He nodded. “And?”
“And the idiot mage that opened the portal was killed. The Fae that closed the portal, also killed. Apparently he was the only one who knew how to close a portal in the entire Fae community in France, and so.” She took a breath. “I desperately need your help, Gideon. This is serious. If some other stupid mage opens another portal, anywhere in France, we’re doomed. I need to learn,” she stressed, reaching across to him and gripping his hand.
“God damned Council.” He glowered down at the remains of his croissant. “What I don’t understand is why the Council isn’t talking to anyone. How did that happen?”
“I don’t know. They’ve been difficult to get ahold of for years, but lately it’s impossible. The compound where they meet has been empty every time I’ve visited.” She leaned back. “I really do need your help.” She rubbed the space between her eyes where a headache lurked.
“You want me to help, even though I’m a mongrel tribred with demon blood in me?” He tilted his head, a questioning look in his eyes.
“You want me to apologize for calling you a mongrel?”
“Would you?”
She tilted her chin. “No.”
Gideon let out a belly laugh. She sat back and looked at this man, this handsome man sitting in her rental kitchen, making it feel like a home. Again.
Damn him. “I’m not going to apologize. I wouldn’t have taken you into my body, into my bed, if I hadn’t found you attractive.”
“If you hadn’t felt the need for me pulsing through you.”
She shook her head. “The need for sex. Not specific.”
“It was specific, Marie-Therese. You needed me.” He picked up her hand, pressed a kiss in the center of it. “At any rate. You need to learn how to close a portal. It just so happens that I believe I know where a portal is that needs closing.”
Fear and excitement sped down her spine. “Near the ocean?”
“I closed that one a couple of days ago. The Boargan we killed were the last of them to get through. I hope, anyway.”
“So where is this other portal?”
Gideon sat up straight. “Not far from where I grew up. We can go out there, find the portal, close it, and I can take you to my neighborhood. Show you the house I grew up in if you want.”
It mattered to him, she realized. “If you can teach me to close a portal, I will be happy to see your ancestral home.”
“I need some information about you, now.” He narrowed his eyes. “Your background. How much Fae are you?”
“Maman is one hundred percent Fae. Papa comes from a long line of hereditary witches. I have his skills with spells and potions, but don’t get a chance to use them much. Something I will change in my future, I swear it.”
Interest flared in his blue eyes. “Did you bring your kit with you? I assume you have one.”
“Yes, it’s here. I don’t travel without it. Why?”
“Because, Marie-Therese, I am going to help you shut a portal. And you are going to use magicks.”
Her heart pounded. “I’ve always wanted to combine the two energies.” She saluted him with her espresso cup. “I need another. You?”
“Sure.”
As she waited for the espresso to pour, she tapped a finger against her lips. “So a simple banishing spell won’t work?”
“A Portal needs to be closed, not banished. If you banish it, it may pop up somewhere else, and cause more of a problem.”
“Merde. Well, there are other things I can use. I can ask my father, as well. I never expected to be able to use magicks to close a portal, so we’ve never discussed such a move.”
Gideon shifted. “We need to be moving by noon.”
Marie-Therese raised an eyebrow. “Why?” She carried the espresso cups to the table and sat.
“Gut feeling.” He shrugged, pulled the small cup toward him. “I’ve put off searching the area because of the portal in Santa Monica, but a few miles north of my homestead in the San Fernando Valley, there’s a natural gas field. There’s been a leak. I think the portal I’m sensing may have manifested there through natural causes.”
Her lips twisted. “I hadn’t heard.”
“The company that owns the well is keeping it quiet. They’re paying people to move out. Houses are abandoned and some people have gone missing. Nothing that I can pinpoint, exactly, but my gut tells me there’s an active, open portal.” He caught her gaze. “This would change what kind of magic you would use, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes.” She shifted in her chair. “I’ll need to make a call to my father. I should probably do that before we leave. But he’s never actually closed a portal before, so.” She spread her hands.
“Find out what you can.” He finished his espresso. “I have some preparations of my own to do. We need to get this portal closed so I can take you back to bed.”
“Maybe I don’t want to get under the sheets with you again.” She watched, fascinated, as his jaw firmed and his eyes carried a white-hot flame.
“No use lying to me. You can try to lie to yourself though. See how far you get.”
She laughed. “Such the macho bullshit.”
He reached out and caught her chin in his hand. She stilled and their gazes locked.
“Do you really believe you don’t want me?” His voice was a low growl of possession.
Marie-Therese felt her body soften, open for him. If he asked, she’d strip naked and lay herself out on the kitchen table for him to feast on. She smiled and shut her eyes for a moment. Took a breath. So much for wanting to stay unmated. She knew when destiny was staring her in the face. However…
“I know, entirely, that I want you in my bed. What I don’t know is what I want beyond that. ” She opened her eyes and watched him absorb her answer. “You’re asking me to be a partner with you. I’m used to working solo, not as a member of a team.”
His smile was wry. “I had brothers. The only way I know how is to go in as a team.”
She studied him. “You’ve been lonely, since they all left you. Haven’t you?”
He stood. “If we’re going to get this done, we should go.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, his eyes hooded so she couldn’t see what he was thinking.
“It bothers you that I can read you.” She stood as well. “Gideon Caine. Let’s just worry about the portal, and deal with the rest later.”
He turned without meeting her gaze. “Make your phone call. We leave at noon.”
Marie-Therese put the phone down and finished scribbling her notes. She had most of the herbs her father spoke of, and with the phrases of incantations he passed to her, could figure out a complete spell quickly enough if she needed to. What she wasn’t sure of, was if the spell would work. Her father hadn’t even thought of using magicks to close a portal, so she’d be going in with incantations untested in this area.
Worried, she went to her bedroom to grab her kit. Passing back through the living room, she saw what she had missed earlier – Gideon, in full Lotus position, eyes closed. Meditating.
He looked like he belonged. Merde. It felt like he belonged.
She walked by him and set her bag down at the door. Took a few deep breaths. She turned, right into Gideon’s arms. He caught her, his hand warm and hard as he smoothed down her back.
“I’ll be ready in a few minutes.” He kissed her on the shoulder and disappeared into the bedroom.
She inhaled the scent of him. Felt it arrow down into the center of her being, and the flutters of fear that had been attacking her stomach since he first mentioned closing the portal with magicks grew larger at the thought of being with that man for the rest of her life, and beyond. She wasn’t ready for either.
Marie-Therese was staring out the kitchen window, sipping on espresso, when he returned.
“I’m all set. You ready?”
She finished the coffee, set the cup down with deliberate slowness. She could do this. She could. Anything that was handed to her today, she w
ould deal with, and prevail.
It was the only option.
She turned to him, nodded. “Your pants dried, I see.” He looked good in the black pants and blue scrubs top. She let out a mental sigh. “Let’s go.” At the front door, she picked up her bag.
Gideon poked at it. “What does today’s witches’ kit contain?”
“My tools. Some knives. Some herbs.” She shrugged and unlocked her car, stowing the bag in the trunk. They settled in, and she glanced at him. “Am I taking you to your car?”
“No need. I didn’t take it to the beach. I have a small house not far from the steps.”
“Wow. Nice, to have a home near the beach.”
“It suffices for just me. But I miss the family home.”
She heard the wistful tones in his voice, and she ached for his loneliness. “Tell me about the family home, about your family.”
Marie-Therese drove and listened.
She heard a man who missed his brothers, who missed his parents and the sense of camaraderie he’d always known.
“And then one day, mom and dad just disappeared.”
Marie-Therese was glad she was at a stoplight. She stared at him. “They disappeared? How? Why?”
“The light’s green.”
“Don’t change the subject.” She moved ahead, transitioned to the freeway easily. “What happened to them?”
“I’m not sure. When I kicked up a fuss, the Council said they are fine, but they are out of our reach right now, and gave my brothers orders off to various parts of the country, where they ended up finding their mates. I don’t know if someday my parents will come back, or if we’ll never see them again. I just don’t know. But I do know that I’ll never do that to my kids.”
The passionate denial in his voice stirred her sympathy. “How long have they been gone?”
“Five years.” He shifted in the seat next to her, and she could sense the restlessness in him. “They also left detailed instructions. The house is in a family trust, to be passed down from generation to generation. The beach house was deeded to me, though I will also put it in the trust, for those who come after me.”
At the pain in his voice, she changed the subject. “Tell me how to close a portal not using magicks.”
“It depends on the type of portal, and how it was opened. There are three ways to open a portal that I know of. One is a ritual, using the souls, and blood, of those who have died for the purpose. It’s a dark magick, and I’ve only read about it in some old textbooks. I haven’t ever heard of anyone actually doing it, but I suppose it’s possible. Exit at Sherman Way, and go west,” he added.
“I’m guessing this portal wasn’t opened that way. What are the other options?”
“The second way is have an ancient one open it. Something about the power in the blood of the aged.”
She nodded. “The Fae have opened portals onto the Chaos Plane, when necessary.”
“What would make it necessary for the Fae to need the Chaos Plane?”
Marie-Therese shot him a glare and he sighed.
“Moving on. The third way, however, is an opening due to natural disasters or phenomena. Frankly, since I’m pretty sure this was a natural opening to the Chaos Plane, I think it’s going to take blood to close it, whether you do it with magicks or I do it with brute strength. Turn right here.”
She took the turn down a street. “So you told me how to open them. How do you close a portal?”
“With blood and brute force. And hopefully with blood and magicks. Keep going this way.”
“Are we close?”
“We need to go further north.”
She followed his directions, taking them into neighborhoods that were increasingly desolate. It was a beautiful day. There should be people out, cars in the driveways, sprinklers running. Children playing in the streets.
But the neighborhoods were empty. She kept turning when he said to until he finally gestured. “Park here. Open your window, and listen. Scent the air. I think we’re close.”
She parked. “Why? Is there some demon-sense that you have that senses portals?”
He laughed at that, holding his stomach as he guffawed. “Demon-sense? That sniffs out portals? Are you kidding me?” He laughed again.
She swatted his shoulder. “Don’t laugh.” She couldn’t help it though and giggled along with him. “No, I just thought…maybe.” Her laughter subsided and she sat back. “I don’t really know how to react to you, I guess.” She sobered up and faced him directly. “You have the blood of demons in you. I thought maybe that comes with special powers.”
His eyes were kind when he finally contained his laughter. “Well, of course. I can change into a demon. Without changing into my demon, I can run, very fast. Fast enough that humans cannot see me. I have the strength of a demon, and I shall live a very long time.”
She nodded. “Similar to the Fae traits that are passed down. But Gideon. I have been taught to destroy demons.”
He quirked a smile at her. “So have I. So that makes me, what, your target?”
“But you healed me. So we are kin, in an abstract way.”
“Yeah. And?”
“And…” her ears pricked up. “Do you hear that?”
“What?”
“A hum. Something electronic. It’s buzzing around my cranium.” She rubbed her hands over her head. “Disturbing.”
“Then we should follow your disturbance.”
She glanced at him in surprise, and he grimaced.
“I am not…I cannot sense, exactly, what you do. I am more demon, which in many ways means I cannot always find my own kind. We are not a welcoming people.”
Okay then. She was leading. It wasn’t like she couldn’t lead, it was more like the men in her acquaintance wouldn’t let her lead. Even in the Faerie world, the men had sheltered her because she was part human. And here was a man who was less human than she was, offering her a chance to lead. Good? Or bad? Only one way to find out.
She squared her shoulders. “Then we go toward the empty houses.”
They got out of the car and she shouldered her kit.
Aware of the buzzing in her head, she rolled her shoulders and sighed deeply. “All right. Let’s do this.” She headed toward the danger she sensed, the danger that warned her away.
They passed lawns had turned brown and trees that drooped. She frowned. “How long has this gas leak been happening?”
“Six months.”
She chanced a look at Gideon’s face, and it was set hard. “What happened?”
“People got sick. Some young children and some senior citizens died before anyone explained about the gas leak. Even after that, it took them far too long to move people.”
She walked slower. “Has the leak been stopped? Contained, or plugged, or whatever?”
“Almost. They are drilling a well to plug it.”
The buzzing in her skull grew stronger, drowning out Gideon’s words. Marie-Therese put her hands to the side of her head. “Merde. The source of this buzzing is close.”
Gideon’s strong arms came around her and she let him turn her into him. “Point me in the right direction.”
She closed her eyes, breathed deeply, and followed the thread of pressure with her mind until she was sure she could pinpoint it. For a moment she could see it, and her breath caught at the stench of evil threatening to overwhelm her. With a gasp, she opened her eyes, grateful for Gideon’s steady strength.
“Well?”
Marie-Therese took a shaky breath and eased from his grip. She turned toward the row of silent houses and pointed to the one at the end. The other side of it was a big orange orchard. “There. But I don’t know if I can close it.” The doubt shook her to her very core.
“I’m here. I can help. If you can’t close it with magicks, I can close it with brute strength. We can do this, woman. Never doubt it.”
His confidence shriveled her fear. “Well. Then we do it. It’s at the back, not actually
in the house.”
“Good. We won’t be charged with breaking and entering.”
“No, just trespassing,” she muttered.
He laughed, pulled her close for a kiss, and she lost herself in his lips, in his arms, long enough to know that she had a damn good reason for closing that portal.
Hell, sex was a good reason for doing a lot of things. Why not closing a portal?
She could feel the smile lift her lips. “Well then, yes, by all means. Let’s go slay this dragon.”
He quirked a brow at her. “Did I miss something?”
She laughed and shook her head. “Come on.”
As one, they turned and jogged lightly down the road to the corner house. The closer they got, the more she understood what her mind had shown her. There was an arroyo, a steep gulch that guided water through the valley which ran behind the house. Beyond it was a fenced-off orchard.
“So maybe in the arroyo?” She shook her head. “No, anyone could see it. It has to be somewhere fairly hidden.”
“What are you saying?”
“That something’s off.”
“Well, we knew that.” They slowed as they got closer to the house. “I’ll check the arroyo, you check the back yard.” Gideon sent her a smile. “If you don’t mind.”
Marie-Therese grinned. “Nah. You can take the easy part, not a problem.”
They moved quietly around the side of the house. No fence obstructed their ability to get into the back yard, so she went to the right around to the back while he went to the left, and the arroyo.
She stopped when she saw the yard. A swing set had been carelessly tossed aside and now it lay, it’s anchoring legs up in the air and the swings sprawled out on the ground. Her gaze moved to the far back of the lot. Yards away from the arroyo, a storage shed had been built.
Nausea hit her hard and she fell to her knees, her kit bag banging her on the side.
Gideon was there, his hand on her back. “You okay?”
She shook her head and swallowed, hard. “Look. The shed.” She kept her gaze on the grass. “I’m dizzy and nauseous and I don’t think I can go closer.”
Demon Blood: A Demon Soul Prequel (The Caine Brothers) Page 4