Demons (Darkness #4)(47)

“That’s a no, then. Overheard them talking about it—him and the Regional. When someone calls a demon, apparently they have the language of the demon. They use that language, and their personal power, or some damn thing, to control it. If the demon’s too strong, it can overtake the guy that summoned it. Kills him, usually. Probably why that cat ran the other day.”

“As far as I know, and bear with me, because today was fairly hazy, but as far as I know, I haven’t summoned a demon.”

“No, but you can understand them. That means you got their language. That apparently means you can control them. Just have to assert your dominance.”

“I see.” I really didn’t. “And I do this how?”

“Hell if I know. It all sounds absurd to me. Why would you want to mess around with them things? Kill it as fast as possible, that’s my motto.”

“Fascinating. Well thanks ever so much for bringing it up.”

We passed a second in silence, a clock ticking somewhere in the distance, before he said, “Frosty is mystified by you, you know. You’re throwing all sorts of weird shit at him and he can’t come up with answers fast enough.”

“Yeah. Weird shit seems to be my bag.”

Jonas snorted. “Feeling sorry for yourself is just stupid. You landed the head honcho of this joint—something all the females have been after—got another head honcho as a new dad, got a real smart mage as your tutor, no matter how creepy… I’d say you got it made. Crying is just for sissies.”

“So… don’t look for pity handouts from you, then. Noted.”

“All you gotta do is let your balls fly and lead this bitch. You got everything you need. Once you do that, everyone else will come around. Nothing to it.”

I took out an imaginary pen and scribbled on the imaginary paper in my palm. “Let…my…balls…fly…and…lead…this…bitch. Uh huh, got it. Sound advice, as always. Maybe a little too detailed, though.”

Jonas snorted again and let his head fall back against the couch. “I’m not looking forward to that dang council meeting. It’ll be nonstop fights. I hate when males try to throw their weight around.”

“Not the females?”

He glanced at me sideways. “I like that, but in a different setting.”

“Ah, right. So you’re going, then?”

“Yeah. Gotta watch you. You’ll get picked on, and Charles will definitely get picked on, young as he is, and I’ll have to bust some heads.”

“Sounds like your paradise.”

He pointed his face toward the ceiling. “I will have to stop before I kill them.”

“Ah. Yes, that sounds terrible.” I couldn’t stop from laughing. I liked this easy-does-it Jonas. His language skills were the pits, but he was actually kind of fun in a dry, everyone-is-an-idiot kind of way.

The door opened at the same time as my phone rang. I shot a smile toward Stefan and got a thick pulse of pleasure from the link—it was probably the same thing I was shooting at him. My eyes drifted toward the face of the phone where “Tim – alpha” was displayed in large white letters.

Wonderful timing, as ever.

“How’d it go with the witches?” Stefan asked as he slung a leather jacket across the nearest chair.

For a wonder, Jonas didn’t bother getting up. It was testimony to how tired he was.

I gave Stefan a pointer finger to have him hold that thought as I answered the phone. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Sasha? Tim. We got one.”

A thrill went through my body. I sat up quickly, clutching the cold plastic to my ear. Stefan was beside me instantly.

“Got a demon? You’ve found another demon?” I clarified in anxious tones.

Jonas sat up next, a wave of violence washing over his body—you could tell by the quick flexing of his muscles.

“Yeah,” came Tim’s voice. “This one is a nasty one. We took out a different one yesterday—very low power. Sacrifice was a small animal and looked a day old. Didn’t bother you with that one.”

“Wait,” I switched ears. “You took out a low-level demon yesterday? Because so did Stefan.”

Tim snorted. “Figured he wouldn’t call us.”

Well, you didn’t call him, either …

I tapped my phone to speaker so everyone could hear. Stefan was already texting someone—probably Jameson.

“This clown is practicing,” Tim said, “But he’s here now. Can’t see his face—he’s hidden behind a blind, but he’s here. He called up a nasty one, and he’s getting ready to unleash it. It seems like he’s waiting, though.”

“Waiting for what?”

“Well…” the pause doused the room in silence for an anxious moment. “He called it on the same spot as Stefan’s parents died.”

So many emotions blasted through the link at once that I had to muffle it. Stefan stared at the phone, wide-eyed, fear warring the calm leader’s mask he was trying for. Jonas stared at the ground, his arms falling into his lap limply.

“So he’s waiting for Stefan, then,” I clarified.

“Yup. Think so. And it’s probably that guy Andris. We only got a glance at his body and the side of his head, but I could swear it was him.”