Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            It wasn’t her asking, but the coven. Even so, I was scared. So was Vivian. We were both on dangerous ground, her trying to sell my innocence to the rest of the coven, and me basically letting a coven member in on demon magic. Giving the coven a deeper understanding of demon magic might be a Pandora’s box. Or it might be the way for demons to integrate once again. That’s all witches were, really—demons whose blood lacked the complex enzymes needed to kindle the higher magics.

            “How do your next few days look?” Vivian asked, but the fear and anger were gone, replaced by a worried resolve. “I need to see that book.”

            It never rains, but it pours, I thought. “Busy, but I can make time.”

            Vivian exhaled, her posture returning to her usual upright stance. “Okay. Saturday, then. After two? Your place.” Her gaze went to the bag in my hand. “You owe me twenty-four bucks.”

            Lips quirked, I nodded, and after giving me a smile, she turned and walked off.

            “Huh. That went well,” Jenks said, and I exhaled as I ran a hand over my energy-crackling hair. “Your phone is going to ring.”

            “Is it?” I said, familiar with his almost psychic ability to hear the electronics switch over. “It’s Cassie,” I said when I took my phone from my back pocket and hit the accept icon.

            “Hi, Cassie.” Pace fast, I went the opposite direction as Vivian, heading for my car. “I’m on my way. I’ve got the blank finding amulets and am ready to go.”

            “Good, because you were right,” Cassie said, her accent making everything into a question.

            My smile faltered as my pace slowed. What kind of life do I have when being right means I’m up shit creek?

            “Ow!” she shouted, clearly not talking to me. “That is still attached, you bloody butcher!”

            Jenks inched farther out of my scarf, his dust making my neck tingle. “I’m hearing a lot of commotion in the background,” he said.

            “Cassie? What happened?” I asked as I held the phone high and dug for my car keys.

            “Walter Vincent happened,” Cassie said, and a cold drop of reality skated down my spine. “He’s got wolf balls. I’ll give him that. I left David for ten minutes. Ten cur-blasted minutes to grab a shower in David’s bathroom. I didn’t even close the door. He and that alpha bitch Parker waltzed in and walked out with David. Pretended they were takin’ him down for some tests.”

            “He’s gone?” I exclaimed, stopping dead still on the cold sidewalk. “When?”

            “Ten minutes. I would have called you sooner, but I was tryin’ to catch ’em.”

            And got herself hurt, from the sound of it. Walter has David. The thought sent a ribbon of panic through me, and I quashed it. My gaze went to Jenks as the pixy darted from my scarf, a chill red and gray dust spilling from him. “What is the I.S. doing?” I said, thinking of my blank amulets.

            “I don’t know.”

            “Glenn,” Jenks said, and I nodded. We had to find David. Now. If we got caught using an illegal finding amulet, Glenn could play the plausible deniability card.

            “Ah, I’ll be right there,” I said, spinning to look at the skyline and place the FIB building. “Scratch that. Meet me at the FIB.”

            “The FIB?” she blurted, and I broke into a jog as I headed for my car. “What does the FIB care?”

            “The FIB,” I said again as I hung up to call Glenn. He might be working nights, but he’d come in for this.

            Cassie was right. I had to find David before Walter or his magic user killed him. The I.S. was too slow. I needed a human. I needed the FIB.





CHAPTER


            6

            Unlike the I.S., who seemed to derive a perverse joy from making it difficult to get in to see them, the FIB maintained an adequate amount of parking, and I easily snagged a spot in the visitor lot after talking to the guy in the attendant hut. Apparently Glenn had dropped us on his electronic calendar after my call, which was then fed out to the entire building. I wasn’t sure if I was impressed by the efficiency or appalled at the lack of privacy, but being told to “find a spot, ma’am” definitely put a spring in my step as I went in the main entrance, Jenks on my shoulder.