Mark of the Demon (Kara Gillian 1)

“Just how nasty are we talking here?” Ryan asked. “I mean, don’t take this the wrong way, but being a summoner doesn’t seem to convey unlimited power or anything. Why is this killer going to all of this trouble?”

“No, it’s not unlimited power,” I replied. “But, like anything, it’s how you use it.”

Ryan’s gaze fixed on me. “How do you use it? Why do you summon?”

I paused before answering. There was no way to explain the full depth of what it meant to me. And I wasn’t sure I was ready to share that much with him. I still didn’t know him all that well, and being a summoner had become a deeply integral part of who I was because of a time in my life that I wasn’t terribly proud of. “I summon … because I can,” I temporized. “And I know that sounds corny, but it’s like a hunger. Demons are brilliant, and clever, and powerful, and each summoning is an incredible accomplishment. I’ve never felt as if I’ve wasted time performing a summoning. Usually I have some specific reason to summon a demon, like if I have a question that can be answered only by one of them or if I want to learn how to do something arcane.” It was a watered-down version of the full answer, but it would suffice for now.

“So it’s all for information?” He sounded doubtful.

“Heck, no!” I laughed. “Come on, if you had the ability to summon a superpowerful arcane creature, wouldn’t you?”

His expression grew exasperated, and I raised my hands in mock surrender. “Okay, seriously. Demons are excellent resources, but they’re also strong, and powerful, and damn near invincible on this plane. Moreover, they’re completely loyal during the terms of their service. Yeah, they’re totally self-serving, but at the same time they’re completely honorable. And once you pay the agreed-upon terms, they give you their full cooperation. Their system of honor is unbelievably complex, and if they swear to obey, they will, no matter what is involved, as long as it doesn’t conflict with their personal honor.”

Ryan leaned against the doorjamb. “So, they’re like the perfect muscle.”

“Think giant, winged assassin-bodyguard, who also has the ability to weave arcane wardings.”

He looked pained. “Wardings?”

“Um … demons have the ability to shape arcane energies, creating protections or illusions.”

“Ah.”

It was hard not to laugh. The poor guy was getting a crash course. “Anyway, some humans have those skills—”

“Do you?” he interjected, watching me intently.

I shrugged. “Er, well, yes. Most summoners do the basic stuff.” I glanced at my aunt and then back at Ryan. “I’m still learning, which is the main reason why I summon lately—for lessons. I have a long way to go.”

“She has a lot of innate talent,” Tessa said. “She’s going to be better than me soon.”

I could only stare at my aunt in surprise. I’d never heard her say anything like that before.

“So, the demons can do these wardings and protections too?” Ryan asked.

I dragged my attention back to him. “Yes. In fact, most summoners will just summon a demon to do it for them. Wardings can be pretty tedious and tiring and are usually a real pain in the ass.”

“All right, so a demon is a pretty damn good ally. And I’m assuming a Demonic Lord would be even more powerful?”

Tessa spoke up. “If he intends to summon a Demonic Lord, he knows that there is no offering great enough to compel the lord to submit to conventional bindings. He would have to bind the lord to his will. Enslave him. And someone with a Demonic Lord under his control would be able to rule the world.”

Ryan’s expression turned skeptical. “Oh, come on.”

Tessa lowered her head and regarded him. “Like having a demigod in your hand. An army couldn’t stop him, and he’d certainly be able to raise an army of his own. You know perfectly well that there are many thousands of people who would gladly fall in behind such a powerful entity, no matter the intent of it.”

Ryan shuddered. “God, yes.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair, then frowned, looking at me. “But the lord who came to you—after he broke free of your control, why didn’t he stay and become a ruler here?”

“I think,” I said, speaking slowly as I tried to organize my thoughts, “that for them to be able to stay in this sphere, they have to have some sort of an anchor here, like a permanent invitation, or a summoning and binding. The binding that a summoner does after bringing a demon through a portal is not like arcane manacles but more a means of keeping the demon in this sphere. The demon submits to it because of the offering that the summoner provides.” I glanced at my aunt for confirmation.

“That’s right,” Tessa said. “It’s one thing for them to come through briefly, but staying is more complicated. This is not their world, and without the right protocols, they’ll be drawn back to their own. And the more powerful they are, the more difficult it is for them to stay. But that’s also why a clever and ambitious lord would want to be in this sphere, unfettered. It would be another power base, an easy way to gain enormous amounts of power and status in their own sphere. Without the limitations of their honor code—which would not apply if one were here unrestrained—there would be no reason to not use this world up. Enslave the populace, ravage the resources, drain it of potency, and leave it a dead world if they so desired.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “That’s a worst-case scenario—”

“But it is a scenario,” Tessa replied with heat. “Demons are utterly self-serving, and their honor is the only reason that their realm has not dissolved into anarchy.”

Ryan cleared his throat. “So why do they include summoners in this honor system?”

Tessa turned her attention to him. “Because even though it is an affront to them to be summoned, they can gain status by their knowledge of other spheres or with artifacts that we offer to them for their cooperation. Without the protection that their honor affords us as summoners, no human would ever attempt to summon a demon.” She snapped her eyes back to me. “And if someone were to call a lord outside of the normal protocols—”