e was doing so. Maybe that was why it was so hard for me to wrap my head around the “he’s a demonic lord” idea. Other than a couple of rare breaks in the fa?ade, he was every inch the federal agent. And his personal history was insanely complete as well. Could I be wrong?
No, I knew what I’d seen. And Eilahn had definitely shouted the name “Szerain.” I also knew, logically, that I should be as wary of him as I was of Rhyzkahl. Maybe it was easier to trust him because he never—well, almost never—acted like a demonic lord? Dear Santa, I thought, what I want for Christmas is for all this crap to make sense.
Ryan headed to our table and slid into the empty chair beside me, positioning himself so that he still had a good view of the room and the entrance. “Morning,” he said, almost as an afterthought.
“We should order,” Eilahn instructed. “And then Kara can fill you all in.”
Ryan gave me a questioning look. “Is it the usual? Life in danger, world ending, nasty magic creatures running around unchecked?”
Laughing, I nodded. “That about covers it!”
Breakfast was duly ordered and much coffee consumed, then I filled them in on everything I knew—the deaths, my connection to the victims, the portals, the graa attack, the cuff and what it was for, and the suspicion that I’d been drugged.
A silence fell after I finished.
“Goddamn, I’m glad we ate first,” Zack finally said. A laugh swept the table, nicely breaking the tension.
Jill leaned her elbows on the table and propped her chin in her hands. “You suspect that the victims were given something that gave ’em temporary magic? Or whatever the fuck it is you do,” she added with a wink at me.
Grimacing, I rubbed my temples. “I think their sensitivity is being increased, and somehow they’re drawn to the resonance these portals have.”
“And then when they actually find one it overloads their brains?” she asked.
“That’s the working hypothesis,” I said. “As far as I know, none of those people had any sort of arcane skill, or if so, only a trickle.”
“Is there a drug that can do that?” Ryan asked. To my surprise he looked over to Eilahn for an answer.
The demon pursed her lips, frowning. “I have heard of such—compounds that can open the channels used for manipulating and detecting power flows.”
Zack tensed, and alarm flashed quickly across his face. He quickly schooled his features, but his eyes flicked toward Ryan then away. I had the impression he had something to say but didn’t dare.
Ryan doesn’t know Zack is a demon, I reminded myself. If Zack revealed knowledge of that world it would give him away. In other words, I needed to find a way to get him to spill what he knew. Not an easy task since Zack was oathbound against talking about much demon stuff.
“Use of these compounds is generally proscribed,” Eilahn continued, “due to the unpredictable and dangerous side effects.”
“Would stuff like that show up on a tox screen?” Jill asked.
“Doubtful,” Eilahn said, forehead puckering. “Most of the ingredients used can only be found in the demon realm.”
“Yeah, Doc’s in a tizzy,” I said. “He can’t figure out what’s causing these strokes.”
“Poor guy.” Jill grimaced. “It’s not like you can clue him in that it’s something out of this world.”
“No kidding!” I said. “He already thinks I’m weird enough.”
“Is Kara in danger of having a stroke?” Ryan asked Eilahn, face dark and serious.
“It is my suspicion that Kara is being affected by a different substance than the others,” Eilahn stated. “She already has extensive arcane skills.”