Chapter 26

"Lothan," Eislinn whispered, as metal whistled through the air and the demon's head was separated from its body. It bounced in a grotesque barrel roll and landed at Eislinn's feet. She swallowed and looked up at the apparition standing, sword in hand, over the headless husk.
Lothan von Deimos groaned and shook his head. His own demonic shape shimmered back into his human guise, complete with impeccably cut Italian suit. The wickedly curved scimitar disappeared. His silvery eyes rolled as he looked over at Eislinn.
"Eislinn. I should have known you'd be here."
She opened her mouth and started to speak but before she could, another man ran into the yard, though this one used the gate - sort of. He'd put one hand on the top rail and leapt over it without breaking stride. Oh great, now the cops had shown up.
"What the hell happened here?" he began. Then his gaze too was drawn to where she stood. "Aw, fuck." Detective Callum Daly frowned. "Eislinn. I should have known. What on earth are you doing here?"
"I had nothing to do with it," she argued for the third - or maybe sixth - time. "I had a tip that our boy wonder was up to something stupid. It didn't occur to me that the moron would actually be able to summon a cockroach, let alone a demon."
Lothan snorted and took another slice of double-pepperoni pizza. The three had retired to his home after they'd cleaned up the remains of the demon. While Lothan had incinerated the corpse, Callum had bespelled Jason's memory. All the kid would remember in the morning was a bad drug trip, a botched ritual, and a stern warning from the Philadelphia PD. Hopefully he could convince his followers of the same and attribute their memories of the demon to drug-induced mass hysteria.
Now that things were over, both men were treating Eislinn like she was the delinquent. Never mind that she'd only been a witness. Both of them seemed to think that the whole mess was somehow all her fault.
"Well it damn near ripped his heart out," Callum reminded her. "And yours would have been next. Gravaki demons are fond of hearts, human or otherwise and the fresher the better. I doubt that little pig-sticker of yours would have done much to dissuade him."
"That's what that thing was?" She swallowed a sip of wine a little too fast and coughed. "No wonder it had no trouble breaking that pathetic excuse for a circle." Gravaki was one of the nastier planes and the rogues from their culture were among the fiercest demons that ever crossed over to the mortal realm. She'd never encountered one before and goddess willing, she never would again.
"It was." Lothan was an expert on the various races of demon - his own and the others. He also had a sense for when one was entering this plane and he'd been charged by his people to maintain control, which is of course why he'd shown up when he did. "When will you learn not to mess around with things that can kill you, Eis? You're six hundred years old. When are you going to grow up?"
Callum raised a sandy eyebrow and turned his piercing green gaze on Lothan. The two had clearly met before but didn't know each other well. That made sense, given that Callum was a member of the city's special paranormal police team, while Lothan did pretty much the same job on a private level. Both were charged with keeping paranormal rule-breakers in line and out of the newspapers. The elf and the demon were cut from very similar cloth, really. They were both smart and brave and honorable and had each, at one point, been the love of Eislinn's life. And apparently neither of them had quite twigged to that fact. Though now it seemed like the shit was about to hit the fan.
"Sounds like you know our star reporter pretty well, von Deimos. How exactly are you two acquainted?"
Eislinn squirmed. Nothing like having two ex-boyfriends in one room. Especially when they were the two she'd never really gotten over. It was bad enough that both of them were in Philadelphia at the same time. Ever since Callum had shown up here a year ago, she'd wondered if he'd been following her. She could have lived a few more centuries without them getting together and ganging up on her. Unless - she felt her pussy clench. No, she was pretty sure that neither of them would ever go for it. They were both centuries old alpha males. Neither would be willing to share her - would they? If only for this one night?
"Oh the lovely Eislinn and I are old friends, elf." Lothan had an eye for races and he'd pegged Callum immediately as one of the Fae, just like Eislinn. "Old enough that I'm tempted to tie her up and paddle her backside for putting herself in danger tonight."
His heated gaze was making Eislinn sweat. Her nipples hardened under her hoodie and her jeans were getting soaked. It had been almost five years since she and Lothan had been together and she hadn't had a really good spanking since. She had to maintain some pride, though, so she held her ground. "Sure you are, big guy. Promises, promises."
"I'll help," Callum offered. His grass-green eyes were shot through with golden sparks - a sure sign that he was aroused to either anger or passion. "I've been trying to get her to stop taking stupid risks for two hundred years. And think how pretty she'll look with that little ass all red from both of our hands."
Eislinn's breath stopped in her throat. Had Callum just suggested...
He had.