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I’d started swimming laps as a spur of the moment, Gee-let’s-see-if-I-can-actually-still-swim-a-few-laps sort of thing, but I soon discovered that when I swam I could forget. I could lose myself in the rhythm of the strokes and the feel of the water, and for that time I wasn’t Kara the demon summoner, or Kara the traumatized survivor of torture. I was simply Kara.
But today, I actually thought about summoning while I swam. None of the three demons bearing my letters had been summoned during this full moon, and I forced myself to control the selfish ache. Faruk had seemed nervous, perhaps even frightened before her summoning, but that could easily have been because she was so seldom summoned. Or was there more to it? It had hurt to be summoned when Idris brought me through, like being dragged through broken glass. And from what I’d seen, it had hurt Katashi as well. Yet I had a feeling it wasn’t anything that Idris was specifically doing or not doing. Even the times I’d summoned Rhyzkahl it had seemed to take him a few seconds to gather himself, to recover.
I finished my laps and propped myself up along the edge of the pool. I cast my gaze up at the rocks to see if any demons were around. There were usually a few here and there, but this time the only one I saw was Gestamar, perched on the diving ledge. As I looked up at him he made a graceful bound down to a rock closer to me, as if sensing I had a question for him.
“Does it hurt for y’all to be summoned?” I asked him.
He snorted. “Always. Sometimes more than others, depending on the skill of the summoner and the degree of conjunction.”
“Then why do it?” I asked, brow creased. “Why put up with it? I mean surely it’s not simply for coffee and popcorn and books?”
“We like coffee and popcorn and books,” Gestamar replied.
I laughed. “Okay, I suppose I could see doing it for coffee.” I tilted my head and peered at him. “Is there some other reason you tolerate it?”
The reyza spread his wings wide. “Kri,” he said, then settled his wings in close and bared his teeth.
I waited, then rolled my eyes. “Well, will you tell me?”
Gestamar bared his teeth wider. “Dahn.”
Laughing, I splashed at him. He leaped into the air, nimbly avoiding most of the water, then cannonballed into the pool, thoroughly swamping me. Before I knew it the pool area was filled with demons, and an enormous water fight commenced that rivaled the Epic Snowball Fight at Rhyzkahl’s palace.
I grinned and escaped the pool, then grabbed my robe and retreated down the corridor. Demons certainly knew how to have fun. That was something I never ever would have guessed in a million years.
“They miss having humans around.”
I yelped and turned at the resonant voice. Vahl leaned against the wall of the corridor, arms folded, eyes on me. His skin glistened dark and with vibrant health as though salt scrubs, mud baths, and Mega Vitamins for Skin and Hair were the norm. His casual pose reminded me of a mountain lion, sleek and powerful, beautiful and dangerous.
“Lord Vahl,” I said, and tried not to think about the fact that I was wearing a tank-style bathing suit and nothing else. “You’ve been, ah, watching?”
He gave a nod, smiling a little. “They love to play,” he said with a glance toward the demons. “And they love the different rules needed to play with humans.”
“I’ve noticed that they do love games.” I paused, regarded him. “Michelle says you treat her very well.”
He shrugged. “I value her. We all miss humans, though some will not admit it, and the reasons vary.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “She had a really shit life on Earth. Don’t fuck her up.”
He uncrossed his arms and pushed off the wall. “I’ve no reason to do so.”
“Please keep it that way,” I said, well aware that I had zero authority to back up my little mandate.
Vahl snorted softly. “And what of you and Mzatal?” His eyes dropped to the partial sigils visible on my upper chest, then returned to my face.
“What of us?” I responded, shrugging. “I’m in an agreement with him.”
Vahl tilted his head and smiled. “There are agreements and agreements.”
I chuckled low in my throat. “And why do you care?”
“Simple curiosity.” His smile widened.
I snorted. What a line of shit. But Vahl wasn’t being pushy or obnoxious in any way. He was simply testing the waters. “We don’t fuck,” I told him. “Is that what you wanted to know?”
He dipped his head in a small nod. “It will serve.”
“Okaaaay,” I drawled. I glanced back to see how the water war was progressing, surprised to see that it seemed to be finished. Not a demon in sight anywhere. Where the hell had they all disappeared to so quickly?
