Sins of the Demon (Kara Gillian 4)

Smiling weakly, I walked back to my house. Sarge stood on the bottom step.

“Did y’all take anything?” I asked. By law if anything was seized, they had to provide a receipt.

“Just pictures,” he said. “Probably would have seized your computer, except apparently you don’t have one.” He cocked an eyebrow at me. I replied with an innocent shrug. “Anyway,” he continued, “sorry about all this.”

“Not your fault.” I glanced back at Tracy. “Just, please make sure those pics don’t get out. I don’t trust the mayor. He’s up to something.”

“They won’t,” Tracy assured me gravely. “Promise.”

“Thanks, y’all,” I said, suddenly insanely weary.

“But, Kara?” Tracy said. I turned back and gave him a questioning look. “You might want to do something about that bag of old gym clothes in your closet.” He gave a comic shudder. “Next time warn a brother!”

“Damn,” I said. “I should have given those to the mayor!”

Chapter 17

The first thing I did after everyone left was to go to where Jill and Votevha were waiting. The demon sat with his legs pulled to his chest, face pale. Jill shot me a worried look. “I don’t think he feels good.”

“He’s been here for several hours,” I said as I crouched in front of Votevha. “Forgive me for the delay, honored one. I am deeply grateful for your service. Are you ready to go back?”

Votevha nodded, then bared his teeth in a razor-tipped smile. “Fun.”

I grinned. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

Standing, I gave Jill a nod. She scrambled back while I began the dismissal chant, but then I stopped and scowled. Hard to pull potency when you’re blocked from the arcane. “I’m sorry, Votevha. We need to get onto the back porch so that I can be inside the wards.”

The demon nodded and trotted to the porch. I joined him there, pulled the cuff off. I had absolutely no doubt that Eilahn had restored the wards the instant the interlopers had left. Once again I began the dismissal chant, exhaling in pleasure as the power came into my control. Pulling potency, I focused on the bindings that held the demon in this world, shaping the portal that would pull him back to his own. A wind rose, bringing with it the stench of sulfur as a light-filled slit widened behind Votevha. A few seconds later a ripping crack split the quiet of my backyard, and the demon was gone.

I sank to sit on the back steps until the spots could fade from my vision. Dismissals were like sprinting while holding your breath. A rustle from the woods grabbed my attention, but before I could even think to find a weapon Zack emerged from the woods, carrying a large cardboard box. Grinning, he came up to the steps and set it down in front of me.

“We figured you didn’t want anyone seeing this stuff,” he explained.

Puzzled, I looked down into the box then laughed at the sight of the knife and candles and various implements I used for my summonings, as well as half a dozen books with titles that would likely raise eyebrows.

“I have the best friends in the world,” I announced as Ryan and Eilahn came out to join us.

“Anytime, babe,” Jill said. “At least that’s over.”

“For now,” I replied. I went inside and did a quick prowl through my house and basement to be absolutely certain nothing had been unduly disturbed. Other than the clothing in my drawers being a bit mussed, everything seemed to be all right. I headed to the living room where the others had gathered, and flopped onto the couch. Eilahn was looking out the window with a troubled look on her face.

“Is something wrong, Eilahn?”

She glanced my way. “I am troubled that it was necessary to destroy your storage diagram.”

I grimaced and ran both hands through my hair. “Yeah, well at least I was able to use it to get Votevha here to check Roman.” Then I made a disparaging noise. “Not that it mattered.” I heaved a sigh. “And at least I kept Mayor Asshole out of here. But now he’s my number one suspect for being the mystery summoner, and it would have been damn nice to be able to get a demon to verify that for me.”

“He did seem most eager to enter.” Her mouth pursed in a frown. “But I thought perhaps it had more to do with this.” She extended her hand to show me a baggie of white powder. “Am I correct in assuming it is contraband of some sort?”

“Yowza,” Jill said, eyes going wide.

I took a careful breath. “Where did you get that?”

Eilahn tilted her head. “It was in his right coat pocket.” A whisper of satisfied amusement lit her eyes. “I noticed that he kept his hand very near that pocket, and would often dip his hand into it as if to make certain that something was there. I was curious to see what he was so concerned about.”

I took the baggie from her and peered at the contents. “Well, I have a good feeling it is contraband, but unlike on TV, one does not taste the drug to find out what it is. I don’t happen to have a field test on me, but it doesn’t matter. I’m quite sure this is either cocaine or heroin, and it’s about to get flushed.” Renewed anger suffused me. “He was going to plant it. What a cocksucker!” I shot her a grateful look. “Nice job picking his pocket.”

“I replaced it with a similar substance,” she said. “I have hopes he will not notice the exchange.”