Demons Undone: The Sons of Gulielmus Series

by Holley Trent

  “Okay. I trust you.” She closed them.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Gail thought Claude would have responded with relief at having Ruby in his arms, but he seemed to feel the exact opposite.

  The moment he told her to open her eyes, he’d taken Ruby from Marion. Ruby had immediately quieted, but Claude’s expression was red-eyed and panicked and his breathing ragged. Gail wanted to offer him a paper bag to breathe into.

  Marion squatted in front of him. “Claude, what happened?”

  “Wait, please, I’m trying to process Chang’s note. The notes don’t come back on the papers she hands me there. They sort of download into my brain as I wake up. That way I don’t lose the information, and it can’t be taken from me.”

  “Your hesitance doesn’t give me the warm-fuzzies in the slightest bit,” Ellery said. She sat on the bed behind Gail, chafing her sister’s arms.

  “We have a problem,” he said. He didn’t even seem to notice that Ruby was using his ears to try to pull up to standing on his lap. But then, she’d noticed the same thing about Charles, too. Ruby could be downright abusive in her play because she couldn’t help it, but they just tuned out the pain. In fact, Claude had her snuggled protectively inside the crook of his arm as she stood. She wouldn’t fall, and he wouldn’t acknowledge the pain.

  He wouldn’t let anything happen to that little girl. Instinctively, she’d always known that, even when she was shocked in hearing what he’d done. By taking away the seed, as he’d called it, had he also taken away the magic she might have had? Did it matter?

  She didn’t know what she would have felt if Ruby had been hers. Charles and Marion might not have wished for power for their daughter, but that was because they’d never grown up knowing what they were and being a poor example of it. Like she had.

  “We always have problems,” Marion said, “so I’m going to need you to be a little more precise about whose problem it is, specifically, and how much grief it could potentially cause us.”

  “This was completely unexpected. Unlike Maman, I’m not the kind of psychic who’s prone to premonitions, and even if I were, I wouldn’t have believed this, anyway.” He must have finally noticed Ruby’s little feet digging into his thighs, because he picked her up and turned her so he sat on his forearm. She looked like she belonged right there forever, on her little throne. Or maybe, more likely, Claude was suited to always having a child nestled there.

  God. Gail’s shoulders fell and she slumped as her sigh hissed out. Maybe some part of her wanted to be the woman to give him those kids, but her life was so messy. At the rate she was going, she’d never be ready—never be stable enough to give them the kind of home they deserved. Even with what they were, she wanted normalcy. She wanted them to get off the bus every day to find someone at home waiting for them like she and Ellery had as children. She wanted those kids to have routine and predictability. Further, she wanted her children to respect her not just as their mother, but as a confident witch they could seek guidance from. She wasn’t that witch. Her mind was blown hourly by her new friends. Her new family.

  Maybe she’d never be that witch.

  “Spit it out, Claude,” Marion said.

  “I’m trying to. Look, we’re going to have to tell the others immediately, but this is a blow I feel I should deliver in a small audience.” He turned to Gail, and the red in his eyes had pulled back. She always thought she preferred the blue, but that was before she knew what blue looked like when it held pity.

  “What?” she croaked. She didn’t want to know. She was that kind of coward, but she could pretend to hold it together if whatever aggrieved him was as bad as his energy was putting off. His emotions gripped at her heart as if trying to smother it, but not in a sinister way. It was a misguided effort at protection that did more harm that good. “Tell me.”

  He swallowed. “I went into the waiting room to ask Chang if there was anyone there who could help identify the magic user or users who’d been working with Ross. I figured it’d be a long shot, but sometimes I get lucky.”

  “Well?”

  “There was a woman who’d been waiting there for a while for a message taker. Her name was Annie, and in life, she was married to the witch. Ross and that witch have been friends for a number of years, long before he met Annie. Annie said her husband was power-hungry. He took hers until she had nothing left to give. She couldn’t function. Couldn’t feed herself or even move. Then he left her to die.”

  “That’s disturbing, but certainly you’ve seen worse things. What is it that you’re afraid to tell me?”

  Claude handed Ruby over to Marion, and Gail knew then the shoe was about to drop. He would never give up that child as long as she wanted to be with him.

  Nausea soured her mouth, and she took a deep breath. Claude’s shock at the situation was heavy as bricks and her gut. She twirled her ring around, cursing the link it afforded. “Tell me. Just tell me.”

  “Gail, Shaun is a witch.”

  The words didn’t all make sense at once, at least not to Gail.

  “And now I understand why you couldn't tell I was one. He would have drained you dry just like he did Annie. You’re just now bouncing back from it.”

  “Because of you.”

  He nodded. “I believe so. You just needed a jumpstart.”

  Ellery scrambled from behind Gail and stood in front of Claude. “He can’t be. We would have known. Someone in our family would have known.”

  Claude shook his head. “No. Not if he’s purposefully concealing his power the same way I do at times, though I don’t believe he’s strong enough on his own to do that. My gift is a demon trait. He’s getting help.”

  “Ross?” Marion asked.

  “I don’t think Ross is capable of it, either. Because I haven’t met Shaun, I can’t say for sure, but it’s more likely he’s supplementing his power with unconventional means. That would explain how he and Ross were able to knock me on my ass that day.”

  “What do you mean by unconventional means?”

  “Dark stuff. Couple of ways he could manage it. He could be borrowing power, which means he’d need a constant fix. He could be using certain exhaustible charms and gris-gris. It’s hodgepodge magic. He’s using whatever he can find because on his own, he’s not particularly powerful. Worst-case scenario, he’s offered himself up for possession. That would …” He huffed and blew his curls out of his face. “Well, it’d make our situation that much more difficult.”

  “So, Shaun was married before he was with Gail?” Ellery asked.

  Gail was glad that her sister and Marion were asking all the right questions, because suddenly, her tongue had gone leaden with shame.

  How could she have not known? She’d fucked that man for three years and had him around her family. She should have known everything about him. Obviously, she’d known nothing.

  So much about that period of her life was a fog of vagueness. In fact, she couldn’t hardly distinguish one day during that part of her life from the next.

  “His family never said anything about him having another wife. They were all so cheerful and welcoming during the wedding and afterward. They acted like Gail was his first and only.”

  “Of course they would have been,” Claude said. “They’ve been doing this for a long time. Annie thought he may not remember much of what he does because it’s not always him controlling his faculties. That’s why I believe he’s opened himself up to possession. All the earmarks are there. Annie called him the leech. He’d borrow her power without her consent. She grew weaker and weaker, and figured out how he was doing it. She found his spell book and read his notes. He kept tweaking the spells to augment what he could glean at once. He learned to take more and more, and finally left her with nothing.”

  “You said borrow.” Gail finally found her voice. “Borrowing something means you’re going to give it back.”

  “Eventually, we have no choice but to give back what doesn’t belong to us. E
nergy always wants to return home to its owner.”

  “But if the owner is dead…” Marion said.

  Claude nodded. “He probably learned it was possible from his family. They wouldn’t have introduced themselves as witches for that very reason, and they may even have a reputation for dirty magic in other parts of the country. I’m always suspicious when numerous people in the same little family are in positions of power or have extreme wealth.”

  Gail laughed reflexively and it came out sounding brittle. Strained. “That sounds like Shaun’s family, doesn’t it, Ell? All those cops and senators. You can’t swing a cat without hitting one.”

  Claude’s hand seemed impossibly heavy on Gail’s thigh, and his pity railed into her like a runaway freight train.

  How could she have been so fucking stupid? She could have been next.

  Dead. No common sense. Yep.

  “You met him when you were fairly young, Gail.”

  “I was twenty-four. I wasn’t exactly a baby.”

  “It was a trying time,” Ellery interjected. “Dad was sick and we were all just going through the motions of day-to-day life back then. No one expected you to be on your A-game.”

  “Except Gran, right?”

  Ellery sighed. “Look, we know better now. Don’t beat yourself up for things you can’t change and that weren’t your fault.”

  “It’s never my fault, right? Just like it wasn’t Laurette’s fault that she got slaughtered, and …” She fixed her stare on Claude. “Who was before that? How did I get killed in those first three lives we were together? Epic stupidity or just profound uselessness?”

  He squeezed her knee. “Stop it. He probably took a lot from you, so there’s no way to know now what you’re capable of on your own. It’ll take time for those things to come back. I bet you’ll be flying on your own in no time.”

  “Flying?” Ellery asked, and there was a lilt of excitement in her voice, but it was an emotion Gail didn’t feel in return. Whoop-dee-do. Another mostly useless skill, much like being able to peel an apple in ten seconds or apply her makeup in the dark.

  Claude chuckled and rubbed his hand up Gail’s thigh. “That’s right. You weren’t there. She did it out in barn earlier. It was the damnedest thing. I’ve never seen a witch fly. I guess you get it from Agatha, chéri.”

  “Don’t call me chéri,” Gail said in a voice that was barely a whisper. “I don’t deserve it.” Hot tears burned her cheeks and she didn’t bother wiping them away.

  It didn’t matter, because she had plenty and they would just keep coming, anyway.

  He wiped them away with his thumbs. “Gail, it’s not your fault.”

  “Of course it is. I fell for a guy because he was good-looking and had some money to splash around. I was swayed by his charm, but ignored the stench of bullshit. I’m a fucking idiot.”

  “You were conned, Gail,” Ellery said, now crouching beside Marion and butting into Gail’s gaze at the floor. “We were all conned. You can’t take the blame on your own. All of us, including Mom, Dad, and our grandparents, are to blame just as much as you. Like Agatha said, we’ve had our heads in the sand too long and the world has kept moving around us. We may have forgotten how to use our magic, but there are people out there who obviously have never stopped practicing. That’s what we’re up against.”

  Ellery’s words were wise, but Gail found no solace in them.

  She’d brought him home. He’d probably studied her grimoire and knew everything about her family.

  Now he probably even knew which goddess was the fount of their gifts.

  Agatha would likely regret claiming her soon.

  “We need to go tell the others,” Marion said. It seemed to Gail like her voice was being transmitted through an underwater speaker. It was distorted by Gail’s own despair. How could they forgive her for this?

  She understood perfectly well now why Claude wouldn’t allow Ruby the chance to choose how to wield her power if it were going to get her into situations like this. Gail might have done the same the same thing.

  Candy Corn oozed out from under the bed and wound herself around Gail’s legs.

  “Go away,” she whispered. It wasn’t just to the cat, but to everyone. When no one moved, she added, desperately, “Please. Go away.” Now they all stood, slowly. She didn’t look at them to gauge their expressions. She didn’t want any more of their pity.

  Claude was the last to ease away.

  “Chéri—”

  “Don’t call me that.” She fiddled with her ring’s stone, and then tugged at the band. He probably wished he’d never put it on her—that he hadn’t connected them in this permanent way.

  “I’ll never stop calling you that. I’ll be back in a bit.”

  “Don’t hurry.”

  Thankfully, he didn’t try to get the last word. He just stood there in the doorway for a while.

  She didn’t look up.

  He left and closed the door behind him.

  She curled into a ball on the bed, not caring that her shoes were still on or that she’d left several pans of bread in the oven. Someone would get them.

  Candy Corn hopped onto the bed, stepped over Gail’s legs, and turned in a circle at her back.

  “Go away.”

  The cat never listened, but chose right then to start.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Claude leaned over his notes on the kitchen table and tried to concentrate through the miasma that was Gail’s despair, but it was difficult. The longer they were near each other, the harder it would be to extricate their feelings—what was hers from what was his. It wasn’t just the ring and their shared familiar, but just—his love for her. Not for Laurette, but for her. His broken witch.

  He hated that she was hurting and that she thought it was her fault.

  He’d never been used in the way she had been, but as an incubus, he knew a little something about being on the other side of an abusive relationship. Maybe his abuse had always brought his victims pleasure, but it had still sullied them and put that taint on their souls. How many people had he condemned?

  Too many.

  Now, it was like he was experiencing a reflux for all he’d done. He was enduring flagellation for the foul shit he’d done on the behest of his father and his father’s lord. It hurt like a bitch and he’d endure it because he’d been running from karma for too long, but it wasn’t fair that it should be filtered through Gail. It should hit him and him alone. She’d endured enough, not just in this life but in the last.

  The chair to his right groaned against the floor, and Claude looked up to see a face he didn’t expect: Jason’s.

  “Bread smells great, huh?”

  Claude straightened up and smoothed the wrinkles out of his papers. “Gail’s a phenomenal cook.”

  “Phenomenal lady.”

  There must have been something in Claude’s stare that Jason didn’t like, because he put his hands up in a gesture of preemptive defeat.

  “I don’t mean anything by it. I’m not going to swoop in and make trouble for any of you. I didn’t know any of you existed until recently, and I’d like to get back to my old life as soon as possible. Minus the psychic shit.”

  “You’ve always had it?”

  Jason nodded. “I get it from my mother. When I was a kid, we were in pretty rough shape. We weren’t just broke, but poor. Could barely afford the trailer park fees, you know?”

  Claude nodded, but really, he didn’t know. He may have lived hand to mouth, but he had never known hunger. He’d never had any concern about wealth because wealth was for people who had nests to feather. He hadn’t had a nest since he left his mother’s as a young adult.

  “Until recently, my mother worked for one of those phone-a-psychic services, and none of those people were the real deal, you know? They had certain scripts they’d follow depending on the cues the callers gave them, and their goal was to keep the callers on the line as long as possible. More minutes, more money.”
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  “But your mother was the real deal.”

  “Yeah. At first, she didn’t want to give that away. She didn’t want to take the job at all, but I was so young. She couldn’t afford to put me in daycare, and it was the only job she could find at time that was legit that she could do from home. All she needed was a phone. Had to beg, borrow, and steal to get it turned back on so she could start working.”

  “How long did it take for her to start sneaking in real readings?”

  Jason tipped his chair onto its back legs and stared at the ceiling a long while. “She told me a year, but I don’t know if she was being truthful. I think she couldn’t help herself and started doing real readings pretty much immediately. They didn’t fire her for not sticking to the script because so many of her callers came back again and again for new readings. She liked it because it was anonymous and no one could track her down. Well … until that guy.” He rolled his eyes, and Claude didn’t have to guess at whom his distasteful expression was directed. They’d both felt their father enter the room.

  Even as he became increasingly stripped of his power, they’d always sense him nearby. It was in their coding.

  “That’s dirty, even for you,” Claude said to his father. He pushed back from the table, rolled his papers into a tube, and tamped them into his back pocket. He’d been making notes on everything he could find about Shaun to add to the knowledge Annie had imparted. He needed to figure out his weaknesses and if possible, what his association to Ross was. They knew very little about Ross, so it was tough going.

  “How many 1-900 psychics did you have to speak to before you tracked down the woman who bore your son?”

  Papa’s jaw ground side to side. He remained in the deck doorway as if he were afraid to come farther into the kitchen. Claude couldn’t blame him. With all the crosses and other holy objects tacked to the walls, self-preservation would have motivated him to stay outside. As long as he meant the people inside the house no harm, he was perfectly fine.

  Maybe he didn’t trust himself.