She gave me a sly smile. “And I made this for you.” It was a heavy gold ring, free of decoration except for a single dimple on the surface. “It’s basically useless to anyone but a magitek, because it doesn’t have a physical activating mechanism,” she said. “If you do activate it, it will spray the small amount of demonbane inside. Range is about three feet. It won’t fend off a room full of demons, but it should discourage one. If you use it, you’ll have to bring it back so I can recharge it.”
I slipped it on my right ring finger, and it fit perfectly.
“You’re wonderful,” I said.
“Yes, I know. I’ve also had experience with men getting a little too excited.” She turned serious. “Dani, what’s going on?”
I stopped and thought about it. “Olivia and Osiris told me that there’s a lot of tension between the Families right now, and it seems I managed to stumble into the middle of it. Evidently someone thinks Johansson’s scandal can be controlled by taking me out.”
“Well, damn. You be careful, okay?”
As we walked back toward the front of the shop, I said, “You wouldn’t happen to have something like that attractant that works on human men, do you?”
“Pheromones, and you don’t need any. Your problems with men are all in your head.”
“The ones I want are never attracted to me.”
“As soon as a man is attracted to you, you panic and push them away. You make up some excuse as to why he isn’t suitable, and that’s the end of it.”
We had come within earshot of the front room, so I couldn’t argue with her anymore. What she’d said was so unfair, but we’d had the argument before, and she always had to be right.
“When are your shifts?” I asked Arnold.
“Tim and I will pick her up at your house in the mornings and escort her down here. Linda and Simone will be here in a couple of hours, and they’ll stay with her through the evening. Jorge and Linette will take over at night. We gave her a pager, and if anything goes wrong, it will send a signal to Osiris.”
“Let me see it,” I said, turning to Kirsten. She pulled it out of her pocket. It was a magitek device I had made, and it was impervious to electronic jamming. If it was broken, it would send that signal to Osiris with its last gasp.
“One of you ride a bike?” I asked. Kirsten owned a van through her business, but a motorcycle I had built was her personal ride.
“One of us on every shift,” Arnold replied. “Part of why we were picked. The other one is driving a Family car.” And I knew that car would be armored.
I nodded and turned to Kirsten. “I’ll see you at home. I think I’m going out tonight, but I’m not sure. Maybe tomorrow.”
“Okay. I’ll come along if you want me to.”
I drew her into a hug. I wasn’t sure if I would let her go with me, considering the circumstances, but it felt good to know she always had my back.
Chapter 30
I drove back to the station to meet with Whittaker and Novak. I explained the spells Kirsten had whipped up for me, and we sought to devise a plan. Getting in to see Ashvial was only a first step, and I wasn’t sure what to do past the initial contact.
“I mean, what do I do? Ask him if he’s trafficking humans? Demons lie as much as lawyers. If I ask him what color the sky is, he might lie just to keep in practice.”
“Try an indirect approach,” Novak suggested. “Tell him you’re investigating Johansson’s death, and that we found records of business transactions between Johansson and him. Then ask if he knows anyone who might have a beef with Johansson.”
“Or ask him about his business ties to Akiyama, and then scale back to his business with Johansson,” Whittaker said.
“Have either of you dealt extensively with demons?” I asked. “They are like lie detectors, especially one as strong as Ashvial. He’ll be able to hear my pulse, smell my sweat. And he doesn’t give a damn about our laws or societal norms. Killing me wouldn’t bother him at all. If you sent in a SWAT team to take over the place, he might just light it all on fire and stand there in the flames laughing at us.”
“Okay, what do you suggest?” Whittaker asked.
I slumped in my chair. “Hell, I don’t know. Ask him pretty-please to give Sarah Benning back and try to hold down the number of Family heads he kills?”
After another half an hour of fruitless discussion, Whittaker said, “Let’s try this. Go talk to him. Mychal, take some more men and wait outside for her. Cover all the exits. Danica, take the direct approach. Tell him that we’ve found connections between him and a ring trafficking humans. Don’t accuse him of being involved. Just tell him you’d appreciate any help he might provide in finding the Benning girl, and we would show that appreciation by turning our investigations in other directions. Got it?”
“Yeah.” It made sense. Although it irked me to give the demon a pass, we really couldn’t do much to him. We could imprison him if we managed to capture him, but it would only be an inconvenience to him. And God help us if he ever managed to break free. An execution would risk another war with his entire sept coming down on us. A demon lord wasn’t someone to trifle with.
I called Kirsten and told her I would be late and catch dinner before I went home. Novak and I gathered five mage cops who I knew wouldn’t be stupid enough to challenge a demon lord, and we all drove over to Lucifer’s Lair.
We stationed a cop at each side exit, and two at the
