“So, research session at my hotel? Or is this something you want to do with the Van Helsings?”
The van backed out of its parking space. Adrian stared at us, tapping his fingers on the wheel.
“One moment,” I yelled before turning back to John. In a softer voice, I said, “I can meet you in a couple of hours.”
He leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Room 302 of the Lexington Hotel.”
I squeezed his hand before letting go. “I’ll bring the books.”
“Does that mean I’m supplying dinner?”
“Don’t skimp.” I grinned at him and climbed into the van.
Adrian sped out of the parking lot, and I grabbed onto the armrest not to slide out of my seat. He weaved in and out of the traffic.
“Is the office on fire or something?” I asked.
“I don’t want you to miss your date,” he said.
“It’s not a date. It’s research.”
“Right,” he said. “I’m sure you’ll get a lot of work done.”
“I’m talented. I can accomplish a lot in one night.”
He snorted. “If you spilt your concentration between two jobs, you’ll never excel at either.”
“Two words. Time Management.”
“Right.”
“Don’t worry. It’s something you’ll never see.” I stared out the window for the rest of the ride.
Adrian pulled into the garage of the office without getting us killed. He slammed the door behind him and hurried into the elevator. I loosened the death grip I had on my seatbelt, climbed out of the van, and took the stairs. In the lobby, Esais leaned against an empty desk piled with boxes, his arms crossed and an easy smile on his face. Lucy stood in front of him with one hand on her hip and the other holding the stick of a lollipop that was in her mouth. Her duffle bag sat on the floor beside her.
“Wow, you look . . . all business,” Esais said.
“I was doing some investigation with John and Adrian.” I turned to Lucy. “How are you feeling?”
She grinned, though it didn’t hide the shadows under her eyes. “You know me. I bounce back from anything.”
I pressed my lips together in a thin line and gave her a level look. “Are you sure you’re okay to leave?”
Lucy nodded. “I should be back in a couple of days.”
“Oh.” I grinned at her. “You don’t plan on staying for a party with the priests?”
She rolled her eyes. “New York is much better than those stuffed robes.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “In my day they were pretty lecherous.”
Esais chuckled.
“That was five hundred years ago.” Lucy glanced at her wristwatch and picked up her bag. “Well, I’ll see you in a couple of days. Don’t have all the fun without me.”
“I’m sure there will be plenty of fun for you when you get back,” Esais said.
Lucy left with a bounce in her step. Once she was gone, I tuned back to Esais. “Where are Tres and Marge?”
“Marge said she was going to talk to her contacts in the city and see if they knew more about the Blasphemy. Tres is going on a date.”
I snorted and headed to the stairs. “We should talk. Adrian’s probably at his computer already. This one has him on edge.”
Esais raised an eyebrow. “What’d you find?”
“Vampires,” I said.
His face became serious. Vampires were always a serious subject for the Van Helsings. Each member had taken an oath to hunt supernatural creatures that preyed upon humanity, but vampires were their specialty. They knew that one day they would face Dracula, thanks to the curse the fiend had laid on their family. As long as their legacy continued, he survived.
Esais followed me up to the second floor and into Adrian’s office. Adrian looked up at us from his laptop and slid the headphones down with an annoyed look. I updated them on the press conference and described Raina’s shadow body from what I could see of the Eclipse.
“So, what kind of vampire are we dealing with?” I asked.
“Strigoi,” Adrian said.
Esais tilted his head and raised his brows at his brother.
“I haven’t forgotten the training,” Adrian said.
I looked between the two of them. “Well, would either of you explain what a Strigoi is? It’s not one of Dracula’s brood right?”
“No,” Esais said with a tone of relief. “Though they are also a Slavic type.”
“Strigoi are basically shadows of the dead. They have somehow managed to feed on enough blood that it’s allowed them to take a physical form,” Esais said. “They act and look like normal living people, eating, breathing, breeding.”
I blinked. “They can have children?”
“The males can impregnate human women. Most don’t carry to term, though.”
“How do you tell them from humans?” I asked.
“Strigoi don’t cast shadows,” Adrian said.
“How do you know what kind she is?” I asked. “You didn’t even see her.”
Esais crossed his arms and looked to his brother with raised eyebrows. “You didn’t?”
“He stayed in the van so we could get a good recording,” I said.
“Well?” Esais asked Adrian. “How can you be sure?”
Adrian sighed. “I have had a run in with vampires from this company before.”
“Seriously?” Esais asked. “When?”
Adrian typed on his laptop with his eyes narrowed on the screen. “Years ago.”
Esais grinned and gave a whistle. “And I thought you’d run from the family business. Here you were hunting all on your own.”
“If that’s what you want to believe, sure,” Adrian said.
“So what do you know about them?” I asked.
“Acesco is a subsidiary of a company named Erebus. Erebus is a multinational corporation that has its fingers in everything from weapons to pharmaceuticals. Looks like Acesco has moved up since I last dealt with them.”
“So these Strigoi are working with a demon. You think it’s Brimstone?” Esais asked.
“I think it’s too much of coincidence for it not to be. That is, if Jonah can verify Blasphemy is made from brimstone,” I said.
A chill ran up my spine as I felt something in the back of my head. A sort of black iciness gripped me. I rubbed my arms and glanced at Esais. He chewed his lip, his hand resting on his chin as he listened to Adrian. Memories began to rise. A vision of the bar in Texas where I first met the Van Helsing brothers filled my head, strong enough I could almost smell the stale cigarette smoke and beer. I closed my eyes and imagined a thick iron wall surrounding me. The chill disappeared as the presence faded.
“Was that you?” I asked Esais.
He blinked at me. “What?”
“In my head just now. Were you going through my memories?”
“No.” He frowned and narrowed his eyes. “I don’t sense any foreign minds. Whoever it was has retreated.”
“If anyone was there,” Adrian said.
I gave him a dirty look. “If the demons or vampires have a mentalist, we have to be careful.”
“I’ll handle it,” Esais said.
I nodded. “I’m meeting with John to see if we can dig up some information on this Faust. It’s time to crack open some old tomes.”
“Do you need help?” Esais asked. “I was going on a date, but I can always cancel.”
Adrian snorted and put his headphones back on. A smile spread across my face, and a mix of happiness and unease filled me.
“No, that’s great. You deserve a bit of fun,” I said. “Is this the boy from the club?”
Esais nodded, his smile making the room brighter. “His name is Viktor.”
“You have to introduce us. For now, have a great night. I just need one favor.”
“What’s that?”
“Can I borrow some books?”
Chapter 10
I CLOSED MY eyes and rubbed my eyelids. They ached a
fter hours of squinting at the small, faded writing in these old books. I’d been lucky though. Out of thousands of demons, tales of Faust had been recorded. Understanding what it meant was a different matter. I sighed, pushed the book off my lap, and flopped back on the king size bed. John looked at me from his post at his laptop on the small desk beside the television across the room.
“That doesn’t sound like the sound of triumph,” he said.
“I found something, but it’s vague,” I said.
“Want to take a dinner break and talk about what we found? Maybe we can come up with something together.”
My stomach rumbled, and I chuckled. “That sounds wonderful.”
He picked up the hotel phone on the desk while I pulled the book to me once again. The words were hand written in a tiny, shaky cursive. My mouth moved as I translated the Latin into Italian. I shook my head; still this revealed nothing new.
John hung up and walked to the television and switched it on. The screen showed dancing lights as Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” filled the room. I smiled, closed my eyes, and swayed with the music. The mattress shifted, and his breath tickled my cheek. There was a small rustle of paper.
“Wow,” he said. “How can you even read this?”
“Patience.”
“So what have you found?”
I looked back at the book with a sigh. “Well, most of it is this tale of how Faust made a deal with the Devil.”
John snorted. “Which one?”
“Lucifer, actually. I don’t know what he got, but according to this account, he somehow tricked the Devil on his deal.”
His hand slid up my leg to behind my knee. “How is that even possible? This is Lucifer we’re talking about.”
I shrugged. “According to this, he lived a happy life and died an old man.”
“Well, that goes into some of the stories I’ve come across trying to read up on his legend. Are you sure he wasn’t already old when he made the deal?”
“Maybe, but this passage says he got out of the deal but still became a demon. And this is where it gets weird.”
“Wait, what was that about him becoming a demon?”
I looked up. “There’s a pretty substantial theory that humans become demons.”
“So, they’re not all fallen angels?’
I grinned. “No, those would be devils. Demons are considered to be their children, but I don’t think it’s in the biblical, begetting sense.”
There was a knock on the door. John stood up and opened the door for the room service attendant to wheel in a white clothed cart. He lifted the cover, allowing the steam to rise from the food. Two plates filled with thick cut steaks, roasted potatoes cut in small wedges, and bright green asparagus sat on the table. My mouth watered as the aroma of meat seared in garlic and butter reached my nose. The attendant placed the plates on the small table with along with wine in the middle.
“Will there be anything else, sir?” the waiter asked.
“That will be all, thanks,” John said.
John held out my chair for me before he sat in his own. The first bite of the steak almost melted in my mouth, and I closed my eyes to savor it. John popped open the bottle and poured wine into my glass. I sipped, letting the dry, red liquid mix with the tang of the red meat.
“You didn’t get this from here,” I said.
John wagged his finger. “No, I had them special order it. So, how did Faust’s story get weird?”
I waved my fork. “Well, since he tricked the Devil, when he did become a demon, he didn’t belong to any Throne.”
John leaned forward. “So, he’s a free agent, like Ose?”
I shook my head. “Ose was originally from the Throne of Greed. He somehow managed to break free. Faust has always been a free agent and, this account seems to warn about Faust’s ability to make those he possesses into him.”
“What does that even mean?”
“I don’t know, but Faust can apparently possess other demons.”
“Demons have no bodies. How is that even possible?”
I threw my hands up. “And now you see why I’m lost. Did you find anything interesting?”
“Nothing really.” He set his fork on his plate, stood up, and held his hand out to me. “Come on. Let’s take a mental break.”
I took his hand, and he pulled me close, wrapping his arms around my waist. He rested his chin on my shoulder as we swayed to the music. I shuddered, breathing in his scent, and the clump of tense muscles in my back began to relax. I deserved a little bit of fun. After all, the others were out enjoying themselves instead of going over musty tomes. Except Adrian. He’d probably work all night, the way he was acting. I smiled as I imagined him hunched over his computer, muttering to himself. Why was I thinking him at a time like this? I was in the arms of the man I wanted.
I shivered as John pressed his lips against my shoulder. His fingers trailed up my back. I pressed against him, running my knee along his inner thigh. My lips parted in a half pant as warmth spread from my loins and into my stomach. His musk mixed with the spice of aftershave surrounded me, and I couldn’t get enough of it. He swung to the side and dipped me to where I hung in his arms. We laughed as he lifted me up into his arms and carried me to the bed. I pushed the books aside and he climbed over me, staring into my eyes, his breaths ragged.
“That’s one hell of a dance,” he said.
“It’s only just begun.”
Our lips meshed, opening to allow our tongues to twine together and the heady aftertaste of wine and garlic danced on my on taste buds. John pulled away with a shuddering breath. He unbuttoned my jeans and slid the zipper down one agonizing tooth at a time. John’s eyes burned like a blue flame as they traveled up my body. He glanced at the wall and screamed.
I jump, shattered from my haze of desire at the shrill sound in my ears. John scrambled from the bed, knocked over a chair, and pressed his back against the window while his eyes never left the wall. I rolled off the bed and faced the wall, ready to deal with whatever horror was coming out of it. A small black spider crawled across the wall.
I glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow. “Are you serious?”
He jerked his gaze to me. “Just kill it.”
I slammed my shoe on the tiny creature on the wall and looked back at him. “Amazing. You’re willing to go after demons but freak out at one spider.”
“I can’t stand them. They’re just small and disgusting.” He let out a long breath, closed his eyes, and gave a shaky laugh. “I guess I ruined the mood there.”
The fire inside of me had cooled to a simmer. I opened my mouth to say we could rekindle something but stopped and studied him. The blood had drained from his face, giving a sickly grey to his tan skin. He gripped the window sill as his eyes darted from the walls to me. I knew that kind of fear. I fought it in every tight space and every crowd. It had taken me a long time to overcome it. I sat down, gathered the books to the nightstand, and leaned back against the headboard of the bed, patting the space beside me. He hesitated, scanning the room again, before joining me. He laid his head on my chest, and I ran my fingers through his hair in a gentle motion.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
“No.” His voice held an edge of finality.
I sighed. As much as John was there for me as a sympathetic ear, it didn’t extend the other way. He kept this wall up when it came to anything personal. He rarely spoke of his wife and her possession or the fact I’d been the one to save him from her. He said he’d forgiven me, but I never really knew if he held some sort of resentment.
How much do you know about him? A small voice whispered. Maybe Adrian and Esais are right.
I tried to push the thought away, but it stayed with me in John’s silence.
Chapter 11
I STOOD IN the parking lot of a group of warehouses by the riverfront and studied the metal buildings with their square, segmented windows. Several workers moved around the outs
ide of the first building. I pulled my jacket tighter around me at the brisk wind that traveled over the waterfront. The overcast sky grew darker as the sun began to set.
“These look pretty crowded. Are you sure there’s a demon here?” I asked Marge.
“Apparently we’re looking for the abandoned one. Coker said he’s heard some weird shit about the rave that happened here a couple nights ago.”
“And who is Coker again?” Adrian’s voice drifted from the small device in my ear. He’d given us a new toy to test out.
“He’s a guy who keeps an ear out on occult shit for me,” Marge said. “I get some good relics from him.”
“So, he’s like John,” I said.
“Except he’s useful. He actually found a demon,” Marge said.
“Maybe,” I said. “And John is tracking another demon that he found.”
“Ladies, this isn’t a competition.” The tiny bud still carried the annoyance in Esais’s voice. “Let’s get to work.”
I adjusted my sword, tucking it deeper into my long coat. Just touching it made me feel a little better. This was the first lead I’d had in a few days, and all the research for others was starting to drive me insane. Gazes followed us as we moved past the warehouse, and a few of the men, all with human auras, greeted us with whistles. The fourth warehouse stood closed and abandoned with boarded windows. I moved to the door and attempted to slide it to the side. It moved an inch before stopping with the clank of a metal chain. Some of the boards had been pried away from the windows above us, revealing only blackness from inside.
Marge pulled a collapsible grapple and rope from her belt and aimed it at the space below a window. The grapple flew through the air and hit the window ledge with a metal thunk. She pulled on the rope a few times before nodding to me. I used my feet to walk up the wall as I climbed, and once I reached the top, I signaled her to follow. The metal walkway shook with a steady squeak as I landed on it from the window. The only light shone from the few dingy windows, so I pulled out small flashlight, moved to the t-section, and panned over the space around me. The walkway hung suspended with metal poles and was only about three feet wide with a small rail. Trash littered the concrete ground at the bottom.
Paranormal After Dark: 20 Paranormal Tales of Demons, Shifters, Werewolves, Vampires, Fae, Witches, Magics, Ghosts and More Page 7