Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            “Come on, short stacks,” Jenks said, his dust a cheerful yellow. “You like fruit, right?”

            Lucy took Ray’s hand, and with that extra security, they crossed the room. Even with Jenks there, the ten feet felt too far, and Ray looked back once to be sure I wasn’t going anywhere.

            “Trent’s going to kill me,” I said, and Al smirked. “How did you know I was in trouble?”

            “When are you not in trouble?” Al tugged the hem of his vest, flicking a foul glance at the people lingering in the parking lot. “Truth is, I didn’t. I was crashing your morning in the hopes of spending time with the girls. An NMZ, eh? Hence you going wolf. Clever thinking. Do you still have the ring?”

            “It was Jenks’s idea,” I said, but there hadn’t been much thinking going on. I was lucky that the rest of the pack had stayed on the outskirts, treating it as an alpha challenge. Tradition had saved me. If they’d been thinking, I would’ve been wolf chow.

            Clearly the mage wanted the ring back. Being a target I could handle—that I had told Trent I had everything under control and put the girls in danger was another story, and embarrassment warred with anger.

            “Aunt Rachel was a wolf,” Lucy said, still holding Ray’s hand as they returned, Mark behind them with a bag in hand. “She bit that bad wolf. Hooooowl!”

            Beaming, Al lifted the little girl up. “It’s only proper to bite people when you are both wearing fur. Now that she is wearing clothes, your aunt Rachel would curse them with a spell instead.” Al gave me a sidelong glance. “Even if she is still sort of wearing fur.”

            Annoyed, I pulled Ray to me. A stop at a spell shop was in order—soon as I got my coffee. “Parker put Walter in the hospital. Glenn and David are going down to see if he can talk. Find out who the mage is and if he found out how to turn the ring.”

            “That seems appropriate.” Al reached for the NMZ amulet, making a tsk-tsk when Lucy tried to take it. Her little brow furrowed, Lucy drew away, clearly frustrated.

            “Hey, ah, could you hang on to that for me for a while,” I said. Holding it meant I couldn’t tap a line, and seeing as Al couldn’t . . . Grimacing, I quashed a rising wave of guilt.

            “Of course.” Mood reserved, Al coiled the NMZ lanyard into his palm and delicately tucked it in a vest pocket. “Perhaps you should go to the hospital to question Walter while he lives?” he added. “I can mind the girls for an hour.”

            “Ah, thanks, but Glenn has it,” I said, admittedly torn. I took out my phone at the reminder, shooting off a quick text to Trent that we were on our way to the cider mill and that the girls were fine. If I was lucky, he would assume I was giving him a worried-dad update. And if he did see the news, my casual text might convince him it hadn’t been a big deal. If I was really lucky, he’d be in a dead zone.

            “I am not helpless, Rachel,” Al said, the implication clearly grating on him.

            “I know,” I said. True, he was resorting to buying charms from other demons, but if he offered, he had enough of them to keep the girls safe. Al’s reputation, too, would keep trouble at bay.

            But I really wanted to be there when David questioned Walter, and, seeing my indecision, Jenks lifted off the table, wings a blur. “Parker wanted you, not the girls. You go. I’ll stay with Lucy and Ray.”

            “Yes, go.” Al gestured flamboyantly. “Spend an hour with that cur of a Were. I am their demon godfather. Trent would not have made me such if he didn’t trust me with them.” He hesitated. “Besides, they are safer with me than you . . . at the moment.”

            He was right, and, not happy, I turned to the girls. “Is that okay? It was supposed to be our time.”

            “Pony?” Ray asked Al, and the demon grinned wickedly.

            “As many times as you like, my little ever-after sparkle,” he said, and a knot of worry eased in me as the little girl reached for Al. Sure, I could have felt slighted, but it was Al. Who wouldn’t want to ride the ponies with a demon?

            “How about you, Lucy?” Al arranged Lucy’s dress, his expression serious. “Will you come with me, Jenks, and Ray while your aunt Rachel discovers why the Weres are scared?”

            Nodding, Lucy put her arm around his neck and gave him a noisy, little-girl kiss.