I massaged my temples, think of Lizzie and Mathas leaving their beautiful home until their faces have faded from memory so they can return. “So Demons aren’t the bad guys.”
Lucas kept his focus on the opening of our booth as he answered. “They’re just guys. Some bad, some good, some okay. The problem is that most of them don’t want to be here, and yet they have an advantage over all of us because they’ll still be here when we’re gone. They keep a hand in with everyone, gathering all the secrets they can and then they sell them off to the highest bidder.”
The beautiful blond was heading back in our direction. I barely dared to breathe as she placed the champagne and four glasses on the table. She leaned over and asked Lucas did he want the bottle opened. Her dress gaped, revealing a bright pink bra. Jasmine gave a brilliant smile and waved her off. I gave Sam a sidelong glance to see was he watching her perfect butt disappear back behind the bar, and found him staring straight at me.
I bit my lip and faced Lucas. “So why the blood tithe?”
Lucas grabbed the bottle between his two hands and pointed the bottle at the ceiling as he answered. “Demons always want blood. It’s the essence of life. Other realms use different forms of magic, but it’s always powered by the essence of the spirit. They use the blood to fuel more powerful magic and to try and figure out a way to break the force that’s keeping them from leaving our dimension.”
“What would happen if Angels were found here? By the Guardians?” I tapped my nails on my champagne flute.
Lucas looked down at the bottle and adopted a monotone voice. “‘By Order of the Angel Council, Angels shall not socialize with Humans in circumstances where their self-control may be compromised due to intoxication.’ When I was studying at the Academy, on my active assignment, I had to learn off about a hundred rules like that.” He shook his head. “The Guardians don’t want any little Half-Blood babies appearing after a drunken one night stand.”
Lucas popped the cork with force and let the champagne shoot into the glass Jasmine expertly positioned under the spray. He handed me a champagne flute, half filled with sparkling liquid and raised one eyebrow. “Are you ready to find Eve’s Demon?”
I knocked the drink back in a single gulp, coughing as it burned my throat. “No. But let’s do it anyway. For Dawn.”
The others raised their glasses and swallowed their champagne. Lucas beckoned the server, holding her gaze as she made her way over. She leaned against the table, her full attention on him. “How can I help, Sir?”
Lucas stroked her outstretched arm with his thumb. “We’re actually looking for somebody.”
“Are you?” She was practically purring across the table.
Lucas edged a little closer to her. “A Demon. Goes by the name Gabriel.”
She shot upright, silky locks swinging with the force of the sudden movement. Her voice was as a tight as her face. “And what Angel seeks him?”
I cleared my throat, cursing my awkwardness. “I do. You can tell him Mary Magdalene sent me.”
She turned on her heel and vanished through a stainless steel door beside the bar. Nobody spoke. Sam’s hand hovered beside mine for a second, before he pulled it into a fist and shoved it into his pocket.
The blond appeared in front of us again. Her aquamarine eyes gave nothing away. “Follow me.”
I gripped my arms tightly to my chest as we followed her behind the bar. A heavy door clicked shut, leaving no trace of sound from the club just feet away. This smaller room made a stark contrast to the one we had just left. It was warm and comfortable. Several doors were tucked neatly between bookcases and a circular bar stood, unmanned, in the center of the room. It reminded me of an old school Gentleman’s Club.
A solitary figure stood in front of the bar, one elegant hand resting on the back of a worn oxblood armchair. “It’s rare that children come seeking Gabriel’s counsel.”
The woman was shockingly beautiful. She pointed first at Lucas and then at Jasmine. “Golden Angel, Dark Angel,” she turned her attention to myself and Sam, “but what do we have here?”
I gripped my locket between my finger and my thumb. Sam slung an arm lazily over my shoulder and ran his fingers through my hair as if her question barely interested him. I stiffened at his unexpected Lothario impression and the sound of his arrogant tone. “Are you disappointed that you only have one direct line descendant seeking you out? I am afraid myself and my friends are lower house Angels.”
Sam dropped my hair and lifted his green eyes to look the woman in the face. “But I think you might still be interested in what we mongrels can offer you, Demon.”
Her lips slid away from her gums revealing teeth sharp enough to tear through muscle. Sam didn’t flinch, but he pulled me even closer against his hard body.
“Stop playing with our guests Aza, they aren’t your toys. Yet.”
Jasmine’s eyes widened, mirroring the shock I was feeling. Lucas ripped his hand out of his pocket, gripping an unlit Spirit Blade firmly between his fingers as he eyeballed the empty chair. Only Sam appeared unfazed. “So, Aza, is Gabriel interested in seeing us or not? There are plenty of others we can visit if he doesn’t want to barter.”
The air in front of the leather chair rippled as the particles rearranged themselves before our eyes to reveal a tall, slim body. Long legs stretched out casually in their expensive jeans. I followed the lean lines of the body up to a pale chiseled face topped by carefully styled black waves. Two striking violet eyes were trained on my own as the boy watched me with an intensity that contradicted his careless posture. I felt a shock of recognition jar my nerves. I knew him. I had seen him before, when I was a child.
I tried to school my facial expression into something neutral. He addressed Sam without so much as glancing in his direction, his eyes burning a hole in my face. “Gabriel has no interest in anything Angel children have to offer him.”
Without warning, Gabriel leaped from the chair and landed soundlessly in front of me. He lifted Sam’s arm from my shoulder with a single finger and prodded me forward in the space in front of the fire. He circled me. “So what has Mary Magdalene sent to me?” He stopped short, staring down into my face. “And what is there in it for me? What is the price you can pay that makes it worth facing the wrath of the Council?”
I stood my ground, clamping my teeth together and matching his stare. “We need help. A little girl, my foster niece, she’s ill. She needs a charm to cleanse her, something infused with Saponaria Officinalis. My foster mother said to ask for you.”
Gabriel continued to look at me, coldly. Jasmine stepped forward, pulled the golden vial out of her bra, and tossed it at him. “We have blood to pay with. Halfling blood.”
Gabriel caught the small bottle in one hand, and his gaze slid over Jasmine’s body, lingering on her face. She pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose and lifted her chin. A flicker of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
I twisted my band around my wrist nervously. Gabriel’s expression sharpened, and he reached out to examine the band. I thought I saw something warm stir behind the glacial beauty of his face, but it was gone before I could blink. He handed me the vial and turned to Aza. “Bring them through to my study before Fergus gets back with those imbeciles. I will follow you in a moment. I need to visit Niamh.”
Aza ushered us towards the back of the room while Gabriel slid through one of the side exits. As we reached Gabriel’s study the main door burst open, and a group of young men and women barged into the room heading straight for the bar. Aza threw the study door open but before we had crossed the threshold a hand wrapped around my arm.
The man attached to the thick fingers appeared to be in his late twenties, with tanned skin and brown eyes. He gave me a smile that made me want to bath in bleach. “Now, now Aza, what have we got here? Has Gabriel been hustling in some little Angelic treats without letting us have our share?”
I wrenched my hand from his grasp. This was what I had fea
red a dungeon dwelling Demon would act like. Before Aza could breathe a response, the Demon was lifted off his feet and flung back onto one of the leather sofas. Gabriel stood at the opposite end of the room, his hand in the air and his back straight. He sauntered towards us. The group, watching us gleefully a moment ago, turned their attention to the bar and avoided Gabriel’s eye as he passed them.
“Fergus, my friend,” he drew the last word out slowly, “this is a business transaction, paid for in Halfling blood.”
Fergus stood up, his curiosity apparently stronger than the blow to his pride. “How much blood? Does Niamh know? Where is it?”
Gabriel flicked a finger his direction, forcing Fergus back into a seated position with the strength of an invisible force. “This is my business transaction Fergus. It is none of your concern.”
Gabriel turned his back to Fergus, unruffled. He gestured for me to return the vial to him and in exchange, he pressed a necklace into my hand. Jasmine and Lucas shot me a look, and relief flooded my body. We had it. Dawn would be okay.
I fastened the chain around my neck for safe keeping and closed my fist around the jagged, asymmetrical pendant. A ripple of familiarity tugged at my mind as the metal made contact with my skin. Gabriel handed the payment to Aza. “Niamh is waiting for the blood.” He turned looked at Fergus. “Please accompany Aza to the Ambassador, Fergus, she requested your wisdom on a pressing matter.”
I sniggered, whispering under my breath. “I’d say she’ll be getting pearls of wisdom from that clown.”
A look of horror passed over Sam’s face. Jasmine froze. Blood rushed to my face and I nodded my head towards the main door without meeting Gabriel’s eye. “Okay, we’re done here. See you later.”
I turned to leave and banged straight into Fergus’s broad chest. He licked his lips before addressing the room. “If an Angel causes insult or injury to a Demon then a blood debt must be paid.” Fergus leaned closer, running a hand over my hair. “Time to pay your debt, little Angel.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jasmine bolted past me and slithered in front of Fergus. “I’ll pay the debt.”
She craned her head back to look up into his face, resting her hands on her curvy hips to accentuate her tiny waist. Fergus gave her a long lingering once-over before turning to the demons who were wolf whistling from the bar. “What do you fancy today, lads? An uptight bitch, or a willing vixen?”
I bit down on my smart tongue with every ounce of restraint I possessed and turned to Gabriel. Sam grabbed my wrist, squeezing it firmly. He gave me a barely perceptible shake of his head. My gut cramped tightly as I tried to figure out what the hell had I gotten us into.
Fergus had turned his attention back to myself and Jasmine. Jasmine licked her lips as she stared into his eyes with her hand outstretched. Fergus pulled a blade from a sheath attached to his belt and lifted her hand to his mouth, kissing her index finger. I dug my nails into Sam’s arm in rage.
“Lara, bring me my cup.” Fergus didn’t even take his eyes off Jasmine as he barked out the command. A tall, slender girl with a shock of titian curls broke away from the group at the bar and took a metal tankard from a black bag.
“What the hell is that? How much blood is going to take?” I turned on Sam and Lucas, my heart pounding.
Aza tilted her head, examining me. “Just the token tithe, the same you paid on the way in. Reparation for your disrespect,” she narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to the side, “just as they teach you at the Academy.”
I felt as though my chest would explode. Fergus took the tankard from Lara and held Jasmine’s hand to his lips again, his tongue darting out to lick her skin. I tasted bile in my mouth. Jasmine held his eyes the entire time, smiling enticingly. He dropped her hand, the blade poised between his fingers like a quill. “Thank you for the taste, Angel, I hope you make your way back here again so that I can have more than just a taste, but,” he pointed his knife at me, “I’m taking what I’m owed from her.”
Gabriel moved for the first time since my stupid mistake and slid his hand in front of Fergus. “Direct line blood is worth more to us than what you will get from this lesser-family runt.”
It was hard not to cringe as he dismissed me with a curl of his lips. Fergus knocked Gabriel’s hand out of the way of the way, and made for me with his blade outstretched. “You might be second in command when it comes to embassy business, Gabriel, but you have no power over how I take what’s mine.”
Jasmine whirled around, her hands suddenly alive with light and flipped between Aza and Fergus to where I stood with Sam. Lucas dived to her side, a sword of light in his hand. Sam grabbed my shoulders and pulled me into Gabriel’s office.
He locked the door and rested his weight against it as he scanned the small square room. His eyes focused on the large empty fireplace on the far side of the study.
My voice was shrill. “Sam, what the hell are you doing? We can’t leave them there, it’s just a drop of blood. This is insane.”
“Grace! Your blood isn’t Angelic. The minute it hits the silver in that cup he’ll know what you are and you’ll be sitting in front of a room full of Guardians before you draw breath. There are too many of them for us to form a quadrant. We have to run.” Sam’s voice strained as he pushed an enormous wooden desk against the door. “Look up that chimney, Grace.”
I ran across the soft carpet and crouched down to stick my head into the fireplace. “I don’t see anything, it’s just a chimney.”
Something thumped against the door from the other side. Sam grimaced. “Christ sake, Grace, is there any light further up? Are there rungs for a sweep to climb?”
I shook myself off and squinted into the black space, squashing myself further forward so I could grope at the sides. Score. “Yes, I can feel some sort of a ladder, and there is definitely some light up there.” I pulled myself out of the hearth on all fours. “It’s a long way up.”
Sam gave me a grim nod. “Good enough. I am going to help Lucas and Jasmine create a distraction. The minute I say go you start climbing, okay? Find a window, get yourself into the most populated part of the city and borrow a phone to ring Emmanuel. We’ll find you, just stick to the crowds.”
“Okay.”
Sam paused for a second, his nestled on the curve of my back. The door shuddered on its hinges. “Go!”
I went, cursing my body frame and my dislike of small spaces as I crushed myself up into the narrow well and began climbing in almost pitch darkness. My hands scrambled to get a grip as I tried not to think about what else could be with me in the darkness. I found my stride, scrabbling upwards with increasing ease, thankful that the passage didn’t match the image I had of narrow flues only wide enough for a small child to clean.
The sound of a struggle down below filtered upwards, followed by a voice. “I can fit, Fergus, I’ve climbed it before.”
When I peered down, I could see nothing but the noise was clear, someone was following me. And they were gaining fast. Crap. I pushed myself harder until my sweaty hands reached for the next rung and found a shelf instead. Dragging myself onto the narrow ledge, I leaned against the wall and it gave way behind me. I slammed onto the floor on my back and skittered across the room using my feet to propel me, squinting to make out my surroundings in the bright light.
I was sitting on a polished white marble floor with my back pressed against the wall. Full-length sash windows looked out onto the Tower of London. Directly across from me was a narrow wooden doorway, held open by a tall, lean figure. Perfect dark waves and expensive jeans. Gabriel. Shit, shit.
I scrambled to my feet. The red-haired girl who had brought Fergus the cup earlier climbed out through the small door, stretching herself like a cat. She had the cup tucked under her arm, and the knife gripped between her lips.
“That’s an accident waiting to happen, Lara.” Gabriel nudged the sharp blade with his fingertip as she opened her mouth to grab it by the handle. A thin line of red ran along the b
lade, dripping delicately onto Lara’s ivory skin. Fergus and two other men came skidding around the landing, their black boots squeaking on the polished stone floor.
“They got away, that mongrel Angel had some sort of supped up barrier power— never mind. Looks like I will still get what I am due, after all.” Relief for my friends flooded through me, followed by a stab of fear as Fergus advanced. I forced myself not to shrink away from his wolfish leer. “Pity we lost your little friend. I have a feeling her blood would be as sweet as honey. But I am beginning to wonder if maybe your blood is a little dirty, considering how strongly you feel about sharing it.”
I glared at him and thrust my hand out towards Lara who was holding the knife, still stained with Gabriel’s blood. “Save your slimy innuendos for someone else, just take your pound of flesh.”
Fergus snatched the knife and cup from Lara, holding the blade above my outstretched finger and the cup underneath it. I swallowed hard. Just as he was about to slit my skin, Lara handed him a clean knife. She stared at Gabriel as she spoke. “Use this knife. That one is stained with Gabriel’s blood. It’ll taint the offering.”
Fergus jabbed my finger unceremoniously, twisting my hand downwards so the drops fell with a tinny patter into the waiting cup. Lara and the other two men crowded around us, mesmerized by the small pool of blood forming. Only Gabriel stood apart, his back turned to us as he studied the view through the window.
Lara was the first to move. “Fergus, we caught one.”
Fergus stepped back from me, his voice incredulous, “Demon-Born.” He turned to Lara. “Demon-Born, we trapped a goddamn Demon-Born!”
She squeezed his arm, and he bellowed, grabbing her by the waist and spilling the contents of the cup. I watched my blood splatter onto the white walls in a delicate shower of crimson flecks.
The Shadow Children (The Demon-Born Trilogy Book 1) Page 16