Demon Bound

now, Ethan. Lemons?”
    “Hugh once described you as a ‘challenge,’ Alice,” Irena said. “He was being kind.”
    “Oh, dear. Thank you so very much for your aid.”
    “And she’d start in on me for saying ‘ain’t’ or ‘shit’—then go transcribe the kinky books in the Archives and pass them out as instruction manuals. I still got one.”
    A rolled-up sheaf of paper appeared in his hand, and he gave it to Charlie.
    “Ethan, no,” Alice protested, laughing.
    Charlie peeled back a page. Her eyes widened. “Oh, Lord.” She glanced at Ethan, a hint of calculation in her expression. “So that’s where you learned that.”
    “You hush.” Embarrassment tinged his cheeks, and he pulled it out of her hands, vanished it.
    “Thank you, Charlie,” Alice said. “That was very well done.”
    “It was, wasn’t it?” She smiled up at Ethan. “I’m surprised, though—that stuff like that is up there.”
    “I’ve heard tell there was just the Scrolls, once. But then Guardians started bringing back books and newspapers and such for the rest of us. That was before my time, though.” Ethan looked to Irena, who frowned.
    “It was not long after the printing press,” she said. “But I am unknowing of the exact date. And always there have been scholars who recorded their histories, or their experiences on Earth. A few poets.”
    “Most of them tedious.” Alice studied the giant hamburger, wondering how best to eat it. She rarely consumed food and had never attempted anything of this size before—but following the example of the humans around them meant she’d have to unhinge her jaw with every bite. It simply would not do. “Irena—would you please?”
    She pointed to the knife and fork lying unused next to the other woman’s plate. Irena pushed them over, then resumed eating with her fingers.
    “And the Archives are sadly lacking any mention of the one thing about which I would be most interested to learn: Belial’s prophecy.” Even halved, the sandwich was too large. Alice made another cut, another, yet another . . . and made herself stop. “Ethan, I regret the necessity, but I must ask if there is anything you haven’t shared with us.”
    “I reckon there is.” His lazy drawl didn’t deceive her; Ethan pretended to be slow, but his mind was always two steps ahead. “But I don’t suppose you’ll be sharing why it’s such a necessity.”
    Alice looked down, managed to cut a bite-sized piece from the bun.
    “Goddammit, Alice. It ain’t a stretch to figure Teqon is giving you trouble again. But your husband’s dead by now, so it can’t be about him. You got others in your family line to worry about?”
    He’d pressed. She hadn’t prepared for that. It was a minor miracle that she prevented her hands from shaking, that she didn’t drop her utensils. That she held her shields, concealing her dread and terror.
    “No, I don’t.” Anticipating his next question, she added, “And I do not fear for my life at this time.”
    Just her soul. Just the few friendships she’d created in the past century.
    “But if you need help, you’ll ask for it.”
    She met his eyes. “I just did, Ethan.”
    His jaw hardened, and he turned to Irena. “You know what this is about?”
    “I do.” Irena delicately flaked a selection of fish from her fillet. “And I will tear your spine from your body if you do not provide Alice what she asks.”
    Charlie’s shock ripped through the room. “What the—”
    Ethan touched her arm. “Don’t fret, Miss Charlie. That’s just Irena’s way of easing my mind, saying she’ll go to any lengths to help.” The corners of his eyes wrinkled with his faint smile. “All right, Alice. So long as you’ve got someone in your corner.”
    “Thank you.” She prayed whatever he had to tell her was worth knowing—and that Irena wouldn’t mention her intention to take Alice’s head if Teqon couldn’t be appeased. “So if you will explain—”
    She paused; Ethan was shaking his head. “This ain’t the place. We need a bit more privacy, considering that it involves Michael.”
    Something in her chest twisted. “Oh.”
    “Fact is,” Ethan continued, “I don’t suppose you need me to tell you. You’re heading out with Jake once you’re done here. He can fill you in.”
    “You’ve told him?”
    “Course I did.” Ethan seemed surprised by her surprise. “Jake’s out there risking himself with me, and his eyes are as sharp as any I’ve ever