Hell to Pay (The Harry Russo Diaries Book 4)

by Lisa Emme

  Tess, who had been pretending to be engrossed in an old episode of Castle so that she could avoid talking to Max, suddenly jumped up. “You want to go in my room?”

  Max looked uncertain. “Yeah, if that’s okay.”

  “Uh, sure. Just start with Harry’s first,” she replied as she dashed across the room.

  “Do you want a beer or something?” I asked Max. “She’s going to need extra time to plow a path for you.” I couldn’t help but laugh. Tess is the biggest slob I know. Even Mrs. P’s brownie magic couldn’t tackle her room. Gran had blamed Tess’s messy nature on her denning instinct. Now that I think about it, Nash tends to throw all his clothes on the floor too. Maybe it’s a werewolf thing.

  Max and I sat for a while and enjoyed a beer and some of Hilde’s soft German pretzels. Just as we were heading upstairs to cleanse the bedrooms and hang his dreamcatchers, there was a loud whomp on the roof above us.

  “What was that?” Max turned to me in alarm.

  “Don’t worry. It’s just Isaac announcing his arrival.”

  “On the roof?”

  “Yeah.”

  “But doesn’t he live across the street now?”

  “Yep.” I nodded, enjoying Max’s confusion.

  Max’s forehead screwed up in thought. “You mean he can fly?”

  “It’s more of a long leap,” Isaac replied drolly as he came down the spiral staircase that led to the roof. He arched an eyebrow at me. “I planned to make lasagna. It will serve a crowd, if necessary.”

  I smiled at Isaac and then glanced at Max. “You staying for dinner?”

  Max blinked, having trouble switching topics because he was still hung up on the whole flying-vs.-leaping thing. He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. “Yes. That would be nice. Thanks.”

  I shrugged. “No problem. The least we can do for these babies.” I held up the dreamcatchers. They felt all warm and tingly in my hand. I turned back to Isaac. “I guess there’s a crowd. Thanks, Isaac.”

  ***

  We were enjoying a plate of antipasto and a bottle of Chianti (I can never say that without seeing Anthony Hopkins) after cleansing and protecting both bedrooms. Tess had managed to clean hers up in the extra time we gave her so that the floor was actually visible. She had even made the bed. I was sorely tempted to sidle over to her closet and throw open the doors, but I suspected it would end up looking like something out of a cartoon with an avalanche of clothes crashing down on me. Besides, every time I took a step towards it, Tess would glare at me, muttering something under her breath about shaving my head while I slept. I decided not to chance it.

  Nash had called and said he would be by for dinner, so when I heard footsteps on the landing, I hurried over and opened the door.

  “Oh. It’s you.” I frowned at Tomas.

  He raised a single dark eyebrow and smiled wryly. “Are you always this polite to your guests, Russo?”

  “Only the uninvited ones. The zombie thing is tomorrow. Come back then.” I turned, shutting the door in his face. I didn’t want to deal with any of Salvador’s drama today, and I couldn’t think of any other reason for Tomas to be at my door.

  “Very funny, Russo.” Tomas’s voice was muffled through the thick wood.

  “Go away, Tomas. I don’t want to deal with any vampire stuff today.”

  “Russo, just open the door.”

  I stood in front of the door, hoping to hear his footsteps heading back down the stairs. Instead I heard a faint clicking sound, and my phone began to ring. It wasn’t a surprise when the ringtone announced it was Salvador calling.

  “Hello, Salvador.”

  “Good evening, Harry,” Salvador purred. “You will quit being childish and let Tomas in. That is no way to treat your brother.”

  “My what? Excuse me? My brother?” I turned to look at Isaac, who merely shrugged in the same annoying way Salvador often did. “What do you mean he’s my brother?”

  “But of course, I wasn’t aware you did not know this. Just as Diego was a child of Catalina,”—that was the Mariposa’s real name—“Tomas is mine. That makes you brother and sister of a sort.” I could almost hear the Cheshire-cat-like smile in his voice. “We are one big, happy family now, so let your brother in like a good girl.”

  I rolled my eyes, even though Salvador wouldn’t be able to see them, and opened the door to Tomas’s smug grin. With his vampire hearing he hadn’t missed a single word.

  “Hey, sis.”

  “Don’t call me that.”

  I stalked away, leaving the door open for him to come in. He paused on the doorstep, scowling, and I started to smile. Now that he was a true vampire, he couldn’t come in without my invitation. That meant even though Salvador seemed to be able to come and go as he pleased because he considered the building his, Tomas could not.

  “Harry.” Salvador admonished as if he knew exactly what was happening.

  “Don’t stand there all night, fangboy. Come in.” I turned away again and spoke into the phone to Salvador. “Why is he here? I really don’t have time for any vampire politics right now, Salvador. I’m tired, and I have to get ready for tomorrow.”

  “Tomas is simply there as my representative. I believe you will be speaking with our dear friend Elder Hart regarding your encounter with the demon last night. I would prefer to be apprised of the situation.” There was a chiding tone to his voice. I guess I should have called him and told him what happened.

  “Okay, fine. And I’m sorry I didn’t call you.”

  “Apology accepted, pequeña.”

  As usual, the call cut off abruptly. I looked at Tomas, who was standing just inside the doorway. “Well, come in and take your coat off. Leave your boots on the mat so you’re not tromping snow around everywhere.” I walked back towards the kitchen. “I guess there’s one more for dinner, Isaac.”

  I turned back to Tomas and stared in surprise. He was wearing jeans and a charcoal grey Velvet Underground T-shirt. I had never seen him in anything other than a designer suit.

  “Quit undressing me with your eyes, Russo.” Tomas grinned.

  “It’s not…oh, put a sock in it. I didn’t recognize you without your suit. Besides, that flirty shit was creepy before, and now it’s just plain wrong.”

  “I never would have taken you for an alt-rock fan,” Tess chirped, adding her two cents. “You strike me more of a Lawrence Welk sort of guy.”

  “What would you know about me, fluff ball?” Tomas turned a sneer to Tess.

  “Children, children,” Isaac intoned, stemming the protest it appeared Max was about to make, “could you all just put a sock in it?” He gave us a chilly look. “Tess, the salad needs tossing. Harry, we’ll need another place set at the table. Max, pour Tomas some wine.”

  There was a beat while everyone stood stunned at Isaac’s parental-like hijacking of the evening, and then we all scurried to do his bidding like the children he accused us of being.

  Nash arrived with Dev in tow just as we were about to sit down to eat, and so we rearranged the table to add one more plate and then all chowed down. Just as well Isaac had cooked for a crowd.

  Between bites of Isaac’s out-of-this-world lasagna (he could give Mama Minetti a run for her money) and bread oozing with butter and chunks of garlic, I rehashed my impromptu and unwanted visit to Wishes the night before.

  “The dual-natured cannot be bought…he said those words exactly?” Max sat forward in his chair with interest.

  “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s what he said, that werewolves weren’t in any danger from him, but they made tasty snacks.”

  Max nodded slowly, deep in thought.

  “Why?” I asked him impatiently. “Have you figured something out?”

  “I believe so. I think I know why there’s a barrier keeping vampires out.”

  “Well, don’t keep us in suspense, Professor,” Tess replied.

  Max quirked a grin and sat back in his chair. I could almost see the professor’s robe set
tling on his shoulders as he began to speak.

  “As we have discovered, a small, unstable portal to the Otherworld was opened several months ago. This has allowed a pocket of the other realm to leak into ours. The demon known as Set Zaebos has taken advantage of this opportunity and has been very slowly increasing his hold on the pocket and expanding the realm’s boundaries. He’s been doing this by stealing life essence from both norms and werewolves.”

  “We knew that already,” Tess complained.

  “Right. Well then…” Max grimaced as if trying to think of a way to break a piece of news delicately. “As you may know, the currency of the Otherworld is the soul.”

  I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. I hadn’t known that. I looked across the table at Tess. She seemed just as shocked as I was.

  “This, of course, is why norms are so valuable. They have a soul to lose,” Max continued.

  I saw Isaac straighten in his seat, but Tomas spoke first. “Are you implying, Elder Hart, that vampires have no soul?” Geez, it seemed to be a touchy subject among the fanged set.

  “No, of course not,” Max replied hurriedly. “What I am getting at is that vampires don’t have a soul to barter because their souls are already spoken for…by Hecate.” He pronounced the ancient goddess’s name as EK-a-tee (the ancient Greek language from which the name is derived has no sound for the letter H) rather than the incorrectly anglicized HEH-kate.

  Whoa. This really was a night full of surprises. Hecate, as many norms know even if they do pronounce her name wrong, is the goddess of witchcraft, among other things. Many of the incantations I use, like the more intense protection spells, call upon Hecate’s blessing. If vampires were also connected to Hecate, did that mean that witches and vampires were more closely related than I thought? And what the heck did he mean their souls were already spoken for?

  “Because their souls are already owned by a goddess with access to hell, vampires can come and go to the Otherworld with no consequence, and since they also feed on the life essence contained in the soul, they’re a threat to the demon way of life.”

  “So that’s why Seth has created the barrier to keep vampires out?”

  Max shook his head. “I don’t think Seth is responsible for the barrier at all. I think it’s an organic result of the Otherworld realm being pulled into ours. The barrier keeps vampires out of hell.”

  “So there’s no enchantment to break. The vampires just can’t cross over?”

  “Yes, but no. There’s no enchantment that I can work a counterspell on, but bringing down the barrier should be possible. We just need to close the portal to the Otherworld.”

  “Oh, is that all?” Tess rolled her eyes, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Should be a piece of cake.”

  “Wait. Can we back up a minute?” I put out a hand to stall any arguing about to break out. “What do you mean that vampire souls are already spoken for? You mean my soul belongs to Hecate just because I’m part vampire? I don’t get a choice?”

  “Well, you can choose not to undergo the ritual after your first death and not become a full vampire, but I doubt if Salvador would honour that request.”

  I thought of Diego, the Mariposa’s son, and how she had forced the change on him after he had lost his mortal life in the Spanish Civil War. Yeah, Salvador wouldn’t hesitate to do the same to me.

  “You get a choice,” Tomas said quietly, his eyes distant as if he was remembering something.

  I frowned at him, thinking of all the questions I had about his recent transformation. “I think you and I should talk,” I said quietly.

  “I don’t owe you anything, Russo.”

  “No, but if you answer my questions, I’ll owe you.”

  “Harry!” Nash growled at me. “Don’t indebt yourself to him.”

  I ignored Nash, keeping my eyes on Tomas. His eyebrows arched, and he tipped his chin up. “Deal,” he replied with a grin. “When this demon stuff is done, we’ll talk.”

  The dinner party pretty much broke up after that. Nash continued to glare at me, and Tess kept throwing shy glances at Max. No one was able to come up with an idea of how to close the portal.

  “Don’t we have to send all the daemons and Seth back to hell first before we close the portal?” Tess asked Max.

  “No. They can return to their realm, even without the portal, but they won’t be able to reenter ours. If we can just close the portal, they’ll probably return on their own once they start to get hungry again.”

  “So, like a siege? We close the portal, surround the warehouse to keep anyone from getting in and find a way to keep anyone from visiting via their dreams, and then starve the bastards out.” It was my turn to sound sarcastic. “Just like Tess said, should be a piece of cake.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “When we get back to the coffee shop, I want a double-shot, no, a triple-shot, extra hot, extra foam with cream and a squirt of caramel,” Tess grumbled. “And cake. I want cake.”

  “Oh, quit your griping. I’m almost done. Besides, I told you that you could wait in the car.” I looked over to where Tess stood stomping her feet against the cold. “And I told you to wear your warmer boots.” It had turned bitterly cold, and a light dusting of snow had fallen earlier in the day, which was why I was at the cemetery ahead of schedule, sweeping snow from around William Koenig’s grave. My original plan had been to use salt to set my protective circle, but with the snow I was worried about melting and the salt getting diluted or washed away. Instead, I was going to set my circle with fire. “You’re a werewolf, for Pete’s sake,” I added, throwing another glance at Tess over my shoulder. “You shouldn’t even notice the cold.”

  Tess brought her bare hands to her mouth and blew on them. “Tell that to my frozen fingers.”

  I finished clearing the last of the snow and paused to admire my work. I had cleared a circle approximately ten metres in diameter with William Koenig’s grave and its impressive angel statue at the centre. Despite believing I would be able to control the zombie once I called it, I decided to err on the side of caution and set a protection circle to prevent the zombie from straying too far. It would also keep the Koenig children and their lawyers from getting too close.

  I stepped over to the black duffle bag I had packed with everything I needed for the night’s ritual. Pulling out a tall, cylindrical, cardboard dispenser of smokeless rifle powder and starting one foot in from the edge, I painstakingly poured a thick line to create a slightly smaller inner circle of the black gunpowder. Contrary to what you might have watched on an episode of Looney Tunes, the line of gunpowder would burn relatively slowly (kind of like a sparkler), although it would throw up enough flame to put on a bit of a show.

  As a secondary precaution, I planned to use a timing candle in my spell. Four inches tall and a half inch thick, the candle was hand-dipped by a witch I knew from back home in Aldergrove. Each candle was guaranteed to burn for exactly two hours and had been spelled so it wouldn’t blow out by accident. If you wanted to extinguish the candle before the two hours were up, you had to use the magic words “mali ex fine” which was the Latin equivalent of “mischief managed”—the candlemaker was a big Harry Potter fan and had a whimsical sense of humour. When I raised William Koenig from the grave, I would invoke the spell using the candle. This meant his family would have two hours to talk about whatever they felt they needed to discuss—more than enough time, I hoped—and then William would return to the grave whether I put him there or not.

  I turned at the sound of a vehicle pulling up. Isaac and Tomas, who had been patrolling the cemetery, both materialized from out of the dark and took up defensive positions. Isaac relaxed before Tomas did, recognizing Nash’s truck.

  “There are two limos coming up behind me,” Nash said as he stepped out of the truck.

  “Good. They’re right on time.” I leaned into the quick one-armed hug and peck on the cheek that he gave me and turned to Isaac and Tomas. “Remember, once I have the circle set, no
one will be able to cross over.”

  Isaac frowned but kept his misgivings to himself. We had already hashed the issue out and he wouldn’t bring it up again. He didn’t like that he wouldn’t be able to enter the circle and come to my aid if needed. From the look on Nash’s face, he was just catching onto that fact himself.

  “Tess will be in the circle with me. We can handle whatever happens,” I said quickly, before Nash could start an argument by going all alpha male. “I need you three to make sure we don’t get any unexpected guests and keep the Koenigs from trying to cross the circle.”

  Not that it mattered. They could try, but they wouldn’t be able to pass. Anyone who touched the circle would end up with a pretty decent electric shock, so I’d rather they just didn’t try. Although now that I knew more about the son, William Jr.—Bryce had done some background research for me—it wouldn’t upset me one iota if the jerk got a zap.

  I really hoped this worked and DeGrasse got whatever it was he needed to legally make sure that Elise Koenig took over the business and not her brother. My opinion of the late, great Koenig Sr. was tarnished after hearing what Bryce had discovered. It seems our dearly departed, well-known philanthropist was a sexist. He overlooked his much smarter and talented oldest child, Elise, in favour of the one with testicles, even though William Jr. had been nothing but a screwup his entire life. Flunking out of two different schools, getting into trouble with the law, the usual things the young, rich and entitled get arrested for—drunk and disorderly, public nudity, destruction of property, driving under the influence. Elise, on the other hand, had been a model student and faithful daughter. First in her class at law school, serving on the boards of two charities, employed by the company but insisting on starting at the ground floor and working her own way up. She had never so much as even had a parking ticket.

  The first limo arrived pulling me from my thoughts, followed closely by the second. “Alright! It’s show time!” I sounded more eager than I felt. I had butterflies in my stomach like before-performance jitters. Why did I ever agree to do this?