Demon's Hunger by Eve Silver Read Free Book Online Page B

quick drumroll with his fingers on the wooden pew. Badda-bing . "You lose, Asher."
    "There is another." The Ancient's voice was ripe with twisted satisfaction.
    Baunn's gut clenched. "Another conduit? That's impossible."
    "Impossible? True. There is no other conduit , but there is another way to bring the Solitary across. A summoner. A demon-keeper."
    Humans who summoned demons were bound to the monster they called up. In exchange for eternal youth, eternal life, the summoner became the demon's keeper in the mortal realm, doomed to witness the demon's every vile action in perpetuity. Most struggled and fought once they realized what they had signed on for, and then most of them simply went mad, became husks of their former selves, their souls tormented in the living hell of their own making.
    Some struggled against their fate for years and decades and centuries. None managed to kill the demon they had summoned or send it back to the stinking realm that had spawned it.
    Except once. More than two thousand years ago, the Solitary had been sent back, and the human summoner, a child named Bezal, was saved, a happenstance made possible because Bezal had asked for no boon in return for the summoning. The child had said the words completely in error, had not understood what he had done, nor asked for any gift from the demon he called. Everything combined in a unique circumstance that allowed the Compact to save that one young boy and save the mortal world.
    Because the Solitary was banished during the summoner's natural life span, Bezal did not wither and decompose. He went on to live a full life, one he chose to dedicate to helping others, a self-imposed payment for his terrible mistake. He died. He was buried.
    That was the end of it. Or so they had thought until a dark power attempted a re-animation. At that point, Bezal's remains were warded and spelled, scattered across the earth so no possibility remained that he could be brought back to life and used to summon the Solitary. Finally, the end of a very ugly story.
    So whatever Asher thought he was talking about, he was wrong.
    "The Solitary can't be summoned by a keeper. Not anymore. You know that. You're the one who devised the plan to lock him in the demon realm by casting wards and spells that prevented his being called by any but Bezal," Baunn said.
    "True." The Ancient's smile was chilling.
    An oily wariness slithered through Baunn's veins. "The Compact made certain that no human could summon the Solitary after Bezal. You made certain of it."
    "Did I?" The Ancient's smile grew broad, feral, not a pretty sight. "The spell the Compact cast is powerful, true. The Solitary can be brought into the realm of man only by his original and first demon-keeper, Bezal, a human long dead, his remains destroyed. Or he can be summoned by the descendants of the original. Those are the only options."
    Baunn said nothing, refusing to feed Asher's dark delight.
    "Such a conundrum. The Solitary's summoner, Bezal, is dead, and he died without begetting offspring… did he not?" Asher laughed.
    Did he not ? Now that was the question.
    A cold wind whipped through the chambers of Baunn's heart, a glacial dread.
    They'd thought so. They'd all thought so.

----
    Chapter Five
    Previous Top Next
    Dain rested one hand on the roof of the SUV and ducked his head to get a better glimpse at the inside. From the backseat, Vivien looked out at him, her eyes wide and glassy.
    He figured she was holding it together by the thinnest thread, and damn but he admired her for that. A smile tugged at him as he thought of her standing in her basement, ready to battle a demon with a stool. Brave lady.
    Misguided, but brave.
    Instinct screamed at him to climb in with her, wrap her in his arms, hold her tight. Protect her from the frigging demons and hybrids , because she clearly had no idea that she couldn't protect herself.
    Tunnel his fingers through her sexy, spiky hair and turn her face to his kiss.
    He had no