Blood of the Demon by Diana Rowland Read Free Book Online Page B

a debt of honor.”

    “I did.” He sank into a crouch, folding his wings andresting his clawed hands on his knees as the tip of his tail twitched by his feet. My eyes had adjusted and I could see his face—level with mine, now that he was crouched. Eyes rich with keen intelligence offset the bestial look of his face—flat nose above a wide mouth set off by curved fangs. A thick ridge crest swept back over his head, with curved black horns on either side. “I will repay that debt if such is your desire.” Then his gaze shifted to Ryan’s circle, and to my shock his lips curled back from his teeth and he hissed.

    I reflexively tightened my grip on the bindings. “Honored reyza ,” I said quickly, “this man is under my protection.”

    The demon snapped his gaze back to me, a growl rumbling in his throat, then to my utter relief he lowered his head in acquiescence. “I will abide by your desire, summoner, and will not harm the kiraknikahl while he is under your protection.”

    The what? I glanced at Ryan with a questioning look, and he gave me a baffled shrug in response. I had no idea what the word meant, but there was only so much I could bargain for in this summoning, and demons—especially reyza —tended to be pretty stingy about imparting information. Everything had its price, and I had other questions that were far more pressing at this time. Such as, did I screw up in my dismissal of the ilius, and could it have attacked Brian’s essence?

    But, more than anything, I needed to get into Tessa’s library, and that alone was going to take every bit of negotiating I had, debt or not.

    I mentally filed the word away for later research. Maybe once I got into the library I could find out for sure.

    “Kehlirik, I have need of your aid this night—specifically, your skill with wardings and protections.”

    The demon tilted his head. “I am quite skilled in such.”

    I smiled. Flattery would get you everywhere. “I know. Tessa Pazhel is my aunt, and I have need to enter and access all portions of her library and the contents therein, as well as her summoning chamber.”

    He stood, the tips of his horns nearly brushing the ceiling of the basement. “I accept the task and terms as payment of the debt.”

    I exhaled and released the bindings, then closed and grounded the portal energy. Kehlirik ascended the basement stairs with a speed and grace at odds with his size. As soon as he was out of sight, I turned to Ryan’s circle and lowered the protections, then looked up at him.

    “Okay, possibly stupid question here, but have you ever encountered Kehlirik before? And what the hell is a kiraknikahl?”

    He gave me an exasperated shrug as he stepped out of the circle. “How the fuck should I know?” Then his eyes widened. “Holy shit, I do know that demon!”

    “You do?”

    “Yeah, he was over at my house to watch the Super Bowl,” he said, not bothering to hide his grin. “We shared a coupla brewskies. He’s like my best bro!”

    I rolled my eyes and headed up the stairs, though I couldn’t help but smile. “Never mind,” I said over my shoulder. “ Kiraknikahl obviously means asshole .”

    THE CAB OF THE U-HAUL REEKED OF CIGARETTE smoke, but since the air conditioner was nonfunctional it meant we had to drive with the windows down anyway. Fortunately, it was a warm night, and the open windows made for an almost pleasant ride.

    Kehlirik had been surprisingly willing to be toted like cargo in the back of the truck, apparently looking upon the whole thing as one more unusual experience that he could relate to his demonkind buddies. I knew that experience in other realms helped demons gain status, so I had to guess that riding in a truck counted. In fact, he’d almost looked excited, which for a twelfth-level demon was utterly unheard-of.

    Unfortunately, the U-Haul had been the best idea I could come up with for transporting the demon, since, as Ryan had pointed out so cleverly, there was