Death Mask. Alex Archer

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СКАЧАТЬ like to get some rest, get a haircut and maybe a manicure.” She winked at Cal. “And other things.”

      “There’s nothing I’d like better than doing those other things with you. But duty calls.”

      “Damn duty and damn the department.” Demi’s restraint snapped. She and Cal had been so tired from working overtime and weekends for the past two months she couldn’t remember the last time they’d made love.

      “I think someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” Brigid joined them, carrying the net full of miniature dragons.

      “How can a person wake up if she’s not even getting any sleep?” Demi flung her hand in the air. “Or anything else.”

      As he called in their location for a pickup van, Cal glared at Demi. When he finished, he stepped close to her and said in a low tone, “It takes two to make it happen. I can’t make love to a sleeping woman. And I don’t appreciate airing our dirty laundry in front of your sisters.”

      Demi knew he was right, but she was tense and tired, so she wasn’t giving an inch. “I don’t keep secrets from my sisters.”

      “Maybe there are some you should,” Gina muttered, jerking her head toward Aurai, the youngest Chattox sister.

      Aurai rolled her eyes. “I’m twenty-one, not fifteen. Sex isn’t new to me.”

      Brigid frowned. “Oh yeah, who is he? I want to meet this man who’s taken my baby sister’s virginity.”

      Aurai laughed. “See? I keep secrets from the rest of you.” She gave Brigid a pointed look. “And, no, I’m not telling.”

      Brigid rolled a fireball in her hands, her eyes narrowed. “I have ways of finding out.”

      “Lay off, Brig,” Gina said. “The point is that Demi’s a mess.”

      “Am not.” Demi hated that Gina was probably right, and that her sisters saw right through her protest. “Okay, so maybe I am tense. I haven’t had a break from the job for…hell, since I got back from St. Croix over two months ago.”

      “Fine.” Cal sighed. “I’ll ask the chief if we can have some time off.”

      “Chicago will be okay for a few days.” Gina smiled. “It’ll still be here when you get back, with all the creepy paranorms roaming around stirring up trouble.”

      Cal’s lips twisted. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

      “See?” Demi threw her hands up. “He thinks he can save all of Chicago.”

      “Not possible, man.” Aurai laid a hand on Cal’s arm. “Takes more than you two to put the pinch on the renegades of the paranormal community.”

      “Hey. I’ll still be here while they’re off humping in the sheets,” Brigid said. “What am I, chopped tinder?” The dragons stirred beneath the netting, shooting out blasts of flames. “You understand me, don’t you?” She leaned close to the little fire-starters, cooing as if they were a litter of puppies. “It’s okay. We’ll get you out of that mess soon enough.”

      Gina stepped in front of Brigid. “They stay where they are until we can get them somewhere safe.” One of the dragons shot out a long stream of fire, singeing Gina’s butt. She squealed and leaped out of the way. “Damn it.” She twisted her arm and formed a ball of water, throwing it like a snowball at the offender. The water splashed over the dragon and it hissed its displeasure.

      “Leave it to me.” Cal slipped an arm around Demi and pulled her against him. “I’ll get us some time off.”

      Demi let the stress roll over her shoulders, feeling tired to the bone. Cal’s warm body next to hers stirred up a valiant rebirth of her flagging libido. “Really?”

      He kissed the top of her head. “Yeah.”

      “What about the rising stats of paranormal crimes?”

      His arm stiffened around her middle as if he was fighting his instinct to stay and contribute to the greater good of the city. Then he sighed and loosened his hold. “Let someone else handle them for a couple days.”

      “Don’t worry about Chicago,” Brigid said airily. “I’ll manage fine while you two take a vacation.”

      The paranormal extraction van rolled up beside them and two technicians hopped out, loaded the demon into the back and reached for the net with the dragons trapped beneath. Fire shot out between the tiny squares of fireproof strands. “Ouch!” One of the technicians yelped and jerked his hand back.

      “Amateurs.” Brigid tucked her long ebony hair down the back of her black leather jacket, gathered the edges of the net together and slung it gently over her shoulder. The dragon flies hissed and fluttered as they tumbled inside the webbing. As if they sensed a kindred spirit in Demi’s sister, they didn’t attack her. She nodded to Gina, Selena and Aurai. “See you guys at dinner tomorrow night.” She turned to Demi and Cal. “And I better not see you two.” With a grin at the paranormal extraction techs, she climbed into the back with the demon. “Let’s get this paddy wagon rollin’.”

      Demi couldn’t help the smile and the slight sense of relief she felt at Cal’s promise to ask for time off. If only it was that simple.

      * * *

      An hour later, Cal stood in Chief Warner’s office pleading their case. “We haven’t had a day off in two months. Demi and I are burned out.”

      “And everyone else is in the same boat. But every day we get another two or three calls about strange happenings in the city. I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s as if someone left the gate open and every slimeball paranorm is crawling out of the gutters, stirrin’ up trouble.”

      “Yeah, and do you see an end in sight?” Cal asked.

      “No.”

      “Neither do we. But we can’t keep pushing ourselves like we have. If your team gets too tired, they start making mistakes.”

      “Are you telling me Demi allows herself, or you, to make any mistakes?”

      Cal shook his head, a smile twitching at the corners of his lips. “No, but it could be a matter of time. I’m only asking for three days. Three lousy days in which I can get Demi out of the city, far enough away from here that she won’t be sucked back in for some emergency or other.”

      The lieutenant lifted a file from his desk and tapped it across his open palm.

      “Three days and I’ll pull doubles for a week when we get back,” Cal added to his plea.

      “Okay.”

      “I’ll even take a shift in the paranormal retention center—”

      “I said okay. And stop begging.” The chief held up the folder. “You can have the time off, on one condition.”

      Cal’s heart pounded at the thought of getting Demi alone for three days and all the sexy things he would do to her body. “Anything.”

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