Charms & Demons

by Kim Richardson

  If the dark witch court found out the killings were my fault, I had no doubt they’d hand me over to her. I was to them, after all, something pitiful, lame, and weak. But I wasn’t going to make it easy for them. Or for anyone.

  According to Faris, Vorkol was a ruler of sorts with many demon armies under her. And of course, she was also a Greater demon. If Faris was telling the truth, she had a higher rank in the demon hierarchy than her late husband. I was all for female empowerment—just not for lady demons who wanted to kill my ass.

  But first, I had to stop the vampire from killing any more witches—including me. Then, I’d deal with the higher demons and Vorkol.

  I pulled on my boots, zipped up my leather jacket and turned to Faris, who’d thankfully demon-magicked a pair of black pants, shirt and polished shoes. He looked ready for a night out on the town, not dressed for vampire decapitation.

  “You ready?” I asked, standing in the foyer as I adjusted the strap of my messenger bag.

  Faris raised his brows suggestively. “For you, Sammy baby, always.”

  Poe made a disgruntled sound in his throat from the coat rack on the wall and rolled his eyes. “This is going to be a long night.”

  I caught a glimpse of my grandfather’s white hair down the hall before he disappeared into the kitchen. “I’ll be back soon, Grandpa,” I called. I waited a few seconds, listening. “Giving your granddaughter the silent treatment is very childish,” I yelled.

  “Going on a hunt with a mid-demon is also very childish,” he called back, and I heard the clank of a glass hitting the marble counter.

  I smiled. Yes. We were both very immature, and that’s how we liked it.

  I flexed my fingers, the leather gloves cracking. My sigil rings shone in the soft light. I’d performed a few pre-spells before getting ready to leave. I needed to make sure I could still do magic with a small trace of the death blade’s poison still in me. As it turned out, I could.

  Smiling, Faris stepped closer to me, way too close. I was expecting the scent of sulfur, the normal demon smell. Instead, an aroma of chamomile and honey filled my nose. Whatever glamour he was using was damn good. Clever bastard.

  I didn’t want to give Faris the satisfaction of knowing his closeness was making me uncomfortable by stepping away, but I needed to open the door.

  “You think I’m right. Don’t you?” I asked the mid-demon. “About the vampire?”

  Faris inclined his head. “She knows higher demons are useless under the sun. So, she’s put a vampire on your tail. It doesn’t surprise me. When she wants something done, she goes all out. She’s not taking any chances with you. She must really want you dead.”

  “Maybe,” I said, unease trickling through me. “Then why is the vampire killing those witches? If he wants me, why kill them?”

  The demon shrugged. “I’m not sure. I think perhaps now that he’s tasted witch blood, he can’t stop himself. Or maybe Vorkol told him to kill all witches that match your description. That’s more like her. Go out with a bang, that sort of thing.”

  I felt ill, but something still didn’t fit.

  I sucked in my breath through my nose to get rid of some of my tension, grabbed the doorknob and pulled open the door—

  My heart leaped to my throat and stayed there.

  Logan stood on the platform.

  Why was he always doing that? Heat rushed to my face before I could control it. Cauldron be damned. Why did he have that effect on me? And those snug blue jeans were making it harder. That’s what happened when a girl hadn’t been on a date in months—hormones out of whack and all.

  “Logan?” I said, trying to formulate complete sentences with my heart in my throat. “What are you doing here?”

  The handsome angel-born stood facing me, his brown eyes searching my face. He wore a black motorcycle jacket over a tight gray t-shirt that looked painted on. Jaw clenched, his face darkened when Faris stepped into view beside me.

  “Have no fear, the boy scout is here,” teased Faris with an obvious, underlying threat in his voice. “A baby angel-born. How nice. Did you forget your pacifier?”

  “I came to see how you were doing,” said Logan. His eyes were back on me, though the irritation was clear in the tone of his voice at seeing Faris with me.

  For some reason, I believed him. Granted, it just made things a lot more complicated.

  “She’s fine,” interrupted Faris, stepping closer to the doorframe. “Can’t you see? Now, run along. I think I can hear your mommy calling.”

  Great. I didn’t have time for this. A tingle of worry brought me stiff. “It’s late, Logan. You shouldn’t be here.”

  “That’s right, boy scout,” said Faris, his eyes wide in mock concern. “Is that... is that Gerber on the side of your mouth right there?” he added, as though speaking to a small child.

  Logan didn’t move. “I’ll leave,” he said, his gaze sharpening on me, “if that’s what you want.”

  Crap. Now, why did he have to say that?

  “Yes,” answered Faris before I had the chance. “Please leave,” said the mid-demon with a tone of finality.

  “We could use your help,” declared Poe suddenly, and I turned around to shoot him a look.

  “Help with what?” Logan’s posture stiffened. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing that concerns the likes of an angel-born,” replied Faris as he straightened.

  I let out a breath. “We think the vampire attacks on the witches and the higher demons that tried to kill me are connected,” I said quickly. “The higher demon Vorkol—”

  “Vargal’s wife,” interjected Poe.

  “Is trying to kill me,” I finished. “Payback for killing her husband.” Yada yada yada.

  Logan’s eyes squinted. For a moment he just stared. “What vampire attacks?”

  Right. He didn’t know. “There’s been a string of vampire attacks on witches,” I told him, seeing Faris cross his arms over his chest. “Six dead so far. All female. We think he’s under Vorkol’s control.”

  “Fits the bill,” said the raven.

  Logan’s eyes flicked to him and then back to me.

  “And you’re going after him tonight?” asked the angel-born with a certain amount of incredulity.

  “We are,” I answered.

  Poe leaped off the coat rack and fluttered to my shoulder. “Sam’s the bait.”

  I cringed, seeing how stupid this plan sounded when he said it out loud like that. But I had nothing else to go on. I’d fought a rogue vampire once, a female. She’d been on a killing spree in Queens—human children—which was a big no-no. I did the only thing I could. I burnt her to a crisp. But this time it wouldn’t be so easy.

  Logan’s eyes were intense as he said, “I’m coming. You’re going to need me if you want to kill this vampire. I can help.”

  Faris got in Logan’s face. “Listen, boy scout. We don’t need you. Sammy and I are perfectly capable of vanquishing a tiny vampire on our own. We wouldn’t want your precious angel hands to get dirty.”

  “Like yours, demon,” Logan shot back, winning a snarl from Faris.

  I pushed Faris out of the way before he did something stupid, like start a fight in my doorway. “It’s fine. He can come if he wants,” I said, pulling my eyes from Logan’s satisfied smile and stepping on the platform. “If fact, I don’t need either of you. So if you don’t shut up and pretend to get along, you can both stay here. I don’t have time for this pissing contest. And if you mess this up—” I warned, pointing my finger at both of them, “—I’ll turn you both into twelve-year-old girls with pimples. Got it? Good. Let’s go.”

  I shut the door with a bang, and without waiting for them to follow, I climbed down the front steps and jumped onto the sidewalk with Poe balancing on my shoulder. The curtain from Vera’s bay window shifted and I caught a glimpse of red hair before it disappeared again.

  Damnit. My tension rose. How much of that conversation did the witch hear? All of it? I
didn’t have time to worry about that right now. I had much bigger fish to fry—like a vampire.

  I pushed the thoughts from my head and rushed down the street.

  14

  We walked in silence for a while, Faris and Logan on either side of me, trying to out-walk each other as though this was some sort of competition. Chests out, their legs moved awkwardly like both were trying to speed walk and slow walk at the same time.

  I’d never noticed how similar and yet dissimilar they were. They were both tall, though Faris was an inch taller than Logan. The demon was dressed in an expensive-looking shirt and pants, whereas the angel-born was dressed more casually. Both were dark in terms of their eyes and hair color, but where Logan had more of a soft complexion, Faris was all hard angles. There was also an age-old intensity in Faris’s eyes that Logan didn’t have, no doubt the result of being a demon for thousands of years.

  I’d been surprised that Faris had decided to accompany me on my vampire stakeout, and more so that Logan had volunteered as well. Granted, with the infinitely more suspicious and concerned way the angel-born was watching Faris, I had the feeling he had come to help me, yes, but he also came to watch the demon. He didn’t trust him. And I didn’t trust either of them.

  We were an odd foursome.

  My boots clonked on the pavement. I sighed, trying to shake my tension. This was going to be a long, long night.

  Together we spilled out into the dark streets of Mystic Quarter, my heart beating in time to match the clanking of my boots. The night air was warm and saturated with the scents of humans, half-breeds, alcohol, blood, coffee, exhaust, of all mixed in with the smell of sulfur. It was Friday night, when the quarter came alive. Noise hit me, including the occasional werewolf cry and fluttering pixie. Four vampires lumbered past us, their eyes on Logan. No surprise there. Most half-breeds despised the angel-born. Something to do with how superior they felt to the rest of the half-breeds, as though their angel essence gave them that right.

  I didn’t think so.

  A cloudless black sky loomed over us with a collection of brilliant stars. It was a glorious night, but the beauty did nothing to quench the guilt eating a hole through my stomach walls. Somewhere in my city a vampire was killing off witches because of me. How many more innocent witches were going to have their essence drained out of them by a crazed vampire? How many more witches were going to die before he was stopped?

  I felt a heightened anxiety along my spine, in my pulse, and in the beat of blood in my ears. The faint drone of distant cars seemed very far away as our tread echoed on the sidewalk.

  We walked in silence for several moments until Poe finally said, “Do you know where to find this vampire?”

  “I have an idea.”

  “Feel like sharing?”

  I shrugged. “What? And ruin the surprise?” I answered, making my familiar grunt his disapproval.

  “You are one strange witch, Samantha Beaumont,” said Poe, making me smile. I thought so too.

  We hit Odin Boulevard. A small park came into view, decorated with four stone benches and two draping crabapple trees. A fountain, the size of a ten-by-ten pool, stood silently in its center.

  It was the same fountain Kyllian had used to travel back to Horizon, using its water as his transition to that other world. A tug pulled at my chest. I missed that big angel. I hoped the Legion was good to him this time around. If not, they’d have me to deal with.

  “There,” I said, and both Logan and Faris turned to look at me as I pointed straight ahead. “The park.” I wanted to make myself available, so what better place than in the middle of a park—open and quiet where everyone could see me?

  Logan raised a questionable brow. “You think this vampire is going to come look for you here? In this park?”

  “I do,” I said and crossed the park to the bench that faced the fountain. Water poured into a dark pool in the display’s center, looking like oil. I turned and sat on the bench, the cold metal seeping through my jeans. “He’s hunting witches that match my description in Mystic Quarter. Most witches are sleeping comfortably in their beds now. I’m right here.”

  A wicked smile creased Faris’s face as he sat next to me and crossed his leg at the knee. “I can tuck you in later, if you want. I’m an expert tucker.”

  Poe made a sound in his throat, fluttered to the fountain, and began drinking some water.

  Logan’s expression darkened as he took in Faris’s proximity to me. “I don’t think it’s going to work.”

  My mood soured. “It will,” I said, not appreciating his tone, his lack of faith in me, or Poe gargling water in his throat that sounded like he was reciting the alphabet. “See. I’m making it easier for him. I’m making myself available.”

  “Sammy,” purred Faris, as he scooted closer until our thighs touched. He draped his right arm around the back of the bench behind me. “I’m right here.”

  Lips parted, heat rushed to my face as I moved over and turned to face the mid-demon. “Look. I appreciate you being here and all, but if I want to catch this vampire... you need to make yourself scarce or he won’t come.”

  “Here, here,” agreed Poe.

  Irritation flickered behind the demon’s dark eyes and a chill fluttered through me. For a moment I thought I’d gone too far. His demonic magic was far superior to mine. He could probably turn me to ash with just a snap of his fingers if he wanted. I started to second guess my decision to let the demon come here.

  My gaze alternated between Logan and Faris, my tension growing as Faris mumbled and a black haze enveloped his hands.

  “As you wish,” declared Faris as he forced the irritation from his face and stood up, the haze gone. He tugged the sleeves of his shirt and said, “I’ll be right over there, where the fun is.” His eyes moved over to the Dusk & Dawn Vampire Pub across from the park, lingering on the three female vampires sitting out on the terrace as they sipped their red-colored drinks. They were practically undressing the demon with their eyes. Figured.

  Faris’s mood shifted, seemingly pleased. “Looks like I’m still in business. The business of sex,” he added, his teeth showing and raising his brows suggestively.

  Cauldron help me.

  My gaze fell on a grinning Logan. “And that goes for you too,” I said with an exhale, and Logan’s smile vanished. “If he gets a whiff of your angel-born smell, he’ll never show.”

  A frown creased Logan’s handsome face, looking appalled. “I smell?”

  I rolled my eyes as I let out an exasperated breath. “I don’t have time for this,” I said, annoyed. “As a matter of fact, you do. All angel-borns smell. Everybody knows that.”

  Faris snorted, looking smug. “Don’t fret, boy scout. Samantha smells too, you know.”

  I made a face. “Yeah, well, October is my bathing month.”

  The mid-demon’s expression shifted to one of satisfied appreciation as he ran his eyes over me. “I knew you were a dirty little witch.”

  “Look,” I said, feeling a giant migraine coming on, and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Just stay out of sight. Okay?”

  Logan’s lips parted, and for a moment I thought he was about to argue. “What if he overpowers you with his magic?” he asked instead. “You said he was very powerful. One of us should stay close.”

  “What am I? A figurine?” said Poe as he jumped around the fountain. “That’s why I’m here. I’ve got her back. You can go now.”

  I shifted in my seat. “Listen. He wants me, and it’s me he’ll get.” I lifted my gloved hands. “I can handle an old vampire on my own.” I was ready for him. I clenched my jaw. “This ends tonight. I’m going to fry this pointed-tooth bastard.”

  Logan’s shoulders stiffened with tension, the rims of his brown eyes growing in frustration. “What about the higher demons?” he said, and Faris’s attention snapped back to mine. “You nearly died the last time. They’ll kill you.”

  “They won’t.”

  Logan gave me a sharp
look. “You need me.”

  I clenched my jaw. Boy, he was annoying me tonight. “There’s only about an hour and a half left before sunrise.”

  “All the more reason for me to stay.”

  Faris coughed and muttered, “Boy scout.”

  “I’m not dead yet, so let me do my job.” Now I was pissed. I wasn’t some weak female who needed rescuing from a man. I was a dark witch, damnit. I had badass magic. I controlled demons and bent them to my will.

  Logan’s jaw tightened, belligerent to the end, and I forced myself to relax. I knew better than to piss him off. I might never see him again. Okay, that was selfish, and his coming here tonight had me confused as hell, but there was no time to wrap my head around that. If I survived tonight’s ordeal, that was another story.

  A sigh slipped from Logan. “You’re crazy.”

  “So I’ve been told.” I smiled. “Living life on the edge and all that crap.” Not really, I’d much rather be home with a glass of wine and binge watching something on Netflix, preferably with a hot angel-born with dark, sultry eyes... and preferably naked.

  “Come along, boy scout,” said Faris. “I’m sure we can find a female desperate enough for your company.”

  I watched as a demon and an angel-born walked side by side and crossed the street towards the pub, both here to protect me. Didn’t see that every day.

  “I’m going to scout around the area,” declared Poe, and I pulled my attention from Logan’s perfect behind. The raven ruffled his feathers. “Be right back.” With a strong beat of his wings the raven soared into the inky black sky and was gone.

  Now I was truly alone. Good. I exhaled long and loud, focusing my will on my sigil rings and tapping into that power. The metal warmed as they answered. They were fully charged, so all that was missing was a target.

  Where are you, you vamp bastard?

  My pulse fired madly, every beat pushing my tension higher. Yes, I was anxious for the vamp to show up. But that’s not why I was propped to the edge of the bench, hands clenched, ready to throw a spell.