“I understand.” Somehow I managed to keep the lingering resentment out of my voice. She nodded once and returned to her task, dismissing me.
As I made my way through the corridor, dust filled my lungs, weighing them down. At least, I told myself it was the dust.
9
When I got home that night, I found Giguhl lying on my couch in my hot pink kimono.
“Nice robe,” I said by way of greeting. He ignored me and continued watching Jerry Springer. I dropped my stuff on the kitchen table and plopped into the armchair.
“Mortals are silly,” he said finally. “What’s a ‘baby daddy,’ anyway?”
On the screen, a woman with serious dental hygiene issues was beating a man upside the head. “I guess you don’t get to watch much TV in Irkalla.”
He propped his head on one scaly bicep and turned to look at me. “Nah. We stayed busy torturing the souls of the damned and playing hide the hot poker. You know, the usual.”
We watched the show for a few minutes. The scene onstage turned into an all-out brawl. “As amusing as this is, we need to talk.” I grabbed the remote from the table and clicked it off. Giguhl sat up, careful to arrange the silk around his hips.
“What’s up?”
“I’m going out of town for a little while.”
“What?”
“I’ve got to go to San Francisco to take care of some business.”
“What kind of business?”
“The kind that is none of yours.”
“Very funny. So what? You’re just going to leave me here?”
“That’s the plan.”
He stood up, looming over me. “No way, sister. If you’re leaving town, then I’m coming with you.”
I was already shaking my head before he finished speaking. “No way.”
“Come on, Sabina. I’ve been trapped in your house for days—even shopping has lost its once-heady appeal. Plus, you’re no closer to getting me home than you were when I arrived. And now you expect me to just sit here while you run off for Bael knows how long?”
“What do you want from me?” I asked, frustrated. “I can’t put off this mission any longer.”
“Give me one good reason why I can’t come with you?”
I looked him over—from the tips of his horns to the cloven hooves. Not to mention the pink robe. “For one thing, you wouldn’t exactly blend into the mortal world.”
He rolled his goat eyes. “Is that all?” He snapped his fingers. A surge of energy tingled down my spine and a plume of violet smoke filled the room. When it cleared, instead of a seven-foot-tall demon standing over me, a black-and-white cat was looking up at me.
I blinked and shook my head. “What the hell?”
The cat spoke. “Someone played hooky the day they covered demon powers in school, huh?”
I wasn’t sure what freaked me out more, the ease with which he changed himself into a cat or the fact I was having a conversation with a talking pu**y.
“What’s wrong?” he said. “Cat got your tongue?” The sound that came out of his tiny pink mouth was part laugh and part meow.
“Wait a second, all this time you’ve been able to change shape and you never told me?”
He sighed and twitched his whiskers. “Didn’t come up. So when are we leaving?”
“You’re not going.” I stood and walked toward the kitchen. The cat tripped me up as he wound around my ankles, purring. I cursed and he sat back on his haunches and widened his little cat eyes at me. “Stop that.”
“Come on, Sabina. Hey! Maybe I could help with your mission.”
“I work alone.” I started walking again, but a puff of smoke and the acrid smell of brimstone stopped me. I turned slowly, finding Giguhl back in demon form. Naked.
My eyes bulged out of my head as I saw what rested between his hips. “Good Lord!” I said without thinking. A forked penis will do that to a girl.
He glanced down at the appendage and smiled knowingly. “Once you go demon you never go back.”
“Give me a break,” I said. “And while you’re at it, put on some clothes.” I grabbed the robe from where it lay on the ground. Keeping my eyes averted, I tossed it to him.
“If I put this on, can I go with you?”
I crossed my arms and took a deep breath. Taking him with me wasn’t in the plan, but the more I thought about it, having a demon at my disposal might be a good thing. Surely he had other talents besides the shapeshifting. Besides, maybe he could teach me more about demons in general, which would definitely help me when it came to Clovis.
“Fine, but you have to promise to do whatever I say.”
He snorted and pulled on the robe. “Deal.”
“You will stay in cat form unless I give you permission to do otherwise, is that understood?”
He cursed under is breath and did the shapeshift thing again. Another puff of smoke and a disgruntled cat reappeared. “Fine.”
“We’re leaving in fifteen minutes.”
He went still, his cat ears twitching. “Tell me we’re not going on the Ducati.”
I frowned. “Of course we are.”
“Bael’s breath, Sabina, you can’t expect me to ride on that thing. My fur will get all mussed.”
“Quit pouting,” I told him. He didn’t look at me, but he followed me into the bedroom. I grabbed an old cat crate from the closet. I’d bought it years ago for a stray I’d taken in. The damned ungrateful thing ran away before I could even name it. A hiss sounded behind me. Giguhl’s back was arched and the hair on his neck stood up in spiky tufts.
“Chill, cat,” I said. He hissed again, this time keeping his eyes on the crate. “I can still change my mind and leave you here, you know.”
“You’re a real bitch, you know that?”
“So I’ve heard. Get in.” I set the crate on the bed and opened the little gate. He shot off like a hairy bolt of lightning, heading toward the living room.
I breathed a martyred sigh and headed after him. The crate bumped against my shins as I dropped it to give chase. I caught him just before he disappeared under the couch. I held him by the scruff an arm’s length away, which protected me from his swiping paws and bared teeth.
“You’re not putting me in that cage!” he hissed.
“Quit being such a drama queen,” I said as I marched back to the bedroom and the waiting crate. “You’re the one who wanted to come with me.”