A Snake in the Grass Read Free Page B

darkness and the fact that I was the next best
thing to buck-ass naked and “vulnerable” didn’t even begin to
describe my situation. But I was sure she wouldn’t actually shoot
me. Pretty sure. Eighty-five percent sure. Maybe.
    There was no wavering of the weapon as I
looked past the dangerous end to the woman holding it. Her dark
hair was back in a loose ponytail for sleep, and she was dressed
only in a light tank top and panties, but there was no hint of
sleepiness in her pale blue eyes. She focused on me, calm, cool,
and entirely capable of blowing my brains out if she thought it
necessary. “You are certain? Only the dog?” Her lilting Ukrainian
accent even managed to sound menacing.
    “You can sweep the house if you want, but
stay out of my bedroom, and give me the gun. Deal?” I held my hand
out expectantly, but kept my voice level. We’d done this dance
before in the few months since Sveta had come to live with us.
Nothing like having a paranoid, trigger-happy demon slayer sleeping
on your couch.
    After a moment, she flicked the safety back
on the gun and spun it in her hand, handing it to me grip first.
The knots in my shoulders relaxed. “I will get my sword.” Turning
on her heel, she disappeared back into the living room to retrieve
one of her other weapons.
    “Oh damn…” Mira’s voice behind me was sad,
and I turned to see her crouch down near the stove, looking at the
shards of purple glass all over the linoleum. “That was my mother’s
vase.” She picked up a few of the bigger pieces, cradling them
gently in her palm. With her head down, her dark curls hung all
around her face, and I think she thought it would hide the
tears.
    “Sorry, baby.” Stepping gingerly through the
remnants of the beautiful vase – Mira had thought to put shoes on,
I hadn’t. – I bent down to wrap my arms around her. “I’ll clean it
up for you, why don’t you go back to bed?”
    She almost succeeded in hiding the sniffle.
“No. No, I’m up now. I’ll get it. Here, help me up so I can get the
broom.”
    As requested, I laid Sveta’s gun on the
counter and gave my wife an arm to lean on so she could heave
herself back to her feet. Only six-ish months pregnant, but she was
carrying differently with this one than she had with Anna, and her
hips were hurting her already. Watching my wife go through
everything that pregnancy requires always makes me marvel that our
species has survived. If it were up to men, we’d be extinct by
now.
    Like a ghost, Sveta padded through the
kitchen behind us and down the hallway, her shaska blade bared like
most of the rest of her. I knew she wouldn’t be happy until she’d
done a sweep and clear of the house, the yard, and possibly the
entire neighborhood block. I just hoped she’d put clothes on before
going outside this time. We’d had to call Cole to get her out of
jail, last go around. Having a cop in the family comes in handy
from time to time.
    “Jess?” I glanced back to Mira. “You’re
glowing.” She nodded toward my bared back.
    Dammit. I wasn’t actually glowing, not
to normal eyes, but the unexpected noise in the night had brought
me up battle-ready too, and now that Sveta was under control, I
could feel the souls just under my skin writhing in agitation. Two
hundred and seventy-five of them, ready to spring to my defense if
needed. I knew they were willing, though I couldn’t have told you
how. We’d gotten to know each other fairly well since January, and
they were as attuned to my moods as I was to theirs. It was a very
odd, very unwelcome symbiotic relationship.
    It should have been a dream come true for
someone like me. Almost unlimited power to destroy pretty much
anything I wanted. For a champion who had never had magic before,
you’d think I’d be doing a jig on a daily basis and slaughtering
demons left and right. But I knew that if I cast one spell, even
one tiny bit of conjuring, one of those souls would cease to exist.
Poof, burned up,