Mark of the Demon (Kara Gillian 1)

I mustered a wan smile. “I won’t fail you. We’re close. I know it.”

“The killer is resorting to taunting you, which means he’s definitely going to slip up soon.”

I resisted the urge to slump. “I sure hope so.”

He gave my shoulders a squeeze, then released me. “Come on, I’m taking you to bed,” he said, grinning wickedly.

“Jeez, don’t say that too loud,” I said, smiling despite myself. “People will start talking.”

Chapter 22

Ryan pulled into my driveway right behind me, getting out of his car just as I was exiting mine.

“I do hope you realize that I’m not leaving your house tonight,” Ryan said before I could say a word. “Not until you’ve woken up from your encounter with this Demonic Lord.”

I allowed my protest to die unvoiced. “I can’t see that there’s going to be a problem. I mean, he’s helped me twice now, and I think he’s going to keep being cool to me since he wants me to call him. But, yeah, having you nearby is probably a good idea.”

He gave me a quick grin. “I’m going to have to start leaving a change of clothes and a toothbrush at your place if this keeps up.”

I smiled and quickly turned away, feeling an unfamiliar flush rising. What the hell was wrong with me? It wasn’t as if I’d never spent the night with a man. Hell, I’d had boyfriends. Okay, not too many, but still. I’d just never had a guy as … everything … as Ryan pay this much attention to me. Smart, good-looking, witty, charming …

Stop being stupid. He’s just working on the case. That’s all this is. He thinks of you as a partner. I jammed the key into the lock of the back door and entered the kitchen.

“So explain something to me,” he said as he followed me in and closed the door.

“Explain what?” I asked as I opened the fridge and peered at the available offerings. I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten.

“The whole good-and-evil thing with regard to the demons. I always had the impression that all demons were evil.”

I grabbed a brick of cheddar. “Well, yeah, because that’s what they say in Sunday school.” I closed the refrigerator door with my hip, then snagged crackers and a knife. “But, see, these demons are not the demons of the religious mythos.”

He watched me as I set the cheese and crackers on a plate and placed it on the table. “Then what are they?”

“They’re other-planar creatures,” I said, as I carved a slab of cheese from the brick and piled it onto a cracker. I gestured at the plate with a help yourself motion as I took an undainty bite.

He looked doubtfully at my exceedingly plebeian hors d’oeuvres. “Do you always buy your cheese in five-pound bricks?”

“It’s only two pounds,” I replied after a few seconds of chewing. “It was cheap. And I like cheese.”

“But … cheddar? Mild?” He looked pained.

I glared at him and defiantly cut another piece. “It was cheap. Do you have a problem with my cheese?”

“Absolutely not,” he said, giving a mock shudder. “So. Other-planar creatures? Explain, please?”

I set the knife down and held my hands up in front of me, one above the other. “Think different dimensions. Spheres. Planes of existence. Whatever you want to call it. We live in one, and they live in another. These two planes often converge in such a way that a person with the ability to open a portal between them can summon a creature from their world to ours.”

“And how do people know if they have the ability?”

“Well, there seems to be a genetic factor, so summoners will usually keep an eye on their kids or grandkids when they hit their teenage years. Othersight comes first, so the easiest thing to do is to leave a big shiny ward somewhere and then see if the kid reacts to it.” I grinned. “It can be a bit dramatic.”

Ryan gave a snort of laughter. “I can only imagine.”

“Anyway, after that much is established, the summoner will usually have a demon make the assessment as to how much ability is there.”

He tapped the table. “What if there’s no parent or grandparent to monitor the kid?”

“Well, that’s kinda what happened with my aunt. She figured out that she could see things and feel things that other people couldn’t, so she went to the library and started doing research.”