by K.N. Lee
“And it would help if you had a receptacle picked out in the other world.”
“A receptacle?”
“You’d be pretty useless as just a soul without a body. You wouldn’t be able to do anything.”
“Your body doesn’t go with you?”
He barked a harsh laugh. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
So what she did was something different, and Diego couldn’t help. And yet, maybe there was something about this spell. “How would you find a receptacle if you’re not already in the other world?”
“Scrying 101, Dr. Hill,” Diego said, a hint of cocky confidence creeping into his voice. “Of course, all of this is impossible without a coven and it would have to be made up exclusively of demons.”
“Well, let’s say I have—” Wait. She didn’t have a coven, but someone might. All those powerful entities at the club. All those parties could be a cover for a supposedly nonexistent entity coven to meet. They just needed a receptacle in her world.
Cold seeped across her skin.
The last party had been three days ago, and the last girl had been found three days ago, as well. The missing demons really were going away, just not overseas. They were world-walking, and the dead girls meant the spell wasn’t working. There was a going-away party happening at the club that very moment.
She raced from the room, ignoring Diego’s yells, and took the stairs two at a time. Seth had to know the receptacles for the world-walking demons weren’t surviving the spell. Did that mean those demons didn’t survive, either? But if that was the case, then he already knew what had happened to his brother.
And that didn’t matter. She could figure out Seth’s involvement later. The demon coven was preparing for another world-walking spell right now. She might have stopped Harry from bringing them a girl a few hours ago, but there was no one to stop him from finding someone else to take her place. If she didn’t stop them now, another girl was going to die.
48
Rowan didn’t expect that sneaking into the entities’ club through the same office window would work, since it hadn’t really worked the first time. But her options were slim. She couldn’t ask Jovkovic for help, since he didn’t know about the murders in her world and likely didn’t believe in world-walking. She might have been able to convince him that the missing demons were being held at the club, but even if he believed that, it would still take time to get a search warrant. And time wasn’t something she had.
She scaled the wall to the second story and eased through the window into the dark office. If she hurried, she might be able to slip past the doorman and disappear into the dark club.
Movement in the corner of the office caught her eye and she froze.
Seth sat in a chair in the corner, wrapped in shadows save for a thin band of moonlight that fell across his face.
“You know, I’m not the only one who will predict your return to the club,” he said. His voice was hushed, barely more than a whisper, and edged with something she couldn’t quite place.
“I’m sure you’re the only one who cares.” She inched around the desk toward the door. Did his presence here prove or disprove his involvement? And if it proved it, how much was this a game just to mess with her?
“I doubt I’m the only one who cares.” But the intensity of his gaze said he wanted to be the only one, the only man.
Desire shivered through her, and she forced the sensation away. There wasn’t time for any games, and yet it was foolish to throw around accusations. He was too dangerous and could manipulate her too easily.
She swore under her breath. Logic and common sense hadn’t helped her in this world, and she was sick and tired of being prey. “Let’s just expedite this conversation. I know what’s happening with the missing demons, and I have no doubts you’re involved. Would you like to come quietly or do I get to sick SWAT on you?”
He chuckled. It was weak, half-hearted. “If that were true, why would I put you on the case?”
“A sick sense of entertainment.”
“You think too highly of me.”
“I don’t think of you at all.”
He raised an eyebrow. “How about I prove my innocence?”
It had to be a game. He was stalling her so the coven could cast its spell and murder another girl in her world.
“I’ll tell you who’s killing the girls in your world.”
“I already know that.” She spat the words at him, her mind screaming at her to stop wasting time.
“The janitor.” He sighed, but it sounded forced. “Do you honestly believe he could think of this by himself? Someone in this world is pulling his strings.”
He leaned toward the desk and submerged his entire face in the moonlight. A thick sheen of perspiration shimmered on his cheeks and forehead. He opened a book sitting on the desk’s corner. She glanced at it but didn’t approach.
He pushed it toward her, leaving bloody fingerprints on the page, then eased back into the shadows.
There, highlighted in yellow, was the scrap of text she’d been searching for. She glanced at the chapter heading at the top of the page. Angelic texts.
“Angelic?” She couldn’t believe the implications. It was impossible for an angel, the representation of all that was good and honest in the world, to be responsible for killing those girls. It was even more horrifying to think the reason was to attempt to bring demons from this world into hers. Azkeel could world-walk. He had to know the chaos he’d cause by unleashing demons into her world.
“Ironic, isn’t it?”
“Not the word I would have chosen.”
“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” he said.
“How generous of you.”
“Azkeel’s only playing angel.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Her gaze shifted to the bloody prints on the edge of the page.
“How powerful do you think an angel is?”
She shrugged, not about to guess. She was tired of games and wished Seth would just give her a straight answer. As if reading her mind, his expression softened.
“Angels can pass as human. They can hide their wings with illusion. An illusion so powerful very few can detect it.” He leaned forward. “Azkeel’s an Avian, a race of entities born with wings. Nothing more. And he feeds off of human adoration.”
“I see.” And she did with sick, gut-churning horror.
“Do you?” Seth asked.
“Yes.” This wasn’t Seth’s game. It was Azkeel’s. She still didn’t understand what part Seth had to play in everything, but Azkeel’s motivation at least made sense — if Seth was telling the truth. There were probably only a few foolish humans left in this world who would mistake an Avian for an angel but in her world…
An angel saving young women from demonic possession would generate thousands of human worshipers.
“If you know all this, why not stop him yourself?” she asked.
“There are some rules even I can’t break.”
“More riddles.” She hadn’t really expected him to tell her the truth.
“God damn it. Only another walker can stop him.” His hand flashed through the beam of moonlight and she jumped back but was too slow. He captured her wrist with his bloody fingers and locked gazes with her. “I’m a member of a dynasty. If I get involved, I start a war. You’re not, so you won’t.”
“You could have just asked.” Seth’s actions, while manipulative, had been for the greater good… if she believed him.
“I could have just asked?” His gaze heated.
“Yeah,” she said, her voice breathy. God, what was wrong with her?
“What if I asked now?” His tone was clear. He wasn’t asking for help.
Sensual electricity jumped up her arm. She tried to shake it away, but it leapt across her chest to her heart. Light flashed around her, illuminating the room, drawing everything in crisp detail. Seth was pale, his breath shallow, and the right side of his black dress shirt was damp.
/> She reached for his cheek with her free hand. But before she could make contact, the light from her heart flickered out, and darkness engulfed her. All she could see now were hints of shadowy images.
Seth eased into the moonlight and placed her hand on his cheek, finishing her move and leaning into it like a cat.
“The unique power of a walker calls to other walkers,” he said.
“And my other-self?” His cheek was smooth, not even a hint of stubble. Energy danced across her fingertips where she touched him and up her wrist where he held her.
“She wasn’t a walker. All you needed was a bit of rune magic to get you started. Potentially dangerous, but some things are worth the risk.”
The memory of purple runes on a burning piece of paper, the note she’d found in her office that first night, flashed through her mind. But the thought didn’t linger. All she could think about was what the rest of Seth would feel like, what his lips would taste like.
He captured her with his eyes and she fell into a midnight vortex. It was filled with a heat that threatened to consume her from the inside out.
But a fire that burned as hot as this one terrified her. Seth was too dangerous to trust with her emotions and belonged to another world. She had no place with him, nor he with her, even if he had just helped her.
She eased away, her wrist sliding from his bloody fingers. “I’m sorry.”
Deep, encompassing sorrow flashed across his face before he buried it behind a mask of indifference. “What? Not your type?”
Well, yes. But it would be cruel to tell him that.
“I see. You prefer blonds.” His features blurred, and she blinked to clear her eyes, bringing him back into focus. His hair lightened until he was blond, the olive hue to his skin paled, and his black irises melted into blue. Before her sat the man who’d stepped in front of Harry’s gun and saved her.
His damp shirt… His bloody fingers…
God, he’d taken the bullet for her. “You need medical attention.”
“It’ll take more than a bullet to kill me.” His lips curled back into a sneer. “I know you’re not really worried about me.”
“Seth.”
“What if I was someone you know?” His features blurred again, his skin grayed, his face widened and became square, and his hair shrank into a dark brush cut, until he looked like Shannon. “Do you like me now, baby?”
“Seth, stop.” She couldn’t wrap her mind around his different appearances.
“No, wait. I know.” He stood, and with that action, the form of Shannon melted away and was replaced with Ben.
She stumbled back. Her stomach heaved at the thought that she could have already been around Seth and not known it, thinking he was her sweet Ben.
“But, Ro,” he said with Ben’s voice.
“Enough.” He’d done that to hurt her. It was clear on his face, and it had worked. He’d just proven why she’d never choose him over Ben. “How do I stop Azkeel?”
He shrugged and melted back into his natural form — if it was, in fact, his real form and not some disguise to manipulate her.
“How do I stop him?”
“You’re a smart girl. You’ll figure it out.”
Fine. She would. She picked up the phone on the desk to call Brown — no, Jovkovic — for backup.
“I don’t think you have the time for that,” Seth said.
She shot him a dark look, resisting the urge to ask how he knew.
“I’ll tell you how to stop the fake angel for a kiss.” He melted back into Ben’s form.
Perspiration glistened on his face and he still seemed pale, even for Ben. His bloody dress shirt clung to his ribs.
This was just another God damned game. For all she knew his injury was part of the shape. All an act. Besides, Seth was right about one thing: she didn’t have the time. But she wasn’t so dumb as to storm into a coven of demons without backup on the way. It was ridiculous to think she could stop twelve powerful entities plus Azkeel.
She dialed technical support. Ms. Sunshine picked up on the first ring and she didn’t wait for anything more than hello. “I know what’s happened to the missing demons. Tell Jovkovic. Devils Do. Bring SWAT.” She hung up, strode across the office to the door, and opened it a crack.
“Where are you going?” Seth asked.
The hall was empty.
“I’m a smart girl. I’ll figure it out.”
She eased out of the office and headed down the hall. Seth didn’t follow. A small part of her was disappointed, but the rest was relieved. She didn’t need Seth’s temptation, certainly not now, and hopefully not ever again. Ben was the man she loved, and when this was all over, she’d show him what he meant to her.
The stairwell down to the inner lobby was empty, as well. There was only one logical place in the club to look for a permanent magic circle and that was behind the snake door. Which implied, since the snake door was an employee only section, that someone who worked at the club was involved. Perhaps even the owner. That made the prospect of walking down the long staircase into the club, where everyone could see her, dangerous.
The front door opened, and she rushed down the rest of the stairs to the inner lobby and ducked into the shelter of the hall where Azkeel had first appeared. She hid in the arch of a door a few feet from the mouth. Two gargoyles walked in, followed by three scantily clad women, all green — dress, skin, hair — and two men who stood over seven feet tall.
She glimpsed the doorman on the other side of the door before it closed, then eased from the hall into the lobby. As the group of entities took the stairs into the club, she fell into step a few paces behind them. With luck, everyone would see the gargoyles and no one would pay much attention to her — at least until it was too late and she’d slipped away in the crowd. It was the best she could hope for without having to search the rest of the building for a staff staircase.
It felt like days had passed before she reached the bottom. Surely someone had noticed. But no one waited for her, and she eased past a waiter carrying a tray of filled champagne flutes into the shadows of a vine-shaded path.
She wove her way to the wall where she had found the staff door, avoiding as many entities as possible. Then she pulled the latch, glanced around once more for good measure — no one was watching — and stepped into the hall.
49
At the far end of the stark white staff hall in the entities’ club, the door sprang to life, the wooden snakes writhing and snapping at Rowan. She sucked in a quick breath and forced herself to cross the distance until she stood just out of reach of the largest snake.
During the altercation with the devils, one of them had made an offhand comment about the snake-door and giving it blood. She didn’t want to think about how much blood she’d have to give the door, or even if plain old human blood would do, but it was the only option she had to find the demon coven and stopping them from murdering another girl in her world.
She clutched the hilt of the knife at her hip and sucked in a breath hoping it would steady her nerves.
It didn’t.
And her nerves didn’t matter. Azkeel had to be stopped, and it looked like she was the one to do it. Except when she’d dreamt of doing fieldwork, she certainly hadn’t envisioned a magic door of writhing snakes, hungry for blood.
Maybe there was another way in. She had no proof this was where Azkeel and his coven were casting their world-walking spell, and yet this was where Seth had led her the last time. If everything Seth had done was to get her to solve the case, then this was the door she had to open.
God, here went nothing!
She thrust her hand at the door. Snakes wrapped around her wrist and yanked her closer. She stumbled, lost her balance, and threw out her other hand to catch herself. A thick snake curled around it and wrenched her off her feet. It sank thick fangs into her shoulder, drawing sharp pain.
The snakes hissed louder, their writhing fast and urgent. She squeezed her eyes shut, fi
ghting to endure the moment. Surely it would pass soon.
More fangs dug into her skin, at her wrists, up both arms, and on her legs through her jeans, hard and fierce, until she thought she was on fire. They thrust against her vest, ramming against the Kevlar and knocking the breath from her.
A buzzing filled her ears, drowning her senses with a heavy fog. It seeped down her neck, across her chest, and through her limbs. She struggled to remain conscious and forced herself to open her eyes.
The snakes were still wrapped around her. Those that couldn’t reach her were stretched taut, straining toward her. They pulsed in time with her heart, rapid, heavy thuds that slowed as the fog thickened.
Her vision darkened, the hall no longer stark and bright. Specks danced at the edge of her sight. The thought that she had failed swam through the fog to the front of her mind. More girls would die. And she would never see Ben again, never have the chance to make things right between them.
No. She wasn’t dead yet.
She jerked at her arms. The largest snake released her shoulder and hissed. The wound pulsed with sharp pain. It burned through the fog in her mind and her limbs. Light flashed from her exposed skin and, as one, the snakes released her. They pressed against the door and froze, once again wood carvings.
She sagged to her knees, her breath heaving and adrenaline surging through her. The latch on the door clicked, and it eased open a crack. She forced herself to her feet and reached for the handle, not wanting to pause and risk the door awakening and repeating that ordeal.
Her coat sleeve rose up as she grabbed the handle, exposing her wrist, and her gaze dropped to her flesh. Save for Seth’s dried blood, there was nothing there. No blood, no punctures. She shivered and shoved all thoughts of the experience to the back of her mind. If she was lucky, she’d never think of it again, but she was getting the feeling she didn’t have that kind of luck.
She drew in another breath and peered into the crack beyond the door, but could only see darkness. And silence. The only thing she could sense was the mustiness of cold, damp stone.