Demon Bound

laughter in the courtyard again. The ivory buildings surrounding the tiled square were not as tall as they were in other parts of the city, or as graceful. There were more straight edges here, fewer domes and spires. But the marble ivy climbing their walls seemed to seek the touch of the sun, and was found nowhere else in Caelum. In the center of the courtyard, a sculpted ash tree spread its translucent stone leaves over an un-moving shadow. The pavers at the base of the trunk buckled, as if a root system fought for space below the ground.
    She could have sketched every detail in the courtyard with her eyes closed, yet with that sound warming the air, the familiar scene suddenly looked foreign to her.
    Oh, dear. Alice pressed her lips together. Foreign was a bit of an overstatement, wasn’t it? Next she would be decrying that the appearance of true life had stripped the courtyard of its illusions, leaving only coldness and death, woe and fie!
    If she let herself, the depths of histrionics she might plumb were dizzying.
    This was not something foreign, but something forgotten. And the courtyard was just as lovely and unique as it had ever been.
    Folding her arms over her chest, Alice watched the novice from the temple—Jake, she reminded herself—perform an odd, hip-and knee-twisting dance beneath the tree. Drusilla had doubled over, holding her sides and begging him to stop. Next to her, Pim had bent as well; but instead of laughing, the novice had her hands braced on her knees. Her sleek bowl of black hair slanted forward across her cheeks, and her psychic scent billowed with nausea.
    Nausea? Guardians didn’t need to eat and were never sickened by it. So Jake’s queer dance probably celebrated a successful teleportation, Alice decided. Drusilla, older and more accustomed to the disorientation that accompanied the jump, wasn’t as affected as the novice she mentored.
    Only Michael, Selah, and Jake could teleport, so Alice rarely used that method to travel between realms. But although the Gates were not as convenient—they were spaced great distances apart on Earth—she enjoyed flying. It was far better, she mused, than wobbling.
    Pim lifted her head, met Alice’s eyes, and the sallow color that had been ebbing from the novice’s face oozed back in.
    How easily unsettled these novices were. A cackle would have been just the thing—but now that Drusilla’s laughter had faded into a smile of greeting, much too heavy-handed.
    Drusilla vanished her physician’s coat, called in a sword, and used it to wave. “Good afternoon, Alice darling!”
    Alice’s lips curved. The salutation was as light and bubbly as soda water—and so was Drusilla.
    She stepped from beneath the portico roof, brushing her hand across the web and scooping up Romulus. “You must be coming from San Francisco if it was afternoon.”
    Several Guardians and all of the novices were connected to a law enforcement facility headquartered in that city, where they received their assignments and training. Alice hadn’t bothered to see it yet. Aside from the occasional task that Michael gave her when he was in Caelum, Alice was still largely self-directed.
    “Pim and I decided to practice in Caelum; the gym at the warehouse was packed. And that tree is marvelous!” Drusilla’s smile widened, and she bobbed back and forth on cherry red athletic shoes. “I’d totally forgotten it was here. But if the noise will disturb you, we can head down to Zephyrus Quarter in a jiffy.”
    “Of course not,” Alice murmured. Movement near the tree caught Romulus’s attention, and she glanced past Drusilla to see Jake collecting a small carton from the ground. Through the holes in the lid came a chorus of squeaks.
    An early delivery, but perhaps Selah had been unable to bring them to her. Or Jake intended to mollify her for the kiss.
    If so, Alice wouldn’t tell him she’d only thought of that kiss two or three times since—and never with anger.
    But she might tell him that she hadn’t thought of it with pleasure, either.
    “Great!” Drusilla gave another little bob, then turned to Pim.
    Alice wasn’t certain how Drusilla remained so effervescent when, as a Healer, she saw more carnage than most Guardians. Perhaps it was because Drusilla rarely failed the tasks given her; her Gift could instantly heal everything but decapitation or a severed heart.
    Alice frowned, her eyes narrowing. “Drusilla—do you suppose a Guardian might survive having his