Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            “Please don’t keep them up, or they will crash too early tonight and throw off their entire schedule,” Trent added, squinting in the high sun. Between the girls’ needs and finding a pair of Trent’s slippers for me, it had taken us a frustrating four hours to make the twenty-minute walk to Dalliance, and I was antsy to see Ivy.

            “I have cared for elven children before.” Shifting them higher, Al beamed at the sleepy girls in turn. “We will have so much fun at Dalliance, my darlings!”

            Trent’s expression blanked. “Ah, I thought you’d take them back to your wagon to nap,” he said, his hands twitching as if he was having second thoughts.

            “They’ll be fine.” I linked my arm in Trent’s to draw him away, but he resisted even as his gaze went to David, waiting on the crest of the hill. “If the demons can’t find a way to slip the witches’ curse, they’ll be stuck in the ever-after, and if Al isn’t here, he won’t be able to give any input. But you don’t have to come,” I added, and Trent’s focus sharpened on me. “The I.S. and coven still have a warrant out for you.”

            “I’m not staying here,” he said, his attention flicking to the strip bar when the door banged open.

            It was Dali, the portly demon striding across the cracked pavement toward us with his formal black spelling robe furling about his heels. “Rachel!” he bellowed, voice echoing in the cupped valley. “A word with you and Gally. Alone.”

            Trent sighed, and my hands went to my hips. “Trent—” I started, annoyed.

            “Isn’t a demon,” Dali finished, and I scowled.

            Trent took my hands. “It’s not a big deal,” he said as he tugged me forward and gave me a small kiss to make Al stifle a groan. “Actually, I think it’s great. They are seeing you as one of their own,” he added as he tweaked Lucy’s neck to make her squirm and arranged Ray’s hair. “Be good for your uncle Al,” he told the girls, his voice light, and then to me, “Rachel, I’ll wait for you with David.” Pausing, he gave Al a respectful nod. “Al.”

            “Kalamack,” Al said, just as blandly.

            “You don’t have to leave,” I insisted, but Trent only gave Dali an amused smirk before heading for the rise, his long legs taking the hill with ease.

            “You know I’m going to tell him. Whatever it is,” I said as Dali settled in before us. His goat-slitted eyes held worry, but anticipation had tightened his stance, making him seem almost aggressive. Clearly something was up.

            “This doesn’t concern the elves,” Dali said, his gaze lingering on Lucy and Ray falling asleep in the noon sun, their wispy hair shifting in the breeze. “Your recent failure with Kalamack Senior’s lab experiment is embarrassing, but it has brought to light a dangerous situation we need to remedy.”

            “Kalamack Senior. You mean Trent’s dad?” I said, and then, after a moment’s thought, “Hey. I am taking care of Lee. I haven’t failed anything.”

            Dali made a face in a silent rebuke. “In light of the situation, we have decided that we will endeavor to close the lines to simple translocation travel to prevent witches and elves from crossing into the ever-after by standing in a ley line. Their fear of us once kept our reality free of them, but you broke that, and such an action is long overdue. Your presence is both needed and requested.”

            “Lee isn’t an experiment,” I said, annoyed as I watched Trent trudge up the rise, Tulpa following close behind. “Is that what you think I am? An experiment?”

            Al took a breath, but Dali was faster. “Time will tell what you are,” Dali said. “Inside.”

            But I shook my head, arms over my middle to become as unmoving as a salt pillar. “I’m not going to help you close the lines to translocation travel,” I said, and Al chuckled knowingly. Doing so would only stop witches and elves from coming to the ever-after. Demons were not about to give up their oat milk cinnamon lattes and could move from reality to reality without needing to stand in a ley line. That is, unless the witches cursed them into exile. Either way, I was going to be stuck in whatever reality I was in when it happened. “Look, I appreciate the gesture, but Lee is not that big of an issue. I’ve got this. Besides, closing the lines might negate the legislation that Trent has done on our behalf. I lose everything, you lose everything.”