With one eye trained on the digital clock next to the bed, I shoved my feet into some light blue mules, ran a brush through my hair, and stroked some mascara onto my eyelashes.

I never got ready this quickly, but today I had incentive, and the whole process took less than three minutes. Didn't matter. I could tell the second I raced into the kitchen that I'd taken too long. Way too long.

"What the hell is this?" Stuart said. He was standing just inside the pantry, so I couldn't see his face, just part of his arm and the back of his head.

His voice didn't help me, either. He sounded vaguely mystified, but that could as easily be a reaction to a new brand of cereal as it was to a dead body behind the cat food. If he was questioning my switch from Cheerios to Special K, then That's an incapacitated demon, dear. I'll get rid of him by morning That's an incapacitated demon, dear. I'll get rid of him by morning would be an entirely inappropriate response. would be an entirely inappropriate response.

I'd sprinted across the room, and now I put a hand (wifely, supportive) on his shoulder and peered around him into the pantry. As far as I could tell, there was no visible demon. Just dozens of trash bags blanketing the small room.

Big relief. relief.

"Um, what's the trouble?"

"This mess," he said.

"Yes, right. Mess." I was babbling, and I stood up straighter as if good posture would force more oxygen to my brain. "Allie," I said, jumping on my first coherent thought. First Brian, now Allie. Had I no shame? "I'll talk to her about this tomorrow."

I could tell he wanted to belabor the point-my husband is a total neat freak-so I urged him out of the pantry and shut the door. "I thought you were fixing the window."

"That's why I went looking for the trash bags," he said with a scowl. "Rain."

"Right. Of course. I'll bring you some." I pointed to the clock. "Thirty minutes, remember? Less now."

That got him moving, and in a whirlwind of male efficiency, he had the broken window covered in under fifteen minutes. "It's not a very attractive job," he admitted, finding me in the living room where I was arranging the tiny quiches on our tangerine-colored Fiestaware platters. "But it'll keep the weather out."

But not the demons. I fought a little shiver and glanced in that direction, but all I could see was thick black plastic. I made a face and tried not to imagine a horde of demons crouched below the windowsill, just waiting to avenge their compatriot.

Enough of that. I forced the thought away, then stood up and surveyed the rest of the room. Not bad. "Okay," I said. "I think we're ready for battle. If we can keep everyone corralled in the living room, the den, and the dining room, I think we'll be okay."

"Oh," Stuart said. "Well, sure. We can do that."

Warning bells went off in my head, and I thought of the piles of sorted laundry in the upstairs hallway, the disaster area Allie called a room, and the wide assortment of plush animals and Happy Meal toys that littered the playroom floor. Also, I was pretty sure the CDC wanted to quarantine the kids' bathroom, hoping to find a cure for cancer in the new and exotic species of mildew growing around the tub.

"You want to show someone the house?" I asked, in the same tone I might use if he'd suggested I perform brain surgery after dessert.

"Just Judge Larson," Stuart said, his voice losing a bit of steam as he watched my face. "He's looking to buy a place, and I think he'd like the neighborhood." He licked his lips, still watching me. "I'm, uh, sure he won't mind if the place is in some disarray."

I raised an eyebrow and stayed silent.

"Or we can do it some other time."

"Yes," I said with a winning smile. "Some other time sounds fine."

"Great. No problem."

That's another thing I love about Stuart. He's trainable. "So who's Judge Larson?" I asked. "Do I know him?"

"Newly appointed," Stuart said. "Federal district court. He just moved up from Los Angeles."

"Oh." Keeping track of all the judges and attorneys that cross Stuart's path is next to impossible. "You can show him the kitchen and the study if it's important to you. But don't take him upstairs." I bent down and moved the fruit plate slightly to the left, so it lined up nicely with the row of forks I'd set out.

We didn't decide whether a downstairs tour was on the agenda or not, because that's when the doorbell rang. "Go," I ordered. "I still need to put out the wineglasses." I started running down a list in my head. Appetizers-check; wine-check; napkins- Oh, shit. Napkins.

I knew I had cocktail napkins somewhere in this house, but I had absolutely no idea where where. And what about tiny plates for the appetizers? How could I have forgotten the tiny plates?

My pulse increased, gearing up to a rhythm that more or less mimicked my earlier heart rate when I'd fought the demon. This was why I hated entertaining. I always forgot something. Nothing ever went smoothly. Stuart was going to lose the election, and his entire political demise could be traced to right here. This This moment. The night his wife completely screwed up a dinner party. moment. The night his wife completely screwed up a dinner party.

And forget using demons as an excuse. No, I would have forgotten the napkins and plates even without Pops. That's just the way I- "Hey." Stuart was suddenly beside me, his lips brushing my hair, his soft voice pulling me out of my funk. "Have I told you yet how amazing you are, pulling all this together on such short notice?"

I looked up at him, warmed by the love I saw in his face. "Yeah," I said. "You already told me."

"Well, I meant it."

I blinked furiously. My husband might be the sweetest man on the planet, but I was not not going to run my mascara. "I don't know where the cocktail napkins are," I admitted, sounding a little sniffly. going to run my mascara. "I don't know where the cocktail napkins are," I admitted, sounding a little sniffly.

"I think we'll survive the tragedy," he said. The doorbell rang again. "Pull yourself together, then meet me at the door."

I nodded, calmed somewhat by the knowledge that my husband loved me even though I was a total domestic failure.

"And, Kate," he called as he moved toward the foyer, "check the buffet, second drawer from the left, behind the silver salad tongs."

Clark arrived first, of course. And while he and Stuart did the political he-man thing-dishing about the upcoming campaign, bitching about various idiocies being implemented by the newly installed city council-I took the opportunity to round out my role as a domestic goddess. And while he and Stuart did the political he-man thing-dishing about the upcoming campaign, bitching about various idiocies being implemented by the newly installed city council-I took the opportunity to round out my role as a domestic goddess.

I hauled out the cocktail napkins (right where Stuart said they'd be), brought in seven wineglasses (I'd used the eighth to kill the demon), and checked on the dessert.

Throughout all of this, I kept looking toward the flimsily repaired window, half-expecting to see a demon army come crashing through. But all seemed quiet. Too quiet, maybe?

I frowned. On a normal day I'd say I was being melodramatic. But I no longer knew what normal was. For fourteen years, normal had been diapers and bake sales and Bactine and PTA meetings. Demons-especially the kind that are ballsy enough to just out-and-out attack attack-were not normal. Not by a long shot.

And yet years ago, that had been my life.

It wasn't a life I wanted back. Wasn't a life I had any intention of letting my husband or kids see.

But here that life was. Or, rather, there there it was-in my pantry, dead behind the cat food. it was-in my pantry, dead behind the cat food.

It wasn't the dead demon that bothered me so much (okay, that's not entirely true), but it was its words that had really thrown me-You may as well die, Hunter. You surely will when my master's army rises to claim victory in his name.

I rubbed my bare arms, fighting goose bumps. Something was happening here, something I didn't want to be a part of. But want to or not, I had a feeling I was already in it up to my eyeballs.

"Katie?" Stuart's voice drifted in from the living room. "Do you need help, sweetheart?" Elizabeth Needham, another assistant county attorney in Stuart's division, had arrived a few minutes ago, and now she and Clark and Stuart were doing the war-stories thing. Stuart's offer was genuine, I'm sure. But I could tell from his tone that he was also voicing a request that I get my butt in there and join them.

"I've got it, hon," I said. "I'll be right there. I just want to call Allie and say good night."

Stuart didn't answer, so I couldn't tell if he thought that was odd or not. It was. Allie stayed with Mindy and Mindy stayed with us on such a regular basis that Laura and I were basically surrogate parents for the other's kid. I knew Laura would call if anything was out of the ordinary.

Reason, however, was not part of the equation. I wanted to talk to my daughter, and I wanted to do it right then.

I dialed and waited. One ring. Two rings. Three, and then the familiar click of Laura's answering machine. I waited through the message, tapping my fingers on the counter as Laura spelled out her family's vital statistics-name, phone number, can't get to the phone right now, yada yada-and then finally I heard the high-pitched little beep. "Laura? You there? Give Cary Grant a rest and pick up. I want to tell Allie something."

I waited, still tapping on the countertop. "Laura?" I stopped tapping, noticing that I'd now chipped the manicure that had managed to survive a demon attack.

Still no answer, and I could feel that cold rush of panic growing in my chest. Surely demons hadn't gone after my daughter. . . .

"Come on, girl," I said to the machine, fighting to keep the panic out of my voice. "I need-"

I shut my mouth and my eyes, exhaling deeply as I realized what a fool I was being. Not demons. Ice cream Ice cream. Makeup might keep Mindy occupied for hours, but my daughter was a different breed. Forty-five minutes, tops.

"Never mind," I told the still-open line. "Just have Allie call me when you guys get back."

I checked the clock. Seven-ten. If they went to the mall, they wouldn't be back until at least eight. I could keep my paranoia in check for fifty minutes.

Stuart stepped into the kitchen just as I was hanging up the phone. "Anything wrong?"

He said it in a tone that suggested he almost hoped there'd been some horrific tragedy-because that would explain why his hostess wife was camped out in the kitchen ignoring her guests.

"I'm sorry." I slammed the phone down. "Just mommy paranoia."

"But everything's all right?"

"Fine," I said brightly. He was angling for an explanation and I didn't have one to give. The oven timer dinged and I lunged for a hot pad. Saved by baked Brie.

I'd just slid the Brie onto a plate and passed it off to Stuart when the doorbell rang again.

"Well," I said. "We'd better go see to our guests."

I led the way out of the kitchen, my baffled husband following. In the living room, Stuart slid the plate onto the coffee table next to the fruit as I breezed past on my way to the front door, an efficient hostess smile plastered to my face.

I opened the door to reveal one of the most distinguished men I'd ever seen. Despite his years-I guessed he was at least sixty-he had the bearing of a self-confident forty-year-old. His salt-and-pepper hair gave him an air of distinction, and I was absolutely certain that this was a man who never second-guessed his decisions.

"Judge Larson," Stuart said from behind me. "So glad you could come."

I held the door open wider and ushered him in. "Welcome to our home. I'm Kate, Stuart's wife."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my dear," he said. His voice had a gravelly Sean Connery-esque tone. I may be only thirty-eight, but I'll confess to a tiny bit of debonair-lust. I could only hope that Stuart would be that sexy and sophisticated when he hit sixty.

"You have a beautiful home," he added. We were still in the entrance hall, and as he spoke, he was passing me, close enough that I could smell the cologne he'd apparently bathed in. I wrinkled my nose. Sexy, maybe. But I think age must have degenerated his olfactory nerves.

And that's when I caught it-a foul, garlicky stench hidden under wave after wave of Old Spice. Holy shit Holy shit.

Forget attraction. Forget sophistication. Forget the fact that I had a party to host.

The judge in my foyer was a demon-and there was no way he was getting out of my house alive.

Three.

Instinct and long-ignored training took hold, my muscles springing into action. I twisted at the waist, planning to kick back and ram my heel into the demon's gut. took hold, my muscles springing into action. I twisted at the waist, planning to kick back and ram my heel into the demon's gut.

I didn't make it.

At the same moment that my foot left the floor, common sense flooded my brain, and I jerked to a stop. Too late Too late. My sudden shift in direction threw off my equilibrium, and I landed with a plunk plunk on my rump, the ceramic tile cool through the thin material of my dress. on my rump, the ceramic tile cool through the thin material of my dress.

Stuart cried out my name, but it was Judge Larson who bent down and extended a hand. I stared at him, blinking, mentally reminding myself that I had demons on the brain and not everyone who desperately needed a Certs was Satan's henchman.

"Mrs. Connor? Are you okay?"

"Fine. I'm fine." Wary, I took his hand, encouraged when he didn't immediately yank me to my feet and try to rip off my head. That had to be a good sign, right?

With Judge Larson holding my hand and Stuart gripping my elbow, the men helped me to my feet. "I'm so sorry," I mumbled, my cheeks on fire. "I must have slipped on something. I'm terribly embarrassed."

"Please," the judge said. "Don't be."

By this time, Clark and Elizabeth had come in from the living room to see what all the commotion was about, and two more guests were coming up the walkway. How lovely. The entire gang was there to witness my mortification.

I tugged my hand free from Larson and focused on my husband. "I'm okay. Really."

The worry I saw on Stuart's face appeased my fear that my acrobatics had made a farce of the evening. "You're sure? Is your ankle sprained?"

"It's fine fine," I said again.

It wasn't fine, of course. It wasn't fine at all. For all I knew, I was about to serve my famous rigatoni (famous because it's the only dish I do well) to a demon. And right at the moment, I had no way to confirm Larson's humanity.

I cast a sidelong glance Larson's way as Stuart led us all toward the living room. I'd figure it out, though. He couldn't keep his identity from me forever.

And if Larson turned out to be a demon, then there really would be hell to pay.

"More Brie?" I held the tray in front of Larson, leaning forward like some little flirt showing off cleavage. If he wasn't a demon, he probably thought I was hitting on him. Stuart, bless his heart, probably assumed I was having a psychotic episode. I held the tray in front of Larson, leaning forward like some little flirt showing off cleavage. If he wasn't a demon, he probably thought I was hitting on him. Stuart, bless his heart, probably assumed I was having a psychotic episode.

But I was determined to get another whiff of the man's breath. At the moment it was all I had to go on.

"No, thank you," he said as I inhaled through my nose. No use. He'd already helped himself to quite a bit of the Brie, and now the pungent cheese odor masked whatever other stench might linger on his breath.

Frustrated, I slid the Brie back onto the table and took my seat next to Stuart. He and Judge Robertson, one of the late arrivals, were deep in a scintillating discussion of California's three-strikes law.

"So, what do you think of three strikes?" I asked Judge Larson. "I'm all for it," I went on, "except for those truly evil creatures that just deserve to be taken out, no matter what the cost." I could see that I'd caught Stuart's attention, and he was looking at me with some surprise. His platform was tough on crime, but not that that tough. tough.

"Vigilante justice?" Larson asked.

"In certain circumstances, yes."