Page 59 of Filthy Fae

“All the breadcrumb trails in this case seem to lead to your house, Necro-Nancy. Not Mack.”

She snorted a laugh. “Not surprised. That pretty much always happens when you're dealing with demons. It definitely happens if you’re dealing with a demon who’s been out of Hell for this long. Especially since I'm the only expert in the area.”

“Wanna tell me about the party—and the horseshoes?” I pointed at the huge horseshoe hanging from her neck.

“Demon-repellent.” She gave a little smile at that. “I was just going to offer some to you three, actually. I’m trying to invent a version that will work when a werewolf shifts. The giant horseshoe seems the best fit, but Zeezee says it’s hard to deal with in wolf form.”

“How did you know to give my sister and Zane these demon-repellent charms before the party?”

“I’m hungry. Want to buy me lunch?” Nancy asked. “There’s a taco truck down the road, and I’ve secured the road from here to the lot where the truck parks.”

“You demon proofed the road between your house and a taco truck?” I asked.

“I’ll buy you a few tacos,” Jane said, speaking up for what I was pretty sure was the first time since Nancy stepped out of her house. “If it’ll get you to talk.”

Nancy grinned at Jane, and I could see a bit of heat enter her eyes. “I think you could get me to loosen my lips.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Scarlet

Five minutes later, we were seated at one of the faded picnic tables in the dusty courtyard in front of the brightly painted food truck, Delicioso.

Mack sat beside me, dripping holy water. Nancy had no qualms about emptying a bottle on the guy the moment he stepped out of the van. Clearly, she hadn’t trusted my assurances or her anti-demon defenses around the picnic benches. I didn’t think it was an accident that the rest of us got splashed with the water at the same time. Maybe no precaution was too much when it came to demons.

Zeezee glowered in the front seat of the van, our untrustworthy getaway driver if things went south fast. Getaway driver was perhaps too strong a description. More like I’d put her on “shut up, and don’t bother me” duty. Maybe Nancy was right, and my sister was acting selflessly for the first time in Zeezee history. And maybe pigs really could fly.

She’d still gone around my authority and put our pack in danger by keeping the incubus a secret. It wasn’t her intentions that had me angry. It was the results of her actions.

And yet, when Aaron had volunteered to bring her tacos, I’d bought her some of her favorites and sent over a soda as well.

We waited as Nancy sipped her bottled beer and finished yet another taco. The woman had to be on her fifteenth.

Jane passed over a napkin, her gaze studying the gray-haired demon fighter. “Do you need me to get you some more tacos, or have I earned a couple of questions?”

The demon-fighter leaned back and basically eye-fucked the lawyer. With the glances these two were shooting between them, I was beginning to feel like a voyeur. “Hit me with it.”

Jane swallowed hard and reached down to her briefcase. I thought that her mouth might be fighting a smile, but I didn’t know the woman all that well. “Alright, let’s start with the hard questions.” She poised her pen over a pad of paper. “First off, how did you know that the demon was going to be conjured at the party?”

“Didn’t.” Nancy wiped the edge of her mouth with a napkin, balled up the paper and threw it on the plate.

I leaned an elbow on the table. “You actually want us to believe you didn’t know? You went to my sister’s strip club and invited her home with the intention of giving her demon repellent charms.”

Jane shot me a look, and in an undertone, she asked, “Would it be all right if I ask the questions for now, Alpha?”

I cut my gaze over to the woman. Everything in me fought against ceding control right now, but it was obvious that Jane was more experienced in this, and she and Nancy had instant rapport.

Fuck. Was Zeezee right?

Did I micromanage everything?

Clenching my jaw, I gritted out, “For now.”

The two little words hurt on the way out.

Nancy’s gaze bounced between us as she took another sip, studying our dynamic. Setting her beer on the picnic table, she asked, “Do you want me to answer that one?”

Jane gave the other woman a little smile. “I was going to get to it.”