Hollywood Demon (The Collegium Book 6) Read Online Free PDF

soul, they bargained with them.”
    She walked on, slowly. “So the contract you believe Phoebe made with a demon…”
    He strode beside her, reining in his impatience at her “you believe ”. Everyone doubted him. At least Clancy hadn’t dismissed his story out of hand. “The museum is just around the corner.
    She flapped a hand, dismissing the museum and a potential job. “How do you think Phoebe signed a contract with this demon, Faust?”
    “Does it matter?”
    “What?” She dashed in front of him and stopped.
    He stopped, too; a hair’s breadth from touching her.
    “Of course it matters,” she said.
    A ridiculous hope surged in him. “So, you believe me?”
    “Get outta the way!” A deliveryman balancing three large boxes swore at them.
    “Sorry.” Clancy grabbed Mark’s arm and tugged him to the side. “I’m not a demonologist. You should contact the Collegium.”
    “I did.”
    “And?” She released his arm.
    On impulse, he clasped her hand as they resumed walking. After a moment’s hesitation, her fingers curled around his. Her trust helped counter some of the bitterness in his heart. “The Collegium sent out a demonologist twice when I reported happenings like the one outside my neighbor’s house this morning. Neither time did they find evidence of a demon’s presence.”
    “It could have evaporated, the evidence, I mean.”
    “Apparently a demon’s presence leaves a stain in this world for those sensitive to it.”
    She considered that as they walked around the corner, emerging into a quiet street of tattoo parlors, thrift stores and some hopeful if unlikely souvenir shops for lost and wondering tourists. “If the Collegium sent guardians to the site of your crash, they must have sensed the demon.” She squeezed his hand. “Sorry to remind you of it.”
    “It’s okay. The people who stopped to help Phoebe and me dragged us clear a few seconds before the car exploded. The flames and chemicals, and Phoebe’s death, obscured the demonic stain. I’m sure the demon arranged things that way. I’ve been tracking him. That’s why I’ve joined the sceptics’ club and others. I look for certain oddities.”
    “So does the Collegium’s forecasters’ department.” Her objection was small and apologetic as they halted out front of the museum.
    “Yes, but they’re not as single-minded. They’re looking for trouble everywhere. I’m tracking one particular demon.”
    “And you think he’s aware of you?”
    “I think he’s laughing at me,” Mark said flatly, and changed the subject. “Come on. Let’s go in. I’ll introduce you to Bryce.”
     
     
    Clancy looked at the dark and shuttered museum with its gray sign proclaiming it the Museum of the Boring But True . Not exactly a catchy title. “Mark, the museum’s closed.”
    “Bryce lives above it.” He released her hand and strode forward to hit a buzzer beside a discreet door.
    “The boss lives above the shop,” she muttered. “I don’t think—”
    “Who’s there?” An impatient voice emerged staticky and abrupt from the intercom.
    Great. Her prospective employer was grumpy. Nope, she didn’t want this job. To be courteous—and because her grandma would ask—she needed to at least enter the museum. She sighed. What she needed was coffee and space to sit down and think about everything Mark had just told her. Did she believe him? He’d said her grandma didn’t. His family refused to. The Collegium had dismissed his story.
    “It’s Mark, Mark Yarren. I’ve brought a friend. She might be interested in working in the museum.”
    A short silence from the intercom preceded another burst of static. “I’ll be down.”
    Mark gave her a crooked half-smile. “Bryce mightn’t have many social skills, but he’s a good guy. A talented software engineer.”
    “A geek.”
    “The world belongs to them,” Mark said. He looked so ordinary, as if he hadn’t just been discussing demons. The sun shimmered on his blond,