"Caradoc?"
"You know," she said in that singsongy accent. "Big, ugly Charonte who smells bad. He was afraid to kill you because you spoke to him in Charonte. Like Xirena said... wuss demon."
He finally understood her. "Ah, okay. Well, at any rate, we need to get you inside for the time being so that we can hide you."
Huffing in aggravation, she got out of the car and followed him inside.
"So what's our game plan?" Danger asked, as Xirena wandered through her living room.
"I want to find Kyros and talk to him."
That didn't make sense to her. Kyros had made his position more than clear. She shook her head at his suggestion.
Alexion was a serious glutton for punishment.
"Why?"
"I want to know why he called to warn me about Xirena. If he'd really wanted me dead, he wouldn't have bothered."
She saw the hopeful look in his face that said he believed Kyros had somehow been won over. She wasn't so sure about that. "We could just call him back."
"No. I want to see his face. I think he's still salvageable."
For his sake, she hoped so. "All right. What do we do with Xirena in the meantime?"
"Leave her here."
She didn't like the idea of that at all. "But what if another demon comes after you while we're gone? She can't help if she's here."
He took a deep breath as if he were considering it. "I don't think they'd bother. Two have already failed. Why send another?"
"Persistence?"
He laughed at that.
Danger jumped as one of her expensive vases fell to the floor and shattered.
"Uh-oh," Xirena said in a tone that reminded her of a child. "That was breakable too."
"We can't leave her here unattended," she said to Alexion. "She'll destroy my whole house."
Suddenly, her vase reassembled itself and returned to her mantel.
Danger frowned at him.
He offered her a lopsided grin. "Xirena," he said to the demon. "Do you know how to write?"
"Of course I do. I'm not one of them illiterate demons. What kind of Charonte do you think I am?"
"Good." He said, ignoring her tirade. He looked back at Danger. "Could you get me a pad and pen or pencil?"
"Why?" Danger asked.
"Trust me."
Not sure if she should, she went to comply while Alexion turned on her television without touching it.
She came back into the room to find the TV on QVC. The demon was parked in front of the set as if she'd found the Holy Grail. Her beautiful face reflected pure joy. Danger had never seen anything like it.