Page 53 of A Demon Is Forever

She’d beenexpecting him to drop constant innuendos in regards to last night. At the veryleast smile salaciously when she morphed her trousers to skin tight and madeher waistcoat all but see-through.

But did he notice?Nope. Did he even care? Wait, why did she care if he cared? And that soundedbeyond stupid. Because she didn’t care whether Kaleb cared. For Freyja’s sake,this mental merry-go-round was sounding more ridiculous by the second.

Shaw didn’t care.End of story. Battle. That’s all she cared about.

Noting out thecorner of her eye a tall gorgeous woman approaching. Her sleek red ponytailbobbing with every step. Matching the tight business skirt and jacket she hadon. Gaze fixed upon scruffy Kaleb like she might know him, or rather, wanted toget to know him… intimately. Grrr. Grabbing Kaleb’s arm, hyper aware for somereason of the muscles flexing under her touch, Shaw hauled him towards theentrance doors to the emporium. Eyeing the guard dressed as a coachman blockingthe entrance.

“He’s with me.”Shaw was scowling already, so didn’t have to reach into her intimidation bag ofexpressions to get the point across that if the doorman valued his life, he’dbetter let them in.

Of course thecoachman worked the door at THE most exclusive wedding dress emporium in NewYork. He dealt with bridezillas on a daily basis who could gobble down Tokyoand effortlessly estimate the number of crystals on a wedding gown at fiftypaces. He’d been on the door during the mega-sale two years ago, when theyrequired four ambulances and the jaws of life. One scowling Valkyrie wasn’tgoing to move this mountain.

“Hey, Putnam,how’s the kids?’

“Kaleb? Haven’tseen you around here for a while.”

“Busy. Busy.”

“Oh, yeah, theKing stuff. Sorry, should I be bowing or something? It might look a littleweird if the mundanes notice.”

“I’m not that sortof King, Putnam. Could you let us in? We need to see Vivi.”

“Sure. No problem.I’ll let the head concierge know. They’ll track down Aunt Viv for you.”

“Aunt Viv?” Shawmurmured curiously, as they entered what looked like the reception area of anextremely plush hotel. All thick cream carpets, oak panelled walls and largeexpensive sparkling chandeliers. There were several gleaming oak desks alongthe back wall, manned by smiling staff dressed all in black. Whilst othermembers of staff, similarly dressed, moved through the crowd, directing foottraffic.

Kaleb came to ahalt by an antique round walnut table positioned in the very centre of thecavernous reception area, upon which a large silver urn full of cream roses andgreenery had been placed. “Putnam is like Galen’s second cousin five timesremoved. Which probably makes him closer to my side of the family tree. Not thebrightest of bulbs. But he’s got the muscle. Plus six imps to support. Justbetween you and me, I think he secretly likes the costume.”

Damn, Shaw hadbeen hoping by relocating Kaleb that they would cut down on the admirationfactor. By the Sword, she couldn’t have gotten it more wrong. It was crowded inthis space. As brides and their parties waited to meet their personal shopperand be accompanied into the emporium itself. Whilst other groups werefinalising payment. Others still were trying to wrangle a personal appointmentwith the designer herself.

In short, therewere women of all ages, heights and shapes everywhere, with weddings on thebrain and she, foolishly, had led Kaleb right into their midst. Shaw might aswell have just put a bell around his neck and tied him to a stake.

Expecting Kaleb tobe lapping up the attention, Shaw was surprised to find him frowning instead,his attention focused on the ceiling as he contemplated the chandeliers. “Ithink Vivi has redecorated since I was last here. That’s not good. She onlydoes that when she’s peeved about something going on in her personal life.”

“You’re assumingGalen mating with Stephanie might be the cause?”

“Grete heard onthe grapevine that Vivi isn’t taking Galen’s calls directly. Though iscommunicating via his father. But Brand is currently neck deep in conflictthanks to his job at the United Nations, and other than passing on that Viviexpected a baby shower to mark the coming of the twins, no one has expresslystated what Vivi’s issues are out loud.”

“Honestly. Ithought you Demons were all about head on conflict, but all Galen’s relativesseem to do is play passive aggressive games and not answer their emails orreturn phone calls.”

“Yeah,unfortunately, things are even more complicated when it comes to his mother.The former queen, that Galen and Stephanie handed over to the Morghdorns?Vivi’s older sister. And Flagstaff, the big ex-Berserker? That’s Vivi’s youngerbrother, who the former queen magically transformed into a Berserker andexploited. Turning him into a reality star headlining a war that raged for overhalf a millennium.”

Sweet Freyja, thatwas why Valkyries kept it simple. Battle. Train. Drink ale. Teach yourdaughters to do the same. Simple. Streamlined. Drama free. “How long do youthink she’ll keep us waiting?”

“Good question. Probablya few hours, so you have two options to get her attention. You could act likeyou can’t keep your hands off me. Maybe tear my clothes a little. This table ispretty sturdy. We could totally go to town and have some fun.”

Shaw bit theinside of her cheek, because damn it, making out with the Demon did sound likefun. Although they’d have an audience it would be nice to prove to all theseavarice onlookers that Kaleb was with her. Not with her, with her. But withShaw. Fuck. What was wrong with her? “And option two?”

“I flirtoutrageously with a few wannabe brides. They’ll rethink their life decisions,maybe hold off on choosing or paying for their dress today. Nothing gets Vivi’sattention faster than when her bottom line is threatened.”

“You’d just lovethat, wouldn’t you?” Heavens, he was such an attention hog. But she was kind ofsurprised he was giving Shaw the power to decide which option they would take.

“What can I say.”Kaleb fluttered those long lashes Shaw’s way. “I’m a team player. Question is,what do you want to do, Coach? Use me like a cheap toy? Or-”

“Is that her?”The milling crowd in the reception area falling away suddenly, creating apathway, allowing a tall woman, well over six feet in her stilettos, to sashayher way across the room unimpeded. She wore a bright red wrap dress that clungto fastidiously maintained curves. Her hair a glossy midnight colour, pulledback in to an intricate chignon. White framed large glasses nestled on a longstraight nose. Vivi Darvyn was a magnetic woman, beautiful even. With flashingdark eyes and full lips that seemed to have a permanent welcoming smilelingering at the edges.

She might looklike a woman in her early sixties, but she was a Conflict Demon, her true ageprobably somewhere closer to eight-hundred hell turns. The packaging might sayswanky arty wedding dress designer, but it was important to remember thisShe-Demon had a lot of hell turns under her belt and had raised eightimpressive imps to maturity. Shaw’s spine straightened automatically, all herinstincts firing, aware that a predator was approaching.

Liquid black eyescool and full of judgement swept over Shaw before instantly warming andlightening as they came to rest upon her companion. “Kaleb.” Air kissesfollowed. “Darling.” Gaze sweeping up and down his frame. “I don’t think I’veever seen you looking so shabby. It must be the company you’re keeping.” Whoa,the gloves were off, Vivi’s gaze back on Shaw pointedly.

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