I pushed to my feet. “Right. If you don’t mind, I’m going home. It might have escaped your attention, but you’re not the supreme ruler of the universe, whoever your arch-demon parent is. So if you don’t mind—”
His hand snagged my sleeve. I tensed, expecting him to set off the trap I wore around my neck, and almost wanting him to. If we caused a scene, maybe they’d actually catch him this time.
“Wouldn’t you like to hear my theories about the deaths?” he enquired. “Let’s assume we’re both innocent. One might say someone’s setting one or both of us up to take the fall. We’ve both been found near the murder scenes, and possess abilities which put our own innocence into question.”
“Nobody’s setting you up,” I told him, putting down my boiling hot coffee cup before it burned my hand. “You walked to the crime scenes of your own free will.”
“As did you.”
“Because the celestials asked me to investigate.”
“And the first night?”
I took a step away from him. “How the hell do you know?”
“I put two and two together. I know how the guild works.”
“You shouldn’t. See, this is why we suspect you,” I said. “So a warlock definitely isn’t the killer?”
“No. What committed those crimes is not of this world. I know every warlock in the city, and they don’t agree with the demons’ goal.”
I arched a brow. “What, to kill us all?”
“To add this world to the list of realms they’ve ruined,” he said. “They’re counting on the celestials overreacting in their response.”
“Tell that to the inspector. I did, and he wouldn’t listen. Of course the demons want attention. They thrive on it. But do you really not know who has the ability to set someone on fire from the inside out?”
“No,” he said, his mouth tightening at the corners. “Either this is an ability I’ve never heard of, or a clever demon has devised a new method of killing not seen before using resources already available. And if you wish to find answers, then the leader of the city’s warlocks has generously offered to meet with you to discuss the case.”
“Yeah, I got that part. But I can’t trust you,” I told him. “You know why.”
“I suspected you’d say that,” he said. “So I brought a friend.”
A girl with magenta hair sidled up to the table. “Hey, Devina,” she said.
“This,” said Nikolas, “is my sister, Rachel.”
I turned to face her. Unlike her brother, she showed no outwards signs of her demonic ability. She was maybe nineteen or so, with sun-kissed skin and vivid pink hair, and wore shorts and a strappy top as though it was beach weather, not a gloomy April morning.
“You’re a shadow demon, too?” I asked.
“Nope,” she said, with a grin. “I’m a chameleon. We’re siblings by adoption. Meaning we adopted each other.”
I hadn’t thought of warlocks as having families. They seemed to live in a collective unit. Normally, their human parent didn’t survive long after the trauma of giving birth to a half demon, or skipped town to avoid the demon who’d kidnapped them. And demons weren’t exactly attentive parents.
“When you say chameleon,” I said, “do you mean you can change your appearance?”
Her hair turned blue, then pink again. “Yep. Pretty neat, right? I can turn into any person, if I get a look at them. This isn’t my real form, though. Niko says I’m not allowed to use it in public.”
So she had the ability to blend into any crowd. And follow me around, making my demonic detector go off? Maybe. But she didn’t seem capable of sneaking around in a stealthy manner. She vibrated with energy, bouncing on the balls of her feet. People were starting to stare.
I picked up what was left of my coffee. “I’ll need you to swear on all the arch-demons that you aren’t leading me into a trap if I do agree to meet with the chief warlock.”
“Wouldn’t swearing on the Divinities be more appropriate?” enquired Nikolas.
“Not for you.”
He gave me a sly grin. “See, you’re learning already.”
“Don’t think I’m caving to your every demand,” I informed him. “I’m investigating a murder. Two, now. And you claim to know more than the guild does, so I’d like to know why that is. And why, if you know so much, you failed to stop the last attack.”
His smile vanished. “Careful, celestial. I’m doing you a favour, but if you speak to Javos like you did to me, he’s more likely to retaliate.”
“Oh, don’t be a spoilsport,” said Rachel. “She’s right—we haven’t worked out who the killer is. But we have some ideas. Javos thinks you have some, too, and I think you’re going to be interested to hear what he has to say.”
“Look,” I said. “I appreciate the help, but this is an ongoing investigation, and I’m not allowed to share every detail of our conclusions with strangers. Especially strangers with demonic ties. We’ll all end up in jail if they find out I’m even considering meeting the warlocks’ leader behind their backs. And if he—” I jerked my head in Nikolas’s direction— “is really as powerful as he claims and manages get you both off the hook, guess who takes the fall?”
She looked from me to him, biting her lip. “Should have thought of that one, Niko.”
He paused before saying, “Naturally, if you don’t share our arrangement with the celestials, I would use my considerable power to… what was it you said, get you off the hook, as well.”
I frowned. “You know that means I’m out of a job, right?”
“I thought you weren’t working for them,” said Rachel.
I glared at Nikolas. “Have you told her everything about me?”
“No,” he said. “She’s good at research herself. In fact, it was Rachel who pulled up the guild’s archives on you. You’ve acquired quite the reputation.”
I swore under my breath. “All right. Say I meet this warlock dude, and don’t get caught. How do I know you’re not setting me up to turn me into the next victim? I don’t know the guy. I don’t really know any of you.”
“She has a point,” said Rachel. “I’ve got it. I’ll tell you Javos’s weakness. I’m good at that.” She leaned close to my ear. “If you play classical music at him, his demonic power totally switches off. It’s funny. Sometimes I prank him by putting my iPod ear buds in his ears when he’s asleep.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Nope,” she said, grinning. “So if he attacks, turn up the music.”
“This is weird,” I said. “No offence.”
“She’s telling the truth,” said Nikolas. “I’d advise you to avoid getting on his bad side, either way. So is that a yes?”
The guild just threatened to remove my newly reinstated job for meddling with warlocks. I could be worse than fired if I said yes—I’d get arrested. I shouldn’t do it.
I needed answers. Before someone else died.
Screw it. “Yes, but only in daylight, in this realm. Nowhere else.”
“The chief warlock lives in this city,” said Nikolas. “He’s agreed to meet you this evening at seven, at the Harpy’s Nest on Prince Street. I hope you’ll be there.”
Chapter 9
Three warlocks and an ex-celestial walk into a bar. This couldn’t end badly at all.
Of course, one of those three was Rachel, who looked barely old enough to drink. I’d met Nikolas outside the Harpy’s Nest, which was in the part of town where preternaturals mingled with regular humans.
“Devi!” Rachel shrieked, waving me over to the bar. She’d already ordered a lurid pink coloured cocktail, and perched on a stool so high her feet were a metre off the ground.
I sat down, too, with difficulty. These stools were apparently built for people seven feet or taller. Moving so that the bar somewhat hemmed me in, I ordered a drink, too. Nikolas sat on my other side.
As for the other patrons, they were… interesting. Unlike vamps and weres, who looked human at first glan
ce, the clientele here was generally of the horned, scaly variety. I was glad I’d worn a jacket to hide the mark on my wrist.
The bartender was a young vampire with electric blue, spiky hair, who offered me three different types of blood cocktail, all of which I refused. At least he didn’t seem to recognise me.
“So where’s this… Javos?” I asked the others in an undertone.
“On his way,” Rachel said, her hair changing to the same pink as the cocktail.
After they’d left the café earlier, I’d looked up chameleon demons in the guild’s files. Rare as hell, and almost as deadly. Not from the shadow dimension, though admittedly, there wasn’t much information available on the realm Nikolas claimed to be from. I knew most of the common demon types, but now I’d met two rarities in a short space of time and was about to meet a third. One who was feared by everyone, but was also apparently allergic to classical music. I’d downloaded some onto my phone, though this was the sort of place where you kept your valuables close at hand and your wits about you. The two warlocks sitting beside me at the bar were proof enough of that. As I looked up from my drink—Jack Daniels and coke, no dubious cocktails for me—two horned women with forked tails sauntered into the bar.
“Which species are they?” asked Niko, in an undertone.
“Succubus,” I said confidently.
“And what is he?” He jerked his head in the direction of what looked like a cross between a large man and a rhinoceros.
“Half-rovak demon. Is this a quiz?”
“I’m determining the extent of your knowledge.”
I sipped my drink. “Probably better than you think. We’re required to know all the major demon types.”
“No, you’re required to know whatever the guild wants you to. No more.”
His attitude was getting up my nose, and away from the threat of arrest, I was less inclined to let his bullshit slide. “You’re one to criticise the guild, considering you’re withholding vital details about the murder of two of their soldiers. I don’t know what you’re trying to achieve, either, considering I’m only working for them on this case. Nothing more.”
“Then why did they give you access to your celestial weapons?”
“Because I might need them to kill a demon,” I said. “Where is this dude, anyway?”
“He’ll be here.” He sipped his own drink, also neon-coloured. Somehow, I doubted it was a regular cocktail. Some warlock thing. They drew power from the essence of their own dimension, so I’d guess it was some sort of energy source. Why he needed it when he apparently hopped in and out of that dimension every five minutes, I had no idea. Maybe he was expecting a fight. Nobody gave me a second glance now I was at the bar. Perhaps here, they assumed you were a preternatural by default. There weren’t any normal humans around that I could see.
The door opened and a bronze-skinned man with curling horns approached us. He looked like he’d stepped out of an illustration of Greek mythology. His huge arms could have wrapped around the front of a car and crushed it like cardboard. But sheer brute strength wasn’t the terrifying thing about him. His eyes shone like molten lava, and his aura—bright orange, like the inside of a flame.
I raised an eyebrow at Nikolas. “Is this really the best place for a private meeting?” What with Javos’s sheer size, he’d draw the eye of everyone in the bar.
“Nobody will hear us,” he said confidently.
He must have hit them with that power of his. He could use it on other warlocks, too? I needed to reconsider my assumption that warlocks’ power was in any way contained. Which, let’s face it, didn’t bode well for my investigation.
“You must be Devina,” said Javos, planting himself on a bar stool. Now I knew who they’d been built for. “Nikolas here tells me you’re a former celestial.”
“Does anyone here not know my entire history?” I remarked.
Instead of answering, he said, “I hear you’re working on tracking a killer with unusual powers. Nikolas told me you have information for me.”
“He said you had information to share with me,” I said. “I was under the impression your people already knew everything I did, and then some. The killer was a demon, I’m told, but I can’t identify the type.”
He tilted his head. “You’re the detective, right?”
“Not exactly. More of an independent consultant. I’ve never tracked a serial killer before, much less a demon one.”
“I suppose you haven’t,” he said. “Who were the victims, and were they randomly chosen?”
I looked at Nikolas. “This is an ongoing case. If I share that information, the guild might take action against both of us. I’m looking at a jail sentence at the least.”
“Is that so?” Javos summoned the bartender with one hand. The poor guy looked totally dazed, but filled up a glass with black liquid, apparently Javos’s regular order. “The guild is about as useful as expected. But if you don’t tell me, I can’t help you.”
“Prove you can,” I said. “I don’t think it’s a secret that I don’t trust anyone with demonic ties. I won’t share valuable information.”
“She won’t,” said Nikolas. “We’ll have to find out the old-fashioned way. Luckily, I took the liberty of compiling a few notes on the victims. Both were new to the guild, for one thing. The first victim signed up a year ago.”
“Hey—” I started indignantly, but he cut me off.
“Both had hardly any experience with demons at all, according to all records. And both disappeared with no witnesses and appeared in places which they couldn’t have been without demonic assistance, according to witnesses who saw them shortly before the attacks.”
“And their eyes burned out,” added Rachel. “They burned alive, from the inside out. No marks on the bodies. It was demon fire, all right.”
Apparently Nikolas had told her everything. Either he trusted all his fellow warlocks, or he just didn’t give a crap about celestials. But then, why help me solve the crime at all?
Unless he wanted me for another purpose.
I know what you did.
“No marks on the bodies,” said Javos. “No former connections with demons. The killer’s targets appear to be easy ones without the ability to defend themselves against demonic intrusion.”
“But not random,” said Nikolas.
“Of course they’re random,” I said. “This is a demon with a grudge against the celestials, right? That means they’ll pick the first target available. If they were trying to threaten the higher council or undermine our mission, they would have chosen someone stronger or in a position of authority.”
“She raises a valid point,” said Javos. “However, it’s well known that celestials at Grade Two or higher are strong enough to kill most demons.”
“Most low-grade demons,” I corrected. “I thought we were dealing with a higher one. I mean, burning someone from the inside out isn’t on most low-grade demons’ skillsets. It’s a unique one who’s never been to this realm before, right?”
“She’s better at this than you are,” said Rachel, swirling her straw in her drink. “Yeah, it’s got to be a new demon. But not an ignorant one. They know the celestials. They wouldn’t have targeted you otherwise.”
Nikolas nodded. He looked mildly annoyed. Maybe because he hadn’t expected me to take over the conversation. I’d probably rendered several of his notions invalid, too. But this was my job, whether I worked for the guild or not. The only difference was that they generally targeted non-magical humans, not us.
“I doubt the demon is ignorant,” I said. “It’d need to be Grade Two or higher to wander around on its own, and Three or more to have a motive. The lower ranked ones stay away from celestials, and besides, none of them have the abilities our killer apparently does.”
I couldn’t believe I was talking about demons to a warlock. Several warlocks. Any of whom might be related to the killer. But none of them matched that ghastly aura I’d seen on the victims. And even though
they might be scary, I couldn’t see them skulking around murdering minor celestials when they had a real live Grade Three one right here and didn’t seem to particularly care what I was. Okay, Javos was scrutinising me over his drink, but not my covered wrist.
I didn’t know what to make of him. He seemed fairly mild-mannered for a legendary warlock the size of a tank, but no warlock had that sort of brute strength and never used it.
“Grade Three demons have one ability,” said Nikolas. “Our killer apparently has two. Unless there are two working together, of course.”
“I thought most demons were loners,” I said. “You mean, one of them catapulted the victims onto the wrong side of the city, and the other burned their eyes out? I’ve never heard of either ability, but there’s no way two higher demons with that sort of skill could work together for more than five minutes without one of them winding up dead.”
No matter which dimension they came from, demons didn’t get along even with other members of the same species. If it was a netherworld dimension, they worked for the arch-demon in charge or died. Only minor demons grouped together for their own survival. Unless their hatred of celestials had driven two of them to bond, but if that were true, it’d never happened before. Demon minds just didn’t work that way.
Javos nodded slowly. “Yes. I believe we’re dealing with a single individual. Whether they are using another demon in their plans, I can’t say, but we should assume there’s only one mastermind. The details of the victims appear to be random, however. The only connecting factor is the location… and possibly some other information about the victims that we aren’t aware of yet.” He gave me a piercing look. “Like their devotion to the cause, for instance.”
“What does that mean?” I asked. “If the demon hates celestials, why would it matter how devoted they are? The outcome’s the same.”
Celestial Magic (Celestial Marked Book 1) Page 8