Demon Night

by Meljean Brook

  Lilith flipped open the folder, began scanning the pages. “Any reason for them to wait, when they didn’t with the others? Is there anything special about her?”

  Plenty, but Ethan doubted there was anything a demon might appreciate. “I figured you’d know better than I would. And why they aren’t waiting any longer.”

  “I know Lucifer’s demons. Those who used to follow Belial are a bit more individual.” She grimaced around the last word.

  Jake grinned. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  “It is when you’re trying to predict their behavior, puppy.” She speared him with a dark look before returning her attention to the file. “Cerberus’s balls, this girl is a fucking mess. Overdrafts, maxed-out credit cards, late payments.”

  “Was a mess,” Ethan said with an edge of impatience, not moving from his position by the painting. With his Guardian eyesight, he could easily read the page she was holding. “Those are the financials from three years ago.”

  Lilith darted a glance up at him. “So they are.”

  Ethan’s jaw clenched, and his skin heated slightly. Of course she hadn’t missed the date; she’d been trying to draw a response from him, and she’d gotten one. No longer a demon, but still manipulative. Still looking for a man’s weaknesses.

  Charlie wasn’t his. He liked her well enough, but he’d be a damned fool to let a woman like that depend on him or get under his skin.

  Apparently oblivious to the smirk that tilted Lilith’s lips, Jake leaned forward and tapped his finger against a line item. “A lot of it was this payment—she made it a year after she got out of Mission Creek.”

  “A five-thousand-dollar fine?” Lilith’s brows arched. “And a year at a state correction facility? Was the DUI her first offense?”

  Jake nodded. “No other DUIs, but she’d checked herself in and out of alcohol rehab for a couple of years, so the judge took that as a sign that she wasn’t capable of rehabilitating herself. And she totaled her rental car, driving into the side of that restaurant, so there were a few other charges thrown on top of it. She was lucky no one else was injured, or she might not have gotten off as easy as she did.”

  Ethan didn’t know it had been all that easy, but he didn’t respond. He was hardly one to determine suitable punishments.

  “Did you check out the inmates who were in with her? Any hits with Legion?” Lilith asked.

  “We ran the names,” Ethan said. “There were none.”

  “Her financials are clean now, though she doesn’t have anything extra,” she noted as she hit the end of the file. “Certainly nothing to tempt a demon. Who gave her the money?”

  Jake slid his toothpick between his lips again, leaned back. “Her sister, a little over two years ago. The loan got her out of the hole. That’s also when Charlie stopped the careless spending and finally got a steady job.”

  “At…Cole’s? Hold on.” Lilith glanced back at a page. “She’s drunk and drives her car through the window of his restaurant, and six years later he offers her a position as bartender?”

  Another folder appeared in Jake’s hand. “Old Matthew Cole. Sentenced thirty-seven years ago for rape and double murder, then had his conviction overturned a quarter century later when DNA evidence showed he was innocent. Legally changed his name to ‘Old Matthew’ because he said that’s what he was when he got out—what the courts did to him, he just wanted to make official. Most of his staff has served time for minor offenses.”

  “An ex-con turned Mother Hen, with a grudge against the law,” Lilith murmured, shaking her head in amusement, then turned back to the first page in Charlie’s file and studied her picture.

  “We looked at all of Cole’s and the staff’s associates as well,” Ethan said.

  “She’s attractive, I suppose, if one goes for those blond, sloe-eyed, rock-and-roll, just-fell-out-of-bed types. Don’t you think so, puppy?”

  “I’d do her,” Jake said.

  “You’d screw a goat if it looked at you crosswise.” Ethan ignored Jake’s rueful grin of agreement and stared down at Lilith. Was she trying to rile him again, suggesting such a thing? Demons didn’t have a sexual drive; they could perform the act, but couldn’t feel physical desire. “A demon ain’t likely to lust after her, and it wouldn’t make no difference if she looked as she does now or if she were the bearded lady in a traveling wagon.”

  “No, but they recognize and enjoy beauty. It doesn’t take much for appreciation to become envy, which might explain the change. I don’t know that her face is so remarkable it’d inspire that much envy, though. She’s an odd kind of pretty.”

  Only the knowledge that Lilith might shoot him kept Ethan from shaking his head in disbelief and observing that women were far more critical of each other than a man ever would be. Even upside-down and flattened by the photo, Charlie’s wide-spaced, heavy-lidded brown eyes, her translucent skin, her plump upper lip, and small, slightly crooked teeth called to the most basic urges in a man: to haul her off to bed and put that mouth to good use, to see her eyes darken and skin flush.

  “What about singing?” Jake tossed a silvery compact disc on top of Charlie’s picture, and Lilith picked it up. “I don’t know anything about this kind of music, and most of her performances took place before newspapers and trade magazines began archiving their reviews online—but those I could find said she was some kind of vocal prodigy out of Juilliard.”

  Lilith stood, pressed a button on a remote, and a console slid out of the wall. Ethan watched the player suck the disc in, then frowned at Jake. “Where’d you come up with that?”

  “Bit torrents. Savi told me about file sharing a couple of months ago, but I only began downloading music last week. And since I was scouring papers for Charlie’s info anyway, I looked it up. This was a charity benefit at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, with several other performers—you want track eight,” he said when a male began belting an Italian tune that Ethan had first heard when he was human.

  Lilith skipped through the CD and, as the initial strains filtered through the speakers, announced, “It’s from Lucia di Lammermoor.” She caught Jake’s look and rolled her eyes. “I was a demon, not a Neanderthal. And the most interesting people have always been the politicians, artists, and poets. She’s performing the mad scene from the third act, which means she’s a bit of a showoff, but a confident one. It’s a difficult—” She silenced herself by pressing her lips together when the singing began. She cocked her head, closed her eyes.

  Ethan looked away, stared at the thick-piled rug beneath his boots. He’d listened to enough of Charlie’s music collection to recognize a fine voice. Her soprano was light and high—but with a strength that swelled through him, left him full of its sound. And pure, he realized—most regular folks and professional singers had rough edges in their voices, edges that had become more apparent with his enhanced hearing. He’d heard nothing this clear since he’d become a Guardian.

  Nothing human, leastwise. A voice like that belonged in Caelum—was what he imagined filled the realm before the Guardians had taken it from the angels.

  “Fuck me,” Lilith said after a moment. She returned to her seat without lowering the volume. “That’s a gift. Unlocking doors is kid’s play next to that. And you said she got off easy? If she lost that voice because of her own stupidity it’s no wonder she hit a downward spiral.” She looked up at Ethan. “Is she drinking?”

  Charlie trilled through a series of quick, high notes that had his gut clenching, his fists tightening. It took a second before he could say, “No. Not a bit.”

  “But she’s bartending. Classic self-flagellation: it serves as punishment because it’s a constant reminder, and the temptation of the drink is its own pain—but she tells herself that her resistance just means she’s the stronger for it. Maybe that’s why the demons haven’t touched her; she’s doing just fine tormenting herself.”

  “If their goal was torture, I’d reckon you were correct. But they don’t send in
vampires for that.”

  Lilith nodded, her gaze thoughtful. “Let’s assume there’s nothing about Charlie herself that would have made them hold off, because she doesn’t have this voice anymore. But they did, and there had to be a reason for them—or the demon pulling their strings—to change their mind, and her only link to Legion is her sister. Tell me how they came at her.”

  “During her break. They knew to find her on the roof.”

  “You’ve been keeping an eye on her for two months now. Did they come around Cole’s before?”

  “No. Not the evenings I was watching.” If they had, Ethan would’ve gotten answers from them long ago. “But Charlie calls Jane most every night.”

  “So you think that’s what tipped them off to her routine. Who tipped them off,” Lilith said.

  “Jane?” Jake shook his head. “I don’t see—”

  “No. The boyfriend, Dylan Samuels.” Ethan brushed the sides of his jacket back, hooked his thumbs at the base of his suspenders. “I figure he’s a demon.”

  Jake’s mouth snapped closed, and he glanced warily at Lilith. She set down the folder that had just appeared in her hands and studied Ethan. Her face was expressionless, but if she’d still been a demon, he reckoned her eyes might have been glowing crimson.

  “You figure?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “But you aren’t certain.”

  “About ninety-nine percent.”

  Slowly, she picked up the remote and silenced the stereo. “Ninety-nine,” she said flatly. “Why didn’t you tell me this as soon as I came in?”

  Ethan scratched his jaw, considering. “Two…no, three reasons. The first was the one percent, and his human behavior. He’s been bedding Miss Jane for eight months now, and from listening in on Charlie’s phone calls I gleaned that he’s doing it regular-like. He wasn’t the person that recruited her, and she isn’t rolling in cash, just comfortable—so there weren’t no reason to strike up a relationship or continue it as long as he has. And you’ve got his transcripts there.” He gestured to the folder on her desk. “I talked to his professors, a few neighbors. He’s got a history that goes back at least ten years, though that doesn’t guarantee he didn’t just take over another man’s identity. I didn’t want to alert him to my presence if he was a demon, which meant I had to stay away from him and couldn’t feel him out too hard. What I have noted is that his psychic blocks are good.”

  Lilith was nodding. “But that isn’t impossible for humans. Reason number two, because reason number one isn’t enough for me not to put a bullet in your eye.”

  Which would hurt like a son of a bitch, but wouldn’t kill him. “It wouldn’t benefit me to fly down here and ask your opinion if I colored it with my assumptions first. It took you ten minutes to consider all of the avenues Jake and I have been exploring on and off for two months, and you discarded each one that I did, coming back to the sister. But maybe you wouldn’t have bothered had I opened up with Samuels as the demon. And maybe my ninety-nine has increased half a percent.”

  “Maybe?” She tapped her fingers against Samuels’s folder a few times before stilling her hand. “All right. I’ll give you that. And three?”

  “Sir Pup is three thousand miles east. No matter how many weapons you’ve hidden around this room, I reckoned it’d be mighty difficult for you to murder me, so it was safe to risk pissing you off.”

  “Jesus.” Jake backed his chair up, as if edging out of the line of fire. “It was good knowing you, Drifter.”

  Lilith ignored him, tilting her head to the side, her eyes narrowing. “I wonder—do people fall for your ‘I’m just simple folk’ routine?”

  “Yes’m,” he said mildly. “Rather often.”

  She leaned back, and Ethan heard the coil of hair sliding against the seat’s leather upholstering. “It’s also because of your size. Somewhere around six-three, height doesn’t suggest power anymore, but ‘big dumb lunk.’”

  “I figure I got three extra inches of lunk in my feet then.”

  “I’d put it in your head,” she said, but the sharpening of her gaze told him her thoughts were returning to the demon before she added, “So Samuels is in a relationship with the sister—and any demon is arrogant enough to think the control he has there is sufficient. Why transform Charlie if he’s got the sister in hand? It’d be a blow to his ego to resort to that.”

  “But he did,” Jake said.

  “Yes. Which gives us several possibilities: another demon wanted to strike that blow, maybe someone higher up at Legion, and he directed the vampires to go after Charlie; or, if Samuels is directing the vampires, something happened at Legion that changed his priorities—so that a blow to his ego was the lesser of two evils; or, Jane is starting to suspect something’s wrong, and he wanted another level of control over her. But there’s always the fourth possibility, which is the unknown factor that usually fucks everything up.” She glanced up at Ethan. “Did they know you were in Seattle?”

  Remembering the surprise in the vampires’ psychic scents, Ethan shook his head. “No. But the vampires do now. At least one demon does, too.”

  “And your cover with Charlie is blown. Does she still trust—”

  “She doesn’t know it was me that saved her.” And Ethan preferred to keep it that way.

  Jake turned in his seat. “You shape-shifted? Are you sure she was convinced by it? You’re the worst—”

  “She didn’t see me clearly.” Only heard him. If he ever had to use the one false shape he could successfully hold, he’d be certain not to talk much. He looked at Lilith. “The way I figure, there’s about seven vampires being held at Legion, and about seven scientists working there under coercion.”

  She nodded and picked up the small pile of files, tossed them at Ethan. He vanished them into his cache the moment they left her fingers. “You’ve been going to Caelum each day, getting your assignments from Michael. I want you in Seattle full-time. I’ll clear it with him. Whatever Legion is doing, finding out what it is needs to take precedence over everything else. Everything but keeping Charlie Newcomb out of the vamps’ hands.”

  “Yes.” It needn’t be said. A Guardian’s first duty was always protecting human life.

  “I’ll be sending Jake up in a day or two as your backup.”

  Surprise lightened Jake’s psychic scent, and he said softly, “Sweet, sweet freedom. You are a goddess, Lilith.”

  Ethan frowned, his brows drawing together as he looked at the novice. A Guardian’s heightened senses left him vulnerable to sensory overload in the first years of his active service. Cloistering the novices at SI had helped with some of the young Guardians’ adjustments, but the Enthrallment still hit them, especially when they left the warehouse.

  “You still Enthralled? You won’t be much good to me outside if you’re spinning.”

  Jake shrugged. “I’ve gone out several times without being overwhelmed.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Lilith said. “Once he’s there, he’s going to stay in one place. I just want him to act as your base of operations and SI’s contact, if it all goes to shit. Particularly as they know you’re there now.”

  Ethan nodded. “I’m agreeable to the help, but the apartment I’ve got isn’t equipped for that. Does SI have a location?”

  Lilith leaned forward and punched in a number on her phone. “No, but Ramsdell Pharmaceuticals picked up a property when Colin and Savi visited the vampire community a few months back. Knowing Savi, everything Jake could possibly use—and a couple of things he’d never think to use—should be ready to go.” A smile widened her lips when the vampire answered. “Ah, Colin, you gorgeous freak. You aren’t in your daysleep.”

  “Not today, my dear Agent Milton, but I’ve little doubt I’ll soon wish I was. What do you want?”

  “Your house in Seattle.”

  “Dare I ask why?”

  “Drifter needs it.”

  Ethan stepped nearer the desk, uncertain how well the speaker w
ould pick up his voice. “I’m going in after Legion.”

  “McCabe,” Colin said. “Lilith told you about Milliken?”

  “Yes. How is the doctor?”

  “Once she’s stable, I’ll find her a position at Ramsdell. Savi thinks she’ll recuperate faster if she’s busy.” Colin paused. “Don’t bring me any more turned against their will. Savi’s not resting easy.”

  No, Ethan imagined she wasn’t. Seeing a man cut down might have given anyone nightmares, and he supposed that was one of the benefits of not having to sleep. “I don’t aim to.”

  There was a long sigh, and a sound that Ethan thought might have been a swipe of fingers through hair. “Very well, McCabe. But I’ll not be pleased if you bring in a bloody herd of cows and let them chew on the furnishings.”

  Lilith raised her gaze to Ethan’s. “Come now, Colin,” she murmured. “Drifter’s taste in women isn’t that bad.”

  “I daresay his taste is nonexistent. Don’t use your Gift, McCabe. I’m sending the access codes to Lilith. Savi prepared a few surprises for unauthorized entrants, and the system looks for discrepancies.”

  “He warned you, so he must like you,” Lilith mused a moment after the vampire had disconnected. “Did you call him beautiful?”

  A wry smile pulled at Ethan’s mouth. “I believe I said something of that nature when I met him.” Encountering the vampire for the first time had been a bit like being Enthralled; struck by the impossible perfection of Colin’s features, Ethan hadn’t managed his tongue well.

  The effect had eventually faded, and it was easy to find it amusing now—at the time, his involuntary response had infuriated him.

  “That’s nothing.” Jake stood up, retrieved his CD from the player. “I tried to kiss him.”

  Lilith pursed her lips, her eyes alight with interest. “I don’t suppose you’d reenact it with Drifter?”

  They left her office on her sigh of disappointment, but Ethan’s good humor fled when he felt the hesitation in Jake’s psychic scent, then the younger Guardian’s quick blocks.

  Ethan stopped in the middle of the hallway, turned. “Spit it out.”