Note to self: Stalking demons while wearing a thong is worse than having a crotch itch while giving a speech to your Elders.

Shifting from one foot to the other, Lily Murray adjusted the sorry excuse for underwear for what felt like the hundredth time in five minutes.

“I don’t know why I let you talk me into this,” she muttered to the witch next to her, who didn’t seem to have the same ass-eats-slinky-panties problem as Lily. Must be a thong-wearing natural.

Lenora Jones peeked over the metal fence they were hiding behind to check on the morbus demon loitering on the other side of the street. “Hey, wasn’t my idea to play stakeout in the rain,” she whispered back. “I was all in favor of letting that demon go.”

Not an option. No way could Lily keep on partying when she knew one of those disease-spreading creatures was skulking in the vicinity. “Pfft, it’s not the traipsing or rain I mind. It’s the fact that my underwear seems to be hell-bent on disappearing into the place where the sun don’t shine.” Grimacing, she tugged at the thong again. “How do you put up with these pesky things every damn day?”

“You get used to it.”

“You know,” Lily said, keeping her voice hushed despite the fact they were far enough away that the demon wouldn’t hear them, “I’ve never really been a fan of that statement. You can get used to a lot of things, and it doesn’t make them good. Lack of indoor plumbing, for example. Or a missing limb. Or Pierce Brosnan as James Bond.”

Lenora huffed a low laugh, her tawny brown skin shimmering golden in the dim street light when she glanced over at Lily again. “Are you still sore about that? That was like forever ago.”

“You gotta draw the line somewhere. And speaking of line…” She adjusted that useless scrap of fabric again. “I am never going to wear one of these again. Ever.”

“You will if you don’t want to have an ugly panty line ruining the look of your sexy dress. No way am I going to let any friend of mine walk around like that.” Lenora gave her a playful wink.

“That’s assuming I’ll ever put on another skin-tight dress. Which I won’t.”

Lily rose on her tiptoes and peered over the fence. The morbus demon—inconspicuous-looking to human eyes due to glamour, though its real form was covered with putrid pus and leaking sores—kept leaning against the wall of the old brewery, staying dry and puffing on its cigarette while the rain pelted down on the overhang. And the demon was still too close to the group of human patrons enjoying a smoke outside the brew pub that had just closed for the night.

Dammit. Lily and Lenora couldn’t take the bastard down in front of so many witnesses. They had to wait until either it wandered off or the human group disbanded. Of course, if the demon made a move toward the group, Lily would hex its ass in a heartbeat, before it could touch anyone and spread more disease. Until then, they’d have to keep their distance, lest the demon pick up their witch auras and hightail it out of there.

“You should, though,” Lenora said.

“Hmm?”

“Wear a sexy dress more often.” She tugged at the hem of the striking blue slip of a club dress Lily had on, now plastered even tighter to her skin due to the incessant Portland rain. “You’ve got a killer body, hon. Flaunt it. It’ll help you get in touch with your feminine side and get more dates.”

Lily shot her a look. “I am in touch with my feminine side. I always paint my toenails.”

For a moment they stared at each other. Then they burst into choked laughter. The rain swallowed the sound, but still Lily clamped her mouth shut and checked on the demon again. All good. Hunkering down behind the fence again, she turned to Lenora.

“And just for the record, I don’t need help in the dating department. I’m very happy with the status quo.”

“You mean moping around for months secretly pining for a good lay that will break your headboard?”

Lily raised her brows. “I like my headboard just fine, thank you very much. It’s sturdy. Reliable. And it doesn’t ask too much of me, no ‘come meet my parents,’ or ‘please move in with me.’ Nope, just straightforwardly doing its job, sitting at the top of my bed and propping up my pillows.”

“Lil.” Such admonishment in her tone. Pfft. “You wouldn’t have let me talk you into going out in a dress that screams ‘available’ if you didn’t need some between-the-sheets action.” Lenora checked on the demon again.

“Fine.” Lily puffed out a sigh. “You’re right.”

It had been months since she’d broken up with Jeff—or rather, run screaming in the other direction—and she hadn’t been on a date since. The thought of starting another serious relationship was as enticing as using chili paste for a douche, but a little no-strings-attached sex sure sounded good.

Well, not gonna happen tonight. Finding an uncomplicated hookup had to wait for now. Demon-blasting duty came first.

She was about to suggest they go out again tomorrow—not in another dress, but maybe slacks and a shoulder-baring shirt, which she found much more comfortable—when something or someone scraped on the concrete behind her. She whipped around. The shadows between the containers in the warehouse yard shifted. Not just the rain playing tricks on her vision. Something was coming.

“Lenora,” she snapped, a second before a pack of hellrats broke from the dark and poured out into the yard.

Her powers already primed and ready, buzzing underneath her skin, Lily struck out. “Kālam kuru!”

With a surge of heat, her magic rushed through her body, her hand, shot out toward the advancing horde and hit the first two hellrats straight on. They squeaked and collapsed. Immediately, several other demonic rodents fell upon their dead and ripped into the bodies. Yikes. So much for pack loyalty.

She spared a glance to the side while throwing a fire spell at the wave of hellrats closest to her. “Len, you okay?”

Lenora grunted, kicking a rat into the side of the container, her hand curled around a magically enhanced shuriken that she’d pulled out of the gods knew where. She hurled the throwing star at another rat, slicing off the rodent’s head. Neat.

Assured her friend had it under control, Lily focused on the nasty critter currently lunging at her ankles. She whipped out the dagger she’d hidden in a sheath high up her inner thigh, went down in a crouch, and slashed at the fucker. Using the momentum, she turned in a semi-circle and let her blade slice half a dozen more hellrats who weren’t fast enough to evade her maneuver. She remained in the crouch, her calf muscles flexing as she turned in a new angle and struck out again at the newest wave of revolting rodents. Another half dozen down.

She stood and retreated a step to block an incoming rat-missile. Her high-heel slipped on a rain-slick hellrat body. The world tilted in a lurch as she crashed down, barely able to break the fall with her hands. Pain exploded in her palms, her wrists, and, oh just about all the joints in her body.

“Mother. Fuck.”

That second of cursive expression was all she got. The next instant, a wave of hellrats swarmed her. No choice but to roll. Gritting her teeth against the yucky feel of rolling over the cold, wet ground in a dress that bared more than it covered, she managed to kick and elbow and slash off most of the hellrats before they had a chance to bite.

“Skeit!” The shield charm exploded outward, shoving off the remaining critters. Another killing spell made short work of the rest of the horde.

Breath coming in puffs, Lily flipped over. She’d rolled to the entrance to the warehouse yard in the scuffle, and was now in clear sight of the other side of the street. Crap on a stick. Had the demon spotted her? She scooted back behind the fence and peered out.

Her stomach clenched. The group of humans had left—but the morbus demon wasn’t alone.

“What the—?” She leaned out farther, trying to catch a better view.

Another male approached the demon, though she couldn’t make out his features in the semi-darkness and drizzle of rain. Was he human? If yes, she had to act. She couldn’t risk him catching a disease.

A quick glance to the side confirmed Lenora was almost done blasting the last of the hellrats. “Len, join me when you can. I’m going for the demon.” And with that she was off.

She’d sprinted halfway across the deserted street, her high-heels making wet, clicking sounds on the rain-covered asphalt, when the scene in front of her made her stop dead in her tracks.

The new male punched the demon, kneed it in the guts and grabbed it by the throat. The morbus grunted and flailed. To no avail. The other male overpowered it with astonishing ease. Hoisting it up against the wall, the man brought its head level with his and leaned in, almost as if… Was he kissing the thing?

Lily reared back, her mouth falling open. Who’d want to kiss a morbus demon? Before she could dwell on that particular question of morbid insanity, the air around the man shimmered. His aura, which had been too faint for her to get a read on, brightened, and a telltale trace of demon magic pulsed off him.

The male was a demon, too.

Rooted to the spot, she could only stare while the morbus’s aura lit up as well, then flickered like a candle in a gust of wind. The morbus’s power signature faded, and judging by the flare in the unknown demon’s aura, whatever he was doing to the morbus fed his powers. The new demon let go of the morbus, and the now lifeless form of the contagious bastard sank to the ground.

The male hadn’t been kissing the morbus demon. He’d killed it.

Power curled around the remaining demon. Suddenly, he whipped his head around, homing in on Lily. A sharp buzz zinged through her, as if every one of her cells had been charged with a dizzying bolt of electricity. Those eyes… Swirling red and black, magnetic in the way they locked on to her.

A life leech, a demon who fed off others’ life force.

With a gasp, she snapped out of whatever trance she’d been in. This was a demon. A lethal one. She couldn’t let him get away.

Summoning her power to her fingertips, she ran toward him. Hand raised, she was about to hurl a spell at him when he was suddenly in front of her. She stumbled from the abrupt stop, and he gripped her wrist, squeezing just hard enough to numb the flow of magic to her hand. What the ever-loving—?

He leaned in, his features illuminated by the street lights. Human-looking, his skin a nice golden summer tan, he was a handsome son of a bitch. His eyes—now silver gray rimmed with amber—held her spellbound.

“Don’t,” he murmured.

Droplets of rain fell from the hair hanging over his face, caressed her nose. His thumb stroked over the inside of her wrist, and a tingle traveled up her arm.

The next second, he was gone. She staggered from the sudden loss of his hold, her mind reeling. Turning in a circle, she scanned the street for him. A block down, she barely caught a glimpse of a dark figure disappearing round the corner at incredible speed.

“Lil!” Lenora ran up to her, panting, a hellrat’s bloody tail hanging from her voluminous hair. “Are you okay?”

Lily nodded, her heart thundering in her chest. “You’ve got rat on you.” She picked the tail out of Lenora’s hair and tossed it away.

“Thanks.” Lenora studied the slowly disintegrating shape of the morbus demon. “What the hell happened here?”

Lily frowned while images of the scene she’d witnessed replayed in her head. “Somebody just did our job for us.”

But the memory that surfaced again and again, refused to release her from its spell, was one of silver-gold eyes and a voice of pure sin.