followed on his heels. “Gyth, did you know they were going to be here?”
He jerked open her door, narrowing his eyes. “No.” Then comprehension lit his face. “What, you think I brought you here as some kind of setup?”
Well, the thought had crossed her mind. “You said I’d be on the six o’clock news soon. Looks like you were right.”
His fingers tightened around the metal door. “I said you’d be on the news because the DA is going to hold a press conference about the case in the next few days. You’ll be at the conference.”
Emily climbed into the Jeep. “So, for the record, you didn’t know Darla was going to be here?”
He slammed the door. “No, I sure as hell didn’t.”
She blew out a hard breath as he circled the Jeep and jumped into the driver’s seat.
“And just so you know, Doc, you aren’t to talk to reporters alone, ever.” He slanted her a simmering glare. “So you might as well just throw away the card that slick passed you.”
“I think I’ll just hold on to it.” It wasn’t the first time that one of the Other had passed a card to her as a signal that he wanted something.
“Fine.” He cranked the engine, sending the vehicle roaring to life.
Emily glanced down at the card in her hands. JAKE DONNELLEY, CAMERAMAN, NEWS FLASH FIVE. His contact information was in clear, bold letters at the bottom.
She flipped the card over.
Have information on the case. Meet me at Paradise Found. 10 P.M.
“Ah, Gyth?”
“What?” He braked at a traffic light and glanced her way.
“I don’t think that guy wants to ask me questions.” Holding up the card, she showed him the note.
His brows snapped together. “What in the hell?”
A horn blared behind them. Colin swore and stomped on the gas.
No, Jake doesn’t want to ask her questions. But it sure looks like he might have a few things to tell her.
Colin turned into the parking lot of an old convenience store, braked, and spun to confront her. “Let me see that card.”
This time, she handed it over.
He whistled soundlessly. “Sonofabitch.” His gaze rose to capture hers. “Why’d he give this to you?” Suspicion laced his words.
She glanced away, shrugged.
“Emily…”
She jerked. He’d never called her Emily before. Usually, he just called her Doc in that slightly mocking drawl of his. Hearing her name on his lips now seemed strangely intimate.
“Why’d the guy give you the card instead of me?”
Her lips parted—
“Shit.” His fist rapped against the steering wheel. “The guy’s Other, isn’t he?”
“Yes.” There didn’t seem to be much point in denying it.
“So what is he? Shifter? Warlock? Psychic?”
“He’s a demon.” Most people didn’t really understand demons. They thought demons were servants of the devil—evil, winged creatures with tails and talons. But the truth was that demons were a whole other race of humans, possibly descended from the original Fallen. On the outside, demons looked just like humans, except for one small detail: the eyes. All demons had completely black eyes. Cornea, lens, retina—everything was black.
But although the demons looked like humans, they were incredibly different. Most demons had psychic powers. Some were amazingly strong, while others were barely gifted. But even those with the light touch of the gift were able to cloak their eye color so humans would not see them for what they really were.
Emily’s extrasensory power let her see past the glamour, let her see past the magic to the true nature of the creatures. She usually kept her mental shields up around them, though, because she’d once made the mistake of going up against a level-nine demon. The guy had nearly blasted her into a coma.
Before she’d passed out and slammed face-first into the floor, she’d managed to fight back and burn out the guy’s magic. Turnabout could be a real bitch…as the demon had learned.
“A demon,” Colin repeated softly. “Like that guy you mentioned, Niol?”
No, she didn’t think Jake was like Niol at all. She hadn’t sensed any evil in Jake.
Like people, some demons were good and some were evil. The demons who were good, well, they tended to keep to themselves. But the ones who were evil—those were the bad-asses people knew from history, the ones who’d first made folks think they were servants of the devil.
A demon who had incredible power and no conscience, well, he was truly a being to fear.
“I don’t think he’s like Niol,” she told him softly.
Colin tucked the card into his pocket. His eyes remained locked on hers. “And how do you know that?”
Time to lay her cards on the table. “Because I’d feel it if he were.” Sure, she hadn’t gone shieldless with the guy to get a full mind probe, but she also hadn’t sensed any of the dark, seething black power in the air that usually signaled a dangerous demon.
He seemed to stiffen before her. “Feel it? How?”
“I’m an empath, Colin. My gift is that I sense things. I sense the Other. I can sense their feelings, their thoughts.”
Yeah, he’d definitely tensed up on her. “You’re telling me that you can read my thoughts?”
The temperature seemed to drop about ten degrees. “I’m telling you that sometimes I can tell the thoughts of supernaturals.” She’d known he wouldn’t be thrilled by this news; that was why she hadn’t told him the full truth the other night. But now that they were working together, now that her talent was coming into play, well, she figured he had the right to know.
Colin grabbed her arms, jerked her forward against his chest. “So this whole time, you’ve been playing with me.”
The sharp edge of his canines gleamed behind his lips. “No, Colin, it’s not like that—”
“You’ve been looking into my head and seeing how much I want you?”
“Colin, no, I—” Seeing how much I want you. Had he really just said that?
His cheeks flushed. “While I tried to play the dumb-ass gentleman.”
Since when?
“Well, screw that.” His lips were right over hers, his fingers tight on her
