Touch of the Demon (Kara Gillian 5)

I let out a laugh and tromped through the snow to him. “How are you? You look great!” He did, too. His face looked slimmer and far less slack, and his eyes practically sparkled with life.

“You’re through playing?” he asked, stepping warily out from behind the pillar in case I was still packing. “The faas are great with snowballs,” he added, with another wary look around for any lurking demons. My delight in seeing him grew. It was blindingly obvious that he was more stable and coherent than before.

“Yeah, I’m done,” I said, grinning, though I too scanned for faas. “And yeah, those little suckers know how to sling a snowball. They take their games pretty seriously!”

A broad smile lit his face. “And they always travel in pairs! Makes it hard to sneak up on them.” His face went abruptly serious, and he looked down and away.

“Michael? What’s wrong?”

He wiped at his face with the back of a gloved hand. “I’m really really sorry about all that stuff I did.”

“Ah, jeez, Michael, I know you are.” I put a hand on his shoulder. “I never blamed you. It’s why I had you sent here, so you could have a real chance at a life.”

He took a deep breath and let it out quickly. “It’s really okay?” he asked, worry darkening his expression as he finally met my gaze. “I mean…I’ve been thinking about it and…” He trailed off, swallowing hard.

“It’s okay,” I reassured him firmly, giving his shoulder a squeeze. “You weren’t the bad guy. You were used.” I peered at him. “Are you doing okay here? I mean, you’re being treated all right?”

He broke into a bright smile again. “Yep, it’s the best. They even fixed my head up a bit.”

“I can tell,” I said, deeply pleased for him. “It’s awesome. So, which lord are you with?”

“Seretis and Rayst. I even have my own piano!” He suddenly grimaced and bit his lower lip. “Uh, oh.”

“What is it?”

“Lord Amkir and Seretis,” he told me. “I hope he doesn’t get himself blasted. Pkkeeeww!” he added, making a sound like an exploding potency ball.

What the hell? “Wait, who might get blasted?”

“Seretis,” he said as if it was so obvious. His brow furrowed, and he seemed to be listening to something far away. “Rayst is in with Lord Rhyzkahl in the main hall, so no help there. Lord Vahl is in the far tower library. Lord Kadir is…” He grimaced, shook his head. “Elofir is out by the ruins.” He paused. “I mean, it’s most likely Seretis’s fault. He probably made Lord Amkir mad. He’s always messing with him. I just wish he’d do it when Rayst is around.” For an instant he sounded like a parent expressing the wish that his child would take his muddy shoes off outside.

I took a few seconds to process this. “Okay, so, you know where all the lords are all the time?”

“Well, yeah,” he said, then we both flinched as the sound of some sort of arcane discharge came from within the palace—sounding almost exactly like the pkkeeeww sound Michael had made.

“Oh, shit,” I breathed.

“It’s okay,” Michael quickly reassured me, head cocked. “I think Seretis stopped it okay.” He rolled his eyes. “He won’t stop teasing Amkir though.”

“Teasing him about what?” I asked, deeply interested in any teasing of Lord Asshole.

“Seretis was teasing him about backing down from Lord Rhyzkahl yesterday.”

I tried not to grin too obviously. “I think I’d like Seretis.”

“He laughs a lot,” Michael said. “Says lots of funny stuff.” He winced as the sound of another arcane discharge reached us. “That one stung.”

“Michael,” I said, “can you see where Mzatal is?”

He nodded. “He’s at his palace.” His eyes unfocused. “Harder to tell when they’re far away. His palace…in a dark room. He’s drawing all sorts of sigils, I think.”

“Is he talking to anyone?”

“Don’t think so. Just scowling and drawing.” He shrugged. “Hard to see.”

I will retrieve you, Mzatal had said. A shiver ran through me that had nothing to do with the snow and cold. Was he working on that even now?

I dragged my thoughts away from that unsettling subject. “Do any of the lords know you can…hear them wherever they are?”