Curse of Shadows and Light by Penelope King

truthful answer is, “Great! I feel really good. Better than in a long while. I take it last night went well?”
    He rolls his eyes and gives a small grimace before flopping over on his back. “Last night was… well, let’s just say it was interesting. There are some people coming over soon to meet with you—”
    “ People?” I raise my eyebrow.
    “ Demions. But their powers aren’t active in this world, only in Thiberoux. They are Guardians there.”
    Like Bones was…
    “ And there’s some stuff we need to talk about. Things you need to know.”
    My heart thuds dully, and I lick my suddenly dry lips. “Things like what?”
    He gives a half smile and rubs my leg. “You need to know that we will keep you safe. That we will protect you. And that I love you.”
    “ Is there a but ?”
    “ But…” He lets out a deep sigh. “There are some things we need to discuss. One of them being that I’m due for my sleep very, very soon, and that’ll put me out of commission for a brief spell. The timing sucks, obviously, but I’ve pushed it back as far as I can. I can’t hold off much longer.”
    I nod my understanding, even though this definitely is not something I want to hear right now. I know that Kieron has weird sleep habits. He stays awake for days, sometimes even weeks at a time. But then he goes into an almost coma-like state for several days. The thought of being alone now, with only Anastasia’s enchantments to keep me safe, is more unsettling than I want to admit.
    “ But you won’t be alone and unprotected,” Kieron continues as if reading my mind. “It’s one of the reasons the demions are coming over.”
    I raise my eyebrows. “Ha! I’m sure Anastasia will be overjoyed by that.”
    “ Yeah, I know she won’t be thrilled, but we don’t have a choice. I’ll need you to talk to her about it. They’re special; as far as I know, they only have active demonic powers in Thiberoux as Hellhounds. But here they are more human. At least, that’s how Vincent explained it to me.”
    I frown. “If they have no powers then what good are they?”
    “ Well, here they have passive powers, which aren’t the same thing. Strictly defensive, and off any supernatural radar.” He shrugs. “I’ll let them explain it to you. It’s merely a precaution, really… a couple extra sets of eyes on you while I take a quick nap. And I guess they really need to talk with you about your experiences with Tristan and the other Light-angels.” He avoids my eyes when he mentions Tristan.
    Great . I was really hoping to never have to re-live that nightmare ever again.
    “ What do they want to know?” I mumble.
    He shrugs. “Just to find out what exactly happened. Anything you might know…”
    “ Well, I guess they sound better than normal demons,” I say, trying to change the subject. “You know how they give me the creeps. Present company excluded, of course.” I give him a quick kiss on the mouth, and he arches an eyebrow.
    “ Of course.”
    Thirty minutes later I’m showered and changed. Kieron is sitting on the couch flipping through a magazine, and Corrine is out in the kitchen stirring something in a bowl and wearing a blue ruffled apron that looks like something from the fifties.
    “ Hi, Liora! Nice to see everyone survived the night! You want pancakes?” She grins and pushes her glasses up, leaving a smudge of batter on her nose.
    “ Sure.” I try not to laugh as I slide onto a barstool at the counter. The kitchen looks like a tornado blasted through it. There’s spilled milk on the counter, flour on the floor, and several broken eggs in the sink.
    “ I know, I know. I’m not the neatest cook ever. But I’ll clean it all up, promise.”
    I chuckle. “It’s fine, I’m not worried. Thanks for doing this. It’s really sweet of you.”
    Corrine takes some oil and pours it into a hot skillet. “I’ve decided this is what I’m going to do… my way of contributing. You’ve done so much for me,