Mark of the Demon (29 page)

“Today, and, no, I don’t need to bother with that.” She turned to Ryan, smiling sweetly, ignoring my groan. “Hello, darlin’. I’m Tessa, Kara’s aunt. I saw you sleeping in the car when I came in, but you looked so peaceful that I just didn’t have it in me to wake you up.”

Ryan didn’t miss a beat. He smiled graciously and extended his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Pazhel. I’m Special Agent Ryan Kristoff with the FBI. I’m on the Symbol Man task force with your niece.”

Tessa took Ryan’s hand, a small smile curving her mouth as she regarded him. “The pleasure is all mine. And how did you know my last name?”

“I’m a big fan of thorough research.”

I watched the interplay, arms folded across my chest. Why the hell had he checked my aunt out? Had he already known that she was a summoner? Well, he certainly did now.

Tessa raised an eyebrow and released his hand, then turned back to me. “I know you’re ticked at me for prying, sweets, but I’ve been worried about you. I thought you might try to summon on the dark, and I hadn’t heard from you in a while. I’ve been out of town for the past few days, so I figured I’d check that everything was all right.”

I abruptly realized I was scowling, but I didn’t make much effort to modify my expression. “I’ve been
busy
. Remember? Serial killer? I’ll summon again in about a week, on the full.” Then I straightened. “Wait, if he’s gearing up to something big, it’s going to have to be on this month’s full.”

Ryan’s forehead creased in a frown. “Why? What happens after this month? I thought you just needed a full moon to have enough potency for big summonings.”

Tessa shook her head. “The convergence of the two spheres is more important than the phase of the moon. We just came out of a period of a few years where the convergence was so small that it was darn near impossible to summon anything higher than eighth level. Right now the convergence is nearly as high as it can possibly be, but after this month it will start to taper off to more-normal levels.” She nodded her head toward me. “Kara would have been a full summoner some time ago if she hadn’t been forced to wait until the convergence was high enough to allow for a summoning of a twelfth-level demon.”

I could see him mentally filing that information away. “So anyone seeking to summon anything of any decent size or power would do so on this next full moon—which means we have less than a week to catch him.”

I moved to the kitchen and dropped into a chair at the table. “Right. That also means he’s going to be doing more murders between now and then, building up a strong reservoir of power.” I tapped the table thoughtfully. “But I’m hoping that it’s going to be harder for him to find victims. I spent the last few nights going around and showing the other photographs from Cerise’s house, trying to get the word to these people—and everyone else as well—to be careful.”

Tessa’s brows drew together. “Cerise? Greg Cerise?”

I nodded absently, then sat up straight. My aunt didn’t know about him yet. “Oh, shit, Aunt Tessa. I forgot that you knew him.”

Tessa sat down slowly, eyes on me. “Knew? You’re speaking in past tense, sweets.”

“Shit. I’m sorry, Aunt Tessa.” I hesitated, but there was no easy way to break this sort of news. “He’s dead. I’m so sorry.”

Tessa looked down at the table. “What happened?” she asked, voice calm and even.

“Symbol Man,” Ryan said quietly. “We think that Greg was somehow connected to him. We found pictures, photographs, and drawings of all the victims plus several others who we haven’t been able to identify yet.”

Tessa pursed her lips, silent. I looked at her with a tinge of worry. I knew that my aunt had been close to Greg when they were younger, but had they still been close?

“Greg wasn’t a summoner,” Tessa finally said.

I flicked a quick glance to Ryan before looking back to my aunt. “Yes, I know. I went to talk to him a while back, asking about that comic—trying to find out more about Rhyzkahl. I really hadn’t thought there was any connection between Greg and the Symbol Man at that time. But then one of the other agents on the task force made the connection between Symbol Man victims and characters in Greg’s comic. We got a search warrant, and …” I sighed. “When we made entry, we found Greg dead and then found pictures of all the victims.”

Her expression was bleak as she looked at me. “Do you think he helped kill those people?”

“No,” I said with as much conviction as I could manage, knowing that there was a good chance I was lying to her. She probably knew it, too, but it was what she needed to hear right then.

“Do you know of anyone who might be connected to Greg?” I asked. “Anyone he worked with or was close to?”

Tessa spread her hands. “I hadn’t seen him in well over twenty years,” she said, voice colored with regret. “So someone is killing the people Greg drew? Why?”

“Greg tended to use people who were homeless or drug addicts as his models,” I said.

“People who weren’t quickly missed,” Ryan added.

I glanced at him and nodded. “This killer needs a lot of victims. I figure he’s attempting to perform a major summoning and that’s why he’s gathering so much energy.”

“Yes,” Tessa said with a nod. “You’ve been thinking that for a while now.”

I took a deep breath. “But now I think it’s Rhyzkahl that he’s trying to summon. And not just summon but bind as a slave.”

Tessa’s expression sharpened. “And what makes you think that? That’s one hell of an ambitious summoning, and one fraught with considerable danger. Binding an unwilling Demonic Lord? Especially Rhyzkahl? That’s insane!”

I hesitated. Ryan didn’t know about the dream visits. For that matter, neither did Tessa.

“Er, well,” I said, trying not to squirm, “I kinda got that impression after I … uh, last spoke to Rhyzkahl.”

Tessa didn’t twitch a muscle, but Ryan shifted, clearly startled.

Tessa’s voice was like ice. “If you called him to you—”

“I didn’t! I swear!” I said quickly. “No, it was another dream-sending.”

“Another
what?”
My aunt stared at me, and I realized that I’d only
thought
her tone was icy before.

Oops.

I tried to force a smile onto my face. “Oh. Um, yeah. Forgot to tell you about that.” I gave a quick—and very watered-down—version of his visit to my bedroom and then briefly explained about the nap on the couch and asking Rhyzkahl about the runes. “And then he got
mad.”
I shivered at the memory. “I mean, it was like waves of unspeakable menace and fury just rolling off him, mingled with rage and vengeance and anything else horrible you can think of.”

“That’s the nightmare I woke you up from,” Ryan said. “Isn’t it?”

I nodded.

Tessa slowly shook her head. “Coming to your dreams? You should have told me.”

“I know,” I said, shifting uncomfortably. “There’s just been so much going on. I was working up to it.”

She gave me a dark look. “Well, that was his true power that you felt, sweets. He is self-serving and powerful and not to be trifled with. And even if this killer really is trying to summon a lord, I can’t imagine anyone being insane enough to try to bind Rhyzkahl. He’s one of the most ancient of the lot. There are several other lords who would be far less risky to call, though perhaps not as powerful.” She rubbed at her face. “But any Demonic Lord would still be more than enough potency for a summoner to use.”

I folded my arms over my chest and looked across the table at my aunt. “Greg told me about how you two saw Rhyzkahl.”

A flash of annoyance tinged with what might have been embarrassment crossed her face. “Greg shouldn’t have told you that. We swore each other to secrecy.”

“Aunt Tessa,” I said with heat, “I
needed
to know that! Were you ever going to tell me? Don’t you think it’s important that there was once a major incursion in this area by one of the Demonic Lords?”

Tessa rolled her eyes. “All right, I suppose it is important, but he still shouldn’t have told you. It’s not exactly a pleasant memory.” Her lips twitched. “I was working up to it.”

I glared at her. “Just because you’re my aunt doesn’t mean I can’t call you a smart-ass.”

Ryan cleared his throat. “Ladies, it doesn’t matter how the information was disseminated. What matters is what we know now. This Demonic Lord may be summoned soon and, if that happens, all hell will break loose.”

Tessa waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, no, we won’t have all of hell here. And, really, there’s no such thing as ‘hell’ like you’re thinking. But surely an incursion by a lord will be nasty, especially if he’s bound by an unscrupulous sort, which I’m thinking the Symbol Man is.”

“To put it mildly,” I said dryly.

“Just how nasty are we talking here?” Ryan asked. “I mean, don’t take this the wrong way, but being a summoner doesn’t seem to convey unlimited power or anything. Why is this killer going to all of this trouble?”

“No, it’s not unlimited power,” I replied. “But, like anything, it’s how you use it.”

Ryan’s gaze fixed on me. “How do
you
use it? Why do you summon?”

I paused before answering. There was no way to explain the full depth of what it meant to me. And I wasn’t sure I was ready to share that much with him. I still didn’t know him all that well, and being a summoner had become a deeply integral part of who I was because of a time in my life that I wasn’t terribly proud of. “I summon … because I can,” I temporized. “And I know that sounds corny, but it’s like a hunger. Demons are brilliant, and clever, and powerful, and each summoning is an incredible accomplishment. I’ve never felt as if I’ve wasted time performing a summoning. Usually I have some specific reason to summon a demon, like if I have a question that can be answered only by one of them or if I want to learn how to do something arcane.” It was a watered-down version of the full answer, but it would suffice for now.

“So it’s all for information?” He sounded doubtful.

“Heck, no!” I laughed. “Come on, if you had the ability to summon a superpowerful arcane creature, wouldn’t
you?”

His expression grew exasperated, and I raised my hands in mock surrender. “Okay, seriously. Demons are excellent resources, but they’re also strong, and powerful, and damn near invincible on this plane. Moreover, they’re completely loyal during the terms of their service. Yeah, they’re totally self-serving, but at the same time they’re completely honorable. And once you pay the agreed-upon terms, they give you their full cooperation. Their system of honor is unbelievably complex, and if they swear to obey, they will, no matter what is involved, as long as it doesn’t conflict with their personal honor.”

Ryan leaned against the doorjamb. “So, they’re like the perfect muscle.”

“Think giant, winged assassin-bodyguard, who also has the ability to weave arcane wardings.”

He looked pained. “Wardings?”

“Um … demons have the ability to shape arcane energies, creating protections or illusions.”

“Ah.”

It was hard not to laugh. The poor guy was getting a crash course. “Anyway, some humans have those skills—”

“Do you?” he interjected, watching me intently.

I shrugged. “Er, well, yes. Most summoners do the basic stuff.” I glanced at my aunt and then back at Ryan. “I’m still learning, which is the main reason why I summon lately—for lessons. I have a long way to go.”

“She has a lot of innate talent,” Tessa said. “She’s going to be better than me soon.”

I could only stare at my aunt in surprise. I’d never heard her say anything like that before.

“So, the demons can do these wardings and protections too?” Ryan asked.

I dragged my attention back to him. “Yes. In fact, most summoners will just summon a demon to do it for them. Wardings can be pretty tedious and tiring and are usually a real pain in the ass.”

“All right, so a demon is a pretty damn good ally. And I’m assuming a Demonic Lord would be even more powerful?”

Tessa spoke up. “If he intends to summon a Demonic Lord, he knows that there is no offering great enough to compel the lord to submit to conventional bindings. He would have to bind the lord to his will. Enslave him. And someone with a Demonic Lord under his control would be able to rule the world.”

Ryan’s expression turned skeptical. “Oh, come on.”

Tessa lowered her head and regarded him. “Like having a demigod in your hand. An army couldn’t stop him, and he’d certainly be able to raise an army of his own. You know perfectly well that there are many thousands of people who would gladly fall in behind such a powerful entity, no matter the intent of it.”

Ryan shuddered. “God, yes.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair, then frowned, looking at me. “But the lord who came to you—after he broke free of your control, why didn’t he stay and become a ruler here?”

“I think,” I said, speaking slowly as I tried to organize my thoughts, “that for them to be able to stay in this sphere, they have to have some sort of an anchor here, like a permanent invitation, or a summoning and binding. The binding that a summoner does after bringing a demon through a portal is not like arcane manacles but more a means of keeping the demon in this sphere. The demon submits to it because of the offering that the summoner provides.” I glanced at my aunt for confirmation.

“That’s right,” Tessa said. “It’s one thing for them to come through briefly, but staying is more complicated. This is not their world, and without the right protocols, they’ll be drawn back to their own. And the more powerful they are, the more difficult it is for them to stay. But that’s also why a clever and ambitious lord would want to be in this sphere, unfettered. It would be another power base, an easy way to gain enormous amounts of power and status in their own sphere. Without the limitations of their honor code—which would not apply if one were here unrestrained—there would be no reason to not use this world up. Enslave the populace, ravage the resources, drain it of potency, and leave it a dead world if they so desired.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “That’s a worst-case scenario—”

“But it
is
a scenario,” Tessa replied with heat. “Demons are utterly self-serving, and their honor is the only reason that their realm has not dissolved into anarchy.”