offered it to me when I joined him outside the wards. “After quizzing me on how I knew you, what my intentions were, and when I was leaving.”
“Thanks.” I accepted the bribe, a godsend since I didn’t eat at breakfast. “And don’t take it personally.”
“It’s not just me?”
“Barry still asks me when I’m going back where I came from. I thought it meant he wanted me gone, but his wife assured me it’s his way.” I took a sip and had to admit, Asa was sly. “These things have too much sugar to qualify as healthy, but I do love a good strawberry, banana, pineapple smoothie.”
We got in the SUV, which smelled of earthy tobacco and apples, and I spotted his pink drink.
“I wasn’t sure what to try, so I got the same as you.”
“What did you think?” I checked the fill line. “Have you tried it yet?”
“It’s very sweet.” He cranked the engine and started toward the main road. “The cold bothers me.”
“Daemons prefer scalding coffee as black as damned souls?”
While he had ordered a cuppa Joe for breakfast, it also served as a dig about how others viewed his kind as Hell-dwelling, fire-pit-bathing, virgin-sacrificing, soul-eating minions of a red-pajama-clad dude named Satan.
Okay, so maybe I was still a smidge bitter his first impression of me was I kept Colby around as a snack.
“I ought to know better than to judge based on race, caste, or religion.” He paused. “I apologize.”
Gender and sexuality tended to be more flexible with long-lived beings, but he nailed the sticking points.
“You did come on strong.” I set my drink in the empty holder. “Not that I blame you.”
I had earned my reputation. He was right to believe the worst of me. I would have in his place.
“I shouldn’t have been so quick to accuse you. Daemons have their own reputation to overcome.”
Like they weren’t demons. Demons weren’t real. Or that they came from Hell. Hell didn’t exist. Hael did.
“We don’t have to kiss and make up.” I stared out the window. “This is one job, not a partnership.”
“Things will go smoother if we get along.”
“Does Clay actually need help? Or did you lure me away for the chance to smooth things over?”
“The agent Clay went to back up was crushed to death by the dryad. She beat her to a pulp.”
“Did you hear that pop?” I faked searching the cab. “I think that was the sound of my ego deflating.”
Subtle tension clenched his fingers where they gripped the wheel. “Did you want me to get you alone?”
Reaching for my drink, I pulled up short. “Did you want me to want you to get me alone?”
The two cups were identical, so were their contents. Only their fullness levels had distinguished them.
As I tended to gulp down my breakfast of choice, I expected to be slurping air, but there was plenty left.
That was odd, but I had been paying more attention to him than my drink, so maybe I miscalculated?
Just because he ate my pancakes after I passed on them didn’t mean he switched our drinks. “No.”
The inner debate over my sanity lent my voice an undecided quality, which earned me a thoughtful look.
This was ridiculous. There was nothing hinky going on here. But…was that a dare glinting in his eyes?
Picking up the drink from the holder nearest to me, I took a cautious sip, barely enough to taste.
When that didn’t kill me, I held a big gulp on my tongue, letting it dissolve as I waited for any weirdness.
“Brain freeze?”
A quick swallow to clear my mouth made that true. “Yeah.”
Without glancing down, he palmed the other cup and drank slowly. “I’m starting to like this flavor.”
Certain he hadn’t spiked my drink with a truth spell or a worse additive, I settled in for the ride.
Not long after, he pulled onto a winding dirt road with nothing but trees for miles.
“What caused this dryad to go off the rails?” I sat up to pay attention. “They’re usually pretty chill.”
“The paperwork says pollution in the water supply where she sprouted caused a psychotic break, but it’s rare for a dryad to land on our radar. As you said, they’re pretty chill. They don’t cause problems.”
“Do you have the file on you?”
For a beat, Asa drummed his fingers on the wheel. “It’s on the floorboard behind my seat.”
Clay, who couldn’t fit shotgun easily, must have left it back there when he finished reading.
“This says magical pollution.” I skimmed for more details. “It doesn’t say what kind. That’s