Page 13 of Devil Bound
And Detective Jazani…looked excited.“I know!I love that they give us this during work hours.Oh, did you hear?We’re getting a new psychologist too.Dr.Albert retired.”
“Huh.”Detective Jazani was not going to aid and abet me skipping the seminar.“I mean, he was old.”
She nodded.“I didn’t get half his jokes.”
“He joked with you?”
She stuffed a piece of gum into her mouth.“He didn’t with you?”
I frowned.“He always made me introduce myself for every new seminar.Anyway, I was thinking about heading downstairs to the cafeteria to grab some coffee before it starts.”
Jazani nodded.“I’ll watch your stuff, Hawkes.I know you coffee addicts get all squirrelly if you don’t get your fix.”
Well, rude.And not what I’d been hoping for.I had no real plan, but maybe if she’d come with me and I had the opportunity to mention I wasn’t feeling well, leaving the seminar early because I wasn’t feeling well wouldn’t have raised any eyebrows.
“Okay,” I said, dread tightening around me like a noose.
If there was a new psychologist, they’d make me introduce myselfagain.They’d make a stupid comment about my necromancyagain.
I headed toward the elevator, moving on autopilot while I tried to figure out an excuse.Anything at all.I barely noticed the station around me on my way from the elevator to the cafeteria.
The cafeteria was largely empty.Lunch was over, and it was pretty early to grab a snack.Not that I wanted food.I had taken my time with the crime scene photos, and then my report had been extra-detailed about what the victims had been able to tell us about their murder.
I sighed and tried to focus on the task at hand: escaping from the shrink seminar.
Maybe being late would work, then lying about not finding the room?
“They always use the same room though, fuckers.And they always send out those fucking email reminders too.”Mine had come fifteen minutes ago, like the snap of a rubber band against my wrist.
“What fuckers?Do you owe someone else money?”
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard the Devil’s smooth voice from right behind me.
I spun.“The hell?”
He looked pleased.“It’s Lucy, actually.”
I felt myself go as red as the beetroot chips piled in the basket next to me.The chips were the cafeteria staff’s most recent attempt to offer balanced meals.No one needed them as a color comparison, no one.
“I know your fucking name, Lucifer!”I immediately lowered my voice when one of the lunch ladies looked over to see what the commotion was.“Why the fuck are you here?”
The Devil his own damn self looked at me with big blue eyes.They were dry as a camel’s ass, but he whined as if he were about to cry.
“Oh, please call me Lucy.Something terrible happened.A human stole the hubcaps off my car, and I came here to tell the police.It’s what you do.Why else would I be here, at the police station?”He looked around.“The culinary offerings don’t seem particularly enticing.”
I snorted.“Sorry we don’t have, I don’t know, caviar and cream laid out for your visit.”
And the Devil fucking licked his lips, his eyes narrowing.
“You know, if you ever wanted to raise something other than humans—say, sharks or megalodons reconstituted from the teeth they left behind—I’d happily provide you with an aquarium to house them in.I hear watching fish can have a calming effect on people.”
“Why the fuck would I want to raise extinct fucking sharks that can swallow me whole?”
Also, had he said reconstitute?From a tooth?I used magic to bridge the gap of tissue loss or damage and speech sometimes, but if there was a way around that… No.This was an immortal with access to immortal magic, and I wasn’t going to get tangled up with him by asking a follow-up question.
“Because it’s fun, Nelly.”
“Dead fish are fun to you?”
