by Lisa Emme
“Billy, you didn’t.” Elise reached out to her brother. “How could you?”
“You stupid bitch. I didn’t do anything. This is another one of your stall tactics to try and steal the company out from under me. Well, I won’t stand for this…this…freak show.” He turned as if to leave, but stopped as Nash joined Tomas, blocking his way.
“You can prove it,” Koenig replied. “There is proof.”
“What sort of proof? Where can we find it?” I looked skeptically at the zombie.
“He said there was a camera in the bedroom. It was how he kept tabs on what was going on. He said it recorded to a file, and he planned on watching me die over and over.”
“I think I’ve heard enough,” Nash said, grabbing Jr. by the arm.
“Wait just a minute,” Hayes complained. “You can’t arrest my client on the word of…of a…” he frowned at a loss for words, “…of a dead person. You’ll never get it to court.”
“He won’t need to take it to court if he gets a confession.” Tomas stepped in front of Hayes. “You will be silent.” He snapped his fingers in front of Hayes’s face, and the lawyer fell still.
Huh. Neat trick. I guess Tomas picked up a few upgrades along with his transformation.
Tomas glanced at Isaac and some sort of unspoken communication took place. Isaac raised an eyebrow and shrugged.
“Detective,” Isaac said, “if you would like some assistance, we can arrange for a full confession.”
“What do you mean?” Nash appeared skeptical.
“Only a little coercion to ensure that Mr. Koenig Jr. has a rapid onset of a guilty conscience and turns himself into the police, along with any evidence.”
“Works for me,” Nash replied.
I left them to work out the details, and while Tomas worked his mojo on Hayes and Jr., I drew Elise to the side, bringing her father along.
“If you have anything you’d like to say to one another, now would be the time to do it. Just remember to stay on your own side of the circle.”
I backed away, giving them some privacy. Tess came up beside me.
“That was cool. It was like watching an episode of Murder She Wrote but with zombies.”
“Omigod, are you comparing me to Angela Lansbury?” I gave her a playful punch to the shoulder.
Tomas had finished with Jr. and his lawyer, and Nash was leading Jr. away in handcuffs to wait for a squad car to pick him up and take him to the station. Hayes followed behind as if in a trance. I glanced at Elise and her father. They were saying good bye.
“Looks like I’m up again,” I said to Tess with a grin. It had gone much better than I expected.
I turned to the zombie. “William Koenig, it’s time.” Koenig turned and walked towards me.
Tomas stepped up to Elise and snapped his fingers. “You will remember everything that has occurred here this evening, but you will be unable to discuss these events with anyone at any time. You will keep these events in your subconscious, and you can visit them as memories only. When news of your brother’s confession breaks tomorrow, you will be genuinely surprised.”
“Yes,” Elise replied.
“Well, there goes my chance at ten million bucks,” I deadpanned. “Come on, William. It’s past your bedtime.”
***
Putting Koenig back to bed should have been as easy as blowing out a candle. As I led him back to his grave though, I found myself at a loss as to what to say. I mean, what do you say to someone you basically ripped out of the afterlife and stuck back into their decomposing body?
“Uh, well, thanks for your help,” I said.
“No, thank you. I can rest in peace knowing my company is safe and there will be justice.”
“Sure. No problem.” Cue the awkward silence.
I traded a look with Tess where she leaned against the base of Koenig’s gravestone and she smirked at me. Fat lot of help she was.
“Okay then. Off you go,” I said to Koenig, giving him a push with my power. I had a whole chant prepared, but it didn’t seem necessary. The words were just for show anyway, and Gran would say they were a crutch.
I felt the release of energy as William’s spirit left his body, and watched as his physical shell crumbled to dust, returning to the ground from which it came. I let out a deep breath, glad to be finished.
“Well now, what do we have here?” The voice cut through my calm like a knife.
“Tess!” I yelled a warning as Seth’s head appeared at the base of Koenig’s grave. It was like some sort of cartoonish scene with just his head sticking out of the ground, his lizard-like eyes glowing. His arm snapped out, grabbing Tess’s ankle as she tried to get away. She fell backwards, landing on her ass, crying out as smoke rose from his burning grip. “Tess!”
Ignoring Nash’s swearing as he arrived back at a run, trying fruitlessly to pass the protective barrier of the circle, I hurried towards the grave.
“Let her go!”
I pulled out my athame and struck out, catching Seth across the wrist. He roared something in a language I neither recognized nor understood, and Tess took the opportunity to kick out at his face with her free foot. She scored a hit, and Seth fell back, letting go of her ankle. The demon disappeared, and I grabbed Tess by the armpits, dragging her away from the grave.
“Shit, Harry. Where did he come from?” She scrambled to her feet, pulling out her own blade.
“I—”
I didn’t get a chance to answer because suddenly a grey, wrinkled body flew at us, hands like claws, teeth bared. Unlike Seth, the imps were having no problem fitting through the small portal over Koenig’s grave, and the little grey man was quickly joined by a second and then a third as they scrambled out of the ground and tried to flank around us. I swiped out with my athame at the closest of the little buggers, but he was too fast.
More of the little grey creatures continued to spill out of the grave, forcing Tess and me back to back as they circled around us. They seemed content to keep us penned in, only occasionally risking my or Tess’s blade. Each time we struck, they dashed out of harm’s way. I glanced across the circle to where Nash paced, practically pulling his hair out. I had to get to the edge and bring it down, otherwise we were on our own.
“Harry! Look out!”
At Tess’s shout I turned just in time to see an imp leap at me. I swung out with my athame, and the blade hit home, plunging into his chest. With a squeal and a pop, he disappeared, black ichor-like blood splattering everywhere. Well, at least now we knew we could harm them.
“Tess, I have to try and take down the circle.”
Tess nodded and pulled at the zipper on her coat. “Give me a second,” she replied. She slipped off her jacket, tossing it at the imps, tangling a couple of them in the heavy fabric. I gaped at her. She was naked under her coat.
“Where the hell is your shirt?”
Tess grinned as she unbuttoned her fly and dropped her pants to the ground. There was a second where she stood in nothing but her birthday suit, and then she shimmered, and in her place stood a large, grey wolf. She turned her wolfy face to mine and bared her teeth in what could only be a grin and then threw back her head and howled.
As if it was their cue, the imps rushed at Tess, and she growled and snapped, tearing through them, wrinkled bodies flying. I turned, using the distraction to move towards the edge of the circle, intent on getting to Nash and Isaac.
“Not so fast now, sugar.” Seth rose from the grave and I felt a tug on my aura. “I’m not done with you.” He continued to feast on my life force, drawing it from my aura like soda through a straw, and I fell to my knees, lightheaded. “But seeing as how you opened this lovely little doorway for me, I am inclined to forgive you. Provided you be a good girl now and come with me.” He gestured for me to come to him. Ha! Like that was going to happen.
I struggled to my feet and braced for his attack, athame held at the ready, but he remained where he was, his reptilian eyes burning into me.
“I’m losing patience with you, sugar,” he hissed. “Come to me.”
“Never!” I snapped at him. A wave of vertigo hit me and I stumbled backwards a step, feeling drained and weak. I watched him warily; waiting for him to strike, but he didn’t move from the portal. He was tied to it somehow and couldn’t come after me.
“Wrong answer, witch.” Seth flashed a mouthful of sharp, pointy teeth and then uttered something in another language. Several of the imps peeled away from the melee with Tess to rush at me. They swarmed me, knocking me back to the ground, pinning my arms. One of them tore at the bandage on my hand, reopening the cut I had made earlier, his tongue lapping at the seeping blood. Disgusted, I flailed out, managing to get my blade hand free only to have it grabbed again. A sharp pain stung my wrist, and I cried out as my athame fell from my hand. One of the little buggers had bitten me! I thrashed my arms and legs, attempting to knock them off, but more piled on. Suddenly, a hand wrapped around my ankle and began to drag me towards Seth.
Frantic, I increased my efforts to get away. I couldn’t let Seth get a hold of me. How could he even be here? What was it he said? I’d opened a door for him?
That was it! I had to close the door I had opened to the Otherworld when I called Koenig.
“Tess! Tess, I need the candle.” I wasn’t sure if she even heard me as I struggled against my attackers. Finally getting one foot free, I kicked out at the imp dragging me by the ankle, catching him square in the face. His grip loosened, and I tried to scramble free. A growl erupted behind me, and a huge grey bundle of fur landed beside me, what was left of the candle clenched in her teeth. It was still burning and would continue to do so until I put it out. Tess dropped the candle into my hand and then sprang on the nearest little grey man, tearing him off me.
“What are you doing, sugar?” Seth said, his voice harsh and angry. “Do not do this. Come to me now, or there will be consequences.”
“No, never,” I replied, struggling to my feet again. Tess had ripped through the last of the imps, and she came to stand beside me, her muzzle black with ichor. I placed a hand on her furry shoulder, and it comforted me, lending me strength.
Seth assessed the situation through narrowed eyes and then scowled, pointing a finger at me. “You will pay for this, Angharad Grainne Russo. Just you wait and see. You will submit to me, my little twitchy witch.” With a snarl, he spun away, disappearing through the portal.
I had to get the door I had opened to the Otherworld shut before anything or anyone else came through. I held up the candle and chanted the words of the extinguishing spell, adding a quick prayer to Hecate as I willed the portal shut.
“Mali ex fine!
Hecate, Queen of the Night
Aid me in my task
Close that which was opened
And set the world to right.”
The candle snuffed out with a small puff of smoke, and I felt a shift as the portal closed. Exhausted, I collapsed where I stood. My aura was scraped raw after Seth’s attack and the energy I had expended earlier raising the zombie. My knees simply went out from underneath me.
“Harry! Harry, you have to bring down the circle.” Isaac’s voice rang out into the silence. “Harry, we can’t get to you to help if you don’t break the circle.”
I was vaguely aware of Nash’s and Isaac’s voices calling to me, but I was so weak I could barely keep my eyes open.
“GRRR-UH!” A sticky, wet nose poked itself into my ear, the wolfy equivalent of a wet willy. Tess nudged me again.
I struggled to my knees, and Tess dipped her head under my arm until my hand rested on her shoulders. She yipped encouragement as I pushed myself to my feet, using her to keep my balance. It took every ounce of what little strength I had left to make the trek to the edge of the circle.
“Goddammit, Harry. Open this damn circle.” Nash stood on the perimeter, looking tense.
I took one last faltering step, shuffling my foot across the sooty black line that formed the perimeter and the protective ring dissipated as I fell into Nash’s arms.
“Harry!” Nash’s voice was full of concern.
“Nash! I know how to close the portal at Wishes,” I rasped and then promptly passed out.
Chapter Nineteen
The next twenty-four hours were mostly a blur. I have vague recollections of being in the shower with Nash and getting the sticky black ichor washed off. Later, I can remember waking up in bed sandwiched between two furry bodies—Nash must have shifted and Tess was still in her wolf form. It was amazing that she had been able to shift so far from the full moon—previous to this, she had never been powerful enough to do it—so it was understandable that she would remain in her wolf form for a few hours.
The next time I woke up, Tess was gone and so was Nash’s wolf. Instead, I was wrapped in a pair of very human, very possessive arms, holding me tightly against Nash’s chest.
“Nash,” I murmured, wiggling against him. “Nash, you’re crushing me.”
The arms loosened but didn’t move from around me. “Go back to sleep, Harry,” Nash grumbled in my hair.
I guess I must have listened because I can remember waking up yet again, only this time I was alone. I could hear voices though, just outside the door.
“She’s still asleep,” Nash was saying, “but her colour looks better.”
Isaac replied something, but my stomach chose that moment to grumble loudly. I was starving.
“I’m awake,” I called out. “Tell me someone will feed me.”
Isaac chuckled as he and Nash stepped into the room. “Your food radar is impeccable as always, Harry. Max has just arrived with food from Minetti’s.”
“If you tell me there are meatball subs, I’ll kiss you.”
Nash leaned over the side of the bed, “There are, and if you hurry, Tess might just save you one. Now give me my kiss.”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” I teased.
Nash growled and raked a hand through my hair. He pulled my face to his and then paused to look at Isaac. “We’ll be down in ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes? Who needs ten minutes when there are Minetti’s subs waiting?” I gave him a push and started to toss the covers back only to grasp them tight again with a little “Eep!” when I realized I was buck naked underneath.
Isaac shook his head with a grin, averting his eyes, and turned and left the bedroom.
“We’ll be right down,” I called after him.
***
I washed my face, brushed my teeth, ran my fingers through my hair to fix the bed head and spent a precious few minutes necking with Nash to reassure him and his wolf that I was fine, and still made it downstairs in less than ten minutes.
Max had arrived with a veritable feast from Minetti’s—their famous meatball subs, two extra-large deep-dish pies with pepperoni and Italian sausage, and a double order of spaghetti carbonara. He was my new favourite person. Of course Mama Minetti had included all the fixin’s too—buttery garlic bread, Italian salad with slices of salami, and extra red sauce for the subs.
Tess was already tucked in to what appeared to be her second meatball sub, judging by the wrappers. She smiled at me, marinara on her cheek, and pushed a sub towards me.
“Better hurry, Harry, and get one while you can. I can’t believe how hungry I am.”
“Your first few moonless changes will do that to you. You did well.” Nash reached over and squeezed her shoulder.
Tess’s face flushed, and she dipped her head in acknowledgment of her alpha’s praise. I glanced at Max. His eyes were intent on Nash’s hand on Tess’s shoulder. I grinned into my sub. Things were going to get interesting soon. Not that they weren’t way too interesting already.
“I can’t believe you were naked as a jaybird under your jacket,” I said to Tess, setting down my sandwich and helping myself to some carbonara. “Whatever possessed you to do that?”
“It was Max’s idea.”
She smirked as Max almost choked
on the big swallow of beer he had just taken. “I certainly don’t remember saying that,” he replied.
“No, but you did tell me that if I were to encounter any more demons, I should shift if I could because the wolf would be immune to them, and since I figured if anything was going to go wrong last night it was going to be demon-related, I wanted to be prepared for a quick change.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you did. I couldn’t have done it without you. You really saved my ass.” I frowned. “I should never have agreed to the whole zombie thing.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Harry,” Max said. “No one could have predicted what happened last night.”
I sighed, not sure if I agreed with Max. “At least I know what we need to do to close the portal at the warehouse.”
***
“I don’t know, Harry, it’s kind of a stretch,” Max said, shaking his head. I had finished a quick recap of what had happened at the zombie raising and shared my suspicions about why I thought the portal had remained open.
“It has to be the fire. Why else would it be there as part of the fountain?” It all made sense (at least to me). When I summoned Koenig, I had used the candle to set the spell. As I had found out the hard way, this meant that when I sent him back to his grave, the door to the Otherworld remained open because I had tethered it to the fire. I had to put the candle out before the portal would close completely. When DiCastro and his cronies kidnapped me and made me part of their sick ritual to raise Osiris, they had also started their spell with fire—a large cauldron-like brazier. Somehow, that flame must have been kept lit, allowing the rift to the Otherworld to remain open. If Seth had discovered the portal around the same time Isaac and his crew of vampires cleaned up the aftermath, it would certainly have been possible for the demon to hide the brazier and the existence of the rift.
“Does it matter?” Tess asked with a frown. “Let’s say Harry’s right. How are we supposed to snuff out a demon-controlled flame? Not to mention, how do we even get close enough to try? It’s not like Seth will just let us waltz back in there.”