“Nope,” I said brightly.

She sighed. “You’ll get tired of traveling eventually.”

Not likely. I glanced at the open door behind me, then back at my phone. “How’s Uncle Jack?”

Flopping back against the sofa behind her, she groaned. “He’s gonna get himself killed.”

My eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

“He went and—ah!”

The video spun wildly as she almost dropped her phone. She righted it, revealing Socks standing on her lap, ears perked toward the device.

“Hello, Socks,” I cooed.

Her green eyes stared unblinkingly into the camera as though chiding me for being gone so long—or chiding me for taking her favorite demon away.

“What did Uncle Jack do?” I prompted anxiously.

“The MPD hired him.”

“What?”

“Yeah, as a special consultant for all the new Demonica crap.” Amalia rubbed Socks’s ears. “It leaked out that no one can summon demons anymore, and shit’s getting weird.”

“They’re only figuring it out now? It’s been four months.”

“Yeah, but summoners are cagey, you know? None of them wanted to admit they’d lost their touch. They were all feeling out their competitors and making excuses to their clients and stuff. It took a while for everyone to catch on that summoning was ‘broken’ for all of them.”

“Hm. What’s that got to do with Uncle Jack, though?”

“Summoners are getting desperate, so they’ve started experimenting and combining summoning rituals with other magic, that sort of thing. Dad is helping the MPD crack down on it before it gets out of control.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah. Who knew he’d ever put his shady talents to good use. He figures it’ll all die down in a year or so. Just gotta wait for them to give up.” She smirked. “We could speed up the process by telling MagiPol that summoning is done for good, but Darius says they’ll figure it out on their own and he doesn’t want to draw attention to you. Especially after … everything.”

“Everything” being the charges of illegal Demonica activity and accusations of an illegal contract. But Zylas’s disguise had paid off. In the battle for the Crow and Hammer, dozens of witnesses had seen me—but not my demon. Unable to confirm I’d done anything illegal, the MPD had dropped the charges against us.

“I’d rather not have any more MPD attention,” I agreed. “Being responsible for the end of Demonica isn’t something I want on my permanent record.”

“Right? And speaking of the end of Demonica, Dad has this theory that once contractors realize they can’t replace their demons, they’ll be way more careful with them. Which means more demons will outlive their contractors and get to go home.”

“That would be good. It’s crazy to think that eventually there will be no more demon contractors.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” She ruffled Socks’s fur as the near full-grown cat sprawled across her lap. “Good thing that’s not the family business anymore, right?”

Chuckling, I glanced again at the door, gauging the level of light. “I should get going.”

“Yeah, suppose I should too. My new fabric order came in, so I might as well pick it up right away.”

New fabric? That pretty much guaranteed Amalia would get absorbed in sewing and be late for the party.

“You’ll call me next week?” she asked.

“As soon as I’m back in cell phone range.”

She grimaced worriedly. “I can’t believe you’re just going to wander off into a jungle for a week. That’s insane.”

“We aren’t wandering. We’re going to see Angel Falls.” I arched my eyebrows. “The tallest waterfall in the world, remember?”

“How impressive is a waterfall, really? Is it worth all that time picking leeches off your ankles?”

“I have anti-leech socks. And yes, it’ll be worth it.”

“You gonna climb one of those tipis?”

“Tepuis,” I corrected.

“Yeah, those tabletop mountain things you were telling me about.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll let you know next week. Talk to you later.”

“In a week,” she agreed. “Oh, and don’t forget to email Zora back. She said Drew and Venus are driving her crazy asking when you’ll be home so you can all get together.”

“I already emailed her. They just want me to bring Zylas over so they can interrogate him.”

“Of course they do,” she said airily. “Not every day you can have a conversation with a demon.”

I snorted. “That wasn’t your attitude when you first found out Zylas could talk.”

She waved my remark off. “All right, get going. And say hi to the horned asshole for me.”

I ended the call and tucked my phone in the waterproof pouch in my backpack. Then I swept the final item to be packed off the desk and hurried through the open door.

A covered lanai waited, thin log columns supporting the roof. Beyond the railing, a handful of trees with twisted trunks and broad canopies dotted the lush green grass before giving way to the wide, smooth surface of the Rio Carrao. On its far side, silhouetted against the rising sun, tepuis rose from the earth, wispy clouds clinging to their flat tops.

A woven hammock stretched between two columns, a figure reclined in it as golden beams of morning light fell across him. A long, thin tail hung over the hammock’s side, the barbed end twitching lazily.

My bare feet padded across the stone tiles, a smile stretching my cheeks.

Zylas tipped his head back to bring me into view, his crimson eyes glowing faintly and the sunrise lighting one side of his face. My smile widened into a grin as I swept over—and swung into the hammock with him.

His arm came around me as I settled against his side and opened the large photography book. His photography book, each page featuring a different landscape.

And we were going to see them all.

We’d started with the mountain in Oregon, the one I’d promised he could climb. Taped to that page in the book was our photo of the same spot. I was the only one in it—demons, it turned out, were too magical to photograph properly—but Zylas had snapped the photo with my camera and he was just as present as I was, even if he wasn’t visible.

A handful of other photos were taped to their respective pages, and I had piles of notes in my grimoire/journal about where we’d go next.

Uncle Jack had finally released my inheritance to me, and he’d taught me how to invest my money—legally invest it. I hadn’t wanted to hear about his more “creative” ventures. Between my parents’ life insurance, the sale of my childhood home, and the MPD bonus I’d gotten for slaying Tahēsh, I was set for a long time.

Which was good, because I didn’t want to worry about employment. Zylas and I had far too many places to see—including today’s destination.

I held up the landscape book. At the bottom of the page, small text read, “Salto Ángel, Venezuela.”

“Are you ready for this one?”

“Hnn.” He canted his head. “It is tall. Will we climb it?”