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It inclined its head, though its violet eyes stayed on me. “First we must complete the bond so that I may remain in this sphere.”
A bond? A wave of uneasiness passed through me. “I performed an adjustment to bindings once before so that the reyza Kehlirik could remain past sunrise,” I said. “Is it the same sort of thing?”
“Similar,” it replied and stepped to me. “But this will go deeper. I will guide you in the process.”
I didn’t have a chance to ask how deep. Eilahn slipped a hand to the back of my head in a lightning-fast move and placed the other hand on my face, touching my forehead and cheeks with the tips of its fingers. A brief frisson of shock and fear surged through me, amplified by the fact that I could feel the strength of the grip that held me in place. Eilahn looked wispy and delicate and its fingertips seemed to be barely touching me, but I suddenly couldn’t move my head a millimeter. My survival instinct screamed at me to struggle, but before I could twitch I felt a jab of potency spear through me, freezing me in place. It was a trap! I thought in sudden panic. Rhyzkahl hadn’t sent this demon to me. This is a demon sent to kill me or capture me—>He gave me a light squeeze. “Do I have any redeeming qualities left?”
I sighed and tilted my head back to look at him, not breaking away from his hold. “Well, you still give a fuck. So that’s nice.”
He gave me a soft smile, then surprised me by kissing me lightly on the forehead. A thrill raced through me, followed by a massive tsunami of confusion. A kiss on the forehead? What the hell was that? Should I do something? Should I try to kiss him? Was that a “we’re great friends” kiss? Or was he holding back because he didn’t want to get burned?
He tightened the hug briefly, then stepped back, making the tsunami of confusion somewhat moot—at least as far as the “should I kiss him” part went. “I do give a fuck,” he said, still lightly gripping my shoulders.
“I appreciate that. I’m sorry I slapped you.”
He frowned. “You slapped me? I thought that a mosquito had landed—” He ducked and laughed as I swung at him again.
“You are such a jerk,” I said, trying to glare without much success.
“I think that’s been well established. C’mon, I’ll give you a ride home.”
I hesitated. “Ryan, when I get there, I’m going to—”
“I know,” he said. “You’re going to summon Rhyzkahl.” He gave my shoulders a squeeze. “It’s okay. I know you need to do this.”
I searched his face for any flicker of regret or pain or angst or anything, but if he was feeling it, he was keeping it under unspeakably tight control. “Thank you.”
“I’m trying,” he said, voice low and rough.
“I know,” I said, hiding a smile. “And you have no idea how much that means to me. Which makes what I have to say next even harder.”
His brows drew together in a frown. “What?”
My lips twitched. “I’m actually not summoning Rhyzkahl. You totally wasted all of that control and maturity.”
He smiled. “Well, damn!” he said, though there was relief in his eyes.
“But I still appreciate the sentiment.”
“Good thing,” he said. “I don’t have a whole lot of control and maturity to waste on false alarms like that. So, if you’re not summoning the lord, then why do you need to go back to your house?”
“Well, you were close. I am going to summon, just not the demonic lord. But, I know that you um ...”
“Don’t care to be insulted and growled at by demons?” he offered.
“Well, yeah. I know you’re a real weenie like that.”
He laughed. “You’re definitely hanging out with me way too much. You’re becoming an asshole.”
“I’m learning from the best!”
Chapter 30
Despite our earlier banter, neither of us said much on the drive back to my house. Even though I wasn’t summoning Rhyzkahl, it was guaranteed to be an odd and tense situation with Ryan present, which was why I didn’t intend for him to be in the basement for the actual ritual. This summoning was a bit too crucial and I didn’t want to risk something going wrong because I was distracted by worry over Ryan’s safety.
Dawn was sending pink fingers creeping across the sky by the time he pulled into my driveway. I’d grabbed the extra ammo out of my own car before leaving it to be towed and had reloaded on the drive back to my house. We both scanned my yard cautiously before getting out of the car. I gripped my Glock, extending every sense possible in the hope that I’d be able to sense an imminent threat. It didn’t escape my notice that Ryan’s gun was in his hand as well.
My front door was ajar and slightly askew in its shattered jamb. What if it’s in the house? I’d damaged it, but I had no idea if it was capable of repairing itself or if it could only stay active for a set amount of time. We moved up the porch and through the house, guns at the ready, silently clearing it and checking for threats. Crumbles of clay littered the hallway—remnants of the creature’s leg—but no other sign remained.
