Demon Forged

in disbelief as she stared up at the Doyen. “That’s your idea of a joke? You’re, what, a billion years old? Aren’t you supposed to have razor-sharp wit by now?”
    “If anything, detective, time dulls the wit,” Alejandro told her. “As evidenced by the eldest two here. Now, you will see that Irena’s only response is—”
    She threw a dagger at his head. Without a change of expression, he sidestepped and plucked the blade out of the air. She would have missed anyway; she was laughing too hard for accuracy.
    “—to kill something,” he continued without a pause. “Michael’s is to sigh.”
    Michael sighed, then frowned.
    “But also, detective,” Alejandro said, “the type of humor you expect depends upon slippery words and double meanings. That is the language demons use. So Irena is blunt, and Michael does not speak much at all.”
    Understanding dawned on Taylor’s face. Understanding, and a sharp recognition. “So you are hiding something?” she asked Michael.
    “Many things.” He smiled, obviously intending to soften truth with another joke, but it failed again.
    Uneasy, the detective glanced away from him.
    Michael sighed and looked to Alejandro. “Why does Wren not leave Rael’s home?”
    Taylor answered him. “She feels obligated to fulfill her contract with Julia Stafford, if not the congressman. She’s staying until the funeral on Friday—which she’s been making arrangements for, in Rael’s absence.”
    Taylor’s tone had taken on a slight defensive edge. Not against Michael, Irena realized, but on behalf of Wren. After Anaria’s attack on the warehouse, Taylor had spent almost the entire night with the woman, explaining the Rules. Apparently, Taylor’s already sympathetic stance toward Wren had begun to deepen into friendship—or just a bond between two women who had recently been thrust into a new world. She’d formed a similar attachment to Savi, Irena remembered.
    “Will she let us know if he returns?”
    “Yes,” Taylor said, and her lips twisted in wry acknowledgment. “Although I suspect that part of the reason she’s staying on is so she can put a bullet in his head if he shows up.”
    Irena frowned. “It wouldn’t hurt him.”
    “No, but it would feel good, wouldn’t it?” Taylor said and reminded Irena why she liked the detective so much. “Regardless, she’ll leave after the funeral.”
    Irena glanced at Alejandro. “Do you think Rael would miss his wife’s funeral?”
    “No. His grief could excuse his absence, just as it has these past two days—but the publicity would be too politically valuable.”
    “So I kill him at the funeral.”
    Alejandro just looked at her.
    Taylor stuck her fingers into her ears. “I’m not hearing this.”
    Irena grinned and said, “I will do it quickly. He will not expect it in public. I vanish the body, you step in. And if Wren is arranging the funeral, she will know where the cameras and security are, so that we can avoid them.”
    “It is still a risk,” Alejandro said slowly. As he considered it, his thumb followed the carved line of his jaw, his forefinger swept down his chin. “But a bigger risk would be losing him again.”
    “I agree,” Michael said. “And will help you slay him.”
    “La la la,” Taylor sang. She pulled her fingers out. “I’ll ask Wren for the security details.”
    Michael frowned. “Are you certain you want to involve—”
    “Oh, come on.” Taylor gave him a hard look. “You know I’m on my way out of there anyway.”
    His face became stone. “Khavi’s prediction will not come to pass.”
    “Not that. Jesus.” Taylor rubbed her face, as if trying to scrub away the reminder. “I’m talking about being one step away from having my badge stripped or burning out. Either way, I’m just fucked all the way to—” She stopped, pinned Michael with a stare. “You’ll give Joe a place here at SI, right?”
    “You will have one, too.”
    “Yeah. Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll do better without all this.” She let out a long breath, as if she’d just let go of a huge weight. “So, I’ll ask Wren. I’ll help you kill a demon. And be done.”
    Taylor was mistaken if she thought that would be the end of it for them. Not with Khavi’s prediction still hanging over her head. Irena glanced up at Michael. His eyes were obsidian again. Yes. Taylor might not know it, but leaving them behind did not mean she would not have protection.
    But the detective must have realized