Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            “Then I will take her myself!” Lee howled, and I frowned as he started my way, arms swinging. “You canicula!” he shouted, and I renewed my hold on the ley lines as his hands began to glow. “You twisted it against us! You stupid whore of a demon. Elyse! Take her!”

            Elyse took a symbolic step back, retreating as two I.S. agents jogged forward to intercept Lee. Doyle hastened to join them . . . a sparkle of pixy dust at his shoulder. Jenks! I thought, my hand rising as I saw Bis’s angular shadow cut through the early dusk.

            “Bis!” I called, and he flipped end over end, his red eyes reflecting the lights from the I.S. cruisers as he oriented on me.

            “Hi, Rachel!” the kid almost crowed, and the wind from his wings pushed the hair from me as he landed on my shoulder. Shocked, Elyse took a step back. “I would’ve been here sooner, but I wanted to find Jenks. It’s too cold for him, and I figured he wouldn’t leave you.”

            “You figured right,” I said as his tail wrapped securely behind my shoulders. The tingle of the line I was holding seemed to grow, and Bis rumbled low in his chest, feeling it as well.

            “Elyse!” Lee demanded as the woman looked at her hands, then the overturned bus, her complexion a sickly gray. Brow furrowed, she shook her head. Snarling, Lee pulled on the line.

            I was ready for him, and I flung a hand out, meeting his energy with my own. Snapping and popping, the two forces collided until I took hold of the wildly gyrating energy and drew it into me with the sharpness of a cracked whip.

            Lee skidded to a halt, suddenly unsure as I pulled every last erg from him. On my shoulder, Bis seemed to thrum, wings extended as the ley line filled us both.

            “How . . .” Lee stammered, and then he jerked, starting when Doyle caught up. The living vampire spun Lee around and adroitly snapped a ring of charmed silver around his wrist.

            “What . . . I am a coven member!” Lee protested, his cheeks reddening in his entitled anger. “Get that off me. Get it off!”

            “Read him his rights,” Doyle said, and Lee’s face went ashen.

            “You,” Lee said as his eyes found me.

            “Me,” I said, tired as two I.S. agents began to muscle Lee to a car. “Me,” I said again, softer this time as I saw Elyse cross the plaza to join the rest of the coven. Seeing her slow, beaten pace, the first inklings of relief began to unknot my gut. Smiling, I put a hand on Bis’s craggy feet as both of us oriented on the sound of pixy wings.

            “Hey, Jenks,” I said, flipping my hair out of his way as the cold pixy dropped down. Dusting a dismal blue, he landed to press against my neck, his wings a frigid shock. “Tell me it’s good news,” I added, and he sighed as my body heat warmed him via his wings.

            “The best,” he said. “Someone had scraped off the wax pentagram by the time I got Doyle to the church, but I told him he could dig out a chunk of floor. There was enough embedded in the floorboards to do a positive ID.” He took a breath. “Thanks for the lift, Bis.”

            “No prob,” the gargoyle rumbled, his dark, pebbly skin lightening as he blushed.

            At the curb, Lee began to fight the two I.S. agents. “This wasn’t my fault,” he said, refusing to get into the car. “It was Morgan. She galvanized the demons. It’s not my fault you can’t go to the ever-after anymore. It’s hers! Arrest her!”

            Doyle sidled up beside me, his grin wide to show his pointed teeth. “Maybe tomorrow, Sir Coven Leader Stanley Saladan,” he said loudly, and Lee went stiff at his mocking tone. “Right now, you’re wanted for questioning in the matter of the murder of Madam Coven Leader Vivian Smith, fabricating evidence, tampering with an I.S. investigation, falsifying information on a government form, and obstruction of justice.”

            “No!” Lee went limp to try to wiggle from of their grip. “Elyse, she lies! She murdered Vivian. It was her!”

            Doyle shrugged, clearly satisfied as he turned to me. “You do understand this all goes away if Finnis—”

            “Yeah, I got it,” I said, and, giving me a cheerful nod, Doyle walked off, almost strutting to the media vans.

            “Thanks, Jenks,” I whispered, none too eager to join Trent, cornered by the press. No way was I going over there. Elyse, too, was occupied, surrounded by the remainder of the coven. All three of them were sneaking glances at me as she gestured and spoke.