by Lexi Blake
Why fight when a lie will work?
“Nope.” I was comfortable that my Ruger was hidden under Neil’s blazer. I had two extra clips in the pockets, but I doubted the padre was going to pat me down.
“I’m a pacifist,” Daniel replied with a predatory smile. He was carrying at least two guns and probably a few knives, but he didn’t really need them. Daniel was a weapon.
Neil, the only one of us who never carried a weapon, simply smiled.
Father Francis nodded as though he didn’t really believe us, but he wasn’t going to press further. He held his small hand out, gesturing toward the sanctuary. It was a typical Catholic church. The sanctuary was dominated by a statue of Christ on his cross looking down on worshippers. Down the long row of pews, standing in the middle of the aisle in front of the altar, was a couple. From a distance, they looked nice enough. It was a man and a woman, both in their early twenties. They were both blond and had bland good looks. She was in a slim skirt and pink sweater while he wore slacks and a button down. They could have been parishioners checking out the church.
I glanced back at the father, who was sweating though the church was cool. His hands shook as he pointed to the couple. “There they are. Please do whatever they say. Please.”
And then the father ran.
Chapter Four
Neil and I watched the priest run down the hall, but Daniel never took his eyes off the figures in the sanctuary.
“Where is he going?” Neil asked.
“I think he’s going anywhere they’re not.” I turned and looked into the sanctuary, wondering what the hell had the little priest so spooked.
Daniel sighed, seemingly resigned to whatever was going to happen. “Are you sure you want to do this? You’re sure she’s worth it? Sarah did shoot you.”
I remembered. It hurt like hell, but nothing hurt more than the look on her face as the demon sank his claws into her body and pulled her to Hell. It might have been different if I thought she was comfortably dead, but that’s not the way demon contracts work. There’s no parole and no end to time served. Death would have been acceptable, but what Sarah had to endure, I couldn’t live with.
“I’m sure.” I didn’t see or sense whatever had the boys in a tizzy, and I decided to let ignorance be bliss. Or rather bravado. With my trusty handgun snug against my body, I strode down the aisle toward the nice suburban couple who scared the shit out of my badass boys.
Daniel cursed behind me, but he and Neil caught up easily. Daniel would prefer I follow behind him, but I just wasn’t that girl.
“Hello,” I said as the female made a move to meet me.
She stepped into a shaft of light, and I had to stop. Had I thought she seemed bland from a distance? She was lovely. Blonde, with alabaster skin that practically glowed, she was delicate and fragile and everything feminine. She smiled gently, and I had a sudden urge to please her, to do whatever she requested so I could keep that smile on her face.
“What the hell are you?” My question came out harsher than I’d intended. I didn’t like the way she made me feel. If I hadn’t had so much experience with magic, I probably would have wondered if I was maybe more bi-curious than I imagined, but I knew what this was. This was a very strong, well-placed glamour. It wasn’t crazy and out of control like Dev could get, so I didn’t beg for her love or anything, but it was there. She obviously wanted me able to think, but she definitely wanted me willing.
A glorious smile crossed her face, lighting up the room. “I’m so pleased to meet you. I am Felicity Day, and this is my brother, Oliver.”
I forced my eyes away from the shining beauty and glanced at Oliver Day. He obviously didn’t give a shit whether I was willing or not. He scowled as though he disapproved of the entire meeting. I had zero desire to please him, so I knew he wasn’t working any mojo on me.
“If you don’t turn down the glamour, I’m going to pick up my wife and leave here, and there won’t be anything you can do about it.” Daniel put a hand on my shoulder as though he would pull me away at any moment.
Oliver snorted behind his sister and looked at Daniel with arrogant disdain. He seemed to want to dispute Daniel’s assertion. His sister turned in a flash. For a moment, it seemed like they were having an argument the rest of us couldn’t hear. Oliver finally nodded shortly, his face a grumpy mask. Felicity turned back to us with an apologetic smile.
“Please forgive my brother.” Her voice was light, almost musical. “He will be more amenable from this point on or he can keep silent. It’s his choice. Now, Mr. Donovan, you’re angry about a glamour? I don’t understand.”
“He’s talking about the magic you’re working,” I explained. Her face was so open, I found myself believing her. “I don’t know what plane you’re from, so you might not understand the terminology, but here we call it a glamour. It makes you more beautiful, more attractive on every level. It doesn’t work on Daniel. I’m not sure about Neil, but it’s definitely having an effect on me. I would appreciate it if you would turn it off. I can’t take a job if my head isn’t clear. And it makes my husband nervous.”
I looked over at Neil, who was watching Felicity like an eager-to-please puppy. Yep, the glamour had to go.
She laughed, an enchanting sound. “I apologize. I didn’t realize I was doing it. I’ll try to tone this down.”
The need to please dimmed, and she was merely beautiful. Daniel relaxed slightly behind me.
“Thank you,” I said, enjoying the return of my complete free will. “I would appreciate it if you don’t use any more magic.”
“What’s she’s saying is if we get another whiff of witchcraft, we walk,” Daniel said irritably.
Oliver took a step forward, but Felicity merely nodded, stepping in front of her brother.
“No witchcraft, got it. Is he always so testy?” she asked me with a conspiratorial grin. It was the kind of thing one girlfriend said to another, and I was suddenly aware of how much I missed Sarah. There was so much I hadn’t told anyone because she was gone.
“He’s a nightcrawler, sister,” Oliver stated flatly. “What did you expect, manners?”
“The correct term is vampire, Oliver.” Felicity didn’t bother to look at her brother. “He is also a king, a very rare creature, so some amount of respect is due.”
“No, I’m not,” Daniel replied quickly.
He didn’t like to be called by that particular name. Like many parts of Daniel’s vampiric status, I’d had to learn this tidbit from other sources. Apparently, once every couple of thousand years, a superstrong, über-vamp rises, and some sort of hell breaks loose. Daniel had been holding that lucky ticket when he punched out. Honestly, I didn’t think it could possibly be that great a thing since the last king was no longer in the building and hadn’t been for a long while. I’d promised myself that the next time Marcus Vorenus was in town, I was going to ask him what happened to the last vampire king. I was betting it didn’t end with “and they all lived happily ever after.”
Felicity considered Danny with soft, almost sympathetic eyes. “Whether you choose to wear the crown or not, it changes not one whit of your nature. You are what you are, and your destiny will play itself out.”
Oliver scoffed. “The king of a dung heap is still full of shit.”
And Daniel being Daniel actually laughed at that. I did not.
“And he is possibly the only one who can get into where we need him to go,” Felicity said, finally showing some temper. Even with her brows slightly furrowed, she was stunning. “If you cannot keep the contempt from your voice, please be gone. I will take care of matters on this plane. I’m sure you can find something to contemplate at home.”
Oliver scowled but held his tongue.
I’d had enough of the introductory chatter. I was anxious to get to the meat of the matter. “The priest said you could handle my little problem. My question is how do you even know about my little problem?”
I’d been extraordinarily careful i
n my investigations. I put everything in hypotheticals, and even then they weren’t hypotheticals that anyone could trace back to the reality of the situation. I hadn’t walked around asking for a guide to Hell. The last thing I needed was someone talking about the crazy chick who was planning a heist on the Hell plane. I wasn’t interested in warning Halfer of my half-baked plans. As it was, my plan was probably doomed to fail spectacularly even without the mark finding out I was coming.
“I’m very well informed,” she stated simply.
“I doubt that.”
She chuckled a little. “Correct me if I am wrong. You lost a very close friend to a demon contract a little over seven months ago. A witch named Sarah Tucker. Her contract was written as a legacy. She was the daughter of a witch who was heavily into dark magic. To strengthen their coven, Sarah and her sister, Lily, were given as offerings to the Hell Lord Brixalnax. The Tucker sisters were conceived with the help of demon kind, making them extremely strong in certain forms of magic. The contract was due to be active on the girls’ twenty-fifth birthdays, but Sarah made a contract of her own to try to save her sister. She was contracted by Brixalnax to ensure you failed in completing your own contract. But the demon wasn’t really interested in you. He needed you to get around the Vampire Council and force the king to be his willing assassin. When you very cleverly managed to find a way to fulfill your obligation, the demon took your friend. Now you wish to get her back. Please feel free to fill in any details I might have missed.”
Fine. She knew a little bit. Maybe she knew way more about certain parts of the episode than I did since the information about Sarah being part demon was news to me. It didn’t put me at ease. It just made me wonder. How did Felicity know everything? And why the hell did she need me? “You have your facts correct. Sarah Tucker is my friend. She was a member of my crew and that makes me responsible for her. I want to break into Hell and bust Sarah out.”
“By the way, we were very pleased you didn’t end up on Halfer’s leash, Mr. Donovan,” the blonde said. “It would have gone poorly for all of us. He had certain plans for you that would have been counterproductive. It was good that your companion was so quick-witted. It is this cleverness that I wish to use. I think you’ll find that my brother and I are also facing a dilemma. But if we put our particular talents together, I believe you’ll discover we can all get what we want.”
“And what is your particular dilemma?” This had to be interesting.
Even Oliver managed to look a little sad as Felicity began her tale. “Our brother, my twin, Felix, was also taken by Halfer. He went missing over six months ago, and it has taken a while to discover exactly what happened. You must understand that Felix is very special.”
My eyebrows rose because “special” made me think not politically correct things.
Felicity sighed. “It’s not that. He’s a kind soul. He loves the world around him, and that is possibly his downfall.”
“Was it a contract?” Daniel asked.
Oliver laughed, an ugly sound. “Halfer wouldn’t dare try to contract with Felix. It was a weakness that left Felix vulnerable. He was always too concerned about the beings on this plane, and it cost him mightily.”
Felicity placed a hand on Oliver’s shoulder. “What Oliver is trying to say is Felix was kidnapped by Halfer and taken to the Hell plane where he is being held and, I fear, tortured.”
“Do not fear it, sister. Fear the unknown. Avenge what we know is happening,” Oliver swore. “Felix is being tortured by the demon. There is no other reason for him to have been taken from us. The demon is feasting on his blood. He’s is gaining strength by draining our brother.”
“So you want us to get Felix when we pick up Sarah,” I surmised. “Not really seeing the upside for us. I mean, I’m sorry about your brother and all, but it’s going to be hard enough to get one person out of Hell. If I start trying to fill a truck and cross the border, I’m going to get caught. I mean, in this case, one really is easier.”
“And how do you mean to get to the Hell plane?” Felicity asked.
That was something that had figured itself out. In one of those wonderful coincidences, this was the year that demon kind and the Vampire Council renewed their treaties. Like anything involved with the two tribes, there were many rituals that took place as the contracts were renegotiated. There was a particular clause that would come up about uninitiated companions, and I really hoped they called it the Zoey Clause. Apparently after several days of arguing, all the demons and all the vampires got together to party. The party was held on the Hell plane, since reality didn’t really have to come into play there. It was a no-holds-barred free-for-all, and this year Zoey Wharton would be attending.
“Let’s say I have an invitation,” was all I offered.
“Of course, the vampire king would be invited to the ball,” Felicity reasoned. “It’s a way onto the Hell plane, but once you’re on there, how do you intend to navigate?”
And so the blonde woman neatly summed up problem number one with my whacked out plan. Hell isn’t some city laid out with neat roads and street signs. And I was pretty sure that no GPS would lead me to the building where Lucas Halfer was most likely to house his bitches.
“I haven‘t figured that one out yet.” I was open to suggestions.
She leaned forward, the shaft of light that seemed to follow her illuminating her face. “What if I told you I know of a particular artifact that will help you find your way around the Hell plane?”
I would probably dance around like an idiot doing that whole “the roof is on fire” thing. To Felicity, I merely gave her a cool, “I would be interested in such an artifact.”
“It is called the ‘Revelation.’ It’s a very odd piece of jewelry.” Felicity leaned close to me as though she wanted only me to hear. I could have told her she could whisper straight into my ear and the boys would have heard her loud as day. Instead I leaned in because I wasn’t going to burst her bubble. “It was fashioned by an alchemist to find his true love.”
“You mean the guys who thought they could turn everyday metal into gold?”
Felicity laughed and pulled back. “They didn’t think, dear. They took objects and fashioned them into gold and other precious things. This particular alchemist worked in Italy during the Renaissance. He met a woman and fell in love, but she was different. She would change form on occasion, and he needed a way to find her without using his eyes.”
“She changed forms?” Several options floated through my brain. There were many creatures that could change form and many creatures who would be more than willing to take a human lover.
“A shifter?” Neil leaned in like a child eager for a bedtime story.
“Nothing so common, little wolf,” Felicity said, and there was a certain amount of affection in her voice. She actually reached out and touched his hair, ruffling it like a loving mother. “This creature loved the alchemist, but it went against her responsibilities to be with him. Though it tore out the heart she didn’t realize she had, she forced herself to hide from him. He was in her charge, you see, but as sometimes happens, he was more beautiful than the others. He made her wish she was alive in that way.”
“So he made some jewelry and found her?” Daniel asked tersely. I made a face at him. It wasn’t his kind of story since no one had mentioned laser guns or spaceships shaped like fireflies.
“Ignore him,” I said.
“The alchemist was clever, like you,” Felicity continued. Behind her I saw Oliver roll his eyes. He might not like Daniel but they had a lot in common. “He knew that if he was in danger, his love would appear to save him. He threw himself from a bridge, and right before he drowned, she came. As he clutched her, he managed to steal a single strand of her hair. He kept it hidden. It was still in his hand when she vanished later. It was this single strand of hair that the alchemist used to fashion the Revelation.”
“So the dude took a trophy and it’s supposed to get us through Hell?” Daniel
asked.
“Do I need to give you the same speech she gave Ollie back there?” I shot back. “Feel free to wait in the car if we’re boring you with details. I’ll call you when the killing starts.”
Daniel tossed up his hands in submission. “I just don’t see how a piece of some chick’s hair is going to guide us to Sarah.”
“It won’t,” Felicity said. “It will, however, guide you to Felix. Well, not you, Mr. Donovan, but rather your companion. It actually won’t work at all if you’re around.”
“You’re impure,” Oliver pointed out, malice dripping from his words. “Too much demon in your blood, vampire. The Revelation will only work on the purest of souls.”
Neil burst into laughter, to my everlasting regret. “You’ve got the wrong girl. Pure? Do you have any idea what she did for those shoes? Let me tell you there was nothing pure about it.”
I kicked him solidly with my twelve hundred dollar torture devices before returning my attention to Felicity. “What do you mean it won’t work around Daniel? And why will it guide me to Felix?”
Felicity shot Oliver a nasty look before explaining. “It won’t work around your mate because Oliver is right. He is part demon, as all vampires are. The Revelation was fashioned to find a very particular creature. The alchemist was careful and put in certain safety features. One of these features is the amulet doesn’t work when too close to demon kind. I am afraid your husband’s blood is too strong. You’ll also find it won’t work in close proximity to your wolf friend.”
Daniel shook his head, anger evident in the straight line of his jaw. He didn’t like to be reminded of his close DNA relationship to demon kind. “Well, then you’ve wasted our time. I can promise you I’ll never allow my wife to walk into Hell without me. It will not happen. I might be willing to let her go with Neil, but I won’t allow her to go alone. Besides, you seem to have forgotten that Hell is sort of full of demons, so I don’t know how that’s going to work.”