The Entity Within

by Cat Devon

  He couldn’t believe Zoe had said what she did knowing that she was under surveillance. But he knew firsthand that it was easier than you’d think to forget. Especially when the distraction was so strong.

  This morning, Daniella’s declaration about her premonition had probably rattled Zoe. Last night, her nightmare had rattled her. And last night, Zoe had rattled him.

  Damon didn’t like being rattled. It could result in death for a vampire let alone a vampire Demon Hunter.

  As if on cue, Zoe came downstairs. She had her hair tied up in a ponytail; her bangs brushed her eyebrows. Her red KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON T-shirt cupped her breasts while her black pants hugged her hips. She still wore the bangle she’d had on yesterday. The sight of it reminded him of her hands on his body, of her curves pressed against his erection.

  “I’m hungry,” she said.

  Damon was hungry, too. He’d fed on blood yesterday so he didn’t need more. He needed Zoe, naked on those white sheets in that big bed of hers, her legs curved around his waist as he drove into her. There was so much he could teach her about pleasure.

  She stared at him with those remarkable eyes of hers. One green. One blue. Was she focusing on his mouth? Was she thinking about him drinking blood or was she remembering their hot kiss in the middle of the night?

  The fact that he was a vampire hadn’t seemed to bother her then. But the fact that she was a witch hadn’t bothered him then, either.

  Upstairs in her workroom, he’d been surrounded by so many scents. His vamp senses intensified sight, sound, and smell. Now he associated all those smells with her. Lemon, lavender, cinnamon, apple, and others that he couldn’t name, but they all had a certain intoxication.

  As did Zoe. He could hear the beat of her heart, sense the blood pulsing through her body. The predator within him urged him to possess her.

  The opening notes of Phantom of the Opera floated up from the vent in the floor. A second later the music abruptly stopped and flames shot up from the vent.

  “Fire!” Bella howled and flew upstairs.

  Neville’s voice came through the surveillance system a moment later. “It’s happening all over Vamptown.”

  Gram stood and immediately cast a spell.

  Fire, fire, this is dire.

  Magic and lore,

  Flames no more.

  The flames continued.

  Gram frowned. “That should have worked. Zoe, you try.”

  Zoe repeated the spell. The flames continued and were getting dangerously close to the drapes.

  The possibility of the house burning down was not one Zoe was willing to accept. There had to be another way …

  Zoe pictured the item needed in her mind and a moment later it appeared. A fire extinguisher.

  Damon grabbed it and aimed it at the flames.

  “What about the rest of Vamptown?” Zoe asked.

  “The vamps all have fire extinguishers.”

  “Daniella’s cupcake shop?”

  “Has extra fire extinguishers,” Damon said.

  Gram opened the windows to let the smoke out and the fresh air in.

  Pat was in their living room an instant later. “This is getting dangerous.”

  “The flames were put out,” Damon said.

  “This time.” The words came from Tanya. She stood just inside the doorway with two vampires by her side. “Who knows what will happen next? We can’t take the chance. The witches have been called before the Vamptown Council for immediate action.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “I don’t like the sound of that,” Gram said.

  “What does ‘called before the council’ mean?” Zoe asked.

  “It means you are both to haul your asses over there immediately,” Tanya said.

  Zoe shot a nervous glance at Damon. “You’re not going to grab me at vamp super speed, are you?”

  “No.”

  “And no other vamps are going to try to grab us and do that, right?”

  “There won’t be any grabbing going on,” Pat said.

  “Unless you fight the order.” Tanya looked like she was hoping Zoe and her grandmother would do just that.

  “We’re not fighting. I’m just trying to understand what is happening,” Zoe said. “Where are we supposed to be going?”

  “For security reasons we will be having the meeting in Nick’s bar,” Tanya said.

  “Where is Nick?” Zoe demanded.

  “Waiting for us in the bar,” Tanya said. “Along with the rest of the Vamptown Council.”

  “How many are in this council?” Zoe asked.

  “You’ll find out soon enough. Stop stalling.” Tanya nodded to the two vampires by her side. “Take them.”

  Damon stepped in front of Zoe. “I told them there would be no grabbing. They can accompany you without force.”

  Zoe saw Bella and Morticia in the shadows at the top of the stairs.

  Stay here. She sent the telepathic message to Morticia and prayed that Bella would pick up on it as well.

  “This isn’t really my going-outside outfit,” Gram said. She turned, and her colorful caftan was replaced with the knockoff vintage Chanel suit she’d worn when they’d first met Nick and Damon. The magic only worked between that particular caftan and that suit.

  Tanya was not impressed. “You’d think a witch could come up with a better outfit than that. What about you?” She directed her question to Zoe. “Are you going to use your magic to change clothes, too?”

  “No,” Zoe said curtly.

  She had no intention of wasting magic on appearances. She might need it for something more urgent later on.

  “Let’s go.”

  Zoe shot a look at Pat, but he seemed intent on avoiding her gaze. His expression was serious, and that was enough to worry her a lot.

  The walk from their rental house to Nick’s All Nighter Bar and Grill seemed to take no time at all. They entered the bar to find the normal tables gone and two rows of chairs set up in a court-like arrangement.

  Gram got the same vibe. Maybe it went back to their ancestor’s experiences in the Salem Witch Trials, but being called in front of this kind of tribunal was not a good thing. Back in Boston, their coven had deliberately avoided any setup that might mimic a trial. Instead they’d gathered in a circle even as they reprimanded Zoe for revealing the fact that she was a witch to a human.

  Gram looked around nervously. “Courts give me the creeps the same way funeral homes give Zoe the creeps. I can’t even watch The People’s Court.”

  Tanya sauntered up to Zoe. “Where’s your magic wand and fairy dust now?”

  “I’m a witch, not freaking Tinker Bell.”

  “I doubt that Tinker Bell could raise hell the way you have. And I’m not saying that in a good way.” She paused to give Zoe the once-over before adding, “Besides, you’re not thin enough to be a fairy.”

  “Let me give her some warts,” Gram pleaded. “On her nose and forehead. And a few boils on her neck.”

  “No, we are not stooping to her level.” Bending closer, she whispered in Gram’s ear, “We are in enough trouble as it is.”

  “All right. But when this is all over I plan on giving her warts.”

  “We’ll discuss that later,” Zoe murmured. “We need to focus on the current problem. Come on, let’s sit down.” She chose the two seats closest to the exit.

  She recognized Nick, Pat, and Bruce as well as Neville but there were several other vampires there she did not know. Damon had once mentioned that Doc Boomer had a booming voice, so she identified him. She didn’t know the two vampires who had come to the house with Tanya.

  “Put the two witches up front,” Tanya said.

  “We’re fine right here,” Zoe said.

  “When you are called before a vampire clan council, you go where we tell you,” Tanya said. “Isn’t that right, Nick?”

  “Unfortunately, that is true,” Nick said. “Come on, I’ll get you both some chairs up front.”

&nb
sp; “They need to stand to face their accusers,” Tanya said.

  “I don’t like the sound of that,” Gram said once again.

  Zoe didn’t either. She searched the small crowd for Damon. Where was he? He couldn’t just bring them and dump them here, could he? Would he desert them like that? Apparently the answer was yes.

  “Damon isn’t a council member,” Tanya said triumphantly. “He can only be called as a witness.”

  “Or to vouch for character,” Nick said.

  Right. Like that was going to happen.

  “We could be in hot water here,” Gram said, taking hold of Zoe’s hand and eyeing the small crowd anxiously.

  “Nick won’t let anything happen to us,” Zoe said with more confidence than she felt.

  “Nick only has one vote,” Tanya said.

  “Daniella—”

  “Is not a vampire,” Tanya said. “She is not a council member.”

  “Why isn’t Damon a council member?” Zoe said.

  “He hasn’t been in Vamptown long enough. There is a one-year residency requirement.”

  Great. Zoe knew the only reason Damon would save them was to get the Book of Darkness. At this point she didn’t really care what his motivations were. She just wanted to get out of there.

  “Let’s get started,” Tanya said. “I will turn the procedure over to Pat since he is the oldest.”

  The regret she saw on Pat’s face was not reassuring. Surely he knew that Zoe was a necessary part of the plan to get the spell book. Not that there actually was a plan per se. Maybe that’s what this was all about. They wanted to hear the plan.

  Okay, then she’d better think of one fast. Hard to do when standing before a group of angry vampires, but not impossible.

  “I think this has something to do with the equinox,” Zoe said. “It’s coming soon. The day after tomorrow, in fact. It’s the official beginning of spring but it’s also the day when there are equal amounts of light and darkness. The demons represent darkness.”

  “Next you’ll be saying they are the cause of global warming,” Tanya scoffed.

  “No, humans are responsible for that.” Zoe took a deep breath, trying to gather her thoughts. “If the number of daylight hours increases, then that should weaken the power of the demons.”

  “I didn’t find any scientific evidence of that in my research,” Neville the Nerd said.

  Doc Boomer held out his hand. “Wait, are you saying that the demons could turn the world dark?”

  Okay, that sounded worse than she’d hoped. “No, I’m not saying that. Definitely not saying that.”

  “Then what are you saying?” The vampire dentist was clearly impatient.

  She didn’t know what the hell she was saying. She was starting to panic, and that was never a good start for logic.

  She just knew that the equinox was coming and the demons had to be defeated by then. Before then would be even better.

  Zoe closed her eyes for a moment, trying to regain her composure. Instead she got a vision of herself and Gram in black garb reminiscent of seventeenth-century Salem as someone put a noose around her neck.

  She immediately opened her eyes and quickly looked down. Her KEEP CALM T-shirt was still there. Her hand flew to her throat. No noose. Just the chain holding her talisman.

  Okay. Things would be okay. She just had to stay calm.

  “You both have been accused of being a danger to Vamptown,” Pat said.

  Accused? That didn’t sound good.

  “Flames were reported coming from every floor vent in Vamptown,” Neville said.

  “Every vamp floor vent,” Bruce pointed out. “Not the humans’.”

  “This time,” Neville said. “What if that isn’t the case next time?”

  “The flames came from the demons,” Zoe said. “Not us.”

  “The demons are here because of you,” Tanya said. “You released them.”

  “Damon is going to get rid of them,” Zoe said.

  “But you can call forth more,” Tanya said. “You own the book that released them from hell.”

  “We do not own it. We never saw it before, right, Gram?”

  Her grandmother twisted her fingers nervously. “Well, I may have seen it once as a young girl.”

  Zoe’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

  “There,” Tanya said triumphantly. “You heard it, fellow council members. The older witch brought the book here to release demons upon Vamptown and destroy us.”

  “Hold on a second. Gram, did you see it or dream you saw it?”

  “I’m not sure,” Gram admitted.

  “The old witch is senile,” Tanya said.

  “Not senile enough that I can’t put warts on your face,” Gram growled.

  “She threatened me,” Tanya said. “Allow me to get rid of her.”

  “Damon has made it clear that we need the witches to retrieve the demon book,” Nick said.

  “We don’t need them both,” Tanya said.

  “We do,” Nick said.

  “Then let’s separate them.” Tanya snapped her fingers, and the two vampires who had accompanied her earlier moved toward Zoe and her grandmother.

  “Wait, you’ve got something on your face,” Gram told Tanya, who immediately whipped out a compact mirror to check her appearance.

  Grabbing Zoe’s hand, Gram pointed to the mirror, which flew from Tanya’s hand to the wall beside them. Then Gram rapidly recited,

  Mirror on the wall

  Who’s the ugliest vampire of them all?

  Mirror, mirror

  Get us the hell out of here!

  Zoe didn’t have time to ask where they were going, but she soon found out. The tunnels.

  “Welcome, ladies.” Silas bowed. He looked just like his astral projection—only now she not only sensed his malevolence, but could actually feel it crawling over her skin. “How kind of you to grace us with your presence.”

  This time Zoe cast the spell.

  We’re in trouble

  Take us back on the double.

  In the blink of an eye they were back in front of the Vamptown Council. Only this time Damon was there.

  “What’s going on?” Damon demanded.

  “The witches tried to escape,” Tanya said. “They must be punished.”

  “Shut up!” Damon growled. “Everybody just shut up.” He turned to face Zoe. “You won’t be hurt.”

  “Or Gram. And we won’t be separated,” Zoe said fiercely, already thinking of a spell to take them to someplace safer than the vampire bar or the demon tunnel.

  “Neither you nor your grandmother will be hurt by us,” Damon said. “You have my word on it as a Demon Hunter.”

  To leave or not to leave?

  “I trust him,” Gram said.

  “And we won’t be thrown into vampire jail or anything,” Zoe said.

  Damon stepped past the other vampires to stand before her, so close she could feel his breath on her cheek. “Trust me, little witch,” he whispered. “Stay or all will be lost.”

  In the end Zoe trusted her gut, and that told her he was telling her the truth. She nodded her agreement.

  For one brief second, Damon looked like he wanted to touch her. Instead he pivoted to face his fellow vampires. “Listen, everyone. The demons are behind all of this. They wanted you to try to get rid of the witches. That’s why they created the flames. So you’d either banish the witches or scare them into leaving.”

  “We can’t have flames shooting out of the heating ducts,” Doc Boomer said. “I don’t mean to be a downer. I’m just stating the obvious.”

  “I know that,” Damon said.

  “So what do you plan on doing about it?” Doc Boomer said.

  “The demons are right below us. I am not going to say anything to warn them of their destruction.”

  “I say we take a vote now about these witches,” Tanya said. “Remember, Damon, you do not have a vote. All in favor of getting rid of the witches say ‘Aye’. Let me
be the first. Aye.”

  “Aye,” Doc Boomer said regretfully.

  Neville cast a nervous look in Damon’s direction. “Aye.”

  “Nay,” Nick said.

  “Nay,” Pat said.

  “Nay,” Bruce said.

  Zoe cast a nervous look at the two vamps that Tanya had used to bring them to the bar.

  “They can’t vote,” Damon said. “They haven’t been in Vamptown long enough. So it appears we have a tie.”

  “And no motion can be carried without a majority,” Nick said. “Which means Irma and Zoe stay. And they continue to work with Damon on locating the missing Book of Darkness. This meeting is formally adjourned.”

  “I’m so sorry about that,” Pat said. “I feel responsible. I should have spoken up about my connection to Silas.”

  “No,” Damon said. “Keep that to yourself for the time being.”

  “Bruce knows. And I told Nick already,” Pat admitted.

  “Told me what?” Nick said as he joined them.

  “Let’s continue this in your office,” Damon said.

  The five of them barely fit in the small office at the back of the bar. “It’s soundproof,” Nick said.

  “I don’t think we should tell anyone else about Pat’s connection to Silas at this point,” Damon said. “You saw how paranoid everyone got.”

  “Not everyone,” Bruce said. “We voted nay.”

  “Let’s explore this equinox connection further,” Damon said. “Pat, can you check your personal library of ancient books?”

  This was the first Zoe had heard about the older vampire having a specialized library.

  “I received a few illuminated manuscripts dating back to the Dark Ages from my sire. He had a strong connection to mystical powers in ancient times,” Pat said. “I’ve never had cause to consult the volumes before, but this is definitely a time for it. I’d already started when I heard this meeting called.”

  “After the flames nearly burned the Moroccan rug I had near the floor vent,” Bruce said.

  “Keep those manuscripts safe,” Damon said.

  “I will. And you keep the witches safe,” Pat said.

  “I don’t need to tell you that time is running out,” Nick said. “Vamptown could have gone up in flames today.”

  “And Damon and Zoe didn’t even have sex,” Gram said.