Free Demon Crossings by Eleri Stone Page A

get sloppy. Even the ones with something to hide. You weren’t as careful as you thought.”
    “There was no car, Grace,” he said. “How do you think we got her out so quickly? We opened our own portal into her bedroom and snatched her back here. It took less than five minutes. No one saw anything and you know it.”
    She gaped at him, unable to come up with a quick response to that.
    His eyes bore into hers. “She doesn’t need psychiatric treatment. She’s not crazy and neither are you.”
    “So, knowing that I’d come for Maia you were just going to let me drive out of town? Or is that what this is—some crackpot scheme to keep me from turning you all in?”
    “I didn’t know it. I knew you were a private investigator but not that you were after Maia. I would have alerted the town, moved Maia as a precaution. I found one interview where a neighbor said she thought a psychic was helping the police but I didn’t really believe it.”
    Grace laughed. “You’re trying to sell me Norse gods and fire demons but you don’t believe in psychics?”
    “I thought it had to be coincidence until I realized you could see the fire demon too. That only makes sense if you’re one of us. I don’t know why your parents didn’t tell you.”
    “My parents were normal.” That was a lie. They weren’t normal at all but they sure as hell weren’t Norse gods.
    Aiden rubbed at his chin. “Maybe they were second or third-generation runners. They might not even have known the risk of producing a child so far away from the fault. Your ability means your blood is as strong as ours and that you’re in danger out there.”
    She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m in danger… out there where I’ve lived all my life. As opposed to here with my kidnappers.”
    “We haven’t kidnapped you.”
    She snorted. “You’re telling me…what then? That I’ll get sick and die if I try to go home?”
    “Not sick. You’ve survived this long so there’s not an immediate threat. Eventually, you’d start to lose your grip on reality one piece at a time.”
    She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked down at her lap when he turned away. The others had fallen silent but were hanging on every word. “You’re a seer and a tracker.” Aiden said softly. “It’s a rare combination. We haven’t been able to locate another from any of the clans.”
    When she raised her eyes he was standing next to the mantel, looking at his daughter’s picture. Unwillingly moved to pity, she shifted in her seat. If nothing else was true, she knew that he grieved for his child and that hit on her biggest weakness. She’d always been a sucker for good parents who only wanted their children back.
    “At least tell me if she’s still alive, Grace. You can run if you need to. Lie about everything else but tell me the truth about this one thing.”
    Eyes hooded and solemn, he braced for her answer. She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. The adrenaline rush was leaving her system, some of her fight along with it. She could feel Aiden again, that deep, heavy sadness rolling toward her across the small room. It was in her best interest to lie and run but she couldn’t do it. She wet her lips. “Yeah. She’s still alive.”
    He closed his eyes and Grace reached for the shot of whisky. It burned all the way down. When she glanced at the others, Christian was toying with Elin’s hair while Elin beamed tearfully at her. Rane gave her a short nod of approval and Fen stared at Aiden, who still hadn’t moved.
    After a moment, Aiden turned around and said to the others, “Go get some rest. Be back here by midnight.”

Chapter Eight
     
    She’d never been on a horse before this week. This one was much bigger than she remembered, black and unnaturally still beneath Aiden’s hand. The only compensation was that she had an excuse to wrap her arms around Aiden’s waist, feel his muscles tighten beneath her hands, press her cheek against