So to continue with the commentary of the last chapter, Lucifel and Caninus don't do it. In the original version, they did. And I finished the chapter and when I came back to keep writing, the pressure was completely gone. The ideas that pressed on me were insisting that it was a bad move. So after a few days of holding out, I went back and changed it to the current form. Lucifel, as she is, does not hop into beds easily. And I wrote it to a conclusion from there. As haughty as it sounds, I can't force them to do something against their natures. I learned that lesson from chapter XIX. Now for twenty.

***

I did sleep, finally. At noon, Caninus’s voice carried down to where I was. “Angelus, did you intend on opening your shop today?”

I sat up, fighting off the last visages of sleep. “Hold on,” I yelled back and heard my bedroom door close. Guiltily, I remembered why I was in my basement, sleeping alone, while he slept in my bedroom. I went up, slowly, and opened the door to my room. The blinds across the hall were closed—did I do that last night? I had to have, even though I opened them in the morning. “What’s up?” I said, fighting down the memory of the desire that was sitting thick in my skull.

“Your shop opens in the mornings, does it not? Will you open it today?” I looked at him and let it sink it.

“With a vampire in my bedroom? No, I don’t think so.”

“Then you may want to call a Sergeant Coil back. The other two individuals who called believed I was your secretary. He…was not very gullible.”

My stomach knotted. “What did you tell Coil?”

“That you were indisposed and I was taking care of you. I think he’s sending a squad car by soon to see.”

“Fuck!” I said, diving for the phone and thanking whatever foresight had made me set Coil as my only speed dial. He picked up on the second ring. “Coil?”

“Lucifel? Hell, are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” I reassured him, aware that I didn’t sound like it. “I just got your…erm…message.”

“Fuck, Lucifel! I call you to get the information you’re supposed to tell Paul, and some dick answers the phone and tries to tell me he’s your secretary? And that you’re ‘indisposed?’ Who the hell is pretending to be your secretary? He’s a total fuckoff.”

Caninus behind me snickered. I ignored him. “No, it’s okay. He’s…” I searched in vain for the word. Unfortunately, no words really exist in English to succinctly call Caninus ‘a vampire of the pack that may or may not be trying to kill me, but who saved my life last night in a shootout to save my uncle and cousins and I then saved him by making him sleep in my bed while I crashed in my basement.’ Not to harp on English, of course; there isn’t a word in Elfish either. I settled on, “He’s my partner, more or less.”

“Partner?” Coil asked in confusion. “Ok, I know you work solo. What the hell—“

So ‘partner’ was a poor choice. I interrupted Coil’s tirade with the watered down version of the events of the past few nights. At least he was relatively patient and quiet while I explained, which was more than could be said for the vampire quietly laughing behind me. “It’s hard to explain,” I admitted. “But he’s not a threat.”

“Shit, when you get into it, you bury yourself!” He sighed, not entirely amused. “If you still want, I’ll send a squad car. Say the word.”

“I’m fine,” I assured him. “Caninus is a gentleman, as much as he is able, anyway. I’ll be alright.”

“I suppose so. And I suppose you forgot that you promised to call Paul this morning with the full explanation of last night’s events?” I didn’t remember at all, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t promised. I’d have promised them dirt from my father’s grave to get out of there last night. “I’m going to save you a few phone calls. Tell me everything. I’ll handle the editing for Paul and the others.”

“Did you honestly believe I’d tell you everything without at least a little editing?” I laughed. Coil was always after the whole truth, probably because I was adamant about only giving him half-truths. “I’ll do my best, though.” I told him what I wanted him to hear. We both knew it, but he’d grown to accept it. Still, it took about an hour to go through all of the details, with Caninus occasionally interjecting opinions or observations when he wasn’t dozing. Thankfully, he did considerably more of the latter than the former, or I would have shoved his ass into the sunlight faster than hell.

I finally hung up the phone, nursing the beginnings of a headache, and threw myself exhaustedly on the bed next to Caninus. “You did good,” the vampire’s sleep-slurred voice came from my back. He slid an arm around my waist. I wanted to cuddle up to him and vault off of the bed at the same time. It sucks when they’re attractive. I managed to pull away, and he let me.

After a moment, I asked, "Who pulled those blinds across the hall?”

Sleepily, he answered, “Me.” I wanted to accept that at face value, or brush it off as him suffering from a severe lack of beauty sleep. But I couldn’t help but wonder, when could he? He shook his head, oblivious to my dilemma and looked up at me in confusion. “What?” he said, fighting off sleep.
So he’d just been agreeing in his sleep. I redirected the conversation. “I’ll grab the laundry.” I looked around for it, but it was gone. In its place were neatly folded piles of clean clothes.

“Foyl grabbed all the bloody clothing and washed it already, dried it and brought it back. No worries.”

“You must be hungry,” I said after another moment. “You didn’t feed last night; I would have felt it on you.”
He nodded. “I didn’t have to.” He pulled himself up enough to look at me as he explained. “You killed that guard and rose his corpse without any prep work. You funneled the energy of his death, right?”

“Yeah,” I admitted. “It was pretty thick in the air so I just…used it.”

“It’s the same kind of energy a vampire uses. So when we killed those others, I funneled their energy into me. I didn’t need to feed, then, because I’d hoarded so much of it. Probably won’t need to feed for weeks. But I always keep a bottle on hand.” Yes, as frightening as it sounds, blood comes bottled. Lots of vampires refuse to use it because it lacks the thrill of the chase and choice. Caninus, evidently, had no such tribulations about it.

“So do you need regular food anyway?” I asked, curious. I hadn’t ever really had to care for a vampire before.
He looked at me hopefully. “I don’t need it—the energy can keep me going. But it lasts longer if I actually eat food.” He batted his eyelashes. “I don’t suppose there’s an offer forthcoming to make me something to eat?”

“Since I know you won’t be snaking on me anyway, I’m not sure I’ll need to extend one,” I teased.

“I changed my mind. You would be most delicious and I am ravenous.”

I laughed, surprised by how deftly he set me at ease. “Pizza’s alright, I assume?”

He sat upright and clasped his hands to his chest, feigning a swoon. “My fair lady, I am yours forever if you would be so kind.”

“Right on it,” I rolled my eyes comically as I ducked out of the bedroom. I still had some frozen pizza that would cook well while I called Alayna.

I set the stove, shoved the pizza in and dialed the hospital as I set the timer. The gamut of nurses and transfers finally got me to Alayna. “Hey,” I said brightly when I heard her voice.

“Lucifel! How did everything go?”

I gave her the ultra-condensed fairy-tale version. “We showed up and saved them. The gang wasn’t that numerous and we…took care of it with relative ease. Later today, I’ll see if I can’t bring them along to see you. If you decide you don’t want to stay with me, you can always go and stay with my uncle.”

“That’s generous of you,” she said softly. “The nurses are coming soon with my medication, so I should go.”

“Take care,” I told her softly. “I’ll get you through this.”

“Thanks,” she said forcefully. “For everything.”

The pizza buzzed as I was hanging up the phone. I managed to get it out and set it on the table. I was too lazy to cut it properly, so I just quartered it. If he couldn’t eat a whole quarter, I knew I could. “Hey, Caninus,” I said, ascending the steps.

His voice came from the bedroom. “Pizza done?”

“No,” I laughed. He had to be able to smell this.

“Then go away. I don’t want to see you until the pizza’s done,” he replied petulantly.

“What if I told you I was horny and not wearing any panties?” I was teasing, I swear. But it was a line that hadn’t failed to get a reaction yet.

“I’d tell you to bring the pizza raw,” he laughed, opening the door for me. He lowered his head to the plate in my left hand and took a deep breath. “Mm. Smells raw….”

I laughed, more out of embarrassment than anything else. “It’s fully cooked and you know it. Eat or I’ll kill you.”

“Fast or slow?” I looked at him blankly. “You’ll kill me fast or slow?”

“Oh, slow,” I said at length, biting into the pizza. “Of course, fast allows me to get to the pizza sooner.”

“Choices, choices,” he said. But he wasn’t looking at the pizza. He was looking, rather longingly, at me.

I did what I do best in that situation. Ignored him. “Eat the pizza,” I said finally. “The staring is getting creepy.”
He laughed and did as he was told. When we’d finished, I gave him a patronizing pat on the head. “Try to behave, hm? I thought you’d be sleeping all day anyway.”

“It’s two PM,” he said. “I don’t sleep all day any more than you sleep from sunset to sunrise. It’s a midnight snack. Um…midday snack. Whatever. I’ll probably go back to sleep soon, anyway.”

“Good,” I said, standing to walk away. “I’ll leave then.” He caught my wrist and I stopped, turning slowly to look at him.

“What if I like your company?” he asked, holding my wrist lightly.

“You’ll suffer,” I replied, pulling away effortlessly. “I’ve got work to do.”

*&*

I should have gotten started calling the werewolves, trying to solicit their help, or hunting down the vampires. My clock was ticking, I knew. But instead, I went back to my office and sat for several long moments. Foyl appeared at my elbow after a few minutes.

“You seem distressed,” he said, his metallic sheen glistening in the sunlight streaming from the glass doors. Looking up at the artfully applied lettering on the door, he laughed. “What an…odd name for the business. I assume it did not spring up overnight.”

I looked up at the elegantly titled Daemon Rising and had to laugh. “No,” I said softly. “I suppose it didn’t just spring up overnight. It’s been that way for maybe…eighteen months,” I laughed. “It…a friend wanted me to name it ‘Angel’s’ but there was someone who had a bakery or something called that. I don’t work with anyone else—or didn’t anyway, until now. We tried a dozen variations on Angel, and eventually we ended up with Daemon Rising.”

“I suppose you are aware of its significance?”

I smiled. “In some mythology, Daemons functioned as gatekeepers for the souls of the dead as they headed to their final destinations. They were both angels, at times, and devils.” I paused, and smiled wryly. “Unfortunately, I’ve got too much to do that would lead more people to think that I’m the devil than a savior.”

“That list,” he said from his perch on the chair. “The list that you’ve had on your desk, with all the marks in the margin, how to kill five different people.”

“Yes,” I said, putting my head into my hands. “Or they’ll kill Alayna. And me,” I added almost as an afterthought.

“Yes. I hear you talking about Alayna,” he said softly. “Who is she?”

“Shit,” I said, picking up the phone and dialing the hospital. “I need to talk to her. She’s still in the hospital. She was being pimped out by some ketro-dealers.” Before the dragon could express confusion or surprise, I was talking to the nurse. “How is she?”

“You must be Alayna’s sister!” I paused for a moment. Who had said I was her sister? But why bother to correct the lie? Once she got better, I was going to bring her here. But could I? “Hello?”

“Oh, sorry!” I gave a forced laugh. “I was just…wool gathering. Yes, I’m her sister. Could you please connect me?”

“Well, they say you’re the only one who speaks the dear’s language, so I have a few questions for you. Actually, some forms. Could you stop by sometime soon?”

“Um, yes, yes. Actually, I probably should. My…our uncle is in town and they should meet. I’m sorry—I’m still adjusting to having a sister.”

“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t realize. It must be strange. Did you still want me to connect you or would you rather surprise her?” She sounded surprised herself. But not at the mention of my uncle.

“I think I’ll let it just be a surprise,” I said after a moment. “Thank you.”

As I hung up, I pounded up the stairs. “Caninus! Damn it, Caninus!” I threw open the door and slammed it shut behind me.

He sat up in the darkness, blinking owlishly. “What?”

“What did she have planned? Damn you, what is Antoinette planning?”

“Now there’s a bare category,” he replied, standing up and stretching.

I pulled the Casting from its pride of place and pointed it at him. “What is she planning?”

He sighed, flopping back onto the bed and sighed. “What isn’t she planning? Give me something to work off of here and I’ll be able to help you faster, rather you just shooting me until you feel better.”

“Whatever works,” I said, not lowering the gun. “What is she planning for Alayna?” He gave me an extended look of confusion and I snapped, “Alayna and my uncle? The nurse—the new nurse—called her my sister.”

“Natural assumption,” he said in confusion.

“When I said she was, the nurse pretended to be confused. And she wasn’t surprised when I mentioned my uncle.” I cocked the gun. “You better sing, or I’m going to shoot.”

He stared at me for a moment and barked a laugh. “Meus angelus, I applaud your caution. But do recall, I’ve been with you all night and all day. If I had known about any plots for Alayna or for you uncle Elris, I would have told you yesterday. I would have noticed any spies she had on you. That doesn’t mean that this nurse isn’t a spy, but it does mean that pointing a gun at me serves no purpose at all. If there is a plan, I don’t know it.”

I had to admit, he was right. I flicked the safety and settled the hammer before re-holstering the gun at my hip. “Fine. I’m getting some backup and going to see her. If anything is wrong, and you knew, I’ll fucking kill you.”

He stood up and padded softly over to me. His hand brushed the hair gently from my cheek and he smiled. “Ah, meus angelus, we’re back to that once more. I am your partner in this, yes? You are supposed to trust me.”

“With my life, yes. With the lives of Elris, Derek and Fanin, maybe. With the life of Alayna? No.”

“I understand,” he said softly, still cupping my cheek. “Do be careful then. It would be like Antoinette to plot just to rue me. But I would bet it to be safe.”

“I’m not playing your hunches,” I snapped, annoyed by his familiarity. “And you would do well—“ He stopped my words with another kiss. It was tender, and sweet, and terrifying. I couldn’t keep letting him do this, I couldn’t let this happen, I couldn’t…. Lust hit me in the gut, setting fire to my mind. I wanted, so badly, but logic repulsed any such liaison.

Logic won out over lust—I shoved him roughly away from me and for a moment, I was sure I was going to throw him on the bed. But I didn’t. “Do that, ever again or—“

“You will kill me. I know. I just thought…” he smiled boyishly. “I just thought that I could try once more to win you over.”

“No more attempts,” I snapped. “It’s pissing me off.”

I pulled the door shut curtly behind me and walked, deliberately, down the stairs and through my house, stepping carefully and slowly, to stop myself from running. If I was running to the rescue or running from the vampire, I wasn’t entirely sure.