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A few seconds later Jill opened the door. “Who?” she asked, then her eyes widened as she looked past me. “Oh. That’s who.”
I stepped aside to give her a better view. “Jill, this is Steeev. He’s a syraza, like Eilahn.” I turned my attention to the demon. “Steeev, I would like you to meet my very dear friend, Jill.”
Jill stepped out onto the deck. “Nice to meet you, Steve,” she said with a polite smile paired with a questioning look in her eyes.
“It’s Steeev,” I corrected.
She gave me a slightly perplexed look. “Right, Steve.”
I shook my head, thoroughly enjoying this. “No, y’gotta draw it out more. Steeev.”
Jill’s mouth thinned into a flat line as she swept a gaze over Steeev, then narrowed her eyes at me. “Is this some kind of insider summoner joke?”
“Nope,” I said with a laugh. “But it is fun. His name is Steeev. There’s a bit of an extra ‘e’ sound in there.”
It was obvious she still didn’t completely believe me. She regarded Steeev as he stood by the top of the steps, radiating as much innocence as a demon could. “Is this true?” she asked. “You’re a demon named Steeev?” The dubious look on her face told me she was ready to receive the punch line.
Steeev bared his teeth in a syraza smile and took a step closer. “Unless my name has been changed in the space of the last few heartbeats, I am indeed a demon—a syraza—by the name of Steeev.”
“I’ll be damned,” she said, then offered him a wry smile. “It’s very nice to meet you, Steeeeeeev.”
I burst out laughing. “Okay, babe. That’s a bit of overkill on the eeeeeeee.”
She joined me in the laughter. “Make up your mind!”
And with that the two of us descended into ridiculous and hysterical laughter, no doubt fueled by the stress and weirdness and everything else going on. It took a few minutes for us to regain something akin to composure, not helped at all by the fact that whenever one of us started to find some control the other one would make a silly eeeeeee sound and we’d go off again—all while Steeev looked on in bemused tolerance. Or maybe he was trying to come up with some way to sneak back to the demon realm. Anything was possible.
When we finally got our breath back, I cleared my throat. “Jill, I summoned Steeev for a reason. It has to do with you, and I really hope you’ll agree to it.”
Realization immediately dawned in her eyes. My Jill wasn’t a dumb chick by a long shot. But even as she opened her mouth to protest, Steeev stepped forward.
“She will,” he said to me, then brought his gaze to Jill. “You will, will you not? Your Kara Gillian friend believes you need protection.” He tilted his head. “Do you need protection? You seem quite capable to me, so I am certain I would need to do little more than watch, and most assuredly would not be a nuisance.” He shook his head. “Not much of a nuisance.”
He paused barely long enough for Jill to begin a response, then folded down onto one knee and took her hand between his. I watched in amusement and more than a little awe as he blinked up at her in the hitherto unheard of syraza equivalent of puppy dog eyes. “Jill Faciane, only you can prevent my return to the demon realm, utterly rejected, steeped in shame.”
Jill gaped at him, but it took her only a second to pick up the humor. She fought to hold back a laugh, with only partial success. “I am seriously having the weirdest day ever,” she muttered.
“As am I,” Steeev said, still kneeling before her. “I was very inoffensively trouncing Safar in a game of kessa, and whoosh! Dragged to Earth.”
“Dragged to Earth to be my bodyguard?” She turned an accusing glare on me.
I twisted the toe of my shoe on the deck and whistled innocently. “Only if you agree to it.”
Steeev gazed up at her. “You do, do you not?”
A scowly-disgruntled expression began to form on her face, but then it shifted to a wince. She laid a hand on her belly, sighed. “Ah, jeez, bean.”
I masked a smile. The bean wanted Steeev around. Yay, bean!
Jill narrowed her eyes at Steeev. “Please tell me you can do the changing-to-look-human thing like Eilahn and Zack.”
His features scrunched. “It is possible, yes. Perhaps. I have not done so before, but I do not shy from a challenge.”
Jill rolled her eyes, then gave a dramatic slump of defeat. “Okay, fine. If you can get human-looking, then I won’t send you back an utter disgrace.”
I silently sang the hallelujah chorus.
Steeev stood, her hand still clasped flat between his as he gazed down into her face. “Jill Faciane, this is not to be done under duress,” he said, all joking gone from his voice and manner. “It is wholly your choice and my choice. I offer my service in my willingness to work with you. If you choose not to accept, then I depart with no ill will. This is between us now. It has nothing to do with what others want.”
