by Misty Evans
I could smell the bold, rich scent of fresh coffee floating up from downstairs. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten and I hadn’t even had a sip of water after my workout with Cole. Sliding off the bed, I stood in the long hall, listening for Rad’s voice and hearing nothing. I sniffed the air, but only the coffee aroma filled my nose. No salty ocean scent, no briny squall smell.
He was gone.
Grabbing my cape, I went downstairs, straight to the kitchen. A cup of steaming coffee waited for me. At the sink, I took a couple of sips and stared out the window at the graveyard. Gray and purple shadows stared back. A mass of ancient scrub oaks, scrawny pines and leafless maples created a canopy over the old grave markers, most of which had long ago been covered in grass and moss. Wild grape vines and tangled brush created a natural fence, keeping humans out. A magical barrier I’d constructed a hundred years ago when I settled here kept the ghosts in. In other words, a magical condom.
“I still don’t get why you want to live in a church.” Rad’s voice startled me so bad I dropped the cup in the sink, shattering it. He didn’t seem to notice. “Can’t the Bridge Council set you up in nicer digs? With everything you do for them, you’re entitled to a better place than this.”
I couldn’t look at him for fear I’d unload every weapon in my cape and then some. Instead I stared at the busted cup and seethed as the coffee spread and stained the white porcelain. Why was he still here? How dare he criticize my home? I wanted to yell but my voice came out low, controlled. “What are you still doing here?”
Rad heard the dangerous undercurrent in my tone. “You have every right to be mad, K, but I’m not leaving until I’ve said what I came to say.”
Mad? “I’m beyond mad. I’m furious. Nothing you say will change that.”
Behind me, the phone on the wall rang, its loud blare seeming to jump between us like a barrier as thick and impenetrable as the fence around the graveyard.
The thick stone walls of the castle made cell phone reception difficult. Add my magical shield and glamours, and it was impossible. Hence, a landline was necessary.
As I lifted the handset, Cole and Victoria entered the kitchen, eyes on me. Typically the only two people who ever called me at home were Di and JR. Occasionally Damon. Caller ID said, “office”, so it had to be one of my Sweet Investigation employees. “Yo,” I answered.
Di’s voice came through the line in a strained whisper. “Why aren’t you here yet?”
The hairs on the back of my neck rose. “What’s going on?”
“Lilith, as in the Lilith of hell fame, is sitting in the waiting room. Said she’s here to see you.”
I grabbed the edge of the sink with my free hand, swallowed the sudden metallic taste in my mouth and tried to sound casual. “Did she say why she wanted to see me?”
A muffled sound came from Di’s end, like she was cupping a hand over the phone for a second. I heard the squeak of a door shutting, then she came back on. “She says she has a job for Sweet Investigations. You’re the only one she’ll deal with.”
A job. Oh fuck. “Listen, Di, here’s what I want you to do. Get out of there, now. Is JR there?”
“No. I had to send him to Chloe’s for some blood.”
“What?” Holy hell and then some. Chloe was a Tempter demon who ensnared supernatural creatures as well as humans and took their blood. Similar to a vampire but she never turned the humans into the Undead or killed them. She simply ran a blood bank that supplied the entire Northern Illinois region, and she did it with coerced volunteers. If you needed O-neg for a ritual or you were a vamp in the twelve-step no-feeding-on-live-humans program, Chloe was your girl. Anyone who came to her to buy was also asked to give. If you needed a pint of blood for your ritual, you had to donate the same. The Bridge left her alone for the most part because her services, while unconventional, kept a lot of supernaturals from killing humans or each other for blood.
Her place was located in a skeezy section of downtown and housed under a strip club that also catered to the supernatural crowd. Easier to ensnare the volunteers she needed for her business, but not exactly the place to send my techhead office assistant. My human techhead office assistant. “What do you need blood for?”
“Her Highness requested warm blood instead of coffee or tea.”
I leaned over the sink in case the two sips of coffee I’d had made a hasty comeback. Cole stepped closer to me, a deep frown on his face. Rad was frowning too.
The only one in the room not worried or scared to death was Victoria. She was smiling, a strange and eerie light in her eyes. I moved the mouthpiece away from lips and glared at her. “How did Lilith know about me and Sweet Investigations?”
Vicky gave me a condescending look. “She asked how I managed to raise her, what help I had. I might have mentioned you.”
“Did you mention where I lived or just where I worked?”
“Neither. I told her your name, that’s all. Yours and Nudra’s.”
“Wait a minute,” Cole said, eyes darting back and forth between us. He’d heard through the Bridge grapevine that I’d had a run-in with Nudra and the vamp ended up dead. He didn’t know about the blood slave issue, though. “What exactly happened at Nudra’s compound? You didn’t…he didn’t…”
“I’ll explain later.” I spoke into the phone again. “Di, you have to get out of there right now. Lilith is the mother of demons. She can level that entire place with the blink of an eye.”
“Chill, Kali. I know who she is, and I’ve got everything under control. When JR gets back with the blood, I’ll send him home, but I’m staying. She’s not getting run of the office with no one here, and I’m not leaving you alone with her. If you’re coming in, that is.”
She was so stubborn. One of the reasons I adored her. “Don’t even look at her, okay? Nothing. Eyes averted and don’t ask her any questions. She’ll peel the skin of your body in strips. And then she’ll start the real torture.”
“Pul-leez. I’m a goddess for heaven’s sake. I can handle her.”
There was stubborn and then there was stupid. I loved Di, but sometimes she could be so naïve. “You’re the frickin’ goddess of love! You get into a pissing contest with Lilith and she’ll deep fry you.”
“Kali, Kali, Kali. The only true weapon against evil is love. I’ll be fine. You’re the one I’m worried about. You definitely don’t have enough love in you or around you. You really should open your heart to Radison. Give love another shot.”
So not what I needed right now, a lecture on my love life. “This is not some Harry Potter movie, Aphrodite. Love will not conquer evil and leave you with a cool scar on your forehead if you challenge her. You could end up in hell with her pulling your guts out one intestine at a time and roasting them over hot coals while you watch.”
Although her voice was still lowered, it now took on a hint of amusement. “You seem to know Lilith quite well.”
I’d been born on Earth and had never visited the depths of hell. It wasn’t exactly a vacation destination, even for demons. “I’ve never met her, but I know fellow demons who’ve gone to hell and come back. I’ve heard stories. Believe me, this is no game. You spit cupid arrows and write love sonnets, Di. Lilith eats babies for breakfast.”
“Fine. I’ll put Resident Evil on the Blu-ray in the waiting room and when JR gets back with her blood, I’ll give her some in a fancy glass and clear out.” She sighed as if I were the one being irresponsible. “You’ll be okay?”
I glanced at my two bodyguards and the witch whose ass I was going to kick. “Just leave as soon as you can. I’m on my way.”
Chapter Fifteen
Sweet Investigations was dark when Cole and I arrived. Rad had taken Victoria home in his Porsche and Cole had called Hone to babysit her. Rad was meeting us as soon as he could get there.
I was stupid, but the fact he insisted on helping me deal with Lilith made me feel ever so slightly better. As if his presence could protect me. What a
joke. Nothing and no one could protect me if the queen of hell was sitting in my office waiting for me.
The lack of lights should have been a relief. Maybe she’d left and Di and JR had gone to their respective homes. Should I have been relieved Lilith had tired of waiting for me and was roaming the South Side? No, but for half a second, when I saw the SI office windows were dark, I was giddy at the prospect of not having to face my creator.
True, I had had an Earthly mother and father, but Lilith was the reason demons existed. She was our God. Demons were supposed to worship her. Like most humans with their gods, we did a poor job of it.
“I don’t like this,” Cole said as I parked the Roadster in my dedicated spot around back. Muse was singing about an uprising from the speakers. Caught up in my thoughts, I hadn’t even noticed Cole had switched radio stations on me.
I’d told him the deets about the blood slave thing and after that, there wasn’t much to say. He hadn’t even teased me about it, which meant one of two things: he was as freaked out about it as I was or he was planning a way to kill me as soon as Damon gave him the go-ahead. Cole knew Bridge law as well as I did. A demon like me with control over humans was a danger to everyone.
The sun was shooting early morning rays over the building and parking lot. Di’s black VW Beetle—her love bug, as she called it—sat next to us, its fuchsia interior practically glowing.
Sweet Investigations anchored a one-story mini complex with a mainstream coffeehouse at the other end and Louie’s bail bonds-slash-check cashing station between us. A steady stream of patrons entered and exited the coffee shop, some using the drive up and circling the parking lot in their cars once they had their caffeine fix, others standing in a line that stretched out the door and onto the sidewalk out front. The check cashing business wouldn’t be open until six, but bail was often needed at the wee hours of the morning, especially on a holiday weekend, so a single light glowed inside Louie’s place as well.
But Sweet Investigations was pitch black except for the scattered rays of light making their way past the towering hotel behind us.
“I’m not exactly excited about this myself.” I switched off the radio and hit one of the buttons on the remote transmitter JR had programmed for me. At home I didn’t have a garage, so I’d had him program the transmitter for the office instead. I preferred locking and unlocking doors with the touch of my hands so I could get a feel for what was happening inside, but the SI office wasn’t made of stone, so my natural earth magic didn’t work. The remote control in the car could lock and unlock the doors and turn the lights off and on. All with me sitting safely inside the TT.
Another nifty trick JR had wired up involved the unlock feature. When I unlocked the back door remotely, a set of lights would automatically come on and the security alarm would disengage for one minute. If I didn’t enter the building and punch in my code, the door would lock, the alarm would reengage and the lights would go out.
This time, however, when I hit the button, nothing happened with the lights. Even if the lock and alarm were working, the lights weren’t.
Bad sign.
Cole took a phone out of his jacket pocket and pushed the touchscreen.
“What are you doing?”
He scanned the area, waiting for the phone to connect. “Calling in backup.”
“No.” I grabbed his arm and pulled the phone away from his face. “This is my problem. I’ll handle it.”
“You’ll handle Lilith? How exactly? The way you handled Nudra?”
Low blow. I took the phone from his hand, disconnected the call before someone at the Institute answered. “I have to find out what she wants. Then I’ll figure out what to do with her. Probably an exorcism. But before that, I need to know what she’s planning.”
Cole scoffed. “You really think holy water and chanting is going to work?”
“Not the Christian version of exorcism. A pagan one.”
“Pagan, huh? Never heard of that.”
Not many had. A lot of modern day pagans didn’t believe in the Christian version of the devil. Just because you didn’t believe in something didn’t mean it ceased to exist. “Pagans were banishing demons long before Jesus was crucified and the Church took power, but that was also before YouTube and 20/20 made exorcism cool.”
He looked at me, eyes detached. “That Chaos demon, he’s your blood slave too. He going to help you?”
I started to answer in the negative, stopped. Rad was a Noctifector, blessed by the Roman Catholic Church, and a demon who controlled a great deal of elemental power. Mix the two together and throw in me performing an exorcism and that combination might be the tipping point for sending Lilith back to hell. “Rad owes me. Big time.” Skepticism reflected in Cole’s eyes. “And if Rad doesn’t come through with the banishing, I’ll feed him to Lilith.”
Cole took his phone back, slid it into his pocket. “Just so we’re clear, I’m only protecting you from the vamps, not the queen of hell.”
“Fair enough.”
We exited the car and stole up to the back door, Cole watching my six. Both of us had weapons at the ready but concealed from prying eyes since a regular stream of cars kept passing by. Volante was coiled around the wrist of my left hand, hidden under my cape. My right held a stake. Wouldn’t do me a bit of good fighting Lilith, but if a vamp attacked, which was unlikely in such a public space, I was ready. I almost hoped one would. I needed to release some tension and was itching for a fight.
The door was unlocked from the remote. Out of habit, I pressed my hand against the outside wall, just in case the building materials had enough natural products in them to give me a hint of Lilith’s dark evil waiting inside. A slick heat warmed my hand and burned its way up my arm. The fires of hell burned hotter and dark magic flowed slower. This was just an echo of her. She’d been there but didn’t seem to be any more.
That could be good or it could just mean the building wasn’t giving up its secrets.
Cracking the door open, I peered around the frame and squinted into the dark hallway. My eyes adjusted quickly, seeing only the usual shadows. I drew in a breath, taking in the smells of cheap commercial carpeting, plastic and metal cabinets, and stale office air. The computers and other equipment droned softly in the background.
But there…teasing my nostrils…the scent of smoke. Smothering smoke.
There was no actual smoke in the air. The residual scent resembled that of a candle being snuffed out, not the queen of the underworld lying in wait for me.
I stepped inside, motioned Cole in after me. On cat feet, we stole down the hall, my nerves fraying. Was Lilith masking herself to trick me? Where was Di?
A rustling sound came from the front. Cole and I exchanged a look and picked up our pace. At first glance, the reception area looked perfectly normal. Blinds hung over the windows, blocking out the early morning light. Three chairs sat next to the windows, two end tables stacked with magazines and the previous day’s Chicago Tribune interspersed between them. The reception desk, with its elevated countertop, and chair which no one ever sat in, was clean and neat, a multiline phone, a message tablet and a couple of Sweet Investigations ink pens tucked in one corner.
I felt for the light switch, got no response to flipping it. Could simply be a power outage, but why did both my neighbors sill have juice? Lowering the stake, I made my way past the countertop to check the front door. As I stepped into the narrow waiting area, my foot hit a soft but unmovable object.
My stomach dropped. I knew what it was before I even looked down.
At my feet, curled in a fetal position and shaking from head to toe, lay Aphrodite, goddess of love and my best friend.
Chapter Sixteen
“Di!” I dropped to my knees and grabbed her. Her body convulsed under my hand as if she were having a seizure. In the dim light, I couldn’t see if she was hurt, but her extremely pale skin and blonde hair stood out enough I could make out her face and her closed eyes.
Sh
e moaned and her teeth chattered. Running my hand along her face, down her throat and across the exposed skin of her arm under her shirt sleeve, I found she was as cold as the November breeze outside. Damn it. Hadn’t I told her not to mess around with Lilith? I undid my cape, weapons and all and covered her with it.
Cole stood above us, keeping one eye on the dark office and one eye on me. “What’s wrong with her?”
“I don’t know, but she’s freezing.”
I smoothed hair back from her face and continued to run my hands over her limbs and torso, looking for a wound, anything, that would tell me what had happened. Her pulse beat erratically but with force under my fingers. “Talk to me, Di. I know you’re in pain, but I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s causing it.”
I probably couldn’t help her anyway. I was a demon, full of dark magic, not white. I couldn’t heal a fly, much less a goddess. Rain down destruction? Spread pestilence? I was your girl. But heal someone? No.
She was still shaking hard. Lying down next to her, I gathered her in my arms and spooned our bodies together. Being a demon is good for one thing. I radiate heat like a tropical sun.
Reassuring her as much as myself, I whispered in her ear. “Di, it’s me. Kali. I’m here and I’m going to take care of you.”
As she lay shaking in my arms, I tried to figure out what Lilith had done to her. Poisoned her? Given her some funky disease? Goddesses had kickass immune systems. Di had never been sick or even hung over after a night of tequila and cabana boys. Had to be something else.
“Ev…il,” Di said, teeth still chattering. Her body, though, was no longer shaking so hard.
“Lilith did this to you.” It wasn’t a question. “She’s as evil as it gets.”
Di shook her head, jabbed a thumb at her chest. “In…me.”
Understanding snapped into place. “She injected you with evil.”
A jittery nod. “Can’t handle…it.”
“Fight it, Di. Fight it with everything you’ve got.”