The ribbon of tension around my chest squeezed, and all my warning flags went up.
If someone exchanged names with him, Minias drawled into the conversation-rich air, we could contain him. Unfortunately, because of his job, hes been very lax with his summoning name. There are an astounding number of people on this side of the lines who know it, and no demon will willingly take it. Minias stared at me. They have no reason to.
My fingers tightened on my waxed paper cup, sure now I knew why Minias was sitting at a table sipping coffee with me. I had a password. I had a reason to trade. I had a major problem.
So what does that have to do with my daughter? my mother said, her voice thick with warning. Fear caused her to drop the scattered-thoughts image she used as a buffer to hide the damage my dads death had wrought.
Minias adjusted his glasses to give himself time to weigh the emotions at our table. I want your daughter to exchange passwords with Al.
No fairy-crap way. The dust slipping from Jenks was a red so deep that it seemed black.
Absolutely not, I echoed. I scowled and slid my chair back.
Unperturbed, Minias shook more cinnamon into his coffee. Then hell kill you. I dont care.
Obviously you do or you wouldnt be here, I said sharply. You cant hold him without my name. You dont care if I live or die. Its you youre worried about.
My mom sat stiff and miserable. Will you remove her demon marks if she does this? All of them?
Mom! I exclaimed, not aware that she even knew about my demon marks.
Green eyes full of pain, she took my cold fingers in hers. Your aura is filthy, honey. And I do watch the news. If this demon can remove your marks and purge your aura, then you should at least find out what the consequences or possible side effects are.
Mom, its not just a password, its a summoning name!
Minias gazed at my mother with a new interest. Its a summoning name that has no pull on you, he said. The most that will likely happen is you fielding a few months of redirected calls to Al.
I took my hand from my mothers, not believing this was happening. You said I had to pick a name no one could figure out, that if someone did, they could make my life miserable. Do you know how many people know Als name? I dont, but its more than know mine. Done with this, I pushed myself from the table. The chair scraped, and the vibration went all the way up my spine and made me shiver.
Thats the point, witch, Minias said, making the word an insult. If you dont, youre going to die. I intervened tonight in the hope youd be willing to come to an arrangement, but I wont do it again. I simply dont care.
Fear, or maybe adrenaline, sparked through me. Arrangement? He meant a deal. A deal with a demon. My mothers eyes pleaded with me, and Jenks lifted his poker, bristling. Is that a threat? he snarled, his wings going red with his increased circulation.
A statement of odds. Minias set his cup down with a sense of finality. The napkin was next, folded and laid flat beside it. Yes or no.
Pick someone else, I said. There are millions of witches. Someone has got to be more stupid than me and say yes. Give them a name and exchange it with Al.
He looked at me from over his shades. Youre one of two witches this side of the lines whose blood is capable of making a strong enough bond. Yes or no?
Oh, back to the demon magic thing. Swell. So use Lee, I said bitterly. Hes stupid. As well as aggressive, ambitious, and now a basket case from having been Als familiar for a couple of months before I rescued him. Sort of. God, no wonder Al hated me.
Minias sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. A faint whiff of Brimstone tickled my nose. He has too close a tie to Al, he said, his gaze on the ceramic mug cradled in his hands. He wouldnt do it. I asked. The man is a coward.
My neck stiffened. And if common sense makes me say no, then Im a coward, too?
You cant be summoned, he said, as if I was being obstinate. Why are you balking?
Al would know my name. Just the thought made my pulse quicken.
You know his.
For one brief moment I considered it. Then the thought of Kisten flashed through me. I couldnt take the chance. Not again. This wasnt a game, and there was no reset button. No, I said abruptly. Were done here.
My mothers shoulders eased and Jenkss feet touched the table. I was wire tight, wondering if this truce would last now that I had said no, whereupon hed return to a normal demonic frame of mind and trash the place along with what was left of my reputation. But Minias finished his coffee in a final swallow, raising his hand and motioning for the clerk to make one more to go. He rose, and my held breath escaped. As you want it, Minias said as he picked up the cinnamon and stood. I wont be conveniently coming to save you a second time.
I was about to tell him where he could shove his convenience, but Al was going to show up again, and if I could call Minias to collect him, my chances of survival would increaseI thought. I didnt have to take Minias up on his offer, just survive until I figured out who was summoning Al and deal with him or her myself. Demon summoning wasnt illegal, but my foot in their gut a couple of times might convince them it was a really bad idea. And if it was Nick? Well, that would be a real pleasure.
What if I think about it? I said, and my mother gave me a nervous smile and a pat on my arm. See, I can use my brain, too.
Minias smirked as if he saw right through me. Dont think too long, he said, accepting the paper cup Junior was extending to him. Ive gotten word that they caught him on the West Coast trying to ride the shadow of night into tomorrow. The pattern-shift indicates he has everything he needs and all thats left is implementing it.
I refused to show my fear, not swallowing though my mouth was dry.
Minias leaned close, the scent of burnt amber high in my imagination as his breath shifted my hair. Youre safe until the sun goes down tomorrow, Rachel Mariana Morgan. Hunt fast.
Jenks rose up on his dragonfly wings, clearly frustrated as he stayed just out of the demons easy reach. Why dont you just kill Al?
Tucking the entire container of cinnamon into a jacket pocket, Minias shrugged. Because we havent had a demon birth in five thousand years. He hesitated, then shook his arm to cause an amulet to slip from his sleeve and fall into his fingers. Thank you, Alice, for the use of your amulet. If your daughter is half as skilled in the kitchen as you, she would make a fine familiar.
Mom had made it herself? I thought. Not simply invoked a pilfered one?
The cloying scent of burnt amber rolled over me, and my mother blushed. It was obvious by the protests of the surrounding people that they had noticed the stench as well, and Minias smiled an empty smile behind the mirrored black glasses. If you would banish me?
Id totally forgotten. Oh. Sure, I mumbled as the people behind him turned with their hands over their noses in complaint. Ah, demon, I demand that you depart here and return directly to the ever-after to not bother us again this night.
And with a nod, Minias vanished.
The people behind him gasped, and I waved. University professor late for a class, I lied, and they turned, laughing at their fear and dismissing the stench as an early Halloween prank.
Lord help you, Rachel, my mother said sourly. If thats how you treat men, its no wonder you cant keep a boyfriend.
Mom, hes not a man. Hes a demon! I protested softly, pausing as she pocketed that charm. Clearly hair straighteners werent the only thing she was trading to Patricia. Scent amulets werent hard to make, but one strong enough to block out a demons stench was highly unusual. Talk about your niche market. Maybe she was specializing in charms no one else bothered with to avoid competitionand thus lawsuitsfrom annoyed, licensed charm makers.
Eyes on my coffee, I said, Mom, about those amulets youve been making for Patricia.
Jenks took to the air, and my mother huffed. Youre never going to find Mr. Right if you dont start playing with Mr. Right Now, she said, gathering everything up on her plate. Minias is obviously Mr. Never, but you could have been a little nicer.
Jenks shrugged, and I sighed.
I noticed he didnt offer to get the tab, though, did he? my mother finished.
I took another swallow of my coffee and gathered myself to rise. I wanted to get home to my sanctified church before any more demons popped into my life with nasty solicitations. Not to mention I had to talk to Ceri. Make sure Ivy had told her Al was out.
As I slowly followed Jenks and my mom to the trash and then the door, my thoughts swung back to what Minias had said about no new demons being born for the last five thousand years. He was at least five thousand years old and had been assigned to monitor and seduce a female demon? And why no new demons? Was it because there were so few female demons left, or because having sex with one could be deadly?
Three
I set the stack of unopened desk organizers Id bought last month on the scratched hardwood floor of the sanctuary, wincing at the high-pitched squeal of pixy children as they swarmed into the nook of my desk that I had just opened up. They werent moving in for the winter yet, but Matalina was getting a jump on prepping my desk. I couldnt blame her for the fall cleaning. I didnt use my desk much, and there was more dust gathering than work done at it.
The urge to sneeze took me, and I held my breath, eyes watering until the feeling evaporated. Thank you, God. I glanced at Jenks at the front of the church, where he was keeping a fair number of his younger kids busy, and out of the way, with decorating the sanctuary for Halloween. He was a good dad, a part of him that was easy to overlook when he was out busting bad guys with me. I hoped I found half as good a man when I was ready to start a family.
The memory of Kistenblue eyes smilingswam up, and my heart seemed to clench. It had been months, but reminders of him still came fast and hard. And I didnt even know where the thought of children had come from. There wouldnt have been any with Kisten, unless we fell back on the age-old tradition of borrowing a girlfriends brother or husband for a night, practices born long before the Turn, when to be a witch would sign your death warrant. But now even that hope was gone.
Jenks met my eyes, and a gentle dusting of gold contentment slipped from him as he watched Matalina. His pretty wife looked great. She had been fine all this summer, but I knew Jenks was watching her like the proverbial hawk with the onset of the cold. Matalina barely looked eighteen, but pixy life spans were a mere twenty years, and it made me heartsick that it was only a matter of time before wed be doing this with Jenks as well. A secure territory and steady food supply could do only so much in lengthening their lives. We were hoping that by removing the need for them to hibernate they all would benefit, but there was a limit to what good living, willow bark, and fern seed could do.
Turning away before Jenks could see my misery, I put my hands on my hips and stared at my cluttered desk.
Scuse me, I said, pitching my voice high as I edged my hands among the darting shapes of Matalinas eldest daughters. They were chatting so fast that it sounded like they were speaking another language. Let me get those magazines out of your way.
Thank you, Ms. Morgan! one hollered cheerfully, and I carefully pulled out the stack of Modern Witchcraft for Todays Young Woman out from under her as she rose up. I never read them, but I hadnt been able to turn down the kid on my doorstep. I hesitated with the stack in my arms, not knowing if I should throw them out or put them next to my bed to someday read, maybe, finally dumping them on the swivel chair to deal with later.
A fluttering of black paper rose up as Jenks flew into the rafters with a small paper bat trailing after him by a thin thread. The smell of rubber cement mixed with the spicy scent of chili slow-cooking in the Crock-Pot Ivy had bought at a yard sale, and Jenks taped the string to a beam before dropping down for another. The swirl of silk and four-part harmony pulled my attention back to my desk, now barren, making the tiny nooks and drawers a pixy paradise done in oak. All set, Matalina? I asked, and the tiny woman smiled with a duster made from the fluff of a dandelion in her hand.
This is wonderful, she said, her wings a blur of nothing. You are too generous, Rachel. I know how much of a bother we all are.
I like you staying with us, I said, knowing Id find pixy tea parties in my spice drawer before the week was through. You make everything more alive.
Noisy, rather, she said, sighing as she looked to the front of the church and the papers Ivy had spread to protect the hardwood floor from the arts and crafts. Pixies living in the church was a bloody nuisance, but Id do anything to put off the inevitable another year. If there was a charm or spell, Id use it in a heartbeat, regardless of its legality. But there wasnt. I had looked. Several times. Pixy life spans sucked.
I smiled wistfully at Matalina and her daughters as they set up housekeeping, and after rolling the top of the desk down to leave the now-traditional one-inch gap, I grabbed my clipboard and looked for somewhere to sit. On it was a growing list of ways to detect a demon summoning. In the margin was a short list of people who might want me dead. But there were safer ways to kill someone than sending a demon after them, and I was betting the first list would get me closer to who was summoning Al than the second. After I exhausted the local stuff, Id look out of state.