Demons Undone: The Sons of Gulielmus Series Read Online Free PDF Page A

door, barring any potential patrons’ entry, though there hadn’t been any attempts. He crossed his arms over his chest and took his lecture like a man.
    “John, why is this taking you so long? I sniffed her out. She should be an easy pluck for you. You should have moved on hours ago,” Gulielmus said.
    “I didn’t realize I was operating on a quota system here.”
    “Damn right you are. Your brother, Trucker, averages about a woman every two hours on a good night.” He paced and rubbed his smooth chin. “Maybe I should have let you shadow him for a while before I sent you out … ”
    John balked. “A woman every two hours? You mean
sex
every two hours?”
    Gulielmus gave John a long stare. He didn’t have to be a genius to parse the expression. “Doesn’t have to go that far. You just have to get them to let their guards down.” He put his hands on John’s shoulders and gave him a teeny shake. “It’s about trust. When they trust you, their souls open up and all you have to do is stick one metaphorical dirty finger in the waterfall, and they’re gone. And, then you can drain a little energy off them while you’re at it.”
    “So, what is this conference? Are you assigning me a deadline or is this a play-making huddle?”
    John didn’t want a deadline. He wanted more time to talk to Ariel — learn from her. Be warmed by her smile. His plan was to drag it out indefinitely and tag along until she cast him aside. Shouldn’t take long, the way he figured it. He was used to being cast out.
    Gulielmus released John’s shoulders and sighed as he walked to the sinks. Leaning over one, he studied his alabaster skin in the mirror and patted down an errant lick of hair that had escaped his ponytail. “No, I’m not giving you deadline. I’m just telling you to be cautious of your time management. The more time you spend with them, the more likely you’ll become attached.” He stopped patting his hair and cut his gaze toward his son. “You don’t want to become attached.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because you incubus cambions are weird and unpredictable. Sometimes it’s not a big deal if you like someone a lot. Other times, you can become infatuated. Crazed. They become obsessions.
Quarry
, even.”
    “That doesn’t sound good.” John shifted his weight and studied the toes of his boots. Did he feel obsessed? Didn’t seem like it, but would he know if he was?
    “Seriously.” Gulielmus leaned his butt against the sink edge and narrowed his eyes. “I’ve had to put one of my children out of his misery because of it before. I wouldn’t want to have to do that to you.”
    John gulped.
Jeez.
“I see.” He may not have been particularly ambitious, but his sense of self-preservation was pretty damn well-calibrated. He valued his life. Wanted to keep it a little while longer. How long did cambions live, anyway? He should probably find out.
    Gulielmus straightened up and extended his hand.
    This time John knew the drill. His put his hand in his father’s, palm up.
    “Good. It took,” the demon said, dropping the hand.
    John studied his palm and didn’t see anything unusual about it. Just the usual lines and calluses. “Why wouldn’t it?”
    With a gallant shrug, Gulielmus extracted a wallet from his slacks pocket. He leafed through the billfold and pinched out some currency.
    John took it without counting it.
    “I’ve got to go check on one of your sisters. She’s in rehab again. Call me if you need me.” Gulielmus vanished without so much as a finger-snap.
    John blew out a breath and wrapped his fingers around the door handle, idling there for a while as he pulled his thoughts together. Time to go secure the soul of the pretty lady.
    He kept repeating it to himself like a mantra, ready to use his demonic charms on her to put her where he wanted her — assuming he could figure out the magic — but when returned to the table and found she’d freed that dark brown hair from its ponytail so it