Ordinary Charm

by Anya Bast

  She touched the faint scar and their fingers bumped. “I figured that was you.”

  “It was mostly Cernunnos, but I definitely approve of his choice.”

  Serena looked stricken for a moment and struggled to sit up. He let her. “So, remembering…is that a good thing?”

  “Everything is good save for the fact that when I woke up this morning, you weren’t in my bed.”

  A worried look graced her beautiful blue eyes. She stood. “I’ve been studying your books since early this morning. I hope that’s okay. Come see what I’ve found.”

  He stood and followed her into the office. His ancient tomes and delicate-looking manuscripts and journals were spread with care on his large computer desk. He scanned the texts, seeing the books were all opened to the pages detailing Ashmodai.

  Leaning over, he punched the on button for his computer. “Did you find how out he’ll manifest? Does he stay incorporeal, or can he possess people?” He knew a lot about their adversary, but not everything. Every demon—and there were hundreds—was a little different, worked under a different set of rules.

  “Unfortunately, he possesses people. Not only that, he burns up the human bodies of those he takes. They age rapidly while he’s within them because they can’t handle the level of magick he brings into them.”

  His computer screen popped up and Cole sat down in the office chair to begin the process of decrypting some of his more obscure files on demons. “Can he possess OtherKin?”

  She shook her head. “No. According to what I read, OtherKin magic doesn’t mesh with his. The magicks repel each other.”

  “That’s one bit of good news then.”

  “Yes. But there’s a lot of bad news. This is a playful demon, Cole. Demons and playful?” She gave her head a sharp shake. “Not an especially good combo.”

  “I know about the playfulness. His specialty is lust. So he’ll be searching out women, probably,” Cole said.

  “Yeah, I read he’s got a tendency toward brutal sexual acts. He’s going to be pretty happy to be made flesh.”

  “Unfortunately…yes. He’ll be like a kid in a candy store.” Cole pulled up the file he’d been looking for. It was written in Sanskrit. “This isn’t the first time Ashmodai has run amok in our dimension. It happened once before to my knowledge. I have this record of it. Hopefully it describes how they put him back where he belongs. To find that out, we need to have this text translated.” He looked up at her hopefully. “You don’t happen to know Sanskrit, do you?”

  She laughed. “Uh, no, sorry.”

  He pulled a CD-R from a drawer and popped it into his computer to save the file. “Well, we have to find someone who can. The university, maybe. We can take it down there and ask around. I know a professor that might be able to help us.” “Good.”

  He nodded. “That’s a starting point. Next we’ll have to find a spell of some sort that will help locate Ashmodai. We need to regain control of this situation. To do that, we need to know where he is. “

  “Well, if you go to the university, I can take care of the spell.” She moved toward the door. “I’ll get dressed.”

  He grabbed her wrist and pulled her down into his lap. She gave a squeal of surprise. “Understand me, Serena. Listen to me now and listen well. You’re not leaving my side. Not with this thing out there possibly searching out unwary women. He might not be able to possess the OtherKin, but I’ll make a bet he can hurt them.”

  “But—”

  He put his hand to her nape and pressed her mouth to his to cut her sentence off with a possessive kiss. Her lips were stiff beneath his at first, and then went gentle and yielding. After he’d drunk his fill of her, after his cock had hardened for her, he pulled away with a sigh of regret. All he wanted was to drag her back to bed, but they couldn’t indulge themselves now. “No, Serena. You were in danger from the time your cousin brought me to your house. The mark of me is on you. Ashmodai will smell it ten miles away. You stay where I can protect you.”

  “What about my sister? She was near you, too. What about Morgan and Sarah?”

  “Morgan and Sarah went back home, right? So they’re far from here now.”

  She nodded.

  “Good. Call your sister and tell her to leave town for a little while. Does she have somewhere to go? Somewhere far from Newville?”

  Serena nodded. “Sure. We have relatives all over.”

  He bit his lip. “You need to go with her, darlin’.”

  She made an angry noise and pushed up from his lap. “No way. The Elders said I’m supposed to keep you…and keep you I will. They said I’m not supposed to leave you alone.”

  Cole stood and stared her down with a lazy, dangerous gaze. She took a step back from him, so it must have made an impression. Good. “If I think leaving town is the safest thing for you to do, you’ll go.”

  “Don’t pull that macho crap with me. You have no hold over me, no say!”

  “I want you safe. That’s all. Safe. The last thing I want to see is you hurt.”

  “Me too, Cole! Remember, I do have some magickal ability. Have you forgotten? I’m not unarmed, so to so speak. Anyway, I’m safest here, where you can watch over me.”

  As he stared at her, a muscle locked in his jaw. She was a stubborn woman…but she’d gambled and said the right thing. He did think she was safer where he could watch over her, since he didn’t trust Ashmodai not to follow her wherever she went. “All right, Serena. But if things get too hot, or if I get hurt and I’m unable to defend you…you run and run hard. You leave. Promise me.”

  “I promise.”

  He nodded once. “Go call your sister. I’ll take a shower and get dressed. We can stop by your place and get some clothes for you before we head to the university. You’ll be staying here until this blows over. Looks like I’m keeping you instead of the other way around.”

  * * * * *

  Serena stared out the window of Cole’s SUV and watched the first fat raindrops of an incoming storm plop on the windshield. The clouds had grown ominously dark overhead. In her fevered mind, it was a portent to the coming battle between her and Cole against Ashmodai.

  Rowan had been less than pleased with the news. She’d fought her on it, telling Serena she couldn’t leave now, too much was going on. When Serena had pressed Rowan to tell her exactly what was going on, Rowan wouldn’t tell her. They’d ended up in a screaming match over the phone at one point, but finally Rowan had relented.

  Serena had explained that anyone who’d come into contact with Cole since Alana had whammied him was in danger. Morgan and Sarah had gone back home, so they were safe. She and Rowan, they were the ones who’d be flickering the hardest on Ashmodai’s radar.

  Rowan had a 1:30 p.m. flight out of the Newville airport to Alaska and their aunt’s house, and Serena was now breathing easier. Not only would Rowan be safer from this mess, she’d be away from whatever situation she wouldn’t tell Serena about.

  They’d gone back to Serena’s place and she’d packed a bag, made sure the kitty door was opening and closing properly and set out enough dry food and water for her cats. They’d be fine for a while on their own and she’d come back to check on them when she could. Her car was still over at her sister's place and would have to stay there for a bit. Luckily, she'd parked on a side street, where her car wouldn't be towed. It was safe for now. Her own safety, well, that was another issue.

  Serena drummed her fingers on the car’s armrest as they passed through Old Newville, a wealthy section of town near the university where there were a lot of old, restored homes. The keeper of the Embraced, Gabriel Letourneau, lived in this part of town. “Keeper” was just another way of saying master vampire, really. He led the Embraced in this region of the United States. The Embraced were vampires who, unlike the OtherKin, had not been able to conceal their existence to the human world.

  The OtherKin had been very good at keeping themselves a secret. In fact, not even the Embraced knew of their existence
. The OtherKin were of one mind on this issue—having humans aware of them only brought trouble. The Embraced continually had to fight fear and prejudice. The OtherKin simply didn’t want that kind of hassle.

  The OtherKin were the stuff of fairy tales and myth. They were the Tuatha Dé Danann and the Y Tylwyth Teg—the sidhe, the fey. They were the shapeshifters, the elves, the dyads, the brownies and the sprites. They were everything that humans made up stories about, but didn’t believe were real.

  Witches and mages were interbred fey and human. The level of their magick varied individually and by family line. The magick in Serena’s maternal line was strong, much stronger than an average witch. It was much stronger than Alana’s power, for example. That had threatened the high priestess of the Three Ash. It was one of many reasons Serena had declined membership in the coven. Alana resented Serena’s power.

  By the time they pulled into the university parking lot, and found a space, the storm was raging.

  Cole pointed to a large brown building on the left that sat nestled in a grove of mature trees. Newville University was older and very picturesque. Serena had gone here to take a few classes but had never pursued a degree. “That’s where the ancient language professors have their offices,” he said.

  “Do you know this university?” she asked.

  He nodded. “I’m an alumnus.” He glanced out the windshield toward the building. “Ready to get wet?”

  “I guess.”

  They got out of the SUV and made run for the building. By the time they reached it, they were both soaked. Serena watched as Cole gave his head a shake, letting water droplets spray from his long brown and blond-streaked hair. His white shirt clung to his chest and Serena tried not to swallow her tongue. “Follow me,” he said.

  They went through a long open area where students sat on chairs talking or on the floor reading or studying. Serena assumed they were waiting for classes to start. They traveled up a short flight of stairs to a corridor with many small offices off either side. He led her to one and knocked on the door.

  “Enter,” a masculine voice called.

  Cole pushed the door open and a good-looking man in his mid-forties stood up from a desk and greeted them with a warm smile and handshake. “Haven’t seen you in a long time, Cole,” he said.

  “I know. It has been a while. Professor Hardy, this is Serena.”

  The professor shook her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Likewise,” answered Serena with a smile. The man felt open and friendly to her psychic senses.

  “She and I have come to ask you for a favor. It’s something only you can do,” said Cole.

  Professor Hardy laughed. “You always have something particular to ask me. What do you have for me this time? Another piece of research for one of your games?”

  Cole fished the CD jewel case from his pocket and handed it over. “I need this translated, Professor. It’s in Sanskrit and it’s of extreme importance. There’s about a page of data there. Think you can do it?”

  Professor Hardy studied the disk. “I can try. When do you need it?”

  “I need it as soon as possible.”

  The professor nodded. “I have your cell phone number. As usual, I’m very intrigued. I’ll get started on it as soon as I can and I’ll call you when it’s finished.”

  “Thank you, Professor,” Serena said. “We appreciate this very much.”

  “My pleasure, really. Cole always has such fascinating texts.” He laid the jewel case containing the CD on his desk and turned to Cole. “You seem different. Did you cut your hair or something?”

  Cole grinned. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you what has changed about me, Professor.”

  They exited the professor’s office and headed back downstairs. The storm still raged outside. On their way toward the double doors, a chattering TV in the corner of the lobby caught Serena’s attention. The urgent news bulletin music that preceded a local breaking story blared. Something twisted in her gut. Every tiny part of her sixth sense told her to stay and watch.

  She stood still, staring up at the flickering TV screen and listening to every word the broadcaster uttered. With every passing syllable, she felt a little more blood drain from her face. “Ashmodai has my sister,” she gasped.

  Chapter Six

  “What?”

  Cole settled his gaze on the object of Serena’s attention and watched the news broadcast, quickly understanding why she looked and sounded so stricken.

  The anchorwoman told of an eyewitness account of an abduction that had occurred in broad daylight in front of the apartment building where Serena’s sister lived. The person had reported that a kicking and screaming woman with long black hair had been muscled into a car by a large man with dark hair. In her struggle, the woman had left her luggage on the street. The luggage tags had revealed she was Rowan Archer.

  When the broadcast ended, Serena walked to the doors of the building and hugged herself. Cole walked up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.

  “What are we going to do?” she whispered brokenly. “He has Rowan.”

  “It’ll be okay,” he said. “We’re going to get her back unharmed.”

  She rounded on him. “How can you say that? A demon has my sister!” She whirled and ran out into the rain.

  Cole went after her. Thunder crashed overhead as he searched the darkening gloom. Finally, he spotted her beneath a tree, soaking wet. He went to her and pulled her into his arms. She was stiff against him at first, but then she just melted.

  “My whole life I’ve tried to protect her, but I never can,” she cried hoarsely as she wept.

  All Cole could do was hold her, stroke her hair in the pouring rain and coo little meaningless nothings at her. At that moment, he felt he would do anything for her—anything to make her happy. He wondered why. He’d only known her for about forty-eight hours. His mind returned to that sense of having known her for so much longer than that—for centuries—over many, many lifetimes. Maybe it was true. Maybe that’s why he’d marked her in the forest that day. Maybe that was why all he wanted was to be with her. Love wouldn’t need a long time to develop if they’d shared centuries together.

  Finally, she looked up at him. A look of strong resolve and determination had replaced the panicked grief. “Let’s go get the spell, Cole. It’s her only chance.”

  * * * * *

  “You need some bait…hmmm…demon bait.”

  Serena watched Millicent, a witch whose knowledge of spell casting was unsurpassed in Serena’s opinion, rifle through a bunch of vials on a shelf. Serena employed her from to time when she couldn’t find exactly the right ingredients for a spell she needed. Right now Serena could barely think, let alone cast a spell. She needed expert help.

  Millicent was an old hedge witch who’d lived alone her whole life and, as Serena tripped over a large Persian cat in Millicent’s storage room, she could see herself as Millicent redux in about fifty years or so.

  “Ah! Some hair from a virgin female,” muttered Millicent happily as she reached for a jar. “That should work nicely for this particular demon.”

  Serena swallowed hard. Ashmodai definitely wouldn’t have a virgin in her sister. She fought back a sob. If anything happened to Rowan, she’d curl up and die.

  But she wasn’t ready to do that yet.

  They would figure out how to call and bind the demon. It would get Ashmodai away from Rowan at the very least. Sending Ashmodai back to the dimension he lived in was a different matter altogether. For that they needed the translation of the text Cole had given the professor. They had to hope the answer was in there. They also had to hope the professor would come up with a translation fast.

  Right now all Serena was concerned with was getting the demon far from her sister. In the short term, that’s what mattered.

  Before they had decided on this course of action, she and Millicent had tried a locating spell to find Rowan, but Ashmodai must have masked her location wi
th a more powerful magick, because they’d come up empty.

  “Let’s see, now we need something to bind the creature with. A link from a length of heavy chain! That should do the trick.” She reached up, grabbed a bit of chain from a shelf and turned to Serena, her arms laden with various items for the ritual. Millicent’s happy smile faded as she saw Serena’s morose expression. “There, there, dear, this will work. You’ll see.”

  She drew a breath. “Let’s do it and find out.”

  Twenty minutes later all the materials they’d selected to serve as symbols for the spell were piled in the center of a white circle drawn on the floor of Millicent’s large, candle-lit, spell-protected casting room. She, Cole and Millicent stood around the pile, hands clasped, eyes closed.

  Magick skittered over Serena’s skin as they began to chant the words of the demon-bringing spell together. Normally, they would’ve needed a coven to gather the kind of power needed for this trick, but they had Cole. He had more magick within him than a whole gaggle of witches. His voice thrummed soft and low through her body, sinking deeper and deeper into her mind until it permeated her every pore. She felt her consciousness separate from her body a little and float over her head as the power in the room gathered and expanded.

  Finally, they sent that combined magickal intent out past the walls of the room, searching out the energy they wanted to bring in and bind.

  It didn’t take long.

  Serena’s palms began to sweat when she heard the shrieking begin. First it came from far off, but as she, Millicent, and Cole raised their voices and injected more power into the spell, it grew louder as if getting closer and closer, until finally it sounded like it was in the room with them.

  Serena’s eyes flickered open. When she caught her first glimpse of the beast in front of her, she stumbled backward with a gasp, breaking the circle. No matter. The thing was caught in the middle of the room, struggling to get free, but to no avail.