Demon Accords 05.5: Executable (37 page)

“Wow, Ryanne, eh, that’s great,” I said.  She sort of shook my hand, a little awkwardly, and bounced back to her sisters, leaving me standing there, trying to understand what had just happened.

“Hey, D.  We got a problem,” I heard and turned to find Emilee behind me.  “Peter, who was supposed to wash dishes today, called in sick.  The plates are stacking up and your aunt said to grab you before you could slip away,” she said, tossing a white apron at me.  She vanished in a swirl of coffee fumes, filling mugs around the room.

The Sisters Erie were filing past me on their way into the gift shop/witch shop.  Gael tugged my dishwasher’s apron with a wink and a grin and Ryanne was smiling at me as she followed her sisters.

I pulled the white cloth over my head and headed toward my true domain: the land of towering white porcelain and glasswear, of steaming hot sterilizers and rubber racks, thinking that January wasn’t that far off at all. First would come Samhain, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas and finally, boom…January. And along the way there might be some work for Chris and Tanya… work that promised to be, at the very least, exciting. That Caeco and I would get to see each other at this new school and it sounded like Ryanne might even be there, along with what promised to be a whole group of supernatural teenagers. 
Hmm, what could possibly go wrong with that?

“Hey Gill?  Sorry I missed you.  But you’ll be happy when you get this message.  Listen, I’ve spoken with the Sisters.  The bait has wormed her way into a unique situation with our catch. Shouldn’t be too hard to snatch him away from his other choice.  He’s got far more in common with our little Galway girl than a soldier.  I’ll give you more details at our next Circle.”

The End

Author’s Thoughts:

Executable
was a risk.  But I wanted to find out more about Declan and Caeco.  They’ve been lurking in my head since our family visited Ireland two years ago.  I also wanted Chris and Tanya’s fans to get a look at them from another’s point of view.

As usual, Susan Gottfried has had her hands full trying to keep my words presentable.  Any editing errors still existing are my own. 

Once again Ryan Bibby has produced a great little bit of cover art.  My thanks.

Zach and Steve from Kelevra Krav Maga opened my eyes to this deadly Isreali system.  The Sisters Erie were born as characters during an Irish Festival while watching the thoroughly entertaining Screaming Orphans, who I am certain are not witches, although very magical.

Thanks to my fans for staying with the series.
  And thanks most of all to my wife and daughters for all their support and love.

Now on to
Forced Ascent.