Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            “I’ve got it,” I said as I took the pumpkin from him, and he exhaled in relief. “Ray, you have to choose by the time we get back to the tables, or you will be stuck with whatever Jonathan brings home from the store.”

            Brow furrowed, Ray looked about in frustration.

            “I’ll help you, Ray,” Jenks said as he made circles around the little girl. “I can tell which one has the most seeds.”

            “The most seeds?” Al said importantly. “You want color and depth, not seeds. Only a demon can find the most perfect, most sincere pumpkin.” He extended his hand, and Ray fit hers within its enormity. “I suggest we try over there,” he added, and a wash of feeling took me.

            “Me too!” Lucy shouted, hair flying as she jumped in circles.

            I shifted the sun-warmed, heavy pumpkin to my hip, and David and I slowly followed the girls as they wove their circuitous way to the table.

            “He wants to destroy the ring,” David said, his chin lifting to indicate Al, and my shoulders shifted in a silent sigh. “He’s right. The possibility of bringing back four lives is minuscule compared to the chaos that will ensue if Parker uses the ring to get the focus.”

            “Then we have to ensure she doesn’t,” I said firmly, and the tired man took a breath as if to protest. “David, Hodin had to have written the curse down. The mage wouldn’t be trying to recover the ring unless he knew that the cure’s invocation phrase or a way to flip the ring to curse mode was in Hodin’s room.”

            But David wasn’t listening, a confused wonder on him. “Al really cares for them, doesn’t he.”

            Startled, I followed David’s gaze to where Al was bent over a small pumpkin, turning it so Ray could see all sides. Jenks hovered over them, his dust a bright silver in the heat of the day. A fond softness filled me—until a stilted, fast pace drew my attention. It was Trent, striding over the dying vines as if he was treading over his vanquished foes. Quen was some distance back, clearly content to let Trent handle it—seeing as he was the one with the issue.

            “He looks upset,” David said, and my smile dribbled away.

            “He doesn’t trust me with them,” I said, feeling panicked as I spoke the words aloud. “I had one shot to prove I could handle them—”

            “And you did.”

            David’s confidence wasn’t catching, and I held that stupid pumpkin closer. “He won’t see it like that,” I whispered as Trent called out to the girls and they spun.

            “Daddies!” Lucy shouted in delight, and both she and Ray ran to them, leaving Al and Jenks standing alone, both irate, and a sour green dust sifting from the pixy.

            “Hello, my ladies!” Trent’s musical voice rang out as he dropped to a knee to come up with them. Quen closed the gap, and after a mishmash of confusion and shrill demands, Quen ended up with a wildly chatting Lucy, and Ray remained with Trent.

            “Did you have fun with Uncle Al?” Trent asked the solemn girl, and my pulse quickened, hearing a rebuke in his soft question.

            “Aunt Rachel bit a wolf!” Lucy exclaimed. “But she was a wolf. You don’t bite anyone unless you are both in fur. Use magic instead.”

            Trent blinked, his surprise quickly hidden. “I’m sorry you had to see that, Lucy,” he said as they began walking to David and me, and with that, my temper snapped.

            “I’m not,” I said loudly, and David sort of ducked his head and rocked away. “Now they know I can keep them safe.” Do you?

            David lifted a hand in greeting, clearly uncomfortable. Al, though, was two hot comments from laughing at me. Jenks already was.

            Trent frowned, clearly not wanting to argue in front of a dozen picnic tables full of people, and not with Ray on his hip. Me? I had no problem yelling in mixed company. I was a Midwest girl.

            “Ah, hey,” David offered hesitantly. “We were on our way to make caramel apples. Perhaps Quen, Jenks, and I should take the girls and get in line.”

            “Good idea.” Al settled his dress shoes firmly in the dirt. “We’ll catch you up.”