Demon Marked

obvious, but difficult to use for identification, I’d think. You’d have to touch a demon to know.”
    Not necessarily. Modern infrared sensors could detect higher temperatures from a distance, and the differences were noticeable, especially if the demon stood near a human. No reason to mention that, though.
    “It’s a problem,” he agreed. “I can’t walk down the street shaking everyone’s hand.”
    “Or kissing them, like you did to me.”
    So she’d figured that out? “If I’d shaken your hand, you’d have noticed me grabbing the Taser.”
    “So? You could have just not let go of me. You know I can’t pull free without breaking the Rules.”
    No, he couldn’t have just held on. He’d needed payback, however small. “You showed up with Rachel’s face, and I thought you were Madelyn. I wanted to electrocute you. So I got close enough to do it.”
    She nodded, as if in understanding. “All right. The kissing makes more sense, then.”
    No judgment? No pointing out that he was a sadistic bastard? Who the hell was this demon? He’d given her freebies all over the place, practically invited her to tear into his character, and she sat and nodded her head because it made sense.
    “Is the hot skin the only difference?”
    Her question made Nicholas realize that she’d been waiting for him to continue. He shook his head. “Demons count on people to explain away the unexplainable. A man disappears, and people tell themselves they must have been mistaken—that they just didn’t see him turn a corner. Someone moves too fast, looks inhuman for just a second, and they come up with excuses: They’re tired, their eyes are playing tricks, they—”
    “Are going crazy,” Ash said.
    “That, too. Most of the time, they shake their heads and laugh it off.” Others couldn’t, and some, like his father, landed in the care of doctors like Cawthorne—and then took a dive from the tallest bank tower in London. “But if you know what it might really have been, you look a little harder.”
    “And then make sure you’re right by touching them?” When he nodded, she said, “So it’s all luck—a matter of seeing something at the right time? You’ll be looking for Madelyn forever, then.”
    “ We will be looking,” Nicholas reminded her. Though he’d be stupid not to get out of this bargain as quickly as possible. The more time he spent with the demon, the less he could figure her out. He hadn’t counted on that. When he’d made the bargain, he’d been certain of his ability to predict her reactions.
    He should have been able to, goddammit. He should have been dodging her slings and arrows, not reminding himself that he shouldn’t be attracted to her, that he shouldn’t be amused by her. He’d expected subtle insults, not . . . whatever she was doing.
    “We,” she echoed. “And based on what you’re saying, it really will be forever. Or until we die of old age.”
    She wouldn’t grow old. Nicholas didn’t correct her, though.
    “It’s not just luck,” he said. “You called their methods unoriginal, and you aren’t wrong. And that’s how you look for them.”
    “A trail of dead dogs?”
    Jesus. And people thought Nicholas lacked sensitivity. He wasn’t bothered by her question, but he definitely wouldn’t be letting her talk to the Boyles, even if she did learn to shape-shift.
    “Not dogs. Dead people, sometimes. If someone says that a loved one came back to talk to them, there’s a good chance it was really a demon. If someone undergoes a complete personality change, a demon might have taken their place. If members of a vampire community start disappearing, they are probably being killed by a demon. If vampires start killing humans, there’s probably a demon in the background, prodding them into it. They use humans and vampires to do what they can’t: break the Rules.”
    “I see.” She was quiet for a moment. “That’s still a lot to look for.”
    “A lot of shit to wade through, and a lot of dead ends,” he agreed. Except for when it involved vampires, humans did everything he’d just mentioned without demon influence, too. “But I’m just looking for one demon, and I already know how she works. So I’ve been searching for something similar.”
    He’d searched for a mother whose personality had undergone a sudden transformation. He’d searched for a husband who’d been committed to a psychiatric institution. He’d searched for a wife who’d taken over her