“We have a more concentrated dose of his power right here.”
I gave him a confused look. Then I understood.
Ian had absorbed a lot of Dagon’s power when he clawed his way out of the demon. What if I could use what was in Ian’s body to find Dagon? If so, then I could also use it to find the other resurrected souls, too! But . . .
What if Dagon was already tracing them that way? He was far more versed in dark magic than I was, and Dagon had a vested interest in murdering the other resurrected people to recoup the power they’d stolen from him. The demon had also said Dagon had killed the woman in Egypt “and others” for that same reason. How many others?
I’d made a vow to my father, but I couldn’t keep that vow if Dagon murdered the people I was tasked to find. No, I had to find—and stop—Dagon first.
I gave Ian a level look. “I don’t know how to do that kind of spell, but we’re going to have to try anyway.”
His grin was wolfish. “Know an advantage to being married to a law-breaking scoundrel who has friends in all the wrong places? I do know someone who should be able to do that spell.”
Chapter 14
Two days later, Ian drove us to the town limits of Centralia, Pennsylvania. The area seemed innocuous enough, if abandoned and overgrown, but one sniff told me I wouldn’t like whatever Ian had planned next.
“Why does this place reek of demons?”
Ian flashed an unconcerned grin. “Who else would have the power to do the type of spell we’re after?”
“Me, once I figure out how, because no one in their right mind would use demons to trap another demon,” I pointed out.
He gave me a tolerant look. “Not all demons are bad.”
Technically true. Nechtan, a demonic imp I’d first befriended a couple thousand years ago, was a sweet creature who’d been abused by his crueler brethren. But Nechtan was the exception, not the rule.
“Even if you happen to know a non-evil demon here, this town reeks of several demons. Not one.”
“A few live here,” Ian agreed. “Some lower-level demons moved in after humans abandoned the place decades ago, when the coal tunnels beneath it caught fire and couldn’t be put out. But most scorned living in and around a coal mine.”
That, I believed. Demons liked to live large, which wasn’t difficult for a species with supernatural abilities, eons of longevity, and absolutely no morals.
“Demons also have a secret safe house to shelter renegade demons, among others,” Ian went on. “I know the proprietor of such an establishment. He’s powerful enough to do our spell, but while I don’t know where he is, I know a demon who should.”
“What would push the demon culture’s boundaries enough to make some go into hiding?” Then again, I probably didn’t want to know. I had enough horrors to fill my nightmares as it was.
“Usually, it’s as simple as being different,” Ian replied, adding in a jaded tone. “You of all people should know how most species are prone to criminalizing that.”
I did. Vampires usually slaughtered cross-species people like me as soon as our existence became known. Fearmongering had also led to magic being outlawed when long ago, enough vampires claimed that those with magic were plotting to enslave their non-magic brethren. They’d had no proof, but it didn’t matter. Magic was declared illegal and all vampires caught practicing it were executed. From that brutal purge, the council, Law Guardians, and Enforcers had been born. I only joined their ranks to use the access my job gave me to secretly help the people abused by these laws. Did Ian remember that?
Even if he didn’t, I’d agreed to let fate decide what he remembered, so all I said was, “Do you trust the demon you’re coming here to see?”
“I trust that he’ll regret it if he betrays me,” he replied with casual lethalness. “He doesn’t know the extent of my abilities. You can’t reveal your abilities to him, either. That’s why you’re staying with the car while I go into town.”
“Oh, sure,” I said. “I was just thinking I needed to get my nails done.”
My sarcasm only made him grin. “Sometimes, my personal business will cause me to leave at a moment’s notice, and you can’t expect to be chained to my hip every moment, can you?”
Ohhh, the vindictive shit! I’d make him pay for throwing up my own words to me. But first . . . “Enjoy all the personal time you want, after I go with you to meet this demon.”
“Not going to happen, luv. One of this demon’s abilities is seeing the source of people’s magic. If you come, he’ll spot your half-demigod nature before you can say hallo.”
And word was already circulating about me. Tenoch warned me this would happen if anyone saw what I was and lived to talk about it. Dagon’s survival was coming back to bite me in yet another way. But I still wasn’t going to let Ian walk alone into a town full of demons just to stop one more person from learning my secret.
“I’ll stay out of sight, then.”
“Yes, by staying here,” he replied in a steely tone. “If there’s trouble I can’t handle, I’ll send up a magic flare. You’ll be more than close enough to see it and come running.”
He wasn’t going to be dissuaded. Fine. I’d stop arguing. “Very well, then.”
He gave me a jaunty smile as he got out of the car. “Should only take a few hours.”
I watched him walk down a road with cracks big enough to allow brownish overgrowth to infiltrate the asphalt. Then he turned right at what had probably once been the main street of town. When he was out of sight, I continued to remain in the car . . . for another five minutes.
Then I got out and streaked after him. He must have lost his mind along with most of his memory if he thought I’d stay back the whole time.
Even with the sulfur stench and the fainter smell of burning coal, Ian’s scent was easy to follow. I stayed downwind so he didn’t catch my scent, and I flew so my feet didn’t make any of the crunching noises his did as he walked on the winter-dry foliage. After several minutes, Ian ducked into a cavelike structure. Must be the entrance to the mine.
I paused at my perch behind the roof of a former gas station. I needed camouflage before I proceeded. Good thing I knew exactly how to hide myself. I just needed a little help.
I cut my finger, using my blood to draw several symbols on the roof. Then, I filled them with the barest amount of power. I didn’t want my magic sensed by the town’s demons.
“I summon the spirit of Leah, daughter of Siobhan,” I whispered at the symbols. “Leah, hear my call.”
Moments later, the outline of a severely cut black-and-white dress appeared, then Leah herself bloomed into focus.
“I cannot fathom why he believed you’d stay in the car,” were her first words. “Does he remember nothing about you?”
I stifled a laugh. “Ian’s memory might be erratic, but his stubbornness is the same, which is why I need another favor.”
She smiled with anticipation. “Concealment?”
“Please.”
Leah held out her arms. I went into her embrace, feeling the chill of power instead of the corporeal form of a woman. But Leah’s power was greater than flesh and bone. It was also ironic. Leah hadn’t become a witch until after she’d been executed as one back when the American colonies were new.
Leah’s power continued to cover me until I felt like I’d been plunged into icy water. Then I watched as my body turned filmy like hers before it vanished altogether. Once it did, Leah’s form vanished, too. Thus drenched in her power, she was able to pick me up and whisk both of us into the mine.
At first, it looked the way I expected an abandoned mine to look, with crumbling support columns and pieces of equipment half buried in the stony ground. But the coal track running into the darkness was in pristine shape. Leah followed it, and minutes later, lights cast a golden glow in the distance and I heard laughter and music, of all things. At a sharp bend after a right-hand turn, the façade of a derelict mine vanished.
What I
saw could have doubled as a jazz club. Cigar smoke hung in the air while a skilled quartet on a nearby stage played soulful music. Couches, chairs, and tables were spread out from a stone-carved bar in the main room, with two smaller wood-and-steel bars visible beyond the dance floor of a separate room. Floating orbs cast a cozy glow while allowing its darker corners to host danger or romance, depending on the occupant’s mood. With its privacy, lack of humans, and stellar music, I might have become a regular if it wasn’t also filled with demons.
At least a dozen of them were draped over the couches in the main room. Others shuffled together on the dance floor, and another baker’s dozen sat on stools in front of the three bars. “A few” demons in town, my ass!
And Ian was sprawled on one of the couches as if he were just another demon enjoying the music instead of a vampire surrounded by enemies who could turn on him at any moment.
Chapter 15
A red-haired demon with a bad spray-tan, leather pants, and a leather bra went up to Ian. I tensed, but all she said was, “What’s your pleasure, gorgeous?”
A waitress. No surprise that nothing was free among demons, even in a secret underground jazz club. Then the smile Ian gave the waitress made me glad I was still invisible. Otherwise, he’d see the holes I was glaring into him for the way he looked at the cleavage the curvy demon made sure was at eye-level for him.
“Depends on my mood,” he responded in a luxuriant tone. “Some nights, I’m smooth brandy. Other nights, I’m single-malt bourbon. On occasion, I’m even fine wine, but tonight, I’m hard whisky, straight up.”
Her gaze swept over him, taking in the muscled planes of his chest, as he’d unhooked a few buttons in his shirt since I’d last seen him. She even reached out to trace his chest as if seeing whether he felt as luscious as he looked. I knew he did, and from the seductive way she bit her lip, she thought so, too.
Slap her hand and tell her to fuck off! I seethed. Ian did neither. He only smiled wider.
I was going to kill him. I’d kill her, too, but I’d be gentle about it since she wasn’t the one who’d constantly reminded me that we were married. That’s why she’d barely feel it when I murdered her. But Ian? Oh, yes, he’d feel it.
“Hard whisky, no chaser, coming right up,” she said in a bedroom-voice purr, then turned and went to the bar.
A black-haired demon with skin as pale as Ian’s filled the space next to him on the couch. “Michael,” Ian greeted him. “Long time, mate.”
“Long time,” the demon agreed. “I’m surprised to see you here, especially with the rumors I’ve heard.”
Ian let out an indulgent laugh. “Which ones?”
Michael smiled, but no humor lit his red-tinged eyes. “The one where you and some Halfling murdered dozens of my kind.”
That turned more than a few heads. I stiffened, but no one did anything more than look. Yet.
“A Halfling, how exotic.” Ian sounded bored. “Tell me, how did I and this curious creature slaughter so many demons?”
The waitress returned with Ian’s drink, pausing Michael’s reply. Ian saluted her with his glass before pressing a hundred-dollar bill into her hand.
“Keep ’em coming, poppet.”
She tucked the bill into her cleavage, then made a show of fluffing her breasts as if the cash had somehow managed to flatten them.
There goes your painless death!
“Details are sketchy,” Michael said once she’d walked away. “Some say the Halfling is a demon-vampire hybrid. Some say she’s a vampire-witch hybrid. Some wonder if the story is just bullshit meant to scare other demons into backing Dagon.”
“Eh, Dagon,” Ian said as if he remembered everything about the demon. “Always trying to mastermind something.”
Michael’s brows rose. “You’re saying none of it is true?”
“Tell you what is true, I need to speak to Ashael,” Ian replied, and raised his glass. “Ashael, this is Ian. A bag of jewels is yours if you come to me at once.”
With that unusual toast, Ian downed his shot and waved for a new one, which his very attentive waitress handed him. Then he repeated the toast and drank again.
Not a toast, then. An alcohol-based summoning ritual. Ashael was either very powerful to hear Ian’s call with such a weak conduit, or he was so attuned to booze that he should get an AA sponsor immediately.
Then again, Ashael could also be very clever. By giving people a weakened summoning ritual to use, Ashael could choose to ignore it, whereas the usual blood, specific symbols, and true-name ritual made a demon’s appearance mandatory, not optional.
Michael grunted. “You’re brave to summon Ashael. If he believes these rumors, he’ll slaughter you on sight.”
Powerful and clever, then. My teeth ground. Stop calling him, Ian! You’re already in over your head.
“You’re still on about that rubbish?” Ian scoffed. “Would’ve thought you were too old to believe in fairy tales.”
“So, it isn’t true?” Michael persisted.
Ian gave him a tolerant look. “Mate, if it were, would I be drinking all by myself in a place like this?”
Yes! I silently screamed. Because you’re trying to be the first vampire to kill another vampire from sheer stress alone! Gods, there were days when I missed my former, blissful apathy. Caring about someone this much was exhausting.
Michael shrugged, but none of the intentness left his gaze. “I suppose we’ll find out.”
The other demons started drifting closer to Ian’s table. Worse, it sounded like more demons were now coming from the mine to gather near the room’s only exit. I began pulling power from wherever I could feel water. There wasn’t much due to the decades-long underground coal fires in this town. I stretched my senses further. My other nature roused, rattling the bars on her cage. As if I didn’t have enough to deal with.
“Playing hard to get, Ashael?” Ian said, raising his glass as if he didn’t notice the trap closing around him. “I’ll make it two bags of jewels, but only if you get your arse here now.”
Sure, keep trying to bring another powerful demon! I silently raged. Forty or fifty demons against two are suicidal odds, but forty or fifty-ONE against two is a party!
Michael leaned back, flashing Ian an arrogant look as the demons in the room now loomed around Ian’s table, while new demons formed a barrier at the exit. Even the band abandoned their instruments to join the menacing crowd.
Ian eyed them as he set his empty shot glass down. “Wouldn’t come any closer if I were you, mates.”
Michael’s brows rose. “Why is that?”
Ian smiled with luxuriant menace. “Because you won’t like what I’ll do. Moreover, from her scent, my wife is already brassed off, and you do not want to meet her when she’s angry.”
From her scent . . . Ian knew that I was here?
Michael laughed. “You, married? That’s almost as funny as you threatening us with someone who isn’t here.”
“Oh, she’s here,” Ian replied, sounding amused now. “It’s dangerous, and I told her not to come. That meant nothing could keep her away.”
I wasn’t even insulted. So you do still know me, I thought with dark appreciation.
Michael’s expression hardened. “Enough stalling. We’re going to collect that bounty on you now—”
“Not before I get my two bags of jewels,” a smooth voice interrupted.
I hadn’t seen anyone teleport in here, and I’d been watching. No, the tall man with the closely cropped hair, handsome features, dark brown skin, and a stubbled jaw had appeared as if all the room’s shadows suddenly coalesced into a person. Power rolled off him, too, the kind I normally only felt from a Master vampire. If that wasn’t enough, the demon then turned to stare right at the corner where Leah and I floated.
I didn’t move. Maybe this demon knew our general location because he could scent me the way Ian had. But since he couldn’t see me, he couldn’t truly be sure where I was . . .
“Y
ou can drop the clever camouflage,” the demon said, bowing in our direction. “I will allow no one here to harm you.”
“Ashael?” Michael looked around. “Who are you talking to?”
“The person poised to slaughter all of you, should you make another threatening move toward Ian,” Ashael replied silkily.
One of this demon’s abilities is seeing the source of every person’s magic, Ian had said. Was that how Ashael could “see” me even when I was invisible? If so, it also explained his other comment. If he sees you, he’ll spot your half-demigod nature before you can say hallo . . .
“Hello,” I said, dropping from Leah’s arms. As soon as I did, I became visible. Every demon looked stunned except for Ashael, who stared at me with an inscrutable expression.
“My lovely bride,” Ian drawled. “Good of you to join us.”
Chapter 16
I told myself it was the tenseness of the situation that made me pick the bitchiest reply. “Oh, now you remember we’re married? You didn’t seem to recall that when you were giving your waitress the visual version of a mammogram earlier!”
Ian’s chuckle rolled across my nerves as if it were coated in spikes. “Jealous? Good, I intended that. You don’t consider our marriage an ‘unfortunate technicality’ now, do you?”
I was going to beat him bloody. I’d make it too painful for even him to enjoy. But not when we were surrounded by demons, the most dangerous one sizing up our exchange with interest.
“You must have no idea what she is, to anger her on purpose,” Ashael stated.
“I know exactly what she is,” Ian answered, staring into my eyes. “More importantly, I know she’s mine.”
The statement might have been romantic if we were alone. In a room full of demons, it smacked of male possessiveness. Then again, I’d just chastised him for looking at another woman, so I supposed I didn’t have much room to complain. But I did give him a challenging arch of the brow that said, Am I? clearer than any words.
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