Demon Night Read Free Page A

spiraled around the evergreen branches, though the holidays had passed four months earlier. Steam floated from the ventilation hoods over the kitchen and caught the streetlights in front of Cole’s, then dissipated as it rose. The scent of grease and fried potatoes it carried did not fade as easily.
    Old Matthew called the roof garden his little piece of Heaven; when Charlie had utilized the sand-filled planter that doubled as an ashtray at the end of the swing, it had been hers. Still was.
    She’d kicked the habit, but the scene was too good not to revisit. Though the old movie theater across the street obscured most of the downtown skyline, there was just enough glitter to offer a lovely view.
    The chill from the seat soaked through her black cotton pants, but the canvas awning had kept it dry. A push of her foot sent it swinging, and she fished her cell phone from her coat. For the space of a few seconds, the rocking tempo perfectly matched the ring of the phone.
    Jane answered on an upswing. “ Char -lie.”
    Charlie’s brows rose. She’d heard a couple of men say her name like that, but never her older sister. “I’m just checking to make sure you haven’t forgotten about lunch tomorrow.”
    “Nuh-uh. I wrote it on a sticky. It’s stuck on the fridge at home.”
    “Fridge” was kind of a moan, too. Charlie unwrapped a piece of gum—not the square kind anymore—and folded it over her tongue before she said, “Actually, I wrote it. You just stuck it.” At home? “Are you still at the lab?”
    “Yeah.”
    Charlie rolled her eyes. “Did you remember to eat today?”
    “Uh-huh. We ordered in. Sushi. And wine.” A giggle came through the earpiece. Jane didn’t giggle.
    “You’re with Dylan,” Charlie guessed. “Isn’t this why you moved in with him? It still shocks me that Legion doesn’t dock you both for…what’s the word? It starts with F .”
    “Fraternization?”
    “That’s good enough. With the regional head, while you’re at work. Isn’t there a policy against that kind of thing?” It seemed like there should be, but Charlie couldn’t be sure; both the corporate and academic research worlds were mysteries to her. Jane’s descriptions of internal politics, red tape, and the hoops she had to jump through at Legion Laboratories could have been set in another universe.
    “Nuh-uh.” Breathily. And her ridiculously articulate—if absentminded—sister was spouting two-syllable nonwords.
    “Oh, Jesus,” Charlie realized. “You’re fraternizing him right now. Naked?”
    “Almost.”
    Charlie tried not to imagine that, even though Dylan was…well, yummy. All dark hair and eyes and sinful lips. But he was her sister’s, and they were so cute together. “Why didn’t you say something?”
    “I couldn’t decide if that would be more awkward.”
    “Nerd. You didn’t have to answer the phone.”
    “It was you.”
    “Aw, that’s sweet. Except now I feel dirty.”
    “Imagine how I feel.” The dry tone was familiar—it was Jane .
    Charlie grinned at the phone. “Alrighty then. Try not to be naked at noon.”
    “I’ll try.”
    That ended on a bit of a scream, and Charlie hastily disconnected. The call time flashed up at her from the backlit screen: fifty-six seconds. Her smile faded.
    Adding in the minute it had probably taken to come up here, she had thirteen minutes before she had to return. Shit.
    She should have brought a book. Or her knitting bag. How long had she been relying on Jane being available when she needed a distraction? God knew Charlie had been dependent enough in her life; she should have recognized the signs by now.
    But she shouldn’t be feeling this envy. If anyone deserved happiness, it was Jane. Charlie didn’t know if Dylan deserved her sister, but if Jane was happy with him, Charlie would be, as well.
    With effort, she forced away the self-pity—that emotion was addictive, too.
    She rocked a little harder, let her head fall back against the cushion,