by Noree Cosper
“You’re in a good mood,” I said. “How is your hand?”
“I’d probably be in agony, but the pills they gave me are awesome.” He grinned and wiggled the fingers of his casted hand. “And I can still be a little useful. Watch.”
His hand brushed my cheek, and a small scrape I’d gotten from the fight the night before. A warm tingle spread through my face. My fingers ran across my smooth cheek. He grinned.
“Only little stuff, so try not to be yourself,” he said.
He stepped past me to inspect the counter. A loud smack echoed through the room followed by a sting that erupted from my right butt cheek. I turned to glare at him, my hand clenching in a fist. He sidestepped out of my reach and winked at me. His gaze drifted over the food.
He sighed. “I could really go for some mici or even good sliade from home. What about you, Adrian? Are you too accustomed to American fare?”
“Pot and kettle,” Adrian said.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Tres asked.
“Your choice in women. Your hunter instincts are horrible.”
Tres glared at him, his face turning a bright red.
“We all make mistakes,” Esais spoke up. “He’ll know better next time.”
“Right,” Tres smirked. “Now I’ll have to do a background check on every girl I date.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Jonah said. “I could arrange that.”
I coughed to cover the laugh at the look of dread on Tres’s face and held up my plate. “Shall we eat?”
“Yes, I’m starving.” Lucy set her plate, piled to a peak with meat and rice, on the table.
“Speaking of our guests.” Esais sat across from me. “How long do we plan to keep them against their will?”
“Until we find a way to cure them.” I took a large bite, savoring the warm roasted chicken and spices.
“If that’s possible,” Jonah said.
Esais frowned, his eyebrows furrowing. “There isn’t another way?”
“We could let them go, become possessed and be forced to kill them. This way, at least they have the protections of the office.” I turned to Jonah. “So, what have you found out?”
He cleared his throat and patted his mouth with a handkerchief. “As I said, both samples of the drugs contained brimstone. They looked to be from the same formula.”
“It has to be Faust,” I said. “What have you found from our guests?”
“The Brimstone has been changing their physiology, metaphysically that is.”
Adrian frowned. “How do you mean?”
“I doubt it could be something any physician would be able to see. For instance, they all display severe allergic reactions to holy water, but all normal ingredients that are in holy water give no reaction.”
“I think I said it before, but it’s weakening their souls,” I said. “Probably how they can be possessed so easily.”
Jonah nodded.
“I believe the change is allowing them to become malleable for the demons to change their form.” He stared at the wall, his gaze growing distant. “Now we have the possibility of this becoming an international incident. What can you tell me about this company?”
Adrian straightened and began going over what we’d learned. My phone vibrated from the pocket of my jeans and “Wandering Star” echoed through the room. I gave an apologetic smile in response to the glare Adrian shot me and stepped out into the foyer. John’s name flashed across the screen.
“Hey,” I said, the warmth I felt coming out in my voice. “I was just starting to miss you.”
“I need to see you.” He spoke the words in a shaky rush. “I think I may be in trouble.”
A chill ran up my spine. “What’s wrong?”
“Not over the phone. In person.”
“All right? Do you want me to meet you at your hotel?”
“No, some place public. Rubello’s in twenty minutes.”
He hung up, and I stared down at my phone, trying to shake the sick feeling rising in my stomach. He’d sounded desperate, like a man out of options. Something had gone wrong. I just hoped it wasn’t something that would snowball into a disaster.
Chapter 32
I took the small set of stairs down to the darkened bar and wrinkled my nose at the stench of old cigarettes mixed with fresh ones. Rubello’s was one of the few places in New York where smoking was allowed inside. It had something to do with it being called a Cigar bar. Lucy had explained it to me a few nights ago, during our patrol of different clubs, but I’d only half paid attention. John waited for me at the bar with a lit cigarette in his hand. I sat beside him, clasping my hands together on the counter. He didn’t look up from his whiskey glass.
“Since when do you smoke?” I asked.
“I needed something for my nerves.” He glanced behind him with narrowed eyes. “Is there anyone here who is a blasphemer?”
I raised an eyebrow. “A what?”
He waved his hand in a circular motion with his palm up. “Someone using the drug.”
“Oh. Interesting term.”
I glanced around. The booths along the wall were filled. Men and women in business suits chatted and laughed over salads and glasses of wine. The world faded around me and a pop went off behind my eyes. I blinked at the myriad of hues that shifted around the patrons. Some of the auras touched and blended with each other, all were slightly muddied from inebriation, however none held the corrosion effect of Blasphemy. I turned my attention to John. A dark anxious red mixed with a muddied gray of fear swirled around him. Whatever this was, it had him pretty bad.
“They’re clean,” I said.
He let a huge sigh, and his shoulders slumped.
“What’s this about?”
“Cambione’s after me. I think he’s sent several of his flunkies to follow me.”
My heart pounded in my ears, and my chest tightened. “Are you sure? How can you tell?”
“I’ve seen the same people hovering for the last couple of days.”
“Are any here now?”
He shook his head.
I shook my head. “That’s really strange. Why you? I mean, I was the one who had a direct confrontation. He should be after me.”
“Yeah, well maybe he knows about us.”
I swallowed, my mouth dry. “I’ve put you in danger.”
He gave me a faint smile. “It’s all right. I knew what I was getting into.”
“Could it have been whoever gave you the information?”
John shook his head. “The thaumaturgist I talked to tries to stay away from demons. It had to be Faust. He knew me from the conference and after I’ve been looking into your whole Raina Adrian thing, he’s probably not too pleased.”
I straightened. “Did you find anything out?”
“Of course that’s what you’d want to know in all this.” He drained his whiskey glass in one swallow. “Not a whole lot you couldn’t find out if you knew how to use the internet. He used to work for Erebus.”
“That’s the main company for Acesco, right?”
“Yeah, big on weapons and tech. Their president started to branch out and bought a few other companies about a decade back. Anyway, interesting bit of information I did find, Adrian got put on some sort of special project with Raina. That is until he ran off with some company secrets and got involved with arms dealing.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “What was the name of the project?”
“Apotheosis.”
“Like deification? What were they working on?”
He shrugged. “Who knows? The rest you’re going to have to find out for yourself. I’ve got other problems.”
The bartender stopped in front of us and pointed to John’s empty glass. “You want another?”
John laughed. “Sure. It might be my last.”
I frowned at him as my chest tightened again. “Don’t say things like that.”
He shook his head. “Why not? My best bet is to make sure th
e bastard is dead.”
“Then we’ll kill him.”
“Do you know where he is? I sure as hell don’t and it’s probably not the best idea for me to go looking for someone who’s out to get me.”
“I’ll find him and get his attention,” I said. “You lay low.”
He snorted. “I don’t think that will work. He’s already set his sights on me. I doubt he’ll just let me go.”
“I don’t think he’s that relentless.”
John gulped down his new drink and muttered. “It’s too late.”
He really wasn’t giving this one up. “Then come back to the office with me. We have protections.”
He made a face. “As much as I’m sure the Van Helsings would love putting me up, I’d rather not be a sitting duck. I’ll just lay low, keep moving.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I won’t be able to protect you if I don’t know where you are.”
He laid his hand on top of mine. “I’ll call you to let you know I’m all right.”
I nodded, looking at his hand. It shook ever so slightly and felt light, like it was disappearing, and I wouldn’t be able to hold onto it. I’d gotten John involved in this, and now I couldn’t keep him safe. No, I could. I just had to do what I did best. Kill the demon who threatened what I cared about.
“I can at least get you somewhere safe,” I said.
He shook his head. “Sorry, but you have this habit of attracting the wrong kind of attention. Just kill him. Soon, Gabby.”
I stood and pulled my hand away. Any words I wanted to say wouldn’t leave my constricted throat. I jammed my hands into my pockets and clenched them into fists as I headed for the stairs that lead outside. I wouldn’t—no, couldn’t—fail John. He’d put himself on the line so many times for me. He’d more than repaid me for saving his life when we first met and hadn’t asked for anything except for a little love in return. I needed to start checking the hotels in town. Cambione had to be set up in another one. Once I’d found him, I would end his wretched existence, save John, and free Marge.
I glanced back to see a tall man in a long coat. He walked with a pace that matched mine but stayed several yards behind me. How long had he been there? He hadn’t been at the bar. I must have picked him up somewhere along the way.
John was right.
I always seemed to attract the wrong kind of attention.
Chapter 33
I sped up my pace and turned the corner. Thanks to John’s paranoia we’d met somewhere public, leaving me without my sword again. A dagger rested in a sheath in my boot, covered by my jeans. My jacket concealed the stake on my back hip. I had a couple of Adrian’s garlic pellets and some holy water. Not a whole lot to work with. I let out a sigh. I really missed the old days where I could vanquish a demon with a few well-enunciated words. Thanks to the Brimstone, that was all but impossible in this city.
I turned a corner, pausing at a newsstand, and then quickened my pace. He’d been joined by a friend. I slipped past a family of five and darted down the stairs into a subway station. The reek of unwashed bodies and old urine surrounded me. My throat closed up, and my heart raced. People huddled at the platform as they waited for the next train. In a panic, they could crush me, and I would have no chance to get away. I doubted anyone would stop my stalkers if they wished to grab me. I needed to get a good look at them and didn’t plan on dragging them around the city.
My mouth moved as I counted to ten silently and joined the crowd. The two men slipped down the stairs and moved to stand behind me at an angle. I glanced at them out of the corner of my eye. One was staring at me. No good. I didn’t want to let on I knew they were following me just yet. The train pulled up, and the doors slid open. I followed the crowd in while making sure I would be in the same car as them. They stepped in right before the door closed.
I stared at the floor and let the colors of the people surrounding me wash over. Waves of blue pushed against greys, reds, and orange. I raised my eyes until the men were in my sight. The void around them sucked in the colors from the humans. Shifting shadows obscured their faces and body.
“Esais,” I called mentally. “I have two vampires following me. I could use a little assistance.”
Every minute I waited, my unease grew. He never took this long. I rubbed my closed eyelids. He’d really picked the most inconvenient times to make himself unavailable again. Tres and Adrian were in no condition to help. It looked as though I would have to handle this on my own. Thank God I’d thought to bring a stake. Now to get them somewhere private.
As the train slowed to a stop, I pushed my way past several bodies to the door. It slid open, and I rushed out. With a long breath, I headed to the stairs. The wind hit me full in the face, stinging my nose and cheeks, and I wrapped my jacket tighter around myself as I hurried down the sidewalk. Moments later, the vampires emerged from below. The taller one stuck his hands in his pockets and searched the milling people. Our gazes met, and I turned away, quickening my pace.
I scanned the buildings. There. The narrow alley across the street would work. I jogged over with my hands jammed in my pockets, kicking aside the bits a trash that rolled in the wind. The sickly sweet tang of garbage hovered in the back of my throat as I came to an L-shape end about twenty feet down. I turned the corner and pulled my knife from my boot and a garlic pellet from my pocket. Footsteps drew closer. A skittering can echoed in the air, followed by the sound of shushing. I counted to ten and tossed the pellet.
“Shit!” one of them yelled.
I pulled my stake out and rushed around the corner at them. The taller one was bent over, heaving, while the other had his back to the wall and was waving his hand in front of his face. I moved in front of the tall one and slammed my knee into his face. He staggered back. I jammed the stake toward his chest, but he pushed it aside with his arm. The other grabbed me from behind and threw me into the wall. My back exploded in pain, and I tumbled to the ground. The taller vampire pounced. I rolled out of the way and came up in a crouch with my dagger raised. They moved closer cautiously. Strange. Neither seemed willing to pull their guns. Were they actually worried about attracting attention?
The shorter one moved behind the dumpster and shoved it toward me. It came flying at me with the screech of metal against concrete. I dove to the side and right into the tall vampire. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest. I struggled against him as my feet lifted off the ground, my breath coming in ragged gasps. He sank his fangs in my neck, and I screamed. A burning sensation raced through my veins and my head began to spin. A chill crept though my skin and down my bones. I had to get free, but I couldn’t get my arms to move.
“Hey, lay off man. They said not to hurt her too much,” the shorter one said. “Ms. Benson’s gonna be pissed if you eat her.”
The taller one pulled away with a satisfied gulp. Now that his teeth were out of me, the chill receded and feeling returned to my fingers. I flipped the knife around in my hand and buried it in his arm. He screamed, and his grip loosened enough for me to squirm out. I landed on my feet, spun around, and jammed the stake into his heart. The vampire vanished into fading shadow and cold. I turned and hopped away before the shorter one could attack. Not that I needed to worry. His mouth hung agape in surprise at the death of his partner. His eyes narrowed, and he hissed at me, baring his fangs.
I snorted. “Really? You’re going the cliché route now?”
His sneer turned into a grin as he glanced behind me. I spun, but I was too late. A giant meaty hand encircled my arm. He loomed over me, thicker than both the tall vampire and short vampire put together. He wasn’t fat though, it was all hard muscle and a barrel chest. His grin spread across his craggy face.
“She’s a fighter, eh?” He didn’t take his eyes off of me.
“She just killed Charlie,” the short one said with a whine to his tone.
“He was sloppy.”
I brought my knife up to stab him in his eye. He c
aught my arm and twisted. A snap reverberated through the alley, followed by my scream. He swung me around and sent me stumbling into the brick building. My now broken arm slammed into the wall and sent a shot of white hot throbbing through me. I panted, swallowing the rising nausea. The walking mountain approached me with a swagger. No man should be that big.
The world went grey, and I gasped when I saw the true form. There should have been a shadow, a thing with no soul, but there wasn’t. Instead, a giant, green gorilla approached me, using his elongated arms to propel him forward. I was up against a demon possessed vampire. This night just couldn’t get any better.
I ducked from his grab and danced around him. No way in all Seven Thrones of Hell would I let him trap me with my back against the wall. I swallowed hard and forced the pain into a tiny part in the back of my mind. I had to somehow get in close enough to stake him while avoiding those giant arms.
The short vampire hovered in my peripheral, trying to get a good shot in. I stepped back to the intersection so I could have a good view of both. The giant roared and charged me. I ducked, but the other one leapt in my path and tackled my legs. My hands scraped against the concrete, and the stake slipped from my grasp. The force jarred my broken arm, sending rivets of agony through it. The demon stopped from a full run, grabbed me by my hair, and slammed my face into the concrete.
White light burst in my eyes. I groaned and brought my hand to the place where he had me. I tried to pry his fingers apart, but his grip was an iron vise. I jerked my head forward, and a sting spread across the back of my head as some of my hair was ripped out. It still wasn’t enough. He had too much.
“You’re only hurtin’ yourself, girlie,” he said.
He slammed me against the ground again. Blood welled up in the cuts the street left on my forehead. My nose broke under the pressure. I panted and pulled harder at my hair. I had to get away. I couldn’t be trapped. Trapped meant a continuous death, lost in darkness and cold.
He sighed and yanked me toward him. I slammed into the back of his chest, sandwiched by his huge bicep. One hand came over my mouth and nose, blocking all air. I slammed my fists against him, ignoring the agony to my broken arm. My eyes fluttered, and a floating sensation came over me.