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Back For a Few Demons More
Chapters (48)
  1. Title Page
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. The Undead Pool: An Excerpt
  44. Chapter 2
  45. About the Author
  46. Also by Kim Harrison
  47. Credits
  48. About the Publisher

“There,” he said when my hand lightly touched him and he shifted us into motion. “Isn’t this nice? Ceri danced very well. I miss that.”

Nice? It was as nerve-racking as all hell. My pulse was pounding, and I was glad he had on the gloves, not only because I didn’t want to touch him but because I was starting to sweat. He had said something about getting rid of my mark, though, so I’d listen. “What—” I croaked, then cleared my throat, embarrassed. “What do you want?”

“This is a rare opportunity,” Al said, smiling at me with Lee’s beautiful teeth. “How often does one have the chance to dance with her savior amid the glitter of elves?”

I sighed in impatience. At least I told myself it was impatience. The reality was, I was starting to get a little light-headed from not breathing. “I’m out here for one reason only,” I said, moving stiffly with him in time with the music. “And if you don’t start talking, I’m going back to arranging the sugar packets.”

Al’s hand tightened on mine, and he shifted my weight. I bobbled when he spiraled me out to a swoop of music. Tense and gasping, he yanked me back, and I hit him, a puff of burnt amber assailing me. I pushed, but he had me close. Eyes wide, I tensed to stomp on his foot, but my muscles went weak when he whispered, “I know you have the focus.”

His breath moved my hair, and this time when I struggled, his grip loosened. Pulse hammering, I put air between us. His hand on mine pinched, and, conscious of people watching, I put my hand back atop his waist.

“I can smell it on you,” he murmured. “Demon magic, older than you, older than me. It marked your hand where you grasped it. It stains everything you touch, a trail that the knowing can follow like the dusting of prints.”

I swallowed, moving woodenly to the slow jazz. “I’m not giving it to you,” I said, hardly breathing. If I did, it’d be on the streets by sunrise. “You kill me and you’ll lose your lease on Lee’s body and have to go back. You hurt me and Newt will put you in a bottle. Let go of me.”

Charm flowed from Al, looking wrong coming from Lee’s body. “Yes. Let’s do that,” he said, his voice wispy with distraction. “Let’s call Newt. She will show up right here and put me in a bottle. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”