by Linda Wisdom
“Definitely. I’ll keep the invisibility spell going so they won’t know they’re being tailed.”
“No problem there.”
Maggie wasn’t surprised to find that they were returning to the center of the city. She thought the young couple might be heading to a local fast-food restaurant or somewhere for coffee. Instead, they parked near a warehouse.
“The Hallows?” she said, reading a signboard propped up outside the door. “What is this idiot kid thinking? No way she’ll be coming down here when I’ve got hold of her, because she won’t be able to sneak out as easily.”
“Come on.” Declan parked the car and went around to the passenger door. He glanced at the patrons entering the club, none of whom appeared to be over the age of twenty-five. “Any illusion spells up your alley so we can blend in and not arouse the bouncer’s suspicions?”
“You don’t have any magick of your own?” She got out and looked around.
“I told you. If you don’t count controlling fire, my magick mainly has to do with figuring out profit and loss.” He took her arm. “Are you going to hurt the bouncer if he gives us trouble?”
“Why would I do that?”
“You seem to thrive on it.”
“Only at your place.” She patted his arm and then kept her hand there. “We are not fiends. We are teens. We wish to hide in plain sight and do it now.” She looked up and saw Declan the way he must have looked in high school. “You were a cutie back then. How about me?”
“The black eyeliner is a bit over the top, along with the barely there pink dress, but you’ll blend in.”
Maggie’s ears started hurting the moment they entered the club. “And here I thought your club was bad, sound-wise.”
She took his hand, looking from right to left until she saw a flash of dark hair with blonde streaks. “She’s over there.”
She started forward, but Declan pulled her back.
“Let’s just observe. There’s something about the boyfriend that bothers me.”
Maggie knew his hearing was good enough that she didn’t have to shout over the loud music. “Is he a demon?”
She studied the kids dancing with a frenetic energy that tired her just by watching. She also felt a wave of something that she could only describe as feeling wrong. Even with all her years as a Guard, she couldn’t remember sensing something like this.
“I do not like this place,” Elle moved up to embrace Maggie’s neck. Considering the tattoos covering some of the kids in the club, a shiny black widow spider wouldn’t look too odd.
“No kidding,” Maggie murmured.
Declan continued staring at the young couple. “I don’t know. He doesn’t feel demon, but there’s still something off about him. I can tell you that I’m positive he’s hiding something.”
“I felt that, too.”
With the club so dark, Maggie couldn’t easily see what the boy looked like, but she sensed that Declan could give her any details she missed.
“Wanna dance?” A black-haired boy with multiple piercings on his face approached her.
“Back off,” Declan growled, draping his arm around Maggie’s shoulders and pulling her close.
The kid took one look at him and backed off. “It’s cool, man.”
“He only asked me to dance, Declan. No reason to get the testosterone going. She sneaks out at night, goes to a rave, and has a boyfriend who might not be what he appears,” Maggie mused, still checking the participants and not liking what she was seeing. She sensed magick but couldn’t identify a source.
Declan was looking around uneasily. He took her by the hand. “We need to leave.”
“Not yet.”
“Someone’s noticed us.” He pulled on her hand and practically dragged her toward the exit, although he kept a slow pace as if they weren’t retreating.
“My illusion spells are perfect,” she argued.
“And you, of all witches, should know that even perfect can be broken by the right being.” He didn’t stop until they reached the car.
“What did you sense that I didn’t?” Maggie curled her legs under herself and turned in the seat to look out the back as they left the parking lot. Two men exited the building after them and watched as they drove off. “And please tell me that they can’t get any info off your license plate.”
“Not a thing.” He kept driving until they left the area and then headed for a coffee place. “They won’t even be able to connect the car to the club.”
***
Maggie snagged a corner table while Declan ordered for them.
“Peppermint tea.” He placed the cup in front of her.
“Yum!” She took a sip, savoring the rich taste. “There was magick all throughout that rave.”
He nodded. “If I’m not mistaken, someone, if not more than one someone, is feeding off the energy of the teens.”
His words chilled her to the bone. She kept her voice low, even though they were the only customers in the shop. “That’s demon.”
“Other creatures siphon off energy, but yes, some demons are notorious for it. It’s the only way they can exist. It’s their food and drink.”
Maggie looked at Declan, seeing the sorrow etched in his features. “It hurts that you have to think of your own kind as monsters.” She held up her hand, halting him from speaking.
“No, hear me out. Yes, I used to consider all demons as evil, but you’ve shown me that’s not the case. And no way Anna’s dark. Let me tell you, every race has its good and its bad. I’ve killed witches because they practiced baneful magick. I destroyed them because they were harming the innocent.
“Did I feel bad? Only that those with so much power would use it for evil.” She took another sip. “If demons are running the raves, we need to take them out. Just what happens when they siphon off the power?”
“It’s like tapping into one’s life force,” he said wearily. “Many only take a sip, enough to keep them going until they find another human to do the same with. All it will do is shorten a human’s life a day or so. Some might even lose a month. But what I felt in there was much stronger. Those kids were losing years.”
“Okay, not good at all. First the god of destruction needs to go down, and now we have this.” She nodded. “It’s not as if the Guard doesn’t have enough teams to cover pretty much everything, but how did this fly under our radar?”
“How many incidents involving children have you dealt with?” He finished his triple-shot espresso and went back for a second.
“And I thought the ferrets lived on super-caffeine.” Maggie waited until he was seated again. “As for children? We have special teams that deal only with children. I can’t even fathom how they can handle it.”
“The demon behind this is old. I felt ancient power in there.”
“I wondered what I sensed. I only knew it was wrong.”
“They’re very good at hiding.”
“I’ll let Mal know, and he can send in a team.”
“You know they won’t find anything. Raves move from building to building with little advance word.”
“All those kids are in there, not knowing what might happen to them. And even if they’re gone, there might be traces,” she insisted, pulling out her cell. She made a quick call, giving Mal all the info. “Okay, we have to go back and make sure Courtney and her boyfriend are out of there.” She picked up her cup.
The drive past the building showed the motorcycle was gone, but more teens streamed inside.
“Do you think they figured out exactly who we were?”
“They might have sensed a demon was in there, but I didn’t make any threatening moves. That’s why it’s still open.” He glanced at her. “Are we waiting for your team to move in?”
She shook her head. “They wouldn’t like me being here.”
Declan drove back to the restaurant parking lot and waited while the valet brought Maggie’s car.
“I had a lovely evening,” she told him.
“Scary to be on the good guys’ side, isn’t it?” She reached up and kissed him lightly on the lips. “Good night, Declan.”
“We could go to my place for a drink,” he offered.
“Next time.”
It wasn’t until she drove away that Maggie realized she’d admitted to Declan that she wanted to see him again.
Now it’s getting complicated.
***
“What the fuck have you done?”
Declan hadn’t been in his apartment for more than fifteen minutes before Wreaker materialized in a dark swirl of power. His gray hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail.
Declan turned around and faced his cousin. “If I remember correctly, you’re not welcome here. This is my haven.” He stalked over to Wreaker, his face harsh with fury. “I was promised none of you would enter my private quarters without my permission. And you do not have my permission.”
“You’re turning traitor, cuz.” Wreaker plopped on the couch and conjured up a bottle of beer. His boot heels scarred the coffee table as he propped his feet on the polished wood surface. “The old man’s not happy with you at all.”
“Do you really think I care how he feels about me?”
“You should when you’re acting like some frat boy looking to date the prom queen. Although the witch is a great-looking piece of ass.” Wreaker chugged his beer and then belched.
“If the women you seduce saw you like this, they’d run the other way.” Declan walked over to his bar and poured himself a stiff Scotch. He feared this wouldn’t be the only one he’d be downing.
“The women I fuck love me this way. Nothing like a bad boy to get them ripping off their clothes.” He gestured toward the black leather vest that revealed his living tattoos and chaps. His dark eyes glinted with sinister humor. “But we’re talking about you, stud. You were spotted in a club tonight that you had no business being in—and to make it worse, you were there with the sexy Guard.”
“Nothing wrong with clubbing.”
“There is when the average age at that rave was seventeen.” Wreaker finished his beer, stared at the empty bottle, and watched it refill itself. “And I know you’re not into tender flesh.” He eyed Declan.
Declan knocked back the Scotch in one gulp and refilled the glass.
“Why do Maggie and the Guard worry our kind so much? They rarely interfere with our politics unless one of us catches their attention by making a splash in the world of humans.” Declan turned around and leaned back with his elbows resting on the bar. “Such as you might do, if you’re not more careful. The Guard protects humans.”
“If they rarely interfere with us, why were they at Damnation Alley?”
“I told you. She was tracking down a rogue Bloater. Nothing to do with me—or even the club.” He watched his cousin closely. His lack of expression had Declan wondering if Wreaker knew more about the Bloater incident than he let on.
“You’ve tightened up the portal. Not letting so many through.” Wreaker looked at him over the brown bottle. “What’s that about?”
“Keeping the numbers even. Ratchet let so many through that there was chaos everywhere,” Declan said, curious about his relative’s inquisitiveness.
“She killed him, you know. Your sexy Maggie turned Ratchet into pâté.”
Declan got a sick feeling in his stomach. Wreaker wasn’t saying anything he hadn’t thought of before, but he didn’t want any demons focusing on her. “No one knows what really happened to Ratchet.”
“Maybe we don’t have rock-solid proof, but many feel she had something to do with it. It’s been said that his pieces were scattered to the winds.” Wreaker made his bottle disappear and stood up. “Make sure she doesn’t do the same to you, cuz. We’d like to keep you around.” With a smile and salute, he was gone in a puff of smoke.
I should have killed him when I had the chance. Declan picked up the Scotch bottle and carried it to bed. He knew it was going to be a long night.
Chapter 10
Chanting. Words in a long-forgotten language filled the air. The smell of smoke, the scent of death in the air, coming from the victims as each was stabbed through the heart with the sacred knife.
Blood flowed down the stone steps while the sky turned dark and ominous as the ritual progressed. Clouds turned orange; fire rained down; and the portal swirled open in a mass of black smoke.
A tall, bronze-skinned man wearing a coat of brilliant feathers and a feathered headdress made of gold smiled at her. Not until then did she realize she was lying naked on stone, her hands bound with leather cords and words of power painted on her skin.
“You and the girl will finish the ritual.” Even though he spoke in the ancient language, she found herself able to understand him. He raised the stone knife, the tip red with blood. “Once I have eaten your heart, I will be invincible.”
Even though she was securely bound, she refused to give up. “Then expect some heartburn. Heart. Burn. Get it?” she grinned.
But then she really looked at the priest and felt horror fill her body.
This wasn’t someone from an ancient race. This was someone she knew.
The face she looked into was Declan’s as he brought the knife down to her chest.
***
“Whoa!” Maggie shot up in bed and struggled to catch her breath.
“Sleeping here,” Elle said in a groggy voice from her silken web.
“Good for you.” Maggie pressed her hand against her chest, feeling the rapid rise and fall as air failed to fill her lungs. A blind grope showed there were no wounds, no blood streaming down her body, even as she was convinced she still felt the pain from the blade piercing her flesh.
A wave of her hand gave life to the candles scattered around the bedroom. The soft yellow light was meant to be calming, but her heart rate didn’t show any signs of slowing down. She grimaced as she realized her hair was damp with sweat and her skin was slick.
“Did you have a nightmare?” Elle asked, finally rousing herself.
“A whopper—and one I’d like to forget.” Maggie pushed back the covers that suddenly felt too heavy.
The spider skittered her way to the bed and across the comforter to Maggie’s pillow and attached herself to Maggie’s shoulder. “What happened?”
“I dreamed I was the sacrifice along with Courtney.” She made her way into the bathroom and used a damp washcloth to sponge the sweat from her body. “And Declan was the priest performing the ritual. But why should I have this vision?”
“Perhaps it is nothing more than a nightmare. You could have had this because this is the day you will meet the girl face-to-face. Could you have fear that you will fail in protecting her?”
“Thank you, Sigmund Freud.” Maggie splashed cold water against her face and leaned against the sink.
“If I was Freud, I’d compare the knife to Declan’s penis.”
“Not going there!” Maggie turned the shower up as hot as possible so it would warm her blood, which now ran cold. The shower and a change of pajamas made her feel marginally better.
“Have sex with the demon. You will feel much better. I always feel better after sex.”
“Elle, please. If it happens, it will happen on my time, not yours.”
A wave of Maggie’s hand had the bedsheets stripped and fresh ones on in a flash, and she crawled back under the covers. She left the candles flickering in an attempt to keep the darkness at bay, since she knew sleep would be a long time coming.
And fearless Maggie jumped a foot when her cell chimed “All Star.” A glance at the Caller ID told her it was Declan.
“Do you know what time it is?” she said by way of greeting.
“Did you just have a nightmare about Mayan priests?” he countered with his own.
“How did you know?” Because he was there, Mags!
&
nbsp; “Because I had one, and you were there,” he spoke in a clipped voice.
“Don’t tell me. You were the priest, and I was the sacrifice. You carved out my heart. You were pretty sloppy about it, too. Or were you the sacrifice, and I was the scary priestess?”
He swore under his breath. Some of the curses were new to her, and Maggie mentally cataloged them for future reference.
“Someone knows we’re coming,” she said.
“I could have done without that nightmare,” he muttered.
“Couldn’t we all? But there are two ways of looking at it. We’re being targeted specifically, or the bad guys sense something and only sent out a blanket spell to warn off whoever is on their trail. It’s like a two-way mirror. They know someone’s watching, but they can’t see who.”
“I tried contacting Anna, but they wouldn’t let me through. I need to talk to her. To know she’s all right. For all we know, she’s a target, too.”
“The Seers’ Pavilion is warded more heavily than the entire compound. No psychic dreams would get through their protections.” She picked up on his panic. “She’s safer there than she’d be anywhere else.”
“But if she has the same nightmare.” He took a deep breath. “What if she dreams she’s the sacrifice and I’m the—”
“I will check on her and call you back.” She knew she wasn’t going to be returning to sleep any time soon. She disconnected and then punched in the extension number for the Pavilion. Ten minutes later she was assured Anna was asleep and that whatever horror had visited Maggie and Declan hadn’t invaded his half sister’s slumber.
“She’s all right?” were Declan’s first words.
“Haven’t you ever heard of ‘hello’?”
Before she’d called him, she’d gotten herself a glass of wine and returned to bed with the covers wrapped around her. A grumbling Elle had returned to her web. She’d declared that since she wouldn’t be sleeping any time soon, she might as well check her email in hopes someone had found that illusive immortality spell.
“It’s one of those polite things most of us do. And yes, Anna’s fine. She’s asleep with no sign a beastie is ruining her snooze.”