Legacy of the Demon (Kara Gillian 8)

Janice sobered. “I watched TV for a bit last night and this morning. Mzatal had told me there were rifts opening up on Earth and that Jontari were coming through, but I had no idea there’d been so much or so many.” Her dark eyes filled with worry.

“It’s bad,” I agreed, “but humans are stubborn assholes, and we still have an ace or two in the hole.”

One side of her mouth curved up. “We’re pursuit predators.” At my blank look, she went on, “Humans have survived and evolved and prevailed by letting our prey wear itself out. That nice juicy antelope might be fast, but the human hunter simply follows its tracks and keeps going, keeps following until the antelope can’t run anymore. We’re pretty tenacious.”

“The demons aren’t running away from us,” I pointed out. “And they have claws and teeth, and are dangerous and deadly.”

Janice leaned forward. “But they’re completely dependent on the arcane.”

“You’re right about that.” It was one of the reasons summoned demons couldn’t remain long on Earth without some sort of link that would give them arcane support. Eilahn had been able to stay with me because Rhyzkahl had been her link, her lifeline to the arcane. Before the PD incident triggered the flood of potency—and rakkuhr—to Earth, even the lords were limited on the time they could spend away from the demon realm. “Unfortunately, the invading Jontari can draw all the arcane they need from the rifts, not to mention the rakkuhr that’s coming through.”

She made a face and sat back. “Darn. And here I thought I’d solved all of our problems.”

“Well, you’re right about us not giving up,” I said with a smile. My coffee cup was empty, so I stood to get a refill. “And on that note, I need to move my ass and start chewing away at my to-do list. Is there anything you need? Didn’t you say you wanted to bring equipment back to the demon realm?”

Her eyes lit up. “I did. I need computer equipment and solar charging—” She stopped at my wince.

“Potency levels in the demon realm are hell on electronics,” I said. “However, DIRT has some shielding cases that might help. Give Pellini the list of what you need. If it can be had, he’ll know where to find it.”

Her smile turned brilliant. “Terrific. I’ll work on that while I have breakfast with Rhyzkahl.”

Carefully withholding comment, I watched in bemusement as she loaded a plate with biscuits and bacon then headed to the back yard. With only a teensy bit of shame, I moved to the kitchen window and watched her settle under the tree where Rhyzkahl stood amid a weak circle of sigils. In his hand was one of his purple irises, and at first I thought he was going to give it to her as a barf-worthy too-sweet gesture of affection. Instead, he dispelled the sigils and laid the flower at the base of the tree, and only then did he turn and welcome Janice with a smile. He seemed happier with her here, but even though I had zero doubt she’d spent the night with him in his little house, it was clear their relationship wasn’t a romantic one. They enjoyed each other. They were friends.

It was curious and unexpected. But nice.

Purple flower. A shiver ran through me. Rhyzkahl had once placed a violet bloom on my pillow, the same type of flower that was carved in stone at a shrine to Elinor in Rhyzkahl’s garden. The same kind he’d used to caress her in the memory-vision, when he called her zharkat and she denied him.

My gaze swung to the sea of rich purple irises near his house. He still loves her.

CLUNK whoooosh

Janice startled as the net shot from the launcher. Fortunately, she and Rhyzkahl were sheltered by the grove tree trunk and safe from getting accidentally netted. Unfortunately, it looked as if a just-summoned demon would be equally safe. The net opened in a beautiful spread then sailed down in a perfect arc to cover a spot a few feet beyond and to the right of the nexus.

Bryce threw down his work gloves. “FUCK!”

An exasperated look swept over Janice’s face. “You’re going to kill yourself trying to sight it in through trial and error!” She pushed up and jogged over to Bryce and the crew. Though I couldn’t hear what she said, her gestures led me to believe she was talking angles and force and other physics-mathy stuff that was way beyond my pay grade.

Good. She was smart and blunt and would get that shit straightened out. Which meant I didn’t have to deal with it.

I rinsed out my mug then climbed up to the attic to tackle the next item on my to-do list. The bulb remained stubbornly dead when I tugged on the string, but enough light shone up from the laundry room below to let me move around without breaking my neck. Luckily, I didn’t have to go far. On the third shelf of a battered metal cabinet, tucked between a stack of old board games and a broken clock, rested the wooden cigar box that held my summoning implements. I’d retired them after Angus McDunn decimated my abilities, and putting the box away had been symbolic for me. Not because I was convinced my days as a summoner were over, but because I’d realized that I was more than just a summoner.

My breath shuddered out of me. And now I’m a summoner again. Along with everything else that was Kara Gillian. My arcane ability was only one facet of my identity, but I was stronger for it.

“Time to come out of retirement, y’all,” I murmured, blinking back silly, emotional tears. I slid the box off the shelf then blew across the top of it, hoping for a cool cloud of dust like in the movies. But clearly two months in a closed attic was insufficient for any sort of decent dust gathering, and the only thing my breath dislodged was a dead mosquito.

“Eh, it’ll do,” I said with a shrug then tucked the box under my arm and returned downstairs.

Pellini was at the kitchen table making notes on a yellow pad and munching bacon. As I set the cigar box on the counter, my gaze went to the left side of his face.

“Who gave you a black eye?”

“It’s not a black eye,” Pellini insisted. “It’s a small bruise beneath my eyebrow, and Jill gave it to me when we were sparring this morning.” He scowled. “Damn, that bitch is fast and flexible. She did this with a kick while I was standing up straight.”

“She’s sneaky,” I said, not hiding my amusement. Pellini wasn’t a short guy, but Jill was a former world class gymnast. And I’d been wrong about her going to bed after finishing the translation. “After she finished kicking your butt, did she finally go get some sleep?”

“She claims she slept in the truck, then said that once the sun came up she had too much on her mind to sleep. About half an hour ago she headed into town on a supply run with Suarez.”

“Hope Superwoman gets more eggs,” I said.