"Think about it: Would you want to be picked by someone, knowing you were their second choice? In the long run, he'd hate you for it."

"That makes sense. For a while, I felt that Chase had chosen me only after you told him in no uncertain terms that he'd never taste your pussy."

"Oh no, you didn't!" She coughed, laughing. "I can't believe you just said that, Miss Priss."

I laughed along with her. "Hey, it's the truth," I said as I turned onto the street leading to Carter's. "Now, let's go have a chat with the demonmeister and then get you home."

And everything was okay. I might be alone again, but I wasn't lonely. I had my sisters and my friends with me.

CHAPTER 7

Carter opened the door, much to my surprise. It was usual y his foster daughter Kim who bade us enter. She was halfsuccubus, half-human--in particular: of Chinese ancestry. Her mother--a ful succubus--had abandoned her to be sold as a slave. Carter, demon of unknown origin, had bought Kim as a baby and raised her like a daughter. The girl was mute, though no one knew why, and she doted on her foster father, keeping house for him in the basement apartment of the ten-story brick building.

A narrow stairwel led to the apartment, but Carter had hired a powerful witch to erect a permanent grid of protection around the front of his home and the sidewalk and parking spaces near it. We could park in front of his place and never once worry about our cars being vandalized. I ended up half-carrying Camil e down the steps, afraid she'd fal if I didn't.

I glanced around. "Where's Kim? She okay?"

If he looked surprised to see us, he didn't indicate it. His red hair was in shocking disarray, but it was for effect, careful y groomed, and the long, curved horns rol ed back off his head, coiling like an impala's. Carter wore a brace on one knee and walked with a cane, but he was always elegant and suave.

"She's out shopping," he said. Bidding us to sit, he excused himself for a moment and slipped through the door that led to the kitchen.

Carter was an excel ent host, and his living room was nothing less than an old-fashioned parlor, with richly upholstered sofa and chairs and solid, handcrafted tables. In one corner stood a huge desk where he did his research. An elaborate computer setup covered one entire side of it.

Camil e and I sat down, gingerly looking around. This was the first time we'd been here without Vanzir accompanying us, and I could tel she was just as intimidated as I was. Carter's powers remained unknown--at least to us--and I wasn't sure I wanted to find out just what they were. At least, not the hard way. He was on our side, but with demons, you never knew.

Carter returned from the other room pushing a double-decker tea cart. Steaming tea and a plate of petit fours nestled on the top rack. On the lower, I caught a glimpse of two kittens, curled together, grooming each other. While both were predominantly white, one had cream markings on her and the other, a few splotches of black. Their hair was soft and medium-long and they were striking in their looks, solid for their age.

"You have cats!" For some reason this fact surprised me. Camil e looked around, and I pointed to the tea cart.

He nodded. "Aegean cats, yes. They like people. Feel free to pet them. The cream and white is Roxy, the black and white, Lara."

"Oh, how adorable! Look, Delilah!" Camil e scooped up the cream one and snuggled her face against its fur.

I gave her a long look. "Not a good idea for me to pet them. You pet them. Have fun." Although they were kittens, there was always the chance my Tabby self would get bent out of shape and protest. I smiled softly, wishing I could snuggle them, too, but better to err on the side of their safety.

Camil e turned to me. "Oh, I wish we could have a few of these around."

The look on her face sparked off a twinge of guilt, and I sighed. "If you stand ready, then hand one to me, and I'l see how it goes." I bit my lip, and she gently placed the black-and-white kitten in my hands and hovered over me.

The fur was so soft and the face so winsome. Even though a few of my defenses began to rise, I slipped under the kitten's spel . I was about to hand it back to her when the baby let out a loud screech, startling me, and I quickly set it on the sofa. Before I knew what I was doing, I abruptly shifted into my tabby self and leapt up beside it. That mew had been a need-Mommy cry, and there was no mommy in sight.

I grabbed the kitten by the scruff of the neck and jumped onto the floor, carrying it with me as I crawled beneath a nearby end table. I gently held the baby down with one paw as I began to groom her face.

"Hold stil ," I told her. "You need a good grooming, and you haven't been doing it right."

The kitten didn't say anything, but she stared at me with such huge eyes that I found myself wanting to do everything I could to protect her. She began to purr, and I groomed harder. When Camil e leaned down to haul me out, I growled. I knew my sister wasn't going to hurt her, but no way in hel were they taking this kitten away from me.

"Delilah, Delilah? Honey? You have to change back. Please, don't make us drag you out of there," Camil e said, holding out the other squirming kitten in her hands. "This little girl needs her sister. Come on out, Delilah. Now. "

Something about her tone caught my attention. Her voice was compel ing, and though I didn't want to listen, I had to obey. I tried to resist, but final y I gave in and slunk out from beneath the end table. The kitten fol owed me, batting my tail happily, and I didn't even swat it. I didn't even want to swat it.

While Carter corral ed the kittens and put them in a playpen, Camil e caught me up. She sat me on the sofa and waggled her finger at me. I batted it, and she laughed, petting me gently. As I relaxed, I realized that I was ready to change back and gently leapt out of her lap and off the sofa, crossing to an open spot on the floor.

I shifted again, slowly this time to avoid the swift kick in the muscles transforming too fast produced. The cramps from sudden shifting could be worse than a bad lactic acid buildup. I knelt on the floor until the chance for spasms had passed, then glanced up to see both Camil e and Carter grinning at me.

Carter let out a soft chuckle when I cleared my throat. "Thank you for making my afternoon so amusing. Life in your household must be fun," he said.

"Wel , my kittens are safe, and I trust you are al right, Delilah?"

I nodded, trying to figure out what had just happened. Normal y I went after other cats, spoiling for a fight. "I guess their age makes a big difference."

Camil e's eyes lit up. "Maybe this means we could have a couple babies? You could be their surrogate mother and--"

Hating to burst her bubble, I shook my head. "We'd better think about it long and hard. We don't know how Maggie might react to them. For al we know, she might try to eat them."

"No she wouldn't. Not our Maggie! She adores you when you're in cat form and would spend al day playing with you if we let her." Camil e folded her arms, looking crushed.

"Maybe we can figure something out," I said. "Confine them to your rooms til they grow up or something like that. We'l talk later." Feeling, for once, the older sister, I patted her arm. "I know how much you love cats, and I promise, I'l spend more time in my cat form for you until we figure out what to do."

"Sorry about al that--an ongoing struggle in our household." Camil e let out a sigh, then turned to Carter and told him about the goblins and the Tregarts.

"So now we have a rumor about Stacia running a training camp for demons. Have you heard anything?"

Carter nodded. "Vaguely, but nothing I can confirm yet. I'l assign someone to look into it, and the minute we find out anything, I'l let you know. At least you've verified that she entered through a Demon Gate. Do you think the Tregart was lying or withheld anything?"

"No." Camil e sighed. "There's no question that Menol y, Vanzir, and Roz got every shred of info out of the Tregart they could. If he was part of it, they'd know. Between the three, they have some pretty nasty . . . tactics."

She paused, and we looked at one another. Neither one of us was wil ing to use the word torture, though I knew it weighed heavily on both our minds, especial y after the talk with Mal en and Sharah about the Wolf Briar.

Carter's eyes took on a luminous hue. He smiled softly.

"Sometimes, what has to be done in a war is regrettable. I have seen this more times than I care to recount." He paused, then added, "I never told you why I left the Subterranean Realms, have I?" Dipping his head, his horns flashed in the soft glow of the light.

"No," I said. Camil e shook her head. "We never felt it our place to pry, but if you want to tel us, we'd like to hear."

Carter leaned back in his chair, pressing his fingertips together as he regarded us soberly. "I am one of the sons of Hyperion--a Greek Titan who watches over the sun and the stars. He mated with a demoness, and she bore a litter of thirteen of us. We lived with my father for a time, then my mother summoned us to the land of Hades within the Subterranean Realms, and Father sent us to her. She sought to use our paternity to her own advantage. Al it bought her was a swift and ugly death."

I stared at him. Carter was the son of a Titan and had twelve brothers and sisters? The Titans predated the Greek gods--in fact, they were responsible for the rise of the gods and had warred with them greatly over the years. We were in the presence of a deity, for al intents and purposes. I didn't know whether to kneel or bow, so I settled for neither.

"After my mother was kil ed, I led my brothers and sisters back to Hyperion. He took us in, taught us the art of observation. We learned to watch, to listen, to be patient. Then he sent us to enter the realm of mortals in order to record the interactions of the Demonkin with the human world. The gods, in rare form, agreed with the Titans that this would be a worthy pursuit and set Athena and Mercury to guide us. We formed a network and began training others to be our eyes and ears in various parts of the world, and they report only to us."

"Who are those you train? Are there many? Are they al demon?"

He shook his head. "We run a far bigger network than you would think. Some are part-demon like myself, others Fae. Stil others are races you can barely begin to comprehend. We stay hidden unless we feel it necessary to reveal ourselves. I think it's time you girls know about us. You're fighting a war that could easily turn a page in human history, and it directly involves the Demonkin. The Demonica Vacana Society is keenly interested in what wil happen in this Earthside battle."

Carter's cards were final y on the table. I wasn't sure just what to say. But it explained a great deal and made me feel better about interacting with him.

"What do you want from us?" Camil e asked.

He shrugged. "Your friendship. Your stories. I want you to tel me what happens so that I can record it for the future. I am a historian, you see, when it comes down to it. While I'm not pledged to refrain from interfering, my main focus is on recording and sealing the information within the Vacana Archives, deep within the Demonica Catacombs that exist in a cavern on one of the uninhabited islands of the Cyclades."

"Cyclades?" My fingers were itching to get a look at those catacombs and the records stored within.

"A large group of Greek islands in the Aegean Sea."

"Why do you help us?" I asked, wondering why he would even care. If his job was to record and keep track of what was happening, would our fate real y matter to him?

He smiled then, softly again, and leaned forward. "My dear girl, I care more than you can possibly think. Like the children of my father--the ancient Greeks--I love al things beautiful and wise. I bequeathed my life over to order, to making sense of the present and keeping track of the past so the future may learn. I also know a father's love for his daughter. My feelings for Kim alone fuel me with the desire to keep this world running, as faulty as it is, without interference from my mother's people."

His face lit up, and the look in his eyes made me smile. He cared. He real y gave a damn.

"What do you recommend we do, as far as Stacia's training camp?"

Carter shook his head. "I concur with you, Delilah. Don't seek it out at this time. Not unless you want them to take notice of you. My advice? Locate the next spirit seal." He glanced at his watch. "I hate to rush this, but I have a new client coming in twenty minutes, and I need to prepare for him."

We stood, and he ushered us out. Once we were back in my Jeep, Camil e and I sat there, overwhelmed by what he'd told us.

"So." I final y broke the ice. "Carter's older than the gods."

"Not necessarily, but he's sort of a cousin of the gods," Camil e said. "Can you imagine the wealth of information he has within his grasp?"

"I'd pay one hel of a price to categorize and log it on my database. We need to preserve this sort of information for the future, too." I could devote a lifetime to studying data and organizing it, but I had the feeling Carter wasn't going to be taking me along with him next time he visited the catacombs.

"What next?"

"Home," I said firmly. "I let you have this visit, but you're going home, and you're going to rest. Besides, we need to scour the city for magical shops, and I can best do that over the phone and the Internet. And you wanted to track down Rice in Arizona to see if he's stil there."

"Right." She fished through her purse and pul ed out her cel phone. "I'm going to ask Luke to meet us at the house. Menol y wil understand." She hit speed dial and after a moment, said, "Chrysandra, is Luke there? Can you put him on?"