by Leah Silver
“Just be on your best behavior,” Oscar warned. “Your hatred of him is no secret.”
“You wound me,” I teased. He texted me the number. I saved it to my contacts, then pushed the call button.
As it rang, I asked, “How could there be no one coming and going for two full days? How is that a thing? When did he eat?”
The man in question cut short my train of thought. “This is Devlin.” His voice was abrupt. He sounded irritated, not that I expected any different. He was a grade-A twatwaffle after all.
I took a deep breath, but he demanded to know who was there while I was still attempting to steady myself.
In the middle of a slew of threats, I interrupted him. “Jeez, Devlin. Calm down. It’s Merry.”
“What in Bael’s name took you so long to answer me then?”
“I dunno. I thought I might see how colorful your insults could get. As it turns out, not very.”
Oscar pulled down his visor, shooting me a look of exasperated caution in the mirror. Ike just shook his head. I swatted the back of his headrest, trying to figure out how to handle this. Even if Devlin wasn’t the creep I suspected he was, we were like oil and water. No way would we ever be friends. And pretending I wanted to be was a Herculean task.
“What do you want, Merry?” he demanded, clearly impatient with my call.
“I wondered if you might meet me for a drink? To talk about the hive. Try to get some more information?”
“Charles said you might be calling.”
I narrowed my eyes at that bit of information. If Charles really did dislike him, why give him a head’s-up?
“Did he now … or did you just have a vision?” I couldn’t keep the disgust out of my voice. But he lapped it up like I was feeding him compliments.
“What difference is it to you?”
“Look, do you want to meet or not?” I asked.
“Want to? No, not really. I’d personally rather spend a day among flesh-eating monsters. But I will.”
“Fine. Meet me at Luna’s. Tonight. Around nine.”
“Sounds horrible. I hate that place—”
Before he could say anything else about my beloved bar, I hung up. “He’ll be there.”
The two up front shook their heads.
“What—you’d have handled that with more niceties? For what? He doesn’t need an ego stroke. He needs a swift kick in the pants. I’m not here to be his friend. I’m here to do a job and get out.”
“It’s possible you could do it with a little less shrapnel,” Oscar offered.
“Next time, you can ask him for drinks then,” I snapped. Maybe I was a little short-tempered lately, but who could blame me? My daughter lay dead or dying in my home while I tried to track down her killer, a cure, or both. I wasn’t even sure.
“How is he going to survive our meeting?” I murmured. Apparently I’d said it louder than I meant to, because both men burst out laughing.
“I like how you’re worried about his survival,” Ike said.
“I’m not sure it’s him she’s worried about,” Oscar interjected.
“All right, all right. You can stop laughing at my pain.” I sounded put out, but I couldn’t help the grin their boisterous laughter caused.
Oscar turned around in his seat, and I quickly cleared my face of all emotion. I could be cool if I wanted to. “Just get a handle on your anger, and you’ll be fine,” he said.
“Oh, and don’t take any weapons to your date,” Ike added.
“Fat chance. I always take a weapon with me.”
“Ed said you didn’t have one on you when you tried to kill him with some fluffy pen.” Oscar laughed at Ike’s flourish of the story.
“It wasn’t fluffy; it was a plume. And anyway, I was at home. But I may need to revise my rules when at,” I threatened.
They dissolved into more laughter.
“I’ll make sure and tell Ed,” Ike said as he pulled up next to my house.
The guys got out and walked to the front door, but I stayed in the car. I needed to think. How would I get my sharp tongue under control? I needed to keep him there long enough for Ed to do his job. I couldn’t go pissing him off, and have him storm out like the drama queen I knew he was.
I chewed my nail, deep in contemplation, when Ike knocked on the window and startling me.
“You coming?”
“In a minute,” I called. He nodded and walked away, leaving me alone in the backseat of a werewolf’s car. If I’d been asked a week ago what I’d be doing today, I never would’ve said buddying up with a motley group of supernatural to save Sara’s life. I kind of wished I lived in that alternate reality. What would we be doing if this wasn’t happening? I’d probably be on a hunt. I had one scheduled this week. At least, I think I did. Sara cancelled it when this talk of the council started up. But that was the only one I’d let her cancel. There were hunts next week that would have to be dealt with.
I took out my phone and recorded a message. “Good evening, everyone. This is Merry Young calling. Due to unforeseen circumstances, all planned hunts will be cancelled and rescheduled at a later date. Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience. I will extend discounts for any future bookings due to this hiccup. Thank you.” I set it to go out to my business contacts right away, and decided not to think about it again until this was over. I was bound to have some angry customers, but if we didn’t resolve this, I probably wouldn’t have any customers to deal with. Or so the council thought.
Maybe that was the key. Treat Devlin like an angry customer. What did I do with them?
I shook my head. If anyone got too snotty with me, I usually kicked them out. No amount of money was worth being abused.
“Shit shooters. What am I going to do?” No one answered, of course. At least not right away. I rested my head on the back of the bench seat and closed my eyes.
In that moment, I was floating. Had I fallen asleep? Tempest was there, her face taut with pain. Sara was not.
“Where is Sara?”
Tears streamed down Tempest’s face, glittering as they went. “I can’t find her. She’s gone.”
“No. She can’t be. Ed assured me—”
“He was wrong. She’s not here.”
“You said you wouldn’t give up until I had a cure. I don’t. We haven’t even started yet.”
“I told you to stay away from Devlin. I told you.”
I couldn’t keep up with her shift in topic, and the world around me made it more difficult as the darkness took shape. Smoke filled the air, making me cough. Bright orange flames licked the ceiling of my home. But I was outside. Not inside, where I could’ve helped Sara.
“Sara,” I screamed and ran toward the flames. But hands held me back. Hard, stone-like hands that were impossible to fight. “Oscar, let me go. Sara is still in there.”
“She’s beyond our reach, Merry. Let her go.”
“No,” I screamed. Twisting, I worked my way free. I ran into the flames without worry or care. They licked at me unnaturally, as if they were alive. But I couldn’t comprehend it. I only needed Sara.
I took the stairs two at a time. Halfway up, one collapsed beneath me. It ripped my pants, cutting through to the skin. The flames touched my hair more than once while I tried to get free, but I smothered them with my hands, knowing I’d look like a melted mess when I got out of there. Fire wasn’t a friend of to vampires, but it took a very long time to kill us. It was a painful way to go, or so I heard. But it wasn’t something I intended to stick around for. Grab Sara, and then get out. That was the plan.
I made it to the second floor. Tempest was at the door, the flames reflecting in her green eyes. “Merry. Go. Sara isn’t here. I can’t find her.”
“What? Get out of the way. I left her with you. She’s on her bed.”
“No. She isn’t. She’s not here.”
“How can that be?” I shoved Tempest aside. To my everlasting horror, her bed was empty.
A siniste
r laugh filled my mind, and I knew in my heart it was Devlin’s.
“I’m sorry,” Tempest said as she vanished.
A knocking startled me awake. I may have yelped, something I wasn’t exactly proud of.
“Hey, are you okay?” Levi asked.
I blinked a few times, looking ahead. The house wasn’t on fire. Everything was fine. It was a dream.
I’d never had a dream like that. It was so real. My heart still raced from how vivid it had been.
“Bad dream,” I mumbled as Levi opened my door.
“The guys said you were having a hard time coming to grips with the fact you’d have to be nice to Devlin.” He made a poor attempt at hiding his amusement.
Was that really the biggest of my concerns? “I-I…” I stammered, trying to bring myself out of the fire. The smell lingered in my nose. I sniffled a bit, trying to clear it out and bring myself back to the car. Back to the present.
Levi offered me a hand, and I took it. The sparks I felt at our touch jolted me back to the moment as he pulled me up, and I stood less than an inch from his chest.
My heart never slowed down, but now it was racing for an entirely different reason.
He looked down at me with more compassion than I thought he possessed. Or maybe he was just laying on the charm a bit thick. “I know you’re a bit prickly right now, particularly with Devlin. But it’s in Sara’s best interest not to chase the guy off. If you feel yourself wanting to snap at him, think of Sara. Think of her lying in bed, and remember it’s how you’ll help her, how you’ll save her.”
He was right. I needed to keep her in my focus. Not Devlin. He was a means to an end. Nothing more. I could spend an hour with him making small talk.
Small talk. “What on earth will we talk about?”
Levi laughed. “Talk about the hive. Get some information out of him. Make it look like you’re really interested in pursuing that angle. You want to be as armed with information as possible. This is business, not pleasure. For both of you.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “This may shock you, but I get the impression he hates you just as much as you do him.”
“There’s a distinct possibility of that.”
“Indeed,” Levi said through a smile he no longer tried to hide. He put solid arms around me and pulled me into his chest, finally closing that tiny space between us. “You’ve hunted, and killed, some of the worst demons our world has ever known. You can handle an hour with an impolite vampire.”
“Impolite is awfully generous, don’t you think?”
“Where Devlin is concerned, generosity might be key at this point for you.”
I frowned, feeling defeated. “Point taken.”
As we walked up to the house, I noticed it was starting to get dark. “What time is it?”
“Seven thirty.”
Ninety minutes left to get ready and meet him.
After spending a few days out in the woods, I decided a shower might not be completely inappropriate. By the time I cleaned up, fixed my hair, dressed, and armed myself discreetly, it was time to go.
“You taking weapons?” Ike asked.
“Of course I am.” I had pockets for holsters inside my pants, as well as two hidden holsters under my jacket. I wasn’t carrying as many as I would on a hunt, but I wouldn’t be unarmed, either. If he tried to pull a fast one, I’d be ready.
He nodded, but I couldn’t tell if he approved or not. “Okay, you’d better be off. We will be right behind you.”
We decided to go separately. I walked while the guys went ahead of me in the car. Oscar and I agreed to reopen the connection he had with me, so he could hear what was going on. Problem was that it wasn’t a two-way connection. So, he agreed to sit in the front corner of the pub, within eyesight of me. He’d signal me when the deed was done, and I could excuse myself.
I rounded the corner to the pub, my hands jammed in my pockets, head down against the chill in the air. Seemed cold for November in Connecticut, but then again, it wasn’t snowing.
The bell above the door jangled as I entered the bar, but no one paid me any mind except Oscar, who was already sitting in the corner, drink in hand. He nodded my way, but I didn’t nod back. I didn’t want anyone to think we were together.
The pub was hopping. I pushed between a pair of jinn as I made my way to the back, the same table I’d sat at with Levi. I ordered a demon blood, smiling when I remembered Levi drinking it.
Promptly at nine, Devlin came through the door. I sat up a little straighter. He ordered a drink on his way to my table and sat down, a cloud of arrogance and negativity descending on my shoulders.
I struggled to keep Sara at the front of my mind as hatred pounded through my veins. Be nice. This is it.
“So, what do you want to know?” he asked as he took off his gloves, never even giving me the grace of making eye contact with me. I didn’t dare glance over at Oscar, even though every ounce of me wanted to. I knew he’d throw me a lifeline, be encouraging. But I couldn’t afford to give him away, or myself for that matter.
“Tell me about the hive,” I said, knowing immediately I was being too general. “Specifically, why you think it’s there, and what harm they’re doing? Or maybe just why you think this hive in particular is related to the plague?”
“Because I’ve seen it,” he answered, finally looking at me, his eyes steady and sure of themselves. He truly believed what he was telling me. Whether or not it was the truth, it was his truth.
“Okay, I need a little more to go on than that. If you’ve seen it, you should be able to tell me exactly what I’m up against, so I can go in as prepared as possible. How many demons are in the hive? What type of demons are there? And just out of curiosity, have you seen the outcome of this? Do you know who wins? When do we win? Do we lose anyone in the process?” I pressed, immersing myself in the situation. This was a business meeting for a hunt. Nothing more.
He stayed silent as a sinister grin spread across his angular face. “I’ve seen, Merry. I’ve seen everything. And yes, I’ve seen who wins this entire battle.”
I narrowed my eyes. “All right, all knowing one. Who wins?”
“Me.”
I sighed, bored of the power struggle he was trying to be in. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t aware you were a player in this particular game.”
“That’s disappointing. I thought you were smarter than that. In fact, I thought Oscar was smarter than that, too. Why isn’t he attending our little meeting? Or did you want to keep it intimate?” The emphasis he put on the word intimate made my skin crawl as that Joker smile returned to his face.
I couldn’t help glancing in Oscar’s direction. But he wasn’t there. Maybe he’d gone to the bathroom—at the worst possible moment.
Oscar. Get back here, I thought to him, hoping it worked that way. Of course, he wasn’t Tempest, and I didn’t get an answer. Nor did I expect one.
“Where did he go?” I asked, deciding it would be foolish to deny he was there in the first place.
“I think he thought better of your little plan and left,” Devlin said as two vampires I’d never seen before walked up on either side of me. “See, you forgot I was a seer. You neglected the fact I would see your little plan play out in front of me like a movie. And that I would be ready for you.”
Suddenly, time froze. The smell of my burning home filled my nose again. I glanced around, frantic to find the source of the odor.
The men flanked me, and had the audacity to try to grab my arms. I laughed internally at their attempt, because I knew something they didn’t—every single one of the blades I’d brought with me was pure silver. After all, I wasn’t fighting demons today. I knew I was up against a know-it-all vampire. One I was about to cut down as soon as I flattened his goons.
The men thought they had a good hold on me, but I just breathed and waited for my moment.
They hauled me out of the seat while Devlin watched with a satisfied look on his face. “It’s cute that you thought you could
outsmart a seer.”
It was time. On my exhale, I threw my body into the man on my left, throwing him off balance, causing him to release me. With my free arm, I grabbed one of my daggers, and sliced it across the neck of the man on my right. I didn’t watch him claw at his throat. Instead, I turned my back to him and jammed the blade into the chest of the man still trying to recover on my left. By the time I turned to face Devlin, both had turned to ash. The pub was quiet for half a breath, but then the music picked back up, and it was like nothing had happened, save for the much wider berth the crowd was giving my table.
“Yes. And I think it’s cute you thought two weak little vampires would overpower me. Now. What exactly is going on?” I put my blade on the table, facing him, my hand gripping the hilt hard. I had half a mind to put the blade right between his eyes. The thought of it made me smile, and I had to grip the handle even harder, just to keep myself from doing it.
A flicker of fear passed over his face. He swallowed, keeping his eyes on the blade. “You would do well not to do anything rash.”
“Rash? You think killing two men who had their hands on me, intending to do whatever you told them to, was rash?” I laughed, but there was no joy in it. It was chaotic and a bit manic, much like the situation.
He glared. “My point was that you shouldn’t act on your hatred of me just yet.”
“Why? Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t. I know you’re behind this. All of it. You’re not smart enough to be the brains of it, but your higher-ups are letting you think you’re in control for some ridiculous reason.” My grip on the handle of the blade tightened even more, until my hand was almost shaking. Almost.
He tipped his head, looking at me with something that resembled respect. “You’re smarter than I thought. Good for you. But your insights still won’t help you. I’ve won.”
“You haven’t won anything. In case you missed it, two of your lackeys have been sent beyond the void.”
“There are plenty more where they came from.”
I sighed, shifting my weight, beyond impatient with him. “Get to the damned point, Devlin.”