Forsaken (43 page)

Beck
was
sure of one thing—the demons were taking too much of an interest in Riley, calling her by her name. Hellspawn didn’t do that as a rule.
Maybe I should tell Stewart. Maybe he would know what’s going on.

But if he did it’d only add to Riley’s long list of troubles. Before Beck could make a decision, the master’s phone began to buzz inside a coat pocket.

He pulled it out, frowned, and opened it up. “Stewart.”

Beck turned his attention to the hole in front of him. One of the trappers told him that the Geo-Fiend had thrown Riley into this very pit. That same trapper hadn’t known how she managed to escape, said there was too much smoke to see what had really happened.

Why didn’t the Five kill ya, girl?
There was one possibility, but he didn’t want to think about that. No way Riley would have sold her soul to Hell to stay alive.

He’d thought Harper would keep her safe. He’d been wrong.
What if she’d fallen into that hole and never come out again?

Before he could admit to himself what that loss would mean to him, Stewart limped back.

“That was Harper. The Guild’s representatives are ta meet with the mayor in two hours. We need ta be there.”

“We?” Beck said, caught off guard. “Me too?”

“Certainly. Ya gotta a problem with that?”

Beck heard the challenge and shook his head. “Can’t the city at least wait ’til we bury our dead?”

Stewart huffed. “Of course not. Politicians wait for no man when they can lay the blame on some other poor bastard.”

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

THE DEMON TRAPPER’S DAUGHTER
. Copyright © 2011 by Jana Oliver. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.stmartins.com

ISBN 978-0-312-61478-2

First Edition: February 2011

eISBN 978-1-4299-9284-8

First St. Martin’s Griffin eBook Edition: February 2011