His eyes turned from dark brown to a watery blue green, like crystal water.
“What are you?” I whispered, backing up against the shower door. The pit in my stomach was five times as big as the space between me and whatever he was.
He paused, considering me. His pressed lips were buttery smooth and rosy. “You really are rare and unusual, wrapped up in your amethyst sparkles. Finally,youmight be ofuseto me.” He straightened up, bowed from the waist, then adjusted the towel. “They call me Ranth. I am of the Ahknim.” Midnight dark hair trailed up to his belly button. His very solid chest rounded into wide shoulders with muscled arms that flexed as he crossed them. He smiled at me. Wolfish with all teeth. Sepia tattoos in the shape of a serpent wrapped a bicep, and a jagged silvery scar snaked from his collarbone to his ear.
Both demons and spirits can adopt human shapes, but they never get them quite right. Sort of like AI glitches with an extra finger or twelve eyes, depending on how far they went wrong, but this man was very right.
I bristled at the “use” label. “That didn’t answer my question. And where are your clothes?”
“The Ahknim don’t require them, but I’ve observed your civilization adheres to a modicum of propriety.” He adjusted the towel.
The flippancy rankled me. I wasn’t trusting anything he said, but there was often truth in lies. “Quit with the condescending walking dictionary-speak and stop tossing names without defining them. What is an S-f-fer, and that other Ank-him thing?”
“The Ahknim?”
“Yes, that. Explainallof it, or?—”
“Or?” He leaned against the counter again and wiped sweat dripping down his cheek with a languid trail of a finger.
His six-foot-two-ish frame towered over my five foot six. One of his bare feet added up to two of mine. Was his human form from my imagination? The silver scar down the side of his throat spoke otherwise. But still, he wasn’t threatening me, even if I was locked in my bathroom with him.
Flipping foxgloves, Ori was on her way here.
“Move over there.” I pointed at the sink, and he glanced at it before repositioning. It was good he was taking orders. I reached around him and ravaged the herb cabinet for valerian and tansy. He leaned into me, his heat distractingly human.
“Hey, keep your distance.” I backed up with bottles clasped to my chest.
“I thought you wanted to know about Essifers? They’re a particular type of lesser demon used by greater demons, the Derellers, to hunt magic users and handle pesky jobs.” Gooseflesh prickled up my arms.
“You’re describing yourself as pesky, then?” I ran through what herbs might help. If the portal wasn’t gone, I wasn’t sure what I’d do. Ori was probably safe in the house, but I couldn’t be certain until I felt for the house’s energy.
Ranth leaned back on the sink. “Ahknim are often described as Learned Ones. We are what you might call wizards, but with a truer power which most humans don’t share. Something akin to yours. You must beexceptional, or you would not be able to see me.”
The bottle of valerian dropped. He snatched it out of the air before it hit the floor, like time had slowed.
He offered it to me.
I swiped the bottle out of his hand. “Nice reflexes. What thehelleboredo you mean by being able to see you?”
“Do you always talk in these plant names? It’s rather charming.” His smile made a dimple on his left cheek.
“Don’t even,” I said, gripping the valerian. “You stay in here while I go check on something.”
If the portal hadn’t dissipated, I could have tried energy balls, but now I was weakened from attacking the wizard, or spirit, or whatever he was.
“The portal?”
“Yes, thefoxglovesportal.” I gave him the full palm-up signal to stay put and cracked the door open.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Icrept around the edge of the bedroom like a chasm was about to split the floor and suck me in, but I made it to the door. Leaning flat against the lavender-painted wall, I pressed my palms against the wooden doorframe, feeling for energy traces inside the house. The door had a special two-way ward on it. On my side, it was connected to every other room in the house. From the other side, the room would be invisible.
It seemed like the house wards were holding, but I couldn’t check the backyard from the window because my bedroom was at the front. Ori should be safe to come in the front door.
How could a demon breach the pillar wards? Fighting demons wasn’t an exact science, but I’d trusted Mom’s wards to hold. Still, dealing with the unexpected was part of what I did.I should be able to defeat whatever this was. The demons didn’t appear to be in the house. That was a positive.
Glass clinked in the bathroom. I clenched my teeth. Right now, the wizard-man-spirit might be an even bigger problem than the garden. Demons I had experience with. Whatever was in the bathroom was all-new trouble.
