Mark of the Demon

Tessa’s brows drew together. “Cerise? Greg Cerise?”

I nodded absently, then sat up straight. My aunt didn’t know about him yet. “Oh, shit, Aunt Tessa. I forgot that you knew him.”

Tessa sat down slowly, eyes on me. “Knew? You’re speaking in past tense, sweets.”

“Shit. I’m sorry, Aunt Tessa.” I hesitated, but there was no easy way to break this sort of news. “He’s dead. I’m so sorry.”

Tessa looked down at the table. “What happened?” she asked, voice calm and even.

“Symbol Man,” Ryan said quietly. “We think that Greg was somehow connected to him. We found pictures, photographs, and drawings of all the victims plus several others who we haven’t been able to identify yet.”

Tessa pursed her lips, silent. I looked at her with a tinge of worry. I knew that my aunt had been close to Greg when they were younger, but had they still been close?

“Greg wasn’t a summoner,” Tessa finally said.

I flicked a quick glance to Ryan before looking back to my aunt. “Yes, I know. I went to talk to him a while back, asking about that comic—trying to find out more about Rhyzkahl. I really hadn’t thought there was any connection between Greg and the Symbol Man at that time. But then one of the other agents on the task force made the connection between Symbol Man victims and characters in Greg’s comic. We got a search warrant, and …” I sighed. “When we made entry, we found Greg dead and then found pictures of all the victims.”

Her expression was bleak as she looked at me. “Do you think he helped kill those people?”

“No,” I said with as much conviction as I could manage, knowing that there was a good chance I was lying to her. She probably knew it, too, but it was what she needed to hear right then.

“Do you know of anyone who might be connected to Greg?” I asked. “Anyone he worked with or was close to?”

Tessa spread her hands. “I hadn’t seen him in well over twenty years,” she said, voice colored with regret. “So someone is killing the people Greg drew? Why?”

“Greg tended to use people who were homeless or drug addicts as his models,” I said.

“People who weren’t quickly missed,” Ryan added.

I glanced at him and nodded. “This killer needs a lot of victims. I figure he’s attempting to perform a major summoning and that’s why he’s gathering so much energy.”

“Yes,” Tessa said with a nod. “You’ve been thinking that for a while now.”

I took a deep breath. “But now I think it’s Rhyzkahl that he’s trying to summon. And not just summon but bind as a slave.”

Tessa’s expression sharpened. “And what makes you think that? That’s one hell of an ambitious summoning, and one fraught with considerable danger. Binding an unwilling Demonic Lord? Especially Rhyzkahl? That’s insane!”

I hesitated. Ryan didn’t know about the dream visits. For that matter, neither did Tessa.

“Er, well,” I said, trying not to squirm, “I kinda got that impression after I … uh, last spoke to Rhyzkahl.”

Tessa didn’t twitch a muscle, but Ryan shifted, clearly startled.

Tessa’s voice was like ice. “If you called him to you—”

“I didn’t! I swear!” I said quickly. “No, it was another dream-sending.”

“Another what?” My aunt stared at me, and I realized that I’d only thought her tone was icy before.

Oops.

I tried to force a smile onto my face. “Oh. Um, yeah. Forgot to tell you about that.” I gave a quick—and very watered-down—version of his visit to my bedroom and then briefly explained about the nap on the couch and asking Rhyzkahl about the runes. “And then he got mad.” I shivered at the memory. “I mean, it was like waves of unspeakable menace and fury just rolling off him, mingled with rage and vengeance and anything else horrible you can think of.”

“That’s the nightmare I woke you up from,” Ryan said. “Isn’t it?”

I nodded.

Tessa slowly shook her head. “Coming to your dreams? You should have told me.”

“I know,” I said, shifting uncomfortably. “There’s just been so much going on. I was working up to it.”

She gave me a dark look. “Well, that was his true power that you felt, sweets. He is self-serving and powerful and not to be trifled with. And even if this killer really is trying to summon a lord, I can’t imagine anyone being insane enough to try to bind Rhyzkahl. He’s one of the most ancient of the lot. There are several other lords who would be far less risky to call, though perhaps not as powerful.” She rubbed at her face. “But any Demonic Lord would still be more than enough potency for a summoner to use.”

I folded my arms over my chest and looked across the table at my aunt. “Greg told me about how you two saw Rhyzkahl.”

A flash of annoyance tinged with what might have been embarrassment crossed her face. “Greg shouldn’t have told you that. We swore each other to secrecy.”

“Aunt Tessa,” I said with heat, “I needed to know that! Were you ever going to tell me? Don’t you think it’s important that there was once a major incursion in this area by one of the Demonic Lords?”

Tessa rolled her eyes. “All right, I suppose it is important, but he still shouldn’t have told you. It’s not exactly a pleasant memory.” Her lips twitched. “I was working up to it.”

I glared at her. “Just because you’re my aunt doesn’t mean I can’t call you a smart-ass.”

Ryan cleared his throat. “Ladies, it doesn’t matter how the information was disseminated. What matters is what we know now. This Demonic Lord may be summoned soon and, if that happens, all hell will break loose.”

Tessa waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, no, we won’t have all of hell here. And, really, there’s no such thing as ‘hell’ like you’re thinking. But surely an incursion by a lord will be nasty, especially if he’s bound by an unscrupulous sort, which I’m thinking the Symbol Man is.”

“To put it mildly,” I said dryly.

“Just how nasty are we talking here?” Ryan asked. “I mean, don’t take this the wrong way, but being a summoner doesn’t seem to convey unlimited power or anything. Why is this killer going to all of this trouble?”

“No, it’s not unlimited power,” I replied. “But, like anything, it’s how you use it.”

Ryan’s gaze fixed on me. “How do you use it? Why do you summon?”

I paused before answering. There was no way to explain the full depth of what it meant to me. And I wasn’t sure I was ready to share that much with him. I still didn’t know him all that well, and being a summoner had become a deeply integral part of who I was because of a time in my life that I wasn’t terribly proud of. “I summon … because I can,” I temporized. “And I know that sounds corny, but it’s like a hunger. Demons are brilliant, and clever, and powerful, and each summoning is an incredible accomplishment. I’ve never felt as if I’ve wasted time performing a summoning. Usually I have some specific reason to summon a demon, like if I have a question that can be answered only by one of them or if I want to learn how to do something arcane.” It was a watered-down version of the full answer, but it would suffice for now.

“So it’s all for information?” He sounded doubtful.

“Heck, no!” I laughed. “Come on, if you had the ability to summon a superpowerful arcane creature, wouldn’t you?”

His expression grew exasperated, and I raised my hands in mock surrender. “Okay, seriously. Demons are excellent resources, but they’re also strong, and powerful, and damn near invincible on this plane. Moreover, they’re completely loyal during the terms of their service. Yeah, they’re totally self-serving, but at the same time they’re completely honorable. And once you pay the agreed-upon terms, they give you their full cooperation. Their system of honor is unbelievably complex, and if they swear to obey, they will, no matter what is involved, as long as it doesn’t conflict with their personal honor.”

Ryan leaned against the doorjamb. “So, they’re like the perfect muscle.”

“Think giant, winged assassin-bodyguard, who also has the ability to weave arcane wardings.”

He looked pained. “Wardings?”

“Um … demons have the ability to shape arcane energies, creating protections or illusions.”

“Ah.”

It was hard not to laugh. The poor guy was getting a crash course. “Anyway, some humans have those