always fancied seeing you in Heaven after this life was over."
"Oh, Jerry, of course we'll see each other there." I kissed his lips. "They've tried to get to me already and I laughed in their faces. I won't be tempted, no matter what they dangle in front of me." I shivered and looked around. Had I just waved a red cape in front of a bull? I braced myself in case Spyte and Caryon made a sudden appearance. When nothing happened, I relaxed.
"Then I'll do whatever I can to help you, Gloriana. The sooner this is done, the better. You want Simon Destiny? Just tell me what I can do. I've wanted to bring the man down for a long time." Jerry grinned. "And if we can speed up the process? Even better."
"God, Jerry. You realize the risk? I mean . . ." I grabbed him and kissed him until we were both breathing hard. "Thank you, Jerry. I love you." I gave him a leisurely kiss this time that made me wish Ray wasn't in my bed. When we finally parted, we were both smiling.
"What's this?" Jerry looked down as Boogie strolled into the room.
"Penny's cat. Isn't he sweet?" I reached down and lifted him into my lap. "Poor baby. Did you hide under Penny's bed when all that horrible fighting was going on?" I glanced at Jerry. "It will never happen again." I stroked the cat's fur.
"I like cats." Jerry reached for the cat and rubbed him between the ears. The cat rewarded him with a loud purr.
"Good to know." I put the cat back on the floor. "I guess Penny fed him. Her sister came into the shop today. Penny wants to tell her she's a vampire but it's going to be a problem. I can see - "
The door crashed open and a wild-eyed Penny ran into the room. She dropped her laptop case on the floor, turned and threw the dead bolts.
"What is it? What's the matter?" I jumped up and grabbed her shoulders. She was shaking.
"I just did the most amazing thing!" She looked down. "Oh, no! I dropped my laptop." She picked it up, slid it out of the canvas bag and quickly turned it on. "Okay, no harm done."
"Penny! You ran in here like the hounds of hell were after you." I glanced at Jerry. "And, trust me, I know that's possible. What happened?"
"Well, you remember on the hilltop? When those demons had us?"
"Sure, who could forget?" I could feel Jerry's eyes boring into my back. I turned to look at him. "One of their tricks. You know how Aggie turns people to stone? Demons do it too. Rafe and I were statues."
"Yeah, and I was learning to shape-shift. Rafe and Glory were teaching me when the demons came along." Penny paced into the kitchen, clearly agitated, and I heard the fridge open and close. She came out with a bottle of synthetic and twisted off the cap. She took a gulp, then a breath.
"Anyway, at one point I shifted into a white mouse, just like the lab rats we use for our experiments." Her eyes filled with tears and she blinked rapidly, then took another chug from her bottle.
"Penny's a chemistry major, doctor of something." I couldn't take my eyes off her. She was clearly jazzed and positively beautiful with her eyes alight and her energy seeming to fill the room.
"I specialize in genetic engineering among other things. I'm working on a post-doc." She waved her hand. "The thing is I had an epiphany."
"About?" I sat on the arm of the couch. Her energy was wearing me out as she paced the perimeter of the room.
"Those rats, Glory! What had I been doing to those rats? Experimenting, causing mutations, giving them diseases!" Tears overflowed and ran down her cheeks. "God, I couldn't stand it."
I grabbed her hand to get her to stop. "Of course not. But you were trying to find cures. For mortals. It's what scientists do."
"But I can't do it anymore. Not after I knew what it was like from the rat's point of view. I was tiny, defenseless." Sob. "That demon just tossed me from one hand to the other like I was a thing to him, of no consequence." Another sob. "Then I went into the lab tonight and saw all those cages with all those sweet faces peering up at me." She dropped her head to my shoulder, unable to speak.