Devil's Due by Percival Constantine

Author:Percival Constantine
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Percival Constantine

19

We left Lust and I drove Celeste back to her building in Lincoln Park. I didn’t plan on getting out, so I just pulled up to the curb and shifted the car into park, allowing the engine to idle. Celeste had been staring out the window since we got in the car, saying nothing. Now, she finally looked at me.

“You sure you know what you’re doing?” she asked.

“I’ve got a job to do and I’m getting paid to do it.”

“Oh, Luther.” Celeste reached a hand out for me, gently laying it on my cheek. She sighed. “You’re not as much of a mercenary as you want people to believe. This job is personal for you, I can tell that.”

I placed my hand on Celeste’s, softly rubbing her skin, savoring the feel of her touch. You might think her hands would be cold—what with being undead and needing to drink all that blood. But they were surprisingly warm. I took her hand from my cheek and held it by the fingers, laying a soft kiss on her knuckles.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m going back to The Sanctum right now. Tessa should have a spell ready to go, so soon we’ll get a peek at the bastard behind all this. Once we do, I can get the information to Raziel and the God Squad will take it from there.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

“That’s because it is.”

She scoffed and smiled. “Right, of course.” Celeste leaned forward and wrapped her arms around me. “Just be careful, okay? I don’t know where I’d find another cambion to bite if something happened to you.”

I returned the hug, not wanting it to end. Would have loved to just go upstairs with Celeste, spend the rest of the night lying beside her. But duty called. I broke the embrace and she stepped out of the car. Celeste stood by the curb, waving. I held up my hand in response and then shifted into drive and pulled away.

With the window rolled down, I lit up a fresh cigarette and drove the route back to Logan Square. It was almost nine and The Sanctum would probably be closed as soon as I got out there. That was good news—would make it easier to perform whatever spell Tessa had in mind without any customers interrupting.

I pulled into an empty space in front of The Sanctum and parked the car. At this time of night, I didn’t have to worry about the parking meter so no glamour was necessary. I stepped up the curb and approached the front door—sure enough, the “SORRY, WE’RE CLOSED” sign was posted in the window, with blinds drawn across. I could see there was still light on inside and I rapped my knuckles on the glass door.

A few moments later, the door was unlocked and pushed open. Tessa stood there, the door open just a crack, studying me with brown eyes. “Took you long enough.”

“I said later tonight.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

She held the door out for me. I walked in and Tessa closed it behind me, locking it once more.

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