Demon Underground (2)

by S. L. Wright

  “He’s letting you think that. He could make you cut off your own nose, and you’d think it was your idea.”

  I raised one brow. “Come on, Shock.”

  “I hate seeing him make a puppet out of you. And you don’t even see it. Ram is the ultimate demon killer. Don’t you think he likes the idea of a modern-day witch hunt? You’re doing his dirty work for him.”

  “I don’t want anybody to get hurt.” But visions of the ragged eighteenth-century mob rushing at Plea were haunting. Bones being pushed in to close up the walls around me . . . and suddenly I remembered emerging from the catacombs, into a cool clear day with a sky so intensely blue that Plea simply stood there laughing, her head back as she stared into the sky. Free.

  She had almost died down there; I could feel it like my own recent bout with mortality.

  I had condemned Ram for killing his offspring’s offspring, but wasn’t I just as culpable by putting other demons at risk?

  It was too late now.

  Like my doubts sprung to life, Shock said, “You’ve ruined everything.” She stared at me like she hardly knew me. “Everyone knows I’m not your real sister. They’re asking questions at work. There were two reporters outside my house. I’m going to have to sneak in the back way to get back in.”

  “Shock! I’ll say whatever you want. I didn’t mean for you to get caught up in this.”

  “What did you think would happen? Last night my partner kept joking with me about my ‘demon sister.’ I told him you’ve got multiple personality disorder, but he’s started looking at me weird.” For the first time, Shock shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not good at the warm-and-fuzzy feelings. Sometimes they call me the Ice Lady. They know I’m different, deep down, but they could push it away and ignore it until you dragged everything out in the open.”

  “I’m sorry. I feel awful, Shock.”

  “I don’t see how that does me any good. I’m putting my house on the market. I’ve already quit my job. I’ll stay somewhere else until I figure out what I’m going to do.”

  “Stay here,” I said faintly. “I want to make it up to you.”

  “I’m not coming anywhere near you until you fix this mess, Allay. Tell everyone it was a publicity stunt to get customers for your bar. Tell them you set it up with a special effects studio. Tell them DreamWorks did a con job on them. I don’t care what you tell them! Just fix it. Now.”

  “You want me to lie to everyone?”

  “They don’t believe you anyway! They think you’re a nut job. If you don’t retract it, it’s going to get worse. Much worse, mark my words.”

  She was already stepping onto the ladder. Her aura wasn’t flaming as brightly now that, having told me off, she figured I would fall in line and do as she said, as usual. Bliss and I watched her climb all the way to the top and through the opening. She never looked back as she left.

  For the first time, I felt like I had made a huge mistake. I had considered what outing myself would do to me, but clearly I had underestimated what it would do to my family and everyone else around me.

  “Shall I go lock up?” Bliss was apparently not bothered by the fact that Shock hadn’t acknowledged her in any way.

  “Thanks. Could you? My knees are a little shaky.” I sat down on one of the green linoleum chairs and leaned back in the generous curve, as Bliss neatly climbed the ladder and pulled down the skylight.

  “I remember this pin,” she said from up above, carefully sliding it into the holes. “Ram took it out so he could make a quick escape after he killed Shock. But you interrupted him. Then he got back in this way, and tried to kill her again. That’s what made you go to Vex to get help.”

  “I was trying to save Shock,” I agreed. I had been ready to do anything, even give my own life if I had to.

  Bliss jumped lightly back down. “Maybe Shock forgot about that.”

  “She blames me for bringing Ram inside in the first place.” I watched her use the broom to stuff the ladder back into the slot under the skylight. “Bliss, tell me something. Do you think I should denounce what I said? Take it all back? Disappear without a trace and become someone new?”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “Because everyone is telling me I’m being an idiot, that I should slink away with my tail between my legs.”

  Bliss wrinkled her nose. “That doesn’t sound like fun.”

  I shook my head. She certainly looked at the world through a narrow lens. Maybe it was easier that way.

  I was saved from answering by the sound of a cell phone ringing downstairs. “That’s mine,” Bliss said, darting away.

  I shook my head after her. Bliss had taken the time to get a cell phone. Surely I should do the same. I needed a way for the important people to reach me.

  Bliss called me downstairs. The noise from the crowd outside was louder now, with more raucous laughter, more shouting going on. The shadows moving in the back had multiplied. I could almost hear the drums beating in the distance, driving on the hunters. And I was the prey.

  Bliss showed me she had her finger over the speaker hole. “It’s for you. It’s Dread.”

  I stopped in my tracks. Then forced myself to meet her and take the phone. “What do you want?”

  “You’ve been a busy girl, Allay.” For a second, I thought he had found out that I had kidnapped Cherie. But that was old news now. “The pictures don’t do you justice.”

  “You like resurrections, so I thought you’d appreciate it.” Not. But I figured I might as well be flippant. I didn’t need to explain anything to Dread of all people.

  “I could tell you had a death wish the first time I met you. You told Vex to fuck off when he ordered you to serve as my drop-off. You really thought you could say no. Vex made you, he owned you, and now that he’s dead, I own you.”

  “I know Vex ordered Revel to kill Plea to make a hybrid.” There was silence on the other end, as if Dread was surprised I knew that but he didn’t want to admit it. “I think I’ve proven that nobody owns me.”

  After a moment, Dread said, “You do realize this is the end for you.”

  I was chilled by his tone, and very glad we weren’t having this conversation face-to-face. “You do realize this phone is bugged, don’t you, Prophet Anderson?”

  There was a tinge of admiration in his voice. “I’m going to enjoy this. See you soon, Allay.”

  The line went dead. He actually thought I got the police to put a tracer on Bliss’s phone!

  “Uh-oh,” I told Bliss. “I think I turned him on.”

  “He does love that fear.” She took her phone back. “I wonder how he got my number.”

  “Savor probably gave it to him.” She nodded, so I knew that Savor was one of the first people to get her number. “At least I don’t have to worry about Dread sending an assassin. He’ll want to kill me himself so he can get off on it.” I grimaced at the ugly thought. Dread’s cage had been bad enough once. I’d felt such helpless rage when his henchwoman had burned Theo. . . .

  Dread could do the same thing to Lolita. Or Pepe, or one of my patrons. It could turn out to be the same horror show all over again.

  With a crash, glass exploded into the back of the bar. Someone had thrown a rock through the window. The yelling was much louder now.

  Bliss had ducked her head, but her eyes were shining. She grinned when I looked up. “Exciting, huh?”

  “You could call it that.” We both flinched as someone hit the metal shutter out front. Then Bliss laughed.

  “Aren’t you afraid?” I asked.

  “What are they going to do, kill me? I’d just come back to life. It’s not like they’re going to nuke the bar.”

  “But what about other demons? They could kill you.”

  “Oh, that’s inevitable.” She waved it off. “It’s just a matter of when. So why worry about it? Make hay, and all that.”

  “You’re right,” I said slowly.

  “Of course, I’m right. You’re just afraid. You�
��re afraid you’ll lose Shock. You’re afraid it will hurt your family. You’re afraid the other demons will hate you and hunt you. Which they’re doing anyway, by the way. And you’re afraid Ram won’t like you anymore.”

  “I never said that.”

  “You said he hated it more than Shock,” she reminded me. “And since you’re obsessed with him, that must really gut you.”

  “Obsessed is a strong word. I don’t think all that much about him. I’ve spent far more time with Mystify the past few days.”

  She gave me an eloquent look. “I know how you feel about him.”

  “That’s more than I can say. Bliss, things have changed since you were born. And I was confused about him back then.”

  Bliss smiled as she shook her head. “You want him. More than that, you have to have him. Don’t you think it’s unfair that I have that to compare all of my liaisons to?”

  I blushed, a human response too quick for me to stop. It felt as if Bliss were looking over my shoulder every time I’d had sex with Ram. To deflect her, I said, “I don’t think Ram wants to be with me anymore. He called me a megalomaniac. Like other hybrids.”

  Bliss laughed out loud. “He’s mad because you won’t do what he wants. He’ll be back, trying to wheedle you some other way. You’ll see. Nothing will drive him away from you.”

  “How do you know that?”

  She put her hand on her belly, over her core, serious for once. “I’m not sure you did me a favor, Allay. It’s hard to find bliss. People feel good, they laugh, they have sex, and they orgasm. Fleeting, scarce moments. Actually, I haven’t felt any true bliss since you were lying on the riverbank kissing Ram. Don’t you think he could feel it, too? How could he ever let that feeling go? How could he ever turn his back on you?”

  I had to ask, “You don’t feel that way with Crave?”

  “It’s nice with Crave, very easy because we understand each other. We have the same needs. We’re both up for anything, so it’s fun. Most of the time. But you had something else with Ram. Something powerful.”

  Maybe she was right. But that kind of love was overwhelming, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to throw myself into it. If I trashed everything and ran off with him, what would be left of me? “I felt like I finally have a chance to be who I really am. Now I have to run and hide again, instead of being myself and living openly.”

  “It’s like choosing to live in the tunnels or on the streets,” Bliss agreed. “The streets are more dangerous, but there’s a lot more to do up here.”

  I nodded. “You’re right. Even if it does mess things up for people I care about, I can’t live for them. I’m out. I have to stay that way.”

  “Fly your freak flag proudly. That’s what I say.”

  I laughed, feeling lighter with relief. Doubt was a killer, but I couldn’t doubt my decision anymore. It wasn’t going to be easy, but I had to do it. I had to be myself. Every step of the way. “Are you sure you don’t want to leave? Crave is right. This could get rough and I’d hate for you to be caught in the crosshairs when demons come calling for me.”

  “Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss this for the world. I can’t wait to see what happens next.”

  I looked around my little world, listening to the echoing crowd out front. “First things first—this isn’t the eighteenth century. I don’t have to let myself be mobbed. I’m calling my lawyer.”

  Kosciusko was divine. He agreed to pressure the cops and the DA into providing better protection for one of their key witnesses. Then I was on the phone with Michael, who suggested that we arrange for a private security firm to send several men over to serve as guards for the bar. That was when Lieutenant Markman arrived. A squad of uniformed cops moved the people back from my dented metal shutter, and a truck with blue police barricades pulled up behind the news vans.

  I let Markman into the bar. The lines in his face seemed deeper. “Get any sleep, Lieutenant?”

  “Not yet,” he said grimly. “I heard the situation was escalating over here.”

  “Just around the edges. Are you going to cut off the whole block with those barricades? My neighbors must be furious.”

  “That’s to control the foot traffic, to keep it flowing. We’ll have those news vans off the street soon. Somebody in the mayor’s office gave them permits to park there. We’re trying to track down who gave that order.”

  One of Dread’s men, no doubt. “People are getting in the backyard, too.” I showed him the broken window. “I’m told I can hire private security.”

  “I can suggest a firm, if you’d like. Trustworthy people, if you get my meaning.”

  “Sure, thanks.” I was glad to have his help.

  In fact, he was so accommodating that I reached out to touch his arm in gratitude. But he started back, avoiding the swoop of my fingers.

  My blush betrayed me, as usual, though I quickly got hold of myself, quieting my pulse. He knows I want to feed from him.

  He knew it before I did, with the quick instincts of a predator himself, of a man who watched others and pounced on their little weaknesses and lies.

  “I’m sorry,” I manned up, not without some difficulty. “I promise I’ll never feed from you, Lieutenant Markman. Not that I hurt the people I do feed from, you understand. I take only drops of energy when people have bucketfuls overflowing.”

  “So you claim.” He looked at me as if words didn’t matter much in situations such as this, only deeds. He didn’t believe I was a demon, in spite of his own instincts.

  “There’s no way to prove it to you. Unless you want to shoot me in the face yourself. Go ahead. I don’t have anything else to do.”

  Bliss groaned on the other side of the bar. “Allay! I just got finished cleaning up from the last time. I’m not doing it again. You’ll have to mop up your own blood this time.”

  Lieutenant Markman shook his head to himself. “I’ll be out front, if you need me.”

  I followed him into the vestibule and shut the door securely on his order. I watched through the tiny window in the door as the cops ordered people to move away as the barricades were unloaded.

  As the blue barriers were placed in front of my bar, walling me more securely inside, I grew even hungrier. I needed to feed, and clearly I was going to have to ask Bliss. She was charged up enough for both of us.

  Or I could change my facade and go out among those people, soaking up energy through another lie. Why, when I had caused such pain for everyone around me, did I still have to lie? I exposed myself so I could be honest, but in order to eat I would have to pretend to be someone else.

  It wasn’t right.

  I watched as the police cleared the street and got the people moving in an orderly line past the front of my bar, going north to south. Presumably they were circling around the block and walking by again because the stream was endless. It was done so smoothly that it made me suspicious.

  When Lieutenant Markman returned to the bar, Bliss was nowhere to be seen. But I could feel her signature coming from the storeroom. So I felt free enough to say, “You could have done this before, Lieutenant. Why’d you wait so long?”

  “Flushing out the perps. Put the pressure on, and it usually works.”

  I perked up. “You got someone?”

  “Mr. Anderson shouldn’t have called and threatened you, Ms. Meyers. Juries don’t take kindly to that.”

  “You heard that?” I was astonished.

  “You said the line was tapped.”

  “I was just trying to poke at him. You really bugged Bl-Belissa’s phone?”

  Markman tilted his head. “You referred to someone else ordering you to serve him. Vex. Who is he? Is he with the Fellowship, too?”

  It was innocently asked, but I was instantly on alert. To hear Vex’s name from his lips! I wanted to tell him, to be honest in everything, but my tongue froze.

  “Let me guess,” Markman said dryly. “You want to talk to your lawyer first.”

  I managed to nod. “The im
portant thing is you heard the prophet threatening me.”

  “The DA sent some of our guys over to bring him in for questioning.”

  It boggled my mind to think the system was this efficient against one of the most powerful demons in the modern world.

  I had to ask, “You don’t believe me, do you? That I’m a demon?”

  “That’s immaterial. I don’t care what you are, only that you’re protected like any other taxpaying citizen. Will there be anything else, Ms. Meyers?”

  He was going to leave me here boarded in as if a hurricane were coming, fearing for my life. He didn’t understand; no one did. They thought I was lying or pulling a scam. They would use me for what they needed, all of them, and then leave me lying in the gutter where they found me.

  Nothing had changed, I was still isolated in my bubble, only now the walls had hardened around me, driving away everyone else. I remembered Bliss’s bored expression and wondered how long she’d be content to hang out in the dark, empty bar with me. This time tomorrow, I was going to be completely alone.

  “Ms. Meyers?” the lieutenant repeated. “Anything else?”

  “Yes.” I roused myself. “Yes, could you please have the security company send those guards as soon as possible? I want to open up the bar.”

  “Open up? You’re going to let people in?” Markman asked in surprise, his politeness gone. “We just got them under control out there. Do you want to start another riot?”

  “No, I don’t think it will be a problem. You can keep the barriers up but leave a space for people to come in. I’ll tell the guard who can come through, and the rest can pass by like they’re doing right now. At least then they’d see something instead of the shutter pulled down.”

  “You want people to come here?”

  “I need customers. I have to pay my lawyer. And the guards, come to think of it.” I also needed to feed, but I didn’t have to tell him that.

  “You want to open the bar,” Markman repeated, as if he still couldn’t believe his ears.

  “Open the bar?” Bliss popped out from the storage room, grinning. “Are we opening up, Allay?”