Ren gave him a cocky grin. "Always. You have to be careful when you fly, or you end up smeared on the side of a building."
"You're not funny."
"I'm hilarious, crabass." Ren's gaze went to Abigail, and a shadow passed across his face. One that Jess sensed was extremely important. But as quickly as it came, Ren covered it. "Save our girl. Won't do us any good to get there without her."
"Don't worry." He wasn't about to let her go. Not yet, anyway. "Peaceful journey, penyo."
Ren saluted him, then went to the front door. He opened it before he turned into a crow and flew away.
Sasha let out a sound of disgust. "What? Was he raised in a barn? Didn't he ever learn how to close a door?" He flung his hand at the door and slammed it shut without touching it. "Amateur shape-shifters ... No manners whatsoever."
Jess was puzzled by the lycanthrope's distemper. "Do we need to get you a Midol before we go?"
"I'm not that easy to soothe, cowboy. My peeves are on a cellular level."
Jess shook his head, then fell silent as he looked at Abigail and saw the tiniest spark of red in her eyes. The demon was trying to surface again. He wondered if she could feel it when it did that. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, why?" Well, that answered his question. Obviously, she had no idea.
The red faded out.
His gut drew tight. That couldn't be good either. He'd be more concerned with it, but right now, they were on a tight schedule.
"Never mind." Taking her hand, he led them out of the kitchen and down the barrel-vaulted hallway to the other side of the house.
Abigail was floored as they kept walking and walking. In the back of her mind, she'd noted that his house was huge, but it wasn't until now that the full size of it hit her.
Dang ...
He opened the door to another garage that housed a huge collection of cars and motorcycles. It had more in common with a warehouse than a garage, except for the fact that it was immaculate and ornate. The gold trim even appeared to be gilded. "Just how big is this house?"
Jess grinned sheepishly. "Andy's doing, not mine. Don't ask, 'cause it's just obscene. And no, with the exception of the black Bronco, nothing in here belongs to me. Since Andy lives in the apartment over the garage, this is his domain."
"And how big is Mr. Andy's apartment?"
He actually blushed. "Sixty-two hundred square feet, and I'm pretty sure it's why he picked out this house. Though he denies it."
Holy snikes ... Well, that explained the huge feel of the place. Her house was one quarter of the size of Andy's apartment.
"And why's your Bronco in here?"
Jess continued on through the huge place toward his truck. "He was hauling tack earlier, and he didn't want to risk dinging or scraping one of his darlings. Since I don't drive it all that much, he left it over here."
She was strangely amused as she counted Andy's impressive super car collection. "If he has sixteen cars, why does he care about the Audi so?"
He opened the door for the Bronco and passed her a defiant grin that set fire to her blood. Oh, to have five minutes to nibble those lips. "That's his newest, and honestly, I think the boy just wants something to moan about. Pay him no heed."
Abigail climbed into the backseat, leaving Choo Co La Tah to sit up front with Jess while Sasha climbed in beside her.
Jess adjusted the seat and mirrors to accommodate his size. Before he started it, he pinned a meaningful glare at Sasha through the rearview mirror. "Everyone buckled in?"
Sasha snorted, then gaped as he realized Jess wasn't joking about it. "Really? Is there anyone here one hundred percent human? No. I think dying from an unbuckled belt is the least of our concerns right now."
"And I don't put it in drive until everyone's secure. That means you, wolfboy."
Sasha's exasperated expression was priceless. "Un-frakkin'-believable. I'm in hell. With a lunatic. Might as well have stayed with Zarek. Next thing you know, you'll be drowning pancakes with syrup, too." He made a grand showing of buckling himself in. "Hope you get fleas," he mumbled under his breath.
"Thank you." Jess pulled out of the garage.