It Takes a Demon to know One : Paranormal Women's Fiction (Supernatural Midlife Bounty Hunter) (Shrouded Nation Book 4)

IT TAKES A DEMON TO KNOW ONE SUPERNATURAL MIDLIFE BOUNTY HUNTER SHROUDED NATION BOOK FOUR BRENDA TRIM TIA DIDMON CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Excerpt From The Demon is in the Details About the Author Also by Brenda Trim Also by Tia Didmon CHAPTER 1 Do goblins bathe? My current bounty smelled like he rolled in pig shit covered in rotten haggis. I cursed my enhanced senses as I hid behind a large red maple tree, spying on my target. The breeze from the water carried the scent of oak and evergreen, helping to mask the fetid odor of my demon fugitive. His overt flirting with the girls next to him made me want to hurl. How could they stand the smell? Instead of trying to figure that out, I focused on a plan to separate the innocent teens from the handsome predator. I should have brought a puke bucket, but it wouldn’t have fit under my jacket. I had to travel light, especially on this mission. He currently sat under a gazebo next to the water. His elbows were on his knees as he leaned toward the opposing picnic table, chatting with the two teenage girls who sat across from him at the other table. It never ceased to amaze me how oblivious the mundanes were to the supernatural world. Goblins could shapeshift and he was wearing a skin suit that would make even the most devoted of females take a second look. Seeing this guy at work made me want to create a potion or talisman that would warn mundanes a creature was dangerous. Unfortunately, that went against the council’s edict of keeping everything in the Shrouded Nation hidden like the name implied. The goblin chuckled at something the blond girl said with a voice too deep for the body he inhabited. Geez, she was practically a baby. She didn’t look like she was more than two years older than my son, Liam. He smoothed back his silky black hair, making sure to flex the thick muscles under his tanned skin. It was then that I realized he had chosen a spot downwind from the girls. That made me stop wondering if it was just me being hypersensitive. And it highlighted the fact that this one was smarter than the average goblin, but not smart enough to cover his tracks. When I agreed to take this bounty from Carnell, I promised this was the last one. I had no intention of telling my grandfather that tracking humans had become as mundane as they were, but I couldn’t risk staying in Ravenholde. I hadn’t recovered from what happened to my family, so this could only be a temporary distraction. Demon bounties brought the best paydays and my partner Max wanted a second office. Maybe in Nashville or Atlanta. Once Max hired another bounty hunter for the Cincinnati office and my son, Liam was fully certified, we would decide. So that brought me to Stinky. I’m sure he had a true goblin name, but I didn’t care what it was. I cared about the two dead bodies in Rustburg and the other one in Farmville. If he hadn’t stolen the gold coins from the Museum in Colonial Heights, I wouldn’t have known he was headed for the coast. I hoped to catch him before he reached Williamsburg. So finding him in Roslyn Park was a bonus. Goblins were mischievous creatures. I hadn’t seen one in its natural form, but I researched every bounty and knew they liked to taunt their victims before they killed them. Humans died every day, so a murder here or there wouldn’t have alerted me to his whereabouts, but gold? That’s goblin catnip, and he relieved the Museum of its stash three hours ago. I wondered what had convinced him to stay. But as I watched him playing with his food, I remembered he had four stomachs to fill. Stinky smiled as if he were truly interested in what the young brunette had to say. My fingers dug into the soft bark of the tree as I used it for support and cover. He wouldn’t attack until he had sufficiently wooed his prey. If he shifted, I was out of time. Like so many before him, I planned to rely on him dismissing me. I was well known in the human world, but not the supernatural one. How ironic. There was only one thing on me that would alert him to the true nature of my mission, so I tucked the crystal Carnell had given me under my black Metallica t-shirt. I wondered what the council would say if they knew my grandfather had lent me his personal crystal. I was one magical portal away from completing my mission and then the council could blow me. Yup, I liked that idea. Personally, I thought the shadow council was a supernatural dictatorship that could take a flying fuck off the Eiffel tower while I grabbed a bucket of popcorn to watch. Love loss didn’t begin to cover my feelings for the governing body in Ravenholde. Stinky stood up, pulling my thoughts from the supernatural shit show of a council and alerting me he was close to dropping his human mask. Time to earn that paycheck. I grabbed a discarded beer can from the ground and spilled the remaining contents on my hands. Then straightened my short leather jacket and stepped out from behind the tree. I shuffled my combat boots through the grass and dried leaves, creating a rustling sound as I swayed to an imaginary song. The girls and Stinky turned to watch me as I approached the paved trail that ran through the park and connected to the gazebo. I held up my beer can. “What’s a