Stolen (Edgefield Slayers Book 2)

by Laken Cane

  Her face heated and she turned away from Talon’s hotness and began pacing once again. “Yes. Anyway, how does one paint the barrier with blood? If we can’t use the blood of magics, do we use human blood? Or do we need to sacrifice a goat or something?”

  Talon stiffened and narrowed his eyes. “We don’t sacrifice animals.”

  “Then what?”

  “Human blood would work,” he said, “but we’d need a lot of it.”

  She lifted her eyebrows. “So you’re willing to sacrifice a human but not a goat?”

  “Yes.” Then he shrugged. “We don’t have to sacrifice anyone. We can use the blood of a few people without killing them. But if my city lines break…”

  She closed her eyes. “Then he’ll leave the city and can go wherever he pleases, including the red-dark.”

  He nodded.

  “How long until the lines break?” Asa asked. “Can you tell?”

  Talon stared at his hands. “Maybe a couple of days. I’m surprised they haven’t already.”

  “Shit,” Krista muttered. “That’s not good.”

  “No,” he agreed. “Not good at all.”

  “Is there a chance he won’t realize they’ve broken?” Luke asked.

  “Yeah,” Talon told him. “For a little while.”

  “You can use my blood,” Asa said. “And the blood of my exterminators. They’ll do anything they can to help catch the soul-stealer.”

  Kyle had been carted away only yesterday and almost immediately, Ricci’s Pest Control building had burned to the ground. Asa planned to start his own pest control, and Kyle’s exterminators were going to work for him. There was no competition in Edgefield.

  Krista frowned, unhappy with the thought of Asa being bled, but she said nothing. Still, he caught her frown and snaked out a hand to pull her to him. “How do we do this?” he asked Talon.

  Krista allowed herself to relax against his warm, familiar body. “And when?”

  Barbie opened the kitchen door and hurried in. “Sorry I’m late. Got tied up at work. What are we talking about?”

  Luke poured her a cup of coffee. “We’re thinking about painting the city veil with human blood to keep Vogdris from returning to the red-dark with the stolen souls.”

  She gaped. “Well that’s a new one. You don’t think the humans might object to such a thing?”

  “We’re not going to rush around stabbing people,” Krista said dryly. “Asa has volunteered.”

  Barbie took a sip of coffee. “Of course he has,” she murmured. Then, “Couldn’t we just nab a goat?”

  Krista couldn’t help but laugh. “Talon got upset when I suggested that.”

  “You’re both assholes,” Talon said mildly. “We’ll use Asa and his friends.”

  “It may not work,” Luke said.

  “If there’s a chance,” Asa told him, tightening his arms around Krista, “and if he’s still here, it’ll be worth it to try.”

  “I could use Stella’s help,” Talon said. “I will do the painting, but I’ll need a human to help.”

  Barbie cocked her head. “Is Stella actually human?”

  Krista grinned. “Strangely enough, she is.” But she sobered when she remembered that Stella was pregnant. “Will it be dangerous for her?” she asked Talon.

  He pursed his lips and shook his head. “I don’t see why it would be.”

  “All right. I’ll ask her.”

  “Tonight,” Talon said. “Fifteen minutes past midnight. It has to begin at that time exactly, and it has to finish before one a.m.”

  Krista tilted her head back to look up at Asa, but her question was for Talon. “How much blood do we need?”

  “Four liters.”

  “I’ll bring four men,” Asa said. “You can take blood from four of us, with an extra man just in case.”

  “We have a plan,” Luke said. “And let’s hope Talon’s lines hold to keep Vogdris in Edgefield.”

  Krista had tried to track the soul-stealer. Had tried to feel him. She couldn’t. And if she couldn’t find him in the city, no way could she trail him across the country. If Talon’s lines broke, Vogdris would run. And there wouldn’t be a lot they could do about it. Painting the veil with blood might keep Vogdris from going back to the red-dark, but it wouldn’t help keep him in the city.

  Barbie sniffed the air. “What is that cooking? Chili?”

  Krista grinned. “Maggie is on her way home so Asa made a big pot. Help yourself.”

  She didn’t need to be told twice. “Thanks. I missed breakfast.”

  Luke glanced at his watch. “I have to go.”

  “My mother will be very disappointed that she missed you,” Krista told him.

  He laughed, then walked to where she stood with Asa. She was backed up against the big man and he had his arms around her. Luke didn’t pull her away to kiss her goodbye. He pressed himself against her front, sandwiching her between his body and Asa’s, and he lowered his lips to hers.

  Desire, sharp and immediate, arose in her body. She slid her lips across his cheek and to his ear. “The next chance we get, I want to be naked between you and Asa.” Then she pulled away to see his reaction.

  His smile was slow, his stare dark. “Your first time with two men.”

  She swallowed hard, her heart beating fast, lust tightening her belly. She nodded, her mouth dry.

  He lifted his stare to the man behind her. “You good with that, Asa?”

  Asa’s hand was caught between her body and Luke’s, but he slid it under her shirt and pressed his palm, hot and heavy, against her lower abdomen. “I am.”

  “Oh, my God,” Barbie said. “You are one lucky fucking bitch.” She stood staring at them, her bowl of chili forgotten in her hand.

  Krista leaned her head back against Asa’s chest and smiled. “And I plan to take full advantage of that fact.”

  Luke leaned in and pressed his mouth to hers, slipping his tongue between her lips for a quick taste. Then he pulled away and winked at Barbie. “I think Asa and I would agree that we’re the lucky ones.”

  She could not wait. If Maggie hadn’t been on her way home, she’d have been tempted to go upstairs with them right then—soul-stealing demon be damned.

  “She’s just pulled up,” Talon said, his voice hoarse.

  Luke stepped back and she glanced at Talon. The sudden vision of him tangled up with her, Luke, and Asa was nearly her undoing. She clenched her thighs as heat and pressure grew. “Shit,” she whispered, then pulled away from Asa, hurried to the sink, and splashed cold water on her face.

  Luke pulled open the kitchen door for Maggie and her grandmother, both of whom were extremely pleased to see him. Sunshine and unseasonable warmth came in with them.

  He kissed Maggie’s forehead, then took Beth’s hand. “You both are looking especially beautiful today.”

  Beth preened. “Thank you, kind sir.”

  “You’re leaving?” Maggie asked, disappointment in her voice.

  He grinned, then turned to give Krista a quick look. It was just a glance, but it was full of promise. Then he slipped through the door and was gone, leaving the room a little dimmer without him in it.

  Krista sighed, unable to keep the smile off her face. God, she was happy. Even with the threat of the soul-stealer and her worry over Triganoth, she was happy. She was in love with very different, very amazing men. Maggie was safe. She was lucky.

  Barbie ate her lunch and then went back to the hospital, and Talon followed her out. Asa kept them company as Maggie ate her chili but took a call soon after and was forced to go to work.

  Beth sighed. “I wonder if I could talk your father into letting me have a couple of boyfriends.”

  Maggie grimaced. “Grandmother. Eww.”

  Krista burst into laughter, then dropped a kiss on her mother’s head before she carried their empty bowls to the dishwasher. “You can’t have mine.”

  The doorbell rang, and Maggie jumped to her feet. “I’ll get it.”
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  But before she could leave the kitchen, Krista stopped her. “Stay with your grandma, hon. I’ll see who it is.”

  She wasn’t worried that it was Vogdris standing at her front door—it wasn’t like he’d ring the doorbell. Still, her stomach tightened with suspicion. Strange that the very minute all the men left, someone appeared at her door.

  She looked through the fisheye, then sighed and leaned her forehead against the door. Michael stood on the other side, blotting out the sunshine of what had been, just a few seconds earlier, a beautiful, perfect day.

  22

  “Maggie doesn’t want to see you.” She didn’t open the door but knew he could hear her. “Leave, Michael.”

  “Krista, please. I just…I just need to see you.”

  She frowned. “Me?”

  “And Maggie, too, of course,” he said.

  “Neither of us wants to see you. It’s over. Leave us alone.”

  “Ma?”

  Shit. She turned away from the door to find Maggie watching her. “It’s your dad.” As though Maggie didn’t already know that.

  Michael rapped on the door. “Krista, please. Let me in.”

  Krista clenched her fists so hard her nails bit into her palms. He was putting Maggie through hell, and he had to know that. He was her dad, and no matter what, the girl loved him. She was hurting, and she caved.

  “Let him in,” Maggie said. “I’ll listen to him.”

  Reluctantly, Krista pulled open the door. “Five minutes,” she told him.

  He didn’t take his stare off Krista’s face as he walked by her. “Hi, Maggie,” he said.

  “Hello, dad.” So cool, so hurt.

  He sent his daughter a quick smile. “Could you give me and your mom a few minutes alone, honey?”

  Maggie’s face paled. “What?”

  “You have got to be kidding me,” Krista said. “Are you fucking serious right now?”

  Maggie turned and walked away.

  He realized his mistake. “I want to talk to her too, of course. I just—”

  “Get out,” Krista said. “Don’t ever come near my daughter again.”

  He threw his hands into the air. “Why do you have to be so dramatic? You never could just listen to me. You’re my wife, and I need—”

  She hit him. Balled up her fist and hit him in the face. That one punch opened the floodgates, and then she couldn’t stop hitting him. Low, guttural sounds were coming from her mouth, but she couldn’t stop those, either. They were little pain pockets of sound, slithering from her heart, her brain.

  She was horrified by him, but she was mad at herself. How could she not have seen him for the bastard he really was? How could she have loved him? Who the fuck had she been to live with such an asshole? And to leave Maggie with him, every time she went to work…

  So she hit him, over and over and over. He hit her back, full of frustrated anger, but in the end, his anger was no match for her rage. And if her mother hadn’t pulled her off him, she might have killed him. She’d hit him in the throat without even meaning to, and after that, he was too busy trying to breathe to ward her off.

  Still, he’d gotten in a few good shots, and her lower face was sticky with blood from her busted nose. She could see out of only one eye and her lips were swollen to twice their normal size, but there was no pain.

  “You’re dead now,” Beth yelled, as he hobbled across the yard to his car. “They will kill you, no matter what she says. You’re dead!”

  “Where’s Maggie?” Krista asked, almost unable to speak through her numb lips. She pressed shaking fingers to her nose. “I shouldn’t have done that. Not with her here.”

  “Shh,” Beth soothed, leading her back into the house. “She ran to her room crying. She didn’t see anything.”

  Krista had no idea how they’d ended up in the yard. One minute they were inside the front door, and the next, she was covered in her own blood in the front yard.

  She’d gone a little crazy.

  “Come to the kitchen,” Beth said. “Let’s get you cleaned up and get some ice on your face. It’s a good thing your father wasn’t here, or he’d be in jail for murder right now.”

  But Krista pulled away. “I have to go to her.”

  “Krista, into the kitchen right now,” Beth said, sternly. “She can’t see you like this.”

  Shit. “Yeah. I wasn’t thinking. You’re right.”

  “Almost always,” her mother agreed.

  Krista blew out a bubble of blood when she laughed. “Go check on her. Tell her I’ll be up in a few.” Maggie would understand why. She’d know Krista had beat the fuck out of Michael. She might not know he’d also beat the fuck out of Krista, but she would when she saw her face.

  It hadn’t entered her mind to use magic on the son of a bitch. The wrongness of that was instilled in exorcists from an early age. No magic against humans.

  No matter what.

  Before she reached the kitchen, someone began pounding on the front door.

  Beth jumped. “What on earth?”

  “Cops,” Krista said. She recognized the knock. “Neighbors must’ve called them.”

  “Dear lord.” Beth turned to hurry to the door. “Go on to the kitchen. I’ll handle them.”

  But the front door opened and Asa barreled through the doorway. There were two cops behind him, but he paid them absolutely no mind. “Krista,” he bellowed.

  “Asa?” she said, a little dazed.

  “I called him,” Beth said. “As soon as that no-good asshole showed up. I had a feeling you’d need him.” Then she went to talk to the two policemen.

  Asa took her shoulders and stared down into her face. “Okay,” he murmured. “No more.”

  Krista had never seen such a look of black rage in a person’s eyes. Not even in Talon’s. Talon’s rage was blank and red and messed up. Asa’s was simply…death.

  He didn’t say another word. He walked with her into the kitchen, helped her into a chair, then began to silently tend her wounds. He wet a washcloth with warm water and washed her face, then pulled a first aid kit from the cupboard.

  One of the cops walked into the kitchen, peered at her face, then looked at Asa. “Asa,” he greeted.

  “Jason.”

  “Well.” The cop hesitated. “This situation…”

  Asa dabbed ointment onto her face. “I’ll handle it.”

  “All of it?” the cop asked, finally.

  Asa gave him a nod. “All of it.”

  “Ms. Lennox,” Jason said, “I hope you feel better.” Then he walked away.

  Truth was, she did feel better. But Asa’s darkness was so thick it was choking her. “His girlfriend is having his baby, Asa.”

  “Yeah. And the kid deserves better.”

  “Maybe. Definitely. But—”

  “Krista,” he said gently. “Hush.”

  She sighed. Her face was beginning to hurt, but not as much as her knuckles. She cradled them against her chest, and Asa pulled her hand to him, his eyes growing even colder when he saw her swollen, discolored, busted knuckles.

  “Ma, are you okay?”

  Maggie was there suddenly, peering around Asa’s body to look at Krista’s face. “Oh shit,” she said.

  Beth peered around the other side. “I called your daddy.”

  “Mom! Why?” Krista said. “Why would you do that?”

  “Because that man needs handled.”

  Asa looked at her. He didn’t say anything, probably because Maggie was at his elbow, but he looked at her.

  Beth put her hand to her chest. “Oh,” she said. “Oh my.” Then she stood on tiptoe and waited for him to lean down so she could kiss his cheek. “Thank you for taking care of my babies.”

  “Beth,” he said, “it is my pleasure.”

  He patched Krista up, tucked her into the window seat with her Kindle and a huge bowl of ice cream. Then he kissed her lips, ruffled Maggie’s hair, and left the house.

  And there wasn’t a wom
an there who didn’t know where he was going and what he would do once he got there.

  23

  As soon as Asa left the house Krista got up, tossed her Kindle into the corner and buckled on her belt. She needed to call Stella to set up the veil-painting ceremony. There were demons to slay. Vogdris was still out there, gathering his strength and preparing to attack more children. There was certainly no time to huddle in the corner nursing a bloody nose.

  Asa was a little overprotective.

  Neither Beth nor Maggie told her she should take it easy or rest. They knew she’d been through a lot worse physically.

  “I always had a feeling Michael was abusive,” Beth said. “But you never said a word.”

  “He wasn’t abusive, Mom,” Krista said. “This is the first time we’ve had a physical confrontation. I’m not weaker than he is.”

  Beth said nothing but she didn’t look convinced.

  “I just kicked his ass,” Krista continued. “I’m not going to let anyone abuse me.”

  “He was afraid of you,” Beth said. “That made him hate you a little bit. You were out slaying demons and he had his fingers stuck in mouths all day.”

  “Maybe that’s why he wouldn’t take care of you,” Maggie said.

  “Why is everyone making such a big deal of this?” Krista said. “I kicked his ass.”

  “Because we love you,” Beth said. “And he hurt you awfully bad, honey.” She took Maggie’s hand. “And he hurt Maggie.”

  “Yeah,” Krista agreed. “He did.”

  “I don’t want to talk about him anymore,” Maggie said. “I want to forget he exists.”

  “We can do that,” Krista said, and made sure not to look at the girl. She didn’t want Maggie to see death in her eyes the way Krista had seen it in Asa’s.

  They heard the front door open and then heavy footsteps on the hardwood floor. “Where’s my little girl?” John roared.

  “Uh-oh,” Beth said. “Here comes daddy.”

  Krista went out to face monsters every day. Got her ass kicked by them, was scarred by them, burned, hurt, nearly killed.

  But that was her job, and to her family, it just wasn’t the same as her husband hurting her.