“You broke the windows and set her car on fire. It blew up. How do you deny that when we have twenty-eight—no, I’m sorry—twenty-nine witnesses that saw you?” The officer leaned back in his seat, rolling his eyes. The cops picked me up half an hour after I did it, and dragged me back to their cesspool of a police station. Joe-Schmo and I had been going back and forth for the last fifteen minutes as he attempted to persuade me to admit guilt and pay for Kendall’s car. Not fucking happening. At least not without a fight.

“They could be lying.” I shrugged, leaning back in my own chair and kicking my feet up on the table. My boots clunked against the metal top as bits of mud and grass fell off. They hadn’t even bothered to handcuff me when I was arrested, but I wasn’t exactly new to this. Me and Joe were on a first name basis. Practically.

“Get your damn shoes off the table, Morningstar,” he scolded. Guess we’re on a last name basis today. “This isn’t a resort. You’re in for a lot of fucking trouble if she decides to press charges.” Joe swatted at my feet and I pulled them off the table, leaving dirty streaks across the reflective surface.

“I’m not afraid of Kendall. She got what was coming to her,” I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. Joe let out a sigh of exasperation and scratched his head. 

“You’re not making my job easy, Ruby,” he said.

“Where’s the fun in that?” I asked, giving him a wink. The man had a pretty average build for any American man over forty who spent a lot of time at his desk and interrogating low priority criminals. It was the same stereotypical build all the movies portrayed: tucked in shirt with a too small belt, neither hiding the spilling beer gut. With his less than impressive physique, developing widow’s peak, and crooked nose from being broken one-time too many—Joe was one hundred percent human. He was also the only officer that didn’t spend his entire interrogation undressing me with his eyes.

“We’re not supposed to be having fun. You’re supposed to admit to your crime and try to settle before she calls her lawyer. Why do you always make this difficult? Huh? What’s the point when we both know you’ll pay the fine?” A sharp knock at the door interrupted his questioning. The chair scraped the tile as Joe scooted back and got to his feet. I listened intently as the second officer leaned over and told him my bail had been paid, taking his leisure of watching me while I cocked an eyebrow and snorted. His tongue flicked out, licking his bottom lip.

Not a chance, buddy. I smirked to myself as Joe turned back to me, oblivious to the silent encounter I had with the pervy officer.

“You’re in luck. Someone paid your bail,” Joe said, giving a sad shake of his head. To his credit, he just doesn’t know what to do with me. I was more than most humans could handle. We demons were fickle creatures.

“Looks like Moira did get my message after all,” I said. Moira was half-banshee and she happened to be my best friend. She hadn’t picked up when I called, but I knew she’d come through before I was in here too long. She always did.

“Uh-huh,” Joe said, sticking his tongue in the side of his cheek like he had more to say. The officer who delivered the message pulled the door open for me to cross and exit. His body wasn’t huge, but he was stocky, and he purposely gave me no space to step through. Taking a deep breath, I shuffled by, “accidentally” elbowing him in the gut as I went. The putrid stench of alcohol and body odor made me gag.

On the other side of the door, I walked down the hall and signed the release papers. Until Kendall officially pressed charges, there wasn’t a lot that could be done. I knew she would. And I would have to pay her, because as fun as this was, I had no intentions of sitting in jail any longer than necessary. I had no regrets, though. The look on Kendall's face when she saw the flames was priceless. Pure fucking gold. Moira was going to love this.

I pushed the door open and waved goodbye to the boys in blue. Outside the air smelled fresh. Crisp. The scent of rain still hung in the air. I stretched languidly, the way a cat does after sitting for far too long. I needed to do something. Burn off the energy that never seemed to leave.

I turned to tell Moira as much, but my friend wasn’t the one lounging against the side of the police station. A black-haired devil with smoldering eyes stood where she usually waited. His hair was a color so dark, his skin looked ashen. When his amber eyes flicked to mine, I was suddenly very aware of the coffee stains on my clothes. 

Keep it together, Ruby. There was nothing human in his fluid grace as he pulled away from the wall and began stalking toward me. Demon. And not a weak one, by the looks of it.

“Who are you?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“I just bailed you out of jail. Is that any way to greet me?” His voice dripped with arrogance. Maybe it was the designer suit he wore, or maybe he was just as powerful as I suspected. Either way, I didn’t like the tone in his voice.

“I don’t know who you are, so unless you start talking, we’re done here.” I crossed my arms over my chest and stared him down. His lips fell into an easy smirk. I knew that look. That sarcastic smile meant to belittle and demean a girl, expecting me to feel intimidated.

The words kiss my ass were only a breath away.

“My name is Allistair.” He took another step forward as he spoke; his voice smooth and melodic, dark and captivating. It was bewitching. It was what an incubus did when pulling in their prey.

 “I don’t appreciate you trying to persuade me. That’s rude, you know.” Even as I said it, he cocked his head and took a step closer. 

“You sensed that? Here I thought I was being subtle,” he purred. Something in me said I should run. Not because I thought he would hurt me, which he would, but because the air tasted like something foreign and heady. His scent clung to me; tendrils of power reaching to pull me closer. He was quite strong, and if he touched me…

I needed to get out of here.

There was a reason I avoided demon men like the plague. Anything and everything this side of the Columbia River were drawn to me by a force I couldn’t control. With demon men, it was so much stronger, and they were never the types to just let me run. 

Oh, no. They would chase, and even as fast as I was, they would catch up.

 “What do you want?” I asked, and to my credit, my voice didn’t shake. He looked me up and down and my face heated.

“I need you to come with me, Ruby.” The way he said my name made my stomach clench.

“How do you know my name?” I asked, looking towards the street as a car screeched around the corner. Moira’s beat up, old Camry hit the curb and came to a jarring stop.

“I’ll tell you if you get a drink with me,” he said. His eyes flicked to the car and narrowed as I inched towards it.

“I’m good. Thanks, though,” I said to the amber-eyed stranger as I got in. Moira didn’t say anything as we started to drive away.

I looked in the passenger side mirror to see if the demon was following, but he wasn’t. Allistair, if that was his name, was standing right where I left him, clearly pissed off. He took a step in our direction, and even with a parking lot of distance, it made me shiver. Something told me this wasn’t the last I would be seeing of him.