Reaching for my phone, I glanced at my messages one more time. There had been none from the guys. I expected death threats with lots of words in caps, but they’d been radio silent. They had to know we were gone and, as much as I didn’t want them to be mad, I was hurt they hadn’t reached out.
As we walked up the steps, the afternoon sun blazed down on us. I soaked in its warmth while trying to shake off my worries, then pulling on the energy I could sense from the outside of the house. It gave me a boost of power I wasn’t expecting, and I knocked on the door with authority.
Heavy footsteps sounded from inside before several locks disengaged and the door was yanked open. “You’ve got some big lady balls showing up at my door again,” Greggor snarled, his demon horns glowing and making me take a step back.
Remembering the whole point of me coming was to manipulate his mind into playing nice, I quickly brought my power forward and spoke. “Hello, Greggor. Sorry about the last time we were here, but you aren’t really mad at us. You’re going to help us again.”
His demon eyes glazed over before he opened the door further and invited us inside. “Of course, I will.”
“That was too easy,” I murmured to Nixie.
“Or maybe you’re just getting better with your powers,” she replied, giving me courage to move inside the house.
As soon as the door was closed behind us, Greggor began laughing, a deep husky sound that did not sound friendly. “Did you think you could fool me twice? You have so much to learn, sweet Cara. And Nixie, I’m disappointed you would show me such disrespect. But don’t worry. I have all the time needed to teach the two of you a few lessons in doing business.”
Greggor snapped his fingers and a shimmering magical cage appeared around us, pulsing with dark energy that I wasn’t stupid enough to touch.
“Consider your other wing mine,” I snapped at Nixie as my mind conjured several of the deplorable ways Greggor was capable of teaching us lessons.
None of my imaginative ideas left us breathing in the end.
Chapter 8
Nixie paced back and forth on my shoulder after Greggor disappeared to who knew where. She was mumbling to herself, but rage was pounding through me so severely, I couldn’t hear anything she was saying.
We were trapped, and nobody knew where we were. So. Fucking. Stupid. I’d known it as soon as we arrived. Something hadn’t felt right, and I should have listened to my gut.
Nixie stopped pacing. “Uh, Cara, what are you doing?”
“Trying not to lose my shit,” I snapped, closing my eyes and breathing through my nose.
“Well, I’m pretty sure you’re failing.” She crawled from my shoulder and down into my leather jacket. When I opened my eyes to see why she was hiding, I gasped.
“What in the actual hell?” The entire cage we’d been trapped in was lit up with my teal magic and sparks were flying any place my energy touched the barrier. On my second glance, I noticed a fissure forming in the left front corner and understood why Nixie had chosen to hide.
Flashes of magic flew around me before bashing against the walls, but I wasn’t afraid of them. They were me. Everything within the cage was a part of me and doing whatever it could to set me free. Power flowed through me like never before and took my breath away.
That was until Greggor made another appearance, this time with a dog, but not any ordinary four-legged friend. No, it was a two-headed beast that reminded me of the fables told of the hellhound Cerberus. This one was only about four-feet tall with a short black coat and had the most soulful eyes I’d ever seen on a dog. Or more accurately, two dogs.
The head on the left had one light blue eye and one green. The one on the right had deep chocolate-brown eyes that made my heart go soft.
Nixie peeked her head out from under my jacket. “Don’t meet their stare. That’s how they get you. You’ll fall into a false sense of safety, then bam! There goes your head.”
“You’re insane. These are the sweetest puppies ever. Look at those faces,” I cooed.
“Damn it. Do I have to do everything around here?” she complained, but I ignored her as she crawled back up to my shoulder.
Taking a few steps forward, I pressed my hands against the cracking wall of the cage. Greggor was watching me with an unreadable expression and the dog—or was it dogs? I wasn’t sure if they were one in the same—was excited to see me, bouncing around like I had their favorite toy.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Greggor warned, but I wasn’t sure who he was talking to and didn’t really care. I just wanted to get my hands on those adorable puppy faces.
Flashes of light pulsed from my hands as I worked harder on the wall. Finally, a chunk fell from the middle, but before I could grasp it, something shocked the back of my neck. Then, a haze came over me. No, lifted from me.
What the hell? I thought as I backed up, shaking my head.
“Don’t look at the damn dog. I won’t warn you again,” Nixie snapped, breathing heavily and taking residence inside my jacket again.
Glancing around, I saw the beast she spoke of with my peripherals, but avoided eye contact as advised. “What just happened?” I asked.
Greggor pointed to me. “You almost became lunch for Butch and Cassidy. Now, are you going to tell me how you’re breaking through my cage?”
I snorted. “Butch Cassidy? Really?”
“He was a good friend of mine. Don’t be a dick about it. Now, answer my question before I decide to change my mind about you.”
He was being overly sensitive, but I let it go as I watched his eyes soften in compassion toward the dogs before he whispered something in the left one’s ear and they trotted down the hallway. Apparently, Greggor was a dog person.
“I honestly don’t know how I cracked the cage. My magic just reacted to it. Now, let us out of here before I accidentally hurt someone by making it explode.”
Surprisingly, Greggor snapped his fingers and did just that. The dogs barked from wherever they were, but quieted as soon as Greggor let out a soft whistle. I was more curious than ever about their powers, but unfortunately, dog lessons weren’t the reason for our visit.
“Tell me why I shouldn’t kill the both of you?” he asked.
“Because we have something you want,” Nixie said.
Greggor’s eyes brightened. “Have a seat and keep talking.”
All three of us sat at the table in the kitchen just to the left of where we had been. The walls were bare, and the house barely furnished, which surprised me considering how homey the outside of it appeared.
“I’m willing to give you some of my blood in exchange for healing my wing.” Nixie fluttered down to the table, standing tall and not at all ashamed of her current need for assistance.
Greggor laughed. “You’re willing? That’s funny, because I’m pretty sure you’re in no position to negotiate. You owe me that blood for letting the witch mess with my head and killing the disaster demon in my backyard. I would have hunted you down myself if I hadn’t already been paid for the job.”
Nixie huffed, clearly not enjoying this interaction, so I tried to take over. “What do you want in order to be even for our last meeting and help Nixie?” I knew I needed to ask about the warden’s son Zeke to appease Gillian as well, but I wasn’t ready to push our luck just yet.
“That’s better. I like you. Other than your compulsion. It was tricky to decipher, but once I did, a little magic straight from hell, and you can’t get in my head again. Though, a little advice? Always remember to mess with someone’s head enough to make them forget you were even there.”
Huh. So, that’s why it didn’t work when we arrived and probably how Gillian was able to avoid my abilities, too. Definitely good to know for future use.
“Now, as for what I want, the blood sounds like a fair trade for your last visit, but if you want anything else besides a clean slate, I’ll need more. How about your blood as well?” He stared pointedly at me. I had no problem wi
th it.
Nodding my head, he grinned, but then Nixie stabbed my hand with her miniature sword she seemed to be able to pull from nowhere at a moment’s notice.
“What the hell, Nixie?” I screeched.
“Do you know what it means to give someone your blood? Someone who practices dark magic?” she hissed.
“Well, he’ll probably use it for bad shit, but he’s gonna do bad shit no matter what I do, so what’s the difference? At least we’ll have gotten what we needed,” I retorted.
“I swear, it’s a damn miracle you’re still alive.” She turned back toward Greggor. “Why do you want her blood?”
“Because she intrigues me. Now, do you want my help or not?” The demon knew he had us, and so did I. Nixie just needed to accept we had no other choice. That was the whole reason we didn’t bring the Fabled Four. We didn’t need them cockblocking us when we were trying to make a deal, yet Nixie was doing a bang-up job all on her own.
She swiveled to me once more. “Cara, I need you to understand. If he has your blood, he will know your past, he will know your heritage. He will know everything about you that not even you might be aware of. He can sell that information to the highest bidder if he wants. This puts your life in the hands of a demon. Are you really okay with that?”
Shit, when she put it that way, maybe it wasn’t the smartest decision we could make. As I weighed the pros and cons of our situation, Greggor produced a paper from thin air.
“Here, I’ll sign this, and it will protect your privacy. I won’t sell your information to anyone.” A pen appeared next, and he signed the old parchment before sliding it over to me.
Nixie took it and produced her own pen. “You can’t sell, or barter, or freely give any information about Cara to anyone without her prior consent.” She added that to the bottom of the script, finished reading, and shoved it toward me.
“I forgot how not fun it is to do business with you, Fairy,” Greggor droned.
“Yeah, well, someone has to keep your head from exploding with that ego of yours,” she huffed.
Ignoring their bickering, I read the single page of information over and signed away my blood. “Here. Now, fix her wing.”
His brow raised. “No please for me?”
“Not a chance,” I glowered.
“Oh, come on, Cara. We’re all just having some fun here. No need to be an uptight bitch about it.” The last bit was said with a snarl, and I was sure we’d never be friends, but I let it go because we still needed him.
“Your blood first, then I’ll fix her wing and take her blood. After that, I hope to never see either of you again.” His hand rested on the table, palm up and waiting for me.
Glancing down at Nixie, she nodded, so I willingly placed my hand in his. “This might sting a little,” he said right before a big-ass syringe appeared with a needle at least six inches long that was suddenly protruding from the crook of my arm.
Mother fucking fuck! That hurt like a son of a witch.
Hissing and taking a deep breath, I couldn’t do anything but watch as he took more than his fair share of my blood, filling five different vials. When he was done, I silently thanked Nixie after she healed the wound that he’d left behind from yanking the needle out.
“I’ll be right back,” Greggor murmured before disappearing.
“Are you sure we can trust him?” I asked.
“Now you’re asking that?” Her eyes rolled into the back of her head before she turned away from me. Sure, she had a point, but I hadn’t known all of the information when I first agreed to everything.
Magical life outside of the prison needed its own set of rules, and I decided to make a mental list. First rule of dealing with supernaturals: consider everyone suspicious until you’ve asked a million questions.
When the demon reappeared, he had a bag in his hand. “I can make your wing grow back, but there’s a small chance your powers may still be sporadic until your body readjusts. The damage was severe, and had you not screwed with my head and we dealt with this a month ago, it would be a different story.”
“Whatever. Let’s just get started.” Nixie moved to the center of the table and sat down while I watched helplessly. She was facing me but didn’t look my way. Instead, she watched the blank wall while keeping all emotions from her tiny face.
Even though she was wearing a bodysuit, her partial wing jutted out of it far enough for Greggor to grasp. He yanked it completely out.
“What the hell, dude? You’re supposed to make her better, not damage her,” I yelled.
He shot me a glare that had my insides turning with nerves. “Shut your damn mouth, dude. I’m working.”
Nixie wasn’t objecting—she was still staring off into the distance—so I let it slide, but I kept my eyes on him the entire time.
Greggor reached his hand into the bag, and it came out covered in shiny dust that he rubbed all over Nixie. Once she was sparkling like a diamond, his fat fingers began to pull where her wing should have been, but there was nothing he was actually grasping, at least not that I could see.
That continued for a solid five or more minutes until finally a fully shaped wing, identical to her other pearlescent one, appeared from thin air. Greggor continued to coax the wing, layering it with another handful of what I could only assume was some sort of fairy dust, as it appeared similar to the stuff Nixie liked to fling around.
Once he brushed his hands off, a much smaller needle appeared as he drew Nixie’s blood while she recovered from the trance that she’d been in during what I could only assume was an extremely agonizing process.
After Greggor was done, Nixie’s eyes finally had life in them again as she rolled her shoulders and slowly flapped her wings. Then, the biggest grin I’d ever seen on her appeared and she was gone within the blink of an eye.
“Nixie?” I called.
“Just give her a minute. She’s testing the wings out,” Greggor said casually from his seat.
I still didn’t take my eyes off him, even when I was pretty sure I felt my fairy friend zipping around my head. We held each other’s stares until Nixie finally glided back to the tabletop.
“This will do,” she announced.
“Of course it will,” he scoffed. “Now, get out of my house before I throw you out. We’re even, and I wouldn’t be the least bit sad if I never saw either of you again.”
“I can make that happen under one condition.” I grinned, hoping like hell his desire to not see us again was really that strong.
“You’re fucking kidding me, right?”
Nixie groaned as she flew next to me. “I wish she was.”
“Listen, I just need a bit of info, and then I promise, I won’t be back. Well, as long as you uphold your part of our little contract here.” I held up the paper I’d kept. I needed it more than he did.
He glared at both of us. “Fine. Pending your question, maybe I’ll take that deal.”
“I just need to know about Zeke Gillian. Where is he? And is he there because he works for the Luccovinos or because they’re holding him hostage?” I asked.
“Zeke Gillian? Do you mean Zeke Covin? If so, he’s worked for the vamps for over a decade now. He’s not one of their top men, but he’s in deep enough to get their hybrid family name. I don’t know him by anything else.”
“Do you know anything about where he is now?” I pressed.
“Last I heard, he lost the big guy a shipment of something pretty valuable. Not sure what, but he wasn’t happy about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was already dead, but if the fae is still alive, I’d bet they’ve got him in southern Virginia at one of the original compounds. That all?” he grunted.
I nodded. “Nice doing business with you, Greggor.”
“Let’s not do it again.”
We walked out the door and to the truck. Well, I walked and, for the first time in front of me, Nixie flew freely high up into the sky. At least one thing had gone right. I just hoped the Fabled Four didn’t
kill us for our little adventure and the information we learned was enough to earn their forgiveness.
Chapter 9
Nixie was the most badass creature I’d ever seen. A little part of me had wondered if she was exaggerating whenever she boasted about her full potential, but I was proven wrong when we finally got on our way.
“So, where shall we go? Paris? Australia? The Caymans? The world is at our fingertips.” Her wings were flapping faster than a hummingbird, and I couldn’t even see them as she levitated in the cab of the truck.
“Uh, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but how about Mandora Supernatural Prison?” Sure, Nixie could take us anywhere, and she could probably change our identities, but I’d never be me again. I was just learning who I was, and I wasn’t ready to give it up. Not yet, anyway.
She smacked me with dust that made me feel slightly loopy. “You’re no fun, but whatever. If you can’t live without your Fabled Fuckers, I’ll take you back to them.”
Anxiety raced through me. “What about you? Aren’t you staying still? I thought…” I thought we’d become friends and I could keep her forever. Like a real-life devil on my shoulder who convinced me to do stupid shit all the time and sometimes saved me from myself.
“I hadn’t intended on staying, I’ll be honest. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t stand any of you assholes. You’re inferior beings. You think with your heart, and you still have no sense of self-preservation.”
I detected a “but” coming and did my best to hold my smile, but apparently, I failed and didn’t even have to say a word before she caved.
“Ugh, you’re so annoying. Whatever. If you don’t think you can survive a day without me, I don’t want to feel guilty when I read about you being a magical sex slave or something through the supe gossip channels.”
Capture (Elite Supernatural Trackers Book 2) Page 6