Seeing me hesitate, Pierce frowned, looking between me and the startled gargoyle. "It's but a small thing, Rachel. I'm of a mind to tell you why, just not directly."
"You can be of a mind to tell me now," I said, starting to warm.
My ears popped, and I gasped as Al was suddenly behind Pierce, eyes glowing and white-gloved hand reaching out. Pierce dove for the far edge of the line, but it was too late.
"Rachel, look out!" Bis shouted, and I stumbled backward, falling over my bag, my elbow hitting the cookies. There was a whoosh of air as Bis became airborne, and I looked up at the hiss of the gargoyle, hovering between me and Al. Al's elegantly coated arm was wrapped around Pierce's neck, tightening until his feet dangled. His face went red as he struggled.
Bis landed between Al and me, his wings spread to look bigger since he was too cold to melt snow. "Al!" I shouted, moving forward until Bis hissed at me. "What are you doing?"
Al peered over his smoked glasses at us, his red, goat-slitted eyes delighted. "Getting a better apartment," he drawled, sniffing at Bis in warning.
Oh shit. "Al, you've got to stop doing this," I said, pulse hammering as I shot a glance at the church, but no one was at the windows. "Snatching people talking to me is not fair!"
Al smiled to show his thick, blocky teeth. "So?"
Pierce struggled, his hat falling from him, to vanish before it hit the snow. "Give this no mind, mistress witch," he gasped, face red and feet trying to find the ground. "This seven-by-nine demon is of no circumstance. I'll be—"
Al jerked his arm, cutting off Pierce's words, and I winced. "Busy," the demon said. "You're going to be busy." Eyes on mine, Al ran his hand suggestively under Pierce's coat, and the small man jerked.
"Hey!" I shouted, but Bis wouldn't let me get closer, pacing a line in the snow, his wings spread and placing his feet with an odd stiffness. "Let him go. This isn't fair. We need to set up some rules about you popping in and snagging people. I mean it!"
"You mean it?" Al laughed, shifting his grip until Pierce grunted and went still. "Looks like I don't need my name to find familiars after all," he crooned.
The thought of Pierce on the demon auction block was like ice down my back, but that Al might start popping in whenever he felt like it and snag whoever was with me was absolutely terrifying. "No way," I said, starting to get angry. "I am not going to be your bait. Let him go. If you want him, you catch him the old-fashioned way, but I won't be used like this. Got it, goat eyes?"
I was so pissed I could have screamd. Pierce looked pained at my words, but Al simply laughed again. "Use you as bait? Capital idea!" the demon cooed, then grimaced at Bis, still stalking back and forth between us. "The thought never occurred to me. I simply saw something I wanted and took it." His eyes narrowed. "It's what I do."
"He's worthless!" I exclaimed, almost stomping my foot and not believing him. "Pierce is a ghost. He can't tap a line. You're doing this to irritate me. Let him go!"
A slow smile grew on Al's face, and he fondled the hair about Pierce's ear, making him stiffen. "You don't know who this is, do you," Al said, sending a chill of doubt through me; he was far too satisfied. "There are curses that can cure that tiny little problem of all spirit and no body, and this piece of witchcrap…" Al gave Pierce a shake. "This one here? He is worth a little extra time in the kitchen. It's just a matter of finding the right curse. He's the golden boy, the one who got away, and he's going to pay my bills for the next thirty years."
I clenched my hands, cold in their gloves. Pierce had a history with demons? Damn it! "You know him?" I said, my words a white mist. It would explain why Pierce was so good with ley lines. But he was so nice. He was so…normal!
"I do not practice demonology!" Pierce exclaimed. "Let me go directly, you maggot-ridden piece of sheep liver, or you will suffer a powerful defeat. You're of no circumstance. A second-rate—"
Al flexed his arm, and Pierce choked. "I never managed to actually find this one before," Al said, regaining his usual supercilious air though Pierce dug at his fingers around his throat. "But I've heard of him, itchy witch. Everyone has heard of Gordian Nathaniel Pierce. He almost killed Newt, which is why I'm going to make enough money off him that you can keep my summoning name for the next decade. Someone will pay big for him." His voice lowered. "Even if they do nothing but poke at him."
Not a demon practitioner, but a demon killer, I thought with a weird sense of tense relief. Even Bis looked relieved. I looked at the church, but still, no movement. "Al, you can't take people talking to me," I said, and when Al laughed, I blurted, "Then I'll buy him!"
