“I’ve never seen a demon banished without a circle,” Jaime said, clearly dumbfounded.
“Well, I’ve actually never banished a demon before,” I admitted.
“Then how . . . ?”
“I looked it up. There are some nifty things in my Grandmama’s grimoire. When you mentioned that there were demons running around the city, I took the precaution of preparing myself. After treating your Master last night, I took several hours to commit the ritual to memory.”
“Wow. Just wow.”
“Jaime, focus!” I snapped.
“Oh, yeah, sorry,” Jaime said, and the amazed look faded from her face. I had forgotten until that moment how very young she was.
I disengaged the charm. “Let me know when the Master Gatekeeper would like to see me.”
“Yeah, sure,” the girl said, still a little distracted.
I knelt and carefully gathered up the deceased man’s belongings. I had another wave of light-headedness when I stood. I walked to the side door on wobbly legs. I would need to feed soon. Perhaps banishing the demon without a circle had been a bad idea. It had cost me a lot more power than I had initially realized. I broke the ward and the mage lock with a series of words and let myself inside.
All eyes were on me when I stepped back into the gallery. While they had clearly felt the energy expenditure outside, few knew what it had meant. Obviously Josh had not warned the assembled crowd of the imminent danger. I did not blame him. It would have started a panic which was why I had not said anything before going outside. There is little worse than the pandemonium caused by several dozen powerful and selfish people fleeing. Vinny Carlucci stepped up to meet me. “Has the danger passed?”
Apparently not everyone was in the dark. I nodded.
Vinny put a steadying hand on my arm. “Ya want me to carry those for ya?” His thick Brooklyn accent made it difficult for me to understand him, or maybe it was just my own befuddlement.
“No, I will be alright.”
“The Grandmaster and coven leaders are in Tousaint’s office. I’ll show you the way.” It was then I realized everyone in the immediate vicinity of the door was from the Salamand coven. Warriors in case I failed.
Vinny led me through the crowd and back to the main room. Voices rose around me, speculating about what had happened outside. The most common guess was that the werewolf wards had failed. They should be so lucky. If it had been werewolves, they would at least have had a chance. One werewolf against a vampire was a fairly even fight, but unless the vampire had magic, there was no hope for him against a demon.
There was a cluster of Salamand around the front entrance too. Josh was a good man. He had managed to protect the group without causing a panic. The man continued to notch up in my estimation.
Vinny opened the office door and we stepped over the thick line of salt. No one spoke until the door was closed.
“It’s gone?” Marc asked.
I nodded. “For now. Someone is summoning demons.”
“The kid told us that,” Josh said.
“Yes, but this demon was summoned to target this gathering. Jaime said it came straight here and did not even try to evade her.”
“So he is after one of us?” Tousaint asked.
I nodded. “I think that is a fair assumption.”
“Which one?”
I shrugged.
“Shit, Tousaint, this is a target-rich environment. You got every coven leader, the Grandmaster, and most of the New Orleans vamps. He couldn’t lose,” Josh commented.
“Not every coven leader,” I said.
“Shit! That’s right. You ain’t Regent, anymore.”
“My beloved Coven Mistress and what is left of the Aether are conveniently not here.”
The awkward silence that followed was broken by Marc, who, nodding to the bundle of clothing in my hands, asked, “Who did we lose?”
“Kane Estep,” I said.
Collette St. Pierre stepped forward, teetering a bit on spike heels. “He was mine.”
“I am sorry for your loss,” I said and handed her the small bundle.
“Was there a woman with him?” the coven leader asked.
“Yes. Auburn hair, about my size?”
Collette nodded.
“The demon was too busy with Mr. Estep. She survived,” I said.
The coven leader was visibly relieved. “My thanks.”
“Is there anything we can do to stop these attacks?” Marc asked.
I shrugged. “I do not think so unless we can find who is summoning the creatures. Jaime said the Master Gatekeeper wished to meet with me. I will ask him if they are any closer to finding out who is behind this.”
Marc said, “I trust you to keep me apprised of the situation.”
I nodded. Weariness and hunger began to creep in. “If there is nothing further, I think I will go home now.”
“Of course,” Marc said.
“I’ll take ya home,” Josh said as he put his hand on the small of my back.
“By all means, see Madame Grammont home, but come back here afterward. There is coven business we need to take care of,” Tousaint said.
I felt Josh stiffen slightly. “I’ll be back within the hour.”
Josh ushered me out of the office and through the throng of oblivious partygoers to the front door. As he opened it for me, I said, “You have an odd sense of what a good time entails.”
Josh laughed. “Gotta say, I ain’t making a real good impression on you, am I?”
I smiled. “It is never dull.”
“Come on, let’s get you home. You’re probably pretty tired. Dispellin’ demons can’t be easy.”
“No. It is not,” I agreed and let him take me home.
I TOOK MY WARMED vitae and a novel onto the loggia. The vitae was helping, but I was tired. No, not tired, weary. Every time I turned around there was another crisis. We finally had the werewolf problem under control, or at least there had been no new attacks since I had finished warding the city, but now we had demons running amok. No, there have been demons before too; they just have not been our responsibility.
I slumped into a comfortable seat and kicked off my heels. Technically it was no longer my job to find a solution for the demon problem. I was no longer Regent, merely an Elder. If my Coven Mistress asked for suggestions, I was bound to give them to her. Sadly, I did not think my Coven Mistress would do her job and provide the Grandmaster with a workable magical solution, nor would she ask her Elders for help. I still could not decide if Honore was simply incompetent or if she was deliberately shirking her duty. Honore was excellent with magic, but I had no idea what sort of management skills she had. Lack of competent managerial skill was easily dealt with, but I worried this was a more malicious obstruction. Could the Aether be behind this foolish bid to open the Gates of Hell?
I was so lost in my musings that I did not realize someone else was there until the wards along the back courtyard fence flared. The magic felt familiar, so I was not immediately on my guard. I assumed it was Jaime coming to tell me when the Master Gatekeeper wished to see me. It wasn’t until several seconds later that I realized that it was not Jaime’s aura that I was feeling but Andre’s. As the thought coalesced in my brain, I stood to see my sire striding through the courtyard toward me.
Something was not right, but it took a moment to realize that Andre’s aura was ever so slightly off. By the time I realized what was wrong; Andre had crossed the distance between us.
“Ma chérie,” he said, trying to take me in his arms. As soon as he touched me, I could feel him begin to pull power from my body. I took a step back to avoid his embrace, but he had a hand around my wrist and held fast.
Not Andre! Every cell in my body screamed as I struggled to break the man’
s grip on me.
“I can make this very pleasant for you if you just stop struggling, Juliette,” the Andre doppelgänger cooed.
“No!” I yelled, twisting my arm violently and pushing with my other hand and my power. It was enough to break the creature’s hold, and it stumbled back. I took several steps away from it to create some distance and began to chant the banishment spell. There was no time to enclose the creature, an incubus, in a circle. I poured all my power into my words and pushed. The incubus took a staggering step toward me and then vanished in a puff of sulfur smoke.
I fell to my hands and knees, spent. My limbs felt like jelly, and my hunger rose. I dragged myself over to the low table that I had placed my glass of blood on earlier and collapsed from the effort. I tried not to panic but my terror of being so helpless was quickly taking over. My vision dimmed as torpor began to take me. I fought hard against it. If I went into torpor here on the loggia, I would certainly die. If my enemy did not come back to kill me, the rising sun would. Drawing my last bit of strength, I pulled myself up and grabbed the glass of blood. Gulping the vitae, I finished the contents in two swallows. It restored me enough that I knew I could stave off torpor, but I needed to get inside. I was far too vulnerable out here.
I lay on the cobblestone floor for long moments, gathering my strength. I had managed to pull myself to my knees when I felt another magical aura. I had a momentary panic before I realized it was Jaime. I sighed in relief.
“Juliette? Holy shit, what happened here?” the young woman asked as she dropped to her knees next to me. She smelled too good. The heady copper of her blood sang to me, and I felt my fangs descend. It was all I could do not to attack her.
She reached out to touch me, but I pulled back, hissing. “Blood. Refrigerator. Go!” I lisped around my fangs.
Jaime stared at me in horror and then scrambled to her feet and went inside the house. She came back a few minutes later with three bottles of blood. Tearing the cap off of one of the bottles, Jaime handed it to me. “This was all I could find,” she said. It was cold and congealed, but I drank it greedily anyway. As soon as I finished the first bottle she handed me the second. By the end of if it, I was confident I would not hurt the young mage.
As she handed me the third bottle, I said, “Thank you.”
“What happened? Another demon attack?”
I nodded. “An incubus masquerading as my sire. I managed to banish it, but not before it drained much of my strength.”
“It isn’t safe for you to stay here. I’m gonna call Josh. He’ll know what to do.”
Chapter 16
JOSH OPENED THE car door and helped me out. I was forced to lean heavily against him as we crossed the courtyard. He settled me on a small stone bench while he unlocked the door and disarmed the security system. Instead of helping me to my feet, Josh swept me into his arms.
“The main rooms are on the second and third floors. You ain’t got it in you to make that many steps,” he explained.
I did not argue. My fight with the incubus had left me weak both magically and physically. My limbs felt like butter, and it took conscious effort not to let my head loll to one side. I wasn’t sure how I managed to cross the courtyard even with Josh’s help.
Cradling me close, he deftly opened the door and maneuvered us through the portal, making sure I did not hit my head on the frame. Josh kicked the door closed behind us. “I’ll come back and lock that once you’re settled,” he said as he carried me up the stairs.
We entered what seemed like a large room. With my head resting against his chest and my vision blurred, it was difficult to tell. With a few long strides, Josh crossed to a sofa and gently set me on it. I was surprised by the softness of the leather against my legs, so different from the cold, hard couch in Marc Gautier’s office. Josh eased off my shoes before he pulled a red chenille afghan from a nearby chair back and tucked it around me.
“I’m gonna lock the door and set the alarm. Then I’ll try to rustle you up something more comfortable to wear. Maybe my sister left something the last time she stayed here. Not that that cocktail dress don’t look great on you . . .,” he said, straightening.
I smiled and touched his hand. “Thank you. You are correct, the dress is not terribly comfortable.”
Josh pushed a stray lock of hair out of my face with a feather touch. “I’ll be right back.”
After he had left, I forced myself to focus and examine the room. While I felt safe with Josh and trusted him to guard me, I knew better than to rely solely on him. In my current state I might not be able to reach an exit without help, but I could at least know where they were and identify potential hiding places.
The room was not just large, it was enormous. At least the size of a double ballroom, the ceiling soared sixteen feet from the rough-hewn wood floor to meet it. A large stone fireplace dominated most of the wall nearest me, and there was a bear’s head mounted above it. Adjacent to the fireplace was the seating group where I was. The furniture here was a comfortable mixture of rustic pine end tables and worn leather chairs and couches.
On the opposite wall, a black baby grand piano sat bathed in a pool of light from overhead. Further along the wall was another seating group, all worn leather chairs and a sofa clustered near a pine bar. On the bare brick walls hung instruments, a flat screen TV, and movie posters. Mismatched bookcases irregularly took up space between the windows. Even though the space was cavernous, it was warm and inviting.
By the time I had finished my visual examination of the room, noting three doorways and a plethora of windows, Josh had returned. “I couldn’t find anything of Emma’s, so the best I can give you is one of my long shirts. It’ll probably come to your knees though,” he said, handing me a wine goblet of warmed blood.
I nodded and took a sip. “That will be fine.”
“I wasn’t sure how much good the vitae will do you but my granny always slugged back some bourbon and honey after she did magic. Said it restored her.”
“The blood will help. Thank you for thinking of it.”
Josh sat in a nearby chair as I sipped my drink. He opened the beer he had brought for himself with a quick twist of his wrist and took a long pull.
“What sort of magic did your grandmother practice?” I asked.
“She healed. She was a thaumaturge like you.”
I knew the surprise showed on my face. I could not help it. This man knew my deepest secret. “How . . . how did you know?” I sputtered.
“Like I said, Granny was a thaumaturge. As soon as you laid hands on Chris Gautier and I didn’t feel you pull magic to you, I knew.”
“You never said anything,” I observed.
“Not my business. Besides, Granny said being a thaumaturge was kinda dangerous. Between being so rare and being magical yourselves, lots o’ people might want to use you for not-so-good purposes.”
I nodded, taking another sip. “Was your mother not a thaumaturge as well?”
“Naw. It was my daddy’s mama, but both Emma and I feel more magic than most folks do. That ain’t always helpful in a city as full of magic as New Orleans.”
I laughed and finished the glass of vitae. Setting the goblet on the nearby table, I swung my legs off the couch. “Perhaps I could change now.”
Josh was on his feet and next to me before I knew it. He helped me stand and led me to the first door in a long hallway. After being ushered inside, I found a spacious bedroom, furnished in white-washed pine. The blue bedspread had been pulled back, and a men’s green shirt was lying near the pillow.
“The en-suite bathroom is right through that door. Do you think you can manage by yourself?” he asked without a trace of sexual innuendo.
“I need some help with the zipper, but I can manage from there.”
“OK. Let me know if you need anything else,” Josh said a
s he eased the zipper down.
“Thank you. For everything, Josh.”
“It’s my pleasure. Get some rest,” he said as he pulled the door shut behind him. I waited until I heard the click of his boots down the hall before I let my dress fall to the floor. I took off my bra, then pulled on Josh’s shirt. As he had predicted, it fell almost to my knees and I had to roll up the sleeves several times. Even though it was freshly laundered, the soft cotton fabric still held the underlying scent of Josh. I found it strangely comforting. After I buttoned up the front, I carefully bent and picked up the dress off the floor. I placed it and the bra on a nearby chair.
As inviting as the bed looked, I did not want to be alone. I was not exactly afraid, but it had been a long time since I had felt this weak and powerless. Even though the living room was cavernous, I had felt safe there. I made my way to the door and back to the living room.
I found Josh strumming a guitar in a chair by the fireplace. He looked up when I entered the room and quickly laid the instrument aside. Standing, he crossed to me, concern evident on his face.
“Something wrong, Juliette?” he asked. “Was I making too much noise?”
“No, not at all. I just really do not wish to be alone. Would you mind if I sat out here with you? I promise I will not bother you,” I said as he helped me back to the sofa, and I was once again ensconced in the soft folds of the afghan.
“Mind? Shoot, I’m happy for the company. Lay right back there and I’ll play you a couple songs.”
“Thank you.”
Josh settled back onto his chair and picked up his guitar again. He really does play beautifully.
I OPENED MY EYES and stretched. Josh looked up from the book he was reading at the other end of the couch. “I didn’t think you’d stir ‘til sundown,” he said.
I pushed myself into a sitting position. “What time is it?”
“Almost dawn. I was thinking it was time to hit the hay pretty soon. Room’s lightproof and all, but I prefer the bedroom.” I noticed that steel shutters now covered the room’s windows. “You want another glass of blood before bed?”
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