The Price of Possession

by Dakota Brown

  I grabbed Aaron's hand and tugged. He perked up enough to follow me out into the fresher air, though the draft had lent life to the flames inside the office and flames chased us out.

  Mal grabbed my arm and pulled on me while Sabian ran ahead, probably to check the front door. I kept my grip on Aaron's hand.

  Was that a flash of yellow? Had the hellhound escaped ahead of us?

  Either way, we needed to get out of the house now. Fortunately, Sabian had the front door open and we all burst out into the bright sunlight and clear air just as fire trucks screamed to a halt in front of the house. How they'd known about the fire already was anyone's guess, but I suspected they had scared off the bad guys and probably saved at least my life.

  The firefighters ran up to us. "Anyone else home?" One shouted.

  "No," Aaron gasped out. "I was the only one home."

  Oh, it was his house. That explained a lot, except why the bad guys had targeted him. Maybe the strange tattoos had something to do with it. Now that I wasn't in danger of dying, I studied them more closely. They looked like eyes on his pecs and biceps. Something like stylized wings draped down his back. The white against his dark skin was pretty awesome, but the eyes were seriously creepy, and I wondered why he had chosen them.

  Mal and Sabian, and yeah, the hellhound, kind of faded into the background as the paramedics rushed up to me and Aaron.

  The next little bit was a blur as they checked me out, treated me for minor smoke inhalation, and the firefighters tackled the fire. I watched as the house burned, resisting all attempts to put it out. That was clearly a supernatural fire, though I wasn't about to say anything.

  The cops questioned Aaron, and finally came over to me.

  "What caused you to come here?" the one officer asked. "Mr. Reed says he's never seen you before you saved him."

  I smiled tiredly at the young man's earnest expression. Those bright blue eyes, if they'd belonged to someone a bit older, might have grabbed me for a night or two of fun before I moved on.

  "I'm working with Deputy McClellan on one of her cases. We got a tip and hurried over. Guess it was a good thing. I'm not sure how much I can say since it's an active investigation." That was true enough.

  The officer questioning me nodded. "I'll get in touch with her. Thank you."

  "Sure." I leaned against the side of the ambulance and watched the controlled chaos of the scene until Aaron, now with a blanket draped over his broad shoulders, came over to me.

  "So, you going to tell me how you knew to show up and save my ass? Not that I'm not grateful, it's just a bit convenient."

  I sighed in pleasure as his voice vibrated through me. Maybe I was still suffering from smoke inhalation? Now that he was standing upright, I was struck by how tall he was. Sabian wasn't short, and I felt like Aaron had several inches on the incubus. He was quite a bit taller than Mal, and he would tower over me once I was standing.

  "It's a long story. I'll tell you once we're alone."

  Mal and Sabian joined us, staying clear of Aaron. Their reaction to the man was strange and I really wanted to hear their explanation.

  Aaron eyed them uneasily.

  After the house was mostly destroyed, it started behaving like a normal fire probably should, and they started making some headway on putting it out.

  We watched it burn in silence. There wasn't much I could say to make the situation any better, and I didn't know Aaron at all, so I had no idea what sort of words he might appreciate.

  The sun had sunk low in the sky by the time the fire was out and most of the people had cleared the scene. Aaron talked with a few more police officers before coming back over to us.

  "I get the idea we need to talk."

  "Yeah, mate," I agreed.

  "Well, my car was in the garage, and I think I'm lucky to have had my wallet in my pocket. Mind giving me a lift to a store so I can grab a few things, and then a hotel?"

  He was handling the destruction of his house fairly well. Either that, or it simply hadn't sunk in yet.

  "We can do that," I agreed and gestured toward the car.

  Sabian, Mal, and the hellhound got in the back while we took the front. Aaron kept the blanket around himself to protect his skin from the hot car.

  "Then maybe some food and we can talk," I suggested when I started the car.

  "I know this really great pizza place," Aaron replied tiredly.

  Ahh, hell, if he said Tony's...we were going to have to have words. They were the other dedicated pizza joint in town. They were good enough, but nowhere near the quality of what I put out. "Yeah, mate?" I prompted.

  "Price's. It's the best pizza in town."

  "Damn straight," I agreed.

  Sabian and Mal chuckled.

  "I know the owner," I said. "I bet I can get us a good deal."

  Aaron glanced at me and frowned. "Oh, hell, I thought you looked familiar."

  I shrugged. "Just glad for the honest review. Let's get you some essentials, and then we'll get the best pizza in town and we can trade tales. Got a lot to talk about. Where do you want to go to get some clothes?"

  He named one of the nicer department stores in the less touristy part of town. I raised my eyebrows but headed that direction. We'd have to find some place to wash up on the way to get the soot off. The smoky smell would linger, but we could take care of that at home.

  Chapter 11

  Aaron

  Getting a few essentials proved a touch more difficult since I didn't have a shirt in the first place. Mal–I could sense a hint of a lie when they told me his name. Not so much that I thought they were outright hiding who he was, more so that it might be a shortening of his full name–ended up running inside and getting me a shirt. Then he and I went in together. I wasn't sure why the other man joined me, but I had a feeling he was protecting me. If so, I was grateful. Though the man was quite a bit shorter than me, he moved a lot like some of my friends who were really into martial arts. He probably knew how to handle himself.

  Still, that didn't explain why he found it painful to touch me, and I was looking forward to their explanation later over dinner.

  Chris Price was an interesting character. I'd seen her once or twice in her restaurant, and she was fairly distinctive, but I figured I had a pass on not recognizing her right away. What with the fire and all.

  That really pissed me off. I had liked that house quite a bit, and I got along with my neighbors really well. I guess the land was still mine, and I could rebuild. It would just take a while. I'd have to deal with insurance. Aww, hell, my work laptop had gone up in the fire. Everything important was backed up on the network, but I might have lost a few notes. Still, I was alive, and the rest was an inconvenience compared to that.

  Who had those people been, and what were they after?

  Armed with a bag of clothing, toiletries, and a new phone, I felt at least a little better able to face the next few hours. After that, well, I would probably need a stiff drink or two. I suspected what my new friends would have to tell me was going to be harder to handle than the fire itself.

  Chris pulled into the parking lot for the pizza parlor and we all climbed out. My stomach was really growling by then, and I was glad we had opted for food during our discussion.

  I studied the sign to the shop as we approached. Something was different.

  "Did you rebrand?" I asked.

  "What? No, mate," Chris answered tiredly. She stopped and looked at the sign. "Son of a bitch," she muttered.

  Sabian burst out laughing and Mal chuckled.

  "It's a good touch," Mal said.

  "But…we're supposed to be forgetting about demons," she exclaimed, and I could hear the exasperation in her voice.

  That was what was different. There was a pentagram now gracing the pizza pie in her sign, the single point of the star facing the ground. And what was this about demons? The marks that looked like eyes on my biceps and chest tingled and I rubbed my hands together to try and chase the unpleasan
t sensation away.

  She smacked her forehead. "I don't know if I should be upset or not."

  The small dog that trotted after her woofed and wagged its tail as if it were amused, too. No one had paid much attention to the dog. I thought it was a Pomeranian. I wondered what was going on with that.

  "Just own it, Chris," Mal suggested.

  The woman took a deep breath and pushed through the double doors into the cool, air-conditioned building. We all followed, even the dog that everyone was ignoring.

  I ate here often enough that the changes to the decoration were obvious. Whoever had done the sign out front, had hit the inside, as well. They'd spent some time adding the upside down pizza pentagram to the signs. Obviously, by Price's reaction, it was new. I wondered if what had prompted that change was related to the earlier events.

  The staff looked up and kind of froze when they saw Price.

  She tilted her head and put her hands on her hips.

  The woman at the hostess station twisted her hands and smiled hopefully. "Did you want a table, Chris?"

  Price raised her eyebrows and tilted her head, pointing at the addition to the sign.

  She shrugged. "It was Billy's idea."

  "Yeah, sure, blame it on me," Billy said as he came into the dining room. Someone must have grabbed him.

  Chris turned her attention on him.

  "If you don't like it, we can fix it. It's temporary. We've got some suggestions for the menu and a few other things. I've got a sign priced out."

  "What, exactly, prompted this?" Chris asked, voice neutral. She glanced back at the woman at the hostess station. "Table?"

  The woman held up three fingers and Chris gestured for us to follow.

  There weren't many patrons right now, but a few glanced at us as we headed to a large table in the back of the dining area.

  The garlic smell made my stomach grumble constantly and I hoped we got around to ordering soon. Not that I wasn't interested in the pizza shop drama, but I was also interested in food.

  Another woman, with dark hair and high cheekbones and a hesitant smile, came over once we were seated. "Do you want me to let you yell at Billy first, or do you want to order?"

  Price glanced at the woman, eyebrows raised, before she burst out laughing. "We'll order really quickly, Rebecca. It's been a hell of a day and I think we're all hungry. My normal, large, and whatever he wants." She gestured toward me.

  I ordered a pizza with all the meat and water to drink.

  Rebecca headed off to put our order in and Billy pulled up a chair, spun it around and sat in it backward. "So, yes or no?" He gestured at the nearest pizza pentagram.

  "Keep it," Sabian urged.

  Price turned her attention to Mal. He looked like he was trying to fight off a grin, and he nodded his agreement with Sabian.

  Price sighed and turned to Billy. "Why me?"

  Her manager grinned. "We hoped you would like it."

  "Guess it's all right," Price allowed.

  "Do you want to see our menu suggestions?"

  She buried her face in her hands. "No, just run with it. Have fun. Try not to summon any actual demons."

  Billy laughed, got up, and put his chair back at the other table. As if that were the signal, Rebecca brought over our drinks.

  Once we were alone, Price ran her hand through the long part of her hair and sighed again. "Right, where were we?"

  "You were going to tell me how you knew to show up and save my ass," I prompted. "And maybe explain what the hell is going on?"

  She nodded. "That's right. Okay, so, I got no idea why they wanted you, mate. Anything special about you?"

  Yeah, but I didn't know them well enough to tell them my secrets yet. I shrugged.

  Price smiled, as if reading into that and accepting that I probably had an idea of what she was referring to, but didn't want to say it.

  "Right. So, I'm an exorcist. The staff found out last week. That's where all the," she gestured at the décor, "extra touches came from."

  I raised my eyebrows. "Really?"

  "Yeah. Anyway, friend of mine came to me not long ago and asked if I could help him with a tricky case. Long story short, we're now entangled in some sort of demonic power play that is leaking into our world. These drug runner folks seem to have figured out how to bind demons into charms and are using them to up the power on their minions. They're also trying to summon a demon prince and bind him. I think that's what they were doing at your place." Price studied me while I took in her words.

  I couldn't deny that I was having a hard time processing what she said and believing her, but everything rang with truth. She wasn't lying. And, considering my own abilities, I had to accept that there was more out there than was generally acknowledged. Still...a demonic power play spilling into our world?

  She gave me a sympathetic smile. "Trust me, I get it, and I already believed in demons. Just never thought I'd be helping them instead of fighting them."

  "You're helping them?" That certainly made me uneasy.

  "Common goals, mate. They don't want to be here, at least in this context, and I don't want them here."

  Anything else was interrupted by the arrival of our pizza.

  We spent the next few minutes scarfing pizza, though I did pause long enough to notice that Mal didn't eat any. He did drink the ginger beer Price had ordered for him, though. Interesting. Sabian's attention was glued to Price while she ate her pizza with obvious bliss on her face.

  There weren't any leftovers by the time the three of us who were actually eating were done with the pizza, and Price leaned back in her chair, looking content.

  "Okay, so demons. That still doesn't answer how you knew to come save me."

  "Oh, yeah, right. Well, those demons who are being somewhat helpful because they're not real excited about what's happening to them, tipped us off and we raced to the rescue."

  I nearly choked on my water. "Wait, seriously? I owe my life to some demons?"

  "Yeah, I wouldn't let them in on that idea. They're still demons. They might let it go to their heads." Price looked a touch uneasy at that idea.

  The cold chill in the pit of my stomach echoed her unease.

  "You're just filling me with all sorts of warm fuzzies." I took a breath and tried to center myself. When I got freaked out too badly, that's when strange things happened. When my… abilities, if I wanted to call them that, came out. I still wasn't sure why I hadn't been able to get out of those bonds. It shouldn't have been difficult. Maybe some of the magic that woman had been using had prevented me?

  "Okay, so why can't you two touch me?" I pointed at the other two men.

  Sabian and Mal traded a confused look before they both shrugged.

  "We don't know," Sabian answered.

  His voice made me think of velvety chocolate and I didn't typically think of men in those sorts of terms. He just oozed sex, even to me. It was a touch uncomfortable when he turned his attention fully on me.

  I tried not to squirm while he studied me.

  Mal also stared. From him, I got a predatory feel, as if he might consider eating me and not in any way that might even be remotely fun.

  "Maybe it has something to do with those abilities you don't want to tell us about," Price added. "No worries, mate. We all got secrets. Though, I guess you know mine." She rolled her eyes and gestured at the signs. "Everyone does, apparently."

  That broke the tension and I chuckled. "Well, being able to send demons back to hell is kinda cool."

  She shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Okay, so you got a place in mind to stay, mate?"

  I really couldn't place her accent. I thought it was at least partially British, but whatever it was, it fit Price in a way that was kind of uncanny.

  "No. Guess any decent hotel would be fine for now."

  "You should stay with Chris," Mal said slowly. "I have a feeling you're not entirely safe yet."

  "And I'm safe with you?" I leveled a look at him.

  M
al chuckled. "Safer with us than you are with the people summoning demons, anyway."

  His statement rang with truth, though I found his phrasing very interesting.

  "I don't want to impose. I can find a hotel. It'll be okay, now that I know someone is after me."

  "Naw, I have a guest room. If Mal thinks you should stay with us, he's probably right." Chris downed the last of her ginger beer and stood. "Unless you really want to argue, let's get back to my place so we can relax and finish cleaning up. Mal, maybe you want to beef up the wards?"

  He nodded, and I gave in. The situation felt right, and I also thought I might learn more once we were no longer in public. Maybe I'd even tell them my secrets. It would be interesting to know if they could shed some light on my abilities, because I had no idea what to make of them. I'd learned to trust my instincts, and they said I would be safe with these three. Not to mention, Chris Price was very intriguing.

  Chapter 12

  Price

  I wasn't sure if it was Sabian's influence or something about Aaron, but I was really having a hard time keeping my mind off of all the interesting things we could be doing in the bedroom as I studied him while he wandered around my living room. Damn Sabian and his pull on my ovaries, anyway. If I was going to keep him around, I'd have to get used to the constant arousal, but did it have to hit me with Aaron, too?

  As soon as we had gotten back to my place I'd shown Aaron the guest bathroom and then we'd all cleaned up. Then I'd collapsed on the couch. Sabian and Mal were currently working on the wards, and Aaron had sat down for a few minutes, but then he'd gotten up and started to pace.

  "You know, if you want to make some phone calls, or anything, feel free. I can give you some privacy. Figure there's a few things you need to take care of."

  Aaron stopped pacing and turned to look at me. "No. Sorry. I'll take care of all of that in the morning. I already sent a message to my boss and he gave me a few days to manage stuff. They've got to build a new laptop for me, anyway."