Demons of Good and Evil

CHAPTER

1

Eden Park's overlook was one of my earliest childhood memories, not in its sun-drenched glory of a summer afternoon filled with dogs and kids cutting loose, but in the dark as it was now, the rumble of Cincinnati's lives muted under the moon's haze, the lights from the distant buildings an inviting glow. Far below and behind me, the Ohio River glinted as if a living thing, a welcome separation between the city and the more . . . unique citizens in the Hollows. Fixed between and overlooking both, Eden Park felt like the middle, which was where I had always been, surrounded by all, never quite fully belonging to either.

My dad had come up here when his choices lay heavy on him, invariably when my mother was at her distracted worst. I'd long been convinced that he had known who and what I was, and lately . . . the thought had occurred that perhaps he had brought me here to sit beside a ley line much as the woodsman had taken his children to the forest, not to leave them to starve, but to find someone who might be able to raise them to their full potential, because to stay ignorant of what I was might be more dangerous still.

Which might sound vain or presumptuous if I wasn't now sitting on that same park bench, staring at a ley line, a demon beside me instead of the man who had raised me as his own.

"My synapses are singed," I complained, and Al's expression became rife with annoyance.

"If you get caught in a circle by some wannabe magic user and can't jump out, it will be more than your head hurting," the demon said, hitting his affected, proper-British accent hard. "You're making us look bad. You are a demon. You should have at least one ley line memorized with which to jump to. That you have to stand within a line and translocate to get to the ever-after is embarrassing."

True, I was a demon, and as Al was fond of pointing out, it wasn't hard to make me vulnerable if you knew how. Just my luck that there was an entire university

Kim Harrison is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Hollows series, including Trouble with the Cursed, Million Dollar Demon, and American Demon. She has also published traditional fantasy under the name Dawn Cook. Kim was born and raised in Michigan and between other projects is currently working on a new Hollows book.

Praise for Demons of Good and Evil

Contains all the magical action, emotional tension, and snippy dialogue that fans adore. Library Journal

Harrison delivers another page turner in the Hollows series, leaving readers wondering how Rachel will emerge from this crisis and which of her allies will survive it with her. Booklist

Longtime readers will be gratified to see both increased momentum in the overarching series plot and callbacks to much earlier installments. This series still has some surprises up its sleeve. Publishers Weekly


Praise for Kim Harrison and the Hollows series

I wouldn t miss a Kim Harrison book for anything. Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series

Blends the best qualities of Anita Blake and Stephanie Plum. . . . Kim Harrison carries it off with style. Jim Butcher, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Dresden Files series

The world of the Hollows is fast-moving, funny, harrowing, scary, and the greatest compliment to a fantasy absolutely real. Diana Gabaldon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Outlander series

Movie pitch: Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Tank Girl. . . . Personal growth, series-altering revelations, and a lot of humor make it inviting. Entertainment Weekly