Blood of the Demon by Diana Rowland Page B

it was sorta co-opted by various religions and turned into an evil-creature definition. They’re really more like aliens, except that they’refrom a different plane of existence instead of from a different planet.”

    Jill regarded me, a sour look still on her face, blue eyes fixed on me. I suddenly realized I was scared to death that she was going to walk out and never speak to me again. And I wasn’t sure if I could handle it if she bailed.

    “Jill,” I said, doing my best to keep my voice steady, “I’m still me. I’m not a bad person.”

    She blinked. “I know you’re not bad,” she replied, as if shocked at the idea. She fell silent for several heartbeats, then threw up her hands. “What the fuck. As dark secrets go, this is a doozy, but you’re still the coolest chick in Investigations.” She smiled at me, and I returned the smile in weak relief, literally gripping the counter behind my back to support myself.

    Kehlirik daintily wiped the corner of his mouth with one claw as he handed the bowl to me. “My thanks, summoner. The wards laid by Zhergalet throughout the house have been removed.” He flared his nostrils. “You will need to restore these yourself or summon another to renew them for you.” He huffed softly. “You should attempt to do it yourself, even if you must summon guidance. You have the strength for it, if not the experience.”

    I felt like I was being counseled by a professor. “Do you know anything more about why those wards were placed on the library?”

    His heavy brow drew down. “I have formed some theories, but I would need to gather more information before I would be willing to give voice to them.” He settled his wings and folded his arms across his chest. “Lord Rhyzkahl has a message for you. He desires you to summon him, and he has given his word that there will be no reprisals for doing so.”

    I felt rooted to the spot. I had certainly not expected anything like that. The no reprisals thing was pretty damn important, but my mouth still went dry at the thought of summoning him. Demonic lords considered a summoning of their person to be an affront and an insult of the highest order, which meant they had an annoying tendency to slaughter any summoner who actually managed to bring them through successfully. But if Rhyzkahl had truly promised that there would be no reprisals, that meant I could do a far less rigorous summoning ritual, since I wouldn’t have to maintain ten jillion levels of protections to keep from being torn to shreds. Also, if he wanted to be summoned, that meant the pull through the portal would not be as difficult. It would be damn near as simple as a first-level summoning.

    So, now I was torn. In the past few weeks I’d come to accept that I’d seen the last of the angelically beautiful and deathly powerful demonic lord. I’d had no reason to believe that I would ever see him in the flesh again. Not when such summonings were so dangerous. I still dreamed of him, but those dreams were nothing like the utterly realistic sendings of before, which had been possible due to a link he’d placed on me when I accidentally summoned him. I’d come to the conclusion that the link had been broken when I passed through the spheres and re-formed on earth, but there was a part of me that wasn’t so sure. Could he still be touching me through the link? Or was I dreaming of him because my subconscious couldn’t control itself?

    Then again, if he wished me to summon him, my questions surrounding the dreams seemed rather irrelevant now.

    “Did he say—” I cleared my throat and tried again. “Did he say why he wanted me to summon him?”

    “He did not advise me of such, merely bade me give you the message.” He lowered his head and looked at me with his ruddy eyes. “The moon is still full enough tonight.”

    I controlled the urge to rub the gooseflesh on my arms. “You may tell him that you have delivered the message.” I had no idea whether