by Misty Evans
A grainy picture accompanied the short story, and sure enough, the main focus was me, caught from the side on Halloween night. The night I’d joined Rad and his bandmates at a party. Someone had shot it with a cellphone. Luckily, I’d had my hood up at the time and all the camera caught of my face was my Italian nose.
”What did you bring me?” Di eyed the white carryout box in my hands and sniffed the air as she set a stack of pink message slips on top of the files. Her gaze darted to the magazine article and she opened her mouth to comment, but thought better of it and switched gears. “You smell like greasy fried food, so it better be good.”
I handed her a cannoli and another to Maddy, my teenage vamp friend who was sprawled on the office’s leather sofa watching a cheesy Christmas movie on a cable channel that had gone all—Christmas, all-the-time on the first of November.
Maddy’s attention didn’t leave the TV as she took the cannoli and stuffed one end in her mouth. Di plopped down next to her and turned up the volume. “Jobs are on your desk.”
I untied my cape and hung it up, blew out an exasperated sigh at the stack of messages and files. Toel was up to something and I didn’t have a lot of time to find him if Dru’s source was right about the vamp army headed this way.
Shutting off the TV, I tossed the remote on the coffee table and sat down at the big wooden desk that had once belonged to my father. “I’m reshuffling the job assignments. Maddy, I need you and Arman to get back on finding Toel.”
She groaned, still chewing, and reached for the remote. “We’ve already been over the entire North side and turned up zilch.”
“And now you’ll work the South Side. Try sniffing out Victoria as well. She may be easier to locate and, in turn, lead us right to him.”
I filled her and Di in on the possible vamp army headed for Chicago. “I promised Neve I’d help her take care of Fielder Benson’s ghost issue tonight, but Di, you’ll have to handle the Stewart investigation. I’ll chastise Dalinda, and you’ll visit the Stewarts.”
If anyone could get Mr. and Mrs. Stewart back together after a member of the dark Fae had split them up, it was Aphrodite. Instead of me taking revenge on Mr. Stewart for his inhuman affair, I thought it might be better for Di to counsel the couple while I reminded Dalinda that the Institute frowned heavily on supernaturals tinkering with humans. Besides, Dalinda was a repeat offender. I could slap her wrists a little harder this round with the Bridge Council reminder and make her think twice about Mr. Stewart or future human diversions. Dealing with the Stewarts might take hours and I was no good advising anyone on love issues.
Di finished off her dessert and rubbed her hands together. “I’m on it.”
Maddy had turned on the TV and was once again engrossed in a story about a guardian angel in love with the human woman he was supposed to be guarding. If only all supernatural-human relationships ended as happily as the made-for-TV versions. “Maddy, focus. Go find Arman and get your sniffers on the ground.”
She rolled her eyes, did a heavy sigh that only a teenage girl can properly deliver, and flipped off the television. Kicking up her feet and resting them on the coffee table, she slouched back against the sofa. ”Why do you care if Toel takes over the vamp kingdom? It’s not like you don’t dream of staking all of us.”
Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the coffin. “Toel won’t stop with taking over the Undead. You know that. He wants to wipe out humans. Use them for blood slaves and kill any who resist. Besides, he’s a dick who needs his ass handed to him, and believe it or not, there are a few vamps I do care about. You’re one of them, so even if stopping Toel only saved you, I’d still do it.”
My usually upbeat sidekick didn’t even look at me. She gave another drama-filled sigh, rose from the sofa and trudged out of the room.
Cole and I exchanged a look. He shrugged. I dittoed. Who understood the mood of a fifteen-year-old female vamp? I just hoped she wouldn’t be like this for the rest of her Undead life.
Di came bustling back in and pointed at the stack of pink slips. “Did you call Chloe back? She was quite upset.”
“About what?”
“She wouldn’t say. Probably because it had something to do with Rad and Arman and your blood.”
Merde. “I need to talk to her anyway. I’ll call her now.”
Di looked over her shoulder and lowered her voice. “What about Maddy?”
“What about her?”
Frowning, Di approached my desk and lowered her voice even further. “Christmas time? Her first one without her family? She misses them and she can’t exactly show up on their doorstep and shout, ‘hey, I’m a vamp. Merry Christmas!’”
“Why not?” Cole said.
Di and I both shot him a shut up look. He knew as well as we did that Maddy’s human family had no idea she’d been turned. She’d gone to a concert, ended up a vamp and never went back home. Her parents believed she’d been kidnapped or murdered, and in some ways, that’s exactly what had happened to her. And since the ’rents were of the hell-and-damnation group of humans who went to church and didn’t believe in vampires, her hesitation to reveal the truth was understandable. Her parents did believe in demons, angels and witches. Bet you can guess which group would get a prominent seat at the dinner table versus those whom they’d exorcise or burn at the stake.
“I don’t know what you want me to do, Di. I don’t do Christmas.”
“But you know what it’s like to lose your family. You may be an island, Kali Sweet, but Maddy isn’t. She needs a family.”
“I’m an island?”
“You think you are. You don’t need anyone, yada, yada, yada. But Maddy isn’t like that. She needs closure with her real family and needs to believe we’re her new one. You know what she’s going through.”
Maddy’s family was still alive. Mine wasn’t—they’d been murdered. I started to mention that small but pertinent fact, but the look on Di’s face made me bite my tongue. I’d taken Maddy under my wing and she was now my responsibility. “I’ll think of something, but I refuse to watch those awful Christmas movies with her.”
Di smiled, turned on her heel and passed JR on the way out.
My office was Grand Central Station all of a sudden. So much for being an island. “What is it, JR?”
“I got a hit on Victoria,” my tech guru said. “You know how she likes black magic? Even though Maddy changed her into a vamp, I figured she’d still be messing around with raising demons.”
Good call. Victoria had managed to raise Lilith, the Queen of Hell, before I broke their connection and forced Maddy to change her from witch to vamp. Then the ungrateful bitch ran off with Toel. “Where?”
“Occult Arts on West Thomas near St. Mary’s.”
Witches and saints. Interesting spot for an occult shop.
“She bought ingredients for a spell and some kind of spell book. Paid with a credit card.”
“Doesn’t help me find her.”
JR shuffled his weight and stared at my chin. He never looked me or anyone else directly in the eye. “Unless she comes back. In the past week, she’s attended a potluck and a spirit board night at the shop.”
“What is she up to?” I mused. “Put Maddy on it. See if she and Arman can spot Vicky and follow her back to Toel’s hideout.”
“You got it, boss.” JR left.
I had a good crew. Now if I could just catch up on the stack of pressing jobs.
Cole had his gun out and was double checking the chamber and its stash of holy water bullets. “You really think that’s a good idea? Sending Maddy and Arman after Victoria?”
“They’re not going to do anything except follow her.”
“And maybe that’s what Toel wants.” Cole glanced up, his liquid brown eyes boring into mine. “Bargaining chips.”
War demons…always strategizing. I sat back in my chair and rocked, letting my brain follow Cole’s thought process. “Vicky’s been off the grid since the coronation and suddenly she sho
ws up three times in a week. Toel wants me to find him.” I rubbed a spot on my father’s desk, an indentation he once banged into the wood with an angry fist. The wood hummed under my fingers. “Maddy?” I called.
“What?” came a curt, almost angry, reply from the kitchen across the hall.
She sauntered in, the air around her vibrating with challenge. What was with her? Seemed overkill for the whole Christmas-without-parents thing.
“I’m going with you. First, I have to meet Neve at Shadow Hill and take care of the ghost stalker, then you, me and Arman will check out the occult shop and see if you can pick up Vicky’s scent.”
She cocked a hip. “I can handle it without you.”
Definitely challenging. “It’s most likely a trap. Toel wants us to follow her back to him. I don’t need you and Arman falling into Toel’s hands.”
She started to retort but JR swung into my office, one hand on the doorframe. His gaze skittered across mine and landed on the top of my desk. “Um, Kali? There’s someone in the parking lot I think you should get a look at.”
JR’s surveillance system was top notch. His paranoia equal to mine. “Who is it?”
“Not sure. But it looks like a…a priest.”
Maddy lost the angry air and smiled. “Finally something interesting happens around here.”
“Noctifector?” I asked.
He didn’t answer, just disappeared, heading for his cubbyhole of electronics.
Maddy nearly skipped out of my office. Cole and I rose from our seats, exchanged another look and followed her.
Chapter Four
On the security camera’s screen, the priest looked harmless enough. He wore the black cloak of priests and scholars, the hood up and his hands hidden in the bell sleeves. He stood under a tall street light in the parking lot. One of the few that hadn’t been broken by vandals. Light poured down on top of his hood but seemed to be sucked up by the black garment like a black hole. Odd shadows fell over his face and across his shoulders.
He stood motionless, and even though I couldn’t see his eyes, I would have sworn he was staring directly at the camera. Directly at me.
My demon hissed and scrambled deeper inside, searching for cover.
“Noctifector?” Cole echoed my previous question over my shoulder.
A silver chain encircled the priest’s waist, the ends dangling down to his knees. On both ends were plain silver crosses with four sharp tips each. Tips, I was sure, could do some wicked damage to a demon. “Probably.”
But Noctifectors didn’t work alone. They were human, and although they were highly trained and skilled at defeating supernaturals, they couldn’t do it singlehandedly. They traveled in groups in order to overwhelm their target and even the playing field.
I scanned the other dozen screens in front of JR. Six boxes of equipment were stacked off to one side. Apparently, my computer guru was setting up a new system. Again. “Any sign of others?”
He pecked at the keyboard. A list of security devices in place around the building flashed on a separate screen. “No breaches, no unusual activity. All systems green.”
My own magical security system registered the same.
Maddy fidgeted off to the side, biting one of her fingernails. “Maybe he’s just a priest.”
And I was just a demon.
“What does he want?” Di asked.
Question of the hour. The only answer I had was too simple, but after three hundred years of experience with the Catholic Church, it also seemed the most likely. I fingered Volante, hanging on my waist. The whip trembled under my ministrations, eager to be put to use. “Me.”
Maddy dropped her hand from her face. “Because everything is about you.”
She stomped out of the room and I let out a strained sigh.
Cole leaned out the doorway. “Mouse, where are you going?” He called her by her nickname when he was trying to get her attention.
Her voice echoed down the hall. “I’m going outside to meet the nice priest and find out what he wants.”
Cole raised an eyebrow at me. “Not a good idea.”
“No shit, Captain Obvious.” I barreled past him and jogged down the hall leading to the back door. Maddy had grabbed the handle and paused there.
I sensed her fear of following through. “Wait up, Mad.”
She faced me, one hand still on the door. “I can handle this.”
Of course she could.
Not. We didn’t even know what this was. “Just because we don’t see other priests doesn’t mean this one’s alone. He could be bait to draw me—us—out.”
Her eyes were hard, determined. “Bring it on. I’ve been itching for a fight.”
Stress had led me into a lot of fights over the years. Stupid fights that could have gotten me killed. “Look, I know you’re having a tough time with this vamp-at-Christmas thing, but challenge Cole to fight if you want to burn some pent up shit. Not a priest who can stake you and end your life.”
Opening the door an inch, she peered through the crack into the poorly lit parking lot. I inched closer to peer out with her. Shadows danced on the edges of what we could see, lifting the hair on my arms. Maddy, however, didn’t seem to be fazed. “Would a priest ever grant a vampire absolution?”
That was a left turn I hadn’t expected. Stumped for an answer, I searched for a response that wouldn’t come out as incoherent babble. “I’m probably not the demon to ask, but I’d guess no.” Always sucked to be the bearer of bad news.
I touched her arm, trying to channel Di. “Maddy, you haven’t committed any mortal sins. You were turned against your will.”
“But I’m a vampire.” Her attention focused on me. “Do I still have a soul? Am I going to hell when I die?”
Che cavolo. How had I managed to step in this pile of shit?
Popular culture said vamps—outside of Buffy’s Angel—didn’t have souls, but I knew differently. They had ’em and when they went poof, their souls went to purgatory. Not hell, granted, but close enough. Quite a few of them were there thanks to my favorite cherry wood stake. Which wasn’t exactly info Maddy would appreciate hearing. “Damon’s the expert in this area. What do you say we go see him after we locate Vicky and you can ask him?”
That would give me time to send Damon a heads-up text and for him to figure out a way to let Maddy down easy about her potentially awful afterlife. Better yet, I could come up with a distraction and we could all have this extremely uncomfortable conversation at a later date. A much later date.
Maddy seemed to consider my offer. Then she did the typical Maddy thing, threw open the door and stomped out to the parking lot to confront the priest.
Had to admit, I admired her style.
Cole, who’d come up behind me, swore under his breath and grabbed his gun from its holster.
Taking a deep breath, I took Volante off my belt and ran out after Maddy.
Chapter Five
The priest was gone.
“What the hell?” Maddy swiveled in a circle in the deserted parking lot, searching the area for the missing man. An empty cup from the coffee shop blew across her feet. “Where did he go?”
I kept Volante in hand, scanning the nearby buildings, snow-filled culvert and trees. Cole was at my back, gun raised and in full bodyguard mode. Car noises from the street out front met my ears. No sign the priest had been there except for the faint scent of Catholicism…a mix of wax candles, ancient artifacts and guilt. Along with that, I smelled unrefined wool. The priest’s robe must have been made of it. No wonder it seemed to absorb the light like a black hole.
My brain niggled uncomfortably. When was the last time I’d seen a priest wearing unrefined sheep’s wool? The nubby, scratchy stuff had generally been used in Italy when I was a girl, but in the past two centuries, the only time I’d seen that type of robe was on a monk, and never in America.
Keeping an eye out, I grabbed Maddy’s arm and guided her back toward the building. “So much for that.”
Once we were inside, I questioned JR. “Where did he go?”
“He knew you were coming.” JR pointed at one of the screens showing the culvert filled with overgrown weeds, untrimmed trees and dead vegetation, all covered with an inch of snow. “Glided off into the trees and disappeared.”
Cole returned his gun to the holster. “What’d’ya mean, glided? Is he some kind of supe?”
I shook my head. “He smelled like the Catholic Church. Sanctimonious. Had to be human.”
JR shrugged, but excitement rode his voice. “He had a red cross embroidered on the back of the robe.”
“Big deal. Priests and crosses go hand in hand.”
JR was an expert in religious studies. “It was a Templar knight cross.”
Templar knights? Either JR was indulging in fantasies or the priest was. “Why would a human priest wear an ancient robe with a Templar cross woven into it?”
Cole shrugged. “Halloween costume gone wrong?”
Maddy chewed on another fingernail. “Will he come back?”
For all our sakes, I hoped not. “With my luck, he’ll be back with reinforcements.” I checked my watch. “I’m late to meet Neve. JR, text me if the priest comes back. Otherwise, keep things locked up. Di, go ahead and tackle the Stewarts, but keep your guard up. Toel’s out there and this priest could also be trouble.” I glanced around at my group. “As always, everyone watch your back. No one get hurt tonight, okay?”
Nods of agreement circled me. “Maddy, I’ll call you when I’m ready to meet you and Arman at the occult shop. Until then, hang out here with JR.”
Without answering, she trudged off to my office. A second later, the sound of a Christmas movie filtered into the cubicle. Di gave me a you have to talk to her look.
Yeah, like that had gone so well a few minutes ago. “I’ll hit Dalinda before dawn and make her see the error of her ways with Mr. Stewart.”
Di drummed her fingers on JR’s desk. “And then you’ll have a heart-to-heart with Maddy, right? She can’t spend the whole holiday season in this funk.”