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But what about some other demonic lord—one who knew that Rhyzkahl was trying to wear me down to get me to commit to being his summoner? Taking me out would cut Rhyzkahl off from this opportunity.
I gave in and slid down the wall and hugged my knees to my chest. Zhergalet merely continued to hop in place. “I do portal first. Cannot seal one day in. Take much time and many summonings to secure. But make pushes harder can do.”
“Good, yeah.” I waved a hand. “Do what you can. Make it hard for whoever it is to push shit through.”
The little demon warbled and turned to its work. I knew that I should watch and see what I could learn about warding from the creature, but I was in serious need of comfort at the moment, and there was a pint of chocolate ice cream in my aunt’s freezer calling my name.
Chapter 31
I finished the ice cream and felt a little better—and fatter—then distracted myself by going back to the attic. The storage diagram I’d used for Zhergalet’s summoning was intact and still had plenty of potency. Summoning the little demon hadn’t taken much power at all, and it didn’t take long for me to channel enough to replace what I’d used, plus extra.
By the time Zhergalet had finished replacing the first layer of protections on the portal and the house and had been dismissed back to its own sphere, it was three a.m. and I was fighting to stay awake. I had the unerring feeling that the demon wasn’t pleased to be redoing its work, and I was also more than a bit dismayed to discover just how much work it had been. My aunt had summoned the demon four times to get what were considered adequate protections in place. That had been near the end of last year. However, Zhergalet revealed that she had summoned it again a few months ago—shortly after my first encounter with Rhyzkahl—and had asked it to beef up the protections considerably.
I sighed. I didn’t have the energy to get upset about any of that right now.
I looked around the library. The current wards weren’t much more effective than what I’d placed, though they were a damn sight higher quality. However, I’d learned that these were the arcane version of a base coat and were vitally necessary for creating strong protections, or so Zhergalet had stated. Repeatedly. Tomorrow—er, tonight I would summon the demon again and it could start building decent protections.
I’d also received a rambling and difficult-to-follow lecture in security, which was a sharp scolding at times, one that made me think hard about the security—or complete lack thereof—at my own house. Okay, so I’ve been doing the equivalent of going shopping while leaving my bags on the front seat and my car unlocked. Tessa had spoken of the need for security, but I’d never really taken it seriously. After all, I lived way out in the middle of nowhere and I was a cop.
In other words, after Zhergalet finishes Tessa’s house, I have to get the demon to do mine.
But first, sleep.
My cell phone rang a few seconds after I curled up on the couch. At least it felt that way. But somehow, when I was able to blearily focus on the screen, it insisted that the time was one p.m.
“Kara Gillian here.”
“You’re not at the station. You’re not at your house. You’re not resting. You’re pushing yourself too hard—”
“Shut up, Ryan,” I growled. “You just woke me up, so piss off.”
He chuckled. “Well, since you’re not at your house, you must be at your aunt’s.”
“You really are too smart to be a fed. By the way, when were you going to tell me that I was on an FBI task force?”
“As soon as I got word that it had been approved. I’m assuming it’s been approved since you’re telling me about it.”
“I guess so. My captain doesn’t seem real happy about it, but he can kiss my ass.”
He laughed. “Ah, I see you’re in a pleasant mood today. Can I buy you lunch? Or, in your case, I suppose it would be breakfast?”
“I changed my mind. If you have to ask that, you’re definitely not too smart to be a fed.”
“Smart-ass. Meet me at the Lake o’ Butter in half an hour?”
“Pick me up. My car’s a piece of total shit.”
“Your own damn fault for driving your other one into a river.”
I growled something rude and hung up, but I was smiling.
I jumped into the shower and allowed the hot water to blast me for a blissful two minutes before I reluctantly shut it off. I toweled dry quickly and was just pulling on clean clothes when I heard Ryan’s car in the driveway. Running my fingers through my wet hair, I headed to the door and opened it to see Ryan standing at the edge of the driveway with a slight frown creasing his forehead. “Is something different?”
“Yeah. Come on in while I find my shoes. I had the wards redone. At least partially.”
He nodded, frown disappearing as he climbed the stairs. “Had them done? You summoned?”
“Yep.” I shut the door behind him and headed to the bedroom. “Same demon my aunt used. They’re not finished, though. It’s gonna take a few go-rounds to get it done right, but it’s still better than the crap I’d put up.” I fished my shoes out from beneath the bed. “So please tell me that this task force is not really a white-collar-crimes task force, because I like you, but that financial shit bores me senseless.”
