Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner Page B
Authors: Julie Kenner
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demanded, sounding churlish.
“In this endeavor, we will prevail through brains, not brawn. We need to determine what Goramesh seeks, and get to it first.”
“Great. As soon as you figure out what and where it is, I’ll be more than happy to snatch it.” As I thought about it, the fact that Goramesh was floating around as an unembodied demon was actually good news for me. Without a body, there wasn’t anything for me to hunt. And research was an alimentatore ’s job. “Point me toward a demon, and I’ll kill it,” I said. “But except for the one we just buried, I haven’t seen any around.” I grinned, suddenly happier than I’d been all day. “As they say, my work here is done.”
Larson didn’t appear to share my joy. “And Goramesh?” he asked. “We need to ascertain what he wants.”
A finger of guilt poked at me, but I held firm. “No, you need to figure that out.”
“Kate—”
“What?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Come on, Larson. Every demon wants something. But unless he’s got someone in San Diablo doing his dirty work—mortal or demon—then I’d have to say that we’re not exactly at Code Red, you know?”
“That’s hardly responsible.”
“Responsible?” It had been a hellacious twenty-four hours, and the last thing I needed was a lecture on responsibility. “I’m drowning in responsible .” I started ticking off on my fingers. “Car pool, playdates, PTA. Not to mention making sure my family has food to eat and clothes to wear and—if they’re lucky—no science experiments breeding in the bathtub. Those ,” I said, “are my responsibilities.”
He opened his mouth, but I wasn’t finished.
“And your responsibility is to handle the research side of the relationship,” I said. “Or did Forza change that policy, too?”
“All right.” He nodded slowly. “You make a good point. But my ability to work will be hampered by my job. The records I’d like to review are in the cathedral archives, and I’ll be in court most days working.”
That finger of guilt poked harder. I sighed, on the verge of caving. “Research isn’t exactly my thing. I didn’t even finish high school.” More accurately, I didn’t even go to high school. The Church provided tutors, of course, but it was a nomadic, hit-or-miss kind of education. I spent my youth never expecting to make it to the next sunrise. “This is a little out of my league.”
“I’m hardly asking you to translate ancient texts, Kate. You will only have to review what’s already in the archives. And I’ve already done some of the legwork. I have a few leads. With your help, I can track them down.”
That should be easy enough. I could tell Delores that I’d like to add another layer of responsibility to my volunteer work. So long as I didn’t cut back on the secretarial duties, she’d probably welcome my additional help. The Church had hired actual archivists to work on the rare and valuable stuff. But there were tons of donations still to sort through. From there, I figured I could wrangle a peek at whatever records Larson might be interested in. “All right,” I finally said.
“Excellent.”
I held up a finger, wanting to hold him off until I was sure we were on the same page. “I’ll help with the research, but until we see some solid evidence that Goramesh has demons on the case, I’m not rearranging my whole life. For all we know, we just buried his only corporeal minion. Fair enough?”
His brow furrowed, but he nodded. “Of course. You make an excellent point. Until circumstances indicate that alacrity is called for, there’s no need to rush through the research.”
I gave him credit for being perfectly agreeable. I, however, felt like a prickly bitch. “Good. Great.”
Except it wasn’t good or great. I couldn’t be absolutely certain that I’d killed San Diablo’s only walking, talking demon. And no stinky-breathed fiend was going to put my kids in danger. Not if I had
“In this endeavor, we will prevail through brains, not brawn. We need to determine what Goramesh seeks, and get to it first.”
“Great. As soon as you figure out what and where it is, I’ll be more than happy to snatch it.” As I thought about it, the fact that Goramesh was floating around as an unembodied demon was actually good news for me. Without a body, there wasn’t anything for me to hunt. And research was an alimentatore ’s job. “Point me toward a demon, and I’ll kill it,” I said. “But except for the one we just buried, I haven’t seen any around.” I grinned, suddenly happier than I’d been all day. “As they say, my work here is done.”
Larson didn’t appear to share my joy. “And Goramesh?” he asked. “We need to ascertain what he wants.”
A finger of guilt poked at me, but I held firm. “No, you need to figure that out.”
“Kate—”
“What?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Come on, Larson. Every demon wants something. But unless he’s got someone in San Diablo doing his dirty work—mortal or demon—then I’d have to say that we’re not exactly at Code Red, you know?”
“That’s hardly responsible.”
“Responsible?” It had been a hellacious twenty-four hours, and the last thing I needed was a lecture on responsibility. “I’m drowning in responsible .” I started ticking off on my fingers. “Car pool, playdates, PTA. Not to mention making sure my family has food to eat and clothes to wear and—if they’re lucky—no science experiments breeding in the bathtub. Those ,” I said, “are my responsibilities.”
He opened his mouth, but I wasn’t finished.
“And your responsibility is to handle the research side of the relationship,” I said. “Or did Forza change that policy, too?”
“All right.” He nodded slowly. “You make a good point. But my ability to work will be hampered by my job. The records I’d like to review are in the cathedral archives, and I’ll be in court most days working.”
That finger of guilt poked harder. I sighed, on the verge of caving. “Research isn’t exactly my thing. I didn’t even finish high school.” More accurately, I didn’t even go to high school. The Church provided tutors, of course, but it was a nomadic, hit-or-miss kind of education. I spent my youth never expecting to make it to the next sunrise. “This is a little out of my league.”
“I’m hardly asking you to translate ancient texts, Kate. You will only have to review what’s already in the archives. And I’ve already done some of the legwork. I have a few leads. With your help, I can track them down.”
That should be easy enough. I could tell Delores that I’d like to add another layer of responsibility to my volunteer work. So long as I didn’t cut back on the secretarial duties, she’d probably welcome my additional help. The Church had hired actual archivists to work on the rare and valuable stuff. But there were tons of donations still to sort through. From there, I figured I could wrangle a peek at whatever records Larson might be interested in. “All right,” I finally said.
“Excellent.”
I held up a finger, wanting to hold him off until I was sure we were on the same page. “I’ll help with the research, but until we see some solid evidence that Goramesh has demons on the case, I’m not rearranging my whole life. For all we know, we just buried his only corporeal minion. Fair enough?”
His brow furrowed, but he nodded. “Of course. You make an excellent point. Until circumstances indicate that alacrity is called for, there’s no need to rush through the research.”
I gave him credit for being perfectly agreeable. I, however, felt like a prickly bitch. “Good. Great.”
Except it wasn’t good or great. I couldn’t be absolutely certain that I’d killed San Diablo’s only walking, talking demon. And no stinky-breathed fiend was going to put my kids in danger. Not if I had
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