“No. We think it was either someone from the Luxe group who was trying to sabotage our order, or some outside independent magician trying to take over all the orders. It might sound ridiculous to an outsider, but you really wouldn’t believe the politics and power struggles that go on between the major occult organizations.”

“Oh, I believe it. Whenever people organize, there’s problems. That’s why I’m not a joiner. I keep to myself and mind my own business.”

That was true of most demons I knew. I smiled. “Except for the seminary stint?”

“That was self-serving.” A trace of smile showed as he crossed his arms over his chest. “So, the albino demon …”

“If I can find it, I can force it to tell me who committed the murders. My parents will be exonerated.”

“You need me to find it fast because the police are looking for your parents again?”

“Well, that doesn’t help matters, but it’s more because the Luxe Order has given my organization a mandate to turn over my parents—or me—in two weeks.”

His eyebrows shot up. “What would they do if you turned yourself in to them?”

“Kill me,” I said very seriously. “Eye for an eye, sins of the father, all that.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah.”

A cool breeze blew in from outside the window and fluttered a few stray hairs around my face. I pushed them away, and noticed that our beers hadn’t been touched in a while. Toying with a small tear in the knee of my jeans, I spoke again in a low voice.

“I bet you didn’t expect all this, huh?”

“This? No. I thought you might be some angry kid with a vendetta. Not this.”

“Well, I guess you can either help me, or you can rat me out to the feds and collect a handsome reward. It’s up to you.”

“Do you worry about people doing that? Turning you in?”

“No. There isn’t anyone who knows who I am.”

“No one?”

“A few people in my order, but they’re willingly under magical oath to keep quiet. Otherwise, no one. I guess you think I’m pretty stupid, spilling my guts to a complete stranger. I’m not even sure why I told you. I could have made something up like I usually do.”

We looked at each for a few moments, then he sat on the edge of the sofa and leaned forward, legs spread and forearms braced on his knees. “Two weeks, huh? That’s a lot of pressure on me.”

“Yeah, sorry.”

“Mmm.”

“Will you do it?”

“I think the bigger question is can I do it. I have some rare resources, and I can start there …”

He linked his fingers, staring at them, thinking. But all I heard was that he would help me, and I felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted. I had hope.

He stood up without warning, and I scrambled to follow.

“I’ll start researching in the morning,” he said. “I’ll contact you again tomorrow night and give you an update. I’ll be discreet. You have my word.” He turned and walked toward the door, opening it and stepping out onto the concrete stairs. When he reached my driveway at the bottom, he turned and looked back up at me.

“What’s your real name?”

“Seléne Duval.”

“Seléne? Like the moon goddess?” He rolled his eyes.

“My parents are occultists, what do you expect? It’s better than them being hippies and naming me River or Rain, right?”

He laughed. “Well, what do you want me to call you? I like Arcadia better.”

“Me too,” I admitted with a smile as I stood in the doorway. The cool night air sent a shiver through me. I folded my arms around my middle.

“Arcadia it is,” he said definitively. “By the way, I apologize for lacing the cigarettes.”

Goddammit. I knew it. Fucking hoodwinked by a demon—me! How many Earthbounds had I unwittingly dosed in my bar over the last couple of years? Maybe this was payback. Before I could protest, he tipped his finger in parting, then ambled away to his car.

7

Amanda set a large box down on the bar. It was half past three in the afternoon, and Tambuku opened in thirty minutes for happy hour. I came in to help with some deliveries and break it to Kar Yee that I wasn’t working this weekend. She was mildly pissed, but that was tough. I just couldn’t concentrate on babysitting a bunch of drunken idiots all night. I’d already spent the first half of the day jumping at every noise, freaked out that Lon had changed his mind and called the police. But no one came to arrest me. Hell, the media was barely even reporting about my parents’ sudden appearance in Texas anymore. In a way, it almost felt like everything would just blow over and I could go back to my life like nothing ever happened.

But that was a pipe dream. As I’d told Lon last night, it was never the authorities that truly scared me; it was the Luxe Order. I called someone to cover my shift while I waited for Lon to contact me, hoping that he’d find some bit of information that I could use.

Amanda shook out her hands. “Wow. I’m amazed at how heavy a carton of straws can be.”

“There should be fifteen new ashtrays in that box, not just straws,” I pointed out.

“O-o-oh. That’s why. Duh.”

She got out a box cutter and went to work on unpacking the carton while I restocked the liquor and traded the tapered metal pouring spouts from empty bottles to full ones.