Page 53 of Demon Loved
Come to my house at eleven.
He hadn’t recognized the phone number but knew the text must have come from Levi. Besides Brianna, her father was the only person in the world who had his contact information.
Anxiety had rippled along all of Belshegar’s human nerve endings, but he told himself it was better to sit down with the McAllister elders and see if there was anything they could do to help him. At least they would know the truth…even though he still had no idea how to explain to Brianna why he had come here and why he had been forced to conceal who…what…he really was.
It seemed that Levi must have arranged for his fellow elders to be there before his guest arrived, since they were already seated in the living room when Belshegar was ushered in. Two women, one quite elderly and frail, with her wispy white hair piled up in a messy bun on top of her head and faded blue eyes. In contrast, the other woman was at least a decade younger, if not more, and although her hair was almost entirely silver except for a few strands of its original red around her face, it had been cut in a sleek style that just hit her jaw, and her clothing appeared to be quite stylish.
“Allegra, Tricia,” Levi said, inclining his head first toward the older of the two women, and then at the younger one with the bobbed hair, “this is Belshegar, although he is going by the name Bill Garrett while he’s here with us.”
Belshegar couldn’t help being startled by Levi’s introduction, simply because he knew he’d never given the man the human name he’d been using. Word must have gotten around somehow, although he hoped the people in the town hadn’t learned anything about him beyond that false name.
Both women regarded him with intent eyes, although he didn’t detect any real surprise in their expressions. Well, he supposed that Levi would have already explained the situation, and since they had been working for decades with someone whose origins were also not of this world, Belshegar supposed he wasn’t quite as much of a novelty as he might have originally thought.
“So, Belshegar,” said the woman with the bob — Tricia, he reminded himself, “you were sent here to spy on us?”
“Not precisely,” he replied smoothly, although something inside him bristled at the question. “More that I was sent to recover the artifacts that are currently in your prima’s keeping.”
As he spoke, he couldn’t help wondering where Angela and Connor were. Surely they should have been included in this conversation?
Levi must have noticed a shift in his expression, because he said, “Connor and Angela are on their way over here now. They were in Prescott because Connor was delivering several of his paintings to a gallery there, but they should be back shortly.”
That made some sense, especially when Belshegar recalled how the woman at the artist’s co-op had mentioned that Connor also displayed his work in a gallery in that town. A ridiculous sort of name, too. Van Gogh’s Ear?
He supposed that didn’t matter so much. What mattered was that the prima and her consort were even now on their way back to Jerome.
“Why didn’t the person who sent you just get the artifacts themselves?” Allegra, the older of the two women, asked.
Belshegar found himself shrugging. Odd how it became easier and easier to use human mannerisms the longer he was among mortals…the longer he inhabited this human body.
“I cannot say,” he replied. “But the Council is made up of beings from a plane as far above mine as my own world is above yours, and I suppose it is possible that the voice’s non-corporeal form would not allow it to interact with physical artifacts in such a way.”
“Which begs the question as to why this ‘voice’ of yours would even be interested in physical objects at all,” Tricia observed, her tone dry.
He had to admit that he hadn’t considered that aspect of the situation. “I do not think the voice planned to use them,” he said, speaking slowly as he picked his way through the conundrum. “It is more that he believes they have no place on this plane. They are far too powerful.”
“Even though they were created by human hands?” Levi said, speaking for the first time after making the introductions.
Belshegar stared at him for a moment. Because he’d known very little about the artifacts other than the mere fact of their existence, he’d had no idea that mortals had made the things in the first place.
“You know this for certain?” he asked, and all three elders exchanged what he thought were worried glances.
“There’s very little we know ‘for certain,’” Levi said, and now his tone was quite dry. “One of the artifacts was brought to us from the past, and the witch and warlock who found it told us that the McAllister elders of that time had said it was made by witch-folk centuries earlier, users of magic who poured some of their life force into their talismans to give them their power.”
Belshegar had never heard of such a thing — everything he knew of witch-kind was that their powers were born within them and awakened after they had been on this earth for a decade or so, and that those gifts certainly did not come from external amulets and talismans and so on.
However, he also knew enough to realize how little he actually did know.
“And the other artifact?”
“That one’s origins are far murkier,” Tricia said. “It was found very recently, and we know very little about where it came from, since the man carrying it is no longer alive to explain its history.”
“Another reason why we have them both locked up and as warded as we can make them,” Levi put in. “We know a little about how both of them work, but it just seemed safer to keep them away from everyone.”
Yes, that made sense. It was unfortunate there wasn’t more information to be had, but Belshegar was relieved to see that the McAllisters were proceeding with an abundance of caution.
The doorbell sounded then, and Levi immediately turned away from the rest of the little group, saying, “That must be Connor and Angela.”
He headed toward the foyer, while Allegra glanced over at Belshegar with bright eyes. “How are you enjoying your time in Jerome? It must be very different from what you’re used to.”
