Neon Blue by E Frost (best big ereader .TXT) 📕

She scratches the back of her neck. “We’re, um, we’re going away for the weekend. Up to Vermont. Apple-picking.” She laughs to excuse such a touristy activity.

Then I remember. Shit. Maine. I should have called Peter yesterday. Come up with another lie. Another reason I can’t be with him. There’s a demon in my house. That’s a pretty good reason, although not one I can share with him. I blow out a breath through the rank steam.

“That sounds great,” I tell her. “Have a wonderful time.”

Lin shifts against my workbench. “Speaking of which, who was that guy that came in yesterday? You know, the really—”

I don’t want to hear which of the demon’s attributes caught Lin’s eye. “Yeah, I know.”

“God, he’s hot.”

So much for not hearing it. I sigh into the steam again. “Uh-huh.”

“So what’s going on?”

“Nothing.” How do I begin to explain? “He’s, um, a friend of a friend.”

“A friend of a friend who called in for you this morning because you’d overslept.” She brackets the word with her fingers. “Come on. There’s no reason to be embarrassed. So you two hooked up. So what? The important question is, was it good?”

It certainly sounded good. My face prickles with a heat that has nothing to do with standing over the steaming cauldron. “I wouldn’t know. I’m not sleeping with him.” At Lin’s disbelieving raised eyebrow, I say, “Really.”

“Why not?”

I switch hands on the paddle and rub my eyes. “It’s complicated.”

“Complicated,” she says flatly.

“Yes, complicated. Can we not get into this right now?”

She shrugs. “Okay.”

One thing I’ve always appreciated about Lin. She knows when to back off and give me space. I smile at her. “Thanks.”

I expect her to leave after the rebuff, but she doesn’t. She settles in, propping her elbows on my worktable, and watches me brew. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you make the magic milk,” she says. “It’s more involved than I remembered.”

I nod. “I’ve been tinkering with the recipe. Trying to improve the taste.” We’ve had a few complaints.

“Mmm. It’s always tasted like boiled cabbage to me.”

I sputter. “Boiled cabbage? Could you have said something before now?”

“Sorry.” She shrugs. “I assumed it had to taste like that.”

“No, it does not have to taste like that. God, now I’ll really have to work on it.”

“Uh-huh. So, are you ready to talk about it now?”

“What?” I look at her, non-plussed.

“Why it’s complicated.”

So much for giving me some space. “Lin,” I whine. Sometimes whining puts her off.

“Oh, come on. It’s been months since Saul. You haven’t even been out on a real date since you two split. And then Mister Sex On Legs walks in – and calls from your house the next morning – and it’s too complicated? What’s wrong with this picture?”

I sigh. Nothing’s working today. I’m going to have to tell her something. Unless I can figure out a way to get rid of the demon in short order.

Movement on the floor distracts me; I glance down. The salamander’s opened one eye and is watching me speculatively. When I grimace at it, it closes the eye and blows out a puff of steam.

“Did that thing just move?” Lin asks warily.

“Possibly.” I switch hands on the paddle again. Now both of them are aching. “Anyway, about, um, Jou—”

“What a great name,” Lin sighs. “Is he European?”

Older, I’d guess. Egyptian? Babylonian? “I don’t know. Anyway, I think he might be gay.”

“Gay?” Lin pushes back from the workbench in surprise. “Are you sure? He didn’t seem gay.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure he’s interested in men.” He’d probably be interested in orangutans, if they had souls he could steal.

“Maybe he swings both ways.” Lin flaps her hand. “But I can’t believe he’s gay. No, definitely not. Way too, you know, über-male.”

Über-male, that’s one way of putting it. I hunch over the paddle. “Whatever. Lin, do you think I’m homophobic?”

She tilts her head to one side. “I’ve never thought about it. Maybe a little. Remember that lesbian couple that came in? You didn’t seem very comfortable with them.”

Because one of them was wearing a vial of blood that very definitely wasn’t hers around her neck. And her aura was as dark as a serial killer’s. “Yeah, I remember. It wasn’t because they were lesbians.”

“Okay,” Lin says neutrally.

I blow a breath up into my overheated face. “I’ve got nothing against it. Seriously. I’d just rather it wasn’t rammed down my throat.” Or blasted through my bedroom wall. “I feel the same about regular sex. I don’t want to see straight couples climbing all over each other in public, either.”

“Why not?” Lin asks. “Physical affection’s a natural thing. What’s the harm in it?”

“Well, I . . . I don’t know,” I stammer. I expected Lin to be on my side on this one. “I guess it’s private. It should be private, I mean.”

Lin shrugs and flips her ponytail over one shoulder. “Sorry, I don’t see the problem. There’s so much sadness in the world. It always makes me happy to see two people who are obviously in love.”

What the demon did last night had nothing to do with love. “Love and lust are different things.”

“You really need a date, Zee. I’m not in love with Matty yet. Are you telling me I shouldn’t be holding hands with him? That we shouldn’t be kissing in public?”

Weeeell, when she puts it that way. “No, of course not.”

“Good, because I really would have to wonder about you.”

I don’t ask her if she thinks I’m a prude. It’s pretty clear what her answer would be.

The smell from the cauldron distracts me. Fresh, like green grass. Nothing like boiled cabbage. Maybe I’m cooking it too long? It’s gone emerald green, so I sprinkle in the powdered amber, give it a stir and step back from the heat.

“Coffee time?” Lin asks hopefully.

“Definitely.”

Chapter 17

I return to the cauldron a half-hour later to finish the potion. The salamander doesn’t even twitch when I cross the pentagram. “Good thing nothing’s come looking for me,” I say to the comatose lizard.

I finish the potion meditatively.