Trytian was one of our frenemies. He made no bones about his designs on Camille, though he was cautious and kept himself at bay given the force he would face if he tried to do anything about it. But he was also cagey and knew enough to realize that keeping on our good side was better than getting on our bad side. We had a common enemy—Shadow Wing—and while our methods of going against him were different, we did have the united goal of destroying the Demon Lord.
Camille shook her head as she finished the phone call. “We need to head over to Carter’s before we go home. Trytian asked us to meet him there in twenty minutes. Something is going down.”
The fact that Carter and Trytian hung around together at all was unsettling. Carter was part demon, but he was also part Titan. His father was Hyperion, a major Titan, and Carter was head of the Demonica Vacana Society, working as a records keeper to keep watch over how the Demonkin interacted with humans.
“I don’t know which is worse—the chaotic mess we just dealt with, or the prospect of having tea with Trytian.” Morio wrinkled his nose.
“The former. Nothing got done, except—I guess—perhaps swinging a strong number of people in favor of enforcing Supe Rights and maybe instituting Vamp Rights. I guess it’s worth it if we managed to win over a few influential organizations to our side.” I shrugged. “Okay, Vanzir, Roz, hop in and let’s head over to Carter’s apartment.”
*
Carter lived in a basement apartment. The area was guarded by wards cast by a powerful witch to whom he paid a good deal to in order to ensure protection for himself and his guests, because it wasn’t one of the better areas in town. In fact, my Jag—which I missed terribly—had been keyed one night while we were visiting.
The steps leading down to the door—which was below street level—were warded, but we had never had trouble with the magic. Apparently we were not considered a threat. I’d barely raised my hand to knock when the door opened. A tall, lithe woman whom I immediately pegged as some sort of Fae escorted us in. By her demeanor, it looked like Carter had a new girlfriend. He had been dating a dragon named Shimmer for a while, but that hadn’t worked out so well, apparently. We had helped him by rescuing her from a vampire that was out to get her employer—another vamp in the area. I hadn’t been sure if the pair had gotten back together or not but apparently, they had not.
Carter was sitting at his desk. When he was in his apartment, he didn’t bother to cloak up, and so the slender red-haired demigod had horns spiraling from his head, curving back like some magnificent wildebeest. He was handsome and if it weren’t for the horns, he wouldn’t seem imposing at all. He wore a knee brace on one leg and tended to go for a more genteel look. Right now, he was in a burgundy smoking jacket and a pair of black trousers. But looks were deceiving. If he wanted to, Carter could easily take down everybody in the room.
Trytian was on the sofa. Looking like a dangerously bent Keanu Reeves, he turned a glittering eye our way. Or rather, Camille’s way. Smoky noticed, too, and growled just enough to make Trytian flash him a snarky grin.
“Don’t worry, draco-beast. I know the rules. But you can’t stop me from looking . . . and thinking.” He winked at Camille and she bristled, but Carter put a stop to things.
“Down, dog. And Camille, ignore his churlish manners. Daemons are not cultured in proper behavior. Don’t let him bait you.” He crossed over to the living area from his desk, limping slightly. I was the only one in our family who knew how he had gotten that limp, and I had never mentioned it to the others—it was not my secret to tell. But I knew that it was connected to Trytian and Carter knowing each other, from long, long ago.
Trytian arched an eyebrow. “Take away all my fun, old man.”
“Gladly.” Carter didn’t even glance at him, but his eyes were steady on the packet of papers in front of him. “Please take a seat, and allow me to introduce Liu-an. She’s from Otherworld and she works for me, now.”
The Fae who had opened the door gave us a quick curtsey. So, maybe not girlfriend. But then Carter tended to employ his paramours as servants, so who knew?
We murmured hellos and Carter motioned to her, whispering in her ear as she passed by him.
“We going to get this show on the road?” Trytian crossed his legs and leaned back against the sofa. He patted the seat next to him but Camille ignored him and took a chair as far away as she could get. Morio sat down next to him, though, giving him a long, feral smile, which made the daemon pull back just a little. I stifled a laugh.