“You need not look so wary—this is merely a courtesy, not a plea for your help again. My contacts in Paris inform me that since no serious contenders for the position of Venediger have come forward in the duly allotted time, and as you are determined to refuse any nomination should that eventuality materialize, I am assured of victory. I wanted you to know that I appreciate you stepping aside in order to allow me to take the role for which I was intended.”

I opened my mouth to tell him I was not stepping aside in order to help him when it occurred to me that he was just too pat, too slick. I had the distinct feeling that for some bizarre reason, he was manipulating me into opposing him. “Good luck with the job,” I said, biting back all the responses I had wanted to make. I swung open the door in my mind and took a good long look at him before saying good-bye and walking out to the park across the square.

Peter Burke looked exactly the same as when I had seen him in Paris—utterly the same, in fact. It finally dawned on me what was wrong with that.

“I don’t understand what the problem is,” Rene said five minutes later as he returned from the garbage can where he’d dumped Jim’s offerings. “Why is something bad with this mage?”

“Everyone looks different somehow with Guardian vision,” I said slowly as we headed back to the parking garage. Nora walked alongside me, frowning slightly. “Everyone, with no exceptions. Usually it’s just an aura, but sometimes you can see hidden features or entities tied to a person.”

“I, for instance, look a hundred times more handsome, especially now that I have this tooth fixed,” Jim said, charging forward at a lull in the traffic. We followed.

“How do I look different?” Rene asked as we turned in the parking garage.

I smiled. “You’ve got a slightly golden aura around you. I never thought much about it before, but now ... well, now I know.”

He winked to let me know he understood what I wasn’t saying. I had no idea whether Nora had heard the guard at the Guardians’ Guild say that Rene was immortal, but I wasn’t about to spill his secret if she hadn’t. “Nora has a rose-colored aura. Drake and the other wyverns are surrounded by coronas of dragon’s fire.”

“So when this man, this mage who would be Venediger, does not look different at all. ..” Rene cocked an eyebrow at me.

“It means something is up with him. I just wish I knew what.”

“Does it really matter, if you have no intention of interfering with matters in Paris?” Nora asked as we approached the car.

“I suppose not. It’s just something odd, and I have enough oddness in my life right now. I’d like a little normalcy for a change.”

“Speaking of the oddness—you did not tell me what you intend to do with the demon lord who wishes you to join him.” Rene unlocked the car doors for us.

“Ugh. Him. Keep stalling, I guess. I’m great at stalling. I’ll just keep putting him off until he gives up on me and goes on to something else.”

Nora looked worried. “If he has gone to the trouble of locating you twice, he probably is serious in his desire for you to join your power to his.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen. Trust me, I know people. If you stall them enough, eventually they give up. Since demon lords were once human, he’s bound to be the same.”

“Hmm.” Nora didn’t look convinced. My attention, however, was on other things.

“I’d say I’m sorry again about everything, but you’re probably sick of hearing it.” I gave a decidedly wry smile. “But as it is, I am really sorry about everything. What do you think the chances are of an appeal?”

“I’m not sure. No one has ever had to appeal this sort of thing before.”

“At least you were not pushed out from the guild, eh?” Rene said, obviously trying to look on the bright side of things. He held the door open for Nora and Paco. “And Aisling, she was not forbidden from joining?”

“No, but only because they can’t refuse admittance because my application was accepted before they had any anti-demon lord rules in place. Oy. What a nightmare.”

“It’s not as bad as it seems.” Nora patted my hand as I climbed into the taxi and sat next to her. “Yes, I’ve had my mentor status stripped from me, but as Rene said, I wasn’t kicked out of the guild, and there is always the appeal process. I have no doubt that once I have made my case, the guild will have no choice but to reinstate my title.”

“I hope so. I think it’s pretty evident to everyone that I need as much training as I can get. How long do you think the appeal process will take?”

“Up to two years,” she said calmly as Jim jumped into the front seat next to Rene.

“Two years!”

Her smile was surprisingly calm and without a shred of accusation or disapproval. “Don’t look so appalled. We will continue as we are, Aisling.”

“But... you could get kicked out of the guild.”

“Perhaps. But that’s a chance I’m willing to take.”

“But. ..”

“No, no buts.” She laughed at the look on my face. “Aisling, I’m paying you the highest compliment I know, and you’re looking at me as if I’ve asked you to suck lemons. Stop worrying about things beyond your control, and focus on the job you must do.”

I wanted to argue with her that I wasn’t going to let her take a fall for me but reminded myself in time that I was there to learn from her. She was a big girl. If she didn’t think there was a problem with continuing to teach me, then I needed to trust that she was right. I took a couple of deep breaths to calm my agitated brain. “OK. I’ll let that go for now. And you’re right; I need to focus. I can do this. I’m a professional.”

“You’re good enough, you’re smart enough, and doggone it, people like you!” Jim said in its best Stuart Smalley impression.

“Only the fact that I’m going to ritually sacrifice you in a half hour is saving your butt,” I told it.

“Can we reopen that topic of discussion?” Jim asked. “Cause I’m really not comfortable with the whole idea. It’s like something Lucy on crack would think up. The only thing missing is the demented chocolate-making assembly line.”

Nora and I ignored Jim to go over once again our plans for the imps.