Page 115 of Demon and the Raven

He was, I could see it all over his face, but not physically.

“Good,” Lorne told him. “Go get in your car and stay there, all right? Don’t leave. I’m counting on you to remain here.”

Lorne wanted the priest safe, which I was happy about, and for his part, Father Dennis didn’t question him, simply moved. On his way by me, still in the Jeep, he stopped, reached in, put his hand on my cheek, and tried to smile. He didn’t quite make it, but I appreciated the effort. “We’re going to be all right, Xander,” he promised.

“Why would you say that to him?” Kamosh called over to the priest. “Especially to him, the witch I need dead.”

“Go on now, Father,” I prodded him gently, and when he was walking away, only then did I meet the gaze of the demon.

“I saw you cleanse the Fornell house, watched you turn my servants back to mud, and have felt the weight of your talismans all over this town as I hid inside Tanner Murphy. I have taken some, to see, to feel the magic in them, and it’s there, pulsing and powerful.”

I wasn’t scared for me, I just didn’t want the demon near Lorne, and as it began a slow walk forward, I could feel my pulse quicken and the dread knotting my stomach.

“Tell me about your land, witch. What lies there?”

“That’s the deal I want to make,” Lorne interrupted, and Kamosh looked at him. “You can keep sucking the life out of the town, that’s fine, keep doing what you’re doing, but leave me, Xander, and Father Dennis alone. That’s all I ask.”

Kamosh nodded. “Am I to understand that you will allow me to live here uncontested as long as I follow these rules?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

“There are children in this town.”

“Not my children,” Lorne apprised him.

It laughed, but thankfully stopped walking. “You must think I’m an idiot.”

“No, I⁠—”

“I’ve watched you, Chief MacBain!” it yelled at Lorne. “You care about every wasteful, disgusting, insignificant life in this forgettable little town. Every word out of your mouth that says different is a lie, and the fact that you think I can’t smell the mendacity on you means you take me for a fool.”

Lorne took a deep breath. “I want you to stay away from Xander and⁠—”

“Because he’s not a witch like the others. He’s different, and more importantly, I know what I’ve sensed on his land. Even from a distance, I can guess.”

The gasp that came out of Lorne was pretty good. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought it real.

“There’s a passage there, like the one I ran through to be here, and I can’t have that.”

“I don’t—what do you mean?”

Kamosh moved fast, too fast, and Lorne couldn’t even brace for the attack. One moment the demon was several yards away, the next he had a hand wrapped around Lorne’s throat. I didn’t even think, reacting before my brain caught up with my body. I scrambled out of the front seat, slipping around the side, on my way to Lorne. The only thing that stopped me was Lorne’s gaze. He wasn’t scared, and that froze me in my tracks.

“You know what I mean,” Kamosh roared into Lorne’s face. “The vast passage on Corvus—and yes, I’ve learned the name from all the people who speak of it. The passage that is far larger than the one I burned. If I could travel here through one so small, then those who are more powerful than me, those who could kill me, can come through that which lies on the witch’s land.”

“What do you want?” Lorne asked, and his voice was breathy, sounding desperate.

“I want entry to the land, I want dominion over the passage, and I want you gone from this place, Chief MacBain.”

Lorne took a ragged breath. “Fine, I’ll take Xander and⁠—”

“No. No, no, no. I will keep Xander here, with me. I will live in the house, on the land, and you will run far away.”

Lorne gripped the demon’s wrist and grabbed hold of his throat, squeezing tight. “Fuck you, I’m not leaving Xan. I’m never leaving Xan. He’s mine and⁠—”

“Oh, human, what power do you think you possess?”

As we watched, the demon stepped free of Tanner Murphy’s body. One moment Tanner was standing there, the next he was on his knees, howling in pain. I had no idea if he was crying and raging because the demon had left him to all the pain and horror in his mind, or if it was that he was alone again in his body. Either way, he didn’t have much time to adjust to his new reality as the demon wrenched him to his feet and snapped his neck. Tanner was dead before he hit the ground.