A Wicked Power

by Bilinda Sheehan

  “I suppose Nic told you my father isn’t really dead?” I already knew the answer. Nic had told me he was going to inform Jason. That protocol dictated he let the other Saga Venatione in the city know about the impending threat. And I’d agreed because it had been easier to go along with it rather than fight him.

  “Yeah he said you had reasonable intel to suggest he wasn’t in Hell.”

  I swallowed past the bitter lump in the back of my throat. I’d spent my entire life grieving the loss of a man who had never truly cared for me—spent my whole life carrying the guilty knowledge that I had murdered him.

  And even though he was back, there was still no getting over the truth. I had sent him to Hell in the first place. Lily’s bitterness toward me over the loss of her father was justified in that respect; I was the reason she’d grown up without him.

  “I need to know what Lily has to say about it all.”

  “You think she knew he was back?”

  “Nothing would surprise me.”

  There was a protracted pause before Jason sighed. “Fine, I’ll have them put your name on the visitor log for tomorrow.”

  “I’d prefer tonight.”

  “Amber, come on. This is already going to be an administrative nightmare to get you on the books. Asking to let you in tonight would be flouting the rules entirely and I’m already in hot water.”

  I thought of a snappy answer but swallowed it back. My mother had always said you could catch more flies with honey instead of vinegar.

  “But you could do it.” There was a wheedling note in my voice and I hated it. I glanced over at Alastor and he shot me a double thumbs-up.

  If ever I needed a morality compass I could always use Alastor. Anything a demon thought was a good idea was pretty much guaranteed to be a terrible idea. But beggars couldn’t be choosers.

  “Fine. I’ll give them a call. But if the answer is a flat no then I’m not going to push it.”

  “Understood,” I said.

  “And, Amber, if I get you this then you owe me.” There was no escaping the edge in Jason’s voice as he said the words.

  “Jason, I—”

  “Do we have an agreement or not?”

  Balling my free hand into a fist, I dug my fingernails into the palm of my hand. “We have a deal.”

  I half expected him to say something else. Instead the line went dead and I was left staring down at the bright screen of my iPhone.

  “Looks like I’m not the only devil you’ve been making deals with.” Alastor’s smug smile sent a shiver of revulsion skittering over my skin.

  But he wasn’t wrong.

  “Well shit,” I said, more to myself than Alastor.

  6

  Jason was as good as his word and an hour later I was sitting behind the wheel of one of the Elite’s SUVs. We pulled into the parking lot connected to the state of the art prison where they kept the preternaturals under lock and key.

  Alastor lounged across the passenger seat, one booted foot propped on the dashboard in front of him. As my headlights swept over the entrance to the prison office, my heart sank as Jason was illuminated in the brilliant white light.

  “Shit.” Reflexively I hit the brakes and the SUV juddered beneath me.

  “This will be interesting,” Alastor said quietly, his eyes fixed on the hunter awaiting our arrival.

  “Maybe I should go in on my own,” I said.

  “Like Hell you will,” Alastor sat bolt upright in his seat and fixed me with his azure gaze. “I’m not afraid of some witch-hunting scum. If he has a problem with me then we can deal with it.”

  “When you say deal with it, do you mean you’ll let him beat the shit out of you so that I end up feeling the brunt of his wrath like you did with Nic?”

  Alastor shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “I’m going to go ahead right now and veto that plan.”

  “Then what do you suggest?”

  “That you wait here while I try and—”

  Alastor was already out of the car and striding toward Jason before I could finish my sentence.

  “Great,” I muttered as I parked the car and slid out from behind the wheel.

  As I caught up to the two men I could see the muscle in Jason’s jaw doing overtime as he squared off against the demon. The blue from Alastor’s eyes was gone, swallowed by the darkness that swirled inside him. But his insufferable grin was plastered across his face.

  “Who’s your new friend?” Jason asked, his voice tight with barely constrained rage as he turned his attention to me.

  “It’s a long story,” I said. “I didn’t think you would be here.”

  “Is that your excuse for bringing a demon to a prison full of preternatural criminals?”

  “I don’t need an excuse,” I said. “Are we going to go in or—”

  Jason’s bark of laughter cut me off before I could get the words out.

  “Jesus you’re serious, aren’t you?” He sobered quickly and his appraising gaze moved between Alastor and me. “Does Nic know what you’re slumming it with now?”

  “They’ve met,” I said wryly.

  “Alastor. Nice to meet you.” The demon next to me stuck his hand out in Jason’s direction.

  The hunter stared down at it with an almost comical expression on his face, as though Alastor’s hand was about to jump up and strangle him.

  Jason grabbed my elbow and towed me away from the entrance to the prison and into the grassy surround that lined the pathway.

  “Have you lost your mind, Amber? You can’t just bring a demon into a place like this. If the others get a whiff of what he is, they’ll—”

  “Wait, why aren’t you overreacting about this?” I shook free of his grip and stared up into his dark gaze. There wasn’t the slightest hint of his Saga power to be seen which surprised me. I’d seen Jason lose his mind over much less. Putting a pureblood demon in front of him should have been enough to send him off the deep end. And yet…

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You haven’t hulked out over Alastor,” I said. “How come?”

  Jason opened his mouth to say something and then paused. He shot a considering look in Alastor’s direction before returning his attention to me once more.

  “I have no idea.”

  “Don’t you think it’s a little odd considering what he is?” Unease spread through my gut. I’d learned long ago not to ignore those kinds of feelings, that to do so would only lead to catastrophe.

  “What does Nic think of him?”

  “He—” I paused. Just what did Nic think of Alastor? He definitely wasn’t a fan of the demon; that much was certain. But for all of his power, Nic had shown great restraint around the pureblood demon. Not to mention the fact that the first time they’d met, Nic hadn’t even known about Alastor’s presence until he’d entered my apartment. Before I’d opened the door he’d been completely ignorant.

  “He doesn’t like him but I can’t say he’s behaving entirely the way I thought he would.”

  The fact that Nic could stand to be in Alastor’s presence at all spoke volumes. There had been a time when he’d tried to kill me at every turn. If I so much as allowed a glimmer of my power to surface he wouldn’t have hesitated in killing me.

  And then it had all changed.

  “Nic shared a piece of his soul with me,” I said.

  Jason’s face twisted in horror as he glanced back at the demon.

  “You don’t think that has anything to do with this, do you?”

  I shrugged. “Can you think of a better reason? I mean before he did it, he nearly killed me. You had to stop him.”

  Jason nodded. “I remember.” There was an odd gruffness to his voice and he was suddenly incapable of meeting my gaze.

  “And now…”

  “I get it,” Jason snapped. “But how can that possibly have anything to do with this?” He gestured to Alastor, who raised his hand and waggled his fingers suggestively in Jason’s direction
. “It’s an abomination.”

  I sighed and pinched my fingers against the bridge of my nose. “I’m not going to argue with you there. But he’s my abomination.” Had I really just defended Alastor? I glanced up half expecting to see pigs streaking across the rapidly darkening sky above. “I suppose it makes sense in a warped kind of way. Nic sharing his soul with me protects me from his power and I share a bond with Alastor.” I shrugged. “I don’t really have a better way of explaining it.”

  “This is a mess. It’s bad enough a shadow sorceress being protected from our abilities but a demon too. The Saga Venatione will flip when they hear about it.”

  “You can’t tell them, Jason,” I said. Panic dug wicked claws into my insides as I saw him hesitate. “You’ll kill him, Jason. You know that. If they find out they will kill Nic.”

  “You’ve put me in an impossible situation.”

  “I didn’t choose this.” I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. “What’s done is done, Jason. And as much as you seem to hate your brother. Could you really live with yourself if you were the reason he was killed?”

  Jason shook his head. “I won’t see him dead.” Relief washed over me, quelling the panic that had threatened to turn my insides to jelly. “But this is too important to keep a secret, Amber. They need to know they’re not protected against demonic attack.”

  “And we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” I glanced back at Alastor. “He has no interest in attacking the hunters. Neither of us do.”

  Jason scrubbed his hands over his face. “Fine. I’ll keep this to myself.”

  “Are we going to go in or dawdle here all night?” Alastor’s voice cut through the air. “I’m all for procrastination when the time calls for it but we’ve got more pressing matters to attend to.”

  “He’s not going in there,” Jason reiterated.

  Alastor flashed him a grin. “Are you going to stop me?”

  Jason’s shoulders tightened and I groaned inwardly.

  Goddess save me from testosterone fuelled macho men.

  7

  Jason grumbled to himself as we made our way through the metal detectors in the main foyer of the facility. I emptied my pockets quickly and slid my gun into the lockable metal tray provided by the guard manning the station.

  “What am I supposed to put him down as?” Jason jabbed a finger in Alastor’s direction as he moved through the metal detector. Despite there being no alarm, the guard still gestured for Alastor to step to the side and submit to being patted down.

  It seemed that even when Alastor was being on his very best behavior, there was still something about him that set humans on edge.

  “Just mark him down as an associate,” I said, peering over Jason’s shoulder at the sign-in sheet gripped in the guard’s hand.

  He huffed out an unhappy sigh but did as I’d suggested.

  I fiddled with the visitor tag as we progressed deeper into the prison, needing something to do with my hands in order to conceal the slight tremor I could feel running through me. Chancing a glance up at Alastor, I noted the way his lips had thinned and the flinching around his eyes as a scream ripped through the corridor.

  “Are you all right?” I asked, nudging him with my elbow.

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” His answer was a little too quick for it to be honest and I quirked an eyebrow at him in response.

  “This place smells like desperation is all,” he said, turning his face away so I couldn’t read the expression in his eyes.

  “I’d have thought a demon would be at home with something like this.”

  “There are some demons who relish the sadistic torture of other souls but I am not one of them.”

  “I thought all demons were the same; blood-thirsty bastards,” Jason piped up without turning around to look at us.

  “Well what you know could fit on the back of a postage stamp,” Alastor fired back.

  Jason’s steps faltered and I swerved to avoid stepping on him as he swung around to face Alastor.

  “You really want to keep up the snide remarks?” Jason asked, colour blooming on his cheekbones.

  “Tit-for-tat.” Alastor folded his heavily muscled arms in front of his chest and proceeded to peer down his nose at Jason like he was examining some new species of bug.

  “Enough of this bullshit,” I whispered beneath my breath, mindful of the cameras that were at that moment turning in our direction. “We’ve got a job to do. The last thing any of us needs right now is to draw the wrong kind of attention to ourselves.”

  Jason sucked in a breath and I half expected him to argue with me. Instead, he let the breath out in a long whoosh and shrugged.

  “Fine. Just keep that thing on a leash, Amber.” He turned and continued to saunter down the corridor.

  Alastor, on the other hand, bristled and opened his mouth to answer before I clamped my fingers down on his arm.

  “Stick a pin in it,” I said, inclining my head in the direction of the cameras. “We’re already drawing way too much attention to ourselves. I don’t want to get stuck in here and I’m pretty sure you don’t either.”

  He glanced up and spotted the flickering red lights from the cameras that were trained on us.

  “Fine,” he said, leaning down so I could hear his barely audible whisper. “But if I ever have the chance to shove that hunter’s head up his ass, I will take it.”

  I shot him a tight smile and released the grip I had on his arm before I followed Jason down the hallway to Lily’s cell.

  The guard standing outside her cell scrutinised us as we approached. As soon as Jason came to a halt next to the reinforced door, the armed guard stepped forward and blocked his approach.

  “And where are you going?” he asked, the barely veiled hostility in his voice took me by surprise.

  “I’m here to speak with the prisoner.” Jason made to move past the guard but the other man shook his head and mirrored Jason’s movements so he remained between him and the doorway.

  “She doesn’t want to see anyone right now.”

  “And since when did prisoners start giving orders?” Jason asked, narrowing his gaze at the other man.

  The guard was tall, his blocky body made all the wider by the special tactical armour he wore. No doubt to keep him safe if the inmates became a little rowdy. The pupils of his green eyes were dilated and tiny beads of sweat stood out in relief against his forehead beneath the black helmet covering his head.

  My gaze slid down to the pulse that hopped in his throat and I felt my chest constrict. It was too fast.

  My eyes shot back up to his face and something akin to terror slid through his gaze as he peered over Jason’s shoulder in my direction.

  “Jason,” I said, grabbing the witch hunter’s leather jacket in an attempt to tug him backwards and away from the man blocking the door.

  “It’s fine, Amber,” he said impatiently.

  It would be all too easy to leave him to his fate. To let the guard—or whatever was now controlling him—teach Jason a lesson in vigilance. But that would mean the guard would inevitably perish and I couldn’t stand by and just let it happen.

  “Jason,” I said again, this time a little more forcefully.

  “What is it?” He started to turn and the guard—or the thing controlling him—saw an opening.

  He tugged the baton from his belt faster than my eyes could follow. He brought it up in an arc and then swept his arm downwards, forcing the baton to extend with an audible snap.

  I shoved Jason into the wall and out of the way of the blow that was obviously intended to cave his skull in. I dived forward, getting as close to the guard as I possibly could. The length of his arm reach meant the baton passed harmlessly over my head. Snapping my arm up, I jammed my elbow into the guard’s arm with enough force to drive his wrist into the cement wall. His bones crunched and it should have been enough to make him drop the baton but whoever was in control of his body had other ideas.

  He
brought his arm around and grabbed the baton with his other hand. I had just a second to register the crackle of electricity that flowed through the baton before he swept it toward my face. I rolled out of the way but it wasn’t enough and he jammed the tip of the weapon in against my collarbone.

  Pain ripped through me as the voltage from the baton coursed through my body. My teeth chattered in my head and the smell of singed skin and hair poured up my nose.

  Power exploded through my chest, the force of it emptying my lungs of air. With my left hand, I grabbed the guard’s throat and drove him back against the wall as I caught the baton with my right and jerked it away from my throat.

  The power growing in my chest sucked the electrical charge down like it was the first droplet of rain at the end of a drought.

  “Help me!” the guard’s lips twisted the words out as I slammed him into the wall a second time and his helmet rattled to the shining tile floor beneath my boots.

  “Eicio!” The word ripped from my lips but it wasn’t my voice but Alastor’s that rumbled through my throat.

  The guard slumped in my grip, his green eyes rolling back in his head as he lost consciousness and slid to the floor.

  “What the fuck was that?” Jason said as the sound of running feet echoed in my ears.

  There was a ringing in my ears and I set my hand on the wall to steady myself as the tiles seemed to shift beneath my feet.

  “He was possessed,” I said. “Or at the very least something was controlling him.”

  Jason bent down and grabbed the keys from the guard’s belt. He wasted no time in jamming them into the lock and stood back as the door swung open to reveal the brilliant white interior of Lily’s cell.

  She lay on the floor at the back of the room, her ankles crossed and her hands clasped together over her stomach. For a moment the breath I’d started to draw in jammed in the back of my throat as I found myself wondering if she was actually breathing or not.

  Lily’s head rolled to the side and she opened her eyes, pinning me in place with her inscrutable stare.