Being only slightly smarter than Derek, I called Kanesha before heading over to his place. I probably smelled of vampire. I’m basing this on the fact that nobody wanted to sit next to me on a full bus.
Oh well, I could bathe after I’d dealt with his latest stupidity. His home was a small house in Arlington.
I knocked on the door – and his mother answered.
“Derek called me.”
“I’m sure he did.” She frowned. “He needs to…”
“…stop bringing home magical stuff that’s glowing.”
“That would be a good start. Come on in.”
I followed her inside. “He’s upstairs. And I already took a look at it. It seems to like him.”
“That’s always bad news. Especially when there are demons after somebody.”
“Not always, but another set of eyes would be helpful.”
I went upstairs, the third step creaking ominously under my tread. The place was clean, well kept, but I wasn’t entirely sure about its structural integrity. They were poor.
Well, I was used to that. I knocked on the bedroom door.
“Come in.”
“Your mother thinks it likes you.”
“She told me.” He had it on the bed. It was spherical, roughly, and glowing. I sniffed a bit.
“Well, it’s not Fae magic.”
“Could it be something from, uh…”
“From your father’s side of the family? I hope so.” Because the alternative was that it was another demon trap.
“I guess…”
“Zaid might know. Your father would know, but…”
“But I’m not supposed to talk to him.”
“I’ve met him. Believe me, you’re better off without him.”
“I wish I had a real father.”
I thought of Mike for a moment. Then of my father. “Well, you know who mine is.”
He laughed. “But yours…”
“He’s embarrassing and occasionally evil, but he does at least wait for them to grow up first. But you are nothing like your father.”
“Except for the magic.”
I had an insight. I wasn’t sure about it. “Pick it up.”
He did. It glowed brighter for a moment, then settled.
“I have no idea what it is, but it definitely likes you. Which means somebody left it for you to find.”
And if it was efreet magic not demon magic, that somebody was probably…
…Derek’s father.