Slaying Monsters for the Feeble - Annette Marie Page 0,71
the brick walls, cheesy red-checkered tablecloths, and open view of the kitchen. What if the server asked him to take his hood off? What if someone noticed the inhuman tinge to his skin or the dark claws that tipped his fingers? My only slight comfort was that Zylas seemed too curious to cause any trouble.
“Calm down, Robin,” Amalia said, picking up a menu. “He looks like a weirdo, not a demon, and if anyone takes too much notice, we’ll leave.”
Right. Yes. No one could make him take his glasses or hood off. We would just leave. No big deal. Gulping back my panic, I opened my menu and held it up.
Zylas leaned into me to study the photos inside. “What is this?”
“The menu,” I whispered. “It lists all the food they make. We’ll tell the server what we want and she’ll bring it to us in a few minutes.”
“The spicy pesto calzone is excellent.” Amalia lowered her menu enough to glare over the top. “Do not order him anything. He eats like a freak.”
“It smells good,” he growled. “I want to try it.”
“Too bad.”
“You can share mine,” I said quickly. Zylas’s good behavior wouldn’t last if Amalia ticked him off. “I’ll order the vegetarian one.”
Despite his remorseless ability to kill, my demon was a hardcore, if temporary, vegetarian—though it seemed the olfactory appeal of hot pizza was winning out over his distaste for meat. Maybe I should see if he liked pepperoni.
I breathed easier once the waitress had hurried off with our orders. Fidgeting nervously, I scanned the nearest tables, ensuring no one was staring at us in shock or horror.
Amalia propped her chin on her palm. “We’re getting nowhere searching for the vamps. We can give it another try after lunch, but what’s our Plan B?”
“We don’t have a Plan B,” I muttered. “I don’t even know what’s most important anymore. The vampires and whatever is going on with them? Claude and his demon? Uncle Jack? There’s too much we don’t understand.”
“The vampires are searching for my dad. I’m assuming they targeted Claude because he’s searching for Dad and the grimoire too. Do the vampires also want the grimoire?”
“I think so. They’re involved with Demonica somehow. They’ve been feeding on demon blood, and their leader promised them a steady supply. But how do any of them know that demon blood makes them stronger? I don’t think they just stumbled across that knowledge.”
Amalia shook her head, as stumped as I was. Zylas ignored our discussion, his attention on a nearby table where a woman was pulling apart her calzone, the golden crust flaking and steam rising from the melted cheese spilling onto her plate. I elbowed his side as he leaned into me, drawn toward the hot food like it was exerting a gravitational pull.
“Maybe they want the grimoire so they can … summon demons themselves?” I suggested.
“That seems like the hardest possible way to summon a demon.” Amalia tapped thoughtfully on the tabletop. “Zora said vampires aren’t good at long-term planning, though, so maybe they don’t realize the grimoire won’t be any use without a summoner to do the work.”
I rubbed my face, momentarily confused by the absence of my glasses. “We’re missing something for sure. What—”
“Robin!”
I froze as the hailing voice cut across the loud conversations filling the restaurant. Horror seized my lungs like a steel clamp at the sight of two people moving purposefully through the bustle.
Zora was weaving through the tables. Zora and Taye, her teammate from earlier. They were heading straight toward us.
Oh no, oh no, oh no.
Amalia’s expression was locked into a horrified stare, and I couldn’t breathe as the two mythics reached our table. Zylas was unmoving beside me. His disguise could fool humans who had no clue demons were real, but not only was Zora perfectly aware of the existence of demons, but she’d also seen Zylas before.
“What are you doing here?” I blurted, my voice high and squeaky.
“Carlo’s is the perfect dose of cheesy calories after a long, cold day on the job,” Zora said cheerfully, missing my panic. “We come here all the time. Mind if we join you? Have you ordered yet?”
Not waiting for an answer, she swung a long black case that could only be her sword off her shoulder and dropped into the booth beside Amalia. Taye grabbed a free chair from another table and pulled it over. My panic ratcheted up a notch.
Zora’s smile faltered at our tense silence—and she glanced at Zylas, probably wondering why