THE GRIMROSE PATH: Trickster, Book 2 Excerpt

I needed to keep Eli believing I was a trickster at the top of her form, because while the ranking went gods, tricksters, demons…humans were far enough below a high level demon like Eli that you’d need binoculars to see them. I still had my trickster mind, but I had a human body and that made things a bit more difficult.

“Fine. If you want trouble,” I checked my watch, “I can spare five minutes. That should give me time to kill you, wipe the tapes, and maybe browse for a new car while I’m at it.” I smiled. I doubted I was too impressive a sight right then. An explosion of messy waves and curls anchored at the crown of my head with a pony tail holder. No make up. The shirt that snarky Leo had had made for me that said Slayer Not Layer on the front in the same bright red color as my sweat pants and a pair of beat up sneakers. But Eli wasn’t seeing me now, he was seeing me then, and I had that going for me for a few months at least.

“Oh, I want trouble.” His eyes darkened and it wasn’t with anger. Some serial killers had horrific childhoods that had tangled sexual and homicidal urges into one black, strangling noose. Demons had only needed that one spat with Daddy to get them there. “But it’ll have to be another time. I want to talk to you about some demons.” He straightened, turning serious…as serious as Eli came anyway. “Dead demons. Quite a few dead demons.”

I tapped the barrel of my gun against my leg. “Really?” Now there was the best news I’d heard all day. “You want to throw a party at my place? I’ll even throw in an open bar for the occasion, because, sugar, I am that excited about it. How many demons are we talking about? Fifty? Because I can do a theme party. Muerte del día de los Demonios. Death of demons day. Like Cinco de Mayo only with pinatas that have little horns and forked tails.”

“Cute. You’re so adorable when you’re tearing apart my rivals and blathering on about something to which you have no utter fucking clue.” He smiled again, this time the white teeth had turned to the mouthful of smoky quartz fangs. “But that’s fine. I’m happy to have this conversation later. Maybe I’ll go out and occupy the time by burning down a church. Barbecuing the faithful. I always enjoy that. A big side of coleslaw and I’ll be in hog you-know-where.” At the last word, he pointed a finger skyward and mock fired it.

Technically, that was Heaven’s problem, not mine, but despite the lying, cheating, and stealing part, I did have a conscience. Most tricksters did, as much as we’d deny it. And the fact that Eli wasn’t in the mood for a little verbal sparring was unusual enough to pique my interest.

I sat on the other desk and rested my feet on the large belly of the still unconscious tourist. “Okay, grumpy hooves. I’ll give you those five minutes. I’ll even listen to you during then instead of killing you, because I’m sweet as cotton candy that way.” I checked my watch again and snapped my own fingers. “Go.”

And go he did. It wasn’t fifty demons that had died. It wasn’t even a hundred. That wouldn’t be that unusual. Demons killed paien for sport and tricksters killed demons because of it. All paien weren’t tricksters. There were vampires, Wolves (werewolves to the fictionally inclined), nymphs, sprites, boggles, revenants, trolls, chubacabra, pukas, and thousands more. Some could take a demon and some couldn’t. So, if a hundred demons died in the past few years, that would be normal.

Nine-hundred and fifty-six in six months was not normal.