One of the challenges had been finding an armored car attendant uniform to fit me. Not many women, apparently, do that job. Fortunately I’m fairly tall.

Mike was driving.

“You’ve done this before?”

Mike nodded. “We’ve switched cops out for regular drivers when we’ve known there was a threat. Not the fake armored car sting…if the cops did that it would be entrapment. But we’ve done the switch.”

He certainly knew how to handle the vehicle. “The trick is to get them to the place the others are, right.”

“And they can probably sense you, Thea and maybe even the priest.” A pause. “You realize I know what you girls are, right?”

“Does it matter?” It came over a bit too defensive. I was actually interested in what he thought and whether it was right.

“I’d rather have you than a demon. That’s all that really matters. I thought you were just some hunter kid, but you aren’t. I look at you next to Seb, and…”

I fought back a laugh. “Seb knows more of what he’s doing than appears, I think. I think he’s just…really lacking in confidence when it comes to working on his own.”

Mike nodded. “And outside the network you guys are forming. Well, not any more.” He fell silent.

“I’m sorry if bringing you in gets you hurt.”

“I’m a cop. You know. This isn’t really that much more dangerous. And I’m not worried with your friend there.”

Maybe he really had worked out what Thea was. “We’re not angels. You know that, right?”

“No, but like I said, you aren’t demons. I don’t feel…that you guys want to eat my soul, or even just tie me down in a bed and have your way with me.”

I laughed. “I don’t know. Thea might do that…but only if you wanted her to.”

The banter was keeping the tension away. They’d loaded a box of books…fakes, of course. Or ones that just weren’t that valuable but looked it. I didn’t know much about bookbinding.

“I had a feeling that might be the case. Not my scene, but I do know a guy I could introduce her to.”

I laughed again. “Nah. She only does the modeling stuff. For the money, you know. I don’t think she’s really like that.”

He grinned. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t care what people do in their…”

The last word would presumably have been “bedrooms” but he didn’t voice it, because we were suddenly flanked by the succubi.

I saw them now as they truly were. Not beautiful women, but still beautiful, terrible sexless beings with tattered wings.

I wondered what Mike saw.