He laughed, a harsh sound that echoed against the metal lockers. “Do you honestly believe a human could do this to me?”
It took a moment for realization to sink in. When it did, I felt my jaw drop as I gaped up at him. “They … you mean—”
“Rey?”
I recoiled, fought to keep the room from spinning as I grasped his meaning. Demons. They were here. Back on Earth. And he was fighting them.
I looked past him toward a woman walking into the room.
“Are you ready for the next fight? They’re asking for you.”
He didn’t look at her. Didn’t take his eyes off mine.
“Wendell wants you to make this one last,” she said, her voice weak, uncertain. I could feel anxiety coming off her from where I stood.
When a tall woman with short blond hair stepped into the light, I realized who she was and almost seized. Elaine Oake? The woman with the website? The woman with the museum dedicated to all things Reyes Farrow, stocked with dozens of items stolen from Reyes and smuggled out of the prison by guards? Guards that she paid? She was here? With Reyes?
When I thought of how she was nothing more than a prison groupie, a rich woman who had stalked Reyes the entire time he was in prison, who’d paid guards to get information on him, to steal items from his cell and take pictures when he wasn’t looking, my astonishment shifted from the thought of demons roaming the hills and valleys of Earth to the thought of this woman roaming the hills and valleys of Reyes’s body. An acrid and infuriating kind of jealousy erupted in my chest and surged out of me in a humiliating burst of resentment.
I fought to tamp it down, but she had to see the utter shock on my face. Hers showed, too. As well as her insecurity. Reyes was dangerously close, and clearly she didn’t like that. Then recognition flitted across her face, followed by another tangible wave of shock.
“Rey?” she asked again. “Do you know who this is?”
He released a heavy breath from between his suddenly clenched teeth. “Yes.”
“Oh, okay.” She stepped over to us. “Are you here on a case?” she asked me, the hope so evident in her eyes, I almost felt sorry for her.
“I’m here collecting on one, yes.”
“Oh, well, whatever it is, I can pay it. I’m Reyes’s manager.” She turned toward him and placed a timid hand on his arm. “You need to get ready. This fight is almost over.” Then she forced a smile. “They’re all here for you anyway. That fight was just a filler, something to cleanse the palate between rounds.”
He was fighting again tonight? And she was cool with that?
My knee-jerk reaction was to rip out her short, perfectly coiffed hair, and I chastised myself inwardly. Reyes was not mine. I had no say in anything that he did, including the fights, and he knew it. He’d been in prison for over a decade for a crime he didn’t commit, and here I was trying to control him. Just like they did. Every single day for over ten years. Every movement, every thought, controlled by a trustee or a guard or a warden.
But still, Elaine Oake?
“And we need to get home before the new sponsors show up,” she added. “They’re very eager to meet you.”
I almost fainted. Home? He was living with her? The depths of my astonishment seemed to know no bounds. I was lost for a moment, reeling as each new discovery sank in.
Reyes examined my face, watching every move, every reaction.
“Can you give us a minute?” he asked, and I wasn’t sure which one of us he was talking to. Wasn’t sure if I cared.
“O-okay,” Elaine said. She strolled off slowly, as if it took every ounce of strength she possessed to do so.
“You’re living with her?” I asked under my breath. “Do you have any idea who she is?”
“Yes.” He waited a moment, then added, “And yes.”
A soft laugh of astonishment escaped before I could stop it. I turned to leave, but he took hold of the table and blocked my path. I shot a look toward Elaine. She’d stopped just past the wall of lockers and didn’t miss the maneuver. And I didn’t miss the hurt in her eyes.
Welcome to the world of Reyes Farrow.
“You need to move,” I told him.
“You didn’t answer me. What would you like me to do with this body you insist I keep?”
I raised a hateful glare at him. “Send it back to hell.”
His smile was like a hot poker in my stomach. Was he enjoying this? My bewilderment? My pain? “Can’t do that when there’s so much to entertain me here on Earth.”
“Entertainment? Is that what I am to you?”
A man walked into the room. His trainer. “You’re on.”
“Well?” Reyes asked again, still waiting for a legitimate answer.
This was getting ridiculous. I noticed Elaine just outside the door, looking in, her brows crinkled in concern. “Your girlfriend is fretting,” I said, trying to change the subject.
“Jealous?”
“Not in the least.”
“’Cause you seem jealous.”
“I’m not jealous. I just can’t believe—”
“My abs?”
My stomach flip-flopped. I took a calming breath, and said, “Your taste.”
“My taste is just fine.” He lifted my chin with a taped hand. “You don’t want me around, so why do you care anyway?”
“I don’t.”
“Then why are you here?”