Even Vampires Get the Blues - By Katie MacAlister Page 0,103

on that?" he asked, fingering the edge of his sword.

I looked in surprise at him for a moment. "You speak English?"

"We're dead, not daft," he said with a roll of his eyes. "We've naught else to do around here but listen to the tourists. At least, not until this lot came." He indicated the movie crew with a sweeping gesture.

"Oh. Right. Well, then, if you guys can just hold tight for a bit, I promise you we'll find someone for you to battle later. Pretend battle. No killing or anything."

The ghosts looked disappointed.

"Later," I said, giving Uilleam a warning look as I reached up to where Paen was waiting to haul me up a big rock.

We reached the outcropping where Pilar and Clare stood without any mishaps.

"Let her go," Paen ordered, nodding toward Clare.

Pilar smiled and released Clare, who took two steps to the side, then turned and slapped Pilar as hard as she could.

"That's for shooting my dress, you demonic twit!" she told him to his startled face before storming over to Paen and me.

"Her dress?" Pilar asked us.

I shook my head. "Honestly, you don't want to go there."

"It was a Versace!" came the outraged reply from where Clare was standing behind me.

Pilar closed his eyes for a moment, wearing an expression that was identical to one I'd seen frequently on Paen's face. I thought about pointing that out, but decided it wasn't something Paen needed to know at that moment. "If you don't mind, I'm rather anxious to have the Jilin God. Could we get on with it?"

"We can if you answer a couple of questions first," I said, taking Paen's hand. Just touching him toned down the howl of pain inside me that was my ever-present companion.

Pilar glanced at the sky again and gave another shrug. Beppo gave a little squeak and leaped from Pilar to Paen, quickly scaling his arm, jumping across him to land on my shoulder. I gave the monkey a stern look. "You didn't tell me you belonged to him," I said, nodding toward Pilar.

"He is a familiar - he does not speak," Pilar said, as if I honestly expected the monkey to answer. "What questions do you wish to ask of me?"

"Where is the Jilin God?" Paen asked, his fingers tightening around mine. Beppo wrapped his tail around my throat and began to pick through my hair, looking for mites.

"Within grasp in the beyond."

"Why did you zap me into the place between realities? Were you afraid of what I was going to tell Caspar?"

Pilar looked at me with unemotional black eyes. "I am afraid of nothing. It was not my intent to push you into the web; I simply wanted the statue. I didn't realize you had it until I touched you."

"Are you working for your master, or for yourself?" Paen asked.

You took my question!

There are plenty left for him to answer.

Pilar laughed. I didn't think demons could laugh, but he did, a mirthless, cold laugh, one that sent chills down my back. "I have no master."

"Wait a second - you do, too. Caspar said you were his minion, that he hired you to drag me in to see him, amongst other things. He's a demon lord, you're a demon - that makes him your master."

"Do you not yet understand?" Pilar asked, looking at me with an expression of something that looked a lot like disappointment. "The being you know as Caspar Green is not my master - he is my enemy. He tried to capture me, and failed. He tried to have me thrown down from the heavens, and failed. He has sought my destruction his entire life, and now he seeks to regain his former strength in order to rule this world. I am sworn to allow neither."

"But... you were working for him," I pointed out, wondering just how many surprises I could take in a one-week period.

Pilar gave me another disappointed look. "He did not recognize me in this form."

"Oh."

Paen's fingers tightened even more around mine until the grip was almost painful. "You are the sworn enemy of Yan Luowang, the god of death."

"Yes," Pilar said. I noticed he didn't give Paen a disappointed look.

"He attempted to have you thrown out of heaven."

Paen said, and with his words, something struck a chord in me.

Figured it out yet, sweetheart?

Wait a sec... thrown out of heaven?

That's what he said.

I bit my lip as I looked closely at Pilar. He looked human, absolutely mortal, except for the cold that seemed to roll