The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers

by Angie Fox

Holy h-e-double-hockey-sticks. "Where are they all coming from?"

  "That's what I want to know," Max said.

  He warmed when talking about his mission, which must in fact have been his life's work. "We've never had this many. They're going to pull more in before it's over." He watched me. "Something big is going down. Right before it happens, I think they're going to try to break out their prisoners."

  "Then what?" I croaked.

  A predatory smile lit upon his mouth. "Well, slayer. Then all hell breaks loose."

  I couldn't imagine what one succubus could have done in Pure, much less an army unleashed on Vegas.

  For the first time, I wished I had a twin—or more power. I didn't know if what I had would be enough.

  Max paced, all business once again. "They're killing people, and sucking up an unprecedented amount of energy. I think they're using it to open up a portal, a one-way ticket to hell and back. Problem is, it's been impossible to locate."

  He seemed to look to me for ideas. Lovely. Last time, I'd gone to hell, I'd had to jump off the back end of an enchanted riverboat.

  "I don't know how two of us can take on twenty-five demons." It was impossible.

  "I don't care." He ground the words between his teeth. "I'll take out as many as I can until I'm dead. But I can't stop this alone. I've gone without a slayer for almost sixty years, but now I need a slayer."

  Great. Immortal servitude. Or if he was mortal, he wasn't like anybody I'd ever known. "What happened to your other slayer?" I asked, not really wanting to know.

  His gaze wandered past me, remembering. "She slipped."

  "Oh." My stomach fluttered, but I forced myself to ask more. "And her twin?"

  "They turned her."

  My veins iced over. "What do you mean?"

  He searched me for some sign of comprehension. "You really don't know anything, do you, Lizzie?"

  "Not as much as I'd like," I admitted in the most colossal understatement of all time. "I came here trying to get rid of one succubus." Oh, for the days when I thought there was only one.

  "You're going to have to fight with me, Lizzie."

  "We can't kill them all," I insisted.

  Max stood, the desk screeching backward. "I'll give you a day to think about it."

  My life suddenly seemed like a minor battle in the middle of a great big war.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Max's sleek black Mercedes roared into the circle drive of the Paradise Hotel. He paused long enough for me to step out, a shiver jolting through me as the cool desert air touched my skin. I barely had my door closed before he zoomed off into the night.

  The lights from The Strip bounced off the X30's tinted windows, unable to reach the man inside, as Max disappeared into the endless stream of traffic on Las Vegas Avenue. He'd never pretended to be a gentleman. He was a soldier in the middle of a great big war. And now I was involved too.

  A startled bellhop rushed to greet me. "Are you all right, miss?"

  Which was code for you look like hell. Fitting, since I'd indeed caught a glimpse of it tonight. I smoothed my dress, wrinkled and torn from my encounter with the demon. "Sure," I lied. "Everything will be fine once I get to my room."

  I wished I believed that.

  The bellhop didn't buy it, either. But he allowed me my fantasy, escorting me to the entrance and opening the smaller glass door next to the massive, revolving one. The unexpected gesture made me pause. "Thanks," I told him. "You're sweet," I added impulsively. I don't know why I wanted him to know, except that seeing the darkness always made me want to look for the light.

  Even at three thirty in the morning, the Paradise Hotel lobby seemed brighter, the slot machines louder, the patrons more boisterous than I'd seen them before. Of course compared to Max's prison, Frankenstein's lab would have felt cozy.

  The wards at the entrance practically sizzled with energy. Battina and Jan had been busy. I reached out with my mind to see what kinds of creatures I could detect. Several unknowns scattered throughout. I'd have to get better at sensing, along with everything else.

  If Max was right and the demons were planning something big, I wondered how on earth my gentle fairy godfather could be involved.

  At the twelfth-floor maintenance entryway, I slipped my key card out of my black utility belt and quicker than you can say, home, sweet, hotel room, stepped into the lapping waters of our hallway. My shadow stretched over the glistening water.

  It would feel good to hug my little doggie. I hoped he hadn't gorged himself too bad on Paw Lickin Chicken. I even looked forward to dealing with Dimitri and Grandma. Sure, they'd be ticked that I left with Max. No question it'd been worth it. Max's demon war would affect us all. They had to see it.

  My thoughts lingered on the ageless half-demon vigilante and his Spartan devotion to the cause. I didn't know how Max did it, alone every day. Come to think of it, he wasn't alone anymore. He had me.

  What a terrible thought.

  The hallway smelled like pizza again. I hoped someone on the floor just really liked pizza, because if Pirate had learned how to order room service, my meager savings could go from stretched to nonexistent in the space of a couple of dozen hotel platters.

  My hand had barely touched the knob of my door when it came crashing in on its own. Dimitri stood in the entryway. His eyes sliced into me, dissecting every scrape, bruise and broken nail I'd suffered tonight.

  "What the hell happened to you?" he demanded.

  He was on me before I could answer. Devouring me in a superheated, melting kiss that chilled me to the core. It quickly grew harder, possessive. His fingers slid up my shoulders and neck, into my hair, gripping me and forcing me to understand exactly how worried he'd been.

  I felt myself weaken as my energy flowed toward him. I pushed him away before I melted into his kiss.

  "Are you hurt?" he asked against my lips, his caresses turning to inspection as he frowned at the growing bruises on my arms. His touch was light, but his eyes hardened as he scanned the remains of my dress. My body didn't quite get the message. Pleasure seeped through me every place his fingers traveled… and even a few places where they didn't. Call it denial at its most delicious. Was it that much of a sin to want this escape? Who wouldn't want to forget Max, his demons and everything else that had happened tonight?

  One of Dimitri's superlarge hands rested on my waist, while the other traced a particularly nasty scrape that disappeared into the lilac silk of my bodice. It would have been the ultimate distraction, only his eyes glowed yellow again.

  "Lizzie!" Pirate jumped up and down against my legs. "You hear me, Lizzie?"

  His claws caught a cut on my leg I didn't even know was there until, "Ow!"

  Pirate intensified the assault. "I don't think you hear me because you're not saying anything and I'm your dog and I'm right here. Lizzie!"

  Good. Yes. Think about the dog—and not Dimitri, who is being corrupted right in front of your eyes.

  "Baby dog!" I broke away and reached down for my Jack Russell terrier.

  Pirate's spindly legs wriggled as fast as his tail. "I was starting to think you'd never come back," he said, digging his wet nose into the crook of my elbow.

  "Yes, well." He also thought that when I walked out to the mailbox without him.

  Pirate could sniff, lick and talk at the same time. "And Grandma," he said, "I don't know where she went."

  My body froze.

  "She and Ant Eater are working on something," Dimitri said.

  "Oh no." I shuddered to think. "They aren't chasing Serena, are they?" I was the only one who could defeat her, and frankly, they'd be more of a hindrance than a help.

  "Don't worry," Dimitri said. "Battina and Jan have them tracking down ingredients for extra wards. Something about stinkbugs and more turtle knees."

  "Fine," I said, clutching my dog to my chest. "Excuse me." I edged past him and deposited Pirate onto the nearest bed.

  "Now that you're back, we have some things to
discuss," Dimitri said to my back. The alone was implied.

  "Yeah, well me first," I said. "Let's move." His room would be better than mine, especially if Grandma showed up.

  "Oh, now you know I can keep a secret," Pirate protested as Dimitri clicked the door shut behind us.

  "Let's go," I said, splashing backward down the hall, waving Dimitri on.

  Before I could turn around, Dimitri lit upon me like I was on fire. "What is this?" He seized my right hand, turning it over. Gone was the insistent touch of a lover. In its place, a hardened griffin warrior whose power I was only beginning to understand.

  He held out my right hand and there, in the center of my palm, pink slashes swirled across my unbroken skin. I squinted at them in the dim lights of the hallway. They looked like the wounds Max inflicted on Dimitri. They were about the only thing on my body that didn't hurt. In fact, I didn't know what had happened.

  Had Max marked me?

  I flexed my palm, stretching the marks out over my skin. He couldn't have marked me without my knowledge. Could he? It could have been something I'd touched—the banister leading down to the basement, my switch stars, the steel door that held back an ancient demon.

  Three parts of a whole swirled, in almost a floral pattern. Squat sides together, lines reaching out. I didn't understand the significance at first, until Dimitri traced each symbol that marked my palm—6-6-6.

  I stared in horror at the fluid numbers etched over my palm. I fought the urge to rub them against my stained dress, to keep rubbing until there was nothing left. If I thought it had a chance of working, I would have done it.

  A sudden realization made me go brittle inside. What if it wasn't Max?

  They killed one slayer and turned the other.

  Voice unsteady, I asked the question I feared the most. "What does it mean?"

  I didn't like Dimitri's somber expression one bit, but I knew I could count on him to lay it out for me. "It seems you've made a deal with the devil."

  My heart thumped hard, threatening to take over my rib cage. "That's impossible," I gasped. "I didn't agree to anything."

  Dimitri cut me off. "Evil comes whether we invite it or not. What do you want, Lizzie? Are you really looking for things to be fair? A demon isn't going to wait for an engraved invitation to strike. You of all people should know that. Don't kid yourself about the hunter, either. He's out to use you."

  "Max is on our side," I insisted.

  Dimitri gave me a hard look. "So now he's Max?"

  "Yes, that's his name." I wanted to say Max didn't mark me, either. But I couldn't go that far. I just didn't know.

  No question about it—something had happened to me down there. I couldn't change it, but I could do my very best to fight it.

  Dimitri looked like he wanted to smash something.

  "Open your eyes, woman. And do it fast, because I'm not going to stand around and watch you destroy yourself."

  "Look who's talking. You need to leave this city. Now!" This wasn't the way I'd wanted to tell him, but… "I have a confession to make." My insides churned at the thought. "The night we went to hell and you were really hurt"—I searched his face—"remember?"

  Of course he remembered. I was stalling, racking my brain for a better way to say it. But there was no way to say this right. "You were going to die. I gave you part of my demon slayer essence to save you."

  Dimitri looked like I'd hit him with a brick.

  "That's not all," I said quickly. "It tainted you. It opened you up. Whatever protection you think you have—you don't. I'm sorry, Dimitri." I reached for him. "I'm so sorry."

  He backed away, shock etched across his features.

  "I didn't tell you because, well, I didn't know how. I didn't want you to feel obligated to me. I never thought in my wildest dreams this could happen."

  Dimitri's yellow eyes focused on a spot on the wall behind me. "I knew something was wrong," he said roughly, almost to himself. "I felt it."

  "There's nothing we can do. And you certainly can't protect me like this. If you stay, you're only making them stronger. Let it go. Leave." Then softer, I said, "They've won this round."

  He stiffened, eyes darkening. "Not if I have anything to do with it."

  Oh no, no, no. He wasn't going to deny this. "You're feeding them!"

  My voice echoed down the empty corridor. Now I knew why it was dim. The concierge posts stood empty.

  His nostrils flared, his body tight with resolve. "I'm also resisting them." He loomed over me. "And doing a damned good job of it. Better than I should be given these…" He couldn't even say it. "Circumstances."

  "You need to leave," I said. He gave me a predatory smile. "Point taken." Stubborn, stubborn man. He might think he could control his own destiny, but he couldn't deny one basic truth about the fight ahead. "Fine. Whether you stay or go, we're not going to beat this thing without Max." Facts were facts.

  "You don't know what the hell he is."

  "Max can kill demons," I said. "We need him." Dimitri closed his fist as if he wanted to punch something. "He is a demon," Dimitri said, grinding out each word. "Half demon."

  His mouth twisted into a mockery of a smile. "Now you're splitting hairs."

  "And you're lumping him in with the devil." His temper burned. "He's a vigilante, Lizzie."

  "Fine, so he's not a slayer." He killed for revenge. It left the demons just as dead. "And how he kills them…" Disgusting wasn't the word. I'd seen him consume a she-demon. I'd touched his steel holding cells with my own hand. "But you have to admit, he's killed more than I ever have."

  If possible, Dimitri's rage intensified. "Can't you feel him turning?"

  I stood, rooted in place.

  He thrust his hand out, gripping my shoulder, his fingers tight with fury. "Every demon Max consumes takes away a small part of his humanity. Until there won't be anything left."

  "What about you?" I demanded.

  "I'll survive."

  "This is not a choice."

  "He'll turn."

  It took me a moment to hear him. Maybe I didn't want to understand. "You mean he'll become one of them?" I gasped.

  What was the male version of a succubus? "An incubus?" I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

  Dimitri gave me a cold look. "I don't know what he'll become, but I don't want you to be around to find out. We need to fight our own part of this war and leave Max to fight his. In the meantime, I'm on you like a second skin. If he shows up again, he'll have to answer to me."

  "Oh yeah, because that's what demon slayers do. We hide from the demons while our boyfriends fight our battles for us."

  "You know that's not what I meant."

  "You can't protect me from the entire world, Dimitri. I don't want you to." I'd walked into tonight determined to take my place as a demon slayer. Max had taught me more in one evening than Grandma had since we'd set foot in Vegas. And he'd launched a demon at me. And, yes, I'd been marked.

  The war was on and I wasn't ever going to become a true demon slayer without facing down creatures like the ones I'd battled tonight.

  Every urge from my old life would have had me clinging to Dimitri. That's why I knew I couldn't. It was like the winter I'd wanted to learn to ice-skate. I'd been so scared of falling that I kept to the wall of the indoor rink, never risking a trip onto the seemingly endless stretch of ice, knowing for sure that I'd fall. And, yes, I didn't fall that winter. But I didn't skate, either. I had to get off the wall.

  "I'm doing this," I told him.

  "I'm making sure you survive."

  "What are you going to do? Lock me up like a terrier?"

  "I heard that," Pirate's voice echoed from the other side of the wall.

  Dimitri let out a string of curses I wouldn't say in front of a roomful of biker witches, much less our entire hotel floor, who was no doubt listening.

  "Stuff it," I said, stomping down the hall toward his room. If he wouldn't get out of the hallway, I would.

  I
yanked up the straps of my ruined dress, venturing a glance at my marked palm. Times like this, I really missed my old life.

  Last month, nightclubs were nightclubs, concierges were human and the demons were the name of the local high school football team. Now my shape-shifting griffin boyfriend couldn't seem to get along with my biker-witch Grandma, much less a half human/half demon potential ally, who as far as I could see was key to helping us stop an invasion of succubi that could not only kill my Uncle Phil and "turn" me, but could also go all biblical on the good citizens of Las Vegas, Nevada.

  And right when I was working up a really good rant, I reached Dimitri's room and realized I didn't have a key. His shadow fell over me as he popped open the door.

  We were barely in the room before Dimitri slammed the door closed behind us.

  "First of all," was all I managed before he pinned me to the wall, his body hard against mine as he assaulted me with his mouth. The man did amazing things with his tongue, his teeth. Yum. I ground against him. Pushed him harder. I heard him groan. Or was that me?

  He pulled back, his lips almost on mine. I tried to close the gap, just for a moment. The temptation was too overwhelming. It wouldn't cost much, I told myself.

  But he resisted. "I'm not stupid," he said. "I know what you have to do here. But it doesn't mean I have to like it, and it doesn't mean you need to go riding off with assholes like Max. He's half demon, Lizzie. You remember demons, don't you?"

  Like I could forget.

  "Here's the deal," I said, ready to lay it out as plainly as I could.

  I told Dimitri about my night with Max, how I watched him suck the life out of the she-demon at Pure. I told him about Max's abandoned mental hospital/prison and the succubi Max held captive there.

  Dimitri had to get it. I watched his face for signs of understanding. "Vegas is on the edge," I said. "This is the gathering place. You said it yourself. Something big is about to go down. Uncle Phil is involved, and now I am too. We only have one choice in this. One. And that's whose side we're going to be on."

  Dimitri gave nothing away. "Not his."

  "Oh, come on."

  "He's sucking out their immortal essences, Lizzie. He's no better than they are."