by Kay, Sharon
“My queen? May I speak?”
“What?” she snapped, not stopping.
“It is close to dawn, my lady.”
Goddamn it. As a full-blooded vampire, she didn’t have the luxury of walking around during the day. Another defect that, like her lungs, the lily extract had no effect on.
She stopped and huffed out a breath, cursing. She was so close…but her plan was pointless if she was dead. Sunlight was one of the few ways she could die. “We will return tomorrow night.” She took out a transportation amulet to open a portal and whisked the three of them back to her headquarters.
CHAPTER EIGHT
PERCHED HIGH ON A WINDY rooftop, Mathias drew a breath of cold city air. Far above the exhaust and gas fumes at street level, the oxygen here was a smooth burn to his lungs. The vibrant energy of Chicago hummed and glittered under a blanket of falling snow. Beside him, Rhys scanned the buildings across the street.
“This shit beats sappy movies any day, man,” Rhys muttered.
“Damn right.” Mathias would rather patrol a new part of the city any night than sit at home and watch romantic comedies with a bunch of women, despite the half-joking pleas of his beautiful mate. They were called chick flicks for a reason. “See anything?”
“Nada.” Rhys rubbed a hand over his jaw. “City’s been quiet lately.”
“That’s usually right before things go crazy.” Mathias had accompanied Rhys to Chicago’s north side. The males in the big house rotated nights and routes, checking for any supernaturals who weren’t supposed to be there.
“This route sees a lot of fairies, with all those bars.” Rhys tugged his black knit cap tighter over his nearly-buzzed hair. “Though nearby was ground central for that Neshi outbreak last fall.”
Mathias nodded. “Which way?”
Rhys inclined his head. “East. We crisscross the area as we head north and end up back home. Well, you will.” He walked to the fire escape and started down the ten story building. “I may find a cute fairy to go home with.”
“Better you than me.” Mathias followed his friend down to the third floor, where they both jumped the remainder of the way. Landing on fresh snow in an alley, they jogged to the street.
Both wearing leather jackets and jeans, with weapons concealed, they blended in with any humans who happened to be out in the wee morning hours. Nearing a bar, the strains of a crowd of drunken voices sang, broadcasting as loudly as if they were on the street, due to the Lash enhanced hearing. Some song about closing time. The door burst open and two female water sprites stumbled out, all giggles and long blond hair.
“Oooh, hiiiii!” They cooed in unison, slip-sliding into Rhys. “Wanna go to our after-party?”
“Watch your steps, ladies.” Rhys caught one in each arm. They came up to his biceps. “Gotta be careful on the snow.”
“We have boots.” One raised her foot to show her knee-high, heeled leather boot, lifting her leg high enough that her short skirt bunched up around her hips.
“Whoa, careful, sweetheart.” Rhys grabbed her foot and lowered it. “Keep those panties covered. Not every man is a good guy.”
The other sprite made her way to Mathias. “I bet you’re really good,” she purred, rubbing her body against his hip.
“My mate can tell you exactly how good I am.” He picked her up and set her a few feet away. “Sorry ladies, we have somewhere we have to be.”
Disinterested in Mathias, the two females hung on Rhys, who typed their numbers into his phone. “Call you later, darlins.” Then he swatted them both on their barely-covered bottoms and walked away with Mathias.
“Sprites are the same, no matter the realm,” Mathias muttered.
“And that’s a wonderful thing, old man,” Rhys said with a shit-eating grin.
They slowed at a corner, avoiding the wet splash of slush from a speeding cab. The hair on Mathias’s neck stood up. He inhaled.
Rhys cocked his head. “What?”
Mathias’s nose was keener than any other Lash. And right now, something was off. The scent of garbage hung in the air, which most demons would chalk up to the usual dumpsters along a street peppered with bars and restaurants.
But this scent was more of a teasing note that he couldn’t grab on to, rather than the strong identifiers that he usually detected. This one was being suppressed with magic. “Smell that?”
Rhys shook his head. “Nothing special. Just fast food garbage, human piss, and fae. What do you smell?”
“I’d say Deserati. But I’m not getting the full effect. It’s cloaked and there’s another element along with it.”
“A cloaked Deserati?” Rhys frowned and pulled out his phone. “Better not be more of Xavier’s cousins.” He scrolled across the screen, then hit a button. Kai picked up right away.
“What’s up?” Kai asked, his voice clearly audible to Mathias. The blond Watcher was patrolling the south side of the city tonight.
“You’re friends with a Deserati female who’s stationed here, right?”
“Yeah. Miranda. Why?”
“Ask her if she knows of any other Deserati demons in the city. The Hunter here detected one who’s cloaking.”
“Okay. Call ya right back.”
Rhys shrugged. “Keep following the trail while we wait to hear back from him?”
Mathias nodded, unable to shake the trepidation crawling up his spine. Though powerful, many Deserati were well-intended and kept to themselves. Unfortunately, some had been swayed to the dark side, resulting in the recent death-by-fire for their local leader, Xavier. He’d been one of Elegia’s lieutenants. Who knew how far his reach spread?
Mathias and Rhys headed east, passing closed businesses and a handful of humans. The elevated trains rumbled overhead, causing a fine layer of rust to sift down from the hundred-year-old iron supports.
Mathias continued to analyze the odd aspect of the scent. It resembled motor oil. But he couldn’t isolate that to the Deserati, not yet, since they were in the thick of busy city streets. And with over a million vehicles registered to the city, motor oil was a common smell.
Rhys phone trilled. “Yo, Kai.”
“Miranda says she doesn’t know of any others here, cloaking or not. But several of her kin have gone missing in the last few weeks.”
Rhys shot Mathias a look. Kidnappings had increased on Torth too. “Well, shit. We’ll keep on it. I’ll let you know if it’s interesting.” He ended the call.
“Can you tell how many there are?” Rhys asked.
“Normally yes, but this cloaking spell is heavier than most.” Mathias stalked next to his friend, boots crunching on the salted streets.
After a few blocks, the scent trail led them north to an industrial area. A Doberman barked from behind a chain link fence. Puffs of air from its snout formed tiny clouds that dissipated in seconds. Low, enormous warehouses lined the streets, their dock bays closed. A lone truck sat idling in a parking lot.
Inhaling, Mathias could tell the Deserati scent was more recent here. Mixed with it was the smells of the materials inside the buildings: rubber, machine oil, solvents, gasoline…
Normal things to smell on a city street lined with warehouses.
But still, warnings screamed like sirens in his mind.
They followed the Deserati trail out of the industrial area and through a neighborhood of modest brick bungalows. Still, the cloak remained in place. And still, the scent of motor oil was woven through it.
“You know that other element of the scent I mentioned?” Mathias asked.
“Yeah. Figure it out?”
“Yeah. I know we’re in the city, but it smells like motor oil.”
Rhys frowned. “How do you know it’s not the hundreds of cars and trucks we’ve passed?”
“Because it’s been constant. On every block. It doesn’t get stronger and then fade, then grow strong again when we pass a different car.”
“Are they in a car?”
Mathias shook his head. �
��No. There’s no accompanying smell of gasoline, exhaust, or rubber from the tires. I’m certain they’re on foot.”
“Why would Deserati carry motor oil?”
“Exactly.”
Rhys cast a glance at the gray-purple sky of the city, which never turned completely black due to all the city lights. “Maybe it’s not motor oil.”
“Yeah?” Mathias eyed his friend. “What smells like motor oil but isn’t motor oil?”
“Dude.” Rhys stopped in the middle of the street, brown eyes glinting in the street light. “Some explosives smell like motor oil.”
“Explosives?” His heart rate sped up, wondering how Rhys knew this but not wanting to stop the hunt. Usually the Lashs’ demonfire was enough to incinerate anything; they didn’t need accelerants or charges.
Rhys nodded. “Yeah, like C4.”
Mathias shot him a glance, but broke into a jog. “Shit.”
Rhys matched his pace. “I worked with a human group in Washington DC a while back. Covert ops shit. They blew stuff up all the time. I learned the smells of different charges, different ammo. I’d be able to tell you for sure, if it wasn’t being cloaked.”
The scent continued to take them north, to the gothic architecture of the local Big Ten university. A huge population within a few acres…were the Deserati planning an attack on the school?
They crossed campus in a heartbeat. The Deserati demons hadn’t stopped here. The trail kept going. North.
Toward the Lash demons’ home.
Toward Gin.
Mathias’s trepidation morphed into hard-edged rage. “This is too close to home. Too close to the girls.” Phone still in hand, he dialed Gunnar.
“What up, Hunter?” Gunnar drawled. Computer-generated gunfire echoed from the room.
“Check the perimeter of the house.”
The sounds of the video game ceased.
“We’re tracking what we believe to be one or more cloaked Deserati demons. We’ve followed them north, out of the city, past Northwestern University’s campus, and they may be near you soon.”
“We’re on it.” Gunnar’s voice was gruff. “Fuckers better not—”
“There’s more. They may have explosive charges.”
“What the fuck?”
“I can’t tell for sure because of the cloaking spell.”
“Shit. Okay, Bren’s already outside.”
“We’re on our way.” Mathias ended the call as he and Rhys hurtled toward the tree-lined street full of stately old homes.
Nicole gasped and leaned forward on the couch in the movie room as if all the air had whooshed out of her lungs. A shot of rage-fueled panic poured down the mate bond she shared with Gunnar.
On the opposite couch, Gin’s eye went saucer wide and her jaw dropped. “Oh my god!” Her glass of soda fell to the carpet, splashing ice cubes and fizzy liquid.
Brooke jumped up from her seat next to Nicole, looking wildly from one sister to the other. “What’s going on? Are you guys hurt?”
“S-something’s wrong. There’s some kind of danger com—” Nicole shot off the couch as Gunnar appeared in the doorway. She flew into his arms, pressing as close as she could. “You’re scaring the crap out of me. What’s going on?”
“We need to go. There may be hostile Deserati demons nearby, cloaking themselves.”
“What?” Brooke and Gin gasped.
Brooke paused the movie. “How can they get close to us? And why don’t I feel...” She looked at Nicole and Gin. “Whatever you guys are feeling from your men?”
“Kai’s patrol was on the far west side tonight. He’s on his way here now, but he didn’t know about this until a minute ago. Mathias is the one who picked up on it and he just called in.” Gunnar held Nicole close. “And I don’t know how they can track us, or find us.”
“Oh my god, I feel it now. Holy shit.” Brooke wrapped her arms around her waist. “His emotions are screaming for us to get out.”
“I second that. Let’s move.” Gunnar turned Nicole around to face the door.
“We can fight.” Nicole said as they exited the room. “With three of us, they wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“It’s too risky. I need to get you girls out.”
“Don’t go all Neanderthal on me.” Nicole glared at him, but she couldn’t maintain it. Devastating concern in his bright blue eyes washed away her moment of defiance and she knew there was more to the story. “What else?”
“They may have explosives.” His voice snarled with barely-contained fury.
“Explosives?” Nicole echoed his words in a stunned whisper.
“Are we immune to that?” Gin asked. As the last one to accept her power, she had the most to learn about their limits.
“I don’t think any of us are immune to fire.” Gunnar raked a hand through his hair. “Unless you can take our demonfire and use it as a shield…but if everything around us blows up and debris is falling back down…no. We have to leave.”
Nicole nodded as all the possibilities zoomed through her mind. Gunnar was right.
“Couldn’t Gin extinguish any fire?” Brooke asked.
“Yes, but I can’t put brick and mortar back together, or keep it from crushing us.” Gin rubbed her sternum.
“Out.” Gunnar ordered.
They hurried up the stairs from the lower level and met Brenin when they reached the kitchen. Snow dusted his long blond hair. “I can’t smell a thing, can’t hear anything either. But that makes sense if they’re cloaking.”
Gunnar strode to the hooks along the back wall and grabbed each sister’s coat. He pushed the bundle at Nicole and then turned to Brenin. “Rilan?”
“Right here.” The Elder hurried in. “No time to do a location spell on them. We need to trust the Hunter. Better to be safe than sorry.”
“Where are we going?” Brooke pulled on the boots she’d left at the kitchen’s rear door.
“Outside and as far from the house as possible. Let’s move.” Brenin held the door to the back yard wide as the girls shrugged into their coats. They filed out and headed for the vehicles parked behind the home.
Nicole pressed close to Gunnar as they walked across the snow, infinitely glad for his physical presence. Gin and Brooke dialed their mates on their phones, as they were too far away to speak through their mental link.
Gunnar, Brenin, and Rilan wore furious scowls, adding reality to Nicole’s disbelief. Demon Central had always seemed like an impenetrable fortress. This can’t really be happening, right? This is just a precaution. Has to be. She looked up at Gunnar. “Do you really think—”
A sharp whistle screamed through the air, growing louder.
As one, the group looked up into night sky.
“I can’t see anything in the dark! What is it?” Nicole yelled.
“A projectile, heading this way.” Gunnar pointed to the southern sky. “At ten o’clock, baby. I need to you to send it somewhere else. Now.” Urgency vibrated through their bond.
“Oh my god. Okay.” Nicole blinked, summoning every ounce of her affinity to wind, and sent a gale force blasting up from the ground. The snow reversed direction, flying up, along with the girls’ hair and a flurry of leaves and small branches.
“Woo-hoo! Go, Nic!” Brooke shrieked over the wind.
“I’m sending it up!” Nicole screamed. She couldn’t see and still had to keep the thing away from the homes that packed the area. Shit. Where is it? She asked Gunnar.
You did it! It changed direction, heading up. Keep doing what you’re doing. Ah, fuck.
What? she asked.
There’s another one. Can you handle both?
You know it! Nicole split her focus as she’d done numerous times before, guiding the first projectile with half of her ability and with the other half, forcing the new one to change direction.
Got it! Gunnar said. You’re doing great.
Nicole was dimly aware that the yard had become a mess of swirling debris, but she kept her focus o
n juggling the two missiles, or whatever they were. She guided them to the east, where Lake Michigan stretched a few miles away. I’m sending them out over the lake, she told Gunnar.
Good, because we’ve got one more.
Shit! Once again, she sent a surging air current up, high into the dark night. I still can’t see these things.
Doesn’t matter. You’re doing great. You got this. Pride flowed through the mate bond, tempering the danger.
Nicole smiled and directed the third missile east, toward the lake. Any more?
Gunnar paused a heartbeat before answering. No. But be ready just in case.
Nicole released the wind and sagged into Gunnar’s strong arms. Adrenaline rushed through her veins, leaving her wobbly.
“Oh my god, that was amazing!” Gin popped up from her spot behind one of the black Cadillac Escalades.
“Seriously cool, sis,” Brooke called from where she’d avoided the flying debris behind another Escalade. Rilan was with her, and Brenin jogged to the perimeter of the yard.
Footsteps scattered snow at the side of the house, just as Gin shrieked, “Mathias!”
Her sister’s mate barreled across the snowy ground to Gin, wrapping her up tightly in his arms.
Rhys joined them. “You guys all okay?” His attention darted between Brooke and Rilan.
“We’re fine. Got out with about thirty seconds to spare,” Brooke said. “Nicole kicked ass.”
“Mother fuckers. I mean, that’s cool, Nicole, but still. The situation is shitty as fuck.” Rhys tore off his black knit cap and scrunched it up in his hands. “Goddamn it.”
“Did you lose the Deseratis?” Gunnar asked.
“They took a turn to the east.” Rhys muttered. “We were heading that way when Mathias heard the first projectile. We ran here.”
“It flew so fast!” Nicole said. “How? What’d they use?”
“Possibly their own hands, or tails.”
When she stared at him, uncomprehending, he went on. “The black lily extract.”
“Oh shit.” She covered her mouth with her hand and looked up at Gunnar. “That would give them the strength to fling it faster, and farther, with accuracy?”