I turned the radio in the car to the country music station, singing along loudly to Carrie Underwood and fighting the fatigue that dragged at me. When I finally turned onto Tessa’s street, I felt as if I’d run a gauntlet of street signs and other drivers. The sun glowed ruddy orange across Lake Pearl as it began to dip below the horizon. I parked in Tessa’s driveway, pulling myself out of the car just as a shudder of arcane nausea rippled over me. I staggered, putting a hand on the hood of my car to get my bearings back, taking deep breaths until it passed. And here we go from solar back to lunar. Ugh.
Now I understood why summoners seldom maintained a summoning for more than a few hours, though at least this transition didn’t seem as intense as the one this morning. I took a settling breath as the feeling faded, then pushed off the car and headed up the porch, disabling the protections and aversion wards twining around the door as I entered.
The hallway was empty and the library door open, which I took as a positive sign. At least the reyza had made it that far.
But I still peered around the doorway with more than a bit of caution. I let my breath out at the sight of Kehlirik crouched in the center of the library, arms folded across his knees and wings tucked along his back. His skin had a vaguely greenish cast, and I thought I detected the barest tremor in his wings. Well, that answers the question of whether or not Kehlirik had felt it too.
I extended cautiously but couldn’t feel any of the nasty-ugly wards that had been there earlier. I looked to the demon with worry. “Are you all right? You were successful?”
He nodded once. “I was.” His nostrils flared. “I … have hunger. Forgive me, but it was more difficult than I had expected.”
“No need for apology, honored one. I can prepare food for you.” The reyza looked like shit. I’d never seen one so pale and still before. That must have been one doozy of a battle with the wards. “Um, can you eat our food?”
He shifted his wings. “I can, though I prefer not to eat flesh.”
I blinked. A vegetarian demon. “Right. Wait here. I’ll return in a moment.” I turned and hurried off to my aunt’s kitchen, grimacing. I wasn’t even sure if there was anything to eat in the house. Nothing perishable, that was for certain. I rummaged through the pantry, frowning. I’d cleaned her refrigerator out weeks ago, and there wasn’t a hell of a lot in her pantry either. A box of microwave popcorn, a bag of pretzels. Saltines. A can of Blue Runner red beans and a box of Minute rice.
“Poor man’s red beans and rice it is,” I muttered to myself. Beans were vegetarian, right? Hopefully he wasn’t vegan, because I had no idea if Blue Runner beans qualified. But at this point there wasn’t much choice. I opened the beans and dumped them into a pot, then set water boiling in another pot. I also grabbed a bag of popcorn and jammed it into the microwave. Kehlirik looked like he needed food now.
I stirred the beans as the popcorn popped in the microwave, my mind wandering as I looked out at the sunset settling across the lake in streaks of pink and blue. A view like this would be the only way I could get used to living in the middle of town. I adored my privacy, but the view from Tessa’s kitchen window was absolutely exquisite.
The microwave dinged and I removed the bag. I was just pouring it into a bowl when I heard a scream and a shout from the hallway. That was not Kehlirik.
Then a resonating growl. That was.
I dashed out of the kitchen, still clutching the bowl of popcorn. Jill was in the hallway, staring at Kehlirik, who stood in the doorway to the library. I could see what was happening—one of those damn slow-motion things as I watched Jill pull her gun. Shit!
“No!” I shouted to both of them. I didn’t have much fear that Jill would be able to hit him; I knew how fast and powerful a reyza was. I was far more afraid that his retaliation would be fatal for her. “Kehlirik, no! Jill, stop!”
Jill snapped her head around to look at me, eyes wide in shock, her gun still pointed at the demon. Kehlirik stood motionless, but I could feel the coiled tension in him, and I knew that if he decided to react, it would be faster than I would be able to see, even exhausted as he was.
“Jill, it’s not what you think.” Then I grimaced. “Okay, maybe it is what you think. But he won’t hurt you, I swear it.” I looked back at Kehlirik. Still not moving, he glowered down at the diminutive tech. I moved forward and thrust the bowl of popcorn at him. His gaze slowly dropped to the bowl, then lifted to me. A low rumble emanated from him, and I wasn’t quite sure if it was meant to be a growl.
“I’m cooking more food for you,” I told him, “but until it’s done, here’s some popcorn.” I pushed the bowl at him again.
He huffed and took the bowl in both hands, then sank into a crouch, gaze returning to Jill, eyes now almost level with hers. “My thanks, Kara Gillian,” he said, his deep voice resounding in the hallway. He picked up a single kernel between two clawed fingers, examined it with a frown, then carefully crunched it between his wicked fangs.
“Kara?” Jill’s voice was shaky, but, to give the woman credit, she hadn’t run screaming. “Mind sharing with me what the fuck is going on?”
I sighed. “It’s … hard to explain. But I promise I will.” I was still trying to figure out how the hell she’d gotten in here. “But you should probably put the gun away. It won’t do you much good against him anyway, and besides, he won’t hurt you.”
Jill stared at me for another several heartbeats, then looked back at the demon, who was now eating the popcorn by massive handfuls. Finally she lowered her gun and holstered it.
I let my breath out in relief. “How did you get in here?”
She gave me an exasperated look. “I walked in the goddamn front door. I live on the next street over, and I drive past here every day. I saw your car out front and thought I’d pop in and see how you were holding up after today. I rang the bell, but there was no answer.”
I couldn’t keep the laugh contained. “Well, the bell’s broken, and you weren’t supposed to be able to walk in the goddamn front door.” Then I winced. “Crap, I took down the wards when I came in.” Nice, Kara. Good thing it was only Jill.
She scowled and put her hands on her hips. “Kara, who the fuck is that? Or what the fuck?” She flung her arm out to gesture at the demon—who I would have sworn was staring mournfully into the depths of the empty popcorn bowl.
I jammed my fingers through my hair. “Okay, come into the kitchen while I stir the beans and I’ll explain. Or at least I’ll try to.” I glanced at Kehlirik. “If you come too, I’ll make more popcorn.”
The demon stood quickly. “That would please me, summoner. I find this pahpcahn quite appealing.”
Too fucking weird. I turned and headed to the kitchen and stirred the beans, which were about to burn. I turned the heat down, then threw the Minute rice into the water. I’d never claimed to be a gourmet cook. If it wasn’t for the invention of the microwave, I’d have starved a long time ago.
Jill followed me in, slowly pulling herself onto one of the stools on the other side of the counter, her eyes staying on the demon as he stood by the kitchen door. I didn’t miss the fact that he had effectively blocked the one exit. I pulled another popcorn bag out of the pantry and stuffed it into the microwave. After I had it going, I turned back to Jill.