“You always let your guests kill one another?” she said, then gasped, adrenaline a pulse of fear as Piscary launched himself at her. “Hey!” she managed, and then he was on her, pinning her to the chair.
“You are a foul guest,” he repeated, his canines inches from her cheek. He held her shoulder down, his fingers twined in her hair to pull her head back and expose her neck. She held her breath, terrified. His eyes were dead black, and an odd tingling coursed through her, desire and fear all mixed up into one heated emotion that threatened to overwhelm her.
“I . . .” she managed before her thoughts turned to blind terror when his weight pressed deeper. The Weres were shouting, and Daniel, too. Orchid’s dust was sifting over them, the sparkles seeming to prick like fire. “Please,” she managed, thinking fast. “He’s a gift.”
“Gift?” Piscary snarled. “You gift me with filth? Filth you brought into my home?”
“Piscary!” Cormel exclaimed. “Not now. Not like this!”
“She brought abomination,” Piscary said, and Trisk got a clean breath of air when he looked away. “She opened the door, invited him in.”
I did not survive one nut job to die at the hands of another, she thought. “He’s a gift! A gift!” she tried again, becoming breathless when Piscary’s eyes found hers again. “You heard his name,” she said, sure she was on the right path when Piscary’s grip eased. “You can summon him. Contain him with witch magic.” It took everything she had, but she looked away from Piscary to Professor Thole. “Yes?” she said, and it seemed as if Piscary’s weight on her grew less. “There’s an earth-magic circle that he can invoke himself to contain a demon.”
Professor Thole nodded, his gaze troubled.
“He’s a gift,” she echoed once more as the hunger in Piscary was replaced by thought. “You have a demon. He will grovel before you, and you can give him information for favors or information in turn. You’ll be the first vampire to have one. Ever.”
For three heartbeats she met his black eyes, waiting. Almost imperceptibly, his pupils shrank, and she couldn’t help her gasp when he was suddenly not there. “A gift,” Piscary said, and she sat up in the chair, shaking at how close it had been. “Write his name down lest I forget.”
Nodding, she stood, no longer comfortable in the chair. Her knees wobbly, she cast about for Daniel. He always had a notebook and pen on him. Seeing him by the bar beside Professor Thole, she walked over, hand protectively on her middle. Will I ever see the sun again?
“A gift?” Daniel said as he handed her his palm-size spiral notebook.
Orchid hovered close, and Trisk let her stay, knowing the pixy wouldn’t know how to read. It took three tries for the pen to work, and Trisk stared at her shaky handwriting. It didn’t even look like hers. Resigned, she ripped the page free and folded it over to hide the print.
“Give it to me,” Rynn Cormel said, and Trisk pulled the paper closer. The man arched his eyebrows. “You smell like a melty chocolate chip cookie right now. He put you back on the counter untasted once. He won’t do so again. Stay here. I’ll give it to him.”
Trisk glanced at Piscary, reading the truth in those words by the stiff way he was holding himself apart from everyone. “Thank you,” she said as she gave Cormel the note. “Tell him I apologize for the way I introduced him to the demon, but at least now he knows what he’s dealing with and will be careful enough to survive.”
Rynn Cormel tapped the paper against his other palm, glancing between her and Daniel, Orchid now back on the man’s shoulder. “I can’t decide if you’re serious, or if you’re trying to kill him.” Head high, Cormel headed for Piscary, stopping to talk to the Weres on the couch to give the undead vampire more time to find his self-control.
Daniel exhaled, taking her elbow as he helped Trisk onto the high barstool. “Are you okay?” he asked, and she stifled a bitter laugh.
“Peachy,” she said, feeling her throat. It was raw and sore, and she thought it might be time to make a new life plan, one that didn’t include demons, or crazy peers, or even crazier superiors. Ulbrine could still try to blame her for everything.
Eyes narrowed, she looked over the room, not seeing him. “Where’s Ulbrine?”
“Ah . . .” Daniel hesitated as he looked over the room as well. “Kal is gone, too.”
“How did they get out?” Thole said, looking up from a narrow glass full of something amber colored. Trisk assumed it wasn’t iced tea.