stepped out from between two cars and bumped into him. I smiled as I watched. It was beautifully done, and the demon shifted the cat to her arms smoothly as she flashed a dazzling smile at the mayor. He gave her a winning smile in return and reached to give Fuzzykins a scratch behind the ears…
.…and Fuzzykins acted like a completely ordinary cat and calmly accepted the proffered affection.
“Fuck,” I muttered. No blood. No claws. No screaming.
“Either he’s not the summoner,” Ryan said, “or the cat has completely mellowed.”
I lowered the binoculars as Eilahn and the mayor parted ways and continued in their respective directions— Eilahn to the corner and the mayor to a nonexistent meeting. Ryan started the car as I slumped in the seat, annoyed and disappointed. He drove around the corner and stopped, and a few seconds later Eilahn climbed in and put Fuzzykins back into her carrier.
“I am sorry, Kara,” the demon said. “She did not react adversely at all.”
“I saw,” I said, sighing. “Maybe I was wrong about the cat.” I grimaced and rubbed at my eyes. “Though it’s more likely I was wrong about the mayor.”
Ryan slid me a sympathetic look. “It’s possible he’s simply a dick.”
“I already knew he was a dick,” I replied, then sighed again. “Oh well, thanks for all y’all’s help.” I suddenly felt insanely weary and nauseated. “I guess I need to hit the books or something and see if I can shake anything loose.”
I had a feeling Ryan wanted to suggest some course of action that he could help out with or participate in, but as much as I enjoyed his company, I also desperately needed to not be around him for a while. Too much craziness going on, and unfortunately the mysteries surrounding him made up a big chunk of it. Maybe he could sense that, because after a few heartbeats Ryan gave a reluctant nod. He drove us back in silence to where my car was parked, put the car in park. Eilahn got out of the car, murmuring softly to the cat in her carrier.
“Thanks for all the help,” I said to Ryan. I gave him a smile, but it felt brittle and forced.
It must have looked it too, because his eyes seemed to darken with a tired worry. “I’ll check with you later, all right?” I thought he was going to give me a hug, but he seemed to check himself at the last second and instead merely gave my arm an awkward pat.
I nodded, then climbed out of the car. As soon as Ryan pulled away I turned to Eilahn. “Do you know anything about the locations that Rhyzkahl pulled up on my computer.”
“I do not,” she replied. “You wish to investigate them?”
“The local ones, at the very least.”
The demon gave a slight nod. “I am curious as well. You remember where they are?”
“I do.”
“Then let’s rock.”
I blinked at her, then grinned. “‘Let’s rock’? Where did you pick that up?”
“There was a movie about humans fighting aliens on your television the other night,” she said. “And one of the female warriors shouted it right before she unleashed her mayhem upon the creatures.” A smile curved her lips. “I rather liked it.”
“Well,” I said, “if there’s anyone who knows about the proper format for unleashing mayhem, it’s you.”
Unfortunately, there was no mayhem to be had, at least on this particular expedition. The first location we checked was Leelan Park, however I had zero idea where, in the park, we were supposed to look for whatever it was we were looking for. I was going on the theory that these locations had something to do with portals, but it was equally possible that Rhyzkahl had looked them up for some other reason entirely. Hell, maybe they were places where he’d shagged a previous girlfriend. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d meant for me to figure out what he’d been searching for. If he was oathbound against telling me something that he wanted me to know, he was certainly devious enough to find a loophole.
Leelan Park was a sprawling mix of sports fields, playgrounds, and picnic areas that took up nearly a mile of lakefront on the eastern end of Lake Pearl. There weren’t too many people out and about, even though it was around lunchtime and the sky was fairly clear. But school was still in session for another couple of weeks, plus the temps were probably in the low forties—a bit too brisk for most southerners to want to sit and eat their lunch outside.
I stood by the boat launch and zipped the collar of my coat higher. Now
As expected, after a few moments Eilahn sighed and shook her head. “I cannot detect anything untoward,” she said, “but that does not mean nothing is here. If there is a concealed portal, I would need to be nearly atop it in order to sense its resonance.”
I gave a thoughtful nod. “Which is likely why our bad guy is using people to pinpoint it.”
I already knew about the portal underneath the Beaulac PD parking lot, so I didn’t bother wasting my time going there. The only other site within reasonable driving distance was east, near the parish line, which was also in the middle of the swamp. We went ahead and drove out there, but soon realized that without a boat there’d be no way to get within a mile of where Rhyzkahl had indicated.
I stood on the side of the road and hugged my coat around me, frowning out at the swamp. “Bodies are found out here all the time,” I said, as much to Eilahn as to myself. “I mean, not
Eilahn hiked herself up to sit on the hood of my car, crossing her legs tailor-style beneath her. “Tell me your thoughts.”
A low breeze ruffled the grasses by the edge of the road, bringing with it a moist scent of algae and mud. “I’m aware of these last three victims, mostly because I was on call. But what if there’ve been others?”
“But would not those have been mentioned by whoever is seeking to frame you?”
Pursing my lips, I considered that for a moment. “I guess so. If they were connected to me.” Then I sighed, rubbed my eyes. “I dunno. I’m stuck. Let’s go see my aunt. Maybe she has some ideas.”
The demon hopped nimbly off the car. “And I think you should contact the others and have them meet you there. At this point you need as much input as possible, as well as people around you in whom you trust.”
My spirits lifted slightly at this reminder that I did have people around who I could trust—which was most likely Eilahn’s intent.
“Sounds good. Let’s rock.”
She paused with her hand on the passenger door, gave me a quizzical smile. “You are teasing me?”
“A little,” I said.
She chuckled. “Now we unleash mayhem.”
I wasn’t terribly surprised to see two Crown Vics and a Beaulac PD Crime Scene van parked in front of my aunt’s house. I made the appropriate greetings and expressions of thanks—which earned responses that were variations of, “Don’t be stupid. You need help. Of course we’d come.”
With that out of the way, our posse trudged up the steps of the house. I gave a desultory knock, waited for the answering yell, then pushed in, with the others following behind.
Tessa was in the front room in practically the same position she’d been in when I last saw her, though today she was dressed in a bright red caftan and the book in her hand was
Shaking my head, I flopped into a chair and pulled the cuff off. “It’s my cat. Well, technically it’s Eilahn’s since the cat hates me.” The others took seats as Tessa moved to crouch by the carrier. It was small consolation to my mood that the cat snarled and tried to claw her.
“Lovely creature,” she said with an arched eyebrow as she resumed her seat.
I stood up from the chair and shifted to sit on the floor on the other side of the room. “She seems to hate
