No. Stupid feelings. I will not let those warm, chocolate-chip-cookie words soften me. I hold the wheel tightly and stare at her.
God, she’s pushy. Question after question. Not satisfied with half answers. Searching for what she wants to hear—that I’m a “good guy” underneath.
“Why are you trying so hard to make me think you’re a bad person?” she asks.
Just like the human woman, Patti, Anna won’t be satisfied with anything but the truth. So I’ll give it to her.
“Because it would be best for you to have a healthy fear of me so you can’t say you weren’t warned. I’m not like the boys at your school. Think of the pull you feel toward drugs. That is how I feel about sex.”
Her face slackens with understanding. That’s right. We both live with an insatiable beast inside.
“Starting to get it now? Let me be even clearer. I can feel someone out within five minutes of conversation to know what I would have to say and do to lure her into bed. That includes you, though I admit I was off my game last night. With some people it’s a matter of simple flattery and attention. With others it takes more time and energy. I do whatever it takes to get their clothes off, and then I attempt to make it so they’ll never be with another person and not think of me. I know secrets of the human body most people don’t even know about themselves. And when I leave, I know they’re ruined when they’re begging me to stay.”
It’s my legacy. I have no regrets.
As Anna watches me with wide eyes, gray zaps of fear burst inside her aura. She understands.
“It’s about time,” I say.
New Mexico brings more awe-filled staring out the windows at the passing scenery, and more questions about the hierarchy of demons and Neph. It’s insane how much she doesn’t know. She wants to learn, even though the details sadden her to tears. Hopefully this knowledge will allow her to begin seeing the dark, whispering spirits, which she should have been able to see for years now. It has to be her innocence that keeps her from seeing them. She needs to know what they’re up to so she can stay safe when I’m no longer around.
When we stop for night two, I’m surprised that Anna allows us to share a room again. Naughty possibilities immediately fill my mind, and I have to tamp them down. I will not lose my head again.
I stand on the second-story balcony with my arms crossed while Anna talks to her mum on the phone. And yes, I use my powers to listen through the glass. I listened to all their conversations in Georgia, as well, and they knew it. Sue me.
“Just be careful not to let your guard down,” Patti says.
Good advice. Only Anna doesn’t have a “guard.” She is an unshielded open book.
“Okay. Love you,” Anna says in that sweet voice of hers.
“I love you, too.”
Anna makes a kiss sound, and Patti does it back, and they both laugh.
Their relationship fascinates me. They say those three words every single time. And I get a fucking shiver down my spine each time I hear it. What is that like? To know someone feels that way for you, no matter what, and would do anything for you? Everything I’ve seen about love is fickle. People don’t work for it. They take it for granted. They abuse it. But these two . . . they embrace it.
I listen as Anna lets herself out of the room with a soft click. Her footsteps down the carpeted hall. The whir of a vending machine dispensing. Minutes later she is opening the sliding door and standing behind me. I wonder if she’ll touch me. I wait for it, wanting it. But instead she steps to my side and presses cold water against my arm. She got one for me, of course. Always thoughtful.
“Thanks.” Our arms touch, sending a rush of heat through me. I think about kissing her again, right out here in the fading dusk of light, but I know it’s not time. Her aura is unsure. She’s both happy and nervous, but not lustful, as we lean against the railing together.
She looks sweet in a ponytail that began high this morning but now droops loosely as if it’s had enough of this traveling business. I want to run my fingers through it, let it slide heavily over my hands, maybe give it