Free Demon Bound by Meljean Brook

in person. And liked it enough to use it five hundred years later.”
    She could forgive his thoughtlessness, Alice decided. “An immortal,” she agreed.
    â€œBut obviously not a demon.” He gestured to another fresco from the Abu Simbel temple, that one depicting a scene from the Second Battle. A figure’s status could be determined by his size—and the demons were half as tall as the seraphim.
    And Lucifer, at the head of the dragon, was the smallest of all the demons.
    This time, Jake didn’t go on alert when she smiled. “Obviously not. And you’ll note the Guardians are equal to one another—even Michael. Only the angels are given divine rank.”
    â€œBut no wings. Here, or on any of the other pieces.” Jake scanned the room again as if making certain, then glanced over at her. “In Tunisia, I assumed the female was a goddess figure. Nike or Nemesis, maybe. Until I saw the friezes.”
    Alice nodded. “I believe it’s the same woman who is one of Michael’s companions in the early transformation scenes—but if so, it is also the first time I have seen her winged.”
    Jake returned to the Mycenaean figure. “Yeah. Her sword, her posture, her position. The hair and clothes change a little, but . . .” He trailed off, leaning in before slanting an assessing look at Alice. “Actually, she’s kind of like you.”
    â€œPardon me?”
    He nodded to himself. “Yeah. All angular. Her—I know it’s the style. But you, you’re just kind of sharp and bony. And she’s softened by her clothing instead of being all buttoned up and choked by her—” Jake clasped his neck in both hands. He glanced at her, froze. His arms fell back to his sides, and he cleared his throat. “But, uh, you’re American, right? Not Greek.”
    â€œMy father was American.” Alice held out her hand. Her self-control was truly remarkable, she thought. When the five-dollar bill appeared in her palm, she vanished the money without tearing it to pieces. “My mother was Egyptian. Like that panel. ”
    Not so remarkable then; her irritation had slipped through. But he looked almost grateful for her pointed change of subject.
    â€œWhat about Michael?”
    She might have looked stiff to Jake before, but she felt stiff now—her braid pulling too hard on her scalp, her arms crossed too tight. “What of him?”
    â€œWhat does he say that all of this is?”
    â€œHe says it is ‘something best left buried by history, and forgotten. ’ But he also tells me that I am, of course, free to excavate it.”
    Jake frowned, clearly disappointed. “But—”
    â€œMichael also cannot see it. Any of it, except for my sketches. He teleported to Abu Simbel with me, and couldn’t see or enter the temple—even when I took his hand and tried to lead him over the threshold.”
    That left Jake speechless. He ran his hand over his head and looked at Alice, then the artifacts, several times.
    Finally he asked, “What about the symbols over the antechamber entrance? Have they shown up before?”
    â€œNo, this is the first time.” Something else that was new. But although she was eager to discover the symbols’ meaning, she did not look forward to taking the steps to learn it. “I will have to ask Michael for the translation—”
    â€œ ‘We go north,’ ” Jake interrupted. He met her surprise with a quick grin. “I asked Lilith. So, they left directions in this one, but not the others.”
    â€œApparently.”
    â€œThen how’d you find them?”
    â€œMy Gift.” She saw that response wouldn’t satisfy him, and added, “When these temples appear, it disturbs the spiders in the area.” There was no other word for it. “The disturbance spreads quickly, but the farther away it is, the weaker it feels. So I follow it to