Page 31

After I spoke to the Head Councilman of the Bangkok Human Council House and received assurances from him that he would treat the Fey remains with respect and allow Hunter Mekha to be in charge of their retrieval and acquisition on behalf of the Fairy Council, I laleked back to the house with Karmen, Star, and Extinguisher Teagan.

Teagan immediately joined his team at the dining table with Killian and the vexes. Star found his guards in the kitchen—some of them trying to cook while the others just drank Thai beer and watched the show. I took one look at that and followed Teagan to the table. Karmen drifted toward the kitchen. I would have reeled him in, but I decided it would be far more entertaining to watch him play with Demons.

“Dinello!” Killian went over to shake Karmen's hand. “Whatchu doin' here?”

“Hey, handsome!” Karmen hugged Kill instead of shaking his hand, then laid a kiss on his cheek. “I happened to be in the neighborhood so I thought I'd pop by to see what you two were up to.” He stepped back and peered over Kill's shoulder. “Where's that tall, dark drink of Unseelie at?”

Killian snorted a laugh. “Raza's at home. We don't bring the others along unless Fairies are involved in the case.”

“Aren't they?” Karmen asked. “They were recovering Fey remains when we left the demolition site.”

“That's a separate issue,” I said. “And before you ask, the hunters are here because the Coven asked for their help.” I looked around. “Where are the hunters?”

“They went to help with the remains,” Killian said. “That hunter you took called and gave them the address.”

“Oh.” Then I cursed. “Daxon! I was supposed to scry Dax.”

“Ooooo, the Blue Fairy is here?” Karmen drawled. “I thought you said they didn't join in on all the fun unless there were Fairies involved?”

“Dax has been handling his own shit,” Killian said. “I'm sure he's fine.”

“Yeah. True.” I looked at Karmen to add, “He's coming down to deal with the sale of those Fey remains. It sounds as if the Prince of the Thailand Underground has been a bad boy.”

“I love me a bad boy.” Karmen grinned. “Speaking of which—where's your bad boy leather hoodie, Killian?”

“Leather's a little hot for Thailand.”

“Ah. Well, this way, I can see the hint of your muscles through that shirt. And damn if that isn't one of my favorite things. You know, just a hint at a hot body. None of this in-your-face shit the kids do these days on Instagram. All that bare-chested posing in front of a bathroom mirror makes me gag.”

“Oh? I heard there was something else that made you gag.”

Karmen gaped at Kill before bursting out into laughter. He lifted his hand, and they high-fived. “Well done, you!” He smacked Kill's shoulder. “And let me know if you ever want to find out. You know—first hand.”

Killian snorted. “Married. But thanks for the offer.”

“Any time, Redhead Daddy.” Karmen winked. “Now, back to my rant. I like subtlety—men who don't advertise. Or even better, the men who don't know how hot they are.”

“Oh, I know I'm hot.” Kill grinned. “But I've got my girl already. I don't need to advertise.”

“You don't need to advertise—period.” Karmen brushed imaginary lint off Killian's bicep. “All that hotness just rolls off you. Hotness heatwaves, if you will.”

“Who the fuck is this guy?” Extinguisher Murdock asked.

“I'm Councilman Dinello.” Karmen lifted his chin. “Who the fuck are you?”

Murdock cleared her throat. “Sorry, Councilman. I didn't know.”

“Oh, that's all right.” Karmen instantly returned to his sugared scheduled programming. “You'll learn, sweetie.”

Team Leader Sullivan cleared his throat. “If you're done flirting and intimidating my team, maybe I could share what we've learned with the Ambassador.”

“Oh, damn!” Karmen declared. “Put in my place. All right, sassy pants. Go on then. What have you got?”

“Ambassador Seren.” Sullivan ignored Karmen and focused on me.

Karmen widened his eyes at me and whispered, “Hot!”

I pressed my lips together as I passed him and went to see what Sullivan had found.

“We looked into Naning Industries.” Sullivan waved at his laptop. “They're a conglomerate. They have several subsidiaries.”

“Do any of those subsidiaries have brand symbols with leaves?”

“No, but each subsidiary has many brands. It's going to take a while to go through them all.”

Karmen went serious to ask, “What exactly are you looking for?”

“A Demon was summoned by the sorceress we're hunting,” I said. “When he was summoned—”

“Hold on.” Karmen held up a hand. “That's a real thing? Demons can be summoned and controlled?”

“Evidently.”

Karmen slowly and wickedly grinned.

“No, you can't summon a Demon and make him your sex slave.”

His face fell.

“Anyway,” I drawled. “When he was summoned, he saw boxes with a logo on them. The logo had leaves with letters inside.”

“Ha!” Karmen pointed at me. “This is kismet! Just point me at the Demon who saw the logo, and with his help, I can draw it up for you. Then you can search with an image.”

“That would be appreciated,” Sullivan said.

“Losuc,” I called out.

“His name is Losuc?” Karmen whispered, practically salivating.

“Be nice. He's been through a lot,” I whispered back.

“I'm always nice!” He grimaced at me, then his gaze slid over to Losuc, who came through the kitchen doorway. “Oh, my. Hello, Demon Daddy!”

Losuc stopped in his tracks and stared at Karmen.

“He's not why I called you into the room,” I said. “I mean, he is, but not for him to flirt with you.” I smacked Karmen. “Don't scare the Demons!”

“Is that Karmen with a K?” Sal called out, then came striding into the room. “What's up, Special K?”

“Hey, Sassy Sal!” Karmen hurried over to hug her.

“Sassy Sal?” I asked. “When did you two become friends?”

“Oh, the last time I helped you guys out.” Karmen waved a hand. “You know, with that whole underground bunker thing.”

“You mean the Cheyenne Mountain Complex?”

“Yeah, that one. I met Sal there, and we hit it off.”

“What are you doing here?” Sal asked.

“Why do people keep asking me that?” Karmen rolled his eyes. “Hello? I'm a godsend. Obviously.”

Everyone went quiet.

“What I say?” Karmen looked around.

“God is persona non grata around here at the moment.” I made a wincing grimace. “At least with me and mine.”

“Why?” Karmen gaped at me.

“He's been manipulating me. I'll tell you more about it later. Just know that if Anu did send you, it's not happy tidings for us. It would mean he's continuing to interfere when he expressly said he wouldn't.”

“Shit.” Karmen pulled down his lips and chin in an oh-no expression. “Sorry I brought him up.”

“Um, did you need me, Light-Bringer?” Losuc asked.

“Oh! Yes, sorry, Losuc. Uh, this is Councilman Karmen Dinello. He's a sketch artist, among other things, and we're hoping you can describe that logo to him. The one you saw on the boxes in the place you were first summoned.”

“Yes, of course.” He waved Karmen toward the couch. “Shall we sit down?”

“Sure thing. One sex.” Karmen held up a finger, then winced. “Uh, I mean, one sec . I need some paper and a pencil.”

“I'll help you find something,” Sal offered and sauntered off.

Karmen pointed at Losuc. “I'll be right back, hot stuff.”

I rolled my eyes as Karmen followed Sal, calling out, “Girl, where did you get those boots?”

“Did he get gayer?” Killian asked. “I swear, he was at this level of gayness.” He held a hand out to waist high on him. “A nice in-between.”

“In between what?” I asked.

“In between John Wayne and Liberace.”

“Ah.”

“Now, he's closer to Liberace. He went from gay to ga-a-ay!” Killian snapped his finger with some sass.

“That's so racist!” Murdock said.

Killian squished up his face and turned to look at her. “I don't think that word means what you think that word means.” Then he saw Murdock smirking. “Oh, you got jokes now?”

“Seriously though,” Murdock said. “I think that might be offensive to the LGBTQ community.”

“You forgot the plus,” Kill said. “ You're offensive!”

“No shit, Murdock,” Sullivan said. “When did you become the morality police?”

“I'm just saying,” she muttered.

“Don't!” everyone said in unison.