I frowned, but the damage had been done. Marshal stiffened, carefully taking a bite of rice and vegetables as if it didn’t bother him. Exasperated, I looked at the sake and decided I’d had enough. Of Jenks, not the sake. What is with him tonight?

“It doesn’t summon demons, just lets me talk to them.” And opens a channel they can travel through. “Marshal, I’m a white witch. Really.” I looked at the pentagram and winced. “The thing is, I’ve got a demon bent on dragging me into the ever-after, and having a calling circle gives me the option to call someone to pick him up when he shows. He’s supposed to be in jail. But everything will be fine tomorrow after I go out with David and beat some sense into whoever is calling Al and releasing him to get me.”

It sounded lame even to me, and Marshal chewed his rice, his attention never leaving mine as he weighed his thoughts. His gaze flicked to the calling circle and then swung back to me. “You call it Al?” he asked mildly.

I took a breath, deciding to give him all the drama of my life at once. If he was going to leave because of it, I wanted to know now, not after I started liking the guy. “The smut on my aura I got from using a demon curse to save my ex-boyfriend,” I said. Mostly. “And the two demon marks were accidents.”

Aren’t they all? I mocked in my thoughts, but Marshal had taken a sip of his drink and leaned back. “Rachel, you don’t have to tell me all this,” he said, and I raised a hand.

“Yes I do.” Eyeing the sake, I slammed it, wanting a loose tongue for a few minutes. “There is no way I’m going to have a boyfriend anytime soon,” I said as it burned, “so if you’re looking for a fast hop in the sack, you can just walk out the door right now. Actually, you should get out now anyway.”

“Uh…” Marshal stammered, and Jenks snickered as he drank the last of his sake.

“I have a risky job,” I said defensively as I put my arm flat on the table, almost flipping my plate of rice. “I love it. It might make you a target.” My jaw clenched. Kisten had died because he refused to kill me when Piscary asked. I was sure of it.

Jenks took flight, and I watched the sparkles as he landed on Marshal’s shoulder and sighed. “She’s such a drama queen,” he muttered a little too loudly, ticking me off.