Page 58 of Peacemaker

“Broken?” Clayton asked quietly.

Again, they all nodded.

We dwelled on it for a moment, but there was nothing more to say. It had happened, and perhaps there were differences inside us. Perhaps we were all a little changed. Did I dare to hope we were…better? Even a little?

Maybe.

Finally, Shane shrugged. “The demon. How are we going to deal with him?”

“All of you know more about incubi than I do,” I said. “I need to know what you know. How are they repelled? How can these women protect themselves against the attacks?”

“There are a few things they can try on their own,” Angus said. “None of them are a sure thing. We can bring in a specialist to lay demon traps, surround their homes with spells, mark their bodies with repellents—but that’ll take a while.”

I began pacing once more. “There’s the exorcist we used on the first demon. Should we call him in for this?”

Clayton shook his head. “He’s a madman. We can’t turn him loose on the human women.”

“He can’t be worse than the demon,” I said. “And he for damn sure can’t be worse than the rifters.”

“I’ll contact Himself,” Angus said. “The demons might be secretive sons of bitches, but they can’t hide their truths from the King of Everything.”

I looked at him, surprised. “Contact him? What do you do, conjure him through a bowl of water? Breathe on a mirror while chanting secret spells? Drop your tears into a fire of bones?”

He grinned. “Nadine has a cell phone.”

I shook my head, disgusted. “That’s just wrong.”

He strode from the kitchen to make his call, and I noticed Jin huddling in the doorway. “Jin?” I asked. “Are you okay?”

“I know what the incubi are afraid of,” he said, his voice so rusty and low I could barely hear him.

I beckoned him into the kitchen. “Then you’re just the man we need to talk to. Have a seat, hon.”

“Hon,” he repeated, and giggled.

“Wow,” Shane muttered, ignoring me when I glared at him.

Jin smoothed his hair and then sat down at the table, his gaze flitting from one of us to the other before settling on the top of the table.

He thrived on being helpful, and sitting in his kitchen, surrounded by five attentive people, he seemed more comfortable than I’d ever seen him.

“There is a potion you can make,” he said, after I urged him on. “It is similar to injecting liquid silver into a vampire. It will not only physically hurt the demon, it can render him impotent. For years. The incubi have many secrets. The fact that they worship their sex is not one of them.”

He kept his stare on the table and seemed to have forgotten he’d been speaking.

“Go on,” I encouraged, when he remained silent for a good two minutes.

He jumped as though I’d startled him, then picked up where he’d left off. “If you concoct this brew, the threat alone will be enough to make the demon hie back to hell.”

Shane frowned. “Hie?”

Jin pursed his lips. “Hasten, child.”

I hid my smirk behind my hand. “How do we make this hie potion, Jin?”

“It will be difficult. One of the ingredients you already possess. The others may not be so easy to procure.”

“What’s the thing we possess?” Clayton asked.