Truth or Demon

CHAPTER 8

“Why would the spell conjure this dude?” Madison said. “He’s pretty much a tool.”

Daisy shrugged. She was beginning to wonder that herself.

“He doesn’t know anything about true love,” Emma said, shaking her head.

No, he didn’t. That much Daisy was very certain about.

“Well, he is a demon,” Madison said. “It’s not like anyone would expect a demon to know a lot about love.”

Daisy had to agree with that too. And they were going to be stuck with this guy until he found a boyfriend for Poppy. At this rate, they’d have him here forever. This was not good. After all, Mrs. Maloney was going to be back in a few weeks.

“We have to figure out a way to make him more appealing to Poppy.”

“If he’d keep his mouth shut, that would probably help a lot,” Madison said.

Again, Daisy couldn’t argue.

“He’s so good looking,” Emma said, her voice wistful. “You’d just think he’d be more charming.”

All three girls nodded at that one.

The elevator doors opened, and they stepped out, staying in the little lobby area. Madison collapsed into one of the peach upholstered chairs. Emma leaned against the wall and Daisy paced.

“We need to come up with a story so that his stupid comment suddenly makes sense,” Daisy said, thinking aloud. “A reason blondes would have a bad association for him.”

“A bad experience with bleach?” Madison suggested.

“Highlights gone wrong,” Daisy said with a giggle.

“What if a blonde broke his heart?” Emma said. “And left him afraid to love again?”

Madison snickered, but Daisy stopped pacing.

“That’s a great idea, Emma,” Daisy said, her mind already inventing a story. A heartbreaking story.

“He needs to be wounded just like a hero in a romance novel. Poppy will go for that.”

“Hey.”

Poppy looked up from her computer to see Daisy in the doorway of her small home office.

“Hey,” Poppy said, welcoming the distraction. She’d been trying to finish up the last couple chapters of a legal textbook she’d been hired to copyedit. But her mind wasn’t on the work, which was dry at best. Today it was downright painful.

Two more heads poked into her office; Poppy should have known Daisy wouldn’t be alone. Her little sister was rarely without her friends.

“Hi, girls.”

“I didn’t expect you home this early,” Daisy said, coming into the room and flopping down on the brass daybed.

Emma joined her, although she perched on the edge of the cushion, looking oddly nervous. She fidgeted, twirling one of her blond curls around her finger. Madison remained leaning on the doorframe, but even in her slouched position Poppy got the impression she was uncomfortable.

Daisy, however, lounged among the gingham pillows, picking at the chipped nail polish on her index finger with no worries on her face.

Poppy usually didn’t mind Daisy’s entourage, but this afternoon, she was a little frazzled. Time spent in the company of someone like Killian O’Brien was nerve-wracking on many levels.

“So why are you back so early?” Daisy asked again.

Poppy glanced at Madison. She could hardly answer Daisy’s question honestly with the man’s cousin—second cousin? whatever—with his family member here.

She looked back at Daisy. “Well, I did have some work I had to get done.”

“You are a workaholic,” Daisy said, not for the first time.

Poppy knew she could be, although the past half hour hadn’t been an example of that.

“Killian’s a workaholic too,” Madison said, coming into the room. She nudged Emma with her hip, sitting on the daybed. All three girls lined up, looking at her almost expectantly.

“Is he?” Poppy asked, even though she didn’t really want to talk about the most stunningly beautiful and frankly most tactless man she’d ever met.

Madison sighed. “Well, he wasn’t always that way. He used to be quite a carefree, fun-loving kind of guy. Or at least that’s what my mom told me.”

Poppy shifted in her desk chair, not sure she wanted to hear anything more about Killian.

But she still found herself saying, “Really?”

Madison sighed again, this time the sound a little sad. “Yes. My mother said that was before he lost the love of his life.”

Poppy shifted again, her attention focused on Madison. Waiting for the girl to continue.

“The love of his life?” Daisy asked, looking from Madison to Poppy, then back to Madison.

Madison nodded, her expression somber. “Yes. It was his high school sweetheart in Sweden. Agnetha Fältskog.”

Agnetha Fältskog. Why did that name sound familiar?

“They were together for nearly eight years and were going to marry. And then the worst thing happened.” Madison paused, shaking her head, clearly reflecting on the story her mother had told her.

Poppy hitched forward in her seat, wanting to ask, what? What happened? But she kept silent.

“Agnetha left him. At the altar.”

Daisy gasped.

“That’s awful,” Emma said, her voice filled with sorrow.

Madison nodded. “Yes. She left him for the minister. They announced their love for each other while in the church.”

Poppy gaped at the girls. That was beyond awful.

“That must have really affected how he deals with women in general,” Daisy said.

“Definitely,” Madison said.

“What did she look like?” Daisy asked, which Poppy thought an odd question, but she still found herself on the edge of her seat, wanting to know too. Despite herself.

“She was a tall blonde. Of course, I mean she was Swedish.”

Well, that explained his comment about blondes today. Disliking all blondes still seemed like an extreme reaction, but then wasn’t she still a little gun-shy of musicians?

“She also starred with him on his Swedish television show. And he ended up leaving that too, because it was too difficult to see her every day.”

He’d lost his love and his career. Some of Poppy’s displeasure with Killian faded. He’d probably just reacted today when he saw that woman. How would she react if she saw someone who looked like Adam? Probably not well, honestly.

Maybe they weren’t so different. She understood both those losses—all too well.

“Well, we’re off to work on our science project,” Daisy said, jumping up from the daybed. She gestured for the other two girls, who appeared a little surprised by her sudden announcement.

“Oh, right,” Emma said, standing too.

Madison joined them.

“Are you nearly done with that?” Poppy had forgotten about her sister’s big biology project, which wasn’t like her.

“Yeah, just writing up our data and practicing our presentation.”

Daisy was a good student and a great kid, and Poppy rarely had to get after her to do her schoolwork. Still, she liked to know what was going on.

“Great. Where are you working on it?” Poppy asked her sister.

“Madison’s. I’ll be home for dinner.”

Poppy knew she should have simply nodded, but her own curiosity got the better of her.

“Is Killian there?”

Daisy paused. “Umm, no. He went out again.”

“Oh, okay.” Poppy fiddled with a pen on her desk, trying to look not particularly interested and fighting the urge to ask more.

“See you later,” Daisy said with a little smile; then she and the girls dashed out of the room. And Poppy heard giggles as they exited the apartment.

“I don’t think we have to worry now about your sister befriending old demon boy,” Madison said once they got in the elevator.

“She totally bought that story,” Daisy agreed.

Madison’s eyebrows shot up, then she grinned. “She did more than buy the story.”

Daisy frowned, not following.

“She’s totally got a little thing for him,” Madison said, widening her eyes with disbelief.

“No, she doesn’t,” Daisy said, immediately shaking her head.

“She does.”

Daisy looked to Emma. “Do you think so?”

Emma shrugged. “I don’t know. But I kinda suck at the whole ‘boy’ thing.”

Daisy shook her head again. “I really don’t think so.”

“It doesn’t matter. He may be hot, but he’s definitely not the true-love type.”

The elevator jerked to a stop and the doors slid open, but before Daisy exited, she added, “Well, and Poppy would never be dumb enough to fall for a guy like that.”

She turned to step out and nearly ran into one of the objects of their conversation.

Killian raised an eyebrow as he looked down at her. “Poppy wouldn’t be dumb enough to fall for who?”