The Trouble with Demons by Lisa Shearin Read Free Book Online

Impressive.
    My chuckle turned into a snort. “Sorry.”
    “No, you’re not.”
    “You’re right. I’m not. But you should be.”
    “Hey, I’m just a man making a living.”
    Talon leaned forward and squinted at the poster, then grinned until his fangs showed. “I don’t think that’s what it says.”
    “Quit staring at it!”
    “I’m not staring at it. Don’t worry; it’s not that good a likeness.”
    I felt someone staring at me then. I didn’t need to look; I knew who it had to be.
    Paladin Mychael Eiliesor, the commander of the Conclave Guardians, was standing across the room, his eyes on me, his face a calm, professional mask. I knew better. When Mychael didn’t show emotion, it meant he was experiencing some strong ones. I’d felt them the moment he’d walked through that door. Or more to the point, I’d felt him. Mychael was a master spellsinger and healer, but first and foremost, he was a warrior. The aura of danger and controlled power surrounding him had nothing to do with healing and everything to do with his lethal skill in battlefield magic. The air around him virtually crackled with it, and I knew what stirred the hair on the nape of my neck was just the leftovers. I’d be willing to bet that demons had crossed Mychael’s path on the way here, and they probably weren’t alive anymore to regret it.
    I’d been expecting him. From a law-enforcement standpoint, Mychael had ultimate control over the Isle of Mid and everyone on it. As paladin, protecting the Saghred was his responsibility—and since the Saghred and I were a package deal, all that protecting extended to me.
    The noise level in the squad room abruptly decreased, and it wasn’t because Mychael had walked through those doors. As paladin, he’d been here many times. I hadn’t. The watchers shut up because they wanted to hear what happened next.
    I didn’t.
    I stayed right where I was. Mychael cut through the squad room with long strides to where we sat, a man on a mission. I was that mission.
    Talon swore again; Piaras made his own contribution, and Phaelan nonchalantly sat up straighter.
    “Think we should make a run for it?” my cousin asked.
    “I think that’d be a bad idea.”
    He shrugged and sat back. “Had to ask.”
    When Mychael was within ten feet of me, I stood up. Call it a primitive dominance response. I was a head shorter than Mychael, but I wasn’t about to keep my butt in a chair while he loomed over me.
    Close up gave me a nice view of Mychael, and as always, he was damned good to look at. His eyes were that mix of blue and pale green found only in warm, tropical seas. His hair was short and auburn. His handsome features were strong, and his face scruffy with stubble. Very nice. Sexy nice. I guess having demons on your island didn’t give you time to shave. Mychael was an elf, and the tips of his ears were elegantly pointed. I’d felt the urge to nibble those tips on more than one occasion, but I didn’t think now was the time or place.
    “We need to talk,” he told me. It was his paladin’s voice. His words weren’t a direct order, but he wasn’t giving me a choice, either.
    “Hello, Mychael. We’re all fine. No demon damage. Thank you for asking.”
    He just looked at me. “We need to talk.” He glanced over my left shoulder. “Sedge, may we use your conference room?”
    “Of course.” The chief’s basso rumble came from his office doorway. “I’ll see to it that you’re not disturbed.”
    Mychael almost smiled. “I appreciate that, but I brought my own lookouts.” He glanced down at Piaras and Talon. “And men to escort the two of you out of here and back home right now.”
    I tensed. “Now?”
    “Now. They need to leave.”
    Sedge Rinker stepped forward, his lips a grim, narrow line. “Anyone in particular I should be looking out for here?”
    “You’ll know him when you see him.”
    “You mean if I see him?”
    “No, when .”
    Sedge took a breath and let it out with a