Dre split his lips into a smile. Since Sammy had relaxed so obviously, he could risk showing off a bit. “You’re with a demon. We don’t walk.” He pulled Sammy against his body. “Imagine your kitchen.”
The picture of a small, yet tidy kitchen with white tiles on the wall, a scrubbed wooden floor and a trim of ornate flowers flashed through Dre’s mind. Demons weren’t really able to read minds, but when a human concentrated on something, they could pick up on it. Dre used the picture as his map and simply stepped into its counterpart in reality. Sammy gasped softly in his arms and looked around as if he had never seen his own kitchen before.
“Wow. How did you do that? I could get used to traveling this way.”
Dre chuckled. “That’s a secret.” When he saw the disappointment in Sammy’s face, he hastened to add, “But I can take you on a trip next time we meet, okay?”
“Okay.” Sammy smiled a bit nervously. “I’d ask you to stay and have a coffee with me, but I’m afraid I’m too tired.” He looked down on the floor, an adorable blush on his cheeks. “But I’d love to see you again—if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all. I mean, how can I say no to somebody who likes Speed and manga? We have an obligation to find out what else we have in common.”
Dre was surprised to find that he meant what he said. He wanted to find out more about Sammy.
“So…see you tomorrow?”
“Yes. See you tomorrow.”
He winked at Sammy, cut time and space open and vanished.
Chapter Three
“Sammy? Sammy, are you okay, dear? You look horrible!”
Mavis’ soft voice pried Sammy from the trance he had fallen in in front of the coffeemaker. He was so tired that it took all his willpower to force his eyes open. After Dre had left him the night before, Sammy hadn’t been able to get any sleep at all—not because he wasn’t exhausted, but because every time he closed his eyes, he saw Dre’s handsome face and delicious body, which was unnerving, to put it mildly.
Sammy knew he wasn’t perfect boyfriend material. He was too shy, neither flashy nor twinky, and his two-colored eyes were often considered weird. Add to that his tendency to either say nothing at all or bury his conversational partners under an avalanche of knowledge nobody needed to know—as the heating-blanket blabbering had evidenced—and he was probably the very definition of an anti-date, if a thing like that existed. Getting a crush on a demon who was so far out of his league that he’d need the Hubble telescope to see him was counterproductive to finding ‘some nice boy’, as Maribell had stated the day before. The only problem was that there were probably no ‘nice boys’ out there who would even think about going out with him, not if they weren’t drugged.
Sammy could practically watch his self-esteem going down the drain. It was never that stable to begin with, but after the events of the past night, it had taken a nosedive. Maribell and the others were right, though. He needed to get a life outside the bookstore. Sammy was also pretty sure that having the hots for a demon wasn’t what Maribell had had in mind either. There was also no avoiding telling Mavis what had happened, because the woman was like a bloodhound when it came to the embarrassing private parts of his life.
“I’m fine, Mavis. Just tired. I had an interesting night.”
“Discussing the concept of the hero? Please!” Mavis snorted in a very un-ladylike way.
“No, afterward. I got abducted and—”
“Sammy, if this is a prank, you’d better stop it now. If not, I need something the person who did it has touched.”
Sammy actually felt a chill going down his spine at the change of tone in Mavis’ voice. She might look like a nice old grandma with her gray hair, the old-fashioned clothes—she was actually wearing a plaited apron over her light blue floral dress today—and the ever-present basket with her knitting, but underneath that reassuring exterior hid a powerful witch who could kill with a look…literally.
“No, there’s no need for that. As I said, I was abducted, but I don’t know who did it. And I don’t want you to go ballistic on an innocent.”
“Don’t you worry about innocents, dear. I would always verify first.” The smile on Mavis’ lips was a little odd, as if a shark and a granny were doing it at the same time and somebody had overlaid the two pictures. Sammy was glad to be on her good side.
“Anyway, when I woke, I was in some derelict room somewhere in the old industrial block, my hands tied, and there was this huge demon who scared my kidnappers away, freed me then carried me out of the building.”
“Sammy! How do you always end up in situations like this? A demon? Really?”
“Hey! It wasn’t me who summoned him!”
“And you will never try… Understand? Demons are a complicated lot and it’s sheer luck you’re still alive. What happened?”
“He didn’t want to devour my soul, if that’s what you’re asking. He’s pretty nice, actually. And he knows Speed.”
Mavis rolled her eyes. She looked very serious when she finally spoke. “Sammy, he may have been nice yesterday, but you should never trust a demon. They see the world very differently from us, and you can never tell what will make them laugh and like you or throw them into a rage and eviscerate you. A demon on a rampage is not a pretty sight.”
“So, uhm, you’re saying it was a bad idea to invite him over for our next book club meeting?”
“You did what?” Mavis’ voice increased in volume. Sammy gazed around quickly, but the shop was empty. “Sammy, are you aware that not even Maribell’s and my powers combined are a match against a demon? None of us can protect you, or ourselves, for that matter, if he decides he rather wants to bath in your blood than discuss a book.”
Sammy shook his head. “No, Mavis. Dre is nice. He would never—”
“Dre? Is that his name? Never heard of a demon called Dre.” Mavis furrowed her forehead. “Perhaps you have only imagined everything? That would be great. Well, I suppose not so much in terms of your mental health, but I’d rather find you a good shrink than have you playing with a demon.”
Sammy looked down at his hands. He felt like a three-year-old who’d just got scolded by his granny for trying to pick out hot chestnuts from the oven without gloves. “Uhm… I guess now is a bad time to tell you that Dre is just short for Dresalantion?”
The look on Mavis’ face would have been priceless if Sammy hadn’t picked up on her obvious worry by then, which in turn made him re-evaluate everything that had happened the night before. Dre had seemed so nice. And nobody that good-looking could be evil, right?
“Did you just say Dresalantion?”
Sammy nodded miserably. “Yes. Who is he?”
“Just the second son of the demon king.” Mavis waved her hand dismissively, but Sammy could see a hint of fear in her lively blue eyes. “You need to tell me exactly what happened between the two of you. Don’t leave anything out!”
Sammy gulped. All of a sudden, inviting Dre to the bookstore didn’t seem like such a good idea anymore. Why did these things always happen to him? It was almost as if he had a big neon sign over his head, saying You’re a dangerous, paranormal creature looking for some fun? Come here! It had all started after he’d bought the bookshop and sometimes it made Sammy wonder if something was wrong with the building, though it did seem pretty normal all the time. There definitely weren’t any ghosts living there—just Jon in the cellar, but he paid rent, so Sammy was sure that didn’t count. On the other hand, zombies were dead as well, so perhaps it did count and nobody had bothered telling Sammy. He had to ask Jon if he sometimes felt the urge to walk around the house rattling some chains.