“Touch your toes.”

“What?”

“Can you touch your toes without bending your knees? Let’s see.”

He felt ridiculous, but still guilty from watching her, so he touched his toes.

“Good. There’s potential. Do you work out?”

“Well …”

“Aha,” she said as she put both feet on the floor.

“Two kids, work, buying a house, dealing with a dog, sleeping on a pullout.”

“Busy.” She smiled when she said it. “Aren’t we all? Everyone’s thrilled you bought the house on Mountain Laurel Lane. Once you’re settled in, I’ll work out some routines for you. Thirty minutes a day. Do you have weights?”

“No, I—”

“You’ll get some. You need a little building up.”

Annoyed, he gave her one long stare. “Okay.”

“That’s not an insult. It’s a professional observation. Cardio, core, strength-and-resistance training, flexibility. Everybody needs them. You have beautiful children.”

Annoyance eased back a little. “I do, thanks.”

“They’re a blend of you and Lorilee, who I liked very much. It’s clear, from the few times I’ve seen them, you’re a pretty terrific father.”

“They make it easier than I let on. For survival purposes.”

“Part of your job is to stay healthy for them.”

He had to laugh a little. “I think that’s playing dirty.”

“It really is, but also true. Anyway, I’ll work up some basic routines for you. Now, what can I do for you at the moment?”

“Do you do that to everybody? Give them the health and fitness pitch?”

“Not everybody, because not everybody’s ready to hear it. Maya’s one of my best friends. I love Jan. They worry about you, and you know that so I’m not telling any secrets here.”

“No, you’re not.”

He had to move away from that, so started to look around her studio. “You’ve got a serious but not intimidating place here. I’d have thought … look at that.”

Adrian glanced over to see Jasper curled up against Sadie, his eyes closed.

“I think that’s a blissful smile on his face. She’s giving him a chance. You, too,” she said to Raylan. “If she didn’t approve of you, she’d be standing right here, watching you.”

“May that continue. I have to ask your permission for something.”

“Oh. Should we sit down for that?”

“Maybe.”

“Go ahead.” She gestured toward the sofa before going to fill two New Gen water bottles. She handed one to Raylan as she sat beside him. “This is now yours. It’ll be useful for keeping hydrated when you work out.”

“Right. So anyway. I’ve been working on a new novel, with a new character.”

“I loved the debut of True Angel.”

She threw him off—again. “You read it?”

“Sure I did. Not only are you my good friend’s brother, but I like graphic novels.”

And that could—should—work in his favor. “This character will be a foil for Angel—first an enemy, then an ally. She’s a demi-demon.”

“Like Grievous.”

“Initially bound to him, forced to work for him. She’s solitary, tormented, in a struggle against her darker impulses, and to round it up, Angel will eventually help free her. She passes as a human, lives alone. She writes horror stories—or turns her experience and history over her five hundred–plus years into books.”

“Can’t wait to read it, but I don’t understand why you’d need my permission.”

“Okay, well.” He opened his sketchbook, offered it. “That’s her.”

“That’s me! That’s me wearing Hot Stuff.”

“Yeah, you looked pretty hot.”

That earned him another amused glance. “Thanks, but I meant that’s the name of the design, because of the flames.”

“Right, yeah, well … You were wearing it when I came to look at the house for the first time. You had your back to me, and I just had this character jump into my head. Cobalt Flame.”

Fascinated, she looked up from the sketch. “Is that how it works?”

“Sometimes. Not usually. Hardly ever.”

“Are there more drawings?” Even as she asked, Adrian turned the page. “Oh my God, she’s riding a dragon! A dragon!”

“Yeah. Dragon fire. Fire’s her thing. The dragon’s Vesta—Roman goddess of fire.”

“A girl dragon. Even better. I look good. Strong. Fierce.” She kept turning pages. “Oooh, mean and violent. Oh, oh, tormented! I love it!”

“Really? You’re okay with this?”

“Are you kidding me? I’m a freaking half-demon superhero. Well, villain, then hero. Either one works. And I ride a dragon. She’s got a spear.”

“If I keep that, it’ll shoot flames.”

“A flame-throwing spear. It just gets better. Where does she live?”

“Here. I mean a big old house like this, except spookier, darker, but I just figured this house would be the base for it.”

“Now Popi’s going to flip. His house immortalized, and the home and hideout of a demi-demon.”

“So he’ll be okay with it?”

“Okay with it? He’s got the sketch you did of him tossing pizza dough framed in his office.”

“He does?”

“He admires your talent. Why wouldn’t he?”

It struck him, as she continued to look through his sketches, how much that meant to him.

“She could have a secret room, even if she doesn’t need one. And a tower, maybe turrets. Oh, like you need me to tell you what works. What’s her alter-ego name?”

“Adrianna Dark, and I already decided on the tower.”

“Perfect! Raylan, I’m so freaking flattered.”

“That’s a relief, because I’m ready to start work on it, and I didn’t want to change her look.”

“And now you can’t, or you’d crush my fragile ego.”

“I don’t think it’s very fragile, but I’m not changing her look.”

“Can I see it sometime? In progress, I mean. Or are you temperamental about your art?”

“In Brooklyn I worked in a converted warehouse. Everybody saw everything. I have to go,” he said as he checked the time. “I have to pick up the kids from Maya’s.”

When he took the sketchbook and rose, Adrian got to her feet with him. “Come back, will you, when Popi’s here? Bring the kids. He misses having kids around the house.”

“I’ll do that. Let’s go, Jasper.”

Jasper opened his eyes, turned his head away.

“Let’s go, Romeo, or next time I come, I leave you behind.”

Adrian said, “Sadie,” and the big dog got up, walked over. With Jasper right behind her. “Why don’t we walk you out?”

“It would save me dragging him.”

It didn’t save him from having to pick Jasper up bodily to get him into the car, where Jasper howled like the grievously wounded.