by Parker Blue
My blood sizzled, yearning for action, hating this stalemate. “I might make an exception in your case.”
Shade moved protectively in front of Dina. “You’ll have to go through me, first.”
That was Dina talking. I hoped. My gaze focused on the crystal amulet around her neck. I had to get that away from her.
I took a step forward, intending to do just that, but Princess ran from the car toward Shade, crying, MY HUMAN, MY HUMAN, I AM HERE.
Fang was in hot pursuit, but she was fast for such a small dog.
Dina turned toward the spaniel and reared her leg back to kick the dog.
No! I’d had enough, so I attacked her with the only weapon I had left. Swinging my arm to point at her, I yelled, “I exorcise thee, I exorcise thee, I exorcise thee,” and ripped the succubus out of her.
Several things happened at once. Dina fell unconscious to the ground, the men she’d controlled staggered with the backlash of their release, and the four chupacabras lurched momentarily before moving toward the demon men, bloodsucking definitely on their agenda.
Crap. I reached out with Lola and snagged the insane ones, yelling, “Stop.”
But Lola had lost a lot of strength after using the other spells so close together. I was barely able to hold onto them at all. I fell to my knees, holding my aching side as I desperately clutched the succubus strands with my weakened abilities.
Fang ran over to Dina, his teeth at her neck. I didn’t have enough energy to stop him from tearing out her throat, and wasn’t sure I wanted to.
But that wasn’t what he intended. With a jerk of his head, he ripped off the necklace and brought it to me.
USE IT, he exclaimed.
I clutched the crystal, wondering how. But the amulet didn’t need anything but my touch, for it immediately strengthened my succubus abilities, enough to let me grab onto them with ease.
Austin helped me to my feet as Shade embraced his dog. What’s wrong with this picture?
But I didn’t have time to explore the pain that gave me. Beth ran over to me, grabbing my arm. “One of those men is my brother, Blaine. Help him, please.”
“If I remove his demon, he’ll no longer have his demon abilities. He’ll be a vampire,” I reminded her.
Tears overflowed from her eyes but she nodded fiercely. “Being undead is better than being dead dead.”
“These men have killed,” Ludwig said, frowning. “How is that different from the other bloodsuckers you’ve executed?”
“They weren’t in control of their faculties at the time,” Austin said. “Yet they still managed to attack only animals. There would be no bar to them joining the New Blood Movement.”
Micah spoke up. “Would you be willing to sponsor them, too?”
The cowboy vamp hesitated. “In San Antonio, yes. But if they wish to stay here, I’ll ask Lisette if she’s willing to have them.”
“Good enough,” Beth said.
Other demons crowded around me, agreeing, urging me to do it.
I dropped my head wearily. Use the spell four more times and give up more and more of Lola each time? A couple of months ago, I’d longed to be normal, wanted desperately to get rid of this demon inside me. But now that it looked like I could approximate the same thing simply by using the spell as often as possible, I hesitated. I was known throughout the vampire community as the Slayer, and many of the rogue bloodsuckers wanted to take me out. If they learned I was weakened, they’d come after me in droves. I’d have to go into hiding until I could build Lola backup and restore the balance, maybe even leave town.
I glanced around at them and took another shot, hoping they’d give up on this idea. “You know I can’t guarantee they’ll regain sanity?”
Some looked surprised, and Beth pointed at Elspeth. “She did.”
I nodded. “I know, but she was a special case. She was chosen as Memory Eater precisely because she could handle the madness.”
Beth jerked her head up and down decisively. “It’s the only chance they have. If they prefer not to stay a vampire, they can…” She paused, then added, “They can do what they need to do. At least this way, they have a choice.”
I closed my eyes briefly. Should I do this?
YOU DON’T HAVE TO USE THE SPELL, Fang said soothingly. YOU’VE DONE A LOT FOR THEM ALREADY. THEY SHOULDN’T ASK IT OF YOU.
But they had asked it of me. I sighed. Crap. I couldn’t say no, not when I could release these poor men back to their families. I knew what it was like to lose a family. I couldn’t do it to any of them. “Okay, but give me some room.” I didn’t really need it, but all those bodies pressing around me, expecting miracles of me, made me feel claustrophobic.
They backed away and gave me a clear view of the four demonic vamps. One by one, I exorcised their demons, far more gently than I had Dina’s, and they collapsed into a loved one’s arms.
“Do not rouse them yet,” Elspeth said. “It will be better for them if you let them rest, let their minds become accustomed to their new state.”
The local demons gathered around the unconscious men, chattering like excited squirrels, except for one older woman who came over, wringing her hands. “What about my son, Adam Bukowski? Where is he? He should be here, too.”
GIVE IT TO HER STRAIGHT, Fang said. SHE DESERVES TO KNOW THE TRUTH.
I hated delivering bad news, especially to the boy’s mother. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think he survived,” I said carefully.
Her hand flew to her mouth, and she shook her head wordlessly. Fear, denial, and grief filled her eyes. “How… how do you know?” she asked finally.
“I found his wallet where the vampires hid during the day. He probably didn’t know to stay out of the sun. And there was a pile of ash nearby.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head with sharp little jerks. “You’re wrong. It can’t be him.”
Looked like I’d have to show her proof. “Would one of you mind getting the backpack?”
Austin obliged, and brought it to me. I rummaged inside and handed her his wallet, then the belt buckle with the skull wearing a cowboy hat and a snake around its neck. It was pretty distinctive. “Is this his? We found this in the ash.”
The woman took the buckle and stared at it. I hoped I was wrong, that she’d say it wasn’t her son’s. But her face crumpled like the movement of an avalanche, slow at first, then building up steam until total collapse. She broke down, sobbing.
Uncomfortable with tears, I glanced around for help. Thank goodness another woman about her same age pulled her away.
Austin put a hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay?”
Shouldn’t Shade be the one asking me this? Dina’s hold on him had been broken. Why was he standing off to the side, acting like he cared about no one but Princess?
GIVE HIM TIME, Fang said. HE’S BEEN THROUGH A ROUGH FEW DAYS, TOO.
What is he thinking about me?
Fang gave me a look, the kind that said I knew better than to ask that question. YOU’LL HAVE TO ASK HIM.
Oh, crap. No reassurances from Fang? That couldn’t be good. I closed my eyes against the pain that stabbed somewhere in the region of my heart.
“Are you all right, Val?” Austin repeated.
Besides a breaking heart, he meant? Mentally, I took stock of myself. Lola was barely detectable now, maybe strong enough to make one man feel really good, if he got close enough, but nowhere near enough to control any baddies out for my blood. The spell, however, was well ensconced in my being, making me feel like Super Exorcist, able to leap tall demons in a single bound.
Fang snorted.
Okay, maybe able to render anyone alive demonless. “I’m fine,” I told Austin. I wasn’t about to admit any weakness to him.
“What are we going to do about Dina?” David asked.
DON’T WAKE HER EITHER, Fang said drily.
David rolled his eyes. “What I meant was, what do we do when she wakes up and is no longer a succubus, no longer in con
trol of the local Demon Underground? I can’t imagine she’ll take it well.”
Austin’s lips firmed. “Lisette would be more than happy to take care of this problem for you.”
Yikes. They might be the good guy vamps, but I doubted they’d be gentle with someone who’d caused their people so much pain.
“We take care of our own,” Micah said firmly.
“What does that mean?” Austin challenged. “Give her a slap on the hand? Turn her loose?”
“That won’t happen,” Ludwig said. “She’ll want revenge. We can’t trust her not to reveal our existence.”
“Well, we can’t tell the human authorities,” David argued. “And we don’t have a Memory Eater any longer to remove all knowledge of us from her.”
Ah, geez. Maybe I should have waited a little longer to cure Elspeth. But I didn’t regret it. What a hellish existence she must have had.
Micah shook his head. “No, we’ll have a Judgment Ritual. And if the determination is that she should die… ?”
He turned to look at me. Was this the part where they asked me to kill Dina? Damn, I hoped not. I was tired of killing, tired of being an executioner. How could I fit into the demon community if people only viewed me as a killer? I held up my hands and backed away. “Don’t look at me.”
Micah opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the sound of a muffled gunshot. Several women screamed and we all whirled around to see Beth standing over Dina, Asmodeus’s gun in her hand. She glanced up defiantly. “Problem solved.”
Austin rubbed his hand across his chin. “Yep. A bullet through the brain works quite nicely.”
Holy crap. I never would have expected that of Beth. Guess I knew who the strong one was in that family.
YOU GO GIRL, Fang said approvingly.
Everyone had frozen for a moment, but now Micah and David ran to her, along with a couple of the local demon men. Micah got there first and gently took the gun from her hand. She didn’t resist. He did what we should have done before—he pulled out the ammunition clip.
Tessa ran over, looking stricken. “I’m so sorry, I should have disarmed it, hidden it.”
“It’s not your fault,” Micah said and passed her the empty handgun.
“That’s right,” David added. “You didn’t know she planned to do that.”
“Don’t hurt her,” one man said, standing protectively in front of Beth.
Another agreed. “Leave Beth alone. Dina deserved it.”
There was a chorus of agreement from the other local demons present. They might be shocked, but no one was sorry for Dina’s death. Even Shade said nothing.
Micah held up his hands to ward off their arguments. “What happens to Beth will be decided in a Judgment Ritual.”
“That’s fair,” David said quickly.
I noticed he didn’t argue with Micah this time. Probably because Micah was really acting like the leader I knew he could be. The others looked doubtful, but agreed.
Austin ambled over to look down at Dina, then glanced over at Asmodeus. He tipped his hat back. “What are you planning on doing with the bodies?”
Micah glanced at Beth, who stood with a defiant expression between her friends. “Beth,” he said, “if you wouldn’t mind… ?”
She nodded, and Micah had a couple of men bring the mage demon’s body over next to Dina’s. Micah advised everyone to back away from the bodies and asked Ludwig to stand by.
YEP, Fang mused. A GOOD FIRE DEMON CAN TAKE CARE OF THE EVIDENCE PRETTY QUICKLY.
Once everyone had backed away, Micah said. “Make it as hot as you can.”
Beth nodded and closed her eyes, slowly raised her arms above her head, then snapped them down, pointing at the bodies on the ground. A ball of eerie green fire erupted where they lay, billowing up into the night, shading to white-hot, yellow, and orange and red, with flames rising high into the air.
I turned my face from the heat. Ludwig was already blasting out huge gouts of water, containing the fire, corralling it into that one small area around the bodies.
Dan came running up from the parking lot, Gwen close behind him. “Are you crazy?” he yelled. “This is a neighborhood watch area. Someone probably heard those gunshots. The police may be here at any minute, not to mention the fire department.”
Austin nodded. “I was able to take care of the people close by, modify their memories, but with Gwen and Elspeth’s assistance, I can ensure no one noticed anything.” He held out his hands and Gwen hesitated for a moment. “It’s all right. Your presence will act as an amplifier so we can make sure no one here gets into trouble. I’ll show you the way.”
Elspeth put her hand in his trustingly, and I said, “It’s okay, Gwen. You can trust him.”
She nodded and while Dan gritted his teeth, she put her hand in Austin’s.
“Now you two join hands so the three of us make a circle,” he said.
They did, and they all closed their eyes and stood there, looking like they were doing nothing. After a few moments, they opened their eyes and let go of each others’ hands.
“You have nothing to worry about now,” Austin said. “We took care of it.”
Gwen’s eyes were wide with surprise. “That… that was…”
“Interesting,” Elspeth said thoughtfully. Gwen nodded.
Huh. I knew the vamps had been able to keep their existence quiet for thousands of years, but didn’t realize how easy it was. At least, it seemed that way.
“That’s one hell of a talent,” Dan said, eying Austin suspiciously.
“Yeah,” I said. “Why haven’t vampires taken over the world?”
Austin smiled. “Because we don’t want it. The New Blood Movement doesn’t, anyway. And the method for combining has to be taught. The rogues don’t know how.”
Thank the powers-that-be for small favors.
AMEN, SISTER, Fang said.
The fire had burned down now, and Ludwig was busy putting it out. Nothing was left but charred earth.
Dan stared blankly at the steaming space. “That was no ordinary fire.”
Fang rolled his eyes. WOW, GREAT DETECTIVE WORK.
Beth wrapped her arms around her waist. “It was demon fire—the hottest thing on Earth.”
And she, apparently, was an expert in it.
“Did Dina have any next of kin?” I asked.
“Who cares?” a man scoffed.
Micah glared into the crowd. “She might have a family somewhere, someone who might grieve for her. They deserve to know what happened.”
Annie, the delicate soothsayer, shook her head. “She doesn’t have any. The only family she ever mentioned was her father, and he passed away.”
That’s right, someone had mentioned that she’d inherited the amulet from him. I glanced down at the crystal, just now realizing I still clutched it in my hand. Putting it in my pocket to worry about later, I said, “Okay, what do we do now?”
What I wanted to do was go home. Christmas was coming tomorrow and I wanted to get some rest before I had to show up at Mom and Rick’s for the combined Yule and Christmas celebration.
Micah straightened, looking stern and very much in charge. “We have some things to discuss. If everyone would join me under the pavilion?”
They all followed him. Everyone except me. And Shade.
He sat off to the side, sitting with his back against a tree, and Princess in his lap. I had to know what was going on in his head. What was he thinking about me, about us?
I wandered over to him, Fang close behind, but Shade didn’t look up, not even when I was standing right in front of him. With Princess grounding him, I could see him in his human form. He was still gorgeous as always, but now that I was closer, I saw the tightness in his jaw and the dark circles under his eyes.
Princess looked up. GO AWAY, she said. WE DON’T WANT YOU.
That hurt a bit, as I was sure she intended. “Princess, can you leave us alone, please?” I didn’t want to have this conversation
with a jealous hellhound listening in.
Princess growled, but Fang went over and poked her in the side. COME ON, SWEET THING. LET’S LEAVE THESE TWO ALONE TO TALK.
Thank you.
DE NADA, Fang said. KISS AND MAKE UP, WILLYA?
That’s what I wanted to do, but I wasn’t sure how Shade felt right now.
Princess huffed and jumped off Shade’s lap. The two hellhounds wandered over to join the others at the pavilion.
I sat down and put my back against the tree next to Shade’s. “Hey,” I said, feeling foolish. I didn’t know what else to say to get him to talk to me. What was wrong with him?
“Hey,” Shade echoed gruffly.
“Is that all you have to say to me?” I put my hand on his so I could see his expression.
He pulled away and went back to being swirly and surly. “What do you want me to say, Val?”
I withdrew my hand, feeling a sickening rush of fear. Since I couldn’t see his expression, the only thing I had to judge how he felt was the tone of his voice. He sounded weary. “I’m sorry, Shade.”
He was silent for a long moment, then said, “Do you even know what you’re sorry for?”
“For whatever is making you like this.” My heart ached for him, and for me.
Another long pause, then he said, “You left me with her.”
“You told me to,” I protested.
“Because she promised she wouldn’t control me. She lied.”
“I didn’t know…”
“You knew,” he said accusingly. “How could you not know? She had control of me, all the time. Every freakin’ moment of every freakin’ day.”
“I didn’t know.” Tears filled my eyes. “How could I? I didn’t know she was a psychopath, didn’t know what she’d done to those other men until a few hours ago.”
“And you still left me there after you found out?”
“I had to,” I protested. “The others were afraid she’d know we were on to her if I rescued you. I wanted to, really I did.”
He threw my hand away from him. “Not good enough.”
I held the rejected hand against my chest with the other. “You don’t understand. We sent vampires to surround Dina’s house. They were going to rescue you as soon as the sun went down. Only, Dina wasn’t there. And neither were you.” When he remained silent, I added, “Ask Austin. He’ll confirm it.”