“People won’t work with me because I tell them when they’re being idiots. In our circle, that happensmore often than not.”
“How was Lorraine supposed to know that an Irish coffee wasn’t made with vodka?”
“Because of the wordIrish.Had I said a Russian coffee, sure, I’d get the confusion. But Irish? C’mon! Everyone knows they drink whiskey. Or beer. Had she used beer—”
“You still would’ve called her an idiot,” I said. “No one in their right mind would put beer in coffee.”
“You’d be surprised,” Callie muttered. “Anyway, Reagan, stop trying to distract us. You can’t put yourself in this situation. Catching this mage is one thing, but if he has that demon hanging around, it puts you in incredible danger.”
“If the demon is that strong, they can’t have him hanging around, though, right?” I headed back to my bedroom and grabbed my bag. “Only the highest-level mage could hold a demon like that for long.”
“Even then, he wouldn’t be able to hold it for long at all.” Dizzy’s solemn voice drifted down the hallway. “That’s our concern. It is very likely the demon will eventually get out. One slip-up, or a conversation gone on too long, and the magic holding it could unravel and give it an opportunity to escape. That’s the danger.”
“The circles he was using here would’ve just barely been strong enough.” Callie filled my doorway.
“Do you think he’s ingesting the demon?” I pausedbefore leaving my bedroom, then threw a couple of hair things into my pack. Chances were, I’d forgotten a thing or two.
“No, thankfully. Any human body that demon took over would rot from the inside out. If it got out, though, it wouldn’t need a host. It would have the power to adopt a form on its own. Only if it grew weak from keeping the form intact would it transfer to a host to regenerate and literally suck the life out of the human.”
“Awesome.” I tapped my sword, wrapped in a towel. Just to make sure it was in there. “Well, if it did escape, it needs to be killed anyway.”
“There are people in Seattle who can do that.”
“But they aren’t doing it now, so…”
“She has you there, hon,” Dizzy said.
“Don’t help her. You’re supposed to be helping me.” Callie scowled at me. “We are talking about a high level-four demon here.”
From what I’d gathered over the years, there were six levels of power in the underworld, with level six solely occupied by my father. There were three or four sub-tiers of level-five demons, but only two or three sub-tiers of levels four and three. As a whole, any level-five demon was extremely powerful. Level-four demons were obviously less so, but the upper echelons of four were still extremely dangerous.
I zipped up my pack. When did I back away from achallenge? Especially on the backswing of Garret getting one over on me.
“Well, thanks for coming, you guys,” I said. “But I have a date with a mild climate and a lot of trees. Maybe a rolling hill or two.”
Callie followed closely behind me as I headed for the door. “Have we made any impact on you, Reagan?” she asked. “You really shouldn’t go.”
“I probably shouldn’t—you’re right. But they need help. Plus, I’ve been extremely bored since quitting MLE.”
“That was yesterday morning,” Callie exclaimed.
“But I haven’t been working for two days. A very boring two days.”
“You quit MLE?” Dizzy asked, following behind us.
“I told you that,” Callie said.
“I was supposed to get fired, but Darius stuck his big nose in. So I quit.” I opened the door and gestured them out.
“That was wise. You don’t need that vampire infiltrating your life.” Callie sniffed. “He’s much too close as it is. Soon you’ll start depending on him, and that is a very dangerous trap to fall into. You remember what happened with me and my vampire admirer?”
Did I ever. She’d killed him.
“Darius wouldn’t be so easy to kill, hon,” Dizzy said, exiting my house.
“I’m older now. Wiser. I have more experience. I could get it done.” Callie nodded knowingly.
“I could kill him, but then I’d have to deal with hiding his body, and yada yada yada.” I locked the door. “Hey, do you guys want to help me booby-trap my house?”
