"I can feel the heat closing in, feel them out there making their moves."

William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch

Chase

Douglas rubbed the stubble on his jaw, frowning. I laid my ears back as I waited for him to say something, anything. When I came home to tell him about that imp, I expected him to jump into action. You know, cast spells, Summon more demons, waltz in there with a laser gun and just shoot the imp out of the sky. Why was he just thinking? Summoners had to fight each other, right? Every group liked to fight. Didn't he know what to do about this?

Yahn sat on the desk in front of Douglas, holding one of my wings in his claws and looking the feathers over. "You know, I can dust these. Your feathers would be more beautiful if they shined."

"They shine already." I pulled my wing tight against my back, yanking it out of his hands. I didn't care how my feathers looked just then, and Yahn probably didn't care, either. He just wanted to curry favor. As much as he taught me about being a djinni, it was too easy for us to remember who could eat who here.

Oly glared at us from her perch on top of the dresser across the room. "Shut the fuck up. I'm sleeping."

Yahn stood straighter, raising a claw to point at Oly. Before he could say anything, though, Douglas sighed. "Don't start fighting."

Oly and Yahn flinched. Douglas wasn't kidding when he said orders hurt. Yahn gave a small salute, nodding. "Of course, Master."

Oly rolled over, her back to us now as she muttered, "Not worth my time, anyways."

My tail twitched on the floor as I frowned at Douglas. "So?"

Douglas picked Yahn up, setting the imp in his lap. He rubbed between Yahn's wings while he focused on me. "So what?"

"So what? So what?" I threw my hands up towards him. "An imp is following my – our family around, and your response is 'so what?'" I started pacing, my tail lashing now. "There's no reason a demon should be watching them. None." I sliced my hand through the air, growling.

Douglas chuckled at that. "You followed them."

I whirled on him, pointing at myself. "I'm different. I'm not there to hurt them."

A smile played on Douglas' face. "Are you now?"

I stared at Douglas for a second, then threw up my hands and turned away to resume my pacing. I wasn't in the mood for the "am I dangerous or not" discussion right then. "This is serious." I stopped by the window, pointing outside as I looked back at Douglas. "There's a Summoner out there spying on everybody, and they have no idea."

Douglas let out a sigh, nodding. "Seems like it."

I spread my arms out, my wings extending slightly as I did. "So, what do we do?"

Nothing. This isn't your fight.

I pinned my ears, pacing again. The repetitive motion helped me think. "We can't just let a Summoner watch them, especially now that their imp thinks I'm around all the time. What are they even watching for?" I shook my head. "We need – "

"You're saying 'we' a lot," Douglas interjected, his hand stilling on Yahn's back.

I stopped mid-stride, my tail stilling. "Don't act like you're just going to let this go."

Douglas gave me a sour look, crossing his arms. "Last time I tried to help, Donnie almost shot a hole in me with a laser."

Yahn frowned, looking up at Douglas, but I ignored him. "You didn't fight Krane for Mr. Davenport. You did that for us." I pointed at myself. Douglas raised his chin as I continued. "Krane thought you were dead. You could've gone anywhere and just moved on, but you didn't. You marched into that fight, guns blazing." I stepped towards him, lowering my ears. "I don't know what excuse you used to justify it, but we both know you didn't get in there just because. You did it because you didn't want Adam, Bree, or me to die." I took another step towards him, sighing. "You can't just ignore a spy, Dad. Not when we don't know anything about it."

Douglas let out a laugh, running a hand down his face. When I could see his eyes again, he sighed. "You're a manipulative little shit. You know that?"

I leaned forward, perking my ears up. "Well?" My speech wouldn't matter if he still refused to get involved. I was sure I could figure something out on my own, but it would be easier if I had an ally who knew about this Summoner stuff.

Douglas sat up, clearing his throat. "Oly, Yahn, listen up." Yahn sat up in Douglas' lap as Oly lifted her head, scowling as Douglas continued. "You two go to the Davenport mansion. Watch the people inside. Capture or chase off any demon that shows up, unless they're from me."

The imps looked like Douglas cracked a whip over their shoulders. I swallowed, laying my ears back.

"Don't let the people inside know they're being guarded," Douglas went on, "report back to me if you do catch a demon, and don't hurt anybody." When Oly snickered, Douglas raised an eyebrow. "Yes, you specifically. No creative accidents, either. One of you is to stay with them at all times. Got it?"

Yahn nodded, his tail wrapping around his feet. Oly rolled her eyes but nodded as well.

Douglas sighed, waving towards the door. "All right. Go do it."

Yahn hopped off Douglas' lap, scurrying out the door. Oly stretched first, yawning. She snapped her beak shut, then climbed off of the dresser to follow Yahn out the door. "Just what I wanted," she groused. "Guarding a bunch of humans."

I watched Oly leave, then looked at Douglas. "That was specific."

Douglas pulled his chair closer to his desk. "I wanted it done in a specific way."

I perked my ears up. "No creative accidents?"

Douglas chuckled. "I've almost fallen down the stairs before." He pointed at me, grinning. "Oly's good at what she does."

Yikes. I grimaced, sparing the door another look. I'd have to watch my step. "Okay, then. So, I'm going to go help them guard everybody while you Summon up an afrit or something."

"I'm not Summoning an afrit," Douglas said, digging through a mess of papers on his desk. He paused to look at one, then shook his head and kept searching.

"Why not?" An afrit would be awesome in this situation. "I can't stay with them all day, every day." That would hurt too much, assuming the mystery Summoner didn't call in a bigger demon to eat me. I gestured at him. "Just get an afrit or a couple of djinn around. What could it hurt?"

Douglas peeled a paper out of the stack and set it aside, not looking at me. "That's a lot harder than you think, kid."

I blinked at him, frowning. "A lot – you Summoned me, right? You said you spent all night just making incense for that." An afrit couldn't take much more effort than that, right? He just had to draw more lines and light more candles.

"I exaggerated." Douglas had several papers set aside now. He stopped just long enough to look at me. "Listen, I won't tell you how easy it is to change forms. Don't tell me how easy it is to Summon something."

He couldn't control an afrit, anyways.

I cocked my head, frowning. I figured Summoning took nothing but time and research to get things right. Was there more to it than that?

Willpower and stamina are essential. If Summoning was easy, wars would be fought with demons instead of soldiers.

That was a leap, but it made sense. Demons would be more commonplace if just anybody could call us up. "Okay, no afrits," I agreed at length. I started for the door, my tail swishing. "Doesn't mean I can't help Oly and Yahn guard the house, though."

Douglas didn't look at me. He was rearranging the papers he had found. "I need you to stay here."

I stopped, looking over my shoulder at him, gesturing at the door. "I'm not just sitting here. Not with a mystery Summoner out there."

"Let's just assume Krane is behind it." He stood up, holding his papers as he turned towards me and raised his eyebrow. "Unless you made other enemies out there."

I made a couple – a small gang in Seattle and a Summoner in San Francisco – but neither knew who I was. The odds that they were behind this were slim to none. That left Krane as the logical choice. "You didn't teach him how to Summon, did you?"

"No," Douglas snorted. "I'm not an idiot."

I couldn't stop a smile. "You gave him bionics."

Douglas smiled back at me. "Smartass."

I pointed over my shoulder towards the door. "So I'm just going to – "

"Oly and Yahn have thousands of years of experience handling other imps." Douglas waved my words away. "They'll be fine. I need you here to help with these." He stepped towards me, holding the papers out.

I frowned, taking the top paper without looking at it. "If Krane is sending demons – "

"Krane is pulling another Summoner's strings." Douglas tapped the paper I held. "And I'm betting that these will tell us who and why."

I glanced at the paper, laying my ears back. A jumble of letters filled the entire page without a single space in sight. A transposition cipher, maybe? "What are these?"

"I got Oly to swipe some of Krane's mail." Douglas shrugged. "I don't recognize the name he sent it to, but I know Krane's alias when I see it. I haven't gotten around to breaking the code yet."

I flicked my ears, looking at Douglas again and shaking my head. "You don't need me for that."

Douglas drew in a breath. "Chase – "

"Look, you're trying to keep me here, and I haven't heard a good reason yet." I crossed my arms. Douglas didn't need me to break a code. He wanted me here for something else. "You're a hacker. Ciphers are in your wheelhouse."

Douglas shook his head, his jaw clenched. "It's not – "

"I'm stronger than Oly and Yahn combined." I started back into the room, lashing my tail. "If something bigger than them comes along, they'll need me there." I was ranting now, but I didn't care. "I don't want to leave them on guard duty while I just sit here."

The mortals aren't your problem.

"They are my problem!" I whipped around and threw my arms out wide, snarling at Douglas.

Douglas frowned, watching me. "I didn't say anything about it not being your problem."

That was me, and I'm right.

I snapped my jaw shut, hissing.

Douglas' brows knit together. "Are you okay?" He held the papers tightly, frowning at me. "You're not trying to have two conversations at once, are you? Because I can leave you alone while you get your whole 'instinct' thing figured out."

I shook my head, rubbing my eyes. "No, no." I hadn't talked to many people over the past few months. I could usually tell the difference between my internal voice and Douglas or Yahn trying to speak to me. If I wasn't paying attention, though, it could get confusing. That voice sure hit like someone was talking sometimes. It led to awkward moments, to say the least.

I was getting better at it, though. It would just take more time and practice to perfect.

I turned away from Douglas to resume my pacing. "Look, Douglas – "

"You're a target, too."

Douglas' quiet words killed my protests. I looked over my shoulder at him, frowning. "What?"

"Krane wants you dead, too. Remember that?" Douglas' eyes bored into me, begging me to understand. "He wasn't just after Adam and Bree. He wants you dead, too." He curled his fingers into the papers, bending the edges. "I don't want everyone in one place for him if something goes wrong. It's too easy to lose you all that way. If you stay here, then…." Douglas shrugged, still watching me.

I lowered my ears at the honesty, biting my lip. Douglas wasn't suggesting that we'd be able to help if Krane made a move. We wouldn't be able to get there fast enough to do anything. Krane could geo-leap. He could be in and out of that house before we even knew it. No, Douglas was saying that if all this went downhill, he wanted at least one of his kids to survive. Right now, the one with the best chance of that was me. I was here, and Krane didn't seem to know that.

My ears lowered as I held onto my paper. My voice was quiet as I finally responded to that. "I can't do nothing. I just can't."

Douglas sighed but nodded. "I know. Just humor me for a few days, please?" He held up his papers, offering me a smile. "Help me crack a cipher. Who knows? These might help us figure out his next move."

I sighed but looked at the paper in my hands. Words jumped out at me this time, picked from letters at random by my bionics. It was nonsense, though. A programming quirk of mine didn't like random letters and tried to make sense out of them based on nothing. I'd have to work at it to crack the code. I turned the paper over – the back was wastefully blank – and turned it back over. "Are these in order?"

"At the moment, no. I shuffle things around a lot." Douglas stepped closer, touching the bottom-right corner of the page I held. "I numbered them, though."

I nodded at the neat "5" written on the paper. "How many are there?"

"Twelve." Douglas thumbed through his pile. "The first one has the only discernable thing on it." He plucked one out from the middle of the pile and held it out in front of us so we could both read it. Typed on the top of the paper were a couple of sentences. What begins eternity and ends time and space? What starts every end and ends every race?

I pinned my ears, scoffing. "A riddle? Seriously?" The answer wasn't apparent to me, but I bet it was some profound bullshit. That wouldn't help much.

"Yeah, but it's the only thing we have to work with." Douglas raised an eyebrow. "Krane wouldn't put this here for fun." He grimaced, lowering the paper. "He wasn't a fun kind of guy by the end."

That made sense, I supposed. Money was a big draw for people, sure, but Douglas and Krane wouldn't stick together as long as they had without some kind of fondness between them at some point. No doubt getting bionics changed Krane for the worse. I had no real idea, though. The only person who could confirm that was Douglas, and it felt like one of those subjects to avoid. Douglas barely brought up bionics or home, and I didn't ask personal questions about Krane or where he got his money these days.

It wasn't like I had room to judge him on the money front, anyways. I had used underhanded means to get it over the past few months. Wherever it came from, we needed it to survive.

I was getting off-track here. Krane left a riddle, and Douglas said that wasn't normal. It had to mean something, then. Maybe it was the key to the cipher? Not the direct answer – I expected the key to be a number - but the road sign that pointed at the answer, if you will. I blew out a sigh, flicking my ears. Maybe we were thinking about this too hard? There was only one mainstream profound number that I could think of off the top of my head. "It's not going to be something like '42,' by any chance?"

Douglas' cheeks reddened. "Already tried that one. It got me nowhere."

Damn. I would've loved for it to be that easy. "Guess we'll have to solve his crap, then."

Douglas nodded, tucking the paper back into his pile. "Afraid so." He patted my back, hitting more feathers than skin. "Grab a notepad. We'll move this party into the kitchen. There's more room at the table."

I perked my ears up, shifting the paper I held to one hand so I could scoop a notepad off his desk. "The kitchen?"

Douglas was already leaving the room. He called back over his shoulder at me as he passed through the door. "I'm sure we can find a snack in there, if that's what you're after."

I let out a purr, picking up a pen and following Douglas. I hadn't eaten since I got home, and I could feel it. I was getting used to regularly eating again. I didn't expect him to cook or anything – we were too busy for that – but I wouldn't say no to…just about anything, really. I hadn't shaken the idea that I might not get to eat tomorrow, so I better eat whatever I found when I found it. Don't misunderstand; I didn't scarf things if I wasn't hungry. I just refused to pass up an opportunity if I was. When I was full, I had to fight the urge to hide food away for a rainy day.

I did manage to tuck a small peanut butter jar into my sock drawer, though. I felt better with it there.

I didn't need it right then, though. I'd missed dinner, and I was feeling it now. My tail swished as I caught up with Douglas. "Awesome."

Adam

Adam couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.

It started when Leo pulled Adam to the yogurt shop earlier. A gut feeling when he walked out the door had given him pause. It wasn't weird anymore. He had that sensation at random over the past few days. His eye was always drawn to an animal of some kind. A bird, usually. A cat today. Harmless creatures just hanging around the home, living their lives, but Adam found himself watching them all the same. Whatever the problem was, it usually faded after an hour or so.

Not this time.

The sun had set, the cat was gone, and Adam felt like he was being watched.

Adam was quiet when he wanted to be. Mr. Davenport made sure to teach them how to sneak the right way, and Adam put that training to good use now. He crept through the house, a flashlight in hand as he searched each floor for a threat. He didn't want to wake anybody up; he had annoyed them enough today by following them around, asking if everyone was okay. Mr. Davenport had even gone so far as to kick Adam out of the lab earlier as he could work in peace.

Everybody said they were okay, but Adam couldn't shake his paranoia. Something was here. Something was watching. He couldn't prove anything, but he just knew it. Adam let out a sigh, walking into the kitchen with light steps. If he was right, and something was here, then he had to stay awake. He'd already lost one brother on his watch. He wasn't losing anybody else.

Adam ran a hand down his face, squeezing his burning eyes shut for a second. He hadn't found any reason to worry, despite his unease. No spooky shadows were walking around, no Krane or Douglas breaking in, nothing. He didn't know what was wrong with him. He just sensed something out there.

Sighing again, Adam turned his light towards the kitchen counter only to suck in a breath at a flash of motion. He raised his fist, ready to face –

It was a gecko. The little thing sat on the counter, watching Adam with its shiny eyes.

Adam dropped his fist, letting the breath go. He reached for the banded creature. "Hey, buddy. How'd you get inside?"

The gecko scurried away from Adam's fingers, flicking its tongue out to touch his skin.

After a second, Adam pulled his hand away. Maybe the lizard didn't want to go back outside. "Okay, you can stay."

The gecko tilted its head like it understood him. Adam fought the urge to reach for it again. Instead, he set the flashlight down on the counter and reached for the fruit bowl. He didn't know what geckos ate, but apples were healthy, right? He nudged the flashlight so that he could still see the gecko before he turned around to the kitchen sink. A quick wash later, and the apple was ready to go. Adam twisted the apple in half with his hands, lifting his half up and biting it. Holding it in his teeth, Adam broke off a small piece of the other half and turned to his house guest, setting both on the counter to free his hands. A couple of seconds passed before the gecko snapped the food up, its tongue flicking out to lick its face a few times.

Adam bit a chunk off his apple as the gecko watched him. He could swear he saw it smile. Swallowing his own bite, Adam tore off another bite for the gecko even as he shivered.

Adam couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.