Corruption

by Jennifer Blackstream

  No magic for me.

  A fresh wave of panic gave me a shot of adrenaline, and I glared at them. “Why?” I asked again, louder this time. “I hate to interrupt a good time, but if you could spare a moment to tell me how I went from trying to keep you alive”—I glared at Lorelei—”to being a prisoner and unwilling voyeur, that would be grand.”

  The bounty hunter tore his mouth from Lorelei’s, but didn’t deign to look at me. “Don’t take it personally, it’s just business. I received an offer I couldn’t refuse.” Lorelei thrust her hips against him, and he groaned, returning his mouth to her throat.

  “Why am I tied up?” I said, raising my voice and giving it the edge I used to warn children I was close to losing my good mood. “I am your ally, not your enemy. What offer made me your target?”

  “Calm down,” Paul insisted, his words strained as Lorelei’s hand moved inside his jeans. “We’re keeping you safe until your master gets here.”

  I froze, a ball of ice crackling to life in my stomach. “My master?” I swallowed hard. “How did you find out about him?”

  Lorelei laughed. “You’re talking about Flint. Oh, don’t worry, dear, the fey is no longer your concern. Your new master will be sure he doesn’t find you until the year on your contract is up.” Her eyes glittered as she studied me over Paul’s shoulder. “I’m sorry if that disappoints you. I suppose just because you weren’t excited to be his slave at the time of the last auction, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t brought you around since then.”

  A surge of temper helped me think past the pain in my neck and back. I straightened my spine and gave Lorelei the full benefit of the stare I’d learned at Mother Hazel’s knee. “You listen to me,” I ground out. “I have spent this entire day trying to find out who stopped the exorcism you wanted so badly—trying to find out who shot you. Tell me what is going on, or salt circle or no salt circle, I will make you sorry.”

  “You talk with a great deal of bravery considering your situation,” Lorelei said coldly.

  “What. Is going. On?” I bit out.

  Paul groaned and eased his body down Lorelei’s, making a sound of regret as the motion pulled her hand free of his jeans. He gave her an apologetic kiss then rolled onto his side to face me.

  “You said you knew Corban and Christophe,” I said. “You said they’d reformed you, helped you to find a better path. What happened to all that gratitude? All that loyalty?”

  “I’ve backslid a bit,” Paul admitted. “It happens to the best of us.” He glanced at Lorelei with a wolfish grin. “Of course, recent experiences have showed me that maybe the old boys had it wrong. Nothing wrong with self interest. A little pleasure seeking.”

  “Precisely,” Lorelei purred.

  She pulled his head down and they shared a kiss that should have melted their faces together. I gritted my teeth. “Focus, please?”

  Paul pulled back from the kiss with a put upon sigh. “What I told you before about knowing Corban and Christophe is true. They did help set me straight, and I did come to Cleveland after I heard they were taking on a demon-bound case. Everyone talked like it was some dangerous suicide mission. I had to protect them.”

  He shrugged. “I was too late. I was scouting the church when I overheard you outside talking with the lovely Lorelei. That’s when I learned of the twins’ murder.” He narrowed his eyes. “At first I thought it was you,” he told Lorelei. “But then I saw someone else watching the church.”

  My heart stopped. “The kelpie.”

  He nodded. “Water horses. Two of them, and they were armed. It was one of them that shot Lorelei at the church. Apparently, your FBI agent shot and killed one of them last month.” Paul sounded impressed. “That’s not an easy feat. I’d like to have shaken his hand.” He shrugged. “Of course, that might have given me away, so I had to restrain myself.”

  My stomach sank. “You made a deal with them.”

  “I confronted them after they shot Lorelei. I wanted to know if they’d shot the twins. Barring that, I wanted to make sure they weren’t after Lorelei. I figured having failed to protect the twins, the best I could do was avenge their deaths, and make sure nothing happened to the person they were trying to help.”

  “That would be Laurie, not Lorelei,” I pointed out.

  Paul snorted. “Shows what you know. The twins weren’t so judgmental. They saw them both as victims.”

  “So being the reformed man you are, you thought since the murderers weren’t after your prey—oh, I’m sorry, your charge—you’d help them kill someone else?”

  “Let’s say they caught my interest.” Paul stroked Lorelei’s bare shoulder, trailing the pad of one finger down her arm to her elbow and back up. Lorelei smiled and stretched out beneath him. “The equine gentlemen told me all about Agent Bradford and what he’d done. And if you want the truth, it all seemed mighty unfair. They paid for that kid, paid for him when they believed it was legal. Then they lost the kid, their money, and the life of one of their own.” He wagged a finger at me. “Now does that sound fair to you?”

  “I have a difficult time working up sympathy for people who buy children,” I said coldly.

  Paul shrugged. “Priorities then. What piqued my interest was what led to their loss in the first place.”

  His eyes lightened with the predatory gleam I’d glimpsed when I’d first met him, the coldness that had never left him no matter how casual he pretended to be.

  “Marilyn started that auction, it was her claim to fame, her way of saving her people, earning respect and power all at once. It made her the center of attention, the social butterfly of the season. But you offer yourself up at auction, and she gives it all up. Why?”

  I almost pointed out she hadn’t given it all up. I had no doubt whatsoever that Marilyn would continue her auctions, she would simply be more careful to use individuals over the age of eighteen. It was why I’d arranged for the youth shelters in Cleveland to receive special training on how to spot fey, and how to make the kids more resistant to their influence. I held my tongue though. There was no reason to point a bounty hunter at someone who was seeking runaway children.

  “Marilyn was angry with me,” I said instead. “I don’t need to tell you how easily the sidhe are led by anger.”

  “Point taken,” Paul admitted. “Still, there’s more. It seems a black sheep of the leannan court bid five million to own you.”

  “I believe that was also done out of anger,” I insisted. “I resisted him when he was a suspect in a murder case, and his pride didn’t take it well.”

  “While you were negotiating with the fey, I’m told an animal companion took a shine to you. A bit rare isn’t it, for a witch to have an animal companion?”

  An image of the large black cat popped into my head, and a shiver ran down my spine. “It is only supposition that the feline was an animal companion. For all I know, someone sent it after me.” I didn’t add that the cat had visited me again earlier today. I still wasn’t sure what to make of that.

  “But it saved you.”

  “And then it left.”

  “And the vampire? Why is he interested in you?”

  I wanted to know how he’d known about Anton Winters, but I didn’t dare ask. “I’m not sure what vampire you’re talking about. To my knowledge, I don’t hold the interest of any of the undead.”

  Paul shrugged. “Pretend if you wish, it’s not relevant now. Beyond the fact that I’ve sent him an invitation to join the auction.”

  A lump rose in my throat. “Auction?”

  “Yes. So sorry you have to go through another one so soon, I understand the last one was quite trying. On the bright side, you won’t be subject to the leannan sidhe’s whims anymore.” He paused. “Unless as Lorelei suggested, you were enjoying them. Then I suppose this will be rather disappointing.”

  “What auction?”

  Paul grinned. “I’ve always had a weakness for a challenge. The way everyone seems to take an interest in you, it
made me think you might be the sort of rarity I’ve spent my life hunting down. I don’t see any reason to have your teeth as a trophy, but catching you and selling you will do just as well. I mentioned to the kelpies I was interested in holding my own auction. And if they would help spread the word, I might know of a certain injured FBI agent who needed medical care…”

  It was as if someone had sucked all the air from the room. My heartbeat echoed in my ears, so loud I couldn’t hear myself speak. “You shot Andy and left him there for the kelpies.” I closed my eyes. The kelpies couldn’t go after Andy directly, not without risking pursuit by the Vanguard for hunting down a human. But if Andy were injured, and they took him away to “help” him… All kinds of things could happen during his stay in their care.

  “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think his death is what they have in mind,” Paul offered. “You know the fey. They like to destroy a person first. Chances are, he won’t be anywhere near the man he is now when he meets his death.”

  I couldn’t think about that now, all the things they might do. I took a deep breath. “When is the auction?”

  “Already in progress.”

  I followed his gesture to an open laptop sitting on the desk. My mouth fell open. “Ebay?”

  “Isn’t the internet wonderful?” Lorelei gushed.

  I closed my eyes. This couldn’t be happening.

  Paul squinted at the computer screen. “We’re already up to six million and it’s only been an hour.”

  Panic threatened to cut off my air. The kelpies had Andy, and the Goddess only knew what they were doing to him. And I was trapped here. Sealed in a salt circle, powerless and tied to a chair with an Ebay auction ready to determine my fate. I concentrated on controlling my breathing. Stay calm. Think.

  My eyes shot open. “The poison.”

  “What are you babbling about?” Lorelei snapped, twisting under Paul’s roving mouth.

  Paul slid his arms behind her back and jerked, arching her body so he could drop his lips to her chest.

  Bad enough to be a prisoner, but if I had to watch them have sex, I was going to be ill. I focused on the new information I’d gleaned. So Paul claimed he had come to the church to protect Corban and Christophe. He discovered they’d been killed and decided to avenge their death, and protect Lorelei and Laurie in their honor. He’d encountered the kelpie, considered them a threat. The fey convinced him it was Andy they wanted, not Lorelei and Laurie. He enlisted their help to catch me.

  “You hunt down rare creatures and kill them for trophies,” I argued. “I’m not rare. And you don’t want to kill me.” My frown deepened.

  “It was formulated specifically for paladins, demon blood and a few herbs used in black magic.”

  “Wait a minute,” I said slowly. “Lorelei, Kylie said the bullet that shot you at the church was covered in a poison designed specifically to incapacitate a paladin. That shot couldn’t have been meant for Andy.”

  “Poison is poison,” Paul argued, raising his lips enough to speak. “I told you, they want to see him suffer.”

  “And they coincidentally chose a poison used against paladins?”

  Lorelei turned to Paul. “That is rather difficult to believe…”

  “Even if you think the kelpies were after you for some ridiculous reason, you’re forgetting you can’t die,” Paul protested. “And the kelpie would know that.”

  “That’s true,” Lorelei admitted. She snorted. “Laurie proved that. If I had a dime for every time that weakling tried to kill herself.”

  “His story doesn’t hold water,” I insisted. “Think about it. If—”

  “I’m growing tired of your interruptions,” Paul snarled. “Lorelei is over a thousand years old. Do you think you can escape your fate by manipulating her into believing your story?”

  “I think you’re the one manipulating her,” I snapped. “You kill rare creatures—and we have only your word that the twins reformed you. Who’s to say you didn’t follow them to kill them? What’s more rare than twin minotaurs?” I froze. “Except…” My gaze darted to Lorelei. “A thousand year old demon-bound.”

  Lorelei didn’t move. Her body had gone still, and I could see the wheels turning.

  Paul reached under the pillow as he leaned down to kiss her jawline. “Don’t fall for it, love,” he murmured. “She’d say anything to avoid being sold—again.”

  Lorelei didn’t react, not to his words, and not to the kiss. Her lips parted, but then suddenly her body stiffened. Her eyelids fluttered closed.

  Paul sat up, and something in his hand caught my attention.

  A hypodermic needle.

  Chapter 13

  I stared at Lorelei’s neck, her chest, searching for some sign of a pulse, the rise and fall of breath. It was difficult to hear over the sound of my own panicked heart rate, but I thought I saw her breathing.

  “I was hoping to put that injection off another few hours. You’re rushing my timeline, Mother Renard.”

  Paul turned the hypodermic needle between the pads of his fingers. “I bear you no ill will, you know. The auction is just business.” He tilted the needle to catch the last of the setting sun’s light, and his cold brown eyes slid to mine. “But I’m growing weary of your interference. If you speak to Lorelei again, I’ll sod the auction and kill you now.” He pushed himself into a sitting position. “I haven’t spent the last year talking with a bunch of Catholics so you could ruin this for me.”

  “Is she dead?”

  “Not yet.” He leaned against the wall, pulling his legs up so he could rest his tanned forearms on the worn knees of his jeans.

  “Killing her would be a mistake,” I said quietly. “The church is protective of its most loyal servants. Laurie was a shining example of what they wanted everyone to be. Devoted, passionate, and willing to die for her God.”

  “That’s who she used to be,” Paul corrected me. “Now she’s nothing more than a shock collar for a demon. A means for the church to keep an ancient one permanently in check.” He rubbed his jaw. “I have a theory that in the days after it happened, the church could have saved Laurie and exorcised the demon. But they chose not to because they saw an opportunity.”

  I risked a glance away from Lorelei to stare at Paul. “You think they let her become demon-bound? That doesn’t make sense. It’s an embarrassment to them to lose someone that powerful to a demon. Lorelei said it herself, she’ll return to Hell a queen, respected and praised for possessing a paladin.”

  “Lorelei is an optimistic sort,” Paul said dryly. “But isn’t it just as likely that she’d return to Hell as a source of mockery? An ancient one trapped in a human body for a millennium?” He snorted. “Like I said, I’ve been talking to the priests. Do you know Lorelei hasn’t killed anyone in over eight hundred years?”

  My mind immediately went to Patrick. Paul seemed to read my thoughts.

  “Even if you take into consideration people killing themselves because of Lorelei, you have to admit for one of the ancient ones, she’s accomplished nothing since that possession.”

  “She started a cult,” I pointed out.

  Paul rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and what a bunch of lollygaggers they are. Not exactly an homage to evil, are they? Conscientious hedonists.”

  He…wasn’t wrong. I hadn’t considered it from that angle, but he had a point. The ancient demons were not the sort to be impressed by a handful of individuals dedicating themselves to hedonism and being rewarded with gifts like summoning rodents and taking on a gaseous form. Possessing a paladin was impressive, yes, but the fact that the possession had gone on for a millennium, and Lorelei had accomplished virtually nothing since…

  Paul studied me, drumming his fingers on his knee. “You’re not a paladin. From what I’ve heard, you’ve been scarcely more than a village witch in the short amount of time since you ended your apprenticeship.”

  I bristled, but he raised a placating hand. “I’m not trying to offend. I’m only
getting at the fact that taking on a demon-related case is odd for a witch. What do you know about the demon-bound?”

  I lifted my chin. “A demon-bound is a case when a possession becomes permanent, when the demon and its host can no longer live apart from one another.”

  Paul crossed his hands, forearms still braced on his knees. “A-plus on your vocabulary test. That is how they’re created, yes. But a demon-bound doesn’t remain unchanged from the moment of binding.” He pointed at Lorelei. “When the exorcism of Lorelei from Laurie’s master went wrong, and Lorelei fused to Laurie, it began a metamorphosis for both of them. Laurie had a limited window to fight, a time when she might have killed Lorelei and herself, or maybe been saved by members of the church like Corban and Christophe. But that time passed long ago.”

  I frowned. “Something you claim the church wanted to happen, but a fact that is not supported by what Gary told me.”

  Paul wagged a finger at me. “I’m not insulting your shaman. Despite his unfortunate appearance, Gary is gifted. But he had a disadvantage when he had his peek at the demon-bound on the astral plane—two disadvantages.”

  “The first one being you interrupted us,” I guessed.

  Paul grinned. “Yeah. And the second being, he didn’t see her until after I poisoned Laurie. What did he see on the astral plane? Was she sick? Unconscious?”

  “Unconscious.”

  “Then your shaman would have dismissed the weakness he saw there as the result of her being incapacitated. But the truth is, even if she’d been awake, you’d have seen how weak she was. A shadow of her former self. Literally.”

  He pointed at the unconscious demon. “Lorelei isn’t any demon. She’s one of the elder races. She’s not mortal. Or she wasn’t, before she was bound.”

  My head throbbed, reminding me that my body didn’t like being poisoned, or tranquilized. I wasn’t in the proper state of mind for an impromptu education on demon-bound. “I don’t understand.”

  He winced. “That’ll be the poison. Sorry, it’ll pass.”

  I concentrated on taking several deep breaths. “The church let Laurie become demon-bound. Being demon-bound kept Lorelei from doing the same damage she would have as an ancient.”