Excerpt from The Stray, a romantic paranormal suspense novel, available at Fictionwise and Amazon featuring the demon, Edya

A long howl split the night, two voices, one leading. Ro and

Con. Nick pushed with both paws. Chanah landed flat and Nick

jumped over her, a vanishing gold flash in the silver light of porch

and moon. She’d bitten her tongue. Chanah tasted her own blood

and raised her head to see Edya, eyes glowing in the light from the

porch. Chanah shook her head to clear it. “What happened?”

“It’s not safe to touch a werewolf on the full moon. The instincts—

running, hunting prey, killing things, being free. You

held onto him.”

“He bit me.” Chanah’s tongue grew thick and sore.

“The bites bind you both. I could free you if you want.” The

demon shivered and rubbed bare arms. From the ground Chanah

found herself too aware, the demon’s shining skin. She wondered

how it would feel to run one finger from bare shouldered bodice

top down past the demon’s elbow to the wrist.

Shit, Edya’s getting to me! “Uh, are you doing something on

purpose here or is it an accident?”

Edya’s delicious pomegranate smile never reached the eyes.

“Maybe you’ve just discovered your true sexual orientation. It’s

been known to happen.”

Fear, a thin knife-edge. Edya’s magic, too effective. Right now

Chanah wanted nothing more than to kiss those red lips, touch

Edya’s skin. “Oh, cut it out. If you have to be seductive, at least

be a man about it…for my sake.”

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Edya’s smile was real this time. “If I turned myself into your

dream man, you’d never resist me. Even as Ro’s dream woman,

I’m doing a good job.” She ran a pale index finger down from bare

shoulder to wrist, just as Chanah had imagined doing.

Chanah blushed. Dream man—still Nick.

The demon’s look softened and she swatted at some insects

buzzing past, attracted by the porch light. The mundane act eased

the effect she had on Chanah. “Don’t feel bad, sweetie, it’s because

you’re so psychic. Demon magic affects you more. Doesn’t mean

you desire me. Although if I weren’t with my she-wolf I’d love to

give it a try. If you’re willing and not pining for Nick.”

“The minister at my old church called me demon possessed.”

“No, you’re not. Although I’m sure many incubi would love to

possess your sweet psychic ass. I do apologize for entrancing you.

I’ll try to tone it down. The full moon affects me too, I think.”

Raw, turned inside out and exposed. “I’d rather be a demon

like you than a human like the minister.”

“You’ve had a shock, Witch Daughter. Let’s get you inside. Too

much moonlight’s not good for little psychics.” Edya helped Chanah

up with a strength at odds with her delicate appearance.

Once inside, Edya found some ice cubes in the kitchen and

used half in a plastic bag to soothe the bump on Chanah’s lip and

the other half to mix up a stinging frozen margarita batch with

four fresh squeezed limes, powdered sugar, a shameless amount

of triple sec and tequila.

Chanah wasn’t sure who supported who when she brought

Madame Zola down for a little nightcap.

Madame Zola demanded to know what had happened and

eyed Edya askance until Chanah explained. “You always did make

a good margarita, Eddy,” she conceded after she’d taken the first

sip, giving Edya a softer look.

“This is fun,” Chanah said. The bumped lip not the only reason

she slurred—Chanah dabbed at Nick’s bite with a tissue, getting

an odd thrill each time she touched it. The first bite hadn’t

170 The Stray

been this intense, so sexual. No foreplay with this one.

Somehow, she, Edya and Madame Zola got to playing Go Fish,

which, given Chanah’s restricted upbringing, turned out to be the

only card game she knew. She won, though. Pretty good, considering

the stories about gambling with the devil, or a demon.

The demon’s drunk. Chanah watched Edya sway. Wait. Chanah

steadied herself on elbows, and the other woman continued

to wobble. Good. Chanah threw down the cards. The game had

gotten too hard. “I quit.”

Drinking seemed to have loosened Edya up, so maybe she

could ask some real questions without getting a sexual whammy.

Madame Zola might help, too. She must know something.

Chanah liked Edya, but she wanted to know just what danger she

represented. “How did you get here?” Chanah asked. “Were you

born to demon parents or did someone summon you?”

Edya stopped pouring herself another drink and just stared,

expressionless.

Madame Zola grinned. “You always told me you were summoned

by an evil mage, Eddy. True?”

Edya relaxed and took a big swallow. “Yes. The human made

me his slave, forcing me to punish those who displeased him.

Many years later he died and I became free.”

Chanah pushed for more. “What was it like where you were

before?”

“A big blue nothing. Different from here. My first clear memories

are from the years I served the mage after I left that realm.

Some recollections are not pleasant. The things the mage did to me

and made me do to others would not please you, Witch Daughter.

Not self aware—an animal or maybe an infant—after he died, I

roamed the world, forming attachments where I might, always

trying to avoid sucking my lovers dry.” Edya’s gaze focused on

Madame Zola. “I couldn’t stay too long with any one person. I

had no wish to leave corpses behind. Once I had three human

lovers together and they stayed with for me for many years until

they died—human age.”

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“You loved them,” Chanah said.

“I love them all. Edya looked away from Madame Zola and

down at the drink. She took another swallow. “They are the lighted

matchsticks I hold to heat my heart, and I am the cold coins

weeping over their eyes when they are dead.”

“Wow,” Chanah said. It seemed very profound somehow,

but she couldn’t make the mental connections with everything

so margarita-fuzzy.

Edya’s eyes looked huge.

Madame Zola guffawed. “Count me out, Eddy. I never did

get your poetry, and I don’t want any coins unless you give them

to me now.”

“You’ll have to win them, fair and square,” the demon answered,

indicating the playing cards on the table.

“Uh-uh. No more Go Fish for me. I’m not used to staying up

so late. I’m off to bed.”

Chanah didn’t like the way Edya affected Madame Zola. Anger

and loss had appeared in Madame Zola’s voice. “Do you want

me to help you up the stairs, MZ?”

“You’re in worse shape than I am, Dearie.”

Madame Zola’s chuckle made Chanah feel better, like everything

might turn out all right. Staying here, Nick nearby,

blunted the fear.

Mustn’t forget someone hates me.

“Eddy, you big womanizer, behave yourself around Chanah!”

Chanah watched Madame Zola progress up the stairs, telling

herself she could be coordinated and fast enough run and catch

the older woman if she fell. Just drunk enough to believe it.

Edya didn’t look at Chanah, stared hard at the abandoned

Go Fish hands.

Chanah poked a finger at Edya. She wanted the demon to

talk. Maybe she’d get all flowery again. “Wait a minute. If you

need more than one, how can you be exclusive with Ro?”

“I pick someone who doesn’t matter—someone I won’t want

172 The Stray

long term—and get them off. Make them think they dreamed

it.”

Chanah leaned forward and put a hand on Edya’s wrist. “Ro

knows?” Chanah couldn’t imagine Ro sharing a lover with others.

Information came. “She knows. It’s how she got pregnant?”

Edya snatched her hand away. “Stay out of my brain, Witch

Daughter!”

Unbalanced, Chanah fell off the chair. The demon sounded

scary. Pulse racing, Chanah tried to apologize, but it came

out slurred around her cut lip and they both giggled as Chanah

struggled back into the chair.

“So you’re the daddy.” The demon, easier to read than most

people. Even drunk, Chanah had to work at not reading Edya’s

thoughts.

“The daddy is someone who doesn’t matter,” Ro said. “I became

a woman with him and a man with Ro. Sperm passed though

demon methods is always viable always makes a baby no matter

if the woman is a werewolf. I’ve made a human woman quicken

with frog’s get.” She frowned. “It wasn’t pretty. The man who

summoned me here used such games to punish his enemies. It’s

the magic.” She beamed. “Thanks to me, this baby will be perfect,

no matter what genetic incompatibilities or faults the other

two parents may have.”

Chanah remembered Nick’s fears that Con was the father.

“What if the parents are brother and sister?”

The demon turned pale. “I swear to you, I didn’t. I appeared

to the brother, Con, as a dream one night before I knew Ro and

I were serious, but ever since that I take my snacks outside the

house. And I do not make accidental babies. The magic must be

deliberate and careful. This baby’s father is a pretty man with

hair and eyes like Ro’s. Not the beautiful brother with black hair

and milk skin. Not the blond brother either.” She shot Chanah

a sharp look.

Chanah shivered. “That’s not what Con thinks. Now I understand

my vision from my first day here. Con remembers Ro’s

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scent on his pillow along with sex traces. He thinks that he is

somehow Ro’s baby’s father. It’s tearing him up inside. You still

haunt his dreams.”

The demon gasped. “I went from Ro’s bed into Con’s so I

could have Ro again next day without putting her in danger from

my hunger. I forgot the werewolf senses. He would scent Ro on

me, on himself the next day, but I leave behind little trace, even

to a werewolf’s nose. Oh, Chanah, not in a hundred years have I

made such an important error! Ro will hate me!”

“You have to tell them both what happened.”

“Who asked for your advice, psychic?”

Chanah and Edya glared at each other.

“You did,” Chanah gasped. “At least, I know, you meant

to—”Th

e demon giggled, then looked at Chanah again, intent.

“Soon our wolves will return. You have given me unasked for

advice like a true meddling friend. Now I will give you the same.

Nick, you love him.”

Chanah opened her mouth to protest, but the demon waved

a hand for silence and went on.

“I’m not psychic, but I know he desires you. I’m sure you will

be in each other’s arms soon with such hunger on both sides. But

he is not human, and psychic or not, you have human strength,

human tastes, human intelligence. He is not like you. His instinct

in a fight will always be to dominate.” She smiled, looking reminiscent.

“You do not strike me as the submissive type. I fear he

will break you, little Witch Daughter.”

“Nick’s not like that. Not like—” Just in time Chanah bit

back the words. No need to let Edya know Nick didn’t seem as

committed to the established pack pecking order as his sister. If

it got back, Ro might see it as disloyalty.

“I killed many humans before I understood my needs and

how they affected my lovers. Some I killed at my old master’s

command; some in my own blundering way. I may kill again

someday if I forget my lessons or become enraged. Your Nick

174 The Stray

has it in him to be a killer also. Ro feels responsible for your

Nick and all he does. Ro expects him to obey her as if she were

God’s own angel.”

“Nick has to work hard to control his instincts. But he’s not

a killer.” Chanah paused. “I don’t think he’s the submissive type

either, no matter what Ro thinks.”

“Indeed. But that is between them. I have no desire to stick

my fingers into this particular pie. Nor should you. They might

be bitten off.”

Raw and angry, Chanah took a big drink of slushy Tequilaflavored

ice at the bottom of the glass. “More friendly advice?”

“Yes.” Edya spoke without sarcasm.

Edya—trying to help. Sentimental tears pricked at Chanah’s

eyelids. She blinked and snuffled into a paper napkin. “Well,

thanks. I’ll think about that.” She grinned. “You should start

a fertility clinic. Give the couples harmless vitamins or something,

then visit the women in their husbands’ forms and get

them pregnant.”

“You forget, I appear as someone’s dearest wish. Few dream

of husbands. If I took another form I’d be blackening their consciences.

I’m careful not to offend the church sacraments. Just in

case. If I exist might not angels also? And God? I have no experience—

God or Satan. I’ll not sleep with those I know are married,

if I have any choice.” She dimpled. “I usually do have a choice.”

“I bet.” Chanah found herself smiling too.

“Theology aside, it never seemed sporting to take some poor

man or woman’s only lover when I can catch anyone on my little

hook.”

“Is it little…when you’re a man, I mean?” Chanah—shocked—

flirting with Edya.

“Not unless that’s what my partner looks for in a lover.”

“What do you look for?”

“I like them to be alive.”

No kidding. Chanah rolled her eyes.

“I am not joking. The life burning inside interests me. The

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soul’s force. Sometimes it comes with youth and beauty, sometimes

not. Zoey—your Madame Zola is a unique essence. Ro burns

with life like no one I have ever seen. Ro’s art and her werewolf

nature combine to make an incandescent flame. I am her moth.

She is strong-willed and prickly, but she has what I need in abundance.

Her heat is life to me.” Edya’s expression saddened. “I like

my lovers to be alive because I am not.”

“You eat and breathe. You look alive.”

“Ah, but am I? Or is this body with its heartbeat, breath and

blood just a pretty trap to lure in food—a meat-eating jungle

flower? What am I, Witch Daughter? Tell me.”

“Well.” Chanah tried to sort the thoughts. “You have a mind.

You decide your own actions. Your body appears to breathe. Your

heart beats. That’s all I can know for sure about anyone, myself

included. I’d say you’re as alive as anyone else.” She took a deep

breath. “Just different. Really different,” Chanah guffawed, drunk

and amused at being treated as an oracle by Edya.

“Why you—!” Edya picked some slush from her drink and

flung it at Chanah. Some landed on Chanah’s neck, and she shivered

at the delicious feel, the ice melting against Nick’s bite.

Edya stared. As if propelled, she stood and glided toward

Chanah. “Your craving,” Edya whispered, almost against Chanah’s

lips. “It calls to my hunger.”

Edya’s breath flickered warm on Chanah’s mouth.

Chanah gasped and stood, knocking over the chair. They

locked gazes.

Chanah’s heart, trying to escape her chest. “It’s not you,”

Chanah managed to say.

The demon’s lips brushed Chanah’s again.

Chanah jerked her head to the side. Somehow it seemed

wrong to step away, an admission that might trigger the hunter

in Edya.

“You deny this yearning for your Nick, and now it’s almost

too strong for me to resist,” Edya purred in full seduction mode.

She whispered in Chanah’s ear, “Have a care, Witch Daughter.

176 The Stray

We both have much to lose if this game is misplayed.”