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saw the protection ward flash red in my othersight.… kill me! Shit! The edge of the arcane lightning bolt crackled over me, sending a stinging pain sparkling through my extremities as I landed heavily on my back on the hard wooden floor.

    “Shit! Kara!” I heard Ryan shout. “Are you all right?”

    I blinked away the stars crowding my vision to see him crouched over me, his face a mask of horror and concern. “Okay, that hurt,” I croaked.

    He reached out and pushed my hair back from my face. “Are you all right?” he repeated.

    “Yeah,” I wheezed, more than a little surprised by his gesture. “Just let me lie here and gasp for a while.”

    He must have seen it in my eyes, for he abruptly jerked his hand back and shoved it through his hair instead. “That was insane,” he said, blowing out his breath. “A fucking lightning bolt?”

    I finally progressed to rolling over onto my side, and from there I managed to shove up to a sitting position against the opposite wall. My limbs still twitched, and the stinging pain was only just beginning to fade.

    “Damn it,” I said, frustrated. “I guess I’m going to have to summon a demon to get through these wards.”

    Ryan reached down a hand to help me up. I was grateful for the assistance. My knees still felt wobbly, but at least the pain was pretty much gone. I’d been lucky. Landing on that floor had hurt like crazy, but it was better than being fried. I’d caught just the edge of it, and that was more than enough. “Your aunt has a summoning chamber here, doesn’t she?” he asked.

    I gave him a thin smile. “She sure does. And she has that all warded up as well.” I sighed and tugged my T-shirt back into place, rolling my head on my neck to try to get everything back into proper alignment. “I’m going to have to summon in my own chamber and bring the demon over here.”

    He crossed his arms over his chest. “Why do I get the feeling that you’re not talking about summoning some nice little dog-size creature?”

    “Because you’re annoyingly perceptive. I need oodles of answers, and there’s a reyza that owes me a favor.” A reyza was a twelfth-level demon—the highest level of demon that could be summoned by normal means. Demonic lords could be summoned as well, but the rituals involved were so insanely complex and required so much power that it was damn near impossible unless the lord was willing, which was pretty much never.

    He raised an eyebrow at me. “And how the fuck are you going to get an eight-foot-tall demon with giant wings, horns, and a tail from your basement to here? In the trunk of your Taurus?” Ryan had good reason to be familiar with the appearance of a reyza —he’d been closer to one than he’d ever wanted to be when he was captured by Sehkeril, the demon who’d allied with the Symbol Man.

    “You just leave that to me,” I said with a smug smile. I headed toward the door, with Ryan following.

    “So, uh, do you think you’ll need any help transporting your demon?” He managed to keep his tone light and nonchalant, but I knew how badly he wanted to see a summoning.

    Of course, he had seen a summoning before, but from a vantage that he probably had not desired—on the inside of the circle, as one of the intended sacrifices.

    I gave a dramatic sigh. “Oh, well, I suppose I could use some help. Yes, you can come to the summoning.” Then I lowered my head and glared at him. “And the only reason I’m even considering allowing you to attend this summoning is because this particular reyza owes me a debt, so I feel fairly secure that he won’t immediately try to rip us both to pieces.”

    He grinned.

    I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t help smiling. There weretimes when the federal-agent attitude dropped away completely and he was like a teenager. I loved seeing these other facets to his personality—and that he was willing to reveal them to me almost made me feel like a trusted insider.

    I closed