Demon Night

if you see his father, you run. We’ve got reason to think the nephil has possessed him.”
    Charlie watched the car pull away from the curb, then looked back up at Ethan. “This will change things.”
    Ethan hadn’t wanted her anywhere near the nephil; they’d intended to speak with Mark here, then Jake would return with Charlie to the lake house and Ethan would locate the senator. But if Jane was locked behind the spell, Charlie needed to be there.
    “Not all that much,” Ethan said. “If the senator’s at home, you ain’t going in. We’ll get Jane after I slay him.”
    Charlie hesitated for just an instant, but it needed to be asked. “Are you going to do it when he’s in his human form?”
    “I’d prefer it.”
    “Can you be sure, though? What if Manny was mistaken? What if the senator’s neck wasn’t really broken, and he was never dead? And there are all those stories about people doing impossible things, coming back to life…” She trailed off as she realized, “Oh. Those are you. Us. ”
    Guardians, vampires, and demons, performing miraculous feats.
    “Yes.” His chuckle was warm, and his arms tightened briefly. “All right, Charlie. It looks as if Brandt is heading on home, and we’re flying slow enough you should be able to use the phone. I need you to tell Selah to be ready, and then let Lilith know she’s going to have a senator’s death to cover up.”
    His cell appeared in her hand, and she began scrolling through the address book. “How do you think she’ll do it?”
    “Most likely, a Guardian will take his form for a week or two, then he’ll have a heart attack in public or some such thing.”
    “That’s scary,” she said softly. “That the truth can be twisted so easily.”
    “It’s necessary.”
    “I’m not arguing that.” She smiled a little, shook her head. “But it’s still scary. I’m glad you’re the good guys.”
    “I don’t rightly know about that. Mostly, we’ve just got better intentions than the demons.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “You’ll never convince me you aren’t a hero, Drifter.”
    “Well, hell,” he said, and a hint of color appeared on his cheeks. “Then I sure hope I never do anything to disabuse you of that notion.”
    Satisfied, she placed the two calls. By the time she’d finished the second, they were almost across the lake, headed toward Bellevue.
    Ethan flew lower, said loudly, “Jake, you have any idea whether his father’s at home?”
    Jake projected a carefree, relieved note.
    “All right, then. It may be that Sammael’s lurking about, so watch your back and stick close to Brandt. Charlie and I will fly on ahead, see if we can get Jane out before you arrive.”

    The Brandt property was practically a mini-estate. A tall, decorative fence surrounded extensive landscaping and was lined with trees and shrubs for privacy. The residence had been built in a similar style to the house on the lake, but from the glimpses of the interior that Charlie caught as they circled above, it looked as if the Brandts had taken “lodge” much deeper to heart. The furniture was heavy and masculine, the colors dark. She wouldn’t have been surprised to find animal heads hanging from a wall.
    The house was eerily silent.
    “The shield’s up. Someone’s got to be inside,” Ethan said, and the thrust of his Gift reverberated through her chest. “The symbols are on the front door, but let’s fly around a bit, see if we can figure where Jane is before we go in.”
    A few seconds later, Charlie pointed at a window on the third floor, overlooking the backyard. Yellow light peeked through the curtains. “There.”
    Ethan nodded. “Those iron bars ain’t exactly a match for the rest of the house, are they?”
    Charlie swallowed her anger. “No.”
    They landed on the front porch, and Ethan caught her arm before she could move toward the door. He unbuckled his gun belt and cinched it around her hips, replacing his revolvers with her automatic pistols.
    “They don’t fit in the holsters quite right,” he said quietly, adjusting the length of their straps so the weapons lay against her upper thighs instead of her knees. “But they’ll be there if you need them.” He raised his gaze to hers. “If you need them, don’t you hesitate to use them.”
    She practiced drawing them a few times, then pulled in a deep breath. “Okay.”
    Ethan palmed his own guns, stepped in front of the door, and peered through the panes of glass forming a