Blood of the Demon

I sat back, image of the red Mercedes frozen on Tessa’s TV. I felt equally frozen. I’d wanted a connection between Brian Roth and Davis Sharp. Now I had it—but I still had to make sense out of it. Maybe Becky the Cardio Barbie was wrong, maybe it was Brian that Elena had been sleeping with, and not his father. If so, maybe Davis found out that Brian and Elena were sleeping together, and went and killed Brian in revenge. That’s fairly plausible. But that didn’t explain Carol’s death.

I shook my head. I was getting ahead of myself. Just because Davis had been in that subdivision didn’t mean he’d killed Brian. It didn’t even mean he’d gone to Brian’s house. Stick with what you can determine for now, I chided myself.

I hit the step button on the remote, taking the video forward one frame at a time. It was possible that it wasn’t Davis driving the car.

No, a few frames later, the distinguished councilman was clearly visible in the driver’s seat. But there’s someone with him, I realized. Perhaps his wife? If he was confronting her lover, would he make her come along? Unfortunately, the angle of the camera made it impossible to see anything other than a dark shape in the passenger seat. I muttered several nasty words as I stepped the video back and forth, searching all views for any glimpse of the passenger. I knew it was a person because I could see movement, but that was the most information I could glean. I scowled. In the movies, the detective would simply take the video to the crime lab, and a high-tech computer would magically remove the glare and pixelation and windshield so that I could ID the passenger.

“Fucking real-world technology,” I muttered.

Chapter 30

Despite my awareness of the limitations of video enhancement, I still intended to pass the DVD off to the crime lab to see if anything at all could be done with it. But in the meantime I had a summoning to prepare for, so I returned to my original plan of channeling potency, eating junk food, and watching movies. By evening I had a sugar high, the attic was pleasantly cool, and more important, my lovely little storage diagram had a day’s potency and was holding it perfectly. Moreover, I didn’t feel overly tired or drained. Probably like the difference between sprinting a mile and walking it with lots of rest stops. I could definitely get used to this.

I’d summoned in my aunt’s chamber before but never on my own. It felt strange to make my preparations and sketch the diagram in here—almost as if I were trying on her underwear. But I shoved my unease aside; I didn’t need distractions. I completed my usual preparations, readied my implements, then stood at the edge of the diagram. Taking a deep breath, I pulled potency from the storage diagram, relieved as the power flowed into my control with velvet ease—a thousand times easier than pulling it normally, even on a full moon. I quickly formed the protections and readied the bindings, giddily aware that I’d just increased my power as a summoner dramatically.

But right now I had to finish this summoning. I pulled the arcane power into place, forming the portal between the two worlds. I shaped it to the demon I desired, then finally spoke the name of the demon.

“Zhergalet.”

Heartbeats later, a small squat creature that resembled a six-legged furry lizard crouched before me. Its body was only about three feet long, but it had a sinuous tail that was at least twice that length—though it was difficult to tell, since it never stayed still, winding and coiling constantly. It wore a bright green belt around its middle with small pouches hanging from it. Its pelt was a sleek dark blue that shimmered with a purplish iridescence, and its eyes were a brilliant gold, slitted just like a reptile’s. I personally thought that the faas was absolutely gorgeous.

It snapped its head up and locked those gold eyes on me. “You summon in poor moon now not full you summon night need moon always full right?”

I hesitated half a heartbeat as I parsed the quick words and held the bindings carefully. Terms had not yet been negotiated, and I had to be careful not to give too much away yet. I gave a slow nod. “I normally summon on the full moon, yes.”

Its tiny eyes darted around the chamber. “Tessa Pazhel before call me wards for me to make.” I nodded again. That was why I’d called this particular demon. According to Kehlirik, this demon had placed all of the devastating wards in my aunt’s house.

“I am Kara Gillian, the niece of Tessa Pazhel. I have summoned you here to serve me under terms that will honor us both.”

It bared sharp teeth at me and cocked its head. It looked ferocious—and no doubt was—but I knew that the bared teeth were its own version of a smile. “Yes yes yes, offering you have?”

I picked up the canister of Café Du Monde coffee from the floor beside me, still keeping a firm mental grasp on the bindings. Nothing had been settled yet, and even a small creature like this could do considerable damage to my person. I’d shed enough blood already this year, thank you.

It gave a low warble and hopped forward. “Task you wish exchange for?”

I resisted the desire to squirm in embarrassment. “I require wards to be replaced throughout the house and in the library downstairs.”

It blinked at me, then whipped its head around as if seeing its surroundings for the first time. It let out a low croon that was unmistakably sad. “Oohhhh … work gone. Pretty work all gone who make gone?”

I grimaced. “I, uh, summoned a reyza to remove the wards. I needed access to the house and library, and Tessa Pazhel is … indisposed.”

To my surprise, the little demon straightened on its back four legs and puffed out its chest. “Yes yes! Take reyza to remove wards mine!” It hopped up and down, warbling. “Yes yes, agree to terms. Do work again. Pretty-work!”

Sheesh. I’d forgotten what a pain in the ass it was to listen to a faas. Sentence structure wasn’t terribly important to them.

“Agreed,” I said, and handed over the offering. The demon tucked it into one of the pouches at its belt, then waited for me to drop the bindings and protections.

I did so, then gestured toward the doorway, but it was already hopping in that direction. “I think the most important thing is to secure that portal in the library,” I said as I followed it down the stairs.

It let out a horrified squawk and spun to face me, nearly causing me to lose my balance and tumble down the stairs. I grabbed at the railing as it glared at me. “Portal not ward?” it shrieked.

“Um, the reyza took down all the wards. I don’t think he knew that the portal was there.”

The demon bared its teeth, and this time there was no mistaking it for a smile. This was definitely an expression of menace, though I was fairly certain that it was not directed toward me. Fairly.

“Reyza know portal,” it growled. “Feel it strong, know it. Uncovered to use or tell other use. Push through.” It turned and bounded the rest of the way down the stairs and down the hall to the library before I could take a breath to ask it what the fuck it was talking about. I scurried after it, a not-good feeling settling into my gut.

I entered the library to see the demon crouching before the portal, spines on its back flared out and tipped with red. I stayed in the doorway. I’d never seen a faas that angry and upset before.

“What do you mean, push through? There were some creatures here earlier—”

It spun to face me. “Creatures kind? What like?”

“They were small”—I held my hands up, about six inches apart—“with wings and a stinger.”

Zhergalet snorted. “Hriss. Pest. Came through self. Pushed not. Eat scrap feelings.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling as if I was continually several steps behind the demon’s thought processes. “Scrap feelings?”

It fluttered its hands. “Potency. Excess sucks up. Tired you become is all. Pest to swat. Worry little about hriss. Worry more if pushed big through portal.”

I licked my lips. “You … would worry if something big was pushed through? How big? And pushed from where?”

“Big like me not me though. Demon push hard to do. Lower creature push not so hard.”

“Big like … a dog?”

It cocked its head. “Dog what is?”

I held my hand a couple of feet off the ground to show the height. “Black, four legs, long face, mouth full of teeth, tail …” Okay, that could describe half the taxonomy of earth, but apparently the little demon understood my description. It hissed and shook its head.

“Bad bad. Kzak. Not come self through. Push only.”

I was starting to get a headache from trying to understand it. “Okay, it’s called a kzak. And it was pushed through. Why? From where?”

Zhergalet wagged its head. “Kzak sent damage cause. Hurt and kill. One dangerous some. Pack dangerous very.”

“Wait. They’re sent … to a specific target? Like an assassin?”

It nodded, hopping up and down. “Yes yes!”

A shiver of cold ran down my back. The dog thing had been sent. After me? Or after Ryan? “Kehlirik would definitely have known the portal was there?”

“Reyza know he would. Valuable knowledge. Take back status gain.”

I scowled, feeling oddly betrayed even though I knew it was stupid to feel that way. Kehlirik had done precisely what I’d asked him to do—remove the wards. In the process he’d discovered the portal, and when he returned to the demon world he’d either used that information or sold it to the demon equivalent of the highest bidder. Then the portal had been used to send a kzak after … someone.

I wanted to sit down and hug my knees to my chest, but that wasn’t a luxury I could afford at the moment. It had to be after Ryan. Had to be. Kehlirik didn’t like Ryan, and maybe there were others who felt the same way. Besides, who in the demon realm could possibly want to hurt me? Rhyzkahl? I couldn’t fathom any reason he would do so, especially since he’d stated often enough that he didn’t want me to risk myself.

But what about some other demonic lord—one who knew that Rhyzkahl was trying to wear me down to get me to commit to being his summoner? Taking me out would cut Rhyzkahl off from this opportunity.

I gave in and slid down the wall and hugged my knees to my chest. Zhergalet merely continued to hop in place. “I do portal first. Cannot seal one day in. Take much time and many summonings to secure. But make pushes harder can do.”

“Good, yeah.” I waved a hand. “Do what you can. Make it hard for whoever it is to push shit through.”

The little demon warbled and turned to its work. I knew that I should watch and see what I could learn about warding from the creature, but I was in serious need of comfort at the moment, and there was a pint of chocolate ice cream in my aunt’s freezer calling my name.

Chapter 31

I finished the ice cream and felt a little better—and fatter—then distracted myself by going back to the attic. The storage diagram I’d used for Zhergalet’s summoning was intact and still had plenty of potency. Summoning the little demon hadn’t taken much power at all, and it didn’t take long for me to channel enough to replace what I’d used, plus extra.