"You know Robbins, don't you?" 

The question came from me as we were walking towards a nearby taxi rank, a bag of cash strapped to my back along with the folder I hadn't had a chance to look at last night. 

But that was okay. I had a glance at it this morning and I wouldn't have missed the previous evening for my life, let alone work. Carmen had reacted the best possible way to me exposing myself, and it was completely unexpected but amazing, a blessing in these dark times. I'd never been loved before. 

She wasn't as cosy with me now as she had been, however. I'd noticed a change in her this morning: she was still reasonably affectionate but she moved with caution, unable to hide the wariness in her gaze. I understood how she felt but it was frustrating- hadn't I made it clear that I had no intention of hurting her? 

And I'd been explaining to her what was going on with the book and everything, and surely that showed I had some good in me. But to be fair to her what good could I do to make up for killing forty people? 

"Yes I do, and I'm certain that the same woman would never hurt a fly, let alone send a load of men to kill people." 

I frowned. "Sometimes appearances can be deceptive. How do you know her?" 

"She's the head of the chain of social work outlets I'm employed it. But she's been good to me. In fact she employed me personally when I was going through a rough patch, and I owe her a lot." Her tone had turned defensive. "There's no way she'd make anyone kill people, even if they were mafia men." 

I narrowed my eyes. Was Carmen just being naive or did she have a point? After all, she knew Robbins a lot better than I did. 

"I'm not saying I can explain what happened and who did it," she declared, folding her arms as we walked. "I'm just saying it doesn't add up with the caring woman I know." 

I nodded. "I guess we'll find out soon." 

We turned a corner and the street opened up to a busier road. I tightened my grip on Carmen's hand and quickened my pace, not liking the vulnerability in such an open space. Who knew who could be watching. 

I turned to Carmen to make sure she was keeping up and she was, but she was smirking- an expression at odds with our situation. 

"What?" I slowed down slightly to scrutinise her. 

She shook her head and laughed. "I was just thinking about what you told me last night."

"Could you be a bit more specific?" 

I didn't think yesterday was a laughing matter but clearly I was missing something. 

"It's just I've always noticed a difference between you in the daytime and the night." 

"Really?" I was surprised, although I shouldn't have been. But my demonic half was generally well-behaved when it came to Carmen. "In what way?" 

She blushed. "You're just more...intense. And impulsive."

We'd been walking until we reached a queue for a payphone and we stopped, remembering that I needed to contact Dev somehow. It was my turn to smirk as I rested my arm on the glass box and titled my body towards Carmen, who had stopped particularly close to me. 

"Tell me more." I was laughing internally as her cheeks blazed. 

"Well," she stopped for a second and glared at me. "I'm not going to say unless you stop mocking me." 

I sobered up slightly but I couldn't help the small smile on my face. "Fine." 

She rolled her eyes at me and continued. "You always seemed to get more...over-protective, even possessive at times. Like do you remember when you saw that guy chatting me up in Italy?" 

"Yes," I growled, my mood turning sour. "He was a bastard." 

She shook her head. "You completely overreacted. The poor guy almost shit himself. He was just being nice." 

"Don't defend him. He got what he deserved." 

"No he didn't. He apologised and was really nice about it all." She smirked. "I felt embarrassed. I can't go anywhere with you." 

"Are you laughing at me?" I wrapped my free arm around her and tugged her even closer to me, so that her face was almost touching my chest.

She gave me an apologetic kiss, her soft lips brushing delicately over mine. "Yes I am." 

"I'm glad you find me amusing." My voice was sullen but a smile was threatening to push through again. 

"Don't be grumpy. That's another thing! Your temper is bad when you're you know what. Like the time Gerald called me a slut, or even when you found I'd been drinking a lot by myself. You were scary." 

I took my arm off the booth and stroked her face. "I think in both of those instances I had good reason to be mad." 

"I know." She looked away and checked around us for any eavesdroppers, but she dropped her voice down to a whisper anyway. "I think that's what scares me most about all of this. I've seen how powerful and strong you are and I wonder what would happen if I pushed you too far. I really don't want to see the full extent of your fury."  

I clenched my jaw. "How many times do I have to tell you that I won't hurt you? Trust me. Please." 

"I know you won't hurt me physically, but mentally..."

I let out a sigh and nodded, finally understanding what she meant. "I can't promise I won't lose my temper with you because your lack of self-preservation is infuriating, but I will try to be more...considerate." 

"Maybe you should try anger management classes." 

"No chance," I snorted, ending the conversation. The woman in the phone booth finally finished her conversation and as she left we stepped in. There was barely enough space for the both of us. 

"Are you sure you don't want me to wait outside?" 

"Positive," I smirked, wrapping an arm around her. "Do you have fifty cents?"

I felt rather than saw her rolling her eyes, although I could swear that she was smiling. "Yes. Hold on." 

She got the change out of her purse and put it into the phone box. I switched our bodies around and typed in the number I'd written down and dialled Dev. I turned so that my back was leaning against the box as I put the phone to my ear, staring down at Carmen intensely as I waited for my call to be answered. She blushed and looked away, casting lustful glances back at me when she thought I'd have looked away. But I didn't. 

After about six beeps Dev finally picked up. "Hello?" 

"Hey Dev, it's me." 

"Roman? Where the hell are you? Everyone's been looking for you! You're in deep shit." 

"So someone has talked to you then?" 

"Yeah. A couple of Hunter Demons came sniffing last night but I didn't tell them anything. Anyway what's our next move? I don't think Satan is going to give you another chance, mate. I reckon he knows about the book although he hasn't said anything about it." 

Carmen was squirming under my gaze, and I paused for a moment to smirk at her. "We're going to go to Robbins to warn her about what's happened, and hopefully get a good look at the book." 

"Who's we?" 

"Me and my girlfriend, Carmen." 

"Is she hot?" 

I stiffened. "She's not available." 

He laughed. "Chill out! I was joking. Anyway, I'll meet you at her house tomorrow. It'd be too suspicious if I left the day after those guys came snooping. What's the address?"

I told him where she lived and I vaguely heard him scribbling in the background. 

"Thanks. See you tomorrow." 

"Bye." I cut the call and we left the cramped phone box, an elderly man taking our place almost immediately. 

"What did he say about me?" 

"Nothing." I rolled my eyes. Dev was such a moron sometimes. 

"Do you think he'll like me?" She said nervously, biting her lip softly as we began walking again. 

"Dev's a man. He'll definitely like you." I scowled darkly, wishing that I could continue to keep that part of my life separate from her. I didn't want Carmen to meet any more lusty demons than what was necessary, but it seemed like here I didn't have a choice. 

Maybe she had a good point about anger management classes. I knew I'd need them if Dev got too cosy with her.  

Not that I'd let him anyway. I was too damn possessive, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon. She was too desirable for her own good.