Page 39 of Secondhand Garagyre

MyLaithog?

Mmm, yes.Ido like the sound of that.

“Thethings holding the tailgate up are made of metal and are called ‘cables.’They’remuch stronger than they appear and won’t have any trouble holding us both up.Ipromise,”Iassurehim with a warm smile.Pattingthe identical butt cushion next to mine,Imotion for him to sit next to me.

Hesitantly, he lowers his bulk onto the tailgate, andIcringe inwardly when the truck sinks a bit with the addition of his weight.Oncehe’s settled,Ibeam a sunny smile over at him. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”Iask tauntingly, only to be met with a censuring look.

“Donot patronize me, little one.Ifelt that brief moment of uncertainty whenIsat down.”

Sniffing,Iroll my eyes. “I’veno clue what you’re talking about,”Isay with a suppressed snicker, flicking the fluffy blanket out over our laps whileItry to hide my smirk.

Thelow rumble in his chest tells meIfailed.

Paisleyis happily chattering to me and herdogsbeside me, waiting for the event to begin.Completelyoblivious to the danger we have arrived to.

Weare being watched.Ican feel it.Iknew that coming to town was foolhardy, butPaisleywas so excited about hertree lightingthatIcould not tell her no.

Thiswas a mistake.Potentiallya deadly one.

Thedemons in our midst are doing nothing to hide their energy signatures from me.Theywantme to knowIam outnumbered.Ican sense at least four lesser demons.Sincethey cannot cloak themselves from me, they have to be younger and less powerful.Theproblem is thatIcannot see or senseRulzik.

Thatcoward won’t face me alone.LasttimeIalmost killed him and he knows it.Thismeans he will have found another upper-level demon to assist him.Hisvanity won’t allow him to have anyone more powerful than him within his little fiefdom, so at least there will not be an archdemon present.Thelords of hell are the only ones more powerful thanRulzik, andIwould have no hope of defeating one alone.

Aslong asPaisleydoes not leave thisvehicle,she’s safe.Thewards on it will protect her and the two irksome beasts she loves.Thedrawback is…she must get off thetailgateto walk around the side of the conveyance to get back inside it.Thatis a moment of vulnerability as she is not touching thevehicle.IfItell her of what is watching us now, it will ruin her evening.

Iknow the demons won’t bring attention to themselves with so many humans.ThisthingPaisleycallstechnologyis dangerous.Everyhuman seems to have one of the things my mate calls aphonewith them at all times.She’sshown me that these thingscan record images and then be distributed to the entire planet inseconds.

Ihave no doubt that there are still warriors of light either on this plane or that monitor this plane.Tobring attention to themselves means that they would have to deal with more than just me.

Thatwould ruin the good thing they have going here in this small corner of this plane.Unfortunately,Ido not possess the ability to summon any help without revealing myself as well.Theamount of magick it would take to send a message across the planes of existence is substantial and it would take several feedings for me to recuperate.Ido not have that luxury at this time.

Gazingat the giant tree before me, an idea begins to form.

WhenInotice a short, round human man with a rather large amount of hair above his upper lip.Paisleyquietens as soon as she notices him.

Ah.Itis about to start.

Ido not have much time, so with that in mind,Igradually let my magick unfurl, taking care to ensure none of the demons are aware of whatI’mdoing.Wieldingmy magick,Islide it into the magnificent tree before us.Linkinga sunlight spell within the countless glitteringbulbsthat are to be lit at any moment.

IfIcan imbue an abundant amount of the bulbs all around the tree with enough power, it will temporarily blind the demons and buy me some time to get my mate back to the protection of our home.Curiosityalong with mild apprehension filters to me through our bond.

Blast.

Iwas not warding my feelings as studiously asIought.Myfocus on the sunlight spell and monitoring the surrounding demons caused my hold on them to slip.Forcingmore magick into thelightsas rapidly asIcan makes me a bit lightheaded.Whichdoes not bode well.Creatingsunlight is draining, but generating this much this fast is depleting my magick more thanIneed it to.Icannot afford to be at any sort of disadvantage, consideringIam outnumbered.

Evena lesser demon is hard to kill.

Mymate is not slow.She’sfigured out something is going on and isn’t paying any attention to the hairy man before us at all.

Shewaits untilIlook over at her, my focus no longer on bespelling the tree. “Whatthe hell is going on,Laithog?”

Chapter Forty

PAISLEY

Somethingis wrong.

Thewarmth ofLaithog’sfeelings in my chest cooled several minutes ago.Justabout the timeMayorHawkinsstepped up to the podium to give his yearlyChristmasSpeechbefore he flicks the switch to light the tree.Waitingas patiently asIcan,IwatchLaithog’sglamoured face until his bright green eyes look over at me and actuallyseeme. “Whatthe hell is going on,Laithog?”

---