Despite his intellectual outward appearance, Fogg had taken a wildelf princess as a wife. Wild-elves lived outside Mysteria and outside the law. When they mated with humans it was usually by force. A month into the surprise marriage, the elf left him. The mild-mannered doctor had referred himself to Harmony for spiritual counseling. Today had been the first session.
Harmony stood in the doorway. “Well,” she said with a sigh, “that was interesting.”
Damon lifted a brow at his worried-looking wife. “He doesn’t look well, lass.”
“He’s not, the poor man. He’s been through a hard time. I think today helped—a lot. He’ll be back. As for you, come here, honey. I need a kiss.”
The lass knew how to do things with her mouth no woman of God should know how to do, but he was glad of it. He took a moment to hold her close, cupping her sweet face in his hand, savoring the feel of her skin and the love shining in her eyes as she smiled up at him. He’d existed ten thousand years before Harmony. In his mind, life had only just begun.
He brushed one more kiss across her lips and took her hand. “Damon Junior misses his daddy,” she said, leading him inside.
In the kitchen, little Damon sat in his highchair. He squealed in delight, seeing his father. “Papa!” The vase of flowers on the kitchen table jumped, took two hops, and stopped.
“Omigosh,” Harmony cried, running for a dish towel to mop up the spill as Damon said sternly, “Son, I told you no moving furniture—or any other items—without my or your mother’s permission.”
Harmony paled, the damp cloth dangling from her hand. “Are you saying little Damon moved that vase?”
“Aye. I saw him do it for the first time the other day. When you came home from the store and the lamp fell.”
“That was the wind.”
“Nay,” he said quietly.
“You mean our baby has . . .
He tried to reach for her hand, but she’d shoved it through her hair. “We talked about that possibility when you were pregnant, love.”
“I know, but . . .” She sighed. “We thought the chance of your demon powers being passed on in your DNA was remote if not impossible.”
“Impossible is a woman of God falling in love with an ex-demon,” he said tenderly. “Impossible is a former minion of Lucifer finding out he has a soul. And yet, both happened. Aye, love, who are we to say what is possible and what is not? Besides, I’m not the only one with powers in this relationship.” Harmony was a powerful seer, a talent she’d inherited from her great-grandmother. She hadn’t yet fully come to terms with what she was. He wasn’t surprised she’d “forgotten” that he wasn’t the only one supplying their offspring’s supernatural genes.
The vase jumped again. Harmony turned to their son, shaking her finger at him. “Damon Junior! You heard your father, no . . . no
The babe flashed a blinding grin, and Harmony melted. “The little charmer. He has your smile, honey. I’m going to have to become immune to it if I’m ever going to effectively discipline this kid. Oh, Damon, what are we going to do?”
“He’s only a year old, lass. In time he’ll learn to control his powers.” Powers that Damon predicted would grow even stronger as he aged. “It’s of utmost importance that we keep his abilities secret from Lucifer.”
“I don’t think that’ll be a problem, seeing that I haven’t talked to your former boss in”—Harmony pretended to concentrate—“ages. Our paths just never seem to cross,” she quipped sarcastically. Then she noticed how serious he was, and her eyes opened wide. “Will Satan be able to sense him? Will he know what our baby can do? Oh, Lord, Damon, will he try to hurt our child?”
Fear gripped Damon. Anger, too. “We’ll do everything in our power to ensure that never happens, lass. But one day the boy will rise as a powerful rival to the Devil.”
Little Damon giggled, and the ice cubes in the pitcher of ice tea rattled. “Damon Junior!” Harmony scolded in unison with Damon. Then she whirled on him, eyes ablaze. “As for your last comment, Damon of Mysteria, don’t think I didn’t notice you sneaked that in. There will be no ultimate showdowns between our baby and the Devil. Do you hear me? I forbid it.”
Outside, thunder rumbled as Harmony took a seat at the table. She mumbled grace before serving lunch, which they ate awed into silence by the prospect of epic battles of good and evil. A few moments later, the first raindrops began to fall.
The doors to Hell opened with a belch of heat, expelling a single demon before slamming closed again. The forest sang with the squeaks and scrabbling of the few winged subdemons and goblins released when the hellhole opened. The lesser beasts scattered into the mist, off to their wanton mischief, but the demon, experienced and centuries-old, scurried with purpose through the rain. There were miles yet to cover before reaching the hamlet of Mysteria.
Mindful was the demon of keeping out of the sight of humans. It could not be interrupted, stymied, or sidetracked. It had a job to do. Find the child. Kill it before it grew to adulthood and challenged Lucifer himself.
The she-demon cowered and hissed, crouching out of sight as she took on her traditional human form. Her coarse red hide fell away, replaced by smooth, creamy flesh. Cloven hooves elongated into two feet, complete with ten perfect shell-pink toenails. Gone were the horns sprouting from her skull; in their place were jaw-length waves in rich, reddish brown. Slits no longer dominated her copper-colored eyes. They were rimmed with dark lashes, appearing completely human. No one would be able to tell what she was and what she’d come here to do.
Two
“Can you really smell a demon a mile away?”
Quel Laredo stood in front of Mysteria’s wishing fountain, surveying the town square. A breeze whipped his duster around his long, denim-clad legs. Water from the fountain sent mist into the dry, Rocky Mountain air. Sniffing, his eyes in a perpetual squint, he sampled that air, tasting it. The storm had passed, allowing the sunset to break through, but something wasn’t quite right about this twilight. He couldn’t figure out what.
“Can you, Mr. Laredo?”
“Yeah.” The wide-eyed boy was one of the O’Cleary grandchildren, he guessed. He’d lost count of them all. They weren’t a family; they were a herd. “Two miles if the wind is right.”
“Like now?” the boy breathed in fearful wonder.
Nodding, Quel peered into the deepening shadows in the woods at the edge of town. The scent of evil was growing stronger. There was definitely something out there.
“Hey, Laredo, do you want to buy me a drink? Come on, you know you do.” A comely enchantress brushed her hand along his arm as she passed by with her female friends. “We’ll be at Knight Caps. Afterward, I’m free.”
“I’m working.”
“Late?”
“Late.”
“Shame.” Her voice turned husky. “All work and no play makes Quel a dull boy.” In the face of his silence, she tried to recant. “I mean, not that I find you dull. Not at all. It’s just a saying.”
He tipped his hat. “That’s all right.”
Smiling, she backed up, almost stumbling on her high heels before hurrying away to join her friends.
