Monster - A. Lee Martinez [23]
“It was his fault.” Monster pointed to the paper gnome. “Not mine.”
Chester uttered a stifled peep and retreated. He knew better than to be nearby when Liz was mad. Paper and enraged demons did not mix.
She stalked forward and raised a finger to poke Monster in the chest, but changed her mind. “You know what? Forget it. Why do I even bother? I should know better than to count on you.” She glanced down at the six footprints burned into the carpet. “That’s just great. Look what you made me do.”
The heat faded. She went to the sofa and started back on her doll.
Monster debated on whether to make up or not. Sometimes it was better to leave things alone, give Liz time to boil. When she burned hot, it was usually over quickly. Other times, she simmered with a low, steady heat that could build to an explosion, usually figurative, sometimes literal.
She didn’t like to talk about it, but sin was a high-pressure job. It wasn’t hard to get people to do bad things, but competition was stiff in her demon-eat-demon world. A demon was only as good as her last inspired atrocity, and even that didn’t count for much.
She wasn’t mad at him. He wouldn’t give a damn about that. She was sad. That always bothered him. He didn’t know why, considering his misery didn’t usually register with her. But that was what she was, and regardless of the logic behind it, he was mildly fond of her.
“I’m sorry, baby. Really, I am, but there was this kojin and—”
“There’s always something,” she said. “Don’t get mad at me just because you’re unhappy with your job,” he said. “Maybe if you’d listened to me you wouldn’t be in this mess. I told you that the temptation and corruption racket were pretty full up here. What’d you expect?”
It’d just slipped out, and he bit his lip. “You never believed in me,” she said softly.
He slid closer. “You said it yourself. It’s an old devils’ club. All the good jobs were taken centuries ago. You’ve only been upside for a few years now. You can’t expect to make assistant to head of gluttony overnight.”
She didn’t look at him as she tossed the doll onto the coffee table. She folded her arms and frowned at her feet. “It’s just frustrating. I know I’m qualified for that job.”
“I know you are, too.” He put his hand under her chin and raised her head toward his. “Remember that time we went to the pizza buffet and you hexed that guy to eat until they had to call the paramedics because they thought his stomach had split open?”
She smiled at him. “That was fun.”
“And what about when you slipped those addictive ingredients into those bake sale cookies?”
“Oh, yeah.” Liz slapped him playfully on the shoulder. “Those kids were tearing each other apart for that last one!”
“I’ll never forget when that little girl broke that chunky kid’s arm. What was it she screamed?”
Monster and Liz remembered in unison. “That’s mine, fat-ass!”
They laughed, and Monster remembered how beautiful Liz could be when she laughed. Shame it always had to be at other people’s expense, but nobody was perfect.
Liz was suddenly kissing him as she started to pull off his T-shirt.
“I want you,” she whispered in his ear, and for the first time in a long while, he wanted her too.
They had sex on the sofa, and it was good. It’d been a long time since he’d seen any passion in her eyes. True, the passion didn’t originate from him but from her fond delight of her own cruel accomplishments. But Monster wasn’t picky.
Afterward, they lay sprawled on the sofa. It wasn’t a comfortable fit, but they made do.
She almost immediately slipped back into a sullen mood. “I just know they’ll give that promotion to that suck-up incubus in the mailroom. Blessed brownnoser.”
Monster said, “Work sucks.”
“Yes, work sucks.”
She slid away from him. Liz wasn’t much for cuddling in the afterglow.
“How are you going to work now?”
“I’ve got a ride,” he said. “At least, for tomorrow.”
“Who with?”
“Just some woman who wants to go on a ride-along.”
“Really.”
Liz’s tone was flat. Not surprising. She wasn’t the jealous type. She didn