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Carmen’s apartment was pretty nice. It had a spacious, clean, living room, decent size windows, and a modern kitchen. Her spare room had a day bed in it, along with a desk and a shelf full of old books. That was going to be my temporary room.
She tossed her phone down on a small table. “Let’s get you some food. And I’ll grab you some shoes.”
We walked into the kitchen, and I watched as she rummaged through her refrigerator and then the cabinets. “Hey,” I started, clearing my throat. “I really appreciate all this that you’re doing for me. I have no idea how to thank you for all of it.” I’d been so focused on finding shelter, I’d temporarily forgotten about my missing boot.
She set a container of yogurt on the tabletop in front of me and grabbed a can of vegetable soup. “Look, it's hard to find friends around here, hard to trust people. You haven’t been contaminated yet and I’m a good judge of character. I know you’re cool.” She gave me a pointed look that held a mild warning for me not get “contaminated.”
Opening a drawer, she pulled out a can opener and set to work on the container. “Most humans around here will throw you under the bus like nuthin’ and laugh while you burn. Energy is the biggest commodity since it's how the demons survive. Everything is perfectly poised to drain you. They eat energy, it's how they stay alive. The demons, that is, and by proxy, humans.”
“How do they eat your energy?” The yogurt was passed to me, followed by a spoon, and I tore the thing open, suddenly starving.
The microwave beeped as she warmed up my soup. “Through antagonizing humans and doing other things to get an emotional reaction. Or through physical stuff like sex, which is preferable in some ways.” Her cheeks flushed pink. “But even that can kill you if they drain you. They literally take pieces of your soul.”
My spoon clattered on the table, sprinkling tiny white dots of yogurt. “Well, that’s definitely not terrifying.”
Carmen used a napkin to clean the mess and handed my spoon back to me. “You’re funny,” she laughed. “The soul regenerates. I don’t really understand the process, but it does. Maybe spirit is a better word? But if they drain you, it shrivels up your whole body and then you’re gone to another Realm.”
The way she spoke, she could have been talking about the weather or reciting a grocery list. “If I get a sponsor, it better be a good one.”
“We’ll have Laurent make sure of that. I don’t want to find a pile of dust in here one day.”
My stomach roiled, but I was too hungry not to accept the steaming bowl of soup she placed in front of me.
As I dug in, I considered everything she had told me, all over again. So, I was in hell. If I could be sucked away with a vacuum cleaner, I really had found my way to the proverbial “lake of fire.”
“Are there any fiery lakes here? Like in the Bible?”
Carmen scoffed. “Some of the swamps are full of acid and the edges of some of them burn every now and then.” She rinsed out the empty soup can and joined me. “Burn with active flames, I mean. That’s probably what started that whole legend.”
“So, no half burnt up people flailing about in pain. Huh. What about creepy tunnels with outstretched arms trying to grab you?”
Her spoon dinged the side of her bowl while I took another bite of my own meal. “You’re rather morbid, aren’t you?”
Um, maybe? “It’s just a question. Where I come from, people believe all that stuff so I’m asking.”
She finished her soup and stood. “There’s underground tunnels but you’ll want to stay away from those. Freezing cold and plus there’s a ravine that tries to suck you in. I’ve never been in them, just heard about it.”
Fabulous. “I don’t know what to do to stay out of your way. I mean, I appreciate you letting me stay here for a little bit but now I don’t know what to do.” I laughed a little, uncomfortable because I’d never been in this type of situation before, stuck living with a total stranger.
My bowl was swooped off the table and placed in the sink. “You’re fine, don’t worry about it. Laurent should be here any minute, and I’ll get him to take us out. That way, you can feel like you’re doing something and you’ll get used to everything quicker.”
It was amazing how well she read me. “Perfect, thank you.” I glanced down at my clothes. “But what about how I look?”
“We’re pretty close in size, I’d say. I’ve got stuff you can use.”
She motioned to me to follow the same moment the door opened and an incredibly tall, insanely beautiful man walked in.
CHAPTER 13
Brittney
Laurent was well over six feet tall, with shoulder-length, dark, wavy hair. His eyes were dark with an orange-red tint, and he was dressed in what had to have been a designer suit though I couldn’t have said where it came from. He eyed me with obvious suspicion until Carmen introduced me to him.
He didn’t hold his hand out, which relieved me. I appreciated remaining in solid form. “Nice to meet you,” I greeted him, wondering how annihilation occurred. Did he have to touch me or was it some kind of osmosis?
“Is there some type of magical school around here?” I asked, turning toward Carmen.
Laurent furrowed his brows and glanced at me before walking away, Carmen following. My question hung in the air, and I strolled over to the window. It really was too bad I didn’t lean hard into my occult studies when I had the chance. Self-defense was something I would need, here.
