out his hand, waiting for Kate to take it. He hoisted her up, grabbed the staff, and started walking toward the stairs. Kate followed him and watched as he put the weapon back in the vase.
Rico led Kate into the kitchen next, where he grabbed some ice. He rested a bag filled with it on his shoulder and started to relax. Kate watched as he did this, his lean muscles flexing with every motion. Kate took note of his low slung jeans, his bare feet. She could see each muscle stretch and relax individually, noting that he was well-built. She stared at him a little longer than she wanted to, never truly realizing until this moment his attractiveness; he was beautiful.
Kate was pulled out of her reverie by the sound of Rico clearing his throat. Her cheeks burned and she looked at the stone tiles to cover her shame.
“I think I’ve been caught looking at your half naked body before,” she heard him say. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” he added, a smile evident in his voice.
Kate looked up at Rico through her lashes and traced the edge of a tile with her toe. She couldn’t bring herself to look into his eyes just yet, afraid that she would begin to fall into their eternal blue. She shook her head, erasing the image of her discovery. Rico was Adriana’s boy; Kate couldn’t possibly find him attractive, because it was against all forms of friendships among girls.
“What’s going on down here?” Adriana asked, stepping into the kitchen. Kate couldn’t help but notice that her hair was perfectly straight, her silk nightgown tight and short. She didn’t look like she had just rolled out of bed. Kate imagined that she looked much different than Adriana, with wild curls and cotton shorts. She watched as Adriana pushed her hair over her shoulders and walked to the refrigerator where she grabbed a bottle of water. She tossed one to Kate, who opened it and drank nearly half the bottle.
“What happened to you?” Adriana asked Rico, understanding that her first question wasn’t going to get answered.
“Kate hit me with one of your stupid steel staffs.”
“Ouch,” Adriana said. She walked over to Rico and lifted up the bag of ice. “You’ve got a nasty bruise there, honey. You must have given Kate a fright.”
“She thought I was the elder demon.”
Adriana laughed and turned to face Kate. “Oh honey, you would be dead right now if he had been the elder demon. Then again, I’m half- surprised you aren’t dead already.”
Kate gawked at Adriana.
“Adriana,” Rico said warningly.
Adriana scowled at Rico and stuck her tongue out. They knew each other better than Kate thought. Rico was even allowed to break in to Adriana’s house for a sleepover of their own. Kate began to back away, ready to give them the time they needed alone, wondering why she needed to sleep over at Adriana’s house when Adriana could have just asked Rico.
“Where are you going?” Rico asked. “You must have a hundred questions. Don’t you want to ask them?”
“That’s okay,” Kate said. “I’m just going to head back upstairs so that you can be alone. Really, I don’t want to inconvenience either of you.”
Adriana and Rico broke out in simultaneous laughter.
“Kate,” Adriana managed to say between gasps, “We don’t need any alone time, believe me. We’ve had loads of alone time, trust me.”
“What she means to say,” Rico added, tossing Adriana a dirty look, “is that we aren’t together. We’re friends, and we’ve been friends for a while.”
Kate wrinkled her brow, confused. Adriana arched an eyebrow, looking at Rico. Rico sighed and leaned back against the counter. Once again, Kate couldn’t just take what was offered; she needed to hear the whole dang truth.
“Get comfortable, sweetheart,” he said. “I’ve got another story for you.”
Kate stood still for a moment, hesitant; she did as she was told, however, and walked further into the kitchen. She leaned on the granite counter near Adriana, afraid that Rico only made his last comment because he caught her staring at him. She felt Adriana’s gaze focus on her and tried to hide her blush. She could tell that Adriana knew what she did and why she did it, but she wasn’t going to admit anything to her new friend; she didn’t want to start any unnecessary competition between them, especially since they had just connected.
“Adriana and I have known each other for a while.” Rico started. “We lied to you, letting you think that we just met so that we could split up. It was easier to do it that way, so that you wouldn’t suspect that we were both looking out for your safety.”
“Why are you both looking out for my safety? I don’t understand. And why are you now saying that this man is an elder demon?”
Adriana stepped in. “An elder demon is someone who has successfully possessed humans before. In particular, this elder demon has possessed hundreds so far. We think that he is now going after you.”
“Why would he go after me? Who am I, compared to the billions of humans on this planet? Why me?” Kate asked, panic evident in her voice, etched on her features.
“Hey, please calm down,” Rico said, his voice soothing. “You have nothing to worry about. Adriana and I are good at our jobs. I promise that he won’t possess your body.”
Kate looked at him, eyeing his cool confidence.
Adriana continued her explanation. “We haven’t solved the mystery of why he’s chosen you next, Kate. We’re working on it, and we think we’re pretty close to figuring it out, but we need to make sure that we’re right before moving on.”
“Why do you think he chose me?” Kate asked, looking back and forth between Adriana and Rico, trying to convince them that she could handle it.
“We can’t tell you until we know for sure,” Adriana claimed. Kate didn’t believe that she couldn’t mention anything, but she knew that arguing or whining wouldn’t get her the answers she sought.
“Fine,” Kate said finally. She turned toward Rico. “You said you were good at your job. What is it? I know it’s not just to protect me. I can see that now.”
“Adriana and I hunt demons that possess humans. We believe that they shouldn’t possess humans, that it’s not right.”
“And we’re here to kill him, the elder demon. We want to see him dead,” Adriana added seriously.
“I thought you didn’t know who the demon was. And now you’re saying that he’s an elder demon,” Kate mentioned, turning to Rico.
“We’re talking about another demon, Kate. The one that we know is here for you. The other demon is someone that we don’t know, and we’re working to figure out who he is and what he wants.”
“Okay. Well, how do you plan on killing the demon that you’re after?” Kate asked. She knew that she would get no further on the subject of the demon that had already attacked her; she could sense that they were just as confused as she was. Instead, Kate focused on this new demon, her heartbeat already quickening.
Adriana started to explain but Rico interrupted her. “I think that’s all we need to talk about tonight, Kate.” He moved over to her and pushed her gently from the kitchen, taking her toward the stairs. He paused when he reached the bottom and took her face in his hands, making her face him. Kate’s heart fluttered in her throat.
“Promise me that you won’t go snooping around about this. I know you’re curious but we’re doing what we need to do in order to make sure that you’re okay. Do you promise me that?”
Kate just nodded, at a loss for words. All she could think about was the fact that Rico’s hands really were soft and rough at the same time. It had been hard to determine whether it was the truth when he had touched her before. The other times had all seemed to pass by quickly. This time she was caught in time. Kate’s mind was cluttered, swirling around the things that she was afraid of, the things she didn’t want to happen to her, and the things that she wanted a lot of right now. The first thing on the list of things she wanted was Rico’s rough hands tangled with hers.
8
Kate woke up alone the next morning; a note scribbled and tossed on Adriana?
??s pillow let her know that she and Rico would be back before lunch. Kate found herself milling around Adriana’s bedroom after she showered, her freshly dried curls tumbling over her shoulders. Kate’s cream top was cut low in the back and was held together by a thin ribbon tied at her waist. Kate couldn’t help but think that Adriana would appreciate this top a little bit more than the others because of the black ribbon, and especially because it was paired with black cotton shorts. After a few minutes of pacing, Kate decided that she was too hungry to wait, so she headed down to the kitchen.
Once there, Kate searched through the cabinets, finding a frying pan and pancake mix. She crossed her fingers as she looked for blueberries in the fridge and was pleased to find some. She set to work, expertly mixing the ingredients, adding in the dash of vanilla her mother always used to sweeten up the recipe. When Kate finished cooking, she sat down in one of the pastel chairs at the dining room table to eat her breakfast.
Behind her, a door opened, but Kate wouldn’t turn around, afraid of looking too eager to see Rico, afraid of giving Adriana the satisfaction of watching her suffocate in front of him.
“Who are you?” someone asked.
Kate turned, not recognizing the voice that asked her such a simple question. Her eyes found a young man that looked to be about twenty-five. He had a deep tan and sandy hair that was messy, yet short. His eyes, however, lent truth to the