Speak of the Devil

by Jena Gregoire

  “There,” he said pointing to the descending light. Dez followed where he was pointing and then pulled in a sharp breath.

  “Oh my god, what is that?” she asked, all teasing gone from her voice.

  “What are you guys looking at?” Charlie asked from behind them. He and his wife joined them standing against the railing. Dez pointed out where they were looking just before the star disappeared down into the canyon as the previous one had.

  “What the hell?” Harley exclaimed.

  “It was way too slow for a shooting star,” he explained, “and it didn’t move like a helicopter. That star was stationary in the sky until it started to fall.” Michael stared at the spot on the horizon where it had disappeared. “There’s no logical explanation for it. It was definitely a star, but no star just floats to the ground.”

  “There’s an easy way to find out,” Dez replied. She put her hands on Michael’s shoulders, easing him back, and then she vanished in a wispy cloud of black smoke.

  “Dez!” Michael called out, but there was no response. She was gone. Just as she had done in Venice, she used her demon ability to shift into smoke and as soon as the smoke cleared, there was no way to tell where she was. The memory caused a spike of panic to run through his body.

  “Um,” Harley started hesitantly, eyebrows raised, “where did she go?”

  “That’s a relatively new development,” Michael explained, not turning to them as he was scanning the cliffs for any sign of her. “She’s got this ability to shift to smoke and travel through the ether. She doesn’t use it if it can be avoided. Tequila makes her do fun things like this with no warning.” He kept his eyes on the cliffs. He was starting to consider taking off at a dead sprint across the desert to find her when, suddenly, she was there. He could barely make her out, even with his heightened eyesight, but he knew it was her. She was standing on the top of the nearest cliff waving to him. His whole body relaxed. He downed the rest of his drink and set his cup on the railing.

  “I’ll be right back,” he said, and then hopped over the railing and took off running at full speed as soon as his feet connected with the ground. Although it wasn’t quite as efficient as disappearing into thin air and reappearing somewhere else, Michael’s vampire speed allowed him to cross a mile in under two minutes. In less than three, he was standing next to Dez on the edge of the cliff.

  “Took you long enough.” Ignoring her jibe, he stared down into the canyon searching the rocky floor for any sign of the star.

  “Do you see anything?” she asked.

  “Nothing,” he replied shaking his head, “you saw it, too, right? I’m not imagining things. This is where it went down.”

  “Oh, I saw it. I just have no freaky clue where it went.” She was quiet for a moment, and then asked, “What do you say? We going in?”

  Michael stared out the rocky floor of the canyon. He was absolutely sure of what he saw, but in front of him, there was absolutely no evidence he could see. Not even a small cloud of dust floating in the air. After a moment, he turned to her and nodded in response. The edge of her lips turned up a smile. She blinked and her eyes went from their normal icy blue to pools of glossy black. A split second later, he took off running. He heard her let loose a youthful giggle as she shifted back into a wispy cloud of smoke and dissipated into the warm night air.

  They wandered through the canyon for a while longer, their search turning up no results. They finally gave up, both convinced they were not going to find whatever had fallen from the darkness above. Rather than spend the rest of their night chasing ghosts, they went back to Charlie’s house.

  As they climbed the small set of stairs, it was almost silent, save for a small set of speakers emitting soft music. Charlie was sitting in his patio chair, tipped back, balancing on the back set of legs with his feet resting on the porch railing, gazing up at the blanket of stars overhead.

  “Where’s the missus?” Dez asked, no signs of exhaustion even though they had just run several miles at full speed.

  “Inside,” he replied quietly, bringing his legs down and tilting the chair back onto all four legs. “She’s digging out her telescope. Tonight is the perfect night for a little spying on the cosmos.”

  “I’m going to grab a drink,” Dez replied, putting her hand on the door handle. “I’ll see if she needs any help while I’m in there.”

  Michael watched as she strode into the house without another look back. He grabbed a chair and took a seat next to Charlie. The two of them sat in silence for a long moment. The two men hardly knew each other, and, for the first time in many years, Michael didn’t know exactly what to say. It was Charlie who finally spoke.

  “Find what you were looking for?” he asked, quiet and calm, not looking at Michael but keeping his eyes on the sky.

  Michael’s thoughts were occupied by Deziree. Again. Ever since the night he returned from Venice, and they had made the decision to start a life together, it seemed she was all he thought about. Had he found what he was looking for? Without a doubt. He just wasn’t sure she felt the same way. Michael glanced over at Charlie, an eyebrow cocked, realizing there may have been a double meaning behind his words.

  “Is that a loaded question?”

  “Aren’t they always?” Charlie replied with a smile right before he took a sip of his mixed drink. Michael turned back to stare out at their dark desert surroundings.

  “Is this the part where you ask me what my intentions are?”

  “Not hardly, mate,” Charlie answered. “That woman is tough as nails and, I won’t lie, at times, scary. She can take care of herself; of this, I have no doubt. Deziree Davanzati doesn’t need anyone, least of all me, trying to play big brother.”

  “Well,” Michael said, “she has had her moments.”

  “Yeah?”

  “The very same strong will and stubbornness that make her so self-reliant also tend to lead to rash decisions. I spent the majority of the last five months wondering if it got her killed. After four centuries by her side, I should have known better. I should have just called.”

  “But you didn’t,” Charlie added. “And why is that, exactly?” Michael turned to face Charlie, looking the man in the eye, searching for the words to answer properly. “Look, mate, I’m sorry if I am overstepping some guy boundaries here. Later, when we are all uncomfortable from our sharing moment, we can agree to blame it on the liquor. It’s not like we have to go shopping for tampons together. It’s a reasonable question.” Michael chuckled softly when Charlie paused. “I know why she didn’t pick up the phone. I mean, I get what caused her apprehension. You kill people for a living, and you work for people who may very well have wanted her dead. I just can’t figure out why you didn’t pick up the telephone.”

  Michael took a long haul off his drink, emptying his glass before speaking.

  “At first, I was pissed. So incredibly pissed. She just left. She told me she loved me for the first time, then literally slipped through my fingers. Once the initial shock wore off and the anger slipped away, I guess my own pride got in my way. You know Dez. She’s always been so shut off emotionally. She’s just Dez. She’s not big with the mushy displays. Telling me she loved me was huge, but a piece of me didn’t buy it. I wanted her to come to back to me, on her own, to show me I meant as much to her as she meant to me. Every day that passed with no word led to a seed of resentment forming. I still loved her, I still do love her, but a very juvenile part of me was really hurt when she didn’t call. I got dark for a while, almost to the point of obsession with how much I thought about her.” Silence settled between them again.

  “And now?” Charlie finally asked.

  “Now? Now is exactly my point. Now is all that matters. When my phone rang, and I saw her name on the screen, I was consumed with a mixture of relief and fury. When I left New York, I wasn’t even sure how I would react when I saw her. I wanted to rage at her. I wanted her to feel every ounce of loss she had put me through when she left. I wanted
to not feel anything anymore, but the moment I saw her, I knew. I saw her standing there and everything else melted away. All that mattered was now. I learned something in that moment. When you have someone like her in your life, you need to hang on for dear life and never let go. It may be a rough ride at times, but you can feel it, deep in your core. You know she’s worth it.”

  “Although I appreciate you sharing with me,” Charlie said as he refilled his glass from the pitcher on the table, “have you thought to tell her any of this?”

  “She knows how I feel about her.”

  Charlie immediately scoffed in response. “And you call her stubborn.” He gestured to Michael’s glass. “Refill?” Michael handed him the empty cup and as he filled it, Charlie continued. “You’re right, you know. You need to hang on to her. She’s special and she doesn’t often let anyone in. Hell, we worked side by side for more years than I care to admit, and it took me leaving for her to finally show me genuine humanity. Even though she was the one to walk away, being away from you wrecked her. The night she showed up on my doorstep, she was a proper mess. It only got worse when she explained what happened between the two of you. She’ll never forgive herself until she knows you have. She may put on a brave face, but deep down, this will eat away at her. Don’t let your assumptions leave this thing between you. It’ll poison the well, I promise you that. Contrary to the popular notion, some things are not better left unsaid.” Charlie handed Michael his drink and he immediately drank half of the contents.

  “What are you, thirty-five? A bit wise for your age, aren’t you?”

  “I am a lot older than I look, mate.” Charlie punctuated the statement with a wink.

  “I suspected as much.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Not to be rude, but you don’t smell human.”

  “Ah,” Charlie responded. “I assure you, I’m not.”

  “So?” What are you then?”

  “Eh,” Charlie began, obviously planning to skirt the subject. “I like to keep that bit to myself. It’s better that way.” And there it is. “Let’s put it this way. The world is better off forgetting about my kind. I will tell you I am just a touch older than the two of you combined, but, I promise, I have nothing but her best interest at heart. I wouldn’t ever want to see her in unnecessary danger.”

  “As long as we agree on that, I don’t give a shit if you’re a gargoyle practicing voodoo in a grass skirt.”

  “Cheers to that!”

  The door opened as they sipped their drinks and Harley stepped out onto the deck with Dez trailing right behind her. They were both laughing, obviously in the middle of a conversation when they made their way back outside, Harley carefully balancing the telescope and a freshly filled drink. Michael couldn’t help but wonder what they had been joking about. Apparently, Charlie had been wondering too because he was the one who asked.

  Harley cast a devious grin at Dez and whispered, “Don’t tell him. It’ll just ruin our fun.”

  “You got it, boss,” Dez replied with a wink, and just then, Harley’s balancing act started to crumble. As the telescope started to slip, she scrambled to prevent it from hitting the ground while trying not to spill her drink. Charlie jumped to her rescue and caught the telescope just in time.

  “Careful now,” he teased. “You’ll never forgive yourself if you break this. Let me help you. Where do you want it set up?”

  “My hero,” she replied, batting her eyelashes, then abruptly stopping to roll her eyes at him. “Come on. The driveway should be a good spot tonight.” The pair walked away from Michael and Dez and disappeared around the side of the house.

  “Were you boys playing nice?” Dez wandered over to the table, a slight stumble in her step from too much alcohol.

  “Of course,” Michael replied, noticing his own words slurring for the first time. “He seems like a nice guy. Or, well, whatever he is.”

  “You picked up on that, huh?”

  “Do you know what he is?”

  “No.” She let out an over-exaggerated sigh. “I’ve never managed to pry it out of him. He won’t even tell me how old he is.”

  “Somewhere north of eight hundred years.”

  “What?” Dez asked, perking up at the new information. “Did he actually tell you that?”

  “Yep,” Michael answered, draining his drink of all but the ice cubes before continuing. “He said he’s older than the two of us combined.”

  “When was this?”

  “Not more than three minutes ago.”

  “That’s bullshit!” Dez exclaimed. They both heard Charlie chuckling in response from the other side of the house. Then she continued, quieting her voice. “That’s bullshit. He doesn’t even know you. I’ve been asking him for years and all I get are crickets. Not a damn thing. Nothing.” Now it was her turn to empty her glass in just a few swallows.

  “He’s pretty drunk,” Michael added. “He’s been putting away margaritas like he’s dying of thirst. Speaking of which.” He grabbed the pitcher and refilled his own glass.

  “If I had known that was the key, I would have gotten him shitfaced ages ago.”

  “Yeah, but we still don’t know what he is.”

  “I don’t think it’s anything to worry about,” she replied, the steam seeming to go out of her. “He gets bitchy from time to time, especially when I yell at him, but he’s always got my back.”

  “Yes, he does,” Michael said with an easy smile. He paused for a moment, thinking about the conversation he just had with Charlie about the state of things between him and Dez, and decided the man was right.

  “Hey,” he said quietly, patting his leg , “come over here.” Dez set her glass on the table and complied, easing onto his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck. He took her hands and pulled them down between them, placing a light kiss on her knuckles, and finally resting them on his chest.

  “You know all that happened last August is behind us, right?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I know why you left. I mean, I get it. Had I been in your shoes, I think I would have done the same thing. No, correction. I know I would have done the same thing.”

  “Vegas—“ She sounded as though she was going to try to brush it off, so Michael put a finger to her lips and continued.

  “Let me get this out because I think there is a piece of you that needs to hear it. We can’t just go on with our lives, pretending it never happened. If we try, we’re going to go through this counterproductive cycle, you wondering if I secretly hate you, me wondering if that’s exactly what you’re thinking and wondering if it will make you bolt. It’s not a good way for either of us to live. We’ve never held back with each other in all the years we’ve known each other, not until we made the choice to be together. I don’t regret one bit of that choice, but sometimes we are going to need to say the things we don’t want to, out loud, just so those things won’t eat away at us, creating doubt where there doesn’t need to be any. Even if it’s unpleasant, and even if it may sting a bit.

  "This is one of those things. It happened, it’s over, and even though I didn’t think I actually needed to tell you because I don’t think you did anything wrong, I forgive you.”

  When he was done speaking, Dez’s eyes were welled up with tears, but she said nothing. He kissed her hands again in an effort to break the moment she appeared to be stuck in.

  “I love you, Dez. I may have been a bit off when we met back up, but I am good now. That had nothing to do with you. You need to understand that. I need you to understand that.”

  “I understand,” Dez finally got out, then cleared her throat, blinking away the unshed tears. He took her face gently between his hands and kissed her, pouring everything he felt for her into that kiss. The sound of Charlie clearing his throat brought their tender moment to an end.

  “Alright then?” Michael glanced in his direction and gave the man a meaningful smile.

  “Yeah,” he said, turning his attention back t
o the beautiful little demon in front of him. “We are good.”

  “We are so good, in fact...” Dez stood up. Her thought was interrupted as she swiftly drank down the rest of her glassful of ice cold margarita. Setting her glass back on the table, she swallowed what was in her mouth, and continued. “We are so good, in fact, we are turning in for the night. We have to talk to Lucas, then I think it’s time we get some sleep.” With that, Michael found himself being pulled into the house by the front of his shirt.

  “So, when are you guys headed back to the city?”

  “We are leaving Meadview tomorrow,” Michael explained.

  His brother stood in front of him, as real as the day they were both turned into vampires. He still found the experience of talking to his dead brother a touch unnerving but, at the same time, he appreciated it more than he could ever put into words. They had just finished bringing the specters up to speed on the decision Dez had made, though they were both sure the pair had already known everything that had gone on since their last meeting.

  “We are going to go to Las Vegas for a few days to wipe out as much of the demon population there as we can, maybe take a few extra days to blow off some steam, then we’ll be headed back.”

  “The weapon you mentioned. Are we just going to ignore that little nugget? I mean, I, for one, think that’s pretty important.” Michael couldn’t quite get a grasp on why Natalia was so frustrated. Dez jumped in to try to make her understand before he had a chance to even open his mouth.

  “We’re not going to ignore it completely,” she explained. “We’ll keep our eyes and ears open for any info, but I am also not going to lose sleep over it. We have to remember who the information was coming from. Keep in mind, she was trying to convince me to kill myself. Not exactly a trust-building sentiment.”

  “She’s right,” Lucas added. “There’s a very good possibility no such weapon exists. She’s probably full of shit.”