Temptation by Fire

by Tiffany Allee

  “Not at all.” He leaned back in the chair. “I’m sure you’re curious about what was going on in that room.”

  “Curious? More like scared. That guy was—”

  “Unbalanced.”

  “Sure seemed like it.” I forced concern I didn’t really feel onto my face, and hoped that the demon wasn’t a good-enough judge of human emotion to tell the difference. “Are you all right?”

  “I will be,” he said, face a little pained.

  Very convincing. If I hadn’t known better, I might have bought it.

  “So you said that this guy was unbalanced, right? It was obvious he was trying to kill you. He called you a demon. Talk about a Froot Loop.” Subtle, Ava. God, what was I doing? Karson told me to keep questions to a minimum, but silence with Thomas was almost painfully uncomfortable.

  “How can one really understand the mind of a madman?” Thomas replied smoothly. “But back to that room. How did you know to be there? My…rescuer.” He said the word as if tasting something unfamiliar and not altogether unpleasant.

  “I…well, it’s kind of difficult to believe.”

  “Don’t worry, my dear. I am quite familiar with the unbelievable.”

  “I don’t know,” I hedged. And that was kind of true. I didn’t want to give in too easily, but I also really didn’t want to confess my big secret to a demon—even though he’d be toast the second I got him outside.

  “You can trust me.” His face softened a tiny bit, and I guessed he was trying to look comforting, or something. But his expression was too eager to be believable. The demon needed to work on his acting skills.

  I shot a glance over my shoulder as if fearing we would be overheard. “I’m a psychic. When we touched at the hospital, I got a vision of you dying in a fire in that club.”

  His eyebrows shot up toward his perfect hairline. “Fascinating.”

  “I…tried to warn that guy about my vision after you left us in the parking lot. He said he would warn you. I got a weird feeling, so I tracked you down.”

  Karson hadn’t been thrilled about the decision to tell Thomas that I was a psychic, but after talking it over for far too long, neither of us could come up with a believable cover story that made sense. And Thomas would be taken care of as soon as he stepped out of the restaurant, so he wouldn’t have a chance to tell anyone about my powers.

  Besides, I wasn’t a good liar. Keep your story as close to the truth as you can, Karson had told me. Truth has a way of shining through.

  The waiter came to the table with a bottle of red wine. Light glinted off of his smooth head, and he expertly poured the liquid into two wine glasses.

  “I really shouldn’t—”

  “Nonsense,” Thomas said, softening the order by flashing me a grin. “Wine is necessary for you to fully enjoy the meal.”

  My hackles would have bristled at his attitude if I had hackles. As it was, I simply nodded. I hadn’t come for his company, anyway. But I felt like I was going to end up just like the cat—killed by my own curiosity. “Stupid,” I murmured. My cheeks heated and I glanced up at Thomas. He had the barest hint of a smile still affixed to his face.

  “You’re not.”

  “What?” My cheeks burned hotter.

  “You’re not stupid. Living your whole life never knowing anyone else who was…different?” He looked at the ceiling, as if it would offer him the right things to say to me. “And to be thrown into this mess? I can’t even imagine how you’re feeling right now.” He turned from studying the ceiling to stare at me. “You have every right to be curious, Ava.”

  A great speech. One I might have fallen for if I hadn’t known exactly who and what he was. “Thank you,” I said, after forcing in a few breaths to clear the knot from my throat. “I really would like to know more about this guy who targeted you. Why would he do that?” I was terrible at this. So terrible.

  “I guess it’s because I’m different.” He looked deeply into my eyes. “Like you, Ava.” His tone still dripped with empathy, but knowing what I knew, it rubbed me the wrong way.

  “Are you psychic, too?” I asked, playing along.

  “In a manner of speaking.”

  Yeah, right. “It’s nice to know I’m not alone.” The words almost choked me, but I forced them out. Close to the truth, indeed.

  “So—” I started, but a wave of cold hit me and I forgot what I was going to say. It wound from my back down the skin of my arms and legs. I wrapped my arms around myself and struggled not to shiver from the intensity of it. What the heck? Thomas made me cold, but this was freaking intense.

  Thomas studied me with interest, before a veil of concern draped itself over his expression while I watched. Finally his eyes moved to something behind me, and his smile widened.

  “Ah, Father, how nice of you to drop by.”

  Shock flashed through me, followed by panic. The cold could only mean one thing: another demon. Karson and the others were prepared for Thomas, but a second one, one who wasn’t bothered by injuries or weakened by the runes Karson said would still be carved in Thomas’s flesh? At least the sudden chill confirmed that all demons made me cold—not just Thomas.

  And he’d called him father. That could not be good. At the very least, the man was probably higher up in whatever echelon the demons used. Karson had been right. Thomas did work for some other demon, and I was about to meet him.

  Thomas didn’t get up from the table to greet his so-called father, so neither did I. Instead I turned in my seat, trying to project a calmness I didn’t feel.

  Don’t throw up on the demon.

  He wasn’t a big man, not really much taller than Thomas, but he gave that impression. He wore a suit that probably cost as much as a used car. His brown hair was gray at his temples, but was still as thick and full as Thomas’s. Their resemblance ended at their height. The man would turn heads, if only for the way he carried himself. But he wasn’t handsome like Thomas. His features were too strong, his jaw too wide, and his nose a tad too long. His eyes were a muddy brown, not the striking blue of Thomas’s. They certainly didn’t look like the father and son they played.

  And he was almost directly behind me. I fought the urge to run.

  He smiled down at me, showing no teeth. The expression didn’t touch his eyes, and he didn’t look like a man who smiled often.

  “Miss Keller, I presume?” He held out his hand.

  I stared at his hand for a moment before I took it in my own. Ice crept up from my fingers and palm, despite my gloves, writhing its way up my arm. The cold hit me more intensely than when Thomas had touched me. I tugged my hand from his, yanking it back in a way that almost certainly looked rude. Or suspicious. Probably both.

  The small smile on his face blossomed. He beamed at me, and his eyes finally sparkled to life.

  My stomach turned at that smile.

  “I’m Thomas’s father, Hugh Winston. Please, call me Hugh,” he continued, ignoring the fact I’d never confirmed who I was.

  Heart ready to thump its way out of my chest, I forced myself to stay in the chair. Every muscle in my body screamed at me to move. The odd nature I’d sensed in Thomas was here, in this man. This demon. But this one’s nature wasn’t muted. Suddenly, I didn’t have enough air in my lungs. My breathing came quicker, and I struggled to slow it. Fear curled up my spine and I fought panic.

  “Nice to meet you,” I blurted out, far too loudly for the quiet restaurant. Pasting a smile on my face, I gritted my teeth and hoped I didn’t look scared shitless. Something told me that if I ran, this man would chase me.

  “Are you all right, my dear?” Hugh asked, but his super fake-looking smile didn’t fade.

  “Oh yes, I’m sorry. Must be the wine. I never drink. I think it’s making me lightheaded,” I lied. Then, getting up from the table, I held on to my chair to make sure I didn’t fall. The last thing I needed was for Hugh to grab my arm to steady me. I turned to face Thomas. “Ladies’ room?”

  “Down the hall
,” he said, gesturing toward a hallway to my left.

  I nodded, but I couldn’t summon a fake smile.

  The ladies’ room door swung shut behind me and I grasped the sink, staring down at the drain. The beauty of the upscale bathroom barely registered. I struggled to breathe slowly to avert a full-scale panic attack. I couldn’t fall apart, not now. I had to hold it together a little longer.

  Just a little longer.

  There was something…off about Thomas Winston. And his supposed father was even worse. They felt wrong. The tiny bit of doubt I’d carried that none of this could be real, could be possible, had been quashed by the heel of Hugh Winston’s expensive loafer.

  I had to warn Karson. Then I’d get the hell out of here.

  Hand shaking, I tugged off a glove and then pulled my cell phone from my clutch purse. My hand hovered over the zipper for the side pocket that held the salt. The temptation to carry it in my fist when I left the bathroom was strong.

  Karson’s out there, watching out for you. With that knowledge in mind, steel built along my spine.

  I typed in a quick text message to Karson. No longer a hole in one, two swing minimum.

  It wasn’t a great code, but it was safer than typing OMG! Two demons, not one. Or Big, bad demon boss has arrived. And I was pretty sure Karson would figure it out.

  Thirty painful seconds passed before my phone flashed with a new message. Time to go home. Alone.

  He didn’t want me luring Thomas out, then. Karson had warned me that if things went sideways, getting me out was the first priority. They’d wait for me to clear the area and hope that Thomas followed me out—and now I guessed they were hoping Hugh would come out with him.

  The Venators seemed to think it was possible the demons wouldn’t come out into the open where they could be attacked—that was the only reason Karson had agreed to let me actually go in—but I hadn’t really thought through why. I guessed that if shadowmen could transport people through the shadows, they could move demons that way, too. If they felt threatened.

  So I just had to make sure they didn’t feel threatened.

  I met my own green eyes in the mirror. I straightened my posture and affixed a smile to my face. I wouldn’t win any Oscars, but I didn’t look like I was on the edge of running for my life. It would have to do. My skin was pale, lighter than normal, and there was a distinctive grayish cast to it. Good. That would help.

  Making my way back across the burgundy carpet to the table, I concentrated on breathing and steeled myself for the chill that was sure to come. Thomas sat alone at the table; his “father” was nowhere in sight. Even more telling, I couldn’t feel Hugh. The cold was there, but not like it had been around the other demon. Where had he gone? To lie in wait for me outside?

  Oh yeah, I wasn’t going to have to fake being nauseated.

  As I approached, Thomas looked up from his wine.

  “I’m sorry, Thomas.” I pushed hair behind my ear. “I’m really not feeling well. I’m going to have to take a rain check on dinner.”

  To my surprise he nodded, his earlier smile replaced by a look of concern. “Of course. Are you all right?”

  “Yes, it’s just the wine…” I trailed off, hoping he would fill in the blanks of my symptoms himself.

  Thomas’s hand flew into the air to gesture to the waiter, and when the man approached, Thomas simply said, “Car.” The man nodded and left.

  As Thomas started pushing his chair back from the table, I held my hand up. “It’s okay. I don’t want to ruin your dinner. I’ll drive myself.”

  “Nonsense. I will escort you home.”

  “Please,” I said, lowering my voice when I noticed other patrons paying attention to our table. “I feel bad already. Ruining your dinner would just make me feel worse.”

  Thomas stared at me for a moment, looking like he wanted to argue. But then he nodded. “If you insist.”

  Relief flooded me. “Thank you. I’ll be in touch. I’d like to talk to you more about all of this. Maybe tomorrow?”

  “You know, you could do me a huge favor and come out with me Saturday. I have a social event, but I’m afraid I’m dateless.”

  “Oh?” He had to be talking about the big fund-raising dinner he was hosting at his place. Go for breezy, not panicked. “I can’t imagine you having a difficult time finding a date.” To my amazement, my tone came out very nearly flirty.

  He gave me a boyish grin, full of charm. Yuck. “Well, I don’t want to take just anyone. And I’d love to talk to you more about all this.”

  “Me, too. There’s still so much I don’t know.” I glanced at my black pumps as if I were shy before looking back up at him. “And I’d love to be your date.” Not that you’ll be around by then.

  “Wonderful. It’s settled, then.”

  “Maybe you could call me tomorrow with the details? When I’m feeling better.” I had to get out of the restaurant before Karson came in to retrieve me. “Please tell your dad I’m sorry for running out, too.”

  “Of course.” Thomas glanced at the waiter. “Antoine will escort you outside.”

  The waiter bowed to me and motioned toward the entrance, waiting for me to lead the way before following.

  I shot Thomas a quick smile over my shoulder. It took every bit of self-control I possessed not to run.

  …

  The second Ava’s lithe form slipped out of the front door from the restaurant, my heart jumped into my throat. Just as I’d told her to do, she didn’t look around the poorly lit parking lot for the Venators, and she didn’t run. Back straight and chin jutting forward, she walked purposefully toward her car parked down the road. My heart almost burst with pride. Such a short time in my world, and she’d faced down two demons.

  Two demons.

  Thomas had never said it outright—demons rarely said anything outright— but the insinuation that he worked under another demon had been clear. I’d bought it then, even if Franklin hadn’t, but I hadn’t expected him to bring the other demon here. Ava should have been a curiosity to him, but nothing that he’d want to show to another demon yet. Not until he knew what he had. And I would have made sure he was dead before he got the chance.

  I lost Ava not far from the restaurant, but Caleb was farther out, and he would ensure she got to her car and away from here. I trusted Caleb to do his best—especially under the threat of the painful death I had promised him hours before if she did not reach her car safely. Still, I itched to follow her.

  Franklin waited in the shadows just in case I indicated that we should resume the hunt. But our chances weren’t good. I half hoped Ava would be wrong. But with her ability to sense demons, I wasn’t counting on it. Which meant we were fucked. Two demons. Not one.

  Sweat beaded on my brow and I swiped at it, taking in a deep breath filled with the delicious smells wafting from the restaurant. The concealment rune I’d drawn on my stomach with charcoal was wearing me down. A powerful rune, it hid me from the eyes and ears of demons and their servants.

  But like all runes, the power demanded a price.

  And the price for this particular rune was the energy of the wearer—a lot of it. Another half hour and I’d be too weak to stand straight, let alone fight a demon.

  The door opened again, and Thomas stepped out of the restaurant along with another man. The host who’d opened the door bowed to the men before retreating back inside. The other man, his face turned away from me, was speaking to Thomas. Was that the other demon?

  The men walked away from the well-lit front door, and I tensed. Two demons would be tough to take, but not impossible if the demon wasn’t too much stronger than Thomas. They stopped under a broken streetlight along the walkway, and after a few seconds, two shadows coalesced beside the men. The demon’s shadowmen.

  That clinched it. The second man was a demon—Ava had been right. No way would Thomas be able to summon shadowmen and have them at hand like that so soon after he’d been injured and marked. Demons healed fast, b
ut the energy siphoned by the runes would have a lasting effect. It would be another day, at least, before he’d be able to summon.

  But he was still a powerful sonuvabitch when it came to fighting. And while my small team might have been able to handle Thomas and his fully powered demon friend—might being the key word, since we didn’t have any idea who this demon was, or how powerful—it definitely wasn’t safe to try to take them down along with two shadowmen.

  The men waited for their car, and I winced. Ava had risked her life—and most likely told Thomas about her power—for what? For nothing. We weren’t even going to be able to take a shot at the demon.

  And now she’d be in much greater danger.

  An SUV slid up to the curb in front of the demons and their shadowmen, and they began sliding into the dark vehicle.

  I ground my teeth together. As if the noise were audible, Thomas’s companion, poised to duck into the SUV, turned to look at the exact spot where I stood. His lips curled into a cruel facsimile of a grin.

  It felt like the look itself had force, and all of the air flew from my lungs. My foot slid forward, an involuntary step. Fierce anger and hatred rushed through me, and I opened my mouth to cry out.

  To scream and yell and call the demon to me.

  To kill it with my bare hands.

  It was him. The one I’d seen in my nightmares since I’d seen him leaving my parents’ house. The one I’d hunted ever since.

  The demon who killed my family.

  I took another step forward, but solid arms yanked me back into the shadows. I hit the dirt, wrestled to the ground. And the sound of a car door shutting slammed through the night. Then an engine roared, only to fade away as the SUV moved farther away.

  With the weight of two men on top of me, I roared.

  …

  I paced the small motel room, fighting panic. Karson had told me that it could be a couple of hours after I left the restaurant before he would be able to reach out to me. I wasn’t supposed to be worried yet, but I couldn’t think of anything but him lying in that parking lot, the life slowly draining from his deep brown eyes.