3
Dignity was in short supply as I drew myself taller, without first wiping off the frosting, and attempted to wield the awe my presence used to command. Sadly, I knew I had failed even before raising my eyebrow resulted in crumbs raining into my eyes, which forced me to blink rapidly and stagger, blinded by its grit.
“Go wash up.” Clay angled me toward the bathroom. “Both of you.”
Dragging my heels, I did as I was told, with help from my seeing-eye daemon.
“So—” I squirted one of our minty hand soaps into my palm, “—you’re in my neck of the woods.”
Once I worked up a good lather, I started scrubbing my face. Buttercream was a bear to break down, but the combo of lemon grass, tea tree, peppermint, and rosemary essential oils were up to the task. Even if that combination made for a very tingly washing experience, it worked wonders for opening my sinuses.
Rinsing was easy, but I had nothing clean to pat my face with. Guess I was air-drying.
“Your turn.” I left the warm water on for the daemon. “Help yourself.”
“We are in your neck of the woods,” Clay agreed once he set eyes on me. “For two reasons.”
“You need my help,” I realized, ignoring the hollow ache that rang through my chest. “On a case.”
Reading me with ease, Clay hooked me into a bear hug that lifted me off my feet. “That’s one reason.”
Face buried in his shirt, which solved the towel problem, I let the wall of his (literally) sculpted muscle comfort me. “And the other?”
“I missed you, Dollface.” He kissed the top of my head with brotherly affection. “That dumbass did too.”
The hollowness filled in as he held me. “Do you mean Asa or the daemon?”
“They’re the same person.”
Rather than contradict him, I hummed a nonanswer and soaked up his warmth. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“When you left, it felt like some jackass cut off my favorite arm.” He released me. “This time it was more like an asshole stole my prosthetic.” He stared down at me. “Ace and I are a good team, but you and me. We’ve seen some shit. We’ve been through some shit.” He worked his jaw. “We’ve done some shit.”
Each swear hit my ears like a hammer on a tiny anvil. “You really have to work on your potty mouth.”
I did not want Colby hearing him swear as easy as breathing and pick up sentence enhancers of her own.
“Yeah.” He rubbed his jaw. “There must be better words out there as yet undiscovered.”
“Uh, no.” I punched his shoulder and immediately regretted my life choices. “That’s not what I meant.”
A plink, plink, plink sound drew my head around to the bathroom, and a dripping wet daemon.
“Wash hair for Rue.” He indicated the mass of bubbles fizzing on his head. “Hair sticky.”
“He’s all yours.” Clay swept out his arm. “Enjoy.”
The declaration brightened the daemon’s eyes, and he puffed out his chest. “Rue mine.”
“Rue belongs to no one,” I corrected him. Again. “The bracelet Asa gave me isn’t a dog collar.”
There was no if found, please return to owner information embedded in it. Or was there?
The only thing sneakier than a daemon was a fae, and just my luck, Asa was both.
“Tell me more about the case.” I led the daemon back to the sink. “What’s on the docket?”
The daemon folded almost in half for me to flip his hair over his head into the shallow sink basin, where I began to pay for each and every thought I’d ever had about playing with Asa’s hair as I rinsed out the suds.