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And that’s when the nausea slammed into me like a truck I dropped to my hands and knees and lost breakfast, yesterday’s dinner, and even a few meals I didn’t eat yet, or so it seemed After what felt like forever it finally faded but I stayed there, gasping for breath as I slowly regained control of my body Okay, whatever that as, it was definitely , I pulled h the brokenand unlocked the door I braced myself for another layer of protections as I entered, but thankfully I seelanced back "I’ave a thumbs up toward the Crown Vic in case he couldn’t hear me, then closed the door behindon the walls Only a tired beige carpet with obvious traffic stains I listened carefully for any sign of life, but silence held the house in a strong grip Breathing shallowly, I edged foritha house of possible suspects was best done with backup--preferably lots of backup--but since I didn’t have that option I went slowly and h I did pause in the kitchen to rinse my mouth out Bile was never a fun aftertaste

I hit pay dirt in the master bedroom The floor had been stripped to bare concrete and painted black, and on it a coram had been carefully inscribed in white and red chalk Black bookshelves lined tall, and a long low chest ainst a third Books and scrolls and papers filled every shelf, but unlike ical precision

But all that was nothing coainst the far wall, casually paging through a book in his wickedly clawed hands The twelfth-level deoyle made of burnished copper, with a bestial face, s, and a sinuous tail that coiled around his feet I knew that if he were to stand he’d tower over me by several feet, and even crouched as he was he seemed to fill the roos, Kehlirik," I said as I holstered ainst him if he wanted to attack me

He bared his teeth in his version of a ss to you, Kara Gillian," he rumbled

I didn’t move into the room, ain prevent you fro the reasons you have been su?"

The de the question "There is nothing in ain that prevents or precludes ht for a moment I could ask questions until the cows ca in return, I wouldn’t get any useful answers "I have no suitable offerings onto accept my promise of a jar of popcorn kernels-- payable the next tie for information about the reasons you are here?"

He snorted, nostrils flaring "I would"

I grinned He’d developed a fondness for papcahn the last time I’d summoned him "Who sueron"

"What have you been tasked with?"

The deuard this focus point" He dipped his head toward the diagralance it looked like a fairly norram, but then I realized that there were several crucial differences--at least a half dozen sigils co off the center portion that flowed into each other with exquisite and intricate beauty "If I enter this room, are you honor bound to attack ured Darandparents’ notes were in this roo was over I intended to come back and take every last scrap of paper in here "This focus…is it connected to the other portals?"

The reyza gave a low rumble "Not at this time"

Perfect "Is it intended to be?"

"Yes" His eyes see this treraet a closer look Each of the sigils no doubt referenced a portal, which meant there were some that he’d either already known about or had found by so people on my Do Not Like list The detective in me itched to call Doc and find out if there’d been any other stroke deaths in the past year where the body had been found in a seely random location But the suoing to be able to pin these deaths on Tracy/Rayeron’s plan?"

The reyza set the book down I saith amusement it was one of the Harry Potter titles "He wishes to open a gate that will allow him to summon at will, without need to store potency"

"Holy shit," I breathed That was a suram--which I intended to rebuild as soon as possible--but even that had its limits At the most I could summon every few days, unless I wanted to wear ram But to have unlimited access to the demon realm…Anyone who had that would end up pretty damn powerful "How did he learn about this?"<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>