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Chapter 1

The de and teeth, barely visible to norht It coiled in slow undulations in the backseat of ht, the tires of the car hu on the asphalt in low rhythmic counterpoint to the moves in silver and shadow, h a rank swa this stretch of road, but this was little surprise since there were no houses or businesses out here--nothing but swaround that pretended to be woods

I could hear the deer, and I stilled it with a nudge of pressure on the arcane bindings It would feed soon enough, but I needed it to coreed-upon task first I’d dealt with this type of demon many times before and knew that the creatures were far less useful after a feed--preferring to coil in sated comfort rather than hunt

I continued to drive until I felt the change in the demon--a sudden tension as if it had perked up its nonexistent ears I pulled over to the side of the highway, then walked around to the other side of the car and opened the back door It felt a bit absurd to cart a demon around in the backseat ofout in thederaain, the deer anticipation of a hunt The deent as a dog but a thousand ti, visible in ht as a coil of s ht--a sense beyond the senses that revealed more than the mundane world most people were able to see--it was essentially invisible, except for the deep feeling of unease it left in those it touched

I opened the paper bag and pulled out the baseball cap, allowing the ilius to twine around it and fill itself with the scent, the feel of the one I sought "Seek," I said, and reinforced the spoken coht, then sped away across the grass and through the trees like an arcane zephyr

I let ainst the car to wait for the de hunter I had no doubt Whether that hunter was alive or dead would decideEven at four in the , the south Louisiana heat in July was oppressive, and out here in the middle of the swamp, the humidity was easily near a hundred percent Sweat beaded onI wasn’t wiping away too much of the mosquito repellent that I’d doused myself in Hundreds of the little bloodsuckers hu them at bay At least the ilius didn’t have to worry about mosquitoes

There were twelve levels of demon that could be summoned by those with the ability to open a portal between this world and the deher the level of demon, the more powerful--and the h-level deetthe idiot who’d decided to go hunting in the swamp by himself was an added benefit But this was the first demon I’d summoned in a couple of months, and I’d needed the reassurance that I still knehat I was doing

White-blond hair like a river of silk cascaded over me as he bent to kiss me "Do you ht with crystalline amusement

I looked up at hihed and took me by the hand to leadblue sea "Is it such a difficult question?"

I watched the deht above the water "I miss your presence, but you also kinda scare the crap out ofhis arms about me in loose embrace "I would never harm you, Kara Summon ainst him as his e goose buht not be the saently nipped at my earlobe

"I will allow none to harm you, Kara," the deive you"

I shuddered as if to throw off a chill, still unsettled by the reht’s drea more

Gooseflesh rose on ht I wished I could really be that certain

There was another type of demon above those twelve levels: the demonic lords It was considered pretty much ih power and preparation it was technically possible to su the experience was another matter entirely Yet I’d accidentally suhest of the demonic lords, and I’d even survived the experience

In a

Rhyzkahl had created a link to me after I’d unintentionally sus, so vivid and real that it was impossible to tell whether I ake or asleep Plus, ele world, as evidenced by one instance where he healed an injury I’d received when I ake But those had stopped after he’d saved my life I’d had dreams of his

I knew I should be pleased and relieved that the link had apparently been severed But I wasn’t sure how I felt about that Or him It didn’t help thaterotic content--withwith a cos that quickly shifted to confusion and uncertainty Was he sending these dreams in order to remind me of e’d shared and what he could offer? Or were the drea me that I had no boyfriend, no sex life, and no prospects?