I’m afraid that if I open my mouth I’ll scream until the blood vessels in my eyes burst, so I clench my hands and grit my teeth until my jaw aches. Ciaran seems to wither under my furious gaze, and then Runner steps into my line of sight, breaking the contact and snapping me back to the present.
He holds out the Codex Malum and says, “That’s fucked up.”
It’s so absurd that a laugh explodes from my chest, and I giggle in a way that’s just this side of hysterical as tears of frustration and loss well in my eyes. My parents died… no, I killed my parents because of what they were, and it turns out I murdered them for being what I am. They were probably going to tell me that night. Instead, they got butchered.
My entire life since then has been nothing but deceit and death. I want to blame Lilah for that, but who’s to say it would have been any different if I’d grown up in my nuclear demon family?
Runner wiggles the book, pushing it into my hands. “Is he going to kill us?” he asks, nodding back toward Ciaran.
“He’d have done it by now,” I respond, taking the book. Stepping around Runner, I address Ciaran directly. “You should have told me. Everything.”
“I thought I was helping to keep you safe.” He casts his eyes downward as he says, “But you’re right. You deserved to know.”
“Deserved to know what?” a familiar, smoky voice interjects, and Mina appears from behind Ciaran like some slinky, unearthly goddess. Tonight she is in white cigarette pants and a fitted white blazer with the sleeves rolled up and no shirt underneath, revealing a slice of flawless dark skin all the way down to her navel.
“That she’s always been a demon!” Runner says.
“Obviously,” Mina responds distractedly. She’s got her eyes locked on the Codex Malum in my hands. “Is that what I think it is, little demon?”
“A promise is a promise,” I say, and hold it out.
“You bring that on back with you. We have things to discuss,” Mina says and turns on her heel, crooking her finger and beckoning me to follow her as she returns to her office. Runner follows her immediately, but as I move to stride past Ciaran, avoiding him, his arm shoots out and he grabs my bicep.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there to help you. To save you.”
Right now, there’s only one more question that matters, and how he answers it will determine if I ever speak to him again. “Did you know what she planned to do with David?”
His black eyes bore into me as he says, “I would never hurt you or anyone you loved, Gray. I knew about David, but I had no idea what Lilah was planning. I think that’s why she sent me away on a job overseas, so I wouldn’t be here when she carried out her plan. Word of your death traveled, and I came back here as soon as I could…” He shakes his head. “If you hadn’t killed Ruby and Lilah, I would have.”
His eyes are bottomless black and full of sadness, and he pulls me into his arms, crushing me to his chest. I stiffen, still raw and angry and reeling from everything I’ve learned, but he holds me until I soften and hug him back. “I was afraid you wanted me dead, too,” I say.
“I am always on your side, Gray.” He pulls back from me, gripping my shoulders and holding me at arm’s length.
“Good, I didn’t want to have to kill you,” I say, working up a smile and wiping a dark tear from where it’s tracked down my cheek.
That gets a genuine laugh from him. “There are fires I have to put out due to everything that’s happened, but we’re not done. There’s so much you deserve to know.”
“You, too,” I say as I back away, and watch his jaw drop as I add, “Lilah’s not dead, and Lucifer’s my new boss.”
5
THE WORST WITCHES
“She survived the night!” Mina crows as I enter her office. She sits in her office chair, the Codex Malum lying closed in front of her, peering at us over the piles of yellowed papers that are stacked on her desk.
“I like to think I had a little something to do with that,” Runner says, running his hand through his unruly dark hair and preening a bit.
“More than a little.” Taking a seat next to Runner in one of the two chairs set on the other side of the desk, I nod to Mina and add, “If you hadn’t called him, I might’ve had to walk to the Eternal Cemetery.”
His smirk falls as Mina lets out a throaty laugh. “I’m glad you’re the one they sent, Runner,” she says. “And I’m glad you stuck around after the job was done.”
“We’ll see how long that lasts,” he mutters, and I pick up the words “ungrateful” and “jerk demon” as he mumbles, but there is a smile in his voice and I can’t help but crack a small smile of my own.
Mina leans back and gets comfortable in her chair. “I’ve gotta admit, Gray, I didn’t think you’d succeed in getting the Dagger of the Fallen, let alone take out Lilah.”
“I didn’t have a choice,” I reply.
“Yeah, and desperate people usually make stupid, rash decisions that end up in chaos and death, sometimes for others, usually for themselves.”
“That’d be me, then, yes,” I say. “Got David killed. Got myself killed. Made a stupid, rash decision to go into business with Lucifer. Got a whole bunch of demons killed. Stirred up all sorts of trouble. I’d say you’re right on the money about all of this.”
“And who is this David fellow?” she asks as she absentmindedly runs a finger along the binding of the Codex Malum.
Runner shoots me a wary glance but I don’t meet his eyes. Mina’s into information. It’s power to her. Currency. I think that David is something I’m going to keep to myself for a bit.
“How do you know Ciaran?” I counter, and I can see that my attempt at deflection works as she rolls her eyes and fixes me with a look of pure pity.
“Oh, honey. The better question here would be who don’t I know.”
“Fair point,” I admit. “What mission was he on when I was murdered?”
“Nothing that matters now,” she replies. “Lilah’s little criminal empire has crumbled, and if I’m not mistaken you and Ciaran are the only ones left of her band of merry murderers.”
Runner slides a paper from the top of one of the precarious stacks on Mina’s desk and starts to read. She leans forward, snatches it from his hands, and sets it back on the pile. “It looks like we’re boring poor Runner, here,” Mina purrs, “and we’re square now, so why don’t you go grab another GIPA at the bar? You both did such a good job, it’s on the house.”
“Not square,” I respond and point at the Codex Malum. “I did what you asked and delivered one book containing all sorts of dangerous goodies right to your doorstep. You told me that if I managed to survive that you’d give me a Counterfeit education that, and I quote, would melt my little demon mind.”
Mina watches me with those hypnotic, starry eyes for a heavy moment before responding, “Indeed I did.”
“What exactly does that entail?”
Mina runs a hand over the cover of the Codex Malum. “That entails me telling you anything you’d like to know about your old boss Lilah and her nefarious deeds.”
“What if she’s not the only person or thing I want to know about?”
A slow smile spreads across Mina’s face. “Are you saying you want to make another bargain with me?”
Runner stiffens and makes a choking noise. It’s possible he doesn’t think this is a good idea. I lean toward him and say, “Do you have the information I’m going to need for my next mission?”
“Depends on the mission,” he hisses.
“He won’t know,” Mina adds helpfully, and Runner scowls at her. “What? Tell me I’m wrong.”
“Is she wrong?” I ask him.
Runner tips his chair onto its back legs and crosses his arms. After a moment of pouting, he spits out, “No, she’s not wrong. I just don’t think…”
“Noted.” I turn back to Mina. “Yes, I’ll bargain. Just tell me what you want and I’ll figure out a way to get it.”
Mina’s smile is wi
cked. “Done. Now, what can I help you with?”
“I need help finding the Dead Hex.”
The back legs of Runner’s chair slip and he topples backward, hitting the floor with a terrible clatter. He rolls ass over teakettle and comes to a stop against one of Mina’s card catalogs. Sitting up and rubbing the back of his head, he says, “You can’t get that, Gray.”
“Can’t as in I’m not allowed, or can’t as in it’s not possible?”
“I mean it doesn’t exist. Lucifer gave you an impossible mission.” He pulls himself to his feet, rights his chair, and sits back down, wincing as his ass hits the padded seat.
It sounds ridiculous, but then again I wouldn’t put something like that past Lucifer. “Is he right, Mina?”
“Of course he’s not right. I told you he wouldn’t know.”
Runner gingerly presses his fingertips to the back of his head. “Gods dammit that hurts.”
Mina gets up, strides around the desk, and opens the door to her office. Sticking her head out into the club, she yells, “Can I get some ice in here?”
“The Dead Hex is a myth,” Runner says to me quietly, and I can tell he believes this with one-hundred percent certainty.
“It’s not,” Mina says, and takes a small towel from the bartender that’s appeared at the threshold. Shutting the door to block out the thumping music once again, Mina hands the bundle to Runner and bends down to meet him at eye level. “I’ve seen it.”
Runner takes the towel from her with one hand and frustratedly waves her off with the other, but his eyes roll back with relief as he presses the ice to his head.
“And getting it isn’t going to be easy,” Mina continues, snatching the same pair of glasses from the desk that I saw her wear when she found the location of the Dagger of the Fallen for me. The lenses flash briefly, and she smiles. “But that’s the fun part, right?”
“Depends on your definition of fun,” Runner says. “You probably thought sending us to Baron was fun, too.”
Mina moves to a what looks like a stack of thick photo albums piled one on top of the other in the far corner of the room. “I’m sure it was fun for Baron. I heard there was quite a massacre and you know how he loves to keep busy with the burying and the corpses and whatnot.” She grunts as she pulls the book second from the bottom out of the pile, and the stack wavers precariously behind her as she spins and brandishes it at us. “Here we go. If I’m right, I’ll know exactly where to send you.”
She slams the book down on the desk, sending a puff of dust swirling up around us. “Any creatures I should be worried about where we might be going?” I ask. “Last time I wasn’t allowed near the Pixies or the docks because I was still just newly dead and too close to human.”
“Smart move,” Runner mutters. “Pixies are vicious.”
“Lots of creatures you should be worried about,” Mina says quietly as she turns one thick page after another. It’s like no album I’ve ever seen before. More like an interactive journal of sorts. Scrawled handwriting and pockets for snapshots and dried flowers pressed in the pages.
She must find the page she’s looking for because she stops flipping through and instead slides her finger down the page as she reads, her nose inches from the paper. For a second I’m not sure what’s happening, because it looks like she’s convulsing, and then I realize it’s not some sudden medical emergency: it’s silent laughter.
It shakes her from her very core, and when she manages to look up I can see tears streaming from her eyes behind the lenses of the glasses. Laughter, smoky and rich, pours from her and I can’t help but smile and chuckle along with her. “What?” I ask.
“Oh, it’s just too good.” She takes the glasses off, tosses them on the desk, and wipes the tears from her eyes. “Runner, you sure you wanna stick with her through thick and thin? Good missions and bad?”
“One, we’re not, like, getting criminal married,” Runner says as he pulls the ice pack from his head, “and two, I’m invested now we’ve had a lot of bonding time in the car.” There is the slightest edge of exasperation in his tone, and I have to admit it endears him to me.
“Positive?” Mina asks, and she is getting way too much enjoyment out of dragging this out.
“Where are we going? Where’s the Dead Hex?” If the thought of us going wherever she’s sending us is giving her this much entertainment, maybe it can’t be all that bad?
“Runner, what is your least favorite type of Counterfeit?” Mina waggles her eyebrows and wipes a lingering tear from her midnight skin.
His brow furrows in confusion. “I like everybody… I don’t…” His eyes go wide, and he looks from her to me and back again. “No. No witches.”
“Yes witches!” she screeches, nearly dancing with glee. “And not just any witches! The worst witches!”
Runner slumps further down into his chair and returns the ice pack to the back of his head. “I’m concussed. I can’t drive. No way I can go to wherever it is that the witches are.”
Mina calms herself enough to wave him away. “Well, not all of the worst witches. Just one really bad one. Like, remember how I told you to avoid the Pixies, Gray? This is like that, but more terrible.”
Of course. Mina wouldn’t take glee in letting us off easy. She’d relish the thought of throwing us into as much mayhem as possible. “Which witch is it?”
Mina blinks. “You enjoyed that, didn’t you? The which witch thing. Good. Keep your sense of humor. You’re gonna need it, because you have to go to Salem, Massachusetts and steal the Dead Hex from Trivia.”
There’s a thunk as Runner drops the ice pack onto the floor. “You’re kidding.”
“Who is Trivia?” Nobody offers up anything in this place without being specifically asked and I’m really starting to hate being left out.
Mina’s night-sky eyes dance as she says, “The Goddess of Graveyards. Specter at the Crossroads. The Queen of Ghosts. Trivia will fuck you up.”
Runner moans, and I don’t think it’s from the pain in his head.
“You’re in luck, though,” Mina continues. “I know someone who might be able to help you avoid an untimely second death, and it just so happens he’s getting drunk at the bar.”
6
YOU NEED A NECROMANCER
“Luke! Look sharp!”
The only patron at the bar jumps when he hears his name, but he doesn’t turn or acknowledge our approach. He simply lifts his now significantly less-full glass of liquor so that it catches the lights from behind the bar and says, loudly, “Not in the mood, Mina.”
“Tough shit, Spooky.” Mina grabs one of my hands with her left and one of Runner’s with her right and drags us behind her as she strides across the dance floor.
The man, Luke, spins around on his stool to face us. His chestnut hair is mussed and disheveled, his top two buttons are undone, and he hasn’t shaved in what must be almost a week. He’d be a disaster if he weren’t so handsome, and yet something about him sets off an alarm inside me. As we get closer, I realize that it’s his eyes. They’re light, too light, like glacial ice. Animalistic. It puts me on edge even as I get the feeling that there’s something about them that’s familiar.
“You know I hate that nickname.” He sips, the ice clinking in his glass.
“But I love that nickname. Hence, why I used it,” Mina counters as she stops directly in front of him. “I need your help.”
“I need another drink.”
“Nope, I’m gonna need you sober-ish for this. This is my friend Runner,” Mina says, waving Runner’s hand in front of Luke’s face, “and this rookie demon right here is Gray Carver,” she says, holding my hand up in a vise-grip like I’m a prizefighter who’s just won the title belt. “Gray and Runner, this is Lucas Thorn, Professor of Occult Studies at Ash City University and knower of almost as many things as myself.”
“Nice to meet you,” Luke says, nodding to both of us. “Now if you’ll excuse me…” He moves to spin back around on his stool.
Mina wedges her stiletto-spiked foot on the rung between his legs to keep him from turning. “Your tab at this bar is worth more than your life. These two fine specimens need a witch. Or, to be more specific, they need a necromancer. You’re in good with the Daughters of the Dead, aren’t you?”
“It’s complicated,” he says. “What’s in it for me?”
“Tee. Bee. Dee. To be determined.”
He lets out a weary sigh and lifts his glass toward me, and then Runner. “Like I said, nice meeting you both. Mina, I could do with less of you,” he mutters, and this time he does turn around, giving us his back.
“Rude,” Mina huffs, but there’s no anger behind her words. I disentangle from her grip and lean on the bar next to Luke.
“If you help us, I’ll owe you,” I say to his profile.
Runner makes a strangled sound behind me. “Gray, you’ve really got to stop doing that.”
I’ve caught Luke’s attention, though. He slides those unnerving eyes at me and raises his eyebrows. “What makes you think I want anything?”
“Okay, maybe not want. But when was the last time you looked in the mirror? Because you definitely need something or you wouldn’t be here forgetting yourself at the bottom of a glass.”
From the corner of my eye, I see Mina mouth the word wow at Runner, who in turn mouths I know.
“That’s awfully direct, seeing as how I’m a stranger to you,” Luke says, but he’s not angry or even annoyed. He’s defeated.
“I don’t have time to dance around the point. The longer I’m here, the longer I’m away from someone very important to me, and I don’t think I can get back to him without your help.”
He watches me for a long moment, long enough that I begin to worry that I’ve overstepped a boundary or caused him to shut down even further. But then he spins back around to face Mina and says, “She’s not the normal type you hang around with. She’s telling the truth.”
HELLION: THE DEAD HEX: (Hellion, Book 2) Page 3