Gasping for breath, I was reaching for the Katchet when I heard a familiar voice. “Charlotte? What the hell was that?”
The pain amplified when I turned to the man behind me. “Sherriff Davis?” I was nauseous and I realized the demon's spiked tail was likely poisonous. The toxin was entering my bloodstream and starting to affect my muscle control.
Sherriff Davis aimed the shotgun at my chest and I was under no illusions – he would shoot if he felt threatened. “Where the hell have you been? You've broken your probation, kid. I've got a warrant for your arrest.” His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Where's Lucas and the others? What happened to them?”
I groped in my pocket for the Hjördis and he tightened his hold on the shotgun, aiming at my head. “Look, I need to do something about this… wound or I'm going to be dead… in about twenty minutes. Maybe… less,” I gasped breathlessly. Any oxygen in my body felt like it was swimming through molasses and my motions were becoming shakier as the seconds passed.
He considered my words and lowered the gun. Scrambling sounds came from the far end of the living room and I twisted frantically, afraid the demons were about to attack.
“What the hell are they?” He watched as I tugged the Hjördis from my pocket and held it up to my chest. My hand shook and sweat poured from my skin.
“Demons,” I gritted my teeth as I marked a poison sigil against the wound, followed by a blood sigil.
His eyes widened as he saw the indigo markings appearing on my chest. “What's that – thing you're using?”
“Look, as much… as I'd like to… answer all your questions… you've only… frightened those things… off for a… minute. Maybe two,” I answered, stumbling over the words. “They're… here… to… kill me.”
“Kill you? What the hell's going on? Where's Lucas and the others? They've been missing for weeks.”
“They're… safe.” I gasped as my lungs tightened spasmodically. The poison must be travelling through my bloodstream swiftly, and agonizing pain was spreading throughout my limbs.
The demon growled and scuttled across the room, clearly over the shock of the gunshots and intent on its target. I pulled a Philaris from my belt and threw it, hoping the delirium wouldn't affect my aim. The Philaris hit the demon and it dropped to the ground, pincers wriggling frenetically as it folded in on itself and disappeared.
“Jesus, Mary and Joseph.” Sherriff Davis's eyes widened.
The second demon scrambled through the room. I tried hauling myself onto my feet, but had lost the ability to control my legs. The Sherriff crouched beside me, glancing from the gaping wound in my chest to the demon blood which covered my skin and mingled with mine.
“We need… to get out… of here,” I moaned. “Right… now. Will… you help…me?”
He hesitated, brown eyes wide beneath eyebrows knitted together in alarm. “Okay.” Tucking the shotgun over his arm, he hauled me up onto my feet.
“We… need to… get… outside,” I muttered and he dragged me towards the door. Behind us, the second demon scuttled, multiple legs slipping on polished wooden floors.
“I have to take you in, Charlotte,” Sheriff Davis grunted as he helped me down the steps. “You're under arrest for violating probation.”
“You… can… try. But that… thing won't stop… till it… kills me,” I panted.
“Well… shit.”
“Put… me… down here,” I whimpered. The pain defied description, a burning sensation which was spreading through my arms and down into my torso. I wasn't confident that the poison sigil could stop the toxin and a brief glance confirmed the blood sigil wasn't coping either. Blood poured from the gaping hole, soaking my shirt.
He lowered me carefully onto the ground near the steps of the house. “We… are in… a whole lot of… trouble. That… demon is… not going to… be stopped… by your gun. Will you… trust me?”
He scrutinized me warily. “Do I get a choice?”
“Not… if you… want… to live.” Archangelo might see this man the next time he was put into a sleep and the Drâghici would find out who he was, might come back here to kill him. He'd seen the demons, they couldn't let that knowledge loose without resorting to damage control. “Undo… your shirt.”
“Excuse me?”
“For God's… sake! If I don't…do…this, I can't…” Articulate thought was beginning to elude me. “Just do it… will you… please?”
He astounded me by doing exactly as I'd requested, yanking off his heavy blue jacket and hurriedly undoing the buttons on his police shirt. With a trembling hand, I reached toward him. “This… will… hurt.” Drawing the wing on his arm, I struggled to remain conscious and hoped I'd actually gotten it right. It had to be the swiftest mark I'd ever drawn.
“You weren't kidding,” he growled, dragging his shirt over his shoulders and watching as I drew a pentagram. I envisioned where we needed to go and completed the sigils a moment before the centipede-shaped demon burst through one of the windows, got its bearings and scrambled towards us. The Sherriff raised his rifle and aimed, shooting at the demon, but barely slowing its forward momentum. I hooked another Philaris from my belt and threw it, catching the creatures head. It screeched when I hurled a spirit orb towards it. The orb was weak, but retained enough power to knock the demon onto its back, its legs waving frenetically as it tried to right itself.
The complete pentagram shone with dazzling white light and Davis stared at it incredulously. “Shit. What the hell is that?”
“Our… ride. Help… me… please?”
He hooked the rifle over his forearm and pulled me up. “What do I do?”
“Just step… forward…”
Hauling my limp form along beside him, he hesitated for a split-second, staring at the portal in disbelief. Seemingly resigned to the situation, he stepped into the circle of light resolutely.
We stumbled out of the portal into the central circle of Zaen. Barely conscious, I heard the screams of those witnessing our arrival before I slumped to the ground and succumbed to blessed darkness.
Consciousness returned in small increments, as I became aware of the crisp scent of freshly laundered sheets. The cool cotton stuck to my overheated skin. The next thing was pain. My chest burned, an ache deep within the flesh which pounded unmercifully and echoed throughout my body.
Somewhere nearby, a door opened and footsteps approached. I heard the creak of someone settling heavily in a chair.
“How is she?” Conal's voice reached me, anxiety apparent in his husky voice.
“No change,” Lucas responded quietly. The direction his voice came from the opposite side of the bed and I pictured them in my mind. “And I've told you before, I will happily update you. You don't need to be in here with us.”
“In your bedroom? Why? Are you frightened I might launch myself in there with her?”
“The thought has crossed my mind,” Lucas answered ruefully. “I don't trust you with her.”
“Why? Because she's in love with me, too?”
A heavy sigh. “Yes, because she loves you, too.” I heard sounds, footsteps, then Lucas spoke from somewhere else in the room, further away from where I lay. “Are we making any progress down there?”
“Not really. Charlotte's plan isn't as successful as she would have hoped. We have vampires, werewolves and shape shifters mixed together in the housing. The werewolves are keeping to their own kind, as are the shape shifters.”
“And they're all avoiding the vampires,” Lucas agreed. “Jerome is running the medical clinic and has no patients. The werewolves refuse to be treated by a shape shifter.”
“She's fighting suspicion and hatred that reaches back over thousands of years. They're hard habits to break, for everyone. The only ones getting along are the kids and the teenagers. Everyone else distrusts each other.”
“And yet you and I can get along?” Lucas pointed out.
“Is that what we're doing?” Conal chuckled softly.
“You and I share a unique set of circumstances – we have a commonality the others don't have. We are both in love with this woman.”
They lapsed into silence for a long time, before Conal spoke again. “Isn't there anything else we can do for her?”
“Jerome, Epi, Nonny – they've done everything they can. The poison from the Naberius is acutely venomous. We're fortunate she brought Clint back with her, otherwise we wouldn't have a clue what we're dealing with. The fever seems to be dissipating, but the healing sigils have struggled because she received such a massive dose of toxin.” Lucas sounded frustrated. “And nobody can mark her with more sigils.”
“You know,” Conal began cautiously, “I could lick the wound. It might help dilute the poison.”
“Believe it or not, I would actually let you do that if I thought it would do any good,” Lucas responded quietly. “Despite my intense jealousy, I would do anything if I thought it would help her.”
“You're jealous?” Conal sounded incredulous. “You're the one who has her – what the hell have you got to be jealous about?”
“Because as much as she loves me, I share her love with you. And… I'm aware that in many ways, you would have been the better choice for her.”
“In many ways?” Conal spat scornfully. “I would have thought in all ways I was the better choice for her. For starters, I'm alive.”
“That's true, dog. But she makes me feel as if I am alive, in every way possible. If I truly believed you were the better person for her, I would walk away. Permanently.”
“Really?” Suspicion colored Conal's reply. “You would do that?”
“I would. I love her too much to do anything else. But for right now, I need her and she needs me. And unfortunately, she needs you too. She's tied to both of us, her need is an emotional bond which cannot be broken.”
Conal shifted in his chair and wrapped a warm hand around my clammy arm. “I hope she recovers soon. Her absence is creating bigger issues than we started with. Rumors are swirling down there – that she's dead, that we can't win this war and today I heard something which was totally bizarre.”
“What?”
“Someone said Charlotte was a murderer. That she killed her father.”
“Step-father,” Lucas corrected quietly.
“It's true?” Conal's shock reverberated around the room. I'd never told him my background and I'd only enlightened Epi because he'd insisted on knowing my past when he investigated my role as Nememiah's Child.
“That's Charlotte's business and no-one else's. She has the right to decide whom she tells about her past,” Lucas replied firmly. “And I can't see why it's a problem. You've killed. I've killed. We're supernatural beings. No doubt the majority of those in the group have killed.”
“They see her as human,” Conal responded. “They don't expect humans to kill like we do.”
“It's none of their business,” Lucas growled. “And for the record, humans mastered the art of killing one another long ago.”
Another long silence. “Is Clinton settling in okay? This must be a hell of a shock for him.”
There was a smile in Lucas's voice when he spoke. “Sherriff Davis is tough, it's a requirement for a Police Chief. It's quite the learning curve for him to accept all this at once, but he's coping well and he has a soft spot for Rowena. She's helping to acclimatize him to our world. He seems to be happy enough joining us, insists he wants to stay, in fact.”
“How are you going to explain that back in Puckhaber Falls?” Conal inquired. “Won't they notice their Sherriff is missing?”
“Epi is a creator of miracles,” Lucas said. “As far as the good people of Puckhaber Falls are concerned, Clinton has retired and gone travelling. They're none the wiser.”
“That old bastard is pretty clever,” Conal agreed. He traced his fingers down my arm, catching my hand in his.
“Must you do that?” Lucas asked. “I will endure you being in here with us, but you're pushing the boundaries by holding her hand as though she is yours.”
“You know, if you hadn't gotten yourself kidnapped by Odin and his band of merry vampires, chances are she would have still been mine,” Conal retorted.
“She would never have stayed with you. Sooner or later, she was coming back to me,” Lucas responded coolly.
“Oh, I think she could have forgotten about you eventually,” Conal snapped. “She wasn't thinking about you very much when she was in my bed.”
“Do you have to remind me of that? It fills me with…”
“Fills you with what? Anger, jealousy?” Conal responded helpfully.
“The desire to kill you,” Lucas stated icily.
“Well, that makes two of us. It's crossed my mind once or twice that if you were dead, she'd come to me,” Conal pointed out. “Oh wait, technically you can't get killed. You're already dead.”
I decided enough was enough. I forced my eyes open, blinking rapidly before I spoke, voice scratchy from lack of use. “If you two don't stop arguing, I swear I'll kill both of you.”
“Charlotte!” The relief in Lucas's voice was tangible and he appeared in my field of vision, blue eyes anxious. I blinked some more, adjusting to the light in the room. Lucas captured my fingers in his and for a split-second I considered the oddness of the situation, lying here with a vampire holding one hand and a werewolf holding the other.
I licked my dry lips and endeavored to focus my thoughts. “What day is it?”
“Monday. You came through the portal Saturday morning,” Lucas said. “That was quite an entrance.”
“Thanks.” Struggling to sit up, searing pain exploded through my chest and I sank back on the pillows. “Why do I feel like an elephant sat on me?”
“You got a huge dose of poison from what Epi tells us was a Naberius,” Conal responded. “It made a hell of a mess of your chest, but you're healing now. Epi came up with something to counteract the poison because the sigil you'd marked couldn't cope with the amount of toxin injected into your bloodstream.”
“No doubt whatever Epi concocted tasted like crap,” I muttered.
“Whatever possessed you to go back to my house?” Lucas questioned.
I attempted a shrug and rejected it as a terrible idea. “Guess I wanted somewhere that I would feel secure.”
“It was fortunate you made that choice. If you'd encountered those demons and Clint didn't turn up when he did, you'd be dead by now.”
“He wanted to arrest me.”
“We've resolved that issue, my love.”
Conal and Lucas exchanged a look, but didn't say anything more on the subject. I was grateful, I didn't want my reticence to tell Conal about the past to create another point of contention between the two men. They already had plenty to bug each other about. “Is Sherriff Davis okay? I marked him with the sigil so we could portal into Zaen. I wasn't certain I got it right.”
“It was perfect and he's fine. Possibly somewhat mystified about everything but he's settled in okay.” Lucas brushed his fingers across my forehead, a question in his eyes. “Why did you mark him? He's human.”
“Nobody gets in without the mark. That's the rule.” I cleared my throat, licking my lips. “Besides, I didn't want to take any chances and find out he's got some supernatural blood hidden away. Can I have a drink?”
“Of course. I'll get you some water,” Lucas disappeared from the room and I turned to Conal, saw the concern in his face.
Squeezing his fingers gently, I spoke in a hushed voice. “Conal, you need to move on. I'm not leaving Lucas, I love him.”
“And you love me,” he responded, his voice equally quiet.
I sighed, my heart filled with sorrow. 'Yes, I do. But I'm not leaving him for you. You know that.”
“I know,” he stated. “But I'm in love with you, Sugar. For better or worse, that's how it is. There is nobody else I want. Maybe in time there will be, but I'm okay with it for now.”
Watching him, I wondered if there was anything I
could say, something I could do, to make him move on. It was frustrating to accept I couldn't. I sighed again and rubbed the back of his hand. “I wish I could fix this.”
“It's right enough for now. You need me and you need Lucas.” He ran his fingers tenderly across my cheek. “Charlotte, I can accept this as long as I can spend time with you. Call me delusional, tell me I'm crazy – but this is enough for now. Knowing you love me even a little bit, I'll accept that and someday I'll meet someone else. Give me time.”
Lucas appeared with a glass of water and if he'd overheard our conversation, he gave no indication. He handed me the glass and I sipped the water gratefully, the cool liquid dousing the fire in my throat.
“So things aren't going too well, I assume?” Lowering the glass, I leaned it on my thigh. It was disturbing to discover the weight of a full glass was a struggle to hold in my current condition. I was even weaker than I thought. “I leave you guys in charge and you can't manage the simple task of making people get along?” There was teasing in my voice, an attempt to keep the mood light.
“Charlotte, it isn't an easy thing to do,” Lucas said. “They don't like one another, there are centuries of hatred and mistrust working against us.”
“We've got to find a way of overcoming it,” I retorted determinedly, despite how awful I felt. “The only way we have of fighting the Consiliului is with a unified force.”
“I know that. He knows that,” Conal agreed. “But the rest of the group aren't getting the message.”
Jerome knocked at the open doorway, limping in to the room with Rowena close behind. “Ah, you're awake,” Jerome announced in his booming voice.
Rowena leaned over to hug me, pressing an anxious kiss against my cheek. “You frightened us terribly, Charlotte. You should have come back with Nick and the others!”
My lips hovered in a tiny smile. “Duly noted. I thought I was doing the right thing.”
“Well, don't do it again,” Jerome ordered. “You seem to have a unique knack for getting injured when you're alone, young lady.” He checked my temperature and pulse, frowning heavily. “Better than it was, I'll admit, but I want more healing sigils on that injury as soon as possible.”
Knowledge Hurts Page 19