Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            “Yeah, you’re right. That was kind of short,” I admitted. “Let me try again. Thank you for the invitation to be a member of the coven of moral and ethical standards, but I will have to respectfully decline. I will show you a copy of the curse that I was going to show Vivian because I owe it to her and myself, but I will not become a coven member and betray the trust of the demons.”

            Elyse had lost her smile. Actually, she looked a little pissed. “I’m not asking you to betray the demons. I’m giving you a chance to . . .”

            “Redeem myself with my peers?” I suggested, glad that Trent wasn’t hearing this. He would probably say it was a mistake, and maybe it was. Even so, I should probably try not to piss her off, and I ducked my head, trying to ease the tension. “Elyse, I can’t express my humble thanks enough, but I know where my loyalty needs to be. Please accept my apologies, but it’s not with the coven.” Firm yet polite. That should do it.

            Elyse seemed stunned. She had come to me with what she probably thought was a chance of a lifetime, and here I was, dumping all over it. “This would absolve you of all your indiscretions,” she said. “You wouldn’t have to fear Alcatraz ever again.”

            From the rafters, Jenks said, “She doesn’t fear Alcatraz now.” Dropping down, he landed on my hastily raised hand. “Do you, Rache?”

            My attention flicked to Bis as the kid crawled into the room on the ceiling. He had shifted his color to match the paint, and I stifled a shudder. “No,” I said, and his ears waggled at me as he smiled to show his black teeth. “I don’t.” I hesitated to give my next words more weight. “Should I?”

            “You are seriously turning me down.” Elyse was clearly confounded. “I thought . . . this would be a mutually beneficial situation. You’d be free to pursue your demon studies, and we’d gain the help of a powerful practitioner when such strength was needed.”

            I shook my head, my arms going over my chest. Coven member? Not likely. I would be fighting them on everything, pushed into being their enforcer when things got tough. Not happening.

            “Rache has her own thing going,” Jenks said. “We don’t need your favors.”

            “It’s okay,” I said softly, then louder to Elyse, “Again, Madam Coven Leader, I am honored that you would ask, but I respectfully decline. I simply can’t abandon my responsibilities here.”

            Jenks snickered. “Which is a shame, really, because you all obviously need the help.”

            I flicked my hand, and Jenks took off, laughing merrily.

            “I see.” Elyse tightened her grip on her purse. “I am done here, then. Happy Halloween.”

            My breath caught as the proud woman turned to the door. This was not how I wanted our relationship to start or end. “Elyse? Wait,” I said as I followed her. “This is not what I wanted . . .”

            I jerked to a halt, my words cutting off when she suddenly spun.

            “What did you want?” she said, her color high and eyes pinched in anger.

            I stood before her, not sure what to say. I wasn’t even sure what I wanted. Elyse didn’t need a friend. Even if I do.

            I put a hand up as I asked her to give me a moment to figure this out. “What are you doing this winter solstice?” I said, and her gaze flicked past me to the sanctuary.

            “I don’t know,” she said stiffly. “I haven’t assessed my new responsibilities yet.”

            “See if you can be in Cincinnati,” I said, hoping Jenks stayed right where he was and out of this. “You can go over that curse I was going to show Vivian, and maybe you can help me with a spell I want to try out.” I managed a weak smile, feeling vulnerable. “It takes the ambient power of a citywide coven to stir, but perhaps with the two of us we can manage it.”

            Elyse slumped, her anger gone as she looked at the stained pentagram with longing. “I know that spell,” she whispered. “That’s the one you used to bring back Pierce when you were eighteen, yes? Gives a ghost existence for a night? It’s a nice spell but limiting, seeing as you can only do it a couple times out of the year and only if they are in purgatory.”

            “Maybe you need to try it here,” I said. “Where she died.”