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  Caitlin returned, large mug of cocoa in hand. She headed up the stairs. As she passed us, I turned back to the others. “That leaves us with the problem of Tarvish. What do we do with him? How do we get rid of him?”

  “Can you banish him?” Teran asked Rowan.

  Rowan shook her head. “No, not really. The spells that work on demons or ghosts don’t work on thought-forms. While Tarvish appears to us as a demon, since he was created by thought, there’s a difference in energy. It’s like a lab-created gemstone. Yes, the structure is the same as a natural specimen, but there’s a subtle difference in vibration. The energy is different.”

  “Why is he trapped inside my house? It frightens me that he can’t get out. I have no clue what to do.” I glanced at the clock. “Oh crap, the Witches Guild meets in half an hour. I have to get ready.” I dashed upstairs, leaving them below.

  A few moments later I was slipping into a nice pair of jeans and had chosen a V-neck sweater when the door opened and Killian popped his head in the room.

  “Can I come in?”

  “Of course,” I said, motioning for him to join me. I wondered if they had broken the news to him, but by his jovial manner, I had the feeling—probably not. “Did they tell you about my house guest?”

  Killian looked around. “No, did Tally come in early? She’s not supposed to be here until tomorrow night.”

  “No, she didn’t. Listen, I need to tell you something so you don’t freak out and go off half-cocked. I also need you to remain as calm as you can. Promise?” I had my shirt off and by the way he was staring at my breasts, I had the feeling I could get him to agree to anything. Sometimes men—even the wonderful ones—thought with their dick rather than their head.

  “Of course. What happened?” he asked, his voice low as I slid into his arms and pressed against his chest. “Mmm, you feel good in my arms.”

  “Here’s the thing…I have a demon for a house guest.”

  Killian froze, I could feel every muscle tense. “What?”

  “I don’t have time to explain, but Rowan and Teran can. Will you stay here while I go to my meeting at the Witches Guild?” I grabbed my boots and sat on the bed to zip them up.

  “Let me get this straight. You have a demon in the house. Staying here?”

  “He can’t leave the house. We tried. He’s very polite and mostly he hates orcs. He’s…” I felt my cheeks redden because it sounded so ridiculous. “He’s a Funtime demon.”

  Killian walked over to the bed and sat down beside me. “What the hell is a Funtime demon?”

  I paused, meeting his gaze with my own. “Apparently, it’s a demon who likes kittens, crossword puzzles, cookies, cocoa with marshmallows, and a few other things. He also likes tearing orcs apart. He was created by a witch who plays Dungeons & Dragons. He’s a thought-form, but he doesn’t know that. All he knows is that he was running around a dungeon with a crew of characters and then he was here.”

  “How did this happen?” Killian asked when he found his voice.

  “Let Rowan tell you. I have to run right now.” I leaped up and grabbed a jacket. “Love you,” I said, pecking him on the cheek. “I might be late. Just leave me a note if you go home.”

  As I clambered down the steps, Killian hurried after me. I slung my purse over my shoulder and turned to the others. “Tell him all about it, won’t you?” And before they could answer, I was out the door and down the steps toward my car.

  The Witches Guild met in one of the community council rooms once a month for general meetings, though during November and December, the committee responsible for the Sabbat festivals met once a week. Ari and I had joined in October, and I hadn’t been expecting to be thrown into the thick of things right away. Ari had been pressed into service on the food committee, which I would have rather been on.

  We settled around the conference table—one of those long rectangular ones that folded in the middle—and I dreaded having to admit that I had come up empty-handed. I had a few ideas, but the mess with Tarvish had thrown everything out the window. And with my laptop in the shop, I was planning on bowing out. If they didn’t understand, too bad. I had enough going on in my life without having whiny people expecting more of me than I could give.

  The leader of the Witches Guild was a woman named Marnie Brolen. Gifted in astral work—a lot like Hank—she was around a hundred and twenty years old, though she didn’t look a day over sixty-five. She was also the epitome of the elementary school teacher you remembered dreading: stern, snippy, and overly eager to enforce the rules.

  “Order, order!” she called, tapping the gavel on the table. The gavel was made of yew wood, and inscribed with ornate runes. It was solely symbolic, but Marnie wielded it with abandon. She glanced around the room and, finally satisfied that people had quieted, set down the gavel and crossed her arms over her chest.

  “All right, let’s get started. My sister is coming to visit me tomorrow and I don’t have time to mess about.”

  Grateful that she was feeling rushed, I steeled myself.

  “First, to old business. The Winter Solstice ritual and ceremony for the public square. We’ll be holding it down by the marina in the community center. Then, those who choose to join in will hold the midnight vigil in the park. I will not be there overnight, I’ve reached the age where a night out in the cold doesn’t set well in my bones. All right, food committee, what do you have to report?”

  Ari wasn’t in charge of the committee, but apparently she’d been appointed to speak for them. She nervously stood up, rattling the papers she was holding.

  “Don’t dawdle, get a move on, girl. What do you have to report?” Marnie squinted at her.

  Ari flinched and cleared her throat. “We’ve narrowed it down to three caterers. Shelby’s Sweet Tooth, Catherby’s Catering, and J-Lynn’s Bakery. We’ve decided to limit the buffet to finger foods and snacks, in order to encourage people to eat beforehand. We thought we’d get a sample menu from each of them for the next meeting, and vote then.”

  But Marnie didn’t seem pleased. “The next meeting is on the fourth. That’s cutting it close. I suggest you ask them to provide you with a sample menu by Wednesday and we’ll hold a special meeting—”

  A chorus of groans went up around the room.

  “That’s the day before Thanksgiving!”

  One of the senior members—I could tell by the color of the trim on her badge—stood up. “I will not attend a meeting before Thanksgiving. My daughter and son will be home with their families and I’m not missing out on what little time I get to see them.”

  Marnie stared at her for a moment, then said, “Then we’ll have to hold the meeting next Saturday. Attendance is expected. If you’re due to go out of town, let me know before you leave here tonight.” She turned back to Ari, who was still standing. “Did you note that? Sample menus for next Saturday. We’ll all be voting, so thirty portions each.”

  While there were far more than thirty witches in the Guild, this meeting was for the senior members and the committee members.

  “Yes, I have it,” Ari said, sitting down as quickly as she could. The moment Marnie looked away, Ari rolled her eyes at me and I returned the gesture.

  “Next, January Jaxson, you were in charge of researching rituals.” Marnie turned to me and I reluctantly stood. But I decided to be forthright and direct. The worst she could do was kick me out of the Guild and if it came to that, it was no skin off my back. “What have you found?”

  I cleared my throat. “Nothing. I was downloading rituals from my search and accidentally downloaded a demon…or rather a thought-form who takes the shape of a demon. It melted my laptop cord and now my computer’s in the shop, and Tarvish the Funtime demon is staying in my guest room because, apparently, he can’t leave my house. Some force field won’t let him.”

  That quieted things down. Marnie stared at me, her mouth open.

  Ari spoke up. “Why didn’t you text me?”

  “Because it’s b
een crazy ever since he showed up. Can you come over tomorrow so we can attend to…what Rowan asked us to do?”

  “I’ll be over around eleven—” Ari was about to continue when Marnie cleared her throat and pounded her gavel on the table.

  “Quiet down. Well, you have a pickle on your hands, don’t you?” She stared at me for another moment, then in a huff, said, “I gather that you need more time. Next week, during the sample menu tasting, you can present your findings to us. I presume that will give you enough time?”

  I felt like I had a target on my back and all of a sudden, telling her I couldn’t do it was at the bottom of my want-to-do list. I decided I’d talk to her after the meeting. “Yeah,” I said, as noncommittally as I could.

  The meeting continued, discussing the venue and other activities, but I tuned everything else out. I wondered what Killian was doing, and if Tarvish was bothering anybody, and it occurred to me at that point, I’d rather be battling a spirit than trying to deal with the mess I was currently in.

  Chapter Nine

  “You’re comfortable staying here with that…thing…in the house?” Killian sounded ready to argue. He kept his voice low so that Tarvish didn’t overhear, but I could tell he was agitated.

  “I’m sorry, but what do you think he’s going to do to me? He’s a thought-form, created with one specific goal in mind—killing orcs and other bad guys. They obviously thought it would be funny to have a demon who, for all intents and purposes, is a reclusive thoughtful nerd. He loves kittens, he likes crossword puzzles, he’s polite. What do you expect him to do? Come into my room in the middle of the night and try to ravish me? I doubt if Tarvish has a lusty bone in his body.”

  While I appreciated Killian’s concern, sometimes the hyper-protectiveness drove me nuts. In a way, I was so used to defending myself that I lost sight of how concerned others could be.

  “You don’t know that. You don’t know if they crafted something in him that makes him snap—a trigger or something. Have you talked to these guys about Tarvish?”

  “No,” I said slowly. “I thought of it, but finding out who they are isn’t as easy as you might expect it to be. Tad texted me. They only go by their gamer names and I haven’t a clue of where they are. I could look up their IP address from the forums, but there’s no guarantee they aren’t using a VPN line.”

  “Well, until you verify what other traits Tarvish has, I think you and the cats should sleep at my place.” Killian crossed his arms, giving me a steel stare.

  “If you’re so worried, stay over here. We can keep the cats in my bedroom and lock the door.” I glanced at the clock. “It’s almost midnight. We’ve been going over this for the past hour and I’m hungry.” I marched into the kitchen—we had been sitting at the dining room table—and I sorted through the freezer until I found another personal-size pizza. I opened the box and slid it out, putting it on a pan and setting the toaster oven to preheat.

  “Aren’t you going to offer me one?” Killian said, following me into the kitchen.

  “Of course,” I said. I was tired and pissed at this point, and while I could see Killian’s objection, I also knew that I couldn’t run over to his house any time there was something going on in my life that frightened me. And Tarvish didn’t exactly scare me.

  I yanked out another pizza and set it on the tray next to mine, then slid the pan in the toaster oven. After that, I poured myself a glass of root beer and sat down at the kitchen nook.

  Killian joined me, his mouth tight. But as he caught my gaze and held it, my anger began to drift away. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but I think that it’s a little optimistic to hope that you know everything about that…creature…sitting up there.”

  I leaned back in my chair. “I guess you’re right. I think…I don’t want to deal with this whole mess and I’m wishing it would go away. And I’m angry with myself for not saying no to Marnie at the Witches Guild.” After the meeting I had decided to put it off till I could phone her. That way I wouldn’t be staring into those beady eyes of hers. “That’s what it comes down to. I let myself get overloaded and it’s my fault.”

  “Can you tell her you’re done now?” Killian set a timer on his phone. “How many minutes for the pizza? Twenty?”

  “That sounds about right. As for Marnie, I’m trying to decide if I can swing what she needs. I promised her and I don’t like going back on my word.”

  “The truth is you’re chicken to call her. January, you were drafted. I think that your sense of loyalty is skewed here. You joined the Guild two months ago and you’re letting them take advantage of you. If you ever expect to be respected there, you need to set up some boundaries.”

  I thought over what he said. It did make sense. I pushed back when push came to shove, but until the line had been crossed I usually tried to keep the peace. Don’t make waves, my mother used to say, at least when it comes to things that aren’t a personal assault. She had wanted everybody to get along. The trouble was, not everybody could get along. And sometimes, you had to rock the boat.

  I pulled out my phone. “All right. This may get me kicked out, but…” I glanced at the clock. It was too late to call Marnie personally, but I could leave a message for her at the Guild. “Hello, this is January Jaxson. I need to leave a message for Marnie Brolen. I simply can’t do the research she’s asked for. My laptop won’t be out of the shop in time for me to follow through. And I have a gaggle of guests descending on my house for Thanksgiving. I’m going to have to back out now, in order to give you a chance to find someone who can help.”

  As I hung up, Killian snorted. “Well, that’s better than not saying anything.”

  “Hey, I’m doing my best. Give me some credit. Marnie’s hard to say no to. I feel like she’s going to rap my knuckles with a ruler or something.”

  “If she does, I’ll rap her head with my knuckles,” Killian said gruffly, but he was smiling. “Seriously, if you had volunteered and wanted to do it, that would be one thing, but forcing people to take on duties they don’t want to when they aren’t getting paid, and they don’t have the time, is ridiculous. You say she has a full committee on refreshments? But you’re the only one she assigned to research? That sounds lopsided.”

  “I thought about that too,” I said. “I have a feeling she and Rowan don’t get along very well, and she knows that Rowan and I are related, so I’m thinking that may have played a part. Word’s getting around town that Rowan’s my grandmother—the grapevine is working pretty smoothly.”

  “Is it that big of a deal?” Killian asked. “I’m asking seriously—not being an ass.”

  I thought about his question. “I think it is. I’m beginning to get a sense for the hierarchy here in town, and Rowan’s at the top. She told me several times she has enemies who don’t appreciate her position, or her stances. Maybe Marnie’s one of them.”

  The timer rang and Killian retrieved our pizzas from the oven while I gathered plates, silverware, and napkins. We sat at the kitchen table, watching out the back window as we ate our pizza. It was hot and spicy with tomato sauce, extra cheese and pepperoni. All in all, just greasy and salty enough to be delicious. As we ate, I realized how tired I was. The day had been too eventful, and too long.

  “Can you stay over tonight? We’ll lock the bedroom door.” I licked sauce off of my fingers.

  “All right. But tomorrow, you have to figure out a way to get that thing—”

  “His name is Tarvish, and he’s nice enough—”

  “As far as you know. Tomorrow, you need to figure out a way to get him out of your house, even if you can’t send him back where he belongs.”

  “He belongs on a piece of paper on somebody’s table, with a bunch of dice scattered around.” The beginnings of a headache were creeping up on me. “Rowan’s working on it. She didn’t seem worried about leaving him here.” When I had arrived home, Tad and Caitlin had left, and my grandmother and Teran were still trying to come up with a sol
ution. Killian had been talking to Tarvish, who had told story after story about his adventures with his group, most of which were straight out of the typical D&D crawl.

  Killian relented. “All right, love. Let’s go to bed.”

  We scooped up the cats and went upstairs, locking the door to my room. I woke up a couple times to pee, and noticed that Killian was awake, but he pretended to be asleep so I pretended not to notice. It dawned on me that he was standing guard over the house, and I decided to let him do what he wanted.

  Morning arrived and nothing was out of sorts. Killian had dozed off at some point, and since it was Sunday, I decided to let him sleep. I quietly dressed and then slipped out of the room, followed by Xi and Klaus. As I was headed downstairs, Tarvish came out of the guest room and followed me down to the kitchen.

  “Is your beau asleep?” he asked.

  I smiled at the word beau. “Yes, he’s still sleeping.”

  “He was keeping watch, wasn’t he? I wouldn’t blame him, with a demon you’ve never met before in the house.” He didn’t seem offended.

  “Yeah. He was.” My gut told me Tarvish was okay, but I loved Killian and I understood his hesitation. “Listen, we have to figure out a way to send you back home.” I had no intention of telling him he was a created thought-form. Thought-forms weren’t self-aware in that manner, and I wasn’t sure what that would do to him. Oddly enough, I didn’t want to hurt his feelings or make him feel less than what he thought he was.

  I rummaged in the cupboards for the waffle iron, then pulled out a griddle and set bacon to cooking. As I mixed the waffle batter, Tarvish offered to set the table. I didn’t want him handling my good china with those massive hands, so asked him instead to play with the cats until I got around to feeding them. I pointed out the feather toy and he began dangling it, sending Klaus into a flurry of pounces. Xi stayed in the kitchen with me. She leapt up onto the counter and stared at me until I set down the box of waffle mix and turned to her.