Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            “You ain’t gonna live long enough to do no retiring,” the pixy said.

            “Can you stay the night?” I asked Trent, and he nodded, his arm going around my waist as we turned to Cassie talking with Doyle in the corner.

            “Now that my calendar is clear.” Trent touched his pocket where his phone lay. “I’m yours until morning.”

            “Thanks.” I felt a frown take me. Why the hell is Doyle arguing with Cassie? “Patricia’s charm shop closes at two. Prepping the finding charm will have to wait.”

            Jenks’s wings rasped as he landed on my neck, his winter wear spilling out over his arms. “And then we go kick some militant Were ass,” he said as Trent found my hand and gave it a squeeze.

            “Then we go. All of us.”





CHAPTER


            4

            Eyes closed, I stretched, my foot sliding against the sheets as I searched for Trent. But all I found was a cooling warm spot where contentment once rested.

            Breath slow and deep, I turned to the windows, squinting to see Trent dressed and sitting with his phone in the only sliver of light to make it past my closed blinds. He was texting someone, his fingers moving dexterously, head bowed and expression intent.

            My words to tell him happy birthday caught. “Is it David?” I bolted upright.

            Trent started, but his smile was reassuring. “Nothing, and no,” he said as he tucked his phone away. “I haven’t heard from Cassie, so everything is fine. Go back to sleep.”

            But the flash of adrenaline had quashed any chance of that, and I slumped into my pillow, fumbling for my phone and the time. “Ten?” I said, feeling the hit. “Good God.”

            Standing, Trent crossed the small belfry room, shuttered windows on all sides, oak floor beneath, and high rafters overhead complete with a bell. “Not everyone starts their day at noon,” he said as he sat on the edge of the fainting couch. A bed wouldn’t fit up the narrow stairs, and though it made for tight sleeping, we managed. My breath slipped easy from me as he brushed the hair from my face. “My God, you are beautiful in the morning,” he whispered.

            “With my hair in disarray,” I started.

            “And a hazy dream still in your eyes,” he finished. Bending low, he kissed me, our lips meeting in a perfect sensation of belonging.

            “Happy birthday,” I whispered when he pulled back, and a faint smile found him. “You want your present?” It was a cookie cookbook, but seeing as it was demon in origin, each recipe held an earth-magic spell that did everything from cure pimples to put someone into an enchanted sleep. Even if he never made any, it was fascinating reading. I’d gotten it from Al, promising I’d help him make a tulpa in exchange for it.

            “All I want is in this room,” Trent said, his hand brushing the curls from my face. “Go back to sleep,” he whispered, the dim light filtering past my blinds making him into a delicious temptation of magic and sex. “Lee has agreed to look at my profit and loss figures concerning a cleaner product, and I have to go.”

            My rising libido died, and I propped myself up on an elbow. “At ten in the morning?” I said in disbelief. “He’s a witch. Well, he’s a witch-born demon. I’m surprised he agreed to that.”

            Trent stood and tugged his sleeves straight. I could almost see him put on the convincing and utterly false mantle of upright businessman. “He didn’t. I want to check my figures before we get together. I’m meeting him at one.”

            Which was not the best time for an elf, but Lee would know that. “The bastard,” I whispered, and Trent chuckled.

            “Yes, well, I convinced him to meet me at eight this Saturday at Cincinnati’s coffee festival, so we’re even.” Mental ducks in a row, he bent to kiss me again. “I’ll call you later,” he said as he pulled the comforter to my chin. “I would just as soon ignore my birthday, but I think Quen is helping the girls make cards. Do you have time to get together today, or will you be camping out at the hospital?”

            I thought of his present, then nodded, fully awake. “Not all day. I have to pick up some unprimed amulets at Patricia’s. Make up a bunch. Glenn might be able to convince the FIB to drive them around.” Getting together was starting to sound chancy, and I felt the need to get up, early hour or not. “If one pings, I’ll be busy. Otherwise, I’ve got time.”