Demon Bound

“Nothing is inevitable—but you cannot deny that everything you decide to reveal, you choose because you believe it will improve the probability of the outcome you desire.”
    Khavi narrowed her eyes at him, then turned to Jake. “He has never approved of my Gift. And there are times when I am too confused by what I see to enjoy it, as well. Such as now. I am told that this celebration is due to you having recently been made a full-fledged Guardian—which means that you were recently a novice?”
    “Yep.” Jake nodded. “That’s the way it seems to work.”
    “But how can that be? I have seen many battles in which your strategic command—Oh.” She shook her head. “No, I will not reveal this. I suppose every general was once a soldier.”
    Alice smiled, and Jake’s dog tags jingled softly when he laughed and slid his hand over his head. “Yeah, well—most generals have that rank by the time they’re sixty years old.”
    “Yes,” Michael said, “but most do not spend thirty of those years in an orgy.”
    Alice barely held back her laughter. “I suppose a man must have his priorities,” she said.
    “Well now, that reminds me,” Ethan said. A rolled sheaf of paper appeared in his hand, and Ethan didn’t make a sound when Alice poked her elbow into his ribs. He passed the sheaf over to Jake. “I have this for you; I suppose you might call it a gift from your mentor in honor of your promotion. It’s the one thing I ain’t willing to teach you.” Ethan waited until Jake glanced at the first page before adding, “Alice was the one who transcribed it, and she sketched all them pictures.”
    “Yeah?” He grinned and looked up at her with glowing eyes. “Hot damn.”
    Alice fought the urge to drag him off to the Archives building. “It needs to be improved,” she said with pursed lips and her primmest tone. “Everything within is based upon human physiology. Guardians have many capabilities that aren’t used to their full potential, and that aren’t addressed in the manual.”
    Khavi sighed. “I have nothing for you, Jake.”
    “Maybe you can tell me what my new Gift will be.”
    “No.”
    “Ah, damn,” he said easily. “Well, I had to try. But, I don’t really need you to tell me anyway. I can guess what my future is: Alice and I are going to spend a couple of thousand years fighting demons, then we’ll Fall and make a ton of babies, then grow old together and reminisce about the good old days, when kids didn’t talk back to their parents.”
    That, Alice thought, would be absolutely perfect.
    Khavi’s mouth curved. “I do not know how many years it will be, but that is not too far off. And I suppose I can tell you that together, the two of you will be feared by demonkind. You will be known as ‘the Weapon and his Witch.’ ”
    “The Witch and her Weapon,” Alice said.
    Khavi’s Gift rolled out in a soft wave. “Yes,” she said. “Now it will be the Witch and her Weapon.” She glanced over at Michael. “You see how easily they catch on?”
    Michael rubbed the bridge of his nose before dropping his hand to his side. His eyes were obsidian now, Alice noted with sudden unease. “I have something for you, Jacob—but I do not know that I would call it a gift.”
    The amusement faded from Jake’s expression. He rose to his feet, and Alice stood with him.
    “When you could not locate me earlier,” Michael said, “I was retrieving these. They cannot balance what was taken from you, but I demanded them as recompense.”
    The music in the courtyard was still loud, but Alice heard the silence that fell over the Guardians when the two white-feathered wings appeared on the steps at Jake’s feet.
    Not Jake’s wings. These glowed subtly, as if they’d once shone brilliantly and the light within hadn’t completely faded.
    “Belial’s wings?” Alice whispered.
    “Two of them,” Michael said. He lifted his gaze to Jake’s. “And now they are yours.”
    Jake shook his head. “One goes to Alice, for what he did to her.”
    Khavi nodded. “Yes.” She met Alice’s eyes. “They have power within them . . . witch.”
    How strange. How utterly and wonderfully strange it was to vanish a glowing wing into her cache. And she felt it against her psyche, like a gentle, soothing hum.
    She looked to Jake, saw by his expression that he’d experienced the same sensation when he’d vanished his. Then quietly, she sat again. He joined her, and they waited until Michael and Khavi