Demons of the Rich and Famous (Demon Whisperer book 1)

Demon Whisperer chapter 9

            “I think you’re underestimating him, you know,” Dan said.

            I didn’t want to talk about my dad so I changed the subject.  “Did you hear anything when you down under?”

            He shook his head.  “Nothing definitive.  Just some grumblings.  Everyone’s keeping a tight lip I think.”

“Well, obviously someone is now topside trying to take me out.”  I rubbed a hand over my face. “We need to make a list of all those that have personal vendettas against me.”

            “That’s going to be a long list.”

            I was surprised at that.  “Did I really piss that many off while I was down under?”

            Dan gave me one of his eyebrow-raised looks.  The one that said duh?

            “Okay.  I guess we’re going to need a big piece of paper, a pen, and some take-out.”

            “And a few beers,” Dan added for good measure.

            I stood.  “I’m going to take a shower.  I need to wash off what I saw today.”  I headed for the bathroom.  “You order the food.  No Thai though.  I don’t think my stomach can handle it right now.”

            “Okay, wimpy,” he called after me.

            I went into the bathroom and closed the door.  I stripped off my clothes.  My cell phone fell out of my jeans pocket.  I picked it up and thought of Aspen again.

            I punched in her number as I turned on the water in the shower.  It rang four times before she answered.

            “What’s up?” she asked.

            “Nothing.” I paused. “Just wondering what you’re doing.”

            “What happened?”

            “Why did something have to happen for me to call you?”

            She sighed.  “I can hear it in your voice, Caden.  Something’s going on.”

            Why did she have to know me so well?  It seemed totally unfair that she knew everything about me, and I could only guess at what she was doing and thinking.  God knows why women think we’re complicated.  Guys are the single celled organisms compared to the complexity of womanhood.

            “I screwed up an exorcism.  The demon’s on the loose.  I need some help tracking it down.”

            “Hold on.”  She muffled the phone but I could faintly hear her talking to someone in the background.  A male someone.  She came back on and sighed again.  “I can be there in a couple of hours.”

            “Cool. Thanks.”  I toed the frayed bathmat on the bathroom floor.  “Who were you talking to?”

            “Just a friend.”  And with that she hung up.

            I set my phone down on the counter then jumped into the shower.  The scalding hot water beat down on me.  But it still wasn’t enough to wash away the lingering image of Leyla Habib munching on her father.  I’d seen a lot of stuff in my day, but witnessing that made my stomach turn.  An innocent feeding on an innocent because of some demon’s ingenious plot to get revenge on me.  For what?  That was the question that needed to be answered.