Kane stepped into the foyer, dropped his large, leather carry-on bag on the ground, and shrugged out of his coat.
“You were away?”
“And evidently desperately missed.” He hung his coat in the front closet.
I smooched his cheek. “I pined.”
He swatted me off of him. “Troweling it on implies you want something.” He shoved his bag at me.
I lugged it up the stairs. “Where were you?”
“Mongolia.” He stopped inside his doorway, causing me to walk into him. He rolled his eyes with an aggrieved sigh.
“Why?”
“Caught some rays in the Gobi Desert, kicking my Seasonal Affective Disorder in the ass.” He unzipped the carry-on. “Why do you think?”
“If you’re going to be sarcastic, dude-who-isn’t-supposed-to-be-on-active-duty, I won’t give you this prize mystery to solve.” I shut the door.
Kane raised an eyebrow at that, then went into his bathroom to unpack his toiletries bag. “Mongolian Death Worm.”
I planted my hands on my hips. “They shouldn’t have sent you. Do you feel okay?”
He dismissed my concerns with a wave of his hand. “My poison trumped his. They needed me and I was happy to get back in the field. Besides, my salt levels tested back within normal range.”
“So it’s less coding, more killing, now?”
“I like coding.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Offsets the high burn-out rates with our bunch, but, yeah. Something like that. Now, what’s the mystery, Velma?”
Had he called me Daphne, I’d have protested, but I’d always liked Velma. The show had just caught her at an awkward stage. “Keep an open mind.”
Kane walked back into the bedroom. “You’re up to something involving either witches or the Brotherhood and you don’t want either aware of what you’re doing.”
My mouth fell open.
Kane chuckled. “Tell me if I’m getting close.”
I crossed my arms. “Lucky guess.”
“Aww.” He patted my head, then continued unpacking, tossing clothing from his bag into his hamper. “Pique my interest or leave.”
I searched his face, my gut saying it was okay to trust him, but my paranoia forced me to swallow a few times before I was able to get the words out. If I was crossing one of Kane’s lines with this, what would he do? Jettison me or throw me to the wolves? “You need to come down to the Vault.”
I would have really enjoyed the dumbfounded look on Kane’s face at the sight of the gogota had there not been so much on the line.
The demon sat placidly in the corner. Between his already-weakened state and all the iron in here, we didn’t even need to strap him into the iron chair.
Kane crouched down beside him. “How did they get the spine on him?”
“That’s part of what I want to find out. These modified gogotas were used in two attacks that I know of. One on me and one on Dr. Gelman, the witch who gave me Ari’s induction ritual. If I’m correct, the Brotherhood was behind them and the spines are how they’ve gotten the demons to do their bidding.”
“You think they’ve figured out how to bind demons?” Kane whistled. I was profoundly grateful that he didn’t question the idea that the Brotherhood would stoop to such a thing. “When were you attacked?”
“In Prague.”
He crossed his arms. “So Ro and Drio know about this?”
“Just Rohan.”
“And Ari?” His voice was as tight as his jaw.
“He’s not a fan of my theory.”
He didn’t speak for a very long moment.
I wiped my sweaty palms on my thighs. Twice. Fuck it. If I couldn’t trust anyone, I was going to go insane. “Get everyone and meet me downstairs. It’s time for a debrief and I need you all there. Okay?”
“Okay.”
I only crossed two sets of fingers that I didn’t live to regret this.
Looking around at the four of us in the kitchen: me, Ari, Kane, and Rohan, I was reminded of the quote about how three people could keep a secret only if two were dead, and wondered if maybe I needed to take some of them out.
“Nothing goes farther than this group.” I trusted the nods I got.
Marginally.
I started with Ari’s first failed induction ceremony and Rabbi Abrams getting me to contact Dr. Gelman, through trying to find the witches and up to Baskerville and the spell with the missing ingredients. I’d brought a bottle of blue nail polish with me so I’d have an excuse not to look anyone in the eye as I spoke, but the story took so long that I was finished painting all of mine and was on to Rohan’s second hand before I’d caught everyone up.
“Oy vey,” Kane said, sitting on the counter and swinging his legs. “You’ve been busy.”
I nudged my brother’s foot. He’d apologized to me for his earlier comments but I wanted a clear declaration of his standing by my side. “You onboard?”
Ari toyed with the handle of his coffee mug. “I won’t interfere. For now.”
How magnanimous.
“Kane, I need you to find those ingredients,” I said. “Check the database.”
“I’ll whip up an algorithm.”
“Okay?” I nudged Rohan.
He nodded, examining his nails. “Needs a second coat.”
I shook the polish up, giving Kane a stern look. “No one can know that you’re looking into this.”
“I’ll be a ghost in the system.”
“No showing off and leaving a sneaky signature or Easter egg or something in there either,” Ari said.
Kane waggled his fingers at my brother. “Ooooo,” he said in a scary voice. He did it two more times until Ari laughed and called him an idiot.
Ari wasn’t laughing when he spoke to me. “Even if you find a spell to test the spine and it shows what you’re hoping, that’s not proof that the Brotherhood is behind it.”
“Let’s worry about that when we come to it,” Rohan said. “Nava, promise me you won’t do any spells without me there.”
Every fiber of my being screamed “no.” It didn’t matter that still believing this goal was mine to prove and mine to handle was immature, especially considering that I’d called this meeting. And sure, there was something really comforting about having all these guys in my corner, not to mention that this thing had spiraled beyond my capabilities. It’s just that the self-reliance and self-protective instincts I’d honed over the past couple of years were hard to shake.
“I promise,” I said. “Meantime, Ari and I will stick with our investigation.” It was doubly imperative if the Brotherhood was keeping tabs on my and Ari’s progress.
The meeting broke up after that. I pulled Rohan aside. “You and Ari okay now?”
“He apologized.” That didn’t answer my question but whatever. They were big boys.
“Don’t smudge your nails,” I called after him, answering my phone without checking who was calling. “Hello?”
“Hey, Avon.”
I lowered my voice. “Hi, Cole.”
“Did I catch you at work?”
“Yeah.” I headed into the farthest back corner of the kitchen, one eye on the door. “What’s up?”
I turned on the tap so the water would drown out the conversation.
“Just wondering if you wanted to get together tonight.”
“Oh. Uh, well, I promised Ari I’d go out with him tonight to Electric Sands. Playing wingman. Woman.” I facepalmed.
“Ah.”
The silence ate at me. As did lying to him. “But it probably won’t go too late,” I said. “How about I call you after?”
“I’d really like that.”
“Me too.”
Half an hour at the club that night and I was already three G&Ts in. Drink one was purchased and consumed upon seeing the line of cages suspended over the dance floor that contained contortionists twisting themselves into pseudo-lewd positions with each strobe of the giant silver disco ball. All the perform
ers dripped with ennui. Quite the emotional conveyance when one’s foot was wrapped around one’s head.
Drink two: the sleek, beautiful clientele, not to be outdone in world-weary cynicism.
I jabbed at my ice with the straw. “The pretension levels in here are puckering my anus.”
Leo wiggled her hips to the Arabic-infused electronica pulsing over the speakers, whose curling horns and sinuous percussion conjured up warm nights in a Moroccan town on the edge of the Sahara. “Eye on the goal, Nee.” Hers were on Kane and Rohan, ensconced on a couple of sofas in a far corner.
My oh my, did those boys clean up well.
Kind of. Kane sported red skinny jeans with a white shirt featuring a hideous zebra pattern which he’d paired with a red tie. I wished I could dissect his brain to better understand the thought process that went into his clothing choices.
Then there was Rohan, in dark wash jeans, a navy pinstripe vest, white and navy plaid shirt, cuffs rolled up to his elbows, and a dark fedora perched jauntily on his head. His clothes molded to his every muscle, almost like a sentient being doing its damnedest to keep earning Rohan’s approval by showing him off in the most flattering light.
Drink three, right there.
Leo snickered at my blatant ogling. “How goes things with Le Mitra?”
I wrinkled my nose, stirring my drink. I’d invited her along to offset the testosterone when Ari brought the other men along as props. Just a bunch of friends going out in a group. When she poked my side, determined to have an answer, I regretted the invitation. “Ancient history.”
She made a mocking sound. “When’s Drio coming back?”
“Please find another guy to mack on and rethink this possible demonicide.” Ever since Leo had met Drio, she’d been bugging me to hook them up while I’d done everything in my power to keep them apart. This girl had a death wish because if Drio found out about her halfie status, he’d dust her in a heartbeat, and I wanted no part of it.
My bestie licked her lips. “I’m sure it would be worth it.”
I munched on some ice. “True. He knows his way around the female body just fine.”
Her head whipped toward me. “You say that with such certainty, why?”
Right. I’d never actually told her about my little make-out session in Prague. I slid small snapshots of the victims showing them in happier–read: alive–times out of my purse. “Must work.” With that I scampered off, ignoring her demands to “get back here.”
Since the bartender and I were old friends by now, plus I’d been tipping like a baller, she was happy to take a look at the pictures, but the only person she recognized was Max. Even Mara didn’t look familiar, though if she’d only ever been here once or twice there was no reason for her to stand out.
Sulky dancers, men in metrosexual cologne and pricey suits, burly bouncers, no one yielded any results. Ari and I leaned against the second floor railing, surveying the club.
“Now what?” I asked.
“I dunno.” He stole my gin and tonic away from me and finished it off. “The patrons here are so slicked up that any of them could be an incubus or succubus. No one person stands out.”
“They’re all working what their mama gave ’em. Wanna do one more tour of the place?”
“Sure. But let’s get another drink first. Props make for a good cover.”
We hit the bar up on this level since it was less crowded. Leo was chatting with Kane, her hand on his arm and the tilt of her head making her seem particularly small and cute. Her bite-sized snack look. Her wisp of a dress didn’t hurt her appeal.
Even Team “Up With Dicks” Kane was enjoying flirting with her.
I’d just taken the first sip of my new drink when Ari elbowed me in the back. “Goblin.”
I spat out G&T, shooting a panicked look at Leo. “What?”
He motioned to a short, red-haired man headed our way.
“Because he’s a short ginger?”
“That and he’s doing a shit job of glamouring his ears. Look at the tips. A bit too pointy.”
The goblin raised a hand in greeting at someone. My best someone who’d just smiled back at him, from where she stood next to Kane: the man who Ari had said spotted everything, who was the go-to guy to take out death worms, and who had zero compunction jettisoning flotsam.
I shoved my way down the bar and spilled my drink all over Kane’s abomination of a shirt.
“Oops,” I giggled, swaying.
He grabbed a cocktail napkin and dabbed at the cloth. “You’re a menace.” No, I was a godsend, saving Leo, and providing a service to humanity in destroying that shirt.
Leo stared at me in confusion until the goblin joined our party.
“Leonie,” he said. “Long time no see.”
“No way,” Ari breathed, his head swinging between the two of them.
Kane shot Ari a puzzled look. He turned in the direction Ari was staring and–
I stumbled against Kane, knocking him backwards.
Kane bitched about me being a crazy person and elbowed me out of the way. “If I don’t get to the bathroom and rinse this, this silk is going to be a write-off.”
I babbled profuse apologies as I helped him through the crowd.
The second the restroom door shut behind him, I raced back to the bar, practically tossing people out of my path. The goblin was gone and Leo and Ari were engaged in a game of Am Not/Are Too.
“Nava,” Leo said through clenched teeth. “Ari is high. For the last time, I am not a mythical creature.”
Ari inspected my bristling friend from head to toe. “No. You’re not a goblin.”
“Told you.”
“You’re a PD.”
“Fuck you, I’m not practice.” Leo clapped her hand over her mouth.
I muscled in between the two of them. “Here’s the thing.”
My brother swung his too-calm gaze my way and I wondered if perhaps I should have spilled that drink over his shirt instead. No, I was reasonably certain Ari wouldn’t kill Leo.
In public.
I threw my hands up. “Surprise?”
“It doesn’t change who I am,” Leo said.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked me.
“I only found out when Leo and I reconnected a couple months ago and to be fair, she had her reasons for not telling us in high school.”
“Thank you,” Leo said.
Ari pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re the snitch, aren’t you? That’s how Nee and you reunited.”
“Told you he wasn’t just a pretty face,” I said.
“I prefer informant.” Leo jabbed him in the chest with her finger. “I work part time as a P.I. for a mostly demon clientele to fund my crim degree.” She jabbed him again and he swatted her hand away. “I passed on a ton of good intel to Xiaoli when he was still based here, so back off.”
“Ace,” I warned, “no one can know about Leo. Xiaoli may have recognized her worth and allowed her to live–” Leo flinched, but it was what it was. “But other Rasha won’t be so understanding.”
“My silence has a price. Point out all the demons in this club.” Ari pulled out his most commanding tone.
Leo wasn’t fazed. Guess my brother’s menace didn’t scare someone who’d been around for the three months of squeaky cracking when his voice was changing. “It doesn’t work that way.” She reapplied her lipstick. “I’m not some kind of Hellspawn detector and we don’t have secret handshakes.”
“Sucks for you,” Ari said, downing the last of his drink.
Leo grabbed his hand, pressing it against the kill spot on her left hip.
I swallowed my “eep” and even refrained from knocking his hand away, recognizing that this was Leo’s to have out with Ari. Maybe she could get some iron plating, though. Just in case.
“Dust me or shut up already,” she said.
“There a problem?” Kane leaned his elbow on the bar.
Ari tore his hand off her.
L
eo smiled up at Kane. “Nothing a drink can’t fix.”
“My pleasure.” He waved at the bartender to get her attention, then looked at Ari. “Twin the elder? You look like you could use a couple of drinks yourself.”
Tight-lipped, Ari shook his head and strode off.
Leo squeezed her fist twice at me. Our code for someone being a giant douchebag.
Not entirely sure which Katz twin it was directed at, I shot her an apologetic look and hurried after my brother, catching up to him halfway down the stairs. “Why are you so mad? She’s no different than she’s always been.”
Ari stopped on the last tread so abruptly that I ran into his back. “It’s only going to be so long before she turns on you for her own ends,” he said.
“She’d never.”
He shook his head, his eyes hard in the club’s low light. “How much intel have you handed over to her? Fuck, Nava. What have you done?”
“I’ve reconnected with my best friend. Your friend, too.”
“She’s a demon.”
“She’s Leo.” He opened his mouth to argue and I held up a hand. “Spare me the ‘Rasha and demons can’t be friends’ bullshit. I’m familiar with the party line. It’s up there with women can’t be Rasha. The Brotherhood has laid down a lot of absolutes that–”
“Not now,” he said.
“Yes, now. You and I are going to have this out.”
He clasped my shoulders and spun me around. “Mara’s roommate, Daniel. Three o’clock. Talking to sex on a stick.”
Smoldering dark eyes, lush red lips, stubble meandering into beard territory–I swear Cuntessa whimpered. My hips involuntarily thrust forward, my body’s attempt to get closer to this stranger’s orbit. “Yum. And he could be Arab.”
Though if he was an incubus, why was he hitting on Daniel?
The sexy man smiled wickedly at something that Daniel said. The punch from that was like being railroad spiked with lust. “Definitely an incubus,” I said through gritted teeth.
“He’s something else.” I thought Ari was saying that in admiration, until I took in the tight strain in his muscles and the slight flush on his cheeks. He literally meant this man was some other type of demon because he was affecting the both of us–and Daniel–and bisexual incubi were not a thing.
The Unlikeable Demon Hunter Collection: Books 1-6: A Complete Paranormal Romantic Comedy Series Page 73