This was going to work, he told himself as he got out his plastic key to the door. This had to work. Last night just hadn’t been enough, but after this, his slate was going to be clean and his head was going to be back in the game and he was going to get to take his pound of flesh out of Devina.

When they came up to his room, Adrian stopped, slipped the card in the slot, and opened the way just a crack. “We’ve got some company. You decent?”

Eddie’s reply was quick and annoyed. “Of course I am.”

Adrian pushed in with that manufactured smile nailed on the front door of his face. “Where are you, buddy?”

As his roommate came out from the loo, Eddie’s hard look changed the instant he saw the female.

Nooooooot so annoyed anymore. But Adrian knew the guy had a thing for redheads—which was why the lovely Rachel had been a slam dunk.

While Eddie stepped up to introduce himself, Ad went over and put his head through the open connector into Jim’s room.

The angel was sitting in front of the laptop he’d bought earlier in the day. On one side of him, there was an open box of half-eaten pizza, and on the other, a Marlboro quietly smoldered in an ashtray. In his lap, Dog was a scruffy pile of gray-and-blond-colored fur—to the point where you couldn’t tell what end was tail and what was muzzle.

Going by Jim’s frown, it was pretty clear what he was doing on the compy: He was searching for info on that girl Devina had murdered, desecrated, and hung upside down in that tub back in Caldwell—the virgin girl who had been sacrificed to protect the demon’s turf. The one Jim had tried to save . . . and been too late for.

“Jim.”

At the sound of his name, the guy who was responsible for saving the world looked up. His eyes were red rimmed from lack of sleep and he was looking hollowed out—so yeah, he was pretty much what you’d expect, given how much was on his shoulders. And yet he was clearly up to the task. That spell the guy had pulled out of his ass at the brick house? Unbelievable. First try out of the gate and he did it on a oner. Eddie or Ad? Would have had to go all around the place marking the entrances to ensure proper coverage.

Kind of made you wonder what else the bastard could do.

“What’s up, Ad?” the guy said as he picked up his cig and took a draw. The exhale was slow and tired.

Adrian thumbed over his shoulder. “We’re gonna be busy for a little bit.”

“Are you, now.”