The Devil You Know

by Jena Gregoire

  "Michael. Tremayne," she scolded, and then launched a verbal assault as she poured and dressed her coffee. "That is the dumbest thing you could possibly have come up with. I’m the bastard child of a pureblood demon and the witch he raped, was raised by a vampire, then trained as a witch myself. I’m not bothered by those of the toothy persuasion, you already know that. So if that’s all you’ve got, yes, I’m sure about this. It's not like anything much about us will really change. The frequency with which I see you naked, and warm, fuzzy feelings we are no longer pretending to ignore. That’s pretty much it." With a sigh, she sank into the chair opposite him and sipped her coffee. She glared at him expectantly over the lip of her coffee mug and waited for his response.

  He had listened patiently to her rant. She supposed he was accustomed to speeches of that kind, ranting being a common habit of hers. A smile played at the edges of his mouth, giving her the reassurance they were okay. The glowing in his eyes when she mentioned the word naked was also a good indication.

  "Why?" she asked sarcastically. "Do you suddenly have something against hot half-demons?"

  "You know it.” His deadpan response wasn’t convincing anyone. "Wretched beings. They're hideous, covered in boils, and the smell. It’s gross. I have no idea how you go out in public every day."

  “Really good concealer,” she replied without missing a beat.

  "Look, I had to ask." He was quiet for a moment before he continued. "I want you to know I’m not going anywhere. I want this, even if you do fuck up my freshly pressed shirts." He gave her wink. It felt good to hear, even if she no longer had any doubts or misgivings about the road they were about to venture down. All of the time she spent second guessing and being angry with him now seemed wasted. It all seemed incredibly silly to her. She put it out of her mind, determined to focus on more positive things.

  Deziree leaned her elbows on the countertop and smiled maniacally. "So when do we book our tickets?"

  "Well," he started hesitantly, "I got a call this morning that may delay our travel plans by a day or two. It appears Lucas has been roaming the city for the last week and a half now and plans to stop by."

  Deziree squealed excitedly. "Really? That’s random. I haven't seen your brother in years.”

  “Me either.”

  “I wonder what kind of trouble he’s in. Why didn't he just come here? Or at least go to Onyx? Anyone there could have told him where you were, including yours truly. Seems a little dumb to just wander around the city aimlessly."

  “When he couldn’t get a hold of me, he assumed we were off somewhere together.”

  Dez nodded. It’s not like it was an outlandish assumption for someone to make. She and Vegas had been to all corners of the earth together over the years.

  “Fair enough.” She waved her hand over her mug and whispered an incantation. The spoon began to dance slowly around the mug, stirring her coffee. “Well, it’ll be fun to see him.”

  "Yeah," Vegas rolled his eyes, "a real blast. As for what he's been up to, I think that has something to do with why he's here. You've seen Lucas just as much as I have. We don't hang out. His desire to pay us a visit is highly suspect."

  Lucas Tremayne was a veritable walking magnet for trouble, the kind of trouble with peroxide-blonde hair and fake D cups. He had a widespread reputation for bedding any woman who would have him, whether she was spoken for or not. The last time they had seen each other, he was facing a sentence of the final death for sleeping with another vampire's wife. The girl had represented one of the few offenses in vampire law which warrants final death, and he just couldn’t keep his hand out of the cookie jar. Upon being caught, Lucas had begged Vegas, once again, to bail him out. It required the pulling of some very expensive strings, but in the end, Lucas was freed and cleared of all charges. The husband had miraculously decided the sins of his wife were forgivable after all, proving once again that everyone has a price.

  For all of his promiscuous behavior, Lucas had always respected Deziree, never once making a pass at her. Their banter was always playful but never anything shocking or distasteful. As much as she was looking forward to seeing him, she also knew Vegas was right. An impromptu visit from the younger Tremayne usually meant he'd buried himself in some sort of mess.

  "I wonder what it is this time.” She took another sip off of her coffee and idly thumbed at the mug’s smooth handle as she pondered over the possibilities.

  "I'm not sure," he replied, "but he said it was urgent. He's supposed to be here in about an hour, which means you and I have that long to get our trip booked." He smiled, stood up and gestured for her to sit down in front of his laptop. "Figure out which hotel you want to stay at, and I will take care of the rest. While you do that, I’ll get another pot of coffee made."

  Deziree moved to the other side of the island, sat down, and opened up the internet browser. She had chosen Las Vegas as their vacation spot because of the city's nightlife. No matter what one wanted to do to pass the time, there was always a twenty-four hour place ready and waiting. Contrary to the storybook tales, vampires could easily go out in daylight. However, it was more comfortable for them to go out at night. With their extremely heightened eyesight, sunlight tended to be an irritant. When she decided she wanted to go on a vacation, she wanted to go someplace warm, and even in the darkest hours, and a Las Vegas night felt like a warm summer's day.

  She ended up choosing the Luxor Casino. She had been to the city a number of times, but had never stayed there. Since she wanted to see something new, the modernized pyramid seemed like a good choice. The ancient Egyptian-themed decor sounded like an intriguing atmosphere, and the hotel was located within walking distance of the other attractions she wanted to visit. With that settled, Vegas booked a first-class flight and even got a suite, which looked more like a luxury apartment than a hotel room.

  She was on the phone with Jack informing him she'd be taking a few weeks off when the doorbell rang. Knowing it was his brother, Vegas buzzed him in and stepped out into the hallway to greet him. Deziree nursed her coffee and thought about how much things had changed overnight. Feelings of apprehension began to creep into her mind again, and she immediately stopped herself. She made the right choice with Vegas, she knew that, but after all the time they had known each other, old habits were proving hard to break. She was comfortable living a somewhat solitary life. After so long, it came naturally to her. There would be adjustments, sure, but he was probably right. They wouldn’t be as drastic as she feared. She smiled. Just roll with it, Davanzati. What have you got to lose?

  She was just hanging up her phone when Vegas walked in, trailed by his brother. Lucas looked at her, a mischievous grin spread across his face. His golden irises twinkled and just a hint of glow began to show.

  "Deziree," he purred in greeting, his eyes panning down her body. Deziree remembered she was still only wearing Vegas's button-up shirt. She smiled and said "One minute," stood up, and ran for the bedroom. She shut the door behind her, and after fishing through her duffel bag, she hurriedly threw on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. She could hear the men having a conversation in the living room, their voices muffled behind the closed door. Once she was decent, she made her way back out to join them.

  "Sorry about that.”

  "No apologies necessary," Lucas replied with a sly smile. "I'd say it's been a long time since a woman has greeted me in such a way but, well, that would be a lie. How have you been, Dez?"

  He walked over, took her hand, and kissed the back of it. It was so gentlemanly, she had to remind herself he was anything but. She rolled her eyes and looked up into his face. Something in his smile wasn't quite right. If it were necessary for a vampire to sleep, she would have guessed he was suffering from severe exhaustion by the way his smile didn’t quite make it to his eyes.

  "Good," she replied. "How about you, Lucas? Is it an angry husband or a scorned woman hot on your trail that has you gracing us with your presence?"

  He ran a hand
through his short black hair and sat down on the couch. She was always amazed seeing the two brothers side by side. They looked absolutely nothing alike. Vegas was solid, built more like a boxer with toned bulk to spare. Lucas had an Olympic swimmer's body, slender but athletic.

  His handsome face turned serious, pain haunting his eyes. "I wish it were as simple as all that. I can say with a completely clear conscience that I did nothing wrong." He huffed. "You're probably going to find this relatively hard to believe, but I fell in love.”

  “Wow, I did not see that coming,” she replied.

  “And she was a human. A witch to be more precise. Michael, I believe you met her approximately two weeks ago. Her name was Natalia."

  “Was?” Dez asked, feeling like she was missing a piece of the puzzle.

  "The burn victim ..." Vegas remarked with gravity. Lucas had been involved with the burn victim in Venice. "Please, Lucas, tell me you had nothing to do with that."

  "Of course I didn't!" Lucas exclaimed. "I fall for someone for the first time ever and you think I could do something like that to her? You know me better than that. I may be a bit of a scoundrel, but I'm not a killer. We had plans, she and I. Nothing grand. We just wanted to be together. She knew what I was, knew what it meant to be with me, and accepted me anyway." Lucas stood up from the couch and paced back and forth through the room. "I saw him. I saw the thing that killed her. It wasn't human." He stopped moving and looked Vegas in the eye. "It was a pureblood. His aura was black as tar.”

  “You’re sure?” Vegas asked. Lucas sat down opposite him at the island counter and leaned in, his words urgent and full of conviction.

  “I’d swear my life on it. Your life, her life. It was a pureblood, no mistake. And even from the significant distance between us, I could feel the power radiating from him. Whoever he is, he’s old, and he’s got a lot of juice. The last time I felt anything like it was before the covens were able to close the gateways.”

  “I don't understand. How would a pureblood have made it onto our plane?”

  "Good question. I’ve been asking myself the same thing and I’ve got nothing. That’s why I came to you guys. I know what I saw, what I felt. They can play dress-up and try to make themselves look human all they want, but no one can disguise their aura. Even serial killers don't have pure black auras. There is always a glint of something else there, glimmers of humanity. This thing had no humanity in it. I went back the next night, when I was sure the coast was clear, and I saw the body. Michael, you saw her with your own eyes. There is no doubt in my mind and there shouldn’t be any in yours. A pureblood demon murdered the only girl I’ve ever loved." His normally carefree face was riddled with pain, the kind of pain only caused by the loss of a loved one. In that look, all of their greatest fears were realized.

  "Looks like our trip is out of the question for the time being," Vegas said. "We'll have to come up with a plan." Deziree only felt a momentary twinge of disappointment. She knew if they didn't find and stop this thing, there wouldn't be a Las Vegas to go to.

  "We need to call Cass immediately," Deziree said. "The covens need to prepare. If a pureblood has the stone, we're fucked." Vegas nodded in agreement and pulled out his cell phone. He stepped out to make the call. She glanced at Lucas, who was now sitting back in his chair. He looked hopeless and lost.

  "Hey," she said softly, sitting down next to him. She took his hand in hers and rubbed the back of it gently. "I'm so sorry about your girlfriend."

  His eyes welled with tears. "Thanks," he croaked.

  "I don't think I've ever seen you cry before," she said. "It looks like falling in love has changed you."

  "It has," he agreed. "Natalia was beautiful and amazing and ..." He sniffed hard, wiping his eyes. "There aren't any words in the human languages which can really describe who she was. I couldn't avoid being changed by her. I feel lucky to have had her in my life, even if only for a short while. And if I just keep telling myself that, one day I’ll believe it." They sat quietly until he achieved some semblance of composure. "It's changed you too, you know. Both of you."

  "What?" she asked.

  "You and Michael. I’m glad you both finally pulled your heads out of your asses and saw what was right in front of you. Everybody else saw it a long time ago." He smiled and punctuated the statement with a wink.

  "Yeah," she replied, "well, I don't think either of us was ready to see it until now. You could be right though."

  "I could be right?" he teased. "You two are made for each other. I have never met two people who are so alike. You even have the same affinity for violence and guns." With a smile, he added, "Remind me to get you matching Desert Eagles as your wedding gift."

  Dez shook her head and laughed. “No one said anything about nuptials.”

  Vegas came out of the bedroom and it was immediately obvious he was all business.

  "Cassandra just heard back from the team who was sent to track down the Guardians," he said. "They’re dead, all five of them. All found in the same condition as Natalia."

  "That's it then," Dez said, standing up. It was her turn to pace the room. "Somehow the demons got their paws on the stone and they're here.”

  “We don’t know that it’s more than one,” Vegas argued.

  “No, but that's still one too many. They have the stone. Even if it is just one, that’s only going to last for so long.”

  "I think we need to go Venice," Vegas replied. "We’ll call the covens for an emergency meeting and see how they want to proceed. We need to find out how much manpower we have. Right now, we only know of one pureblood on this plane, but if it has the stone, odds are pretty good it’s planning to use it to open the gateways and let all his buddies through. Lucas, you're more than welcome to stay here if you'd like."

  "The fuck I am," he retorted with exasperation. "I'm not staying here alone. If you two are going to Venice, then I’m going too, if only for the fraction of a chance I might be the one to cut the head off the piece of shit who took Natalia from me.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Michael

  A few hours later, the three of them were on an international flight to Venice, Italy. Before they left, both Michael and Lucas took an extra dose of tempero. The flight shouldn’t have been long enough to put them at a high risk for cravings, but they weren't willing to take any chances. Michael gazed out the airplane window at the inky black of the night sky. Deziree shifted in her sleep and he turned to her to look at her. A piece of her raven hair was dangling down over her face and he swept it back, careful not to wake her. Despite his efforts, her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at him.

  “Hey, where are we?” Her voice was groggy as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She’d been out for a little while, yet somehow still looked incredible.

  “Somewhere over the Atlantic. You haven't been asleep for very long.” He looked back out the window, his mind still turning. After a few minutes of silent contemplation, he finally spoke again. “Dez, how did they get here?” He turned his attention to her. “Into our dimension, I mean. How did they get here? Without the stone, they aren’t supposed to be able to cross either way, and yet we have a pureblood on our hands.”

  “He had to have had help,” she answered. “Someone summoned him, it’s the only possible explanation. Whoever the culprit is would have to be a powerful practitioner with an extensive knowledge of blood magic. That kind of conjuring couldn’t be done by just anyone.”

  “That narrows down the list of players by quite a lot,” he said. “Unfortunately, that list includes people we know.”

  There weren’t many witches left practicing blood magic. The practice was widely viewed by the covens as dirty and, more importantly, dangerous. The majority of blood magic was based in the dark arts and therefore frowned upon. There was no ban against it in their world, but very few openly admitted to dabbling. At the top of that list were individuals they knew, and in some cases, people they were close with.

  “I hope not,
” she replied. “Who knows, maybe there’s someone who just recently has come into their power and we don’t know about it. It wouldn’t be the first time a witch stayed under the radar.” He gave her an incredulous look. She took a deep, cleansing breath, leaned her head back on the seat and closed her eyes. “It's worth hoping for,” she added before slipping back into her slumber.

  The following night, the Council of Covens was meeting at the Brujani estate, the base of operations for a few centuries now. Michael and Deziree chose to attend the meeting, leaving Lucas to wait at the hotel. From where he was leaning against the wall, Michael glanced around the large meeting hall. The Council members had assembled quickly and now filled the seats at the long cherry wood table. They talked busily amongst themselves, no doubt speculating about why they were called together.

  “I didn't expect them to get here so quick,” Deziree said as she walked up and leaned against the wall next to him.

  “Most of them were just a plane ride away,” he explained. “Cassandra let them know there was an urgent situation as soon as we realized the stone was in jeopardy. She hasn't told them what the situation is yet. It's been so long since they've had to come together, they were probably looking forward to the trip.”

  “You think they’ll freak out?”

  “Absolutely.”

  The Council of Covens consisted of the most senior member of each coven from around the world. In all, there were eight covens, each with a body of witches and a body of vampires. Each body had a representative at the table. The only coven without a representative for both was the Brujani coven. That’s where Cassandra came in. Being both a witch and a vampire, she served as the voice for both.