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grinned at me, flashing her fangs a half inch from my face. “We were worried.”
    When she released me and I could breathe again, I pushed back on her shoulders. “We’re fine. We got Zola back.”
    “Thank god,” Sam said as she stepped back.
    “Hey, Damian,” came Frank’s voice in an uncharacteristically sheepish tone.
    I cocked an eyebrow and said, “Thanks for watching over ... things. Now please make with the clothes. I don’t want to be pulling back-hair out of my couch for the next month.”
    Frank laughed and picked up his green knit shirt.
    “Christ, Frank. You been working out?” I was somewhat shocked to notice most of his gut was gone. His arms were even showing some light definition.
    He popped his head through his shirt and grinned. “Yes. Have to look good for your sister.”
    I held my hand up and smiled. “You can stop there.”
    “Where’s Zola?” Sam said as she gripped my shoulder.
    “She’s at the Pit.”
    “Research?”
    I nodded. “Well kids, I need to get a few hours’ sleep before work in the morning.”
    “You opening the shop?” Frank said.
    “Yeah, so feel free to sleep in. If I have to leave early, I may give you a call if you’re up for it.”
    Frank nodded and wrapped his arm around Sam’s waist. Sam grinned and her eyes lit up.
    I groaned and pushed them both out of my apartment. “Spare me the googly eyes.”
    “Talk to you soon, Demon,” Sam said as she laughed.
    “You bet.” I waved to Frank as he did the same.
    When they were gone, I closed the door and threw the deadbolts home with a metallic smack. I walked across the Berber carpet in the living room and paused on my way to the kitchen. The heavy oak coffee table was several feet out of its normal position, with fresh scorch marks across the carpet. I was really going to have to replace that old carpet.
    I grabbed a cold slice of barbeque chicken pizza from my vintage green refrigerator. I turned off the ancient black floor lamp and end table combo beside my old leather couch as I tore off another chunk of pizza. I don’t know why I even bothered with the floor lamp considering it did little to light the dark wood paneling adorning the walls and, yes, the ceiling.
    I finished the pizza, brushed my teeth, and double checked my alarm clock. Three-and-a-half hours of sleep before I had to think about demons, werewolves, and dark necromancers. I sighed, killed the lights in the bedroom, and enjoyed my extended nap.

CHAPTER 6
     
     
    I found a package of Frank’s homemade beef jerky on my kitchen table in the morning. Frank made jerky with the intent to melt your eyeballs. Disturbingly, I’d acquired a taste for it over the past few months. “Oh, hell yeah,” I said as I scooped up the jerky, grabbed two Frappuccinos, and pounded down the stairs to Vicky.
    My brain was rattling across the cobblestones in no time as I crossed Main Street and pulled in behind the shop. The lower deadbolt screamed, “Don’t do it!” as I kicked him in the face. The unfortunate Fae-turned-deadbolt opened with a groan as I unlocked the top deadbolt, and cracked open the door.
    “It’s Damian,” I said before stepping inside. I was careful not to surprise the fairies after Aideen had almost gutted me a couple months back when I came in through the back door. The door was mostly open before it exploded out of my hand, the deadbolt lamenting its existence as it smacked into the doorstop. I had time to mutter, “Crap,” before two waist-high yapping balls of green fur plowed me into the ground.
    A chorus of laughing fairies joined the flurry of tongues and nails as Bubbles and Peanut fought to lick my face first. Bubbles clawed her way on top of my chest and was heavy enough I couldn’t sit up. “What are you feeding these things, Foster?” My complaints were cut short as Bubbles’s tongue found its mark. “Yearrgh!” I squawked as cu sith drool slid down my cheeks.
    “Bubbles, Peanut, home,” Aideen said as she