by Parker Blue
Okay, I had to admit, he did cute and adorable really well. I couldn’t help but scratch him behind his fuzzy ears. That’s beside the point.
BECAUSE I WAS HELPING PIA AND DAVID… THEY’VE BEEN THROUGH A LOT. I FIGURED THEY DESERVED SOME SLACK. BESIDES, YOU NEEDED TO HEAR AND SEE WHAT MICAH HAS BEEN HIDING FROM EVERYONE.
You could have done that with words alone.
MAYBE. BUT WOULD IT HAVE BEEN AS CONVINCING?
Probably not. You scared the hell out of me.
I KNOW, AND I’M SORRY FOR THAT.
And why me? Why didn’t David pick on someone else?
LIKE HE SAID, IT’S BECAUSE YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. PEOPLE SEE YOU DIFFERENTLY. DAVID AND MICAH KNOW HOW INFLUENTIAL YOU ARE, JUST BY BEING YOURSELF, EVEN IF YOU DON’T.
Ridiculous. Why did everyone forget that I was still only eighteen? Sure, I felt years older in experience, but I was too young for all the responsibility everyone kept trying to shove off on me. And I sure didn’t want it. But the Demon Underground didn’t have the same social conventions tied up with arbitrary age numbers. They didn’t see years. They saw something else. If I could figure out what it was, I’d darned well stop showing it to them.
WHAT ELSE ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE? Fang challenged. DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Maybe not, but I wanted to be the one to make the choice, not have it shoved down my throat. Don’t push me. This is not going to make me want to forgive you yet. And don’t even think about getting pizza until I do.
OKAY. He sighed heavily. I CAN LIVE WITH THAT.
We rode in silence the rest of the way home. When we arrived, David and I exchanged phone numbers and Fang and I got out of the truck. It was near dawn, but all the lights were blazing in the house. Guess my roomie, Gwen, was up.
Inside, two people and a hellhound sat in the living room, their postures tense. Gwen looked worried, her short red hair more tousled than normal, and Shade’s general swirliness was an agitated mess.
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? Princess demanded. MY HUMAN WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU.
Shade was seven-eighths human, but I always thought of him as demon. Apparently, Princess didn’t. And I noticed that the part hellhound, part Cavalier King Charles Spaniel didn’t say she was worried. She’d always been self-centered, but now that she was pregnant with Fang’s pups, she was more demanding than ever.
At least Gwen and Shade looked relieved to see us. Gwen said, “When I got home from the ER, I found your motorcycle here and your cell lying next to it.”
I patted my pockets. Sure enough, my phone was gone. It must have fallen out during the struggle.
“I called Shade,” Gwen continued, “but when you weren’t at his place, we both got worried.”
That explained why he was here. “Sorry,” I said. “But it wasn’t my choice.” Privately, I asked Fang, You didn’t tell Princess about this?
NO, he answered ruefully. YOU TRY REASONING WITH A HORMONAL HELLHOUND, SEE HOW FAR YOU GET.
I hear ya.
Shade moved around the couch to envelop me in his arms. Oh, my. Lola liked. Now finally free of the sticky web of the drug, Lola was able to reach out and touch. She wanted to drink up all the yummy goodness that was Shade, but I wouldn’t let her. Not right now anyway. For now, it felt good just to be wrapped in his arms, feeling the warmth of his body against mine. Knowing someone cared enough about me to worry infused my being with a warm glow of happiness.
Sappy, I know, but Shade affected me that way. Home again with friends surrounding me—it didn’t get better than this.
“What happened?” he asked, holding me at arm’s length.
Since he was still touching me, the swirls were gone and I could see his face. That made me happy, too. Our relationship was still new, and I never got tired of his hot studliness. Didn’t think I ever would.
GAG ME, Fang said, pretending to choke.
Ignoring him, I sat down on the couch and wondered how to explain. “I’m sorry, Gwen, but most of this is Demon Underground business. I’m not sure how much I can tell you.”
“Doesn’t matter,” she said and rose to give me a hug. “I’m just glad you’re safe.” Sighing, she added, “Time to get some shut-eye.” As she left the room, she tossed over her shoulder, “Oh, and don’t let Jack eat everything in the kitchen, okay?”
Jack wandered into the living room, carrying a heaping platter of food, still looking like a lumberjack instead of the former keeper of the Encyclopedia Magicka. “I heard that,” he said, waving a drumstick in Gwen’s direction
“You were supposed to,” Gwen called out, then shut her door firmly behind her.
“You brought Jack with you?” I asked Shade, bemused.
Shade, who sat next to me and snuggled close, shrugged. “He insisted.”
HE LIKES THE FOOD, Princess, always bluntly honest, put in.
The former keeper had been imprisoned in a sort of pocket universe for decades. Since he’d come back to this world, he didn’t seem to be able to get enough chow to make up for all his lost meals. He spent most of his time eating and watching television, which fascinated him.
Jack placed a hand over his heart. “I’m hurt.”
I chuckled. “We might have believed you if you’d taken the drumstick out of your hand first.”
He shrugged and set the plate on the coffee table. “I heard you come in, so I brought extra to share. I reckon you’re hungry.”
I was. And so were Fang and Princess, so we all chowed down on Gwen’s scrumptious fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob as I told the demons about my night and what was going on in the Underground. Jack admitted he was disturbed that Micah hadn’t kept some of the old ways, but Shade was unreservedly on Micah’s side and seemed upset that I could possibly doubt him.
“I’m withholding judgment until the Naming Ritual,” I told Shade soothingly. “Micah said he’ll hold one after Christmas.”
“And when were you going to tell me your plans for the holidays?” Shade asked.
I’d never heard that particular tense tone in his voice before. His expression was tight, like he was trying to hide his feelings. Surprised, I said, “You know I’m going to Mom and Rick’s for their annual Yule and Christmas celebration. You’re invited, too.”
“No, I mean before that. With Alejandro and Austin.”
“I just learned that tonight,” I told him. “It’s not like I was keeping it a secret. A few things have happened since then…” I glanced at Jack, who was still stuffing his face. “Micah told Jack, I take it.”
Shade didn’t relax much and I wondered what his problem was. He handed me my phone. “Yes, and Austin called you earlier. We thought it might be about you, so I answered.”
“No biggie. What did he want?”
“He wanted to tell you he’ll be picking you and Jack up here tomorrow evening, shortly after sunset.” Shade still sounded stiff and defensive.
“Okay. Makes sense, what with luggage and stuff. Is there a problem?”
Princess filled us in. WE TOLD THE VAMPIRE YOU WERE MISSING BUT HE SAID YOU COULD TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF, AND MADE MY HUMAN SOUND LIKE A WHINY LITTLE PUP.
Shade didn’t look happy that Princess shared that with us, but I laughed. “Well, to Austin, I guess we do seem like children. He must be at least a hundred years old, right? An old geezer.”
Shade relaxed. “I told him I’m coming with you.”
“Can you do that? I mean, will the vampires in Austin let Alejandro bring more people?”
“Who cares?” Shade said. “I’m going to be with you, not him. You need someone other than vampires by your side. I’ll take the Ducati.”
IN CASE YOU HADN’T NOTICED, HE’S JUST A WEE BIT JEALOUS OF AUSTIN, Fang said privately.
Now that was dumb. And strange. He was cool with my ex, Dan, who was fully human, but he was jealous of a vampire? There was no reason for it, but hey, if it meant Shade came with me, I was all for it.
/>
Shade glanced at his hellhound. “Gwen agreed to take care of Princess while I’m gone.”
SHE PROMISED TO PAMPER AND PET ME, AND GIVE ME A PINK BED OF MY VERY OWN, the pregnant diva shared with us.
I hid a grin, secretly glad we wouldn’t have to deal with her drama. “Sounds good to me.”
“Will you help protect Gwen, too?” Shade asked, sounding totally serious.
Princess tipped her head up. OF COURSE. I AM AN EXCELLENT HELLHOUND.
“Good,” I said. “And I’ll text Micah and ask him to check in on both of you.”
Jack said mournfully, “Can we not bring Gwen along?”
“Don’t worry,” I told him. “There are plenty of places to eat in Austin. You won’t starve.” Heck, he’d be lucky if he didn’t balloon up to twice his size, the way he’d been eating. “But that’s not why you’re going, remember? You’re supposed to be teaching me how to use the books.”
“I will,” he said.
“When?” I pressed him. “You haven’t taught me anything yet.”
He swallowed a bite of mashed potatoes. “What’s your hurry? We have a great amount of time.”
Annoyed, I snapped, “Maybe, maybe not. I’m going to the capital to meet some strange vamps and demons and face unknown dangers. If the books can help me, I’d like to know how before I go.”
HE DOESN’T WANT TO TELL YOU, Fang said.
I glanced at the hellhound and grinned. Oh yeah, that’s why I keep you around. You can be handy sometimes.
DOES THAT MEAN THE PIZZA BAN IS LIFTED?
Don’t push it. Turning to Jack, I asked, “What don’t you want to tell me?”
He grimaced and set down his fork and paused for a long moment, as if wondering how much to tell me. “Well, you see, back in my time, they called me the keeper, but it was a misnomer. I didn’t keep the books so much as they kept me.”
“What you do mean?” I asked.
“The mage demon who created them did so with one clear imperative—protect themselves at all costs. He wanted to make sure they would be available for use by his descendants.”
Shade swallowed a bite of chicken. “Trevor said only full mage demons can create new spells and use them. His descendants have to read them from the books. Was he telling the truth?”
Good question. Trevor, the SOB mage demon who’d tried to kill me and steal the encyclopedia, had been lying to us and manipulating us to find the books for him. Who knew what was the truth and what was a convenient lie?
“Yes, partially,” Jack confirmed. “Each mage demon can be taught one spell, passed down from parent to child. But that’s all. The others have to be read from the encyclopedia. Unfortunately for them, the books gained awareness and a mind of their own.”
I nodded. I remembered feeling that. And that explained why Trevor had a shield but no other powers.
“Self-preservation is what drives the books now. They don’t want to be used by anyone, because it endangers them. So they choose keepers who aren’t hungry for power, with no reason to love mage demons, and who are willing and able to defend them tooth and nail to keep them out of mage demon hands.”
“So, you’re saying… what?” I asked. “That they’re all take and no give?”
“Sometimes,” Jack admitted.
Shade protested, “But you said Val could get her powers back.”
Jack held up his hands defensively. “Not exactly. I said the books can grant her powers—other powers within their ability. And they can… if they want to.”
“If they want to? What does that mean?” I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of this.
“The books do what’s good for them, though that may not necessarily be what’s good for you.”
“So what exactly did you plan on teaching me?” I asked indignantly. “Or were you just hanging around, making empty promises while you take advantage of Gwen’s food?”
“No, I can help,” Jack assured me. “I know things about the books, how to coax things out of them, and what happens when you do accept one of their gifts.”
“Like what?”
“Well, for each new ability I gained, the power in my other ones lessened.”
“You mean I’d lose Lola if the books gave me super strength or something?” I wasn’t sure if I loved or hated that idea.
“You wouldn’t lose your succubus powers, so much as you’d see them diminish. And the more abilities you accept and use, the more your others weaken.” He shook his head. “I found out the hard way. You can regain your full succubus powers if you use them a lot more than the other abilities. It’s a strange balancing act you have to learn.”
Shade squeezed my knee reassuringly and asked Jack, “Now that you’re no longer the keeper, do you still have all those abilities?”
“No, thank heavens. I’m back to the one I was born with. The ability to lasso with a rope of energy.”
That made sense—I remembered him using it when we tossed Trevor back into that pocket universe.
“I can teach you the way of it,” Jack promised. “How to balance the forces.” He grinned. “You’ll see. We’ll have a great time in Austin.”
Great. Now all I had to do was go to an unknown city where a strange bunch of vamps were in charge, spy on the demons there, stand by Alejandro’s side without helping him come out, keep the fact hidden that the Slayer has lost some of her mojo, and learn how to convince the freakin’ books to give me my powers back.
Yeah, right. Piece of cake.
Chapter Six
I didn’t own a suitcase, so I packed what I thought I’d need in my duffel bag and put the books in a backpack, since Jack was supposed to teach me about them. I had no clue what we’d face in the capital, but it was best to be rested and alert, so I spent the remaining time catching some z’s with Fang.
Shade and Jack had gone home to do the same, and by the time they came back to drop off Princess, we were ready. At about an hour after sunset, two shiny black luxury cars pulled up. As Fang and Shade said goodbye to Princess, Jack and I went out to meet them.
The passenger window glided down on one car and Alejandro smiled at me. “Good evening, Ms. Shapiro. Are you ready?”
I nodded and Alejandro said, “Excellent. Vincent will drive me, and you and Mr. Grady may accompany Austin in the other car.”
Heaven forbid we’d crowd the vampires by taking only one luxury vehicle. I nodded at Vincent in the driver’s seat. I remembered meeting the short, bald guy before, if you could call it “meeting” when I’d broken up a fight between him and fire demon Andrew.
Austin got out of the other car and opened the trunk so we could stow our stuff. He wore a snazzy business suit instead of his normal jeans, though he hadn’t given up his Stetson and boots, I noticed. Shade and Fang emerged from the townhouse, and as Jack and Fang climbed into the back of the car, Shade took my hand so he wouldn’t be all swirly. He nodded at Alejandro. “I’m coming, too,” he said with a stubborn tilt to his chin.
Austin shut the trunk and lounged against it with his arms folded, looking as though he was fighting a smile. His boss, Alejandro, shook his head. “I’m afraid that is not possible. I agreed not to bring more than four to meet with the enclave in Austin.”
“No problem,” Shade said, almost belligerently. “I’m not going with you, I’m going with Val. I’ll follow on my bike. It’s my right to go where I want.”
Austin lifted an eyebrow, expressing his amusement at Shade’s expense. I’m not sure why, but it annoyed me.
BECAUSE HE’S MAKING FUN OF YOUR BOYFRIEND WITHOUT EVEN TALKING, Fang said. YOU’RE ANNOYED BECAUSE YOU CAN’T DEFEND SHADE WITHOUT LOOKING SILLY OR MAKING SHADE LOOK WEAKER TO AUSTIN… AND YOU WISH YOU COULD COMMUNICATE AS MUCH AS HE CAN WITH A SINGLE GESTURE.
Sometimes I hated it when the hellhound was right.
Alejandro shook his head. “You may have the right to go where you wish, but you cannot stay with Ms. Shapiro and the rest of us. That would violate the ter
ms of my agreement.”
Shade shrugged. “No problem. I’ll stay with the Austin Underground. That way I can be available for her when she’s free.”
One corner of Austin’s mouth quirked up and he looked even more amused, obviously not trying to hide it.
Shade must have caught it, too, because he stiffened. “I’ll see you there,” he said more to Austin than me, then grabbed me and kissed me passionately.
Normally, Lola and I had no problem responding to Shade’s kisses, but PDA wasn’t my thing and it felt kind of like Shade was staking a public claim. Not cool.
DUDE, Fang broadcast to both of us. LAY OFF. VAL IS NO ONE’S PROPERTY.
Shade broke the kiss, looking sheepish.
HE SAID HE’S SORRY, Fang told me. HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT CAME OVER HIM… BUT I DO. A LITTLE CASE OF AUSTIN ENVY. JEALOUS MUCH, DUDE?
Shade looked mortified, so I squeezed his hands then gave him a swift kiss. “I’ll call you later, when I know more about where I’m staying and what I’ll be doing.”
“Good,” he said softly. “I’ll look forward to it.”
Austin’s expression still held that infuriating smirk as he invited me into the front passenger seat with a flourish. Annoyed, I asked, “Shouldn’t you be holding down the fort here? Why didn’t Alejandro bring Rosa or Luis or someone else?” Anyone else…
“Alejandro didn’t think it wise to bring Rosa, and Luis does well when he’s in charge here. Besides, I asked to come,” Austin said, getting behind the wheel and starting the car.
I grimaced. “To torture me?”
That damned grin popped out again. “Not everything is about you, Slayer. I am sire to someone in Austin and I want to visit him, that’s all.”
“You have a son?” Jack asked in surprise.
Fang snorted, but Austin answered, “Not genetically. Being a sire means initiating a human into the vampire community.”
Austin’s version sounded too pretty. “Exchanging blood-flavored Big Gulps, you mean.” Then, translating for Jack who’d been out of the world for a while, I said, “Making them into bloodsuckers, too.” The thought of Austin—or anyone—making more vamps kind of made me uneasy. “How many have you sired?” I probed.