Read Online Dark Currents by Jacqueline Carey - Free Book Online Page B

ever. I just had to know whether or not it was true. And it doesn’t summon him to the mortal plane, in case you were wondering. I’m not that stupid. It’s more like . . . Skyping with the infernal realm.
    The problem was that Belphegor’s idea of fatherly advice consisted of attempting to convince me to invoke my demonic birthright, at which time great powers of temptation, seduction, and destruction would become mine to wield, and men would fall at my feet in supplication and adoration.
    He kind of glossed over the whole part about it causing a full-blown breach in the Inviolate Wall, leading to Armageddon.
    I still hear his voice sometimes. When the wall that divides us is especially thin, my not-so-dear old dad likes to show me what I call temptation scenarios.
    “Daisy?” Cody snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Lost you there for a minute. See you at the station?”
    “Huh?” I shook myself out of my reverie. “Yeah, right. Sorry. I’ll be there as soon as I can tomorrow.”
    I walked the few blocks to my apartment, where I was surprised and pleased to find Mogwai waiting for me. I spent a few minutes scratching under his chin while he purred and regarded me with a cryptic look; then I filled his bowl. Too tired to bother with cooking, I microwaved a bowl of ramen noodles for myself—hey, when you’re in your twenties, that’s a perfectly acceptable dinner—then sat down with Mogwai on my futon to watch some mindless TV.
    At a little after nine, my phone buzzed. I glanced at it and picked up. “Hey, Jen.”
    “Hey, Daise.” My best friend’s voice was listless. “I just wanted to call and see if you were okay.”
    “I’m fine. Just tired.” Tucking the phone under my chin, I picked up the remote and muted the TV. “What’s up? You don’t sound good.”
    There was a silence on the other end. “I don’t want to bother you. You’ve got a lot going on.”
    “You heard?”
    She gave a faint snort. “Are you kidding? Who didn’t?”
    “Well, then you know I can’t talk about it, so you might as well tell me. What gives, girl?”
    “Nothing.”
    I stroked Mogwai. “Jen.”
    She sighed. “Cody Fairfax called to apologize for leading me on last night. He actually gave me the whole ‘it’s not you; it’s me’ shtick. Can you believe it?”
    “Maybe it’s true,” I said.
    Another silence, longer than the first one. When she spoke, there was an edge of suspicion in her voice. “Did you say something to him?”
    “Jen—”
    “Don’t fucking ‘Jen’ me! I know you’re working with him now.”
    “It’s just . . .” I made a face. This would have been a lot easier if I could have told her the whole truth. “Yeah, okay, I told him you needed someone stable, someone you could depend on. And that if he wasn’t going to be that guy, if he wasn’t interested in a real relationship, he shouldn’t mislead you.”
    “You don’t know what might have happened! You had no right!” Her voice dropped. “But you’re not exactly a neutral third party, are you? You’ve got your own reasons for warning him off me.”
    “Don’t—”
    “Oh, fuck you!” She hung up the phone.
    I tried calling back, but she wouldn’t pick up. Guilt pricked my conscience. I cared a lot about Jen. She’d been my best friend for a long time, my only real friend in the ordinary mundane community. Ever since I’d helped her out with her sister, Jen had had my back, defending me through thick and thin. She’d put herself on the line for me more than once. In the cutthroat world of teenagers, that was a big deal. There were times in high school when I might have gone full-blown Carrie-at-the-prom if it hadn’t been for Jennifer Cassopolis; and yes, that’s another movie Mom and I watched together. Call it a cautionary tale if you will.
    Crap.
    Jen was right: I wasn’t neutral. She knew me too well, and I hadn’t kept my secret as well as I’d kept Cody’s. And it was stupid, because based