Night Call (Book 2): Demon Dei (43 page)

“Just a ghoul. And how to get him into a cinema.”

Her laughter was better than her smile and I let it comfort me while I watched the giant pelican dip and twirl.

Amaya sat on the bench outside of the amphitheatre at South Bank.

He was late, but she didn’t mind. The sun was low enough its rays slanted in under the branches of the tree. She leaned back and let it warm her through. When someone sat down beside her, she knew it was him without opening her eyes.

“How did you know it was me?” she asked.

“Be you Lila or Amaya you have this glow about you when you’re in the sunlight. As if the light loves you so much it wants to get as close as possible.” A hint of sarcasm entered his tone. “I should have picked up on the similarity earlier.”

At least he wasn’t angry with her anymore, four weeks was enough time to get over it.

It was also enough time for wounds to heal. Opening her eyes, she saw the cuts on his arms, sustained in the last fight with Asmodeus, were little more than white marks amidst the tan. Her own wounds were healed as well—mostly.

“You look good,” Matt said.

Amaya smiled. “Thank you. I’ve not been a blonde in ages. Might be fun again, for a while. How’s Erin?”

“She’s good. Working hard, spending time with her husband. We see each other occasionally, for jobs here and there, sometimes for lunch.” He gave her a sheepish look. “I’d forgotten what it was like to have a normal friend. It’s… good.”

She touched his arm. “Give it time. Things grow and change.”

Matt shifted uncomfortably. “I was surprised to get your call. I didn’t think you’d want anything to do with me again.”

“Why? You might be incredibly dense but nothing that happened was exactly your fault. I can’t blame you for anything that went wrong.”

“Nothing?”

“Well, okay, a few things. But I can forgive them.”

“How have you been since… then?”

His tact amused her. “Recovering. After you and Mercy left Hell, word spread about what had happened and things got very hectic for a while. The hierarchy is different now, but you know, while the management might have a new face things don’t really change. It’s just as binding and suffocating as it always was.”

“So you left again and here you are.”

Amaya sat back and gazed at the river. “And here I am.”

“Can you tell me one thing?”

“Maybe. What is it?”

“You’re a demon and therefore deathly allergic to salt. Weren’t you at all worried when you were on board the ship?”

“If Nick had given me room to be worried, I wouldn’t have been. When I’m in human form, I am completely human. Salt will have no detrimental effect on this body, apart from high blood pressure if I overindulge, of course. If I couldn’t handle it, I wouldn’t be able to survive here. It’s in all the food, half the drinks.”

“But in demon form, it’s like acid. How does that work?”

She smiled. “Quantum physics?”

“I guess that’s as good an answer as any. What do you plan to do now?”

“I think I might go back to Adelaide.”

Matt quirked a sceptical eyebrow.

“I never did finish my tour of the City of Churches. I like the dichotomy of it. A demon visiting all those churches. And I didn’t get to go to the Adelaide Hills and visit some
boutique wineries. Then there’s Kangaroo Island. I really want to see the Remarkable Rocks.”

Matt laughed. “You want to be a tourist. I don’t know which is worse, that or a demon.”

“Don’t make fun of me. For once, I’m really free and I plan to take advantage of that.”

He sobered and nodded gravely. “I hope everything works out for you. If you ever get summoned again, give me a call and I’ll see what I can do.”

“If I ever get summoned again, I’ll know better than to pin my hopes on you.”

When they parted, she kissed his cheek with true regret. As Lila she’d been close to feeling something honest for him. It would have been interesting to pursue those vague beginnings and see where they went, but she knew Matt was not interested. There were other things he wanted more.

As for what she wanted, well…

She took her time getting to Adelaide, flying slow and stopping often in order to play tourist. Three days later, she was standing in Victoria Square, between the fountain and statue of Queen Victoria. Across the way was the St. Francis Xavier’s Cathedral, a Gothic Revival monument swamped by the cars, light poles and power lines of the modern world. It didn’t have the same intrigue it did three years before.

Leaving it behind, she made the walk to Glenelg. There, she sat on a pier and looked over the heaving grey ocean. She missed it. Even under Nick’s oppressive love of it, she’d developed her own appreciation of its beauty. There was something that felt like home in its untamed glory.

Eventually, she found herself at the docks. The Renata Rose was there, tethered safely, shifting on the slight swell. The ship was still beautiful to Amaya now she was free.

And at last, as she knew she would, Amaya walked into Nick Carson’s Great White Experience Museum. There was a function on, a pre-trip party to let the guests and crew get to know each other. The atmosphere was lively and full of adventure. People stood in groups wondering just how close they’d get to the sharks, how many they would see, assuring each other it was going to be the best thing ever.

Picking her way through the crowd, Amaya found Nick. He sat at the far end of the small bar in the corner. He nursed a drink with half melted ice cubes. That lock of hair hung in his eyes as he stared at the bar top, tracing patterns in the condensation left behind by his drink.

“Hi, I don’t think we’ve met. Are you coming on the trip?” Saul sidled up beside her, a little closer than socially acceptable.

Hidden in a new body, Amaya smiled at him. “No. I’ve just come to see someone off. Is that Nick Carson?” She pointed to Nick.

“Aye, the man himself.”

“Is he okay? He doesn’t seem very happy.”

“You mean you didn’t hear? It’s a very sad story. His long term partner died very recently. Horrible accident.” There was honest sorrow in Saul’s voice. “We all miss her. She was a great girl. Loved Nick to distraction and she sure could cook a mean hotdog.”

“Very sad.”

“Yeah, Nick went a little crazy after it happened. Totally gutted he was. Took off for a mad trip to Queensland, even. He went off in an okay mood but came back absolutely wallowing in grief. It was like he lost her all over again.”

Amaya swallowed hard. “Thank you,” she managed to say. She took Saul’s hand and squeezed it fondly.

He smiled curiously. “Have we met before?”

“No, we haven’t.”

She went to Nick. Taking the seat beside him, she asked for a drink and when it arrived, she raised it in a toast to Nick.

“To a safe voyage.”

Nick lifted his glass and clinked it with little enthusiasm. “Thank you. I’m sure it will be a good trip.”

Amaya put down her glass and offered him her hand. “My name’s Emma.”

“Nick,” he replied and finally looked at her. He blinked several times. “Do I know you from somewhere?”

She couldn’t resist. “I don’t know. Do you want to have known me from somewhere?”

Swallowing hard, he stared into her eyes. “Amaya?”

“Call me Emma or the others will get confused. Maybe think I’m a poltergeist or something.”

“My God.” Nick fidgeted with his glass. “I can’t believe it’s you. It is you, isn’t it? Holy crap. I never would have thought you’d ever come back to me. Not after—”

She put a finger to his lips. “You’re babbling. And I don’t know if I’ve come back to you or if I just needed to see that you were all right before moving on.”

He nodded hastily. “Sure, sure. I’m not going to force you to do anything. I won’t even ask—”

“No. Ask me to stay for a drink and we’ll take it from there.”

Nick hesitated, then smiled shyly. “Emma, would you care to have a drink with me?”

Amaya pursed her lips. “Hmm. I don’t know.”

He looked devastated. She laughed and hugged him. After a confused moment, he hugged her back.

Much later when the guests were piling onto the Rose to find their bunks and sleep away the last few hours before they set sail, Amaya stood at the bow and drank in the calm, cool night air. She and Nick had shared a drink, and then another and finally they’d reached the bottom of the wine bottle and she was happy she’d approached him. He’d asked her on the trip as a guest. A last minute cancellation assured her a bunk and place at the dinner table. She’d said she would think about it and, wary of inadvertently commanding her, Nick had backed off to give her some quiet time.

It would be good to be back on the Rose with Saul and Tom and the rest of the crew. She’d missed them all in the last month.

From inside her jacket she took out the feather. Moonlight glistened silver on its perfect black. As she ran it through her hands, a faint shimmer of blue power grew from it—power still attached to the source back in her realm.

And if she went with Nick, she could drop Asmodeus’ feather into the depths of the Southern Indian Ocean where no one could find it and use it again.

Decided, she left the bow and went to find Nick.

L.J. Hayward lives and works on the Gold Coast, Australia. As a pathology scientist, she’s spent a good deal of time around blood and supposes it’s only natural she chose it as a cornerstone of her writing. Don’t worry, she’ll get over the obsession soon. Maybe. You can check up on her progress on her blog, Plot Happens.

Rock Paper Sorcery

Night Call: Book Three