Page 88 of Run Like the Devil

Hale huffed and shook his head, but each step he took screamed of reluctance. He sure as fuck didn’t want to be here, and I hardly could blame him.

If the murder house reminded me of a picture-perfect family home, this place was the setting of every old nostalgic painting that showed what good old America was like in the fifties.

And much like Hale, I had never lived at let alone been welcomed in a place like this. I’d grown up a city kid, trash through and through if I were being honest. Suburbs like this made my skin crawl as I waited for someone to come out and tell me that I’d better keep moving along because this wasn’t an area for my sort of people.

So I understood Hale’s reluctance.

Gorrin and Yazmor hadn’t grown up on Earth—assuming they even had a childhood, which I realized I had no idea about—so neither of them would have any feelings about this sort of place.

I glanced at Tyrus, but he seemed at ease.

At my look, he shrugged. “I told you my father was in my business before me. I grew up in a neighborhood such as this. It was older, of course, but the close homes, the community feel? I understand those things well. If anything, I feel more comfortable in a place like this than in a penthouse high-rise.”

“Well color me shocked. I would have figured you for preferring the bright lights of the big city.”

“The city is noisy. It is a necessary evil for someone like me, but that doesn’t mean I prefer it.”

“Why would you open a bar in a big building and take the top floor, then?”

“Because the top floor is the best. It only made sense I should live there.” He shrugged as he took a few steps forward, pausing to glance over his shoulder at me as a panty-melting smile. “However, I believe I would be satisfied to call any place home so long as you were there. As it turns out, my only real requirement is you.” He didn’t wait around for a response, instead turning and walking away as if he hadn’t just thrown out that smooth AF comment.

What an asshole.

It was entirely unfair for anyone to know exactly what to say in order to fluster me, and worse, to say something like that without the least bit of embarrassment.

If he’d blushed, if his ears had reddened just a bit, I could have accepted his nonsense, but noooo. He had to look as unruffled as he always did while I stood there like an idiot.

A press to my back got me moving, especially because the last thing I needed was to make any more fool of myself.I still wasn’t moving that fast, my hip complaining, but my body had rebounded enough that I didn’t limp much. Another few hours and it should be good as new.

“You shouldn’t let him see you sweat,” Yazmor said. He still was in his other form, but at least some of the familiar personality I knew had returned. I didn’t doubt that he struggled, but just a glimpse of the man I loved helped reassure me that he was there no matter how different he looked.

“Easy for you to say.”

“You don’t let me fluster you like that, and I’m pretty sure I can be far more random.”

“Yeah, but I’m used to your randomness! You can’t shock me anymore because everything you say is weird. Tyrus doesn’t pull out lines like that often enough for me to develop a tolerance for it.” I knew I was pouting, but fuck it, I didn’t care.

I wanted the upper hand for once! I wanted to be the badass who saved the day, the one who threw them for a loop. Instead, I was always playing catch-up, always reacting to all four of them.

I used to think it was because of their ages, but after so long together, I was pretty sure it was just them. For the first time in a long time, I cared what they said, cared what they thought of me. It meant their words mattered in a way few others did.

As we approached the first house, I had a moment of ‘now what?’

We were in some weird little pocket of the universe. Was knocking appropriate? I had no idea the etiquette in a place like this.

Thankfully, we didn’t have to question it long, because as we turned off the street and onto the first walkway, the door to the house opened. A woman walked out wearing the sort of dress that fit in perfectly with the surroundings. It was a pale blue with pretty little pink flowers and buttoned up the front. A tie cinched it at the waist and tied in a bow at the small of her back. She had her hair pulled up into a bun and even had fucking pearls at her neck.

Part of me wanted to poke her to see if she were even real.

“Welcome!” she said, a big smile on her face.

Still, something about her made it impossible to let down my guard, to believe that she was actually as innocent as she appeared. After all, if she came from the Chasm, if she’d survived the Path thus far, it would be foolish to underestimate her.

She took a step toward me, but before she could get any closer, Hale moved into her path and crossed his arms over his chest. His stance made it clear she wouldn’t get any closer.

Still, the woman didn’t appear startled. She smiled at Hale, showing no signs of finding his appearance questionable. “Don’t worry. I have no plans to hurt her.”

“Well for-fucking-give me for not believing that. After she got dragged off by that fog beast, you all showed up. Seems like a pretty big coincidence, don’t it?”

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