Demon Night

“Okay.”
    He figured if he’d been human, his palms would have been sweaty as he clasped her hand, led her up the stairs.
    “You’ll get a card to use here. Jake likely has already made it up.” He pulled in his identification and swiped it. “And Jeeves up there, he’ll be checking to make sure you are who you say.”
    “Okay.” Her whisper was strained as they stepped into the blank white corridor.
    Maybe he ought to have given Jake her things, so her room would be comforting, not just cleaned and ready. Or thought of setting her up in a hotel. He glanced at her; she looked away from Jeeves, her lips curving into a pretty smile, and some of his tension eased.
    “You’ll be safe, Charlie. The security is awful tight.”
    “So I see.”
    From behind his glass shield, Jeeves ran his gaze over Charlie with open curiosity—as open as Jeeves’s sour face could manage, that was. “Good evening, Miss Newcomb. Mr. Drifter.”
    Charlie’s brows lifted a little, and her smile deepened. “Good evening.”
    “You have her ID, Jeeves?”
    “Indeed, sir. I have only to record her measurements first. Miss, if you will step up to—”
    Ethan shook his head. “Just prints and retinal, Jeeves. The rest tomorrow.” Charlie wouldn’t be so thin, and it was best to get her features in when she looked as she normally would.
    And he didn’t want to have to tell her why she was being scanned for the same record twice. He figured calling her too skinny at this moment would be much worse than saying a woman was plump.
    Jeeves frowned and opened his mouth; Ethan laid his hand on the narrow ledge in front of the window and leaned in.
    “Tomorrow, Becca,” he repeated softly, but the novice couldn’t miss the edge in it.
    “Very well, sir.” The stiff tone told Ethan he’d soon have to be letting her win a poker hand or two, or she’d be sore at him for a week.
    Ethan talked Charlie through the scans, then submitted his own before leading her past the door. Fortunately, Becca was upset enough that she didn’t come out and introduce herself.
    Most of the offices they passed were dark, though a few vampires and Guardians were working on computers or talking on phones. Past the hall and offices was a large room that opened to the practice areas and the metal staircase that led to the second floor. The clash of swords sounded from the gymnasium, but the majority of the noise in the warehouse was coming from upstairs.
    He looked over at her; she was examining the ID card, a tiny line between her brows. “You all right?”
    “Yes.” She tucked the ID in her pouch, and he heard the slide of her fingers over the feather. “Just feeling a little processed.” Her smile wasn’t quite steady; she glanced away from him and added quickly, “But you’re right, it’s much nicer inside. And I like the…the… that .”
    She pointed at the zodiac painted on the ceiling, but Ethan continued to study her face, fighting the impulse to dig under her shields and discover what lay beneath the bloodlust.
    Laughter rolled down from the second floor, and she eyed the stairs, her fingers practically sawing across the feather.
    Ethan clenched his jaw as his name was added to the conversation above. “You stay here a minute, Miss Charlie.”
    He cleared the stairs in a single bound. Cards lay over the table in the common room, the game in full swing; the sofas were filled with novices chatting and reading and watching a film on the giant television. Eleven young Guardians and three vampires—and fourteen pairs of eyes swung toward Ethan, then searched the space behind him.
    Ethan shook his head and gestured for them to pay attention. She’s feeling uneasy, and she’s awful hungry. I don’t want anyone rushing at her, he signed. No questioning, no staring. You just sit where you are now and say your greetings polite.
    He ignored the surprised glances that were exchanged, and turned back to the stairs. At the head, he paused.
    And her privacy’s real important to her. If I see one wink or one wrong smile, any little indication that you think you know what’s going to happen in that room, then I’ll be rolling a few novices over pretty damn hard.
    Silence followed him back down, but he assumed they were furiously signing back and forth—likely making wagers about who would be the first to smirk and how many teeth they’d have to regrow.
    Charlie was standing in the same place he’d left her, but no longer alone. Jake and