Kester shook his head. “We are mortal demons, compelled by our marks to work for the fire goddess. I know magic as well, but you needn’t learn it. I just need you to learn to fight and to collect souls.”

She nearly choked on her wine. “I’m sorry—did you say I’m a demon?”

“I did.” His tone was matter-of-fact. “And your job is to find those in Emerazel’s debt. Force them to sign the contract, by whatever means required.”

She took a deep breath, trying to process the word demon. “I’m having a hard time with the demon concept. Surely demons are scaly creatures with pointy tails and claws.” She stopped herself. “I mean, you have claws, but no scales.” She shook her head. She was babbling like a loon now. “Demons are monsters. I don’t look like a demon, do I?” She gripped her knife so tight she thought the silver might bend.

“Right now you do.”

“It just sounds like madness.” She sucked in a deep breath. “I’m not sure when you last spent time around normal people, but normal people don’t talk about demons. They don’t fight monsters in ringstones, or eat live sheep, or travel across continents by incinerating themselves.”

Kester leaned back in his chair. “But you’re not normal. Normal people don’t have severe retrograde amnesia, and they can’t light things on fire with their hands. Given the rest of your life, the fact that you’re a demon shouldn’t be much of a surprise.” His green eyes gleamed. “What exactly was your explanation for your powers?”

“Genetics,” she blurted. “A mutation. I have no clue. I’ve hardly taken any science classes. And anyway, it just happened for the first time tonight so it’s not like I’ve had time to think about it.”

“You think a random mutation in your DNA could allow you to do this?” He held up his silver fork. For an instant his hand glowed incredibly hot, like he’d pulled the door to a furnace. Then the fork collapsed on the table in a molten lump.

She felt dizzy, overwhelmed by a strange sense of vertigo. “I have no idea. I don’t understand any of this.” Maybe he was right, though. Only the supernatural could explain everything she’d seen. “I need to know more specifics about this new job.”