Ashe cursed. “So we treat this like we did the rabbit: You open a portal, and the rest of us get old Tony into Mac’s loving care?”
Reynard nodded. Holly and Alessandro exchanged glances and agreed.
“Shouldn’t we look for the urn while slime-boy isn’t around?” Ashe suggested.
“I’d rather know where the demon is first,” said Holly. “That could be a trap.”
“You’re quite right,” Reynard agreed. “I had best let Mac know we are ready to proceed. He needs to alert his men to be standing by.”
“Why not open a portal now?” Holly asked. “I mean, to me that’s the hard part. Get it over with.”
“I don’t want to alert our friend that there is a guardsman in the house. Surprise is an advantage.” He turned to Ashe. “May I borrow your cell phone?”
Ashe fished in her pocket. “They get cell reception in the Castle?”
“No. We relay messages through the hounds guarding the gate.”
Reynard took the phone, opened it carefully, and began deliberately punching numbers. He held it up to his ear. Ashe took it away, hit send, and gave it back with a smile. He gave a sheepish grin. She loved a man who wasn’t afraid to laugh at himself. She didn’t have to walk on eggshells.
As Reynard made the call, she took a few steps away from her friends. We’ve found the demon’s treasure, but where is the demon? She looked down the gloomy corridor at the largely empty mall. She’d spent so much time there over the years, she felt protective of the place. She searched out each display window, checking to see which ones were still okay. The watch store and the florist looked okay. So did the bridal shop.
She took a few steps toward Louise’s Weddings, running her eyes over the gown in the front window. With a thrill of relief, she saw her favorite dress was still unslimed. It was a long, strapless white sheath, plain but classic. She’d had a quickie civil ceremony, over before the ink on the paperwork was dry. She didn’t like fuss, but that dress made her think a little might be nice. Champagne, photographs, a honeymoon . . . sirens.
She could hear sirens approaching. Distant, but moving fast.
She started toward the mall door to see what was coming. Had somebody figured out the slime wasn’t a maintenance issue and called the cops? Maybe the gas company, mistaking the bad smell for a leak?
More humans on site meant bad news. Casualties would be blamed on the supernatural community as a whole, and the nonhumans were barely tolerated anyway. All the more reason to wrap this up, fast.
“We’ve got company,” she said to the others. “Emergency vehicles are on the way.”
“Look at this.” Alessandro pointed. Halfway down the aisle was the Easter Bunny’s throne, where kiddies sat on the Bun’s knee and wished for bushels of chocolate eggs.
Given her current feelings about rabbits, Ashe was glad His Floppiness was off that day. “What about it?” Ashe asked. Why is this important?
The throne was surrounded by displays of fuzzy chicks, jelly beans, and cardboard lambs in unlikely pastel colors. The nearby card shop replicated the scene in their window, with the addition of a tiny Easter-themed village complete with moving train. As Ashe drew closer, she heard a small, asthmatic wheeze meant to be its whistle.
She felt Alessandro walking beside her; the vampire made no noise. “The card store sells this Easter village,” he said. “The individual pieces are collectible and expensive.”
Ashe suddenly understood where he was going with this. She drew the Colt she was carrying at the small of her back. “The store has only one of the churches. That piece costs hundreds of dollars.”
Alessandro’s face grew grim as he gripped his sword. “I can’t see our demon passing up such a prize, can you?”
They stopped their advance a few yards away from the card shop’s entrance. More slowly, they edged toward the door. Ashe risked a glance behind her. Reynard was with them now, gun drawn, Holly behind him.
She peered around a big display of souvenir mugs and into the store. Shit. Hostages.
Tony sat on the cash desk, an affable smile on his face. He was opening every box that held a piece of the collectible village and setting the miniature beside him. About twenty customers and staff huddled on the floor. He was using this store for his holding cell. Ashe counted five under Eden’s age, and two elderly women. She turned and waved at the others to stay out of sight. He’s got to have taken out mall security. Someone would have seen all this on a surveillance camera!
But maybe someone had used their cell phone to sneak a call to the cops? She’d heard sirens—where the hell were they?
“I’m still missing the bridge,” Tony said. His pleasant expression didn’t reach his voice. It was flat and cold as a dagger.
The saleswoman hurried to a cupboard with a sliding door. She opened it, rummaging frantically through what looked like dozens of identical boxes, reading the labels to find the thing he wanted. She finally found it and rushed back. “Here you are, sir.”
Carefully, Tony eased open the lid and pulled out a block of Styrofoam. He pulled that apart to reveal a small stone bridge ready to take the Easter Express across an imaginary river. A delighted smile played on his lips until his face suddenly fell.
“There’s a chip in it!” He held it up, pointing to something Ashe couldn’t see. He rounded on the saleswoman. “This is flawed!”
“I’ll get you another, sir,” the woman squeaked, and hurried back to the cupboard.
The demon hurled the offending bridge against a glass display case. The safety glass exploded with a resounding boom, sending a shower of chips to the floor. The saleswoman screamed, and two of the children started to cry.
“Give me another!” Tony roared in an unearthly voice.
Ashe used the moment to slide inside the store unnoticed, Alessandro on her heels. Reynard and Holly headed to the other side of the store. She was pretty sure a bullet wouldn’t kill a demon in human form, but it would hurt and maybe incapacitate. All they had to do was shove Tony through a portal, and they were done.
A woman squealed when she saw the gun, but with the crying children the noise made no difference. When Ashe had a clear head shot, she squeezed the trigger. She felt the recoil and heard the blam a microsecond later.
In the next eyeblink, Tony slid off the counter, the bullet between his thumb and forefinger. “You’re starting to annoy me.”
Ashe felt a ripple of earth magic. Holly was gathering her forces. Thank Goddess her magic’s back. Ashe faced off with the demon, keeping his focus on her. “Well, you’re past pissing me off, so we’re even.”
“Get out. Leave me alone. I own this mall.”
“Demons can’t hold property. Not so much as a post-office box. Any agreement Bannerman drew up is a fraud.”
“Possession is nine-tenths of the law, and believe me, demons are good at possession.” He laughed at his own joke, and tossed the bullet aside.
“Why the hostages?”
“The policemen I hear pulling up outside.” Tony flashed his dimples, looking almost jolly. “Hostages keep them civil.”
She felt Holly pulling in earth energy again. Ashe stalled some more, giving her sister more time. “What were you before you were a demon?”
“An estate appraiser. All those lovely things, none of them mine. It was a sad life.” He grabbed the second box the saleslady had brought. “Now I can have whatever I want.”
“Have you noticed that it’s mostly junk?”
He chuckled, opening the box. “Who says it’s about the dollar value? Having things makes me all warm and happy inside.”
Ashe could see Holly now. Her sister had moved up behind where Tony stood. Holly let loose a flash of power. Tony jolted like he’d been electrocuted, smoke seeping from his skin. At the same moment, Alessandro dropped from the ceiling, sword flashing.
“Go!” Ashe screamed at the hostages. They scrambled, but not all of them were quick. She heaved the two older women to their
feet, pushing them out of harm’s way.
But not fast enough.
Furious, Tony hurled Alessandro into a rack of cards. The blast of energy knocked three of the fleeing humans to their knees. Reynard was suddenly there, hustling them out the door. Another angry wave of power followed. Ashe staggered back, bruising her shoulder on a shelf bracket. She holstered her useless gun, thinking fast.
The demon’s human form wavered like an underwater image, the colors that made up his clothes, the definition of his features growing dark and indistinct. A second later, he dissolved into a billow of smoke, wings unfurling from his swirling form and filling the width of the store. Ashe got an impression of teeth and beak.
Great Goddess, they had to contain this thing. They had to distract it from the running hostages. She saw the miniature church on the counter and had an idea. Tony’s Easter village wouldn’t be complete without it.
Near the front of the store, Holly dropped her arms, realizing her spell hadn’t been powerful enough. Ashe grabbed the miniature church from the counter and hurled it at her sister. “Catch! Run for the hoard!”
Holly’s eyes went round as she caught the thing, but she obediently bolted. The demon thing whirled, tendrils of smoke seeming to flow around its fluid move. It shrieked its displeasure, hurling mugs and little houses after her.
Reynard used the opportunity to open a portal right on top of it. Enraged, the demon lashed out. Cards exploded into the air. Paperweights and gift boxes flew in crazy figure eights. Something heavy caught Ashe in the back of the head. She stumbled, tripping over the edge of a low display shelf. Once she was down, every airborne object zoomed toward her like hostile snow: envelopes, bows, pens, notebooks, photo frames, and tree ornaments. Ashe rolled facedown and covered her head with her hands, trying to get her knees under her. The flimsy cards felt weirdly heavy, like they were brick instead of paper, and more and more piled on top of her. Ashe tried to thrust out a hand, but the edges of the cards and envelopes seemed stuck together. Light filtered through the curtain of paper, a checkerboard of pink and white and pale green, but she couldn’t poke through the cocoon.
Panic set in. She wriggled, but every movement increased the weight of the trap. Her legs were pinned and she couldn’t kick. Ashe stopped, listening and panting. She was conscious of the worn carpet inches from her nose and mouth, a mashed piece of gum just beyond her cheek. Fake cherry scent didn’t mix well with the reek of demon.
She couldn’t hear a thing. Crushing down on her ribs and spine, the pile of paper was grinding her to the floor. A burn started in her lungs as they struggled to inflate. It felt like every object the demon had ever collected was piled on her back.
Not even her fingers could budge. Every nerve in her body seemed to fire, begging to move her muscles, but all she managed was a shudder. Hot, salty tears of frustration ran over her lips and into the scratchy carpet.
Where is everyone? What’s going on? Why can’t I hear anything?
Whatever air was inside the cocoon, she’d used it up. The edges of her vision were growing dark. She closed her eyes so she couldn’t see the creeping blackness.
Her breath came in thick, wheezing gasps.
And then stopped.
Chapter 23
Reynard’s portal wobbled and slowly began to fold in on itself, the disk of burning energy collapsing like a wilted flower.
Holly caught the church, held it over her head, and danced backward. “Hey, you! Over here!”
But Tony couldn’t be distracted anymore. He was clearly fighting exile to the Castle—fighting and winning. Reynard swore. A portal was hard enough to maintain without a demon trying to slam it shut. He could feel the other guardsmen beyond the opening, doing what they could to help, but Reynard was the strongest.
Not strong enough, at least not this time. The collector demon might not be as powerful as a soul eater or a fire demon, but it was still hellspawn. There would be no quiet surrender.
Reynard let the portal go, dropping his arms as it swirled shut.
They needed to regroup.
He knew from experience that demons were more often caught through persistence than force. Backing off now wasn’t defeat, just the beginning of a testing process. Reynard would find the creature’s weakness. He was the captain of the Castle guard. Fighting monsters was what he did.
He wiped his hands on his jeans, getting ready for the next round. A perverse part of him was enjoying the challenge—but he was tired. Being near the urn wasn’t enough. He needed to find it and get back to the Castle.
That was the last place he wanted to go. Then again, he might not make it there. An end was coming either way, but Reynard couldn’t afford to think about that right now.
The thing that had been Tony the bookseller opened huge, fanged jaws and screeched like a banshee, the sound rattling bones and teeth. The sour stink of demon magic rolled through the store as it stretched nightmare wings.
Huge and dark, the demon swelled to fill the front of the store, its shadow creeping across the ceiling like an advancing tide. The air grew dark, as if the lights were fading. In the false twilight, there seemed to be nothing to breathe, the air itself robbed of vitality.
Holly threw a ball of energy. The dark tide shrank back, but only for a moment. She turned and bolted down the aisle, the miniature church under her arm. With a huge rush of air, the demon flapped its wings and launched into the air, sailing after her like inevitable doom.
Reynard charged forward to intervene, but it was too late. No sooner had Holly’s feet touched the tiles of the main mall than the demon grabbed her shoulder in its beak, plucking her into the air.
Reynard lunged for her. Holly’s hand brushed his, but couldn’t catch hold. The miniature church fell from her grip, exploding into a rain of stinging shards as it smashed to the floor. They scattered with an oddly musical sound.
With a snarl, Alessandro sprang, sword ready for a two-handed blow. The bound took him ten feet in the air, using the vampire’s power of levitation. As the silver blade arced through the air, the demon faded into mist. Holly dropped like a stone, but Alessandro caught her in one arm, holding her as they landed.
Reynard kept his eyes on the demon. It spun, winding itself to a long rope of black mist, and threaded itself between the plain doors across the mall marked, STAIRWAY TO PARKING. His first instinct was to storm after it, but a jolt of panic pushed everything else aside.
Where was Ashe?
Ashe sat bolt upright with a rasping gasp, nearly colliding with Reynard’s concerned face. Someone had rolled her over and pulled the paper off her face. She was mummified in drawings of baskets, chicks, and bunnies. “Get. This. Off of me!”
Three pairs of hands began unwrapping her. Holly was to her left, Alessandro at her feet. The vampire gave her a look from under his brows, amber eyes amused.
“It’s not funny!” Ashe snapped.
“You look like an Easter egg,” he replied, all suave calm.
“I thought you had smothered,” Reynard growled, deadly serious. “How do you feel?”
“Fine,” Ashe said automatically. She was panting, trying to catch up on lost oxygen. Her head hurt—but she wasn’t broken or bleeding, so that made her fit for duty.
Reynard’s expression said he understood her need to fight.
Ashe shook off the last of her wrappings and clambered to her feet. The card store looked like a snowstorm had hit it. Drifts of pastel paper covered the floor, but at least they were mercifully lifeless. I’m sending e-cards from now on.
“The demon headed for the stairs down to the parking area,” said Reynard. “My suggestion is that the trip downstairs is a diversion. Sooner or later, it will return to its hoard. We can trap it there.”
Alessandro nodded. “Got it.”
“I’m just afraid Tony’s gone back to human form and driven away already,” Ashe said.
“Not with those sirens going,” Alessandro put in. “The police are cordoni
ng the place off. We’ve got about two minutes before they find us here.”
Ashe checked her weapon. “Then let’s get to it.”
Alessandro took Holly’s hand and strode toward the store entrance, cards kicking up around his feet like autumn leaves. Ashe and Reynard followed.
By the time Ashe and Reynard reached the main mall corridor, police and reporters were everywhere. From the corner of her eye, she saw Gary, the bookstore clerk, trying to shoo some of the reporters back out the front door. It was a lost cause. The press had found a breach in whatever official barrier had kept them out, and the whole notion of security had collapsed like a paper bag full of water.
“What is this?” Reynard snapped, raising his voice to be heard above the babble of voices.
Ashe dragged him from the path of a determined-looking woman brandishing a mic. “Welcome to your first modern disaster scene. Smile for the cameras.”
The city had only three TV stations and a handful of radio stations, but there seemed to be more press than that. Of course, police officers, firefighters, paramedics, mall management, and what looked like the health department added to the fun.
She also saw hellhounds, werewolves, and some groggy-looking vamps she knew by sight. Alessandro must have called in his troops.
Ashe had lost track of her sister. She elbowed through the crowd, which was growing thicker as they neared the demon’s hoard. She couldn’t see Alessandro, either. Growing less and less polite, Reynard began clearing a path. She had to admit, there was something about pure male aggression that worked like a charm when it came to managing a milling crowd.
An invisible line held the crowd back a dozen feet from the demon’s lair. Still too close for common sense, but at least no one was sticking a tape recorder into the demon’s beak. The hounds and wolves were moving forward, helping the cops move everyone back. Ashe shoved through to the front, ignoring the curses raining down on her from the cameramen as she spoiled their shots.
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