“I wasn’t aware Death had a sense of humor,” the vampire said.
“We have theultimatesense of humor, vampire.”
“We?” Ronan said.
I waved away his comment. How I chose to self-identify in my present form was none of his business, and this was hardly the time for philosophical discussions about the multidimensional nature of beings unconstrained by the physical rules of the prime material plane.
The tension among us still lingering, Gray finally set down her book and excused herself again to finish dressing. I noticed she put the demon’s sweatshirt back on over her clothes, inhaling its scent as she did.
I shook my head. Humans were an odd creation indeed.
The men watched her closely as she jogged back over to us, each lost in his own private thoughts—thoughts they probably believed they were hiding.
Wherever the three new arrivals had been, they were clearly pleased to be reunited with Gray and the incubus. Nevertheless, I couldn’t let this most recent incident go unmentioned.
“Gray,” I said when she rejoined the group, “I’m not sure I’ve impressed upon you the severity of what happened here tonight.”
She opened her mouth, then closed it, nodding somberly. “You’re right. That could’ve been a lot worse than it was. I didn’t realize I had the power to do… whatever that was. Not with animals.”
“It’s another form of necromancy, of which there are many,” I said. “And this was not the first time you’ve done such a thing.”
“What? But I’ve never…” I watched as she combed through the archives of memory, the realization slackening her jaw. “Oh my God. The mice? But… I thought I’d healed them.”
“No, Gray. You merely brought them back, like you did tonight.”
She sat on the grass and pulled her knees to her chest.
“Gray?” Emilio sat down next to her. “What’s he talking about,querida?”
She pressed her forehead to her knees and sighed. “Back in Phoenicia, before everything… you know. There was this stray cat that used to come around, blind in one eye, skinny as hell. Calla wouldn’t let him in the house—she’d said he’d been around for years, and that he simply preferred to be wild. But I used to leave food outside for him anyway.”
“Of course you did,” Darius said fondly.
Gray lifted her head and smiled, but it quickly dimmed as she continued her story.
“One time I went out there to leave him some milk, and I found he’d left something for me instead—six dead field mice and a robin. I know it’s supposed to be this great honor when cat’s do that, but I was horrified.” She pulled her hands inside the sleeves of her sweatshirt and hugged her knees close again. “I tried to do a healing spell on them. I just focused all my intent on making them okay, so when they started moving again, I really thought I’d… God. I can’t believe I resurrected them. I turned them into those… thosethings.”
Gray shuddered at her memory, and the human vessel I’d chosen began to malfunction. Why else would I feel a sharp pain in my chest at her words? What was it in this collection of bone and muscle and blood that made me ache to touch her, to comfort her as the others did?
No matter. Her destiny was more important than the whims of my very human, very fallible body.
“Gray, we must leave now,” I said. “You’re at a critical point in your magical learning, and if we don’t—”
“I can’t,” she said simply. “Not until I help my friends. The hunter has them in some kind of prison. I’m sure of it.”
“How can you be certain they’re even alive?” I asked.
“Can’t you feel it?”
“I’m not… connected to them in the way I’m connected to you. I feel many things, all at once, backward and forward. Time is irrelevant. Only you are clear.”
“Wait.” She got to her feet, looking at me with new eyes. “How long have you… known me? Or sensed me like that?”
“Twenty-five years, seven months, four days, and nine hours, give or take a few hours, adjusting for differences in local time zones and seasonal—”
“My entire life. You’ve been watching me my entire life.” Her sadness turned suddenly to anger, though I couldn’t comprehend why. “Well, you’ve got Ronan beat there.”
The demon in question sighed. “Gray, it’s not—”
