“Hey,” she said. “You should come up here for a second.” She smiled like a little kid. Vegas stood and she sat up. She tugged the front of his shirt until his lips bumped her own. "I want to apologize," she said. "I was a total bitch back at Hyde Park and I’m sorry. It doesn't excuse it, but I was beyond angry and not thinking straight. It's not your fault and I shouldn't have taken it out on you.” She put a hand on each side of his head and placed a kiss on his forehead, then one on his cheek, then one on his lips. She could feel him smile beneath her lips.
“Apology accepted on two conditions," he said.
She quirked an eyebrow. “There are conditions to accepting my apology?”
“Yes,” he replied, “but it's for your own good. First condition is as soon as we are in the air, you order something to eat. They have a great dinner menu on this flight and you haven't eaten anything substantial in a few days.”
“I can agree to that,” she said. “What is the other condition?”
“As soon as you are done eating, call the attendant, ask for turn down service, and sleep through the rest of the flight. You need it and this is probably going to be your best opportunity for the next couple days.”
“Your terms are reasonable,” she replied with a wink, then her face furrowed and she got serious. “You really need to do the same.” She raised her voice a little to be sure the other vampire heard her. “You and Lucas both.”
Lucas leaned forward in his suite so he could yell into theirs “Don't drag me into your back-alley deals.”
Deziree smiled. Things were far from being alright but this, the way the three of them joked together, felt good. It felt familiar. She hated things being strained between her and Vegas and having this reconciliation, no matter how small, made her feel like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She also knew he was completely right. She hadn't eaten much more than a few protein bars in the last two days and she felt weak and drained because of it. She knew the two vampires would need a little downtime too.
She kissed Vegas a few more times and when she leaned back to look in his eyes, he reached his hand up to her cheek and pulled her back to him. He kissed her with just the right balance of tenderness and urgency. It was both passionate and loving and it took her breath away. With everything that had been going on for the last few days, she needed to be with him. She needed the reminder that she was more than just a half-blooded monster.
By the time they broke the kiss, they were both actively trying to calm their nerves. “Your fangs are showing,” she whispered in his ear.
“How are my eyes?”
Dez leaned back and looked in his eyes. They were emitting an unmistakable soft glow.
“Let's put it this way,” she said. “I hope you brought sunglasses or there's a good chance you're going to freak out the other passengers.”
An attendant passed by and he pecked her cheek, then sat down. Deziree took her seat again and relaxed against the plush headrest. She closed her eyes and immediately felt herself start to drift. Remembering the deal she made with Vegas, she opened her eyes and grabbed the menu.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Dez
After a quick layover at Dulles International, their second plane touched down at Hilton Head International in Savannah, Georgia, and Vegas had to wake Deziree up. She had managed to sleep through most of the flight and never once received a visit from her unwanted guest. She wiped the sleep from her eyes and stood, stretching. She reached into the overhead compartment for her carry-on.
“You look rested,” Vegas said behind her.
“I feel great,” she replied, yanking the bag down into her seat.
“Good. Here, let me have that,” Vegas said, taking the bag from her.
Deziree stepped into the walkway, catching sight of Lucas's empty suite. “Where did he get off to?”
“He went in search of coffee.”
They waded through the crowds and when they got to the end of the causeway, Lucas was waiting with a caddy of coffee.
“Hey,” Dez said in a cheery tone, “déjà vu.”
“I ordered a car. It's by the curb,” Lucas said, handing them each a cup. “I am sick of riding in cramped taxis, so I got a limousine. They already loaded our luggage into the trunk and we are ready to go.”
“What would we do without you?” Dez teased, pecking Lucas on the cheek.
“Someone's chipper!" Lucas exclaimed happily, sipping his coffee.
“I'm feeling much better,” she said, sipping hers too.
They kept a brisk pace and were soon outside. Vegas pulled out his phone to place his scheduled call to Kade as soon as they'd settled into the car. Deziree gave the address to the driver and he put the car in gear, heading for their destination.
Once inside the lavish Victorian mansion, it took them longer than they'd expected to find the Guardian's remains. The twelve-bedroom house was labyrinthine. They found the ash outline in the large office library. Floor-to-ceiling mahogany shelves yielded carefully preserved first editions and many classics. The furniture was all old, elaborately carved, and kept in pristine condition.
The ash outline was spread over the man's desk and chair. A piece of crisp, white paper lay on the desk with a pen where the Guardian's hand might have rested. On the page, in fluid script were the words, Someone is coming to get me. I can feel it. Deziree shivered when she saw the words.
"Looks like he knew what was going to happen to him. Maybe one of his powers was foresight," Lucas said, taking a seat on the leather couch, grabbing up a newspaper but tossing it away when he discovered it was old.
"Ready?" Vegas asked, holding up the water bottle in his hand. Dez nodded.
In the vision, the demon melted the doorknob in his hand. He was much angrier than he had been in previous visions, the tedious search for the Sentinel Stone starting to grate on him. She could feel his patience wearing thin. Asmodeus stepped gingerly through the house and entered the office where the Guardian was sitting and working. The Guardian's body turned red-hot and burned to a black, charred husk. The pen dropped to the desk. Asmodeus stopped to see what was written on the paper, then laughed maniacally.
He pulled out his phone but Deziree's sight failed too soon and she didn't catch whom he was calling. Just a screen with a bunch of blurred numbers she couldn’t quite make out.
As soon as she'd returned to herself, she downed the bottle of water, gasping and choking for breath. "He made a phone call." She sputtered as some water went down the wrong pipe. “I couldn't see who he called, but he made a call.”
“Damn,” he said, “that would have been a nice break. All we would have needed was that number and we could easily figure out who was behind all of this.”
This time she regained her composure quicker than she had before. She fought the nausea, and didn't find herself as close to throwing up as she had before.
“I wonder if I can go back in,” Dez pondered aloud. Before the other two could say anything, she touched the ash again, her bodied readied for the assault. The memory played out as it had before, but this time it cut off before the demon even made it to the Guardian’s office. “Dammit.”
“What happened?” Vegas asked. They listened intently as she explained that the second trip through the memory actually yielded less information than the first.
“I think he’s figured out a way to push me out,” she added. Vegas dialed Kade and waited as it rang.
"There's only one more address," Lucas said. "The stone must be there."
"Or at least it was there," Vegas corrected. They exchanged wary glances. Kade picked up. "We're on our way to the New York address. We believe the demon was there and got the Sentinel Stone from there. He is long gone by now, so you can call off your men. We'll be there soon."
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Michael
As requested, Kade's men had cleared out of the apartment. Kade remained behind and met them in the living room. They split up but the We
st Village apartment was small. Most New York apartments were. A superficial check yielded results.
"In here!" Dez called , and the men convened in the sparsely decorated room where she knelt beside the bed. A large safe had been built into the wall of the apartment, camouflaged by wallpaper which matched the walls. It was wide open so they could see the contents. It might have been a safe place to hide a precious artifact from regular humans or even casters, but few things in the world were demon-proof.
The ash outline was splayed over the carpet. Dez took a deep breath. Michael knelt beside her. He'd learned to carry water with him for each vision. He produced a glistening bottle and put a hand on her shoulder.
"One more time," he said, hoping to offer her some comfort. She nodded.
"One more time?" Kade asked.
"You'll see," Lucas replied.
Dez closed her eyes and touched the ash.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Asmodeus knew without a doubt the stone was there. He could feel the essence of the brimstone growing stronger as he neared the Guardian's apartment. This time he broke the doorknob with complete disregard for how loud he was being. There were no Guardians left to notify, so he had no worries of others being alerted.
He opened the door and caught the Guardian off guard in her sitting room. She jumped to her feet, the book she had been reading clattered to the floor. He instantly called upon the hellfire and her bodied crumpled to the ground writhing in excruciating pain. He released the hellfire and the Guardian panted with relief. After a few moments, she started to regain herself. She moved to get to her feet and he called upon the hellfire again. She dropped to the ground, screaming in agony. Again, he released the hellfire and crouched beside her withered body.
“I have just illustrated a very important lesson to you. I have the power to bring you to your knees, but you needn't suffer at all if you simply tell me where the stone is.”
“No,” she croaked between ragged breaths.
He called upon the hellfire once again, waited a few moments, and released it.
“Obviously, you are hard of hearing. Tell me where the stone is,” he said, taking a fist full of her hair in his hands and yanking her to her knees.
She cried out and struggled for breath, and finally managed to sputter, “I don't know where the stone is.”
"I can feel it. I know it’s here. I will never understand why you pitiful, insignificant creatures insist on lying to superior beings. You all belong on your knees ... satisfying demons just like me." He knew she was lying, but knew he didn't need her to find the stone either. "I suppose you wouldn't lie to me after feeling the fires of Hell in your bowels." His lie was just as apparent as hers. "If I find out the contrary, your life will be forfeit," he said, vanishing into smoke.
In his insubstantial state, he watched the Guardian drop onto on her hands and knees, coughing so hard that she eventually vomited all over the floor. She collected herself and got to her feet, stumbling to one of the back bedrooms. He followed her through the ether, watching as she went to the far side of the bed and pushed on a section of the wall. A hidden door popped open, revealing a wall safe with a number keypad. She punched in a ten-digit code and the safe door released. As soon as it was open, he pulled out of the ether and rematerialized just feet away from her, simultaneously calling upon the hellfire with full strength. The Guardian screamed as she burned and when she was dead, he stepped toward her body and pulled a little black velvet drawstring bag from the confines of the small vault.
Opening the bag, he smiled at the object of his obsession, a small rust-colored rock. Its etchings were barely visible in the dim light of dawn.
“Now only the waxing moon stands between me and my goal. Thank you, Guardian. You've been most helpful.”
He pulled the drawstrings of the bag together, once again concealing the stone, and tucked the bag into his coat pocket. As he turned to walk out of the apartment, two words ran through his mind.
Devil's Island.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Michael
The three vampires stood at the ready to help her the moment she snapped out of the memory. Michael and Lucas had explained what Deziree's sessions were like. Michael was prepared for the choking, coughing, and even the stomach sickness. But this vision seemed to be more intense than her previous connections. At one point, her body seemed to be seizing but it only lasted a few moments.
Deziree's body finally relaxed slightly and she slowly raised her head, her eyes closed. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and they were completely black. A sickening grin spread across her face.
“So this is what she's been up to.” The voice was not Deziree's, but that of a male. She looked around at the three stunned vampires, slowly shaking her head. “Tsk, tsk, parasites. You shouldn't play with things you don't understand.” Then her whole body went limp and she slumped to the ground.
"What the Hell was that!" Kade cried, stumbling backward
Michael caught Deziree and cradled her in his arms. “Dez! Dez! Wake up! Can you hear me?” He was frantic with worry, afraid she might not live through this encounter.
Then her eyes fluttered open.
“Vegas,” she said huskily, one that was, thankfully, her own, “can you please stop shaking me? I think I'm going to hurl.”
“Oh thank the gods,” he said with relief. “I thought you were dead.”
“Nope,” she said, trying to pull herself to a sitting position, “not dead, but I imagine this is what it feels like.”
Michael chuckled and helped her to her feet.
“Okay. Explain. You said she sees visions. You didn't say anything about voices and crazy demon faces,” Kade said, crossing his arms.
“Faces? Voices? Did I talk during the vision?” Deziree asked, thoroughly puzzled.
“The demon,” Michael explained. “He linked with you somehow. He spoke to us.”
“Wait. You guys could hear him?” Slight panic tainted her voice.
"I think he possessed you,” Lucas answered. “Your eyes went black as night. It was the creepiest thing I have ever seen.”
“He knows what we are up to now,” Michael said with a sigh.
“It doesn't matter,” Dez replied. “He gave us what we needed. Right before I left the vision, he thought the location of the gateway. Ever heard of a place called Devil's Island?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Dez
“Here it is. Devil's Island is a name commonly used to refer to an old French penal colony down off the coast of French Guiana," Vegas read from the computer screen. After they finished at the West Village apartment, he had kept true to his word and they'd gone straight back to her apartment. Vegas had made her a cup of hot chocolate while she took a lengthy shower. Once she was in comfortable clothes and bundled in a blanket, he brought her laptop into the living room so they could discuss their plan.
“So, we know where we are going,” Lucas said. “When do we leave?”
“He said something to the effect of all that stands between him and his goal is the moon.” Deziree tried recalling the exact words he'd used, but clearly the demon had messed with her mind while he'd been in there. Details were hazy.
“The full moon. I think the next one is in a week or so,” Vegas said, clicking through webpages.
“Not even,” Kade replied. “It's three days away.”
“It makes sense,” Dez replied. “A lot of magics are done at the full moon. Witches draw their power from it. Asmodeus is just one demon. He's going to need all the juice he can get to pull this off.”
“You even know this thing's name?” Kade asked in surprise.
“Oh,” Dez said with a sarcastic laugh, “yeah, you missed the big reveal in London. This demon happens to be the bastard who fathered me. Don't worry though. We've already been over this. The first chance I get to put a bullet through his eye, I won’t hesitate to pull the trigger. I have no love for daddy dearest.”
“I did
not see that coming,” Kade muttered.
“Don't feel bad,” she replied. “None of us did. I had no idea myself. When we knew a demon was on our plane, I wasn't exactly thinking it would be a long-lost relative. As to the when in this little equation, if the full moon is in just a few days, I say we use the next two to rest up and possibly look into getting some back up. Then we can head south and put a stop to this thing.”
“Our first plan should involve intercepting this guy before he can get to Devil's Island. If we can kill him before he gets there, he can't open the gateway," said Vegas.
“And if that fails?” Lucas asked.
“We'll have to tell Cassandra,” Kade said.
"No, not yet. Not until we know who the conspirator is. The whole thing could fall apart if the traitor finds out. If I tell her what's going on, she would be suspicious. The traitor would pick up on her change in attitude," Dez said. "I'm supposed to call her. Maybe I can convince her to give me more information about the gateway without letting on to her exactly what we're doing."
"It's worth a try," Kade said.
"When we discover the traitor, we can bring them before the Council. Until then, we'll do our best to handle this on our own," Dez said, leaning back against the comfortable couch cushions.
They continued to read up on Devil's Island until Deziree caught herself nodding off on the couch. Vegas gently shook her shoulder.
“Hey, you're snoring. Why don't you go to bed?” he suggested.
She nodded drowsily. “Good idea," she said, standing. She turned to walk down the hallway but stopped, turning to Kade. "Are you staying?”
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