going to bring back other demons?”
“It would make sense. Not like the guy from the local grocery store is going to be able to help us out here. We’re going to need some power on our side.”
“Right.” My mind drifted off. What else would we need to be able to get through things?
“Are you okay?” She looked at me with concern. “I mean, you’re usually a lot more on top of things than this, Jericha. What’s going on?”
“Sorry, but the demons stepping out of the shadows kind of shook me up. It was a lot.” I ate another piece of sushi. “It’s one thing to hear about something. It’s another thing to see it with your own eyes.”
“I’ve watched you take down a werewolf while holding off a manic dragon pup.” Jackie picked up her phone and opened my contact card. There, for the profile picture, was a photo of me and a baby dragon who nearly burned my entire afro off. “Be real. What’s going on? You know I’m your friend, right? I’m not going to judge you.”
