The Trouble with Demons by Lisa Shearin

work, but that didn’t stop him from entertaining the idea. I was thinking along the same lines myself.
    “Tamnais Nathrach tries to be a good man,” Eamaliel said quietly. “But his past begins to catch up with him. His training and the instincts that feed his power may prove too much for him to resist in the end.”
    “I want to help him.”
    Nukpana chuckled. “You’re both going to need help.” “Shut up!” my father and I barked simultaneously.
    The goblin lay back on my pillows with a smug and knowing smile.
    I swallowed. “Carnades wants us both in prison and—”
    “That’s not what I mean,” Eamaliel said. “How long have you known Tamnais Nathrach?”
    “That’s important?”
    “Very.”
    “A little over two years.”
    “Have you heard the term ‘umi’atsu’?”
    “No. Should I?”
    “Umi’atsu is a goblin word meaning ‘life twins,’ ” Nukpana interrupted. He raised his hands in mock defense when my father shot him a scathing look. “Eamaliel, who better to tell her about goblin magic than me?”
    My father hesitated then nodded tightly.
    The goblin graciously inclined his head and continued. “An umi’atsu is a bond conceived between two powerful mages—usually goblin mages—binding them first through their magic, then hearing, sight, and finally their minds and souls. After that, an umi’atsu bond can only be broken by death.” Nukpana looked entirely too happy about that last part. “Some consider it a magical marriage of sorts—body and soul become one, until death do you part, all that sentimental nonsense.”
    Marriage? My mind seized onto that one word and locked up in panic.
    “What does that have to do with Tam and me?” I dimly heard myself ask.
    “Just everything.” Nukpana looked closely at me and smiled.
    “Why, Raine, are you getting cold feet? It’s a trifle late for that, the ceremony’s over.”
    “You’re saying that we’re . . .”
    “Umi’atsu,” Nukpana finished helpfully. “Magically mated, if you will. Though in my opinion Tamnais could have selected a more romantic location than under the elven embassy.” Nukpana’s black eyes glittered. “And I didn’t even get you a gift.”
    I desperately looked at my father.
    “What he says is true,” Eamaliel told me. “Such a bond can only be formed if the two mages were emotionally close prior to the incident that caused the bonding. Obviously the two of you must have been very close.”
    Tam and I were definitely close—he wanted to be even closer.
    My father’s face didn’t have much of an expression. I couldn’t tell if he was pissed, but he sure as hell wasn’t the proud father of the bride.
    Bride. Oh shit.
    I thought, considered, and concluded in the span of a few seconds. What I thought wasn’t pretty, and my conclusion didn’t make me happy. “When Tam said that we weren’t separate anymore, he knew what had happened.” He’d probably wanted it to happen. And if I found out that he’d done it on purpose, once I got my hands around his throat, I was going from bride to widow.
    Then I froze, unblinking. My heart tried to do flips in my chest, and questions tripped over each other in my mind. I’d just experienced something entirely too similar with Mychael. Could I be magically joined to both of them? Was it possible? Merely probable? And if so, was it illegal? Or just immoral? Maybe it was both, or neither.
    I felt really woozy all of a sudden. Either there wasn’t any air in the room, or I’d completely forgotten how to breathe.
    Nukpana was laughing. “Of course Tamnais knew. He was Queen Glicara Mal’Salin’s magical enforcer for five years. I’ve seen Tamnais Nathrach in action, little seeker. He knows only too well what goblin magic can do, especially the dark variety. He’s done enough of it himself.” The goblin leered. “And if something was enough fun, he would do it again.”
    “Tam’s not like that anymore.” I said it but I wasn’t entirely sure. I