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I could feel Ryan tense beside me. For all of his joking, I knew that he was aware of how disastrous it would be if anyone caught sight of the demon, and I was suddenly thrilled that I was a cop. Not because I was able to badge my way out of situations—which obviously wasn’t going to work here—but because I knew my rights.
I kept my tone even and polite as I met the trooper’s eyes. “I don’t think there’s any need for you to look in the truck. I really don’t have time for that, and unless you have probable cause”—I stressed the two words very lightly—“to believe that I’m involved in something illegal, I’d appreciate it if you could let me get on my way.” Because this was what too many people didn’t realize: Just because an officer asks to look in your vehicle doesn’t mean you have to say yes.
His expression hardened, but I could tell that he knew he was stuck. He could still make my life difficult by asking me to take a field sobriety test or finding other ways to delay me. It was even possible that he would call for a drug dog to come out to the scene—and I didn’t want to think about what the dog’s reaction would be. But to my intense relief, he handed the paperwork back without a nod or smile. “Have a nice night.”
I could tell he didn’t mean it.
I took the paperwork and my license, keeping the smile plastered on my face. “Thanks. You too!”
I didn’t mean it either.
He stepped back and I eased the truck forward, my pulse finally slowing to normal once we were past the roadblock.
“Well, he was a tight-ass,” Ryan said, as if remarking about the weather.
I laughed. “He definitely would have screamed like a little girl at the sight of a demon.”
The rest of the drive was blessedly uneventful, and it was with deep relief that I made it to Tessa’s house. I backed into her driveway, as close to the garage as I could get and still be able to open it. I shut the truck off and hit the remote for the garage door, then hopped out, moved to the rear. I tugged the back door of the truck up.
Kehlirik crouched in the center of the truck, holding on to the straps that I’d provided for him. He peered at me as I opened the door. “Did you have any problems in here?” I asked him.
He blew his breath out in a snort. I’d never seen a reyza smile, but the expression on his face was one that I could have sworn was delight. “A unique experience. I am appreciative of the opportunity.”
I had to bite back the laugh. I didn’t want to offend him, so I kept my expression sober and merely inclined my head in acknowledgment. “I am pleased that it suited you.” I stepped aside and gestured into the garage. “If you would follow me, honored one?”
He released the straps and made a graceful leap into the garage. He apparently understood the need for secrecy. Which was good, because the last thing I needed was a neighbor seeing a ginormous winged beast going into my aunt’s house.
“C’mon, Fed Boy,” I said to Ryan as he climbed down from the truck. “Get your ass inside so I can close the door.”
He shut the door of the U-Haul and quickly moved inside the garage, while I punched the inside button to shut the garage door. As soon as it was closed, I flipped on the lights and led the way into the house, with the demon following.
Even though Tessa’s house was more than one hundred years old and in the tourist section of town, it was clear—to me, at least—that she was accustomed to having visitors of the demonic variety. The most telling feature was the broad staircase that led to the attic. At least twice as wide as normal and sturdily built, those stairs had been designed to make it easier for the demons she summoned in her attic to come down to her library. In fact, after I got the library wards cleared, I needed to get into that summoning chamber. Those wards didn’t appear to be quite as nasty, however, after my experience with the library wards, I wasn’t quite ready to take the chance.
I adored my own summoning chamber, but I wanted to have the option to use hers. After all, it had cost me close to a hundred dollars to rent the truck for one night, which only added to my annoyance. I was a cop. I wasn’t rich.
I entered the hallway, stopping a few yards away from the door to the library. I looked back at Kehlirik and gestured to the door. “I need to get into that room and have free access to everything within. I also need the wards restricting access to the summoning chamber in the attic cleared. Can you do that?”
Kehlirik narrowed his eyes as he moved slowly closer. He crouched, his gaze traveling over the frame, the door, and even the wall. I knew what he was looking at. To anyone without skill in the arcane, it was just a pretty white door set in a wall that was papered in an elegant flowered design in muted tones of rose and gold. However, to anyone with any skill in the arcane, the door and wall crackled and hissed with power, crawling with blue and purple wards that writhed and coiled malevolently. I grimaced. It hadn’t been so bad before I’d started dinking with the damn protections. Apparently I’d unwittingly triggered something nasty earlier, and now it looked like the level of protection had quintupled—like cutting off one head of a hydra.
Ryan let out a low whistle. “It looks worse now.”
The reyza pulled his attention away from the sinister energies to peer at me. “You have attempted to get through.”
It wasn’t a question, and I twitched a shoulder self-consciously. “Yes. Quite unsuccessfully, as you can see.”
“And you survived.” His nostrils flared. “I am surprised.”
My gut tightened. “It was … close.” I said, my mouth a bit dry at the memory. “I really didn’t think my aunt would put something so lethal in place.”
“She did not,” he replied, returning his focus to the door. Hands on knees, wings tucked along his back, he fell silent again.
My gaze traveled over the roiling potencies on the door. “Then who did?”
The reyza rumbled softly deep in his chest before speaking. “She summoned another to do so. This looks like Zhergalet’s work. He is merely a faas, but his skill with wards is unique and admired.”
“Oh, so my aunt subcontracted her alarm system,” I said with a relieved laugh. Kehlirik turned his head and blinked at me. “Sorry. I thought she’d done all of this work herself, and I was feeling pretty inadequate since I couldn’t even dream of doing anything this intricate. But now that I know she summoned someone to do it for her, I don’t feel so bad.”
Kehlirik looked back at the door, then stood, shifting his wings on his back and folding his arms across his chest. “It is an impressive piece of work. There is an underlayer of protections here that seems to be fairly standard. It would prevent the average human from entering and would prevent most from even recognizing that the door exists. Aversions,” he gestured with a clawed hand to a coil of purple energy, “to make one reluctant to be here.” But then he shook his head. “But those have been in place for years. Zhergalet placed deep protections on this door recently—perhaps three turnings of this world’s moon.”
