“With a knockback spell.”

“If you don’t have a knockback spell?”

When I didn’t answer, Adam said, “Okay, rule one, and this is going to be really tough for you: Act submissive. Keep the dog in your line of vision, but don’t make direct eye contact. Then put your hands in your pockets and in a firm voice, say no.”

“No?”

“A little firmer.”

I glowered, then did as he said. The dog seemed satisfied . . . that I’d make an easy, nonthreatening target, and staggered toward me, bloody drool trailing behind. I realized then that this pooch wasn’t rabid.

“Um, Adam?”

Creeping up behind the dog, he motioned me to silence. “Those survival tips. Do they work with zombie dogs, too?”

“Zombie . . . Shit!”

The dog spun. Or it tried to, scrabbling awkwardly as it turned around to face Adam. He lifted his glowing fingertips. The dog lunged at him. I dove at it. Adam stepped to the side. The dog kept going, stumbling past him into the office.

We stood in the hall, listening to claws scraping the hardwood, then a thump. The office chair squeaked.

“Think zombie pup’s hungry?” I whispered, thinking of Alston’s bloodied body.

“I hadn’t . . . until you mentioned it. Thanks.”

I slipped past him to peek into the office. I saw the dog, lying in a heap on the floor. Then Walter Alston lifted his head.

“That’s better,” rumbled a voice. The corpse’s head turned, eyeless sockets scanning the room. “Better being a relative term.” It turned toward me. “I don’t suppose you’d care to untie me?”

“Walter Alston?” Adam said, striding past me.

I followed. Even from ten feet away, we could feel heat radiating from the corpse.

“Not Walter Alston,” I said. “And we are so not untying you, demon.”

“A wise choice. I might crawl over and bite your ankles. In case you haven’t noticed, child of Balaam, this body lacks working knees, which is why I inhabited the dog. If I wanted to hurt you, I could simply return to that form. Right now, I would prefer the power of speech.”

“You’re a demon,” I said. “You don’t need working knees to move. And you don’t need me to untie you.”

“Demi-demon,” Adam whispered.

Right. Possessing the living is beyond the powers of most demi-demons. Some can take over corpses, though.

“I’ll untie you if you give me your name and liege,” Adam said.

The demi-demon cocked his head, lips pursing. It wasn’t as simple a request as it seemed. His name could be used to call him again. I was surprised that he seemed to be considering it. Even more surprised when he said, “Kimerion, under Andromaulius.”

Adam keyed the name into the database on his phone, then passed it over to me. When I read the entry, I was a lot less surprised.

Andromaulius was a demon duke in the court of the lord demon Asmondai. Adam’s father. Either this demon couldn’t refuse Adam or he feared it might insult his liege’s lord.

Adam knelt beside Alston’s corpse and untied his arms. The demi-demon lifted his bloodied hands and flexed them, then folded them into his lap.

“If you’re here to carry through on a bargain Alston brokered, you’re going to have to go straight to the source,” I said. “Unless it’s your part that hasn’t been completed, in which case you can probably use his death as an excuse for breaking the deal.”

Kimerion smiled, cracking the dried blood on Alston’s cheeks. “You know all the loopholes, I see. Your mother taught you well. I’m not here to fulfill a bargain. I’m a confederate of Walter Alston. I helped him negotiate his deals in return for certain considerations. A very satisfactory partnership that has now, apparently, come to an end. He tried to summon me, without the proper ritual material, and I only heard him as his spirit was winging its way to the other side.” His sightless eyes traveled across the room. “He did not go easily, it seems. Or painlessly.”

It was a reflection made without pity for his former partner. But no regret either, that he’d missed out on the chaos feast of the death. That was a big deal—demons feed on chaos, particularly the negative variety. So this was a respectful reflection, which was the best eulogy one could expect from a demi-demon.

“You’ll be investigating this, then? You and that . . .” He gave a dismissive wave. “Council.”

“Do you have any idea who killed him?” Adam asked.

“Oh, I know exactly who killed him. I arrived as they were leaving. I found the dog’s corpse—the beast had been poisoned—but by the time I possessed it, Walter’s killers were gone.”

“Did you recognize them? Had they done business with him before?”

“That was the problem—they didn’t do business with him before. They’d asked him to summon a demon, to aid their cause, and he refused. They came back to see if he’d changed his mind.”

“So Alston gets a visit from this ‘Free the Supernaturals’ movement. He refuses to help them. Then the guys come back and do this—?” I waved at Alston’s mutilated corpse.

“Not guys. It was a guy and a girl, to use the vernacular. Or, more precisely, a man and a woman, both being past the age of adulthood.”

“Bullshit.”

“No, I’m certain they were adults. Not much older than you, but adults nonetheless.”

“I mean the part about his killers being activists. People like that don’t do things like this.”

The possessed Alston pursed his lips. “You have a point. Those who argue for their version of a better world never do anything violent. Animal rights activists never bomb buildings. Antiabortionists never murder doctors . . .”

“Check it out. He’s not just a demon. He’s a keen observer of the human condition. So fine, it’s possible these activists would torture and kill Walter Alston. That could be in their nature. But I know what’s in your nature. A serious hard-on for chaos. What better way to stir things up than to set the council on these guys.”

I glanced at Adam for support.

Adam hesitated, then said, “True, but if chaos is his goal, there’s more to be gained from letting their campaign continue. And even more if it succeeds.” He looked at Kimerion. “Why, then, put us on their trail? You might want Walter Alston’s killers caught, but that chaos snack isn’t worth sacrificing the upcoming buffet.”