Finally I lowered my arms and assessed. The first phase—the protections—was finished. I could see in my peripheral othersight the bindings and wards that wove throughout the room.

That was the easy part.

Now to summon the demon.

I took a deep breath and began to chant. There was no turning back now.

A wind rose from nowhere, swirling about my legs and teasing my hair. The fire jumped and popped in the fireplace but I continued to chant steadily, holding my concentration. The diagram began to glow more brilliantly, until the light from the floor rivaled the fireplace.

The wind grew cold and swirled angrily around the room, whipping the words from my lips and flinging them into the forming portal. The light from the chalk patterns gleamed fiendishly, near blinding in its incandescence. The wind shrieked as I raised my voice, nearly shouting the words, never stopping or pausing. If I stopped, the portal would consume me, sucking me into a nether region of neither death nor life. The wind swirled into a screeching crescendo, then hovered there.

I spoke the demon’s name.

“Rysehl.”

The instant the name left my mouth, the wind and the light vanished, as if they had never been. The name of the demon leaped out harshly into the sudden silence as my eyes burned with the afterimage of the glowing diagram. The fire still cast its light, but after the brilliance of before, I felt as if I was staring into pitch blackness.

I invoked the bindings quickly, then lowered my arms. I cautiously tested the protections, letting out my breath in satisfaction as I sensed a presence within the circle. My vision slowly cleared as I held the bindings carefully, ready and waiting for the demon to test me, to try to escape me. Rysehl never put up more than token resistance, and I already had the offering for it ready and waiting—a six-pack of Barq’s root beer. The lower demons seemed to enjoy being summoned—like kids on an adventure—and their taste in offerings ran to simple items that they found unusual and interesting. Offerings for higher demons were never simple. The razor-thin scars on my forearm were a testament to that.

I blinked furiously, peering into the circle, trying to pick out the small canine figure of the demon.

I heard a low growl and I tightened my grip on the bindings reflexively, bracing myself for a tussle with the scrappy little demon.

The growl repeated, resonating throughout the room, and was far different than any sound I’d ever heard come from any level of demon.

“Who … dares …”

I nearly jumped out of my skin as a stab of shock and confusion speared through me. That was not the voice of a luhrek. This was a voice filled with power. A voice filled with menace. A voice that promised pain and suffering and a lingering death.

My heart began to slam in my chest as I looked upon the crouched figure in the center of the dark diagram. This obviously wasn’t Rysehl. I’d screwed something up, and somehow a higher-level demon had come through. I don’t understand! I thought I did everything right! My thoughts whirled in a brief burst of panicked chaos before I was able to force myself into enough focus to be able to think. The bindings. Those are still in place and intact. A sliver of calm returned. I’m fine. It’s going to be fine. It would take me only a moment to send this creature back, and I could figure out later what the fuck had gone wrong. I just had to finish the binding, close and ground the potency, then reopen the portal. I scowled blackly. If that damn burglar hadn’t come last night, I’d have known how to reverse the portal without going through all this bullshit.

“I am Kara Gillian,” I stated clearly as I rewove the potencies, naming myself as part of the binding process. I had no intention of completing terms and releasing the bindings, but the forms still had to be followed. “I have summoned you to serve me—”

The laughter stopped me—a cold sound that cut through my words and sent a chill up my spine.

“Serve you?” The voice flowed from the crouched figure, serene and vicious. “I will rend the flesh from your bones and scatter your blood to the wind.”

Oh. Shit.

I frantically gathered power to me. Screw the forms. I wanted that portal open now. This was feeling worse and worse, and I had no desire to find out what kind of patterns my innards could make on the floor. I gabbled out the chant for a dismissal.

In one fluid, graceful motion, the demon stood, and the light from the fire illuminated him fully.

I stared, slack-jawed, my words dying away. I had seen many startling things as a summoner, but not this. Never this. I hurriedly checked for signs that it was some sort of illusion or glamour, but there were none. There were twelve levels of demon that could be summoned. This was most certainly not any one of them.

He was beautiful. Angelic. White-blond hair hung in a satin-smooth fall down the length of his back. His skin glowed in the firelight, so perfect as to be ethereal. He was well muscled and tall, and the insanely incongruous thought came to me that he was probably about the same height as Captain Turnham. But this … being … wore nothing as mundane as a dress shirt and khakis. A shimmering white silk shirt hung on broad shoulders that tapered down to a narrow waist. Leather breeches the color of fresh cream fit snugly to well-muscled legs. He had the body of an Adonis.

And he looked human.

Only his crystal-blue eyes told me that this was a creature of deadly and terrifying power. Eyes that were deep and ancient, full of a dominance and strength that belied the angelic beauty of his face.

This … is no ordinary demon. Oh, shit, Kara. What the fuck have you done?

His lips curled into a smile as those eyes traveled over me, weighing and measuring me.

I swallowed hard and drew breath to restart the chant for the dismissal. I still held the bindings firm. I still had a chance.

I could feel pressure against the bindings as I choked the words out, could feel him probing, testing, but they still held. My shredded confidence steadied. I could hold this creature. He finished his lengthy appraisal of me, then looked around the room, slowly turning, still not moving from the center of the chalked diagram. Finally he returned his gaze to me.

“Ah.” He smiled. “This will prove interesting.”

I felt the bindings tremble, and then, before I could react, they snapped like threads.

I gasped in horror as the bindings unraveled and dissipated. How could he have broken them so easily? I abandoned the dismissal chant as I struggled to gather up the shreds of power. The wardings were my only hope. I threw all the potency I could seize into the diagram, seeing the runes flare into life.

His laughter mocked me as he brushed the wardings aside like old cobwebs, shattering the runes. Then he stepped out of the diagram and locked his eyes on mine as raw potency exuded from him in a smothering wave. “I am so glad you have brought me here.” His voice was calm and melodious, but in his eyes I could see a black fury.

My breath froze in my chest as I began to back away. Terror warred with barely controlled panic despite all of my training and preparation. I knew how much the higher-level demons despised being summoned, yet somehow I had fucked up and pulled this creature through—a creature that was undeniably far beyond the level of a reyza. I was about to die. And badly.

The flight reflex took over and I turned and bolted for the stairs.

And came up against a blank wall.

I stared in horror at the place where the stairs were supposed to be, then whirled back to face him. “Let me go!” My voice shook, but I didn’t care. I was far beyond any need to appear strong.

He laughed—a beautiful, musical sound that only increased my terror. “I do not hold you.” He took another step forward, his angelic features and rage-filled eyes catching the firelight. “I do not hold you at all.”