by Tee, Marian
And I'll always find my way back to you.
Always.
The Angel and the Demon
Have a Talk
Chapter Twelve
ZARI HAD GONE BACK to sleep when Alexandru slipped out of her apartment and made his way up to the rooftop. His pet's boss was already there waiting, and Alexandru once again caught the scent of the other man's jealousy.
Micah's jaw was tight as he fought for control. It was one thing to hear Zari say she was going to have sex with another man, but it was another fucking thing entirely to watch that same man walk towards him and see the truth for himself.
The languid pace in which the centuries-old vampire approached him, the taunting glint in his eyes, and when Alexandru finally came to a stop in front of him—-
"Micah, is it not?"
The lazy arrogance in the half-demon's voice pretty much made it loud and clear: Alexandru Gheorgiu had just spent the last forty-plus hours having his way with Zari, and the fact had the angel seeing red.
Alexandru studied his rival with unconcealed interest. He had encountered his fair share of angels in his admittedly long existence, and they were generally a cold-blooded bunch.
Zari's boss, however...
"If you are wondering whether my pet will join us—-" Alexandru's tone took on a note of apology. "I'm afraid my attentions have her rather exhausted." Again, the scent of jealousy, but this time, combined with a touch of barely restrained violence.
Micah's teeth gnashed at the mocking gleam in the vampire's gaze. "Fuck you."
But this only had the vampire baring his fangs with a laugh. "Civility not your strong suit, I take it? Could that be why you were kicked out of Ciel?"
The words nearly had Micah cursing again. Ciel, one of the ducal territories of the kingdom of Chalys, was his birthplace, and the only ones permitted to cross its (literally) pearly-white gates were angels...of pure blood.
A muscle started ticking in Micah's jaw. When he had described himself as a half-angel, otherworlders and humans alike had found no reason to question him, much less guess the truth...until Alexandru Gheorgiu.
As much as he was loathe to admit this, the few doubts he had of the vampire's prowess as a hunter were completely eliminated now. This, he thought grimly, was the reason why otherworlders liked to tell stories of Alexandru to scare their kids into behaving, and why - as much as it had chafed his pride to do so - he had agreed with Zari's request to send his men away.
The human trappers under his watch, not having grown up in Chalys and listening to the countless legendary exploits of Alexandru hunting down rogues and demons alike, had simply seen Alexandru as a vampire infected with demon blood.
None of them had the wits to see past Alexandru's ill-fitting clothes or, more importantly, the way the vampire had deliberately muted the tremendous amount of power contained within him. Even worse, one of his regrettably millennial trappers had even dared to describe Alexandru's reputation as 'overhyped', and despite his own dislike of the half-demon, the term had Micah wanting to smack some sense into the trapper's head.
Micah might not be as old as the vampire, but he was no callow youth either. He had courted death enough times to know when he was facing a killer, and Alexandru Gheorgiu?
The man was capable of assassinating an entire army without blinking an eye, and it fucking grated on Micah, now that he knew Zari wasn't just the vampire's pet...but his heartkeeper as well.
Just thinking about Zari and Alexandru together had him seeing red again, but Micah forced himself to get past this, saying finally, "I haven't asked for this meeting to discuss my lineage."
Alexandru's gaze glinted at the admission. "If you are going to say that is because of Zari," he advised silkily, "it's best that you forget any romantic notions you have of my pet. If you weren't able to make her turn your way while I was gone, you absolutely do not have a chance of doing so now that I'm back."
"If you're that certain about Zari's feelings for you," Micah couldn't resist taunting, "then why bother with a warning?"
"For my pet's sake, of course."
Micah was caught off guard by the ring of truth in Alexandru's words.
"She enjoys working in your agency for some reason. It would be unfortunate if you were to make things uncomfortable and force my pet into handing over her resignation."
"And you really think she'd do that?" Micah challenged. "Choose you over her job?"
The amusement that gleamed in the half-demon's lazy green eyes made it seem as if he had said something even a toddler would think stupid, and Micah's fists clenched against the urge to drive a fist in the other man's too-perfectly-chiseled face. Even he knew the damn half-demon was goading him, but he was still unable to keep himself from rising to the bait.
"You are free to believe whatever you wish." A nonchalant shrug accompanied the words. "But enough about my lovely pet for now. She is not what you came here to discuss, is she?"
Micah didn't like the way the vampire seemed to find it too easy to read him, but reminded as he was now of his true purpose, he had no choice but to temporarily set aside his contempt. "Things have significantly changed since you left," he said abruptly, "and your precious Demon Duke of Brimstone became the Red Witch's slave." He waited for Alexandru to say something but was unsurprised when the vampire's expression only turned inscrutable in response.
"We have our own sources to verify this," Micah stated flatly, "so there is no need for you to confirm it."
"Then what are you here for?" Alexandru asked curtly.
Decision time, Micah thought broodingly. Angels like him had been raised to distrust demons without question, but since Zari had unequivocally declared herself as this man's heartkeeper...
"The Devil's Door." Micah saw the vampire frown. "You've heard of it then?"
Alexandru fought to keep his face expressionless. "Naturally." The most inhumane sacrifices alone had the power of opening such a portal, and even then only archdemons were able to pass through them.
"Z—-" The half-demon's gaze noticeably cooled at the way Micah referred to Zari, and he realized he had finally found a chink in the other man's armor. "Apologies."
Albeit quickly issued, the apology - Alexandru was irritated to note - sounded anything but sincere.
"It's what I'm used to calling her. She doesn't like it, of course, but then I'm sure you've noticed the same thing yourself." Micah paused then added silkily, "Z also looks a lot cuter when she's mad, don't you think?
It was Alexandru's turn to see red and bite back an expletive. "Just get to the point."
Satisfied at having scored a point against the vampire, Micah had no problems ignoring the brusqueness of the other man's tone. "Z had already been working at AGNEX for about six months when she told me about a tip she's received from her contacts in Chalys."
"I see." Alexandru himself had taught Zari to use that line, in instances she found an unavoidable need to speak of her visions to people who didn't know she was a soul seer.
"I had a feeling she's had that tip a lot longer than that, but she was waiting to see if I could be trusted. She told me her source had a strong reason to believe someone at AGNEX would turn traitor and eventually open a Devil's Door from this side."
Alexandru's gaze narrowed. "And you believed her?"
"Whatever I thought of it at that time is immaterial," the angel said quietly, "since it's already happened. I've had the whole city under surveillance since Z's tip, and nothing's happened until recently. Two Devil's Doors have opened in the past forty-eight hours. You were the one who went through the second...and judging by your current expression, I already know you haven't told Zari about it."
"Is this blackmail then?" Alexandru questioned coldly.
"Think of it as cutting a deal." Micah's tone was equally cold. "I'll keep your secret, and I'll make sure no one else finds out about it...if you help us kill whatever it was that went through the first Devil's Door."
"And that
's it?" Alexandru derided. "We are simply to trust each other's words on this?"
"I never said anything about trust, have I?" Micah's lip curled. "Zari seems to trust you, and for that I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. As difficult as it is to accept," Micah forced himself to say, "I've seen you with Z. I know how much she means to you, and how far you'll go not to let her know the truth about yourself."
The Hunt for the Thirteenth Boy
Chapter Thirteen
ZARI HAD ONLY BEEN at the park for a few minutes when she heard the sound of footsteps. Deliberate for sure, she thought in amusement, since her Master couldn't be anything but stealthy even if to save his life.
Glancing up, she felt her heart skip a beat as she watched him approach her. Gone were the ill-fitting clothes, and in his all-black ensemble he now looked like the Alexandru of old. Elegant and dangerous all at once, and her heart skipped another beat as she caught the look of smoldering intensity in his brilliantly green gaze.
She turned around, acting like she intended to ignore him, but Alexandru being the personification of arrogance, this didn't bother him at all, and she had a hard time biting back a smile as a pair of strong arms slipped around her waist from behind. You found my note, Master?
While the breathless catch in his pet's voice was always a delight to hear, it was the humor that also underscored her words that had Alexandru fighting back his own smirk. It was not hard at all, guessing what had her so amused.
In the past, he was the one leaving her notes, more often due to having to leave unexpectedly when he had a demon to hunt down. Now, however, the tables had turned, but Alexandru didn't mind at all.
Received some updates about a case I'm secretly working on. Heading to The Battery. Would love some company if you're free. After repeating the exact words of her message, he then drawled, I've never had someone invite me on a date at a crime scene, but I supposed there's a first for everything.
Zari had to choke back a laugh at this, but with her Master already turning her around, this soon turned into a gasp as Alexandru's mouth covered hers in a hot, open-mouthed kiss. At first, she was embarrassed - it didn't feel right, kissing right next to her crime scene, but with her Master's tongue pushing deeper into her mouth, she was soon unable to think. All she could do was kiss him back, her arms tightening around his neck as her toes curled hard inside her boots, and her breasts started to ache—-
"What the fuck?"
The next thing she knew, Alexandru, his powerful body rigid with tension, was shoving her to hide behind his back, and Zari realized all at once that her Master believed they were under attack...but against what?
More than a little worried about the fact that she hadn't sensed anything at all, Zari was already reaching for one of her concealed blades even as she raised herself on her toes to see what they were facing—-
Oh.
Alexandru heard his pet's little mental gasp but didn't dare take his gaze away from the ghost that was once known as Key Moarte's most infamous haunted doll. Care to elaborate on what that 'oh' means?
Ten minutes and minus one ghostly spectator later, and Alexandru was doing his damnedest to come to terms with yet another unexpected aspect of his pet's new life. Apparently, her most recently acquired skill as a soul seer involved turning her visions into a home for ghosts that refused to move on, and in return for this refuge, the ghosts were "contract" bound to protect his pet and follow her every command.
"Basically," Zari ended, "I'm kinda like a Pokémon trainer in disguise—-"
Alexandru stared at his pet in disbelief. Pokémon? Elsa's inability to feel pain made her one of the most frighteningly powerful ghosts in the world, and the best way his pet could describe this was in terms of some game?
"Only I have no choice but to specialize in Pokémon like Gengar, Duskull, Banette—-" Zari's voice trailed off at the sight of her Master's glare. She had rather thought she had done a spectacular job explaining things, but maybe she was wrong?
Alexandru was struggling against the urge to give his pet's forehead a couple of good, hard flicks, just like old times. Just when he thought her mature, she had to say something like that, and he was back to worrying about whether it was even safe to let her out of his sight, much less give her the freedom to act like - Alexandru couldn't keep his lip curling - a Pokémon trainer.
"Master?" Zari's voice was timid. "If you have any questions—-"
"Just give me a moment, pet."
Zari opened her mouth to ask if that moment meant a few seconds or a minute, saw the way Alexandru was glaring at her, and changed her mind. "I'm just gonna be, um, over there," she mumbled with a vague gesture towards the still-unfilled grave.
Seeing how another ghost had literally materialized out of thin air as Zari walked away, Alexandru determinedly tried to convince himself all of this was par for the course. She might still be a magnet for trouble, but Zari was no longer as helpless and clueless as she had once been. In the years he had been gone from her side, his pet had not only successfully kept the fact that she was a soul seer in secret, but she had also managed to turn herself into one of New York's most badass trappers.
That had to count for something, never mind her less-than-ideal choice of terminology.
When her Master returned to her side, Zari was relieved to see that he no longer looked fit to throttle some sense into her. Note to self: Alexandru didn't like Pokémon. That was rather sad, but maybe he was one of those rare beings who preferred Digimon or something?
Alexandru studied the scene before him as he mentally reviewed the details of Zari's case report, which she had emailed to him before leaving the apartment. Twelve dead boys...when there should've been thirteen.
"We've got a guy at the police station sending us regular updates about the case," Zari told him, "and at first, I thought this whole thing was about finding their killer and giving the ghosts justice. This morning, however, the lead investigators on the case had finally finished cross-referencing DNA samples with old records, and as it turns out..." Zari's tone turned thoughtful. "The killer had already turned himself in, right after the twelfth boy went missing, in fact." She took her phone out to show Alexandru the newest set of emails.
Felix Lacson, 23, high school dropout, worked part-time at a junk shop on Staten Island. Described as 'not being in his right mind' by people who knew him and was diagnosed as schizophrenic by the time of his hearing.
"One of the reporters covering his trial described Lacson as a sobbing mess, and that the suspect refused to reveal the boys' whereabouts but kept insisting he didn't kill any of them. He just put them to sleep, like the voice in his head had told him to."
Zari and her Master exchanged looks. Voices in one's head might automatically make one certified in others' books, but in their world, it usually meant exactly that - a voice, typically a demon's, messing with susceptible human minds, which unfortunately were a dime a dozen.
Alexandru considered the timeline. It had been twenty-six years since the murders, and while that only placed their alleged killer in his forties...
"Lacson's dead, is he not?"
"Mysterious heart attack while he was behind bars. If he had lived another day, he would still have died; the jury thought him guilty, and the public wanted him executed."
"And the thirteenth boy?"
"Lacson never once mentioned anything about it. The only reason we know about it is..."
Alexandru turned his attention to the dead little boy who had remained silent but watchful by his pet's side the entire time they had been talking. "Martin, is it not?"
"Yes, sir." Martin's voice had a noticeable quiver, and it said a lot of his courage that he was even able to be coherent in Alexandru's presence. The devil - or in this case, demon - might wear many faces and hide under different guises, but ghosts were one of the rare beings that his kind was incapable of fooling.
"I don't mean you any harm," he said gently. "Anyone who is a friend to my p
et is under my protection as well."
After several moments, the boy asked tremulously, "What do you need me to do?"
The First One Tells A Story
Chapter Fourteen
I WAS THE FIRST ONE he took. He stole me from my bedroom, covered my eyes, and then he carried me out of the window. I think it was the window because my head bumped into something. And I've never bumped my head through the door.
Then we were in a car. Or a truck. I just sensed he was driving. My Pa always says big boys never cry, so I don't usually cry, but I was scared that night. So I cried. I asked him to take me back to Ma and Pa, but he never answered. I don't think he even heard me. You see, he was mumbling a lot of things under his breath while he was crying. At first I thought he was talking to someone. But when no one ever answered him back, I got even more scared because that meant he was crazy. You only talk to yourself when you're crazy, right?
But maybe he wasn't crazy.
Maybe it's like the mister says, and the demon was talking to him in his head.
After that he took me to this cold place. It felt like our old basement, so I guess that's where he took me?
The second boy came just a little while later, and he was crying, too. Then the third and fourth came together. We were all crying. And I was getting hungry. I asked if I could have some food and he said, when I woke up, I won't ever be hungry again.
More boys came after that. I started counting. The last one was the thirteenth. He didn't say much, but he sounded a bit older. Everyone was hungry then and tired. But he never fed us. And he never let us go anywhere so we had to pee and poo where we were. It was gross.
On our last night he woke us up. He told us we're going to our new home. He carried us one by one into the truck. This time I'm sure it's a truck. And the thirteenth boy...he didn't have to be carried. I could hear him get up all on his own. So he must be a lot older, like fifteen or sixteen.