Demons & Hellholes_A Grimmer Legacy novel

by Eleanor Rousseau

  He frowned but leant down to lick it. Nothing happened.

  “It’s dna, specifically witch dna, but the Warlock would have figured that out.” I began to turn it over in my hands. “Sometimes witch artefacts have keys, sometimes it’s sound, dna, an actual key.”

  I licked it again and the same thing happened but immediately afterwards it went dead again. “Hmm.” That mean it probably wasn’t specifically saliva, which left blood. I drew my sword and carefully cut my finger. Then I squeezed it and let it fall down onto the device.

  It buzzed but then dies again. I blinked, I was running out of options.

  “I can think of another-” I quickly placed my hand over Grant’s mouth. His eyes sparkled in amusement.

  “I’m not trying that, I don’t care how motivated I am.” I turned it over a few times.

  Chapter Ten

  I awoke as I was lifted into Avon’s arms. “I nearly had it,” I murmured, trying to fight the pull of sleep.

  “No you didn’t, it will still be here when we wake up.” He lay me down on one of the beds and began to unlace my boots. That was sweet of him.

  “Do you have a shirt I can borrow to sleep in?”

  He dropped the boots on the floor and walked to a chest of draws, “You want a pair of shorts?” he asked.

  “No, your shirt should me long enough to have me covered.” I turned and let my legs fall over the side of the bed. He offered me the shirt and I stumbled to the bathroom to undress. Then I scooped up my clothes and dropped them on top of the chest of draws.

  Avon already lay on the bed and I lay down beside him. He pulled me close, molding my body to his. I sighed softly in contentment and his hand came down to rest on my thigh. I might have liked to explore more of what those hands could do but all too soon I was dragged into sleep.

  IN WAS THE SECOND MORNING, or early afternoon, Avon brought me breakfast and I played with the device in bed. “Any progress?” he asked as he ate the leftovers from the pizza he had ordered us last night.

  “There’s a section near the center that looks solid, and there’s this little thing here, where there’s a small hole and those marks just about it.” I pointed.

  “What do you think it means?”

  “I don’t know, yet.” It had to be significant, it was a puzzle and there was a way to solve it, I just had to figure it out.

  “You considering Grant’s idea yet?” he smirked.

  I shook my head. “No way. Maybe it’s not dna in liquid form. Maybe it’s skin cells or nails or hair.” I frowned and looked back at the small marks. “Hmm.” I counted the marks. “Thirteen.”

  I ran my fingers through my hair and caught the few strands that came loose.

  I took one of them and pressed it against the hole. The machine buzzed and the end of the hair was yanked into the hole, the buzz calmed down but the magic was still there, if low. I placed the other hairs in the same place and the same thing happened.

  The buzzing increased. “Well, that’s weird.” I began to pull out more hairs carefully from my head. I kept count and after thirteen gears started moving. The hair was pulled inside the machine and came out in a bottom in a braided piece of string.

  Magic sparked and the string was suddenly wrapped around one of the gears towards the edge of the device whereas the other disappeared inside the middle part. There must have been a motor inside it because the string was now making all the gears turn.

  “You did it, what did you do?” demanded Grant.

  “No idea.” I placed it down on the end of the bed and stared hard at it.

  I stared for hours. The magic had been slowly growing, incredibly slowly. “What’s happening?” demanded Grant in frustration.

  “Something.”

  “Well, seems like this could take awhile, we should find a way to pass the time. I can take off my jeans too and we can see what happens.” Grant grinned.

  I sat up abruptly and tugged down Avons shirt, making sure it covered my ass. Avon, who had been sitting behind me, pulled me back against him and wrapped his arms around my waist.

  He nuzzled my neck. “Why do you think the Warlock couldn’t figure it out?”

  I smiled, “Because his hair isn’t long enough, of course.” He’d probably be super pissed if he discovered what he had missed.

  He took a deep breath and ran his fingers through my hair, “I love your hair,” he murmured, brushing it aside to get to my neck. I moaned softly, the tension between us way still thick enough to cut with a knife but he’d done nothing but hold me.

  It was at that moment my phone rang over in my pile of clothes. I climbed out of Avon’s arms and hurried over to snag my phone. “Cold floor, cold floor, cold floor,” I chanted as I hurried back to the bed.

  I was lying on my back in between the device and Avon when I answered. “Yello, Kia Grimmer’s house of horrors.”

  “Where exactly are you, K?” It was Jay’s voice.

  Oh no. “Um, where are you?”

  “I’m at your apartment. And you’re not.”

  “Oh yeah, I’m not there.”

  “Where are you?”

  “What, like, right now?” Maybe if I annoyed him enough he’d leave me alone.

  “Are you in bed with the Demon Blood?”

  I covered the mouthpiece, “It’s like he’s in my head!” I took my hand down. “Just, out of curiosity... telepathy isn’t one of your powers is it?”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “No!”

  “No,” I repeated sagely.

  “Why?”

  “No. Oh, are we done with this?” I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

  “Why?”

  “Wait, I forgot what we’re talking about,” I lied.

  He made a soft sound that was almost a growl. “Kia.”

  “Didn’t Amber tell you I’m a good girl?” I asked.

  “Is the Fey also in the bed?” his tone was flat.

  I reached over and shoved Grant off the bed. “No?”

  “Seriously, Kia?” he demanded.

  “You’re making me feel bad about my life choices!”

  “You’re the one who made those choices.”

  “Well, that doesn’t make me feel any better.”

  He let out an exasperated sigh. “Are you okay?”

  “Of course I’m okay.”

  “When are you coming home?”

  I glanced at the device, “It could be a few days.”

  “You make my life hard.”

  “I make your life interesting.”

  “I give up with you.”

  “Love you too, big bro. Bye.” I hung up.

  Avon raised an eyebrow down at me, amusement shining in his dark eyes.

  I smiled and reached up to touch his face, “You should order us more pizza,” I told him.

  He gave me a flat look. “Fine, but you will have to find a way to repay my generosity.”

  I squeezed his cheek, “Oh really?”

  He nodded, leaning closer, “Really.”

  “Well I’ll just go order the pizza then, you kids have fun,” said Grant and he rose from where I had knocked him to the floor.

  Avon brushed his fingertips down my neck as his eyes darkened with hunger. I bit my lip and closed my eyes. A hard body pressed down on mine and lips pressed against my throat before making their way up to meet mine. He balled up his hand in my hair, using his hold to tilt my head back further, making my mouth open wider so his tongue could brush mine.

  There was a small click. Avon pulled back and I moaned in disappointment. We both glanced at the device, the part in the center had started to open, just a crack. “Witch devices are super weird,” said Avon.

  “I know, right?” I wasn’t great with them but my Aunt Amber was an expert.

  “What do you think is going to happen when it opens?” he asked.

  I shrugged, “No idea. You think we should record it, so we can later review what happened?”

/>   He raised a brow, “That’s not a bad idea. I’ll set it up in the kitchen,” he said, lifting the device and carrying it across the room.

  I instantly regretted the suggestion as it effectively put an end to what had been about to happen between us. I contemplated following him but then remembered that the concrete floor was cold and decided to stay right where I was.

  He came back to me and lay down beside me, wrapping one arm around my hip, “I used my phone to record it, it hasn’t got the best camera but it’ll do.” He nuzzled my neck and I relaxed against him.

  “Does this mean we’re even and you are going to stop trying to get revenge?” I asked.

  He smirked, “Not a chance.” He growled and pinned me beneath him. “You betrayed my trust, little one, and for that you will pay dearly.” His words and tone were threatening but his hands on my body were gently as were his lips on my neck. Oh. Maybe I’d get what I wanted after all.

  “Pizza will be here in thirty,” called Grant as he walked over to his own bed.

  Avon began to slide the fabric of the shirt further up my body. “Hey, stop,” I said softly. I wanted him badly but I drew the line at having an audience.

  He growled but dropped the material and slipped his hands beneath it to cup my ass.

  “Avon,” I protested. “I’m not into exhibitionism.”

  He huffed but bit down playfully on my neck before rolling off me.

  Grant had switched on the tv and was flicking through the channel. Avon moved to sit against the headboard and gestured me over. I moved over to him and he tugged me onto his lap.

  He watched the screen as his arms came around me.

  Chapter Eleven

  “I think there’s something inside,” I said thoughtfully as I stared at the Axitross. “What else did you learn about it?” I asked the guys.

  “It came in to the Warlock’s possession thirteen years ago, before that it was in the hands of a group of druids. The Warlock spent years with his best people working to crack this this but when they couldn’t he eventually gave up and locked it away in that building.” Avon tugged gently at a lock of my hair.

  “How did you find out?”

  “One of his best people really wasn’t that great.”

  “I think we should discuss what’s going to happen once we get this thing working,” said Grant from the other side of the kitchen island.

  I nodded, “Good idea.”

  “Once we get it working you will be going home,” Avon told me.

  “What, why?” I demanded.

  “Because it’s not safe. Even taking you through a portal again would be a risk. Beside, your brother might try and kill me again if I keep you here much longer.”

  “Hey, you started it by breaking into my house.”

  “I didn’t break anything.”

  “You nearly broke my brother!”

  “I could break you,” he breathed, biting down on my neck.

  A shiver went down my spine. “I’d like to come,” I murmured.

  “No.”

  “Please?”

  “Never.”

  “Please.” I turned to him and pouted.

  “How is your face doing that?” he asked. “Your eyes are like twice their usual size!”

  “It’s witchcraft,” said Grant.

  Avon poked my cheek, “Stop it. You have to blink sometime.” A moment passed and he growled, leaning forward and biting my lip.

  I blinked.

  He smirked. “Not happening.”

  “Ohh, what would work?”

  He pressed his nose against my ear. “Yeah, let's start with tying you to the bed... and leaving you there while we go and and do what we need to do.”

  “Oh man, I thought that was going to a completely different place,” said Grant, sighing heavily in disappointment.

  “But what do you two plan to do?”

  “I’m not sure we should divulge our secrets to you,” said Avon, nuzzling my neck.

  “You can trust me.”

  “I don’t believe that,” he growled.

  “How could I prove it?”

  “By taking your ass home and staying put.”

  I growled softly.

  He chuckled, resting his hands on my waist. “I’ll tell you but it’s only for Grant’s benefit. I’m only letting you hear because I’m not letting you go.”

  Grant nodded, “We’re definitely keeping having her tied to the bed as an option, though?” he asked.

  “Obviously.”

  “I’m right here, guys.”

  “Anyway, I have a portal we can use and I figure with the power of the Axitross we can just bulldoze our way right in,” explained Avon.

  “That is literally the worst plan I have ever heard.”

  “Think you could do better?” asked Grant.

  “In my sleep. First of all I’d start with a distaction. Do you have floor plans?”

  Avon walked to the cupboard and pulled out a bunch of papers before laying them out on the table.

  “Okay, where is your mother being held?”

  “On the fourth floor, just here in the living quarters.”

  “You could line explosives here along these walls, they’d give you the cover you need to go in here and sneak her out quietly. Then you could avoid using the Axitross unless you really need it.”

  He nodded thoughtfully. “The explosives might present a problem.”

  “I can get you them but I have conditions.”

  “You’re not coming.”

  “You haven’t even heard the rest of my plan.”

  The two of them shared a look, “Go on then.”

  “Believe it or not I have orchestrated a number of heist in the past. The best heist’s have three things, the distraction, the decoy and the extraction. The distraction would be the explosives, the decoy would be the rescue team and the extraction, well they would sneak in, take the prize and get out, taking the prize to safely meet back with the others.”

  “That implies that you think the decoy will fail,” Avon pointed out.

  “I’m going to take a guess and say your father might be expecting a move like this. He knows you were after the Axitross and has probably realised what you intend to do it. His people will be working to contain the carnage from the explosion but the moment anyone catches sight of you they’ll come at you hard.”

  “And who do you imagine would be able to pull off the extraction portion of the plan?” he asked.

  “It would have to be someone who’s discreet, sneaky and pretty,” I informed him.

  Grant smirked, “Why pretty?”

  “So they could distract people with their... assets.”

  “No,” said Avon.

  “So you're going to go back to your plan?” I asked, eyebrow raised.

  “I’m not saying the plan doesn’t have merit I’m saying that Grant can play the extraction part as well as you can.”

  “Right but then who would set the explosives?”

  “We could set them beforehand.”

  “Have much experience with explosives, do you?”

  A growl vibrated through his chest and his hand wrapped around my throat. “You’re insubordinate and unpredictable.”

  I met his gaze, “That’s why I always win. Plus, I’ve always got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

  Grant laughed, “You know, a lot of people would be grateful for the help.”

  “I’m not most people.” He growled again before relaxing his grip on my neck. “The point is moot anyway until we figure out what this damn thing does.”

  “In the meantime I could get the explosives and other things we may need,” I said, raising my hand to touch his wrist.

  He leant closer and nuzzled my hair, “Fine but I make no promises.”

  I tilted up my chin to kiss his cheek, “We’ll bring back food.”

  “Oh, I’m a part of this?” asked Grant.

  I nodded, “I need you to drive.”

 
He threw an arm over my shoulders as we walked over to the car. “You can’t drive?” he demanded.

  “I can but I only have my provisional license.”

  He chuckled, “It’s a stolen car, a little thing like actually having a license doesn’t matter.”

  “Well I definitely don’t want to get caught driving a stolen car!”

  We both climbed in and he laughed as the garage doors began to lift. “Where are we going?”

  “Head back the way we came. I’ll direct you as we go.”

  Some time later we pulled up outside of a chinese takeaway. “You wait right here,” I instructed before hopping out of the car.

  “What can I get for you today, Kia?” asked the Asian man behind the counter, Radien. He wasn’t Chinese, though so it was something of a private joke, a Japanese man owning a Chinese shop.

  “My usual, plus whatever’s good for two friends of mine, I just need to grab something from the back,” I told him ducking behind the counter.

  He followed me into the kitchen to give them my order but then they left me too it as I stepped into the cupboard under the stairs. “Kia Grimmer,” I said aloud and a door on the other side slid open.

  I stepped through into the armory and grabbed one of the backpacks by the door. Then I walked to the wall on the left which consisted completely of steel metal draws. Fortunately they were all numbered and it didn’t take me too long to find 180.

  I pressed my thumb against the thumb scanned and after a moment the green light turned on and it popped open.

  I took out six of the small grey spheres and placed them carefully in the front of the backpack. Then I filled out a checkout card, signing it with Tia’s name and placed it in the front of the draw so they would know it needed restocking.

  It wouldn’t be hard for them to figure out it wasn’t actually Tia but I had to try.

  Them I moved to the second wall which consisted of a row of metal lockers. I opened the second from the left which had a number of fashionable black trenchcoats. Boring. I pushed the coats aside and pressed the hidden button in the back.

  A hatch on the other side opened up, too small for a grown sized man to fit through. Of course, that’s the way Amber designed it. I ducked carefully through, into a small room. This one also contained lockers, although these ones were marked with pagan symbols.