Ginny raised her head and looked at him again, only this time she was clear-eyed and obviously wide awake. Running her fingertips along the line of his jaw, she whispered, “No misgivings. No regrets, and no way am I going to miss this chance.”

He frowned. Turned his head and kissed her fingers. “I don’t understand. What changed your mind?”

She kissed him. As kisses went, it was nothing more than a simple little peck to his lips. But as kisses can, it sent a surge of heat spiraling from lips to groin while firing all parts in between.

“You changed my mind,” she said. “Lying here in your bed wondering why that bastard of a father of yours would disown you, while I’m lying in my bed wondering why I was over there all alone when the most honorable, decent, wonderful, brave, and beautiful man I’ve ever met was within my reach.”

She cupped his face in her hands and looked into his eyes with so much feeling, so many emotions in those beautiful tiger’s eyes of hers that Alton felt a tightening in his throat and a burning in his eyes.

“I can’t say I love you, Alton. I’ve never been in love, so I don’t even know what it feels like, but I know that I care about you. I admire you, I want you and I need the connection that making love with you will give me. Does that make sense? Can we do this without being in love and not fracture whatever it is we’ve got so far?”

“Ah, Ginny.” He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her, holding her so close he felt her heart beating against his chest, felt the rush of air in her lungs and breathed in the air she exhaled. “I want you. I need you like I’ve never needed anyone in my life, but you have to be absolutely certain. I know this isn’t something you take lightly. I don’t think you take anything lightly, but I swear, if you come to me tonight I promise to make it good for you. I promise we’ll find that connection you’re looking for. Is that enough?”

She sat up, straddled his waist with her long legs bent close against his hips, and tugged her camisole top over her head. There was barely enough light to see her, but her dark skin glistened where the dim glow from the nightlight caught her curves and valleys.

Watching as Ginny slowly unveiled herself, Alton’s heart pounded so hard and fast he felt light-headed. She leaned down and kissed him, and again it was just a tease, the light touch of her full lips to his. “Is that ever enough? Alton, you amaze and confound me, but I want this like I’ve never wanted anything before. However…” She sighed, a movement so slight that he barely felt the brush of her turgid nipples across his chest. “What I don’t want is to get pregnant.” She laughed, but there was a shaky, nervous sound to it. Abruptly, she sat up and pressed her palms to his belly. “Do Lemurians use condoms?”

He chuckled, but it was over her nervousness, not the question she’d asked. She always seemed so self-assured—he found it rather refreshing that she hesitated now. He rested his hands on her hips, over her soft cotton pants, and spread his fingers across her firm bottom. Then he shook his head. “We don’t, but only because it’s so difficult for our women to conceive. But for you, Ginny, I will do whatever you ask.”

She nodded. “I have some in my bag. I always keep them with me, just in case. For what it’s worth, I regularly throw them out because they never get used and go out of date.” She gnawed on her full lower lip for a moment. “I was a mistake. My mother gave me up for adoption because she was an unwed teenager who got pregnant when she shouldn’t have. That’s one family tradition I don’t plan to continue.”

“You’re not a mistake, Ginny. Never a mistake.” He ran his finger over her dark cheek, across her damp lips. Then he trailed it along the line of her jaw, down her throat to a point between her breasts. She had absolutely lovely breasts, small and perfectly round with dark, dark nipples. He ran his thumb over the left one and watched it tighten into a taut little point. When Ginny moaned, he repeated the same touch on her right side. “Were you to conceive, my beautiful Ginny, I would cherish our child, but now, with demonkind threatening our worlds, is not the time to take such risks with innocent life. When the time is right, and if the gods are willing, I hope you will someday consider taking a chance with me.”

She nodded. Then she clambered off of him and reached for her bag, dug out a small packet, and clutched it in her hands. Wearing nothing but her sagging sleep pants hanging loosely around her hips, she glanced over her shoulder and smiled. The long line of her spine called to him. The soft curve of her bottom. The sleek muscles from shoulder to fingertips.

He wanted to touch her, to taste every part of her, and he knew he was fast losing his control. He tried to remember the last woman he’d been with, but it had been too long ago, and obviously not at all memorable. “Come here, Ginny.” He held out his hand and she took it, but for all her brashness and blatant self-confidence, she was once again shy and hesitant. He tugged.

She stepped to the side of the bed. Alton slipped his fingers beneath the waistband of her cotton pants and cocked an eyebrow. She huffed out a breath. Then she shimmied out of the pants and stood there gloriously naked, yet still much too unsure of herself. Alton threw the covers back and sat up. He turned and sat on the edge of the bed and tugged Ginny close until she stood between his legs, caught in his embrace. Standing while he sat, she was exactly his height. Their lips came together so naturally there was nothing to do but kiss her.

She parted her lips beneath the gentle prodding of his tongue. He ran his fingertips along her spine and traced the perfect curve of her bottom, pulling her closer until he held her—between his thighs, in his arms, with his mouth. Connected, yet not. Not nearly close enough.

He still wore his knit boxer shorts, but Ginny suddenly ended the kiss and hooked her fingers in his waistband. “I don’t think I should be the only one naked, do you?” Laughing, obviously a bit more confident now, she tugged and he lifted his butt so she could slide his shorts over his hips, over his painfully swollen erection, and down over his long legs. She knelt to tug them over his feet and stayed there, kneeling in front of him with her tiger’s eyes twinkling as she studied the length and breadth of his cock.

Her steady perusal was more erotic than fingers stroking or tongues licking. Arousal spiraled through him like a living creature taking over his senses. When Ginny reached out and stroked her fingers along his full length, Alton groaned and his hips jerked. His sac tightened close against his body and he felt another hot rush of blood to his groin.

She flashed him a big smile as she slowly circled his broad glans with the tip of one finger. Slowly, she stroked down his full length. Her gentle touch left fire in its wake. When she wrapped her fingers as far around him as she could and began the upward journey once again, he caught her wrist in his hand. “Do that again and this entire evening could end quite soon.”

She laughed, leaned close, and kissed the very tip. As her lips connected with his damp flesh, a shock raced from his penis to his balls and back again like a circuit connecting.

“Ginny.” He barely croaked out her name. So much for smooth. “Enough. Please.” He was not going to beg. Didn’t want to, but…

She held the packet between her thumb and forefinger. “Should I help you put this on?”

He nodded. Breathing heavily he leaned back, supporting himself with his hands. At this point, it was the best he could do. Ginny tore the packet open with her teeth and brought out a flimsy disk made of some kind of plastic. He’d heard of these but still wasn’t quite certain what she intended to do with it.

She placed it on the head of his penis and slowly rolled the covering over his full length, smoothing it over his sensitive skin until it covered him in a clear sheath.

So this was the protection he’d heard humans used. He groaned as she stroked it. Merely putting it on was arousing.

Anything that Ginny Jones did to him was arousing. He’d been fighting his growing desire for her since the first night he’d seen her, caught behind that Dumpster with the demon trying to get to her. Fighting the feelings, yet never once imagining they’d ever actually make love.

“Come up here, Ginny.” His voice sounded unnaturally hoarse as he grabbed her fingers and tugged her close. She crawled up on the bed as he spun around and tangled his legs with hers. He didn’t know where to touch first, what to kiss next. She was dark perfection, all warm and willing woman. She was in his bed, in his arms, and the night stretched out ahead.

Ginny felt as if she moved in slow motion even as her heart pounded so hard and fast she was afraid it would beat right out of her chest. She’d tried opening her thoughts to Alton’s, but his mind was a dark jumble of need and desire, almost frightening in its intensity.

She couldn’t believe they were doing this—that she was naked with a man she hardly knew, a veritable giant of a man who could physically overpower her if he wanted, yet she wasn’t afraid of him. Never of him. Alton was every wonderful thing she’d ever dreamed of in a man. She hardly knew him, yet she felt closer to him, more familiar with him than she had with any man she’d ever known.

Like she’d known so many. She’d had sex exactly twice in her life, and both times it had been a disaster. Both men had led her to believe they cared for her, but they’d cared only for themselves. She’d learned her lesson. She liked men just fine. She had lots of guys for friends, but not as lovers. Never as lovers.

Until now. She should be terrified. She wasn’t. Not with Alton looking at her as if she were some sort of goddess. Not with his gentle touch, his wonderful kisses, his sweet and loving smile. He was so big, though. So tall and broad with wide shoulders and long arms and perfectly formed legs.

He was big everywhere. She bit back a giggle. Thank goodness the condom stretched as well as it did. Then he ran his fingers over her thigh and cupped her bottom, and she quit worrying about his size or his muscles or the fact they were going to make love right now, right here, tonight.

He leaned over her and trailed kisses from her knee to the crease between her thigh and groin. He teased her with his tongue before moving higher and taking first one nipple and then the other between his lips. Her muscles quivered and jumped beneath his gentle touch, and her body trembled.

While his mouth was making her crazy, his fingers were walking a trail along her inner thigh to the moist center between her legs, slipping between her softly swollen folds and dipping inside. She shivered as much with anticipation as nerves when he touched her so intimately. Neither of her lovers had explored her body.

Neither one had touched her heart.

She arched against him and whimpered as two fingers brushed her inner walls and curled against her tightly clenching muscles. The rough pad of his thumb found her clit and her hips bucked as wave after wave of sensation rolled over her.

She clenched the crisp sheets with both hands, and her heels pressed down on the mattress. The trembling spread until her knees and thighs shivered and her body quivered on the very edge of orgasm.

Alton suckled her breast and his fingers slowly thrust in and out, taking her close but not close enough, taking her high but not over the top. She heard a noise, the sound of whimpering, and realized she was making those soft, silly little cries. When he slipped his fingers free of her, she cried out and arched her back, reaching for him.

Alton settled himself between her thighs and pressed the broad head of his penis against the mouth of her vagina. Slowly, so very slowly, he pushed forward, withdrew, then slipped forward again just a little bit more. Filling her, stretching her so much her inner walls burned, taking her someplace new, some dimension so intense, so unbelievably sensual she felt the tears rolling from her eyes, trickling into her hair.

When he filled her completely, he paused and gave her a moment to adjust to his size. The burn eased until she was filled with a delicious sense of fullness. Her muscles quivered and rippled around him. He traced through her tears with his fingertip. “Ginny? Are you okay? I’m sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He sighed and his breath shuddered out of his lungs. “We’ll stop. Right now, we’ll end this.”

“Don’t you dare.” She grabbed the thick fall of his hair. Wrapped her fingers in the strands and practically growled. “Now, Alton. Fuck me now.”

“Praise the gods,” he whispered. And then he began to move.

She’d never experienced anything even remotely like this. He was big and strong and powerful and long. There was so much of him. Big hands, long arms, long hair, broad shoulders, and those wonderful hair-roughened legs rubbing against hers as he thrust hard and fast and so deep. So very deep, touching the mouth of her womb on every forward press of his hips, sliding in and out with so much strength, so much gentle, loving strength.

Ginny raised her hips to meet him. She grasped his shoulders and thrilled with the ripple of those long, lean muscles beneath her fingertips. He took her to the edge and held her there, making love to her as if she were someone fragile and small, then turning loose and thrusting hard and fast until she gasped with each deep penetration.

Each time she came close to her climax, he slowed the pace, teasing her, making her whimper in need and overwhelming pleasure. She’d never been played so well—played like a fine instrument wielded by a master.

Finally, he reared back on his heels and carried her with him. Ginny wrapped her legs around his waist and he held her close. His big hands lifted her bottom, holding her against him as he rolled his hips forward, tilting her perfectly so the thick length of his cock rode over her clit on every thrust.

He picked up the pace, driving into Ginny harder. Faster. So deep she felt the pressure inside when he touched the farthest reaches of her channel. So perfect she wanted to cry, but it felt too good, so good she almost laughed, amazed how her emotions seemed to fly from one extreme to the other.

Once more he thrust deep. His groan vibrated through her body. He filled her again and she flew. Flew high and far in a cascade of sound and light, of hearts pounding and breath rasping out of billowing lungs.

She’d been so close for so long, hanging on the precipice of completion, shocked now by the intensity, by the sheer force of pleasure that had her crying out and arching her back, driving herself down hard as Alton rammed into her, shouting something totally incomprehensible.

Or was that hers? That cry of unbelievable ecstasy?

He tightened his arms across her back and tumbled them both to the bed. Connected. Caught in the pulsing rhythm of muscles clenching and releasing, of hearts thudding, of lips parted to catch as much air as possible.

Lying on her side, facing the most beautiful man she’d ever seen, Ginny slowly blinked herself back to the here and now. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

She’d never experienced anything like this in her life.

Alton opened his eyes and smiled at her. “You okay?”

She nodded. Took a moment to catch her breath. “Adequate lover, eh?” She chuckled. “That’s all? Just adequate?”

“I hope so.” He kissed her. “I do hope you were satisfied.”

She had to bite her lip to keep from giggling with the sheer bliss of utter satiation. “If you were any more adequate, I think you might kill me.”

He nodded sagely. “Don’t worry. I promise we’ll get better with practice.”

She nuzzled the soft hair on his chest and drew in a deep breath filled with the scent of clean male sweat. Her body rippled with orgasmic aftershocks. She felt him begin to stir deep inside. “That’s good to know,” she said, planting a kiss at the base of his throat. “Especially since I think lesson number two is about to begin.”

It took Ginny a moment before she realized why she was awake. Struggling out of a deep sleep with Alton’s long arm draped over her chest and his perfect patrician nose buried in her hair, she thought seriously about ignoring the irritating noise coming from her backpack, of just rolling over and going back to sleep.

Then recognition kicked in.

It was the new ring tone on her cell phone. She’d downloaded it Tuesday morning before she’d left Phoenix and headed to Sedona. So this was Thursday? Only the third day since…crap. So much had happened in such a short time it made her dizzy just thinking about it. Shaking her still-muzzy head, she crawled out from under Alton’s arm and left the big Lemurian sleeping soundly as she reached for her pack.

The phone quit ringing just as she pulled it out and checked the number. She had no idea who it was who’d called. A moment later the phone beeped. Whoever called had left her a message. Yawning, she sat on the floor beside the bed and checked her voice mail.

There was only one message. Markus? Now why would her cousin be calling at…she rolled her head to one side against the edge of the mattress, squinted, and looked at the clock beside the bed. Six o’clock in the morning? Sheesh. Ginny punched in her code. An icy shiver rolled down her spine as she listened to Markus’s frantic message. His final anxious words left her mind spinning.

Ginny? What in the hell’s going on?

She let out a deep breath and leaned against the bed. “Alton? Alton, wake up.”

He groaned. Ginny grinned. It appeared she’d worn her more than adequate lover out last night, though if they hadn’t run out of condoms, he might have lasted even longer than he had. Of course, if they’d made love any more than they had, she doubted she’d have been able to walk this morning.

Not that she was complaining.

Alton snorted, groaned, rolled over, and started to snore. Ginny stood up, yawned again, and made a quick trip to the bathroom. While she was in there, she decided to shower. Whatever was going on with Markus would just have to wait until she was clean and a little more awake.

She stepped out of the bathroom a few minutes later and caught Alton sitting up in bed with her cell phone in his hand. “It keeps beeping,” he grumbled. Then he dropped the phone and his irritated frown turned to a welcoming grin, which was a really nice compliment, considering she didn’t have so much as a stitch on.

“Good morning.” He held out his hand and she sashayed across the room until she was close enough for Alton to curl his fingers around her bottom and pull her up against the edge of the mattress.

Amazing how one night of really good sex with a talented and definitely more-than-adequate lover could take away a girl’s self-consciousness. Ginny leaned close and kissed him.

He drew her closer until she was straddling his long body with only a thin sheet between them. His hair was tangled and mussed, but the disheveled look only added to his sex appeal. She leaned close and slipped her hands into the thick strands, sliding her fingers across his skull as she brought him close for a kiss.

They’d barely touched, lips to lips, her hands tangled in his long hair, his firmly grasping her hips, when her phone beeped again.

“Not that I’m complaining, but that’s what woke me,” Alton grumbled. “It won’t stop beeping.”

Another message? “Damn. I forgot about Markus!” Ginny scrambled out of Alton’s embrace, grabbed the phone off the bed, and checked the messages. Markus’s deep voice had risen a note this time, and his frantic plea added a layer of guilt.

Ginny! Where are you? I’m getting worried and all hell’s breaking loose!

She raised her head. Alton nodded and stroked her hand—the one holding the phone. “He’s right, you know. All hell is breaking loose. Let’s check on your cousin. We can hike up to the vortex and check on the portal later.”

Ginny laughed as she hit redial. “If you want the truth, I wasn’t even thinking of the hike to the vortex.” She glanced at the tented covers over Alton’s lap. “And don’t try and tell me you were, either.”

Markus answered the phone as Alton swatted her on the butt and headed to the shower.

“Markus?” she said, eyeing Alton’s perfectly shaped rear. “What’s up?”

Ginny brought him a cup of coffee in the bathroom as Alton carefully plaited his long hair in a single braid down the middle of his back. He wrapped a towel around his hips and reached for the welcome cup. He’d certainly developed a taste for the hot brew during his week at Ed Marks’s house.

He took a swallow and sighed. It had to be his imagination, but he was sure the stuff got his synapses firing with the very first sip. “What’s going on with your cousin?”

Ginny perched on the counter beside him. “Markus said he picked Tom up yesterday morning after the vet called and said he was okay, and everything was just fine until last night when Tom let out a shriek and so did Markus’s little sister. Markus was afraid the cat had gone crazy and attacked her, but he said when he went to check, the cat was fine and Jamilla was holding him in her lap and petting him.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“That’s the weird part. Markus said Tom was purring, but then he yawned. The teeth were back. All those extra rows of sharp teeth, and his eyes were, as my dear, demented cousin said, ‘freakin’ evil.’ But Tom was acting perfectly normal.”

“What do you make of it?” Alton turned and propped his hip on the bathroom counter. He loved to watch Ginny when she was thinking through a problem. She’d frown and nibble her lower lip. Her body would be so still it amazed him, that Ginny, who was generally in perpetual motion, could remain motionless.

“They can’t be smart enough to use subterfuge, can they?” She raised her head and frowned. “I’m still getting used to the whole concept of demons invading Earth, but it’s easier to handle when I think they’re just stupid clouds of mist. The idea of demons taking over a creature’s body and then acting as if everything is just fine is pretty scary. That’s consciously using deception, which means they’re thinking it through. I hate to think they’re getting that much smarter this fast.”

Alton focused on the strands of his braid to keep from reaching for her. “They’re generally brainless—evil but not too bright—when they’re away from Abyss. Not smart enough to be devious. I agree with you.” He raised his head and looked into her beautiful eyes. “Deception requires a certain amount of intelligence, so if Markus is right, we’ve got more of a problem than I thought.”

“He sounded scared. Markus is almost as big as you. It takes a lot to scare him.”

Alton chuckled. “I look forward to meeting this large cousin of yours.” He tied off the end of his braid with a rubber band and caught himself staring at the little red loop. Now that was something else humans had that was lacking in Lemuria—rubber bands. So simple yet entirely practical, and a lot less trouble than tying a piece of twine around the end. He held the braid up and studied the way the little band held everything in place. Such a simple yet perfect solution. The more time he spent on Earth, the more he loved it here.

And it wasn’t just the rubber bands.

He’d been right all along—humans didn’t always think things through, but they acted with passion. They felt more emotion in a single day than some Lemurians experienced in a lifetime, and he was quickly learning the importance of feeling, the visceral need to experience emotions with all their pain, if only for the chance to know the glory.

He’d experienced the glory of passion just last night. Making love with Ginny had rocked his world. In fact, it had shaken him to his very roots, to the point where he had to shove those feelings aside or he’d not be able to function.

And function he must. His role here had changed. It was no longer imperative that he fight demonkind to protect Lemuria. No. His focus now was to protect the people of this world.

To protect Ginny. A sense of urgency gripped him. “Let’s go.” He shoved away from the counter, tugged Ginny’s hand, and led her into the bedroom. They’d have to check out the Boynton vortex later. First order of the day was Tom the cat.

Demons behaving well was just wrong.

Markus was waiting on the curb when they drove up in Ginny’s little rental car. Ginny hadn’t been kidding—he was one big kid. He was only a couple of inches shorter than Alton, but he probably outweighed him by close to a hundred pounds. With skin as dark as Alton’s morning cup of coffee and long black hair hanging in strange coils that Ginny called “dreads,” he cut a pretty imposing figure for such a young man.

He eyed Alton suspiciously. When Ginny got out of the car, Markus stalked around the front to meet her on the driver’s side. “Who’s the blond dude?”

Ginny just laughed. Obviously she wasn’t the least bit intimidated by her cousin. “The blond dude is Alton. He’s here to help. Alton, meet Markus, owner of the devil cat.”

“Not funny, Ginny. He’s freaky. Bad enough that I don’t want Jamilla or Jamal playing with him. Mom’s scared to death. She was ready to call the pound last night to come pick him up, but I couldn’t let her do that. He’s my cat. I’ve had Tom for ten years, ever since he was a kitten.”

For just a moment, Alton thought the big guy was going to break down and cry, but Markus just shook his head and turned away. “He’s not right. He—” Markus abruptly stopped talking and stalked toward the house.

Ginny grabbed Alton’s hand and they followed him in. “Can you see DarkFire? I tried to set a glamour on her the way you told me. Is it working?”

He squeezed her fingers. “I can see her, but she’s very faint. I doubt Markus can see her at all. You’re learning quickly.”

She flashed him a huge grin that made his heart soar and reminded him how much he was rethinking so many rules he’d been taught while growing up. It was almost as if the basis for everything he’d learned denied the man he truly wanted to be. He’d discovered very quickly that he was a creature of emotion, just like Ginny. He felt passion, he understood fear and sadness, yet he’d spent his life trying to believe what he’d been taught—the dangers of acknowledging emotion, the necessity for remaining in control at all times.

Following Ginny into the house, he felt a shiver of excitement, a sense of adventure just waiting up ahead. There was no doubt in his mind—being out of control was totally new, more frightening than anything he’d ever experienced in his life, and definitely entertaining.

Markus pointed to a fat, gray cat sleeping on an old couch in a sunbeam by the front window. Tom didn’t look at all threatening and certainly not dangerous, but the stench of demon clung to him. Alton felt a pulse of energy from HellFire. He turned Ginny’s hand loose and walked past Markus without waiting for the young man’s permission.

Squatting down on his haunches in front of the couch, Alton reached for the cat. Tom raised one eyelid and glared at him out of strangely luminescent eyes. Then he blinked, sniffed the air, and growled. His ears lay flat against his broad skull.

Alton glanced at Markus. “Is that a normal sound for your cat to make?”

Markus shook his head. “Not like that.”

Alton stood up. “Markus, stand back, will you? Ginny, draw DarkFire.”

Her head snapped up. She looked at Alton as if to reassure herself he’d really said what he’d said. Then she shot a quick look at her cousin. “Are you sure?”

“It’s all right.” Alton drew HellFire from his scabbard, ignoring Markus’s soft curse. He turned the blade, making sure to catch what light he could on the crystal facets so that it glowed even brighter than usual. He almost laughed. He’d never realized before what a flair for showmanship he had.

“Markus, what you’re going to see and what I’m going to tell you are top secret.” He turned and caught Markus in what he hoped was a commanding glare. Markus didn’t move a muscle. Nor did he shift his gaze from the glowing sword in Alton’s hand.

“Ginny and I are working for a secret government agency that’s aware of the demon invasion. You can’t tell anyone what we’re going to do right now. Do I have your promise?”

Markus kept staring wide-eyed at the glowing blade on HellFire. He nodded, but when Ginny stood up and drew DarkFire from her scabbard, he stumbled back another couple of steps. “Holy shit. What the fu—?”

Ginny flashed him a look that shut him up in midcurse. “You heard Alton. Stand back.”

What now?

Alton struggled to keep from laughing. She was a natural. For that matter, so was he. This was not the way things were done in Lemuria. I’m going to hold the sword to Tom’s heart. When the demon is forced out, it’s all yours. Make it look good.

Tom seemed to suspect something was going on. The cat rose to its feet and snarled. Alton glanced toward Markus. “I’m not going to hurt your cat, but you have to stay out of the way.”

Markus nodded and backed up a few more steps. He kept his gaze glued to the two shining swords, not his beloved cat. Alton dipped the blade beneath Tom’s belly and pressed it against his heart. Tom screeched. Wailing like a banshee, the cat launched itself at Ginny. She twisted out of the way just in time.

As Tom made the leap from the couch to the floor, a black wraith, stinking of sulfur, exploded out of his back and spiraled toward the ceiling. Ginny caught it with DarkFire in a shower of purple sparks and sulfuric smoke, but just before it died, the demon took shape.

There was no disguising the twisted face, the sharp teeth, or the long, curving claws. This was most definitely a demon, hiding in plain sight within the body of Tom the cat.

The smell of sulfur filled the room. The three of them paused, caught in the sudden stillness and the foul stench. At that moment, Ginny’s aunt walked into the room.

“Markus? What is that awful smell? Oh! Ginny? When did you get here?”

“Aunt Betty. Uh…good morning.” Ginny shot a frantic glance at Alton.

He raised his hand and swept it slowly in front of her eyes. Aunt Betty smiled, turned around, and went back into the kitchen. Then Alton turned to Markus, who was holding Tom against his shoulder, stroking the fat cat’s silky fur. “Is your cat okay?”

Markus frowned. He lifted the cat out in front of his face and stared at him. Tom hung there like a fat rag doll and purred. Smiling, Markus brought him back to his shoulder. “Yeah. He’s fine, but what was that thing? How’d you get rid of it? And how’d you get rid of Mom? She’s usually like a dog with a bone when there’s something going on. She wants all the details now.”

Ginny glanced at Alton and carefully slipped DarkFire into her scabbard. “Alton and I really are government agents and what he just did to your mom is a special form of hypnosis. Demons are invading Sedona and it’s our job to get rid of them. That’s why I came down here, Markus. You guys are my cover and I’m trusting you not to say a word to anyone.”

Markus stared at Ginny, glanced toward Alton, and stared at Ginny again. “Holy shit. I thought you were making that up.” He swallowed and held on to Tom. “I won’t say a word. I promise. Is there anything I can do?”

Alton nodded very seriously. “There is. You’ve got Ginny’s cell phone number. Call if you see something suspicious. Let us know immediately, but don’t get near creatures you suspect might be possessed. They’re very dangerous.”

Ginny wrapped her fingers around his wrist and gave him a comforting squeeze. “Thank you, Markus. We’ll be in touch.”