Blood of the Demon

It gave a low warble and hopped forward. “Task you wish exchange for?”

I resisted the desire to squirm in embarrassment. “I require wards to be replaced throughout the house and in the library downstairs.”

It blinked at me, then whipped its head around as if seeing its surroundings for the first time. It let out a low croon that was unmistakably sad. “Oohhhh … work gone. Pretty work all gone who make gone?”

I grimaced. “I, uh, summoned a reyza to remove the wards. I needed access to the house and library, and Tessa Pazhel is … indisposed.”

To my surprise, the little demon straightened on its back four legs and puffed out its chest. “Yes yes! Take reyza to remove wards mine!” It hopped up and down, warbling. “Yes yes, agree to terms. Do work again. Pretty-work!”

Sheesh. I’d forgotten what a pain in the ass it was to listen to a faas. Sentence structure wasn’t terribly important to them.

“Agreed,” I said, and handed over the offering. The demon tucked it into one of the pouches at its belt, then waited for me to drop the bindings and protections.

I did so, then gestured toward the doorway, but it was already hopping in that direction. “I think the most important thing is to secure that portal in the library,” I said as I followed it down the stairs.

It let out a horrified squawk and spun to face me, nearly causing me to lose my balance and tumble down the stairs. I grabbed at the railing as it glared at me. “Portal not ward?” it shrieked.

“Um, the reyza took down all the wards. I don’t think he knew that the portal was there.”

The demon bared its teeth, and this time there was no mistaking it for a smile. This was definitely an expression of menace, though I was fairly certain that it was not directed toward me. Fairly.

“Reyza know portal,” it growled. “Feel it strong, know it. Uncovered to use or tell other use. Push through.” It turned and bounded the rest of the way down the stairs and down the hall to the library before I could take a breath to ask it what the fuck it was talking about. I scurried after it, a not-good feeling settling into my gut.

I entered the library to see the demon crouching before the portal, spines on its back flared out and tipped with red. I stayed in the doorway. I’d never seen a faas that angry and upset before.

“What do you mean, push through? There were some creatures here earlier—”

It spun to face me. “Creatures kind? What like?”

“They were small”—I held my hands up, about six inches apart—“with wings and a stinger.”

Zhergalet snorted. “Hriss. Pest. Came through self. Pushed not. Eat scrap feelings.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling as if I was continually several steps behind the demon’s thought processes. “Scrap feelings?”

It fluttered its hands. “Potency. Excess sucks up. Tired you become is all. Pest to swat. Worry little about hriss. Worry more if pushed big through portal.”

I licked my lips. “You … would worry if something big was pushed through? How big? And pushed from where?”

“Big like me not me though. Demon push hard to do. Lower creature push not so hard.”

“Big like … a dog?”

It cocked its head. “Dog what is?”

I held my hand a couple of feet off the ground to show the height. “Black, four legs, long face, mouth full of teeth, tail …” Okay, that could describe half the taxonomy of earth, but apparently the little demon understood my description. It hissed and shook its head.

“Bad bad. Kzak. Not come self through. Push only.”

I was starting to get a headache from trying to understand it. “Okay, it’s called a kzak. And it was pushed through. Why? From where?”

Zhergalet wagged its head. “Kzak sent damage cause. Hurt and kill. One dangerous some. Pack dangerous very.”

“Wait. They’re sent … to a specific target? Like an assassin?”

It nodded, hopping up and down. “Yes yes!”

A shiver of cold ran down my back. The dog thing had been sent. After me? Or after Ryan? “Kehlirik would definitely have known the portal was there?”

“Reyza know he would. Valuable knowledge. Take back status gain.”

I scowled, feeling oddly betrayed even though I knew it was stupid to feel that way. Kehlirik had done precisely what I’d asked him to do—remove the wards. In the process he’d discovered the portal, and when he returned to the demon world he’d either used that information or sold it to the demon equivalent of the highest bidder. Then the portal had been used to send a kzak after … someone.

I wanted to sit down and hug my knees to my chest, but that wasn’t a luxury I could afford at the moment. It had to be after Ryan. Had to be. Kehlirik didn’t like Ryan, and maybe there were others who felt the same way. Besides, who in the demon realm could possibly want to hurt me? Rhyzkahl? I couldn’t fathom any reason he would do so, especially since he’d stated often enough that he didn’t want me to risk myself.

But what about some other demonic lord—one who knew that Rhyzkahl was trying to wear me down to get me to commit to being his summoner? Taking me out would cut Rhyzkahl off from this opportunity.

I gave in and slid down the wall and hugged my knees to my chest. Zhergalet merely continued to hop in place. “I do portal first. Ca

“Good, yeah.” I waved a hand. “Do what you can. Make it hard for whoever it is to push shit through.”

The little demon warbled and turned to its work. I knew that I should watch and see what I could learn about warding from the creature, but I was in serious need of comfort at the moment, and there was a pint of chocolate ice cream in my aunt’s freezer calling my name.

Chapter 31

I finished the ice cream and felt a little better—and fatter—then distracted myself by going back to the attic. The storage diagram I’d used for Zhergalet’s summoning was intact and still had plenty of potency. Summoning the little demon hadn’t taken much power at all, and it didn’t take long for me to cha

By the time Zhergalet had finished replacing the first layer of protections on the portal and the house and had been dismissed back to its own sphere, it was three a.m. and I was fighting to stay awake. I had the unerring feeling that the demon wasn’t pleased to be redoing its work, and I was also more than a bit dismayed to discover just how much work it had been. My aunt had summoned the demon four times to get what were considered adequate protections in place. That had been near the end of last year. However, Zhergalet revealed that she had summoned it again a few months ago—shortly after my first encounter with Rhyzkahl—and had asked it to beef up the protections considerably.

I sighed. I didn’t have the energy to get upset about any of that right now.

I looked around the library. The current wards weren’t much more effective than what I’d placed, though they were a damn sight higher quality. However, I’d learned that these were the arcane version of a base coat and were vitally necessary for creating strong protections, or so Zhergalet had stated. Repeatedly. Tomorrow—er, tonight I would summon the demon again and it could start building decent protections.

I’d also received a rambling and difficult-to-follow lecture in security, which was a sharp scolding at times, one that made me think hard about the security—or complete lack thereof—at my own house. Okay, so I’ve been doing the equivalent of going shopping while leaving my bags on the front seat and my car unlocked. Tessa had spoken of the need for security, but I’d never really taken it seriously. After all, I lived way out in the middle of nowhere and I was a cop.