Mark of the Demon (Kara Gillian 1)

Was he flirting with me? “No, I mean, any company, not just male company. Though I don’t have any of that either. Crap! I mean … Crap.” I pulled the door all the way open. “Just come in,” I growled, turning away and stalking down the hall to the kitchen before I could humiliate myself any further, if that was even possible. Why didn’t I just tell him straight out that I hadn’t had a boyfriend in three years? And that I hadn’t gotten laid in—

I winced as I scooped coffee into the coffeemaker. No, I’d gotten laid just a couple of weeks ago. Though technically I could still claim that I hadn’t had a man in a while.

I dumped the water into the top of the machine and jammed the start button, then turned back to him. He stood in the doorway of the kitchen, leaning against the jamb with his hands in his pockets, watching me with an amused yet puzzled expression on his face.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to bring up a sore subject.”

I shook my head. “No. It’s not like that.” I tugged the belt a little tighter. “I just don’t like people coming out here. I don’t really like having visitors.” I realized after the words left my mouth how rude that had sounded.

But he didn’t seem to be at all fazed. His gaze traveled around the kitchen, taking in the spotless white tile, the yellow flowers painted near the ceiling, the matching towels, the copper trivets hung on the wall. “Well, you keep a nice neat house, even if you aren’t expecting company.”

I crossed my arms. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but this isn’t how this place usually looks.”

“Oh?” He arched an eyebrow at me. “So you were expecting visitors tonight?”

I hesitated. He obviously had knowledge of the arcane, and he seemed to be accepting of the concept of “demon summoning,” but that didn’t mean he knew about the kind of demons I dealt with and the kind of summonings that I performed. Summoners—my kind—weren’t exactly a dime a dozen. I’d never asked any of the demonic ilk, but I didn’t think there were more than a hundred or so in the entire world. Supposedly there’d been more a few centuries ago, but as the world had changed and evolved, knowledge of the arcane had gradually faded.

Best to play it safe. “No visitors,” I said. “I just try to make a point of cleaning up at least once a month. You caught me on a good day.”

“Ah,” he said. “I thought that maybe …” He trailed off, looking oddly discomfited.

“Maybe what?”

He shrugged. “Well, you seemed to be pretty familiar with the concept of demons, and Demonic Lords. I thought that you might be, well …” He gave a self-conscious laugh. “I thought that maybe you were a summoner.”

Holy shit. He does know! “Umm.” Oh, what the hell. “Okay, I am,” I said, before I could change my mind. “I’m a summoner. And … I was going to try to summon tonight.”

His face lit up and he pushed off the doorway. “Seriously? You are? You’re a summoner? Of demons? That’s too cool!” Then he grimaced deeply, shaking his head. “Shit. I can’t believe I just said that. Sorry. I sound like a teenager.”

I blinked, then grinned. “No, it’s okay. I’m pretty surprised you even know about summoners.”

He smiled ruefully. “I can understand that. It’s not a very common skill, or so I’ve heard. But with the kind of work I do and the cases I’ve seen, I’ve learned a bit about it.” Then his smile turned boyish. “And of course my grandmother used to tell me stories.”

“Was she a summoner?”

“No. At least, I don’t think so. I have a private theory that one of her parents was, and that’s where she got some of her ability to sense the arcane. But however she got it, by the time the ability trickled down to me it was pretty well watered down.” He shrugged, not seeming to be at all upset by the admission. “So you’re really going to summon a demon tonight?”

It was my turn to shrug. I busied myself with pouring coffee and setting out mugs. “I was thinking about it. I was going to see if I could get those runes identified. Cream and sugar?”

“One Equal, if you have it. I thought you could summon only on full moons.”

I handed him his mug. He knew more than I’d given him credit for. “Traditionally, yes. And the reason is that there’s just more arcane energy available. But if the convergence is high—as it is right now—summoning on the dark is possible if you’re only trying to hold a minor creature. And even though it’s not as potent, there’s more stability.”

He held his mug in both hands. “That’s what you’re going to summon? A minor demon?” He was trying to be calm and cool, but I could see the tightening of his hands on the mug and hear the edge of excitement in his voice.

“Yes … but I don’t think I’m going to now.”

His disappointment was palpable. “Oh. Why not?”

I couldn’t help but smile. He was being so very un-Fedlike—a radical departure from his demeanor when we first met. “Summonings require a great deal of preparation, even for a minor demon. And a lot of that preparation is mental.”

He winced. “And I’ve totally blown that out of the water. I’m very sorry. Now I understand why you discourage visitors.”

“It’s all right,” I said as I sat down at the table. “I can still summon tomorrow night. I had a … strange experience during my last summoning, so I’d rather not take any chances this time.”

He sat down opposite me. “What happened?”

I propped my chin on my hand and regarded him. “Is this Special Agent Kristoff asking?”