The Devil You Know

by Jena Gregoire

  Michael stepped away from the wall and turned to Deziree, pretending to lean in and kiss her cheek. “Don't forget what we discussed in the hotel room. No matter what is said here, we can't let our suspicions show, and don't let anyone know Lucas witnessed the demon. The only way we are going to find out if one of our people is responsible is if we keep quiet and let them think they've gotten away with it," he whispered.

  Cassandra entered the room. All chatter amongst the Council members ceased, and the ones who were standing rushed to their seats. Cassandra Giordano was seen as the Council's unofficial leader. The other members treated her with reverence and sought her guidance when it was needed. The silence claiming the air upon her arrival was a common occurrence whenever she entered a room.

  Cassandra cleared her throat and addressed the group, her voice soft and sultry. “Thank you all for your patience. Once everyone is settled, we'll begin.” When Cassandra was done speaking, she spotted Deziree. Smiling, she approached the couple and took Deziree's hand in hers. "Child, it's been too long. I wish it were under better circumstances, but I can't tell you how happy I am to see you.” Michael watched the two reunite. When two beings knew each other as well and for as long as Cassandra and Dez, silence was often the most efficient ambassador of joy.

  “Michael,” she greeted him, “it's good to see you as well. I was hoping we wouldn't have to see each other again so soon, but it seems the universe has other plans for us.” She eyed them curiously for a moment. “I'm detecting a new connection between the two of you.” She glared back and forth between them with a crooked smile on her face. Michael didn't know what to say. He'd avoided talking about the developments in his and Deziree's relationship when he'd been there on investigation. Cassandra laughed and put her arms around both their shoulders. “Come now, children! Did you really think I would be upset by this? On the contrary, I believe it is long overdue! I'm glad you are both here. I'm sure there will be a lot of questions and many long answers to be given for them.” Cassandra surveyed the room, seeking out someone specific. She caught eyes with a younger Italian vampire and waved him over.

  “Carlo, would you do me a favor and get a small table and some chairs for Michael and Deziree? Also, please have the kitchen put together a plate of refreshments for them.” Cassandra rounded on the two of them and smiled again. “Enjoy.” With that, she turned and glided to her seat at the far end of the table.

  Carlo bustled about, getting their table and chairs set up as the Council members took their seats. The thin, dark-haired vampire whispered his assurance that their beverages and something sweet from the kitchen would be brought out to them right away.

  The whole room hushed again and everyone waited for Cassandra to speak. Michael studied the faces of all those in attendance. He had no idea who would be working with the demons and was at a total loss for theories. He couldn't even understand why a vampire or a witch would work with the purebloods. They had nothing to gain and everything to lose by offering a hand to help the demons open the gateway. Michael knew there had to be more to it, he just didn't know what.

  “Greetings, everyone,” Cassandra announced. “Let's call this meeting to order, shall we?” She eased into her seat and the entire room's attention was on her.

  “This is what we know,” she began, a somber note breaking into her voice. “Just over two weeks ago, our new records keeper was brutally tortured. After being tortured, she was murdered, incinerated from within by means of hellfire, as far as we can tell.”

  Gasps echoed around the room as the weight of her words took hold, after which there was an eruption of murmuring.

  She stood. “Ladies and gentleman, please.” When they quieted, she continued speaking. She took her time, choosing her words carefully. “As unfortunate as Natalia's passing is, I genuinely wish I could say it was the worst of what I have to report this evening.” The room's attention was returned to her and she eased back down into her seat. “Immediately following Natalia's murder, the Guardians were also murdered in the same manner. The stone is missing. As I am sure you have all gathered, it would appear we have a pureblood demon in our realm, the first of its kind since the sealing of the gateway, and no idea how it got here. I have brought you together tonight so we may devise a strategy. There's only one use for the stone, and that is to reopen the gateway to the Hell dimension. We are at a distinct disadvantage and must come up with a plan.”

  "But what can we do?" asked Kade, the vampire leader of the New York-based Walker coven and one of Michael’s best friends. "The last time we sealed the gateway, we used a spell with the help of the stone. The stone would have to be found and the spell would have to be recreated."

  “Do you have any idea where the stone or this demon are now?” This time it was Klaudia who spoke, the leader of the Russian Semerikov coven.

  “At this time, we have no leads. Everyone who has faced off with the demon has turned up dead. I have spread the word out to many of my people across Italy and the surrounding countries in my territory. One reason for holding this meeting is to count our resources. Who can you spare to help track down the demon? Should we manage to find the creature before it does any more real damage, our best course of action would be to destroy both it and the stone. This is not a burden I want our future generations to bear. With that said, I am going to go around the table to each coven. Decide if your coven will stand down or fight with us. Witch covens, you are needed to recreate the spell we used to seal the gateways the last time. We need to be prepared for all possible scenarios.”

  Michael watched the ethereal lady move from member to member. All of the vampire covens agreed to stand with the council and each made a promise of manpower for the effort. All but one of the witch covens agreed to participate in the recreation of the spell. The Lee coven, whose territory spanned all of Australia and New Zealand, had a member who had dabbled in blood magic as a girl and she became addicted. She couldn’t risk being exposed to it again. They did offer their services in other ways by procuring and transporting rare ingredients, and also arranging travel and lodging for witches who would have to fly in to lend their aid. By the end, everyone had decided to lend support. No one could afford not to.

  “Thank you all,” Cassandra said, looking around the table at the worried faces. “We have quite a bit of work ahead of us, I’m afraid. Please, make yourselves at home here. There is plenty of space throughout the manor. If you require a quiet room to contact your coven members, Carlo can arrange to help you with that.” She paused and took a weighted breath. “We will stop this. We will. I need you all to have faith. Have faith in each other and our combined abilities. We will stop it.” The entire table visibly relaxed and light conversation commenced.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Deziree

  As she watched the coven members break off into conversation, Deziree could only keep her mouth shut for so long.

  “Where is the gateway?” Her question commanded everyone's attention, including Cassandra's. “Why don't we hold a sting operation and head him off at the pass? If we watch the gateway site, we can stop him from opening it.”

  “That would be a wonderful plan if there were only one possible gateway site," Kade answered. Deziree watched a look of mild amusement cross his face.

  “Well, exactly how many are there?” she probed. This time it was Vegas who answered.

  “No one really knows. The popular theory is that the gateway sites are the locations on the Earth where ley lines intersect. The magical hotspots fueled the spell in both directions to open a gateway and to close it. They’d just have to pick one. Wherever the gateway is opened must be a spot where the veil between the spirit realms and our own are at their thinnest, and the ley lines are literally a roadmap with hundreds, maybe thousands, of locations that would work. The best chance we have of stopping all of this is to track the pureblood down and end it.” Then he turned and addressed the Council members. “I agree with Cassandra. We should destroy the stone once
the demon is dispatched. This never should have happened, never should have been allowed to happen. Had the stone been destroyed when we closed the last gateway, the records keeper and the Guardians would still be alive today.”

  Deziree knew what Vegas was doing. He was well aware there was only one way to destroy the Sentinel Stone: to burn it with hellfire. No demon would voluntarily destroy the stone. That left the only option being a trip through an open gateway into the depths of the Hell dimension, and no one present was eager to make the journey. Closing the gateway permanently meant closing off any means of return. Vegas was trying to flush out the party responsible by proposing something he knew they would be directly opposed to. If anyone spoke against the suggestion, they were likely involved.

  She glanced around the room, watching the faces of everyone around the table. Everyone in the room was looking to each other and silently nodding their heads in agreement. It was Cassandra who finally broke the silence.

  “I cannot say I am happy about the suggestion to sacrifice one of our own,” she stated as she stared down at the center of the table. She took a deep breath as she raised her eyes to address the Council and continued. “However, I also cannot deny the gravity of the situation or the lack of alternative options. If they were able to return once, it will almost certainly happen again, and we cannot have that. Too much life has been taken already. First, let's focus on stopping the pureblood. Once the immediate danger has been brought to a conclusion, we will convene again to discuss the destruction of the stone. Are we all agreed?”

  Well, there went that theory. Nothing. No one shifted uncomfortably under the weight of their guilt. It was back to square one.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Lucas

  “Well?” Lucas was on his feet the minute they walked through the door of the lavish hotel suite.

  “Nothing,” Dez responded. “I will let him fill you in on everything. I need to go take a shower or drown myself. I haven’t decided yet.” She turned and left the room without another word.

  Lucas tried to calm himself and exercise some patience. He'd always been the relaxed sort, but when Natalia died, something in him broke. He'd spent the last two weeks as a nervous wreck. He'd done his best to cover it when he finally went to see Michael and Deziree, but his control was slipping. Being back in Venice – smelling the air, seeing the streets – brought him right back to the moment he first saw Natalia's charred remains. His Natalia.

  Michael had been going on about the meeting, when he noticed Lucas was distracted. “Hey, are you alright?”

  He hadn't realized he was so lost in his own head and had no idea what he had missed. “I'm far from alright. I can't stop thinking about her. All I want to do is choke the life out of the thing who did this.”

  “Don't worry, man. We will figure this out,” Michael reassured him. “The one thing we can count on is that all beings make mistakes. This pureblood is no exception.”

  “I hope you're right.” Lucas sat up straight, rubbed his face, and then gave his brother all of his attention. "It's just that being here is like pouring salt in the wound. I'm just finding it hard to focus." The only way he was going to get his vengeance was if his head was in the game. He would have eons to mourn his loss when this was all over. "Start over. I promise I'm listening this time," he said, forcing a smile.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Deziree

  Deziree quietly shut the door behind her. The master bedroom of the suite was so silent that the click of the latch snapping into place sounded like a handgun blast in her ears. She went into the luxurious bathroom and ran the water until it was piping hot.

  Steam filled the air. She retrieved a few towels from the linen closet and tossed them on the counter. She stripped off her clothes, leaving them in a messy pile on the floor.

  Stepping inside the shower, Deziree let the hot spray envelope her. She closed her eyes, dunked her head under the steady stream, and let it wash all of her worries away. Bad things were on the horizon, she could feel it instinctively. The worst part of the situation was not knowing exactly what those bad things were. She hadn't become a successful jewel thief by luck. Without the use of meticulously laid out plans, everything would fall apart. In this situation, getting ahead of the carnage was key.

  Deziree soaked her hair, scrubbing her tense scalp with her fingertips. Soon, the hot water was working its magic. She visualized the tension falling away from her body in waves. Leaning her head against the warm tile wall, she felt relaxed for the first time in three days.

  She wasn't sure how long she'd been standing there blocking the world out before she heard the glass shower door quietly slide open. A smile crept across her face but she didn't open her eyes. The current of energy which rolled over her body told her everything she needed to know of who her intruder was.

  One of Vegas's arms crept around her waist as his other hand brushed her wet hair aside. He nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck, and then made a trail of light kisses from her shoulder up to the sensitive spot right behind her ear. She wondered how such a small action could cause such an immense wave of arousal, and as he pressed his body against hers, baser instincts took over.

  She turned to face him. He took the opportunity to run his hands up her sides and along her arms to her wrists. With authority, he pinned them against the warm tile above her head. She looked up into his half-lidded eyes. The mellow gold took on a hungry glow. He teased the side of her neck with his tongue. Deziree shut her eyes and the rest of the world melted away. It was just her, Vegas, and the rush of water. Nothing else existed.

  He kissed the delicate curve of her jaw until finally his mouth claimed hers. Guiding her arms down over his head and around his neck, he didn't pull away from the kiss. The longer they stood locked in the embrace, the louder and heavier their breathing became. The more intense the kiss became, the faster her heart raced. Heat flooded every part of her body and she moaned, digging her fingernails into his back. His body's response was instantaneous.

  She felt his sharp fangs against the side of her tongue and the sensation forced her back to her wits. She broke away, her breath coming in ragged pants. His eyes were afire.

  “We need to stop,” she said between breaths, “or I am going to have to turn the faucet all the way to the cold setting.”

  “Give me one good reason,” he demanded.

  “Lucas is here,” she answered, voice husky. “but it all starts as a kiss and the next thing you know, it’s night-light eyes and fang boners. We’d never hear the end of it.”

  He smiled at her and cocked his head. “Fang boners?”

  Deziree laughed. “You like that, huh?” She stood up on her toes and placed her lips on his. “Come on. As much I don’t want to leave this shower right now, I’m turning into a prune and I still need to get washed up.”

  “Fine, but later, you’re mine.” He kissed her again, testing her willpower one last time before he handed her the wash cloth.

  While they were getting dressed, Deziree glanced at Vegas and smiled, remembering his brother was in the other room the entire time they were having their naked wrestling match in the shower. “So the vampire out there with super hearing totally knows what we were doing, doesn’t he?”

  Vegas opened his mouth to reply when from the living room they heard, “Yes, I heard every moan, groan, and whimper. And Dez?”

  “Yes, Lucas?”

  “You were pretty loud too,” he replied.

  Dez rolled her eyes as she pulled up her pants. “We didn’t even have sex,” she whispered. “He’s not going to be allowed to be within miles of us when we do.”

  “I'm going to throttle him,” Vegas said, buckling his belt and shaking his head, the smile never leaving his face. He yanked a black t-shirt down over his head. The shirt was tight, clinging to and accentuating every muscle in his torso. God, he's gorgeous, she thought, staring slack jawed at him.

  He leaned in close to her ear, wrapping his strong arms
around her and whispered, “For the record, I don’t really give a shit who hears us.” He turned his head and kissed her cheek before letting her go so she could finish dressing herself. Her cheeks flushed and she couldn't think of a good reason to continue putting her clothes on.

  Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she said, “So what now? We can't just sit here. I'm going to end up going bat-shit crazy.”

  “I've been thinking about it,” he replied, “and I think we should start at Natalia's place.”

  “Why?” She looked at him incredulously. “You've already been through it and the coven has already been all over it. We have no idea who is responsible for calling up the pureblood, but I’m guessing if there was any evidence of their involvement, it’s long gone by now.”

  Vegas sat down on the corner of the bed and rubbed his hands over his head. “I know, and I agree. But there's always a chance I missed something. Plus, we've got a fresh pair of eyes with you around. I want to try one more time. I think it'd be best that we keep our movements to ourselves until we have a better picture of who might be in on it.”

  “Alright,” she conceded, “let's do it.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Deziree

  Deziree stepped over the threshold of the deceased records keeper’s apartment, and instantly her breath was taken away. The woman had a gorgeous home. Deziree couldn't help but think it was too bad the plush living space was tainted by the girl's demise. What would ordinarily be a warm sitting room painted by sunlight now seemed cold, gray, and lifeless.

  As she walked past the large couch, Deziree ran her hand over its brown suede. She could easily imagine curling up on it for hours and reading a good book, allowing herself to sink into the warm embrace of the cushions. Deziree imagined Natalia had probably done exactly that, working into the early hours of dawn as she absorbed all the information that had been handed down to her.