Page 2 of Cold Curses

“Lulu,”I said—a question, a declaration, and a curse in two syllables.

“She was getting lonely,” Lulu said, moving into the room. There was a lot of feisty spirit in that petite frame, and an apparent skill at old magic—the bloody, potentially evil kind. But the paint-spattered white coveralls, rolled up at arms and ankles, mitigated the effect. She was an artist first, a sorceress second. And until a week ago, a completely nonpracticing one. Demons had changed everything.

Lulu was currently working on a mural in Hyde Park, not far from Cadogan House.

I narrowed my gaze as she strode to the bathroom, where something made a clunking sound. “What did she destroy?” I called out.

Lulu emerged, the cat sitting queenlike in her arms. “Here, or there?” she asked with a smile.

My stare didn’t change. “What did she pee on at the loft?”

“Let’s just say, if pee was gold, we’d both be rich. And I hope you didn’t like those pink sneakers.”

“You’re both very entertaining,” Connor said, rolling over to reveal the smooth curves of muscle across his back. “But maybe you could entertain somewhere else?”

With impeccable timing, Alexei stepped into the room, bagel in hand. Silently, he looked at us, then at Lulu and the cat, then chewed. Like Connor, Alexei was tall and strong, with pale skin and dark blond hair. Alexei didn’t talk much; he was a man of quiet loyalty who said much with his piercing hazel eyes. And knew how to back up a friend.

“And you brought her here why?” I asked.

“We can’t leave her alone at the loft forever,” Lulu said. “Andwith the demons out there, who knows how long we’ll be camped out here.”

“I’ll deal with the demons,” I said. “And your parents are working on repairing the broken wards.” Lulu’s parents were powerful sorcerers.

“I know. I was just saying. Nobody expects it to be immediate. Freaking demons.”

“Freaking demons,” Connor and Alexei muttered in unison.

Lulu stroked Eleanor of Aquitaine, who purred beneath her paint-stained fingers. While that cat wanted nothing to do with me, she plainly loved Lulu. And it wasn’t my style to break up a family.

Resigned, I sighed and looked at Connor. “Your house, your rules.”

“I don’t have a problem with it,” he said, voice muffled from the pillow. “She actually likes me.”

And that stung a little. “She can stay,” I told Lulu. “Just keep her out of this room. And any other room in which I might make an appearance.”

“That’s most of the house.” Lulu’s voice was flat.

“Is it?” I asked as innocently as I could manage.

My screen buzzed, and I plucked the thin rectangle of glass from the side table.

“Work,” I said, and even the cat went silent. Work rarely delivered good news an hour before I made it into the office.

“Elisa,” I answered. “And you’re on speaker with a demon cat and the sups who enable it.” This was not the time for video.

“Roger” was the caller’s response. Roger Yuen was the Ombudsman and my boss. “I’m on with Petra and Theo.” They were my coworkers. Petra, an aeromancer and light conspiracy theory enthusiast, and Theo, a human former cop and my partner.

“How is Eleanor of Aquitaine?” Petra asked, and the cat actuallyrowr’d a response.

“Good girl,” Petra added.

“What’s happened?” I asked, trying to steer my evening away from the resident demon.

“We aren’t sure,” Roger said. “A burst of magic was reported during the day. Looks like around three o’clock in the afternoon.”

“Reported by whom?” I asked.

“We’ve gotten calls from nymphs who called it a ‘magicky bass drop’ and from a representative of the river trolls who called it a ‘big loud.’ ”