The_Demons_Wife_ARC Read Free Page B

wailing and its
emergency lights flashing bright blue.
    The man on the
ground made a watery moaning sound and then stirred, sliding his hands under
himself as if preparing to get up.  Samael casually placed the toe of his shoe
on the man’s back and pressed him down hard enough so the man’s face slammed
against the pavement with a thud that sounded like a watermelon hitting the
ground.
    “You’re not
going anywhere—except to jail,” Samael said. His voice was low and casual.
Claire couldn’t help but be impressed by his command of the situation. Even
after the patrolmen got out of the cruiser and hurried over, Samael seemed to
be the one in control. Claire watched in stunned silence, all too aware of
Samael’s arm resting lightly around her waist as the cops cuffed the assailant
and loaded him into the back of the cruiser.
    One thing that
struck Claire as odd was her assailant’s total compliance. Once he was on his
feet, he gawked around as if looking for a clue as to what the hubbub was all
about. What was happening? His nose was spewing blood, and his broken teeth and
lips were covered with blood, but he made no move to wipe it away. He looked
completely dazed, and who would blame him, after getting his face smacked so
hard against the pavement?
    Claire was
left wondering why the man had let her go so suddenly.
    Had he had a
sudden jolt of guilt or remorse about what he was doing?
    Is that why
he’d said, “It wasn’t me?”
    Or had Samael
come around the corner at that point, and the man, realizing he’d been caught
in the act, had given up?
    But why hadn’t
he tried to get away?
    And how had
Samael known what was going on behind the restaurant?
    How had he
appeared so fast? Hadn’t he already left to go home…unless he had been waiting
out in the parking lot for her to leave?
    The exact
sequence of events was a blur, and her stomach sank when one of the
patrolmen—his badge read “Officer Tompkins”—came up to her and asked, “You all
right?”
    He shined a
flashlight into her face. It was so bright Claire had to squint and shield her
eyes. She nodded and made a funny little gasping sound, but anything she might
have wanted to say was stuck somewhere deep down in her throat.
    Samael was
still standing beside her, holding her close to him. His body heat was amazing.
When he shifted from one foot to the other as if to break contact with her, she
was suddenly fearful that she would fall down without his support. Her left
foot had a hot, dull pain. Glancing at Samael, Claire once again was struck by
the intense brightness of his eyes in the darkened alleyway. She felt a wave of
shame when she wondered what his eyes would look like in her bedroom…with a
single candle burning…after they had made love.
    Stop
it!…Jesus, don’t think such crazy thoughts…Keep focused here.
    But there was
no way she could sort it out and make sense of what had just happened. Her last
clear memory was of Sally, telling her she had to use the restroom and then
waiting in the parking lot, feeling creeped out. After that, everything got
jumbled up. It was like she was drunk and spinning around wildly on a
merry-go-round. Fragments and images flashed across her mind with the speed of
lightning that blended together and dissolved before she could register any of
them.
    Then…Samael.
    “An ambulance
is on the way,” Officer Tompkins said, angling his light away from her eyes.
Claire let out a moan and started shaking her head.
    “No, I—I’m all
right…I don’t need to go to—”
    She didn’t
finish her sentence because, when she took a step back, she finally felt the
full pain of the gash on her left foot. She would have fallen down if Samael
hadn’t been there to hold her up.
    “And you’re
the boyfriend?” Officer Tompkins asked as he directed his beam of light into
Samael’s face.
    Samael didn’t
even blink as he shot a quick glance at Claire that made her wish he would say yes.
But he turned back to