“Raum.”
Lily blinked. “Huh?”
A large black bird suddenly swooped onto her balcony, and she screamed and jumped back. She screamed again as a man suddenly appeared where the bird had been. He pinned the huge man with a flat stare, ignoring her completely. “Yeah?”
“Go find Mishetsu. He’s probably sulking around somewhere in mist form.”
“If he doesn’t want to be found, I won’t be able to find him.”
“Try.”
The two demons glared at each other for a second, and then the newcomer rolled his eyes. “Fine.”
Before her very eyes, he transformed into a crow and flew off again.
Her head was going to explode before this day was done. “Wha— Who— He—”
“For a witch who just summoned one of the most powerful demons in Hell, you seem pretty shocked by a simple shapeshift.”
“I haven’t—”Lily Donovan, I will slap you in the face if you stutter one more bloody time!“I’ve never summoned a demon before. Actually, I haven’t practiced magic in almost ten years.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“That’s not my problem.” Crap, she’d jumped from startled rabbit to over-confident. Where was the middle ground?
The demon didn’t look impressed either. She had the distinct impression he wasn’t used to getting attitude, and it was probably because he killed anyone who tried.
A silent staring contest followed. Lily looked into his blue eyes and tried not to cower, and the demon did nothing except stare blandly. The power he radiated terrified her.
Whowashe? She was suddenly afraid of finding out.
A moment later, he sighed, and the tension dissolved. “I know you know how easily I could kill you, but I’m not here for that. Just… stay out of my way, and don’t fuck with me, my brothers or Mishetsu, and I won’t fuck with you, your sister or your coven. If you tell anyone—anyone at all—that you met us, I will come back here and I will kill you. It will be slow. It will be painful. You won’t survive, and you won’t escape. Got it?”
Lily swallowed and nodded.
“And don’t think you can keep me out with wards or any magic because that will only piss me off. And we’ve already established that bad things happen when I get pissed off.”
She nodded again weakly.
“Good.” Without another word, he turned and headed down the staircase, moving with surprising grace for someone of his size. He made it halfway down the block before she realized it was now or never.
She started running. “Wait!”
He turned back, and as she skidded to a halt in front of him, she saw flames flicker in his eyes.Hellfire.She recoiled.
“What.”
“I— I—”No. More. Stuttering!“I want to help Mist.”
He blinked. “Why?”
“I just… feel like he needs help.”
“He’s got help already. He doesn’t need you. And what can a little human like you do anyway?”
She gritted her teeth and planted her hands on her hips.Screw the middle ground.“I summoned him out of a pit of monsters and saved him from getting eaten. And I summoned him out of the cuffs.” She still didn’t quite understand what that meant, but she was hoping the other demon did. “You couldn’t have done that without me. Demons can’t summon other demons. You need my help.”
His eyes narrowed. “Demons can’t summon demons, but they can kill witches.”
