His mates were holding their sides, laughing their asses off as Benny went foetal and I sent a couple of kicks straight at his ribs as he yowled, hands clutching his family jewels.
Strong arms locked around my waist and hauled me back. I kicked and spat, still trying to get at Benny curled on the ground clutching his balls. Nobody stopped us. Nobody ever did – not around here.
"Get off me!" I screamed, pulling ineffectually at Kevin's arms. They were as immovable as iron, and he carried me as though I weighed nothing.
Which, to be fair, compared to him, I probably did.
He bundled me back into the car and slammed the door shut before heading around to the driver's side. I seethed in my chair, glaring through the window at Benny as he staggered to his feet, hands cradling his balls as he gawped at me.
"The hell was that?" Kevin asked, pulling shut his door and reaching for his seatbelt. "I've never seen you do that. Who was that guy? Why're we even here?"
It would have been easy to just snap out some glib response. Tell him I'd cheated, or had a relationship gone bad.
But not with Benny. The very thought of it had my face scrunching in disgust as I fought back the urge to spit the foul taste in my mouth.
So, I lied.
"Some girl on the ward." I didn't look at him, just glared at Benny. "That was her boyfriend. He beat her up."
Kevin's brow furrowed and he looked from me and then to Benny and his mates. "So, you attacked him?"
My fists trembled with my rage, and I had to force my hands to uncurl. There was an ache in my jaw from where I'd been clenching it and tension in my back and shoulders that were already bringing on the beginnings of a headache.
"Lost my temper," I muttered.
"I'll say you did." His eyebrows rose and he chuckled. "Damn, babe. That was kind'a hot."
Great, just what I needed. For him to be turned on.
"Drive," I said, distracting him as his eyes lingered on my bare leg. I resisted the urge to pull at the hem of my skirt. "Anywhere but here. Go."
Amy had barely reacted to the violence. A glance back and then she returned to her own little world. My gaze lingered on her as we drove away and there was an ache in my heart that threatened to undo me.
She was so very sad.
Because of me.
I hated myself more than a little right then.
My head slammed back against the headrest, and I chewed on my lower lip. The impulsivity was all me, but that rage. That was new. A leftover remnant of Chloe, or some latent anger issues of my own that came with dying a couple of times.
Well… of dying and being put into the body of a girl and forced to live a life in skirts and dresses, anyway.
I watched Kevin from the edges of my vision as he drove, steadily and confidently. He had no doubts about his girlfriend's fidelity. I could tell that much. It probably never entered his mind that I could be pissed at a lover who dumped me.
Which, to be fair, I kind of got. It was Benny after all. He wasn't exactly a chick magnet.
"Fuck," I muttered, shaking my head. I raked fingers through my hair and damped down on the urge to stamp my feet and scream.
My thoughts were jumbled, going a thousand miles a second and I just needed a moment to stop. To think. To decide what the hell I was going to do next.
"Stop," I said. "Find a café or a pub or… something." I pressed my palms to my temples and rubbed. It didn't help.
Kevin was immediately concerned though and while he didn't say it, he kept glancing at me. Enough times that I began to worry I might die in my second car crash in as many weeks.
He pulled into a rough looking pub car park on the edge of Harehills. An odd choice, but he didn't seem the least put off by the general air of hopelessness and despair that hung over the place. Hell, that hung over the entire area.
I climbed out of the car and slowly watched the people walking by. I'd grown up on this estate. It had been my home for almost 18 years, and I knew the people. They were poor, but they weren't miserable.
But near everyone I'd seen since arriving, was very definitely that. Lost in their own pit of misery and closed off from the world around them.
My mind flashed back to the demon I'd caught a glimpse of as we drove past and wondered if the two were connected.
"Coming, babe?"
"Sure."
He took my hand – and I managed to avoid rolling my eyes or pulling my hand away – and led me inside.
It wasn't quite like the movies where the jukebox stopped and everyone turned to look at you, but it wasn't far off. There were no welcoming glances, though plenty of lecherous ones.
I was suddenly grateful to be holding Kevin's hand. I felt their stares undressing me and I unconsciously pressed myself a little closer to Kevin's imposing bulk. And, yes, if I gripped his hand a little tighter, I wasn't going to obsess over that right then.
The floor was sticky beneath my feet, and the too loud hum of a fruit machine filled the air as it flashed its lights teasingly, tempting the gullible and the stupid to put their money in it. I wrinkled my nose at the smell of stale beer as we approached the bar.
"What're you drinking?"
The barmaid was old, fat and rough. The kind of woman that had been around the block a few times and was thoroughly over it all. For someone in the service industry, she was neither approachable nor welcoming.
"Pint for me and she'll have a half of coke."
My eyes flicked up to Kevin as I pressed my lips together. Not only was he ordering for me but ordering a soft drink too!
Sensing my glare, he turned to look back at me and smiled. "Sorry, babe. Orders from your mother. No alcohol."
Okay, that made sense and made it a little less sexist.
Shit.
My eyes widened and I swallowed back the urge to scream. What the hell was I thinking? Sexist, for god's sake!
There was a tickle on the back of my neck and the faint echo of Orryn's snigger in my ears, and I grimaced.
We took a table against the far wall that gave us a view of the whole bar. It also allowed all the old leches a good view of my arse as we walked to it. A fact that set my teeth on edge and had my hands twitching to brush my ass as though to remove their eyes physically.
"Nice place," Kevin said, looking around. "Charming."
I eyed him askance. Then realised he was being serious and not sarcastic and just shook my head.
He really was a bloody golden retriever in human form.
"It's a dump," I said, smiling tightly. "The one benefit of it being these glasses look clean at least."
Though why that mattered I didn't know. It's not like that had ever bothered me before. Hell, I'd once drunk tequila out of one of my stilettos at a party once.
"You okay, you look like you've seen a ghost?"
"Just a memory of one," I murmured. My stomach churned and I sucked down a deep breath. "I need the ladies, give me a minute."
"Sure."
I didn't respond, just rose and walked through the room to the door at the far end of the bar and through it to the lavatories. I'd already pushed the door to the gents before I remembered and spun on my heel, almost kicking the lady's door open and storming inside.
There was one sink with a stained mirror hanging over it and I stared at my reflection, at Chloe's reflection, for a moment before I ran some water, leaned over the sink, and splashed my face with it.
It was all a mess.
That was a memory of Chloe's not mine. I'd never drunk anything out of a high heeled shoe. The parties I'd gone to had an entirely different vibe to them and no one was pissing about doing stupid games like that.
Wiping the excess water from my face, I stood up and almost screamed as I caught the reflection of Orryn standing behind me.
I resisted the urge to look back over my shoulder, knowing he wouldn't be there.
"The fuck do you want?"
"Checking in on my latest project."
"Screw you."
"An indication things are going less than well."
No shit.
"I've got her memories in my head," I snapped, slapping the side of my skull with my hand. "They keep popping out. I can't control them."
"An expected consequence of taking her body."
"I didn't take it, did I? You stuffed me in it."
He didn't reply, merely tilted his head to the side and pressed his lips firmly together as though to stop a smile. Those jet-black eyes of his, were fixed on mine though, and never wavered.
"I want my body back."
A shrug of his shoulders. "That could be arranged. A third bargain, though, would bind you to me fully."
I had no idea what that meant, but I didn't like the sound of it.
"Which means… what?"
"Danny, my boy, you really don't want to know."
Despite the amusement in his voice, I somehow knew he was serious, and I swallowed back the bitterness I felt. "There must be a way."
"Discharge your debt to me, and we shall see."
"Live Chloe's life! Her friends, her family, her… her… boyfriend." I almost spat, body trembling. "I can't live her life. I'm not her, no matter how many of her memories you cram into my head."
He did laugh then, long and loud and I winced, glancing back at the door even though I knew none could see him but me.
"Danny, I like you. Truly I do."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"The memories will slow and eventually fade away. The last remnants of her imprinted on her brain. But memories are all they are. She is gone."
I licked my lips nervously. "T-then, I'm not becoming her?"
His snigger set my teeth on edge, but I bit my tongue and waited. "No, Danny. You are, as always, yourself."
Some of the tension I'd been carrying drained from my shoulders, and I sighed, almost without thought. A weight, lifting from me.
I was me.
I'd needed to hear that.
"How do I clear my debt with you?"
He was silent long enough that I began to worry Kevin would come looking for me. Finally, though, he spoke.
"You have seen them."
Just that.
Super bloody helpful.
"Seen who?"
"Demons." If there was a little extra tension on that word, his expression never changed to reflect it.
"Yeah." One at least. "What about them?"
"Base creatures. Servants of another. Find them."
"Their boss?" I blinked, scrunching up my nose. "How the hell am I supposed to do that?"
His voice held the kind of patience reserved for idiots. "This was your home. Feel it in the air. The despair. They are close."
"Doing what? Why are they here?"
But he was gone, and I just gaped at the mirror, staring at my reflection for a long moment before I shook myself and headed slowly back to the bar.
I stopped as the door closed behind me, eyes scanning the room. In a shadowed corner sat a man, face hidden from view, but I could feel his eyes on me. There was a flash of heat on my face that I was sure I imagined. Then he lifted his glass in mock salute, and I frowned, before hurrying away, feeling suddenly vulnerable.
"You okay?" Kevin asked. "I was just about to come looking for you."
"Yeah, fine," I said.
My eyes flicked to the far corner, but it was empty. The man gone.
What did that mean? Did he know who I was or what I was? Did he know about Orryn or was it just some creep coming on to me?
Fuck, I had no clue.
Kevin was watching me with a look of concern on his stupid, handsome, face and I almost sighed. It would be so very easy to break up with him. Blame it on the coma, on a new lease of life or just boredom. I was pretty sure Chloe had dumped guys for less so it wouldn't be that unusual.
But, I couldn't.
I very badly needed allies right now, and it was looking very much like he was the only one I had.
"Congrats," I said, forcing a smile as his brows drew down in confusion. "We're gonna be spending a lot of time together in the next few days."
His puzzlement was amusing, and I could see the urge to ask questions, but instead he just chuckled and shook his head. "Sure, babe. Whatever you want."
Great. That was one thing sorted.
Now all I needed to do was find the demon haunting the estate, and, since my sister lived on that estate, I better do it fast.
Before it found her.