A Perfect Blood

opened up to him, and he thought I was being self-centered. “Forget I said anything, okay?” I said, wishing I had kept my mouth shut and let him believe I’d left because I was mad about last night. “I’m not going to shrink down and be a pixy, and I’m not going to sign my will over to a vampire, even if I do love her. It would destroy both of us.”
    Wayde’s chewing stopped.
    “This is good,” I insisted, my eyes on the torn bag as I folded it up around Jenks’s scone. “All of it. Jenks and Ivy. It’s good. They will live longer, happier lives without me, and I’m glad.” I just wish it didn’t hurt so much.
    “I understand.” Wayde put his hand on mine, stopping me from crushing Jenks’s scone. “I grew up surrounded by big egos, Rachel, and I get it.”
    I pulled away from him, shoving Jenks’s scone into my bag. “I do not have a big ego.”
    “Yes you do,” he said, wiping the crumbs from his beard and chuckling. “It’s probably how you survived living with Ivy. Get over it. You’ve got a big heart to match, and your dad is just as bad. But as you say, they’re getting on with their lives and you aren’t. Why do you suppose that is?”
    Staring at him, I flopped back against the seat. “If I knew that, I wouldn’t be sitting here with you in your pj’s, drinking coffee.”
    And still he smiled, looking far too disorganized to be giving me advice. “Jenks and Ivy know their lives are going to be here. Right now and today,” he said, tapping the tip of his finger on the table. “They’re making decisions to move forward. Ivy is letting go of her past—that means you—and finding partners who fulfill her emotional, intellectual, and physical needs. Jenks is doing the same. You aren’t, because you know in your gut that you won’t find what you need here.”
    The sweet coffee in me seemed to go sour, and I stiffened. “Beg pardon?”
    He shrugged and leaned back out of easy reach, looking grungy and disheveled. “For a smart woman, you are clueless sometimes. You’re a demon.”
    Frowning, I glanced over the coffeehouse to make sure no one had heard him. “You want to say that a little louder, maybe?”
    His teeth showing in a quick grin, he took a sip of coffee, clearly thinking he had the upper hand again. “I don’t blame you for fighting it at first, but you’re a demon and you need to accept that. All this about Kalamack giving you a choice that really isn’t one aside. It’s all you got, woman. Be the demon. The more you try to make the demon a witch, the more you hurt yourself. Why not try it the other way around? See what happens. If it doesn’t work, they’ll still be here. Waiting for you.”
    His attention was on my charmed silver bracelet, and I covered it up. It sounded so simple. Maybe he was right.
    Wayde let a hand hit the table, making me jump. “Never mind,” he said in a tired voice. “Don’t listen to me. I’m just pissed you snuck out. You belong here with Ivy and Jenks. Maybe all you need is some new friends. Some who you can just . . . hang with for a while with no strings attached.”
    My lips quirked. No strings attached wasn’t how I worked. “But not you, obviously,” I said, and Wayde took another sip of coffee.
    “Obviously. Rachel, you are one crazy bitch. But I like you. Your loyalty impresses me. It makes putting up with the rest of your crap worth it.”
    “Gee, thanks, Wayde.” I lifted my cup to him in a salute. “From you, I’ll take that as a compliment.” Again the coffee slipped into me, and the tightness in my shoulders finally started to ease. “So, ah, how did you find me?”
    Wayde snorted. “I have the bus schedules and routes memorized, and you left your coffee on the counter. There was only one place you’d be,” he said, and I sighed. When I read a person wrong, I really get it wrong. “Your phone is ringing.”
    Yes, it was ringing, humming at the bottom of my bag. It had been for the last couple of minutes. It was probably Jenks, ticked that I’d gone out without him. For crying out loud, Ivy knew where I was.
    “Yup,” I said, my expression bland as I tugged my bag closer and reached in to get the phone, the multiple flashes of green from the amulets catching my attention as my aura touched them. I glanced at the incoming number, then froze. It was the church, but what gave me pause were the amulets.
    They were active—and pinging on something.
    “Oh my God!” I said as I dropped the