Her gaze slid to the front door of the house, and her face tightened into an expression of disdain. “I tolerate phone communications,” she said as she turned her glare on me, “but I do not approve of in-person consort with the kiraknikahl.”
I matched her syraza glare—hell, I doubled it. “Get. Over. It.” In the eyes of demons, Zack was a kiraknikahl, an oathbreaker, having openly shattered the most sacred and hitherto unbreakable oath—his ptarl bond to Rhyzkahl. I, however, wasn’t blindly stuck in bullshit custom. “Let me be clear,” I said. “I get that you disapprove of him because of his actions, and that’s your prerogative. No one’s asking you to sully yourself by consorting with Zack. But I absolutely will not tolerate anyone disrespecting him in front of me. Everything will be cool if you keep your hostile opinions about Zack and me to yourself. He’s no threat. To anyone.”
She pursed her full lips then nodded. “Your conditions are understood and accepted,” she said with only a trace of petulance in her voice. “Agreed.”
I smiled. “Agreed.” She believed what she believed, but in the end all she wanted to do was protect me. “Out of curiosity, how old does a syraza have to be to become an Elder syraza, a demahnk?”
“Your question is nonsensical and has no answer.”
I tamped down my amused annoyance. At times my demon bodyguard seemed to enjoy being a smartass. “Then help me understand. How does a syraza become an Elder syraza?”
“That is like asking how a faas becomes a reyza.” She lifted one shoulder in a so-there shrug. “Or how a hamster becomes a crocodile.”
“No,” I said. She obviously didn’t understand what I was asking. “Those are different entirely different spe—” I stopped and did an open-mouthed gawk. “Hold on. Syraza and Elder syraza aren’t the same species? Elders look like big syraza with a few extra ridges and stuff. And you call them Elder syraza!”
Her hair flowed over her shoulders as she shook her head. “No, the demon designations are syraza and demahnk,” she said. “Syraza simply translates to shapeshifter. All demahnk are syraza, but not all syraza are demahnk. The ten demahnk are ancient. The oldest living syraza has lived less than one thousand years.” She gave me a sweetly patronizing smile. “To keep it simple for humans, we designate younger and Elder syraza.”
Demon logic. “I’m human and, speaking for all humanity, that’s not simpler.”
“Have you had difficulties with the terms before now?”
“No, but—” I stopped myself before I plummeted further down the logic hole. I got it. Most humans wouldn’t need more of a designation than younger and Elder.
Her smile turned smug. “There. All cleared up.”
“Ten demahnk? Zack is still demahnk, even if you shun him.”
“Yes, that is immutable. But Xharbek is no more.”
“Oh. Right.” No point in telling her she was likely wrong, especially when I had no solid evidence to support my belief. The demahnk Helori had told me that most demons considered Szerain’s ptarl to be dead, yet he believed Xharbek was alive and in hiding. Moreover, Zack’s count of demahnk had been eleven, not ten. I’d side with the demahnk on this one. But why was Xharbek in hiding? Szerain could sure as hell use the added stability. And why did the demons think Xharbek was dead?
Eilahn’s smile faded and she closed her eyes. My concern rose at the stress lines on her brow and around her eyes, and the slight tremor in her hands. “We need to get you back to the house,” I said. Before Rhyzkahl had revealed himself as a lying, treacherous scumbag, he’d placed Eilahn with me, which meant her ability to remain on Earth depended on arcane support from him. With him stricken, that support was virtually nonexistent. Instead she was forced to spend time on the “mini-nexus” on my property, drawing what power she could. It seemed to be working, at least so far.
“That would be most wise,” she said and donned her helmet. In a graceful movement she mounted the Ducati and zoomed off, the throaty Italian purr of the bike fading as she receded in the distance. I wasn’t worried that she’d ditch me. She’d drop in behind my car as soon as I got on the road.