Snippet from The Trouble with Demons

Derek & I will be leaving this morning to go out of town for the weekend to have a Christmas visit with my side of the family. I'll be back Sunday evening, but while I'm gone I won't have Internet access (yes, I can feel the withdrawl twitching coming on now). In case some of you didn't get over to The Book Smugglers on Monday to read the following snippet from The Trouble with Demons, here it is. Enjoy! And I'll be back to blogging on Monday morning.

Knowledge about demons came in three varieties: legend, rumor, and fact.

Demonologists knew the facts; the rest of us floundered with legends and rumors; none of them were pleasant, and each of them was more gruesome than the one before. The rumor that would probably be making the rounds on campus within the hour -- if it wasn't already -- would have nothing to do with fact, and everything to do with horny college students looking for an excuse. Whether demons liking virgins was fact or fiction didn't matter. I'd be willing to bet that the number of virgins among Mid's student population was suddenly going to skyrocket. And every last one of those kids would be desperate to lose their apparently forgotten virginity as quickly as possible to ensure protection against the demons. I wondered what new pickup lines they'd be using. Help me; I'm a virgin.

With the impending increase in fake virgins, I was really glad I'd already secured the help of the real thing. I think. Piaras still wasn't happy about his role in our little expedition. And I didn't think his opinion was going to change anytime soon. Especially since Talon had already heard the one about demons and virgins.

Talon's grin was full of fang. "Well, I'm safe," he was telling Piaras. "I'm probably one of the safest people on this island. Hell, I'm probably demon repellant." His grin broadened. "Are you safe?"

It was obvious that Piaras didn't want to answer that question. "Not exactly," he finally said.

"Piaras, either you're safe or you're not. There's no gray area here. Which is it?"

I'd listened long enough. "Everyone is safe. Regardless. The island is crawling with armed Guardians. Everyone will be safe."

Talon's grin never wavered. "But are you sure of that?"

"Yes."

"Absolutely positive?"

I glared at him.

"When there's a danger, shouldn't you take every precaution?" he asked innocently, his aqua eyes wide.

I added a growl to go with the glare.

"I'll be helping Raine," Piaras said between clenched teeth.

"Helping?"

"Because I'm . . ." Piaras really didn't want to say the word.

"Not safe?" Talon said helpfully, grinning from ear to pointed ear.

"No, I'm not safe!" Piaras snapped. He turned on me. "Now everyone's going to know!"

Talon snorted. "Everyone already does."

Piaras actually snarled at me.

Talon clapped him on the back. "Not a problem. I know some ladies who can get you safe real quick. Though if you're looking for a freebie, you and Katelyn could help each other out. She's definitely not safe."

Piaras blushed scarlet. I smacked Talon in the back of the head. Topic closed.