“I’ve kept it clean,” I said. Except when I’d slathered anti-hex potions all over it. I got enough blood from it and covered it back up.
Conor came over to watch the final steps, which only made me nervous.
I didn’t usually experiment much with my witch powers, now that I had demon magic to play with. But desperate times...
I infused the mixture with magic, added a small amount of distilled water, and spit on the top. Then I stirred it together until it bubbled, as if it were simmering on the stove. I dropped a smooth stone into the mixture and let it sit in the center of the pot absorbing the magic before fishing it out to dry. Then I dumped the cauldron’s contents down the sink and washed the pot with soap and water.
When I finished, the stone had dried and turned a sparkly blue color. It looked like it’d been dipped in glitter glue, not a pot of herbs and blood.
“Did it work?” Krissy asked.
“Don’t know,” I said, lifting the stone. It felt heavier than it had when I’d put it in the pot, a good sign that it had absorbed enough of the magic. But that didn’t mean it would actually track Jade. For all I knew, it would track me. It was my blood, after all. I took my coat off the rack where Krissy had hung it and shrugged it on.
Krissy started to get up but I held up a hand. “I think Krissy should stay here, if that’s okay with you, Mark.”
Mark smiled. “Of course. I’d love the company. We can order a pizza.”
“I can’t. I’m cursed,” she said. “I’ll just mess stuff up for you.”
“Mark can cast protective wards around his place,” Conor said, giving Mark a look that seemed to say and you’d better do just that. “It’ll be fine.”
Mark nodded enthusiastically and I decided I liked him. “Seriously. Whatever those two are up to, you’re safer with me. Just because I don’t wear the gray uniform doesn’t mean I can’t hold my own with magic.”
Conor and I thanked Mark and went out into the hall, the stone closed in my fist.
“Ready?” I asked him. If this spell did somehow lead us to Jade, we were in for a hell of a fight.
“Always,” Conor said, and I remembered why I appreciated working with him so much.
* * *
The stone warmed in my hand, an effect of the magic. I walked to the end of the block and turned left. The stone immediately got cold. Okay, wrong way. I turned to the right and it warmed up again.
Conor followed close behind. “It’s working.”
“It’s tracking something,” I conceded. “I’m just not sure it’s her.”
I wound my way through the streets, following the stone’s lead. When it went cold, I went the other direction until it got warmer. We passed through part of downtown and hiked up First Hill, past the hospital and grocery store and a number of large apartment buildings.
“Hey, so, back in the abandoned building, when you managed to get out…” Conor started.
My veins turned to ice but I kept moving, as if I could outrun his questions.
“Your sword cut through the debris? I know the blade is enchanted...” He trailed off. It would have been difficult to cut away that mound of wood and metal, even with a special magic blade and we both knew it.
“I used a little magic to keep things from collapsing,” I said. That wasn’t a lie, exactly. The fire certainly hadn’t let anything collapse. It had burned it to ash with demon heat.
The stone turned tepid in front of a two-story Victorian house. Not hot or cold. I stopped walking and Conor almost bumped into me from behind. I could feel him close, heat radiating off his body. I turned and met his eyes, giving his physique an appreciative once-over. He was all muscle and sinew, strong and powerful.
And he was asking about my secret magic. Not the time to appreciate how attractive he was.
“There’s something about you,” Conor whispered. His gaze raked over me like a touch. Warmth bloomed in my midsection, but I knew he didn’t mean it like that. He meant there was something suspicious about me. Something different. “I can’t put my finger on it. What’s your secret?”
Oh god. Why did he have to ask it like that?
All the warmth evaporated, leaving a lump of ice in my stomach.
“I’m a good witch and good PI, that’s all,” I said sharply, tearing my gaze from his and nodding at the house. “And the stone stops here.”
I shoved the stone into a pocket and stared up at the house. Conor was still standing very close, our bodies practically touching. I tried to ignore that. The house itself was in good shape, like so many others in the area. There was nothing special about it. It didn’t stand out. A light shone in one of the upstairs windows. The downstairs was dark.
“You think this is the place?” Conor asked.
“One way to find out.” I marched up to the front door and rang the bell.
Probably not a smart move, given that Jade knew we were after her, along with half of Faerie. She wasn’t likely to answer the door with anything less than a blow torch. But then the door opened and it wasn’t followed by a blast of fire.
Mace stood there, looking at me curiously. “Well met, witch,” he said, voice cordial though his expression still bore a hint of confusion. “What brings you to my humble abode?”
“You live here?” I asked, surprised. But I don’t know why I was.
Lord Barrel Chest had told me flat-out he was protecting Jade. Maybe that meant living with her. That would certainly make sense. I guess I just expected someone as malicious as Jade to live alone. In squalor. Possibly with cockroaches.
“I do,” he said. “At least when I’m not in the Summerlands.”
“I’m looking for Jade,” I said. There was no sense in playing coy. Mace wasn’t an idiot. He’d probably already figured that out.
“She is not here.”
Faeries couldn’t lie, at least not outright. They could bend the truth, though, and often chose their words carefully in order to do just that.
“But she was,” I pressed. It had to be true. Why else would the stone lead me here?
His glared hardened. “I’m afraid I have no business with you and cannot offer my hospitality.” A nice way of saying he wasn’t letting us in or giving us anything else in the way of information.
“Where is she?” I demanded.
“At the moment? I do not know. But even if I did, I would not tell you. Tread carefully, witch. This is not your concern.”
“She cursed me,” I shot back. “So yeah, it is my concern.”
“And she’s part witch,” Conor called from behind, startling me. I’d been so caught up in my anger, I’d nearly forgotten he was there. “That means the Watchers have jurisdiction over her.”
Mace’s expression darkened further, turning almost hateful. “You’d do well not to believe rumors, Mr...”
“Ramsey. Conor Ramsey.” Conor gave him a tight smile. “And it’s not a rumor. That’s what this is about, isn’t it? She’s half-fae and half-witch.”
He might as well have dropped an anvil on Mace’s foot the way Mace scowled at him.
“You were sent to retrieve her and bring her back to Faerie because you want to keep her safe,” Conor continued, “and you know that if she keeps abusing her magic in this world, the Watchers will put a stop to it.”
Mace turned outright hostile. His eyes narrowed and his lips pursed together. His fist tightened on the doorknob.
I joined in: “The other fae, the Unseelie, are hunting her down because they don’t like the idea of a fae who has witch powers, too. She’s a threat to them. She’s too powerful and they don’t want other fae to get any bright ideas about mating with witches. Am I right?”
Mace scowled. “You are a silly little witch and the Watchers have no authority over me. I suggest you leave.”
He slammed the door in our faces.
“He’s so pleasant,” I said, turning back to Conor and heading back to the sidewalk. “It all makes sense now, why all of Faerie is aft
er this one girl. Well, not all of it. Like why Jade decided to use her awesome dual magic to curse people. That part still doesn’t make any sense to me.”
“No? She’s a faerie,” Conor said as if that explained everything. “Their whole modus operandi is to cause chaos.”
“Still.” He had a point, though. Most fae were selfish hedonists who used mortals for their own whims and desires, and discarding them like trash when they were done. I supposed cursing random people to see what happened wasn’t all that different.
“That’s why the Magic Council exists.” Conor’s voice was still rigid and he glared at Mace’s closed door.
“The Council doesn’t stop the fae. Not really.”
“No, but they prevent witches and shifters and vampires from falling into the same trap. Power corrupts. It’s far too easy to use one’s magic for harm if nothing is in place to stop you.”
I resisted the urge to snort. A lot of supernaturals would have pointed out that the power had corrupted the Council, making it witch-heavy and biased against other supernaturals, and far too draconian with its laws. But I didn’t want to argue.
“Very optimistic view,” I said, giving him a faint smile so he’d know I was teasing.
“I’m realistic,” Conor said, with a slight shrug. I wasn’t so sure that was true. Conor saw things like demon magic in sheer black and white. Despite the gray of their uniforms, the Watchers didn’t really acknowledge any gray areas.
I pulled the stone back out of my pocket. It was still tepid but I walked several steps and it warmed up again. That was good, it meant the stone might still lead us to her. Not using her blood made it less accurate and direct, but it clearly was sending us to connected places and I wanted to see where else it might lead.
“Let’s go,” I said, and kept walking.
Five blocks later, we were on the back side of Capitol Hill, where a bunch of small, older houses grouped close together along narrow streets. Belinda lived around here, not that she could offer us much help unless she happened to know where Jade had gone, and I highly doubted that.
Cars lined one side of the street, parked so close together it looked like most of them were touching. It was a quaint residential neighborhood, quieter than the other side of the hill, which housed more restaurants, bars, and apartment buildings.
The stone’s warmth faded in my palm. I stopped. We had arrived at a dead end, away from any houses, and there was no sign of Jade. A fence at the end of the street blocked off a garden, perhaps the back of a house, but there was no way through.
I started to suggest we go around to the next street and see if the stone was leading us the back way when I heard the hooves.
I met Conor’s eyes. I must have looked haunted, because his tone when he asked, “You all right?” was full of concern.
“Do you hear that?” I asked.
A sloshing sound combined with the hoof beats and my heart leapt into my throat. No. It couldn’t be. It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours.
“Hear what?” Conor asked, or started to ask. I cut him off.
“Run!” I yelled and broke into a run.
Conor didn’t hesitate. He ran, keeping pace with me.
“What are we running from?” he shouted.
The hooves got louder. As we rounded a corner, we skidded to a stop, nearly running straight into the kelpie. The streetlights danced over its pale white body. It looked like a horse with silver hair, water dripping from its mane. Its eyes were red and full of hunger. It opened its mouth to reveal rows of sharp, silver teeth and roared.
The sound rattled my bones.
Conor sucked in a breath beside me.
I reached for my sword, heart hammering in my chest. I wanted to burn it with demon fire but with Conor here, I couldn’t. I’d risked using it when lives were on the line but I’d have to beat this kelpie the old-fashioned way.
“Stay back,” Conor told the kelpie. “I’m a Watcher with the Magic Council.”
The kelpie snorted. “You have no authority over me.” Its voice rang in my head like an angry alarm. Conor must have heard it, too, because he shrank back, pulling out his daggers.
“You really want to do this now?” I demanded, brandishing my sword.
“Your blood is too sweet to resist.”
Conor shot me a horrified look, clearly putting together pieces I didn’t want him to assemble.
I ran at the kelpie, sword out. It reared back on its hind legs as I rushed it, nearly stomping me as it came back down. I rolled out of the way, struggling to keep hold of my sword.
The kelpie zoomed forward, moving in a way no natural horse could move. It got so close to me that water from its mane splashed my face. I swung at its neck but it danced back out of reach. “You smell like rotten fish,” I told it.
It roared again.
Conor snuck up behind it while its attention was on me and stabbed his dagger into the kelpie’s side. The faerie horse let out a scream and shuffled around, giant maw snapping at Conor. He rolled out of the way, leaving the dagger embedded in the horse’s side.
I swung my sword again, aiming for its neck. It swung its head back toward me, catching the blade in its teeth. It yanked, pulling me closer as it bit down on my enchanted blade with its preternaturally sharp fangs.
I tugged on my sword, trying to get it back. The horse shook its head, pulling me from side to side as it crunched down on the blade.
There was a pop! in the air as the magic spell on the sword dissipated. I swore and let go of the hilt. The kelpie, who’d been pulling hard on it, was thrown back a little when I let go. The kelpie spit the sword out and it hit the ground, clattering against the pavement. Even at a distance, I could see the blade was ruined and warped beyond repair. And with the spell broken, the blade would be dull and useless.
The kelpie came charging at me, huffing and furious. I rolled out of the way and skidded to the side. It stopped, hooves grinding against the pavement. It came toward me again, blowing air out of its massive nostrils. I backed up, but found myself against a row of cars parked nose to nose, no space to get through unless I leapt over the giant SUV I was backed up against.
Why did anyone living in the city in a neighborhood like this have a giant SUV? I thought angrily, as though that were the real problem.
“I have you now,” the kelpie’s voice rang in my head. It opened its mouth, bearing down on me with those glistening, sharp teeth.
Blood pounded in my ears. I started to conjure demon fire. I wasn’t going to die to keep my secret. That was just stupid.
But then Conor flew out of nowhere, jumping up on the kelpie’s back as he rammed his second dagger into the back of the kelpie’s neck. Its eyes went wide. It bucked and tried to throw Conor off. He rode the kelpie as it kept trying to toss him, hand digging into the silver mane. He pulled the dagger out and drove it down again and again. Finally, the kelpie went still and Conor jumped down as it flopped on its side.
I quickly extinguished the tiny flame I’d conjured, shaking my hand as if I could shake off the demon magic.
Conor panted so hard he actually had to bend over and grab his knees. Behind him, the dead kelpie’s body began to fade.
“You gave a kelpie your blood?” Conor looked at me like I’d completely lost my mind. “Do you know how stupid that is?”
“I needed information,” I said. I bent down and retrieved my ruined sword, examining it. Totally unsalvageable. I’d have to get a new one and do a new spell. That was going to cost me. “I’d say it wasn’t worth it, but we did save Krissy.”
Conor let out a breath. “Maybe so, but no more kelpies.”
“No more kelpies,” I agreed.
Chapter 17
I tossed my ruined sword in the nearest dumpster as we walked back toward downtown. I was now unarmed since I didn’t have any witch spells on me. I had my demon magic and that was it, and with Conor around, I could only use it if death was the other option.
The stone
had gone tepid, not reacting no matter which way I turned. I wasn’t sure if the magic had run out or if it simply had nowhere else to lead us, but either way, its usefulness had expired and we were without direction.
For lack of any better ideas, we were heading back to Conor’s car, currently passing through the darkened, quiet streets of downtown Seattle. Seattle had plenty of nightlife, but most of it took place in other neighborhoods. Downtown proper more or less shut down around eight, except for a handful of bars and the movie theaters.
“I still can’t believe you gave a kelpie a taste of your blood,” Conor said suddenly, as if he’d been holding the thought in for a while and couldn’t contain it any longer. “That was completely reckless.”
“I know that,” I said. “But I thought you were in danger. I was doing what I had to.”
Conor glanced over at me, expression frustratingly inscrutable. “You did it for me?”
“Actually, I did it for Krissy, as it turns out,” I said, my words a little too sharp. But I had done it for him. I’d been terrified about what Jade might do to him if I didn’t reach him in time.
“So you wouldn’t have done it if you’d known Jade had someone else in that building?” His tone was too casual like he was trying hard to make the question sound innocent. But there was something deeper buried inside it.
“I still would have done it,” I said honestly, although it may not have been the first thing I did. “Someone was in danger. I couldn’t leave anyone in that situation.”
“Right. Of course.”
Wrong answer, apparently. But what did he want me to say?
“Wouldn’t you have?” I asked.
Conor was silent for a moment. And then he said, “I suppose if I had no other option, I might have. Though to be honest, it wouldn’t have crossed my mind as an option.”
“What can I say? I think outside the box.”
Demon Rogue (Brimstone Magic Book 3) Page 12