by Laken Cane
“Research room. You didn’t think she scoured the worlds on a laptop in the garden room, did you?” She tossed a smile at Krista. “She doesn’t usually let people into her research room—not even to clean. But she wants you there tonight, so…in you go.”
Rachel turned and walked away without knocking on the door or letting Stella know Krista had arrived, but as Krista lifted her hand to bang on the door, it opened with a click.
“Stella?” She pushed the heavy door open and walked in, then stopped to stare.
Stella sat at a long desk in front of a wall of computer monitors, at least twenty of them, and the entire table was covered with keyboards, laptops, mice, and a few weird things Krista had no idea what were. She wasn’t the most tech-savvy woman in the world. Apparently, Stella was.
Every inch of the room seemed taken up with computers and monitors and the like. Some of the monitors showed rooms in Stella’s house, some of them were monitoring the outdoors.
That explained why Rachel didn’t knock—Stella had been watching Krista since she got out of the car.
“Come sit,” Stella said absently, clicking madly on one of the many keyboards.
Stella looked out of place in that room, with her wild, curly red hair cascading over her shoulders, clad in a long, colorful dress, her gold rings flashing as she typed. Krista didn’t have to look to know Stella would be barefoot, her shoes discarded the second she’d sat down.
Krista walked deeper into the room and then finally pulled out one of the wheeled chairs at the long table. “I feel like I walked into a spaceship.”
Stella laughed. “You have your toys, I have mine.”
“I have toys?” Krista pursed her lips, thinking. “What toys? My weapons? My magic?”
“Your men.” Stella snickered. “Your boy toys.”
Krista snorted and sat down. “What do you have for me?”
Stella pointed at a purple folder. “Read.”
Five minutes later, Krista placed the papers back into the folder and slid it back onto the table. “How did you find something like this on the internet?”
“I didn’t find it on the internet. I found a trail on the internet. It was an extremely crooked, long, and treacherous trail, but it eventually led me to the person who had the recipe I wanted.” She sat back in her chair and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “What year is it?”
“Can we do this?” Krista poked the small stack of papers. “If it goes wrong, I could end up with a third arm or something equally distressing.”
“Oh but imagine having three hands of power instead of two!”
Krista grinned. “I guess I have to try. Taking out Vogdris’ summoner will make it nearly impossible for the soul-stealer to return.”
“Taking out the summoner means the council will be satisfied,” Stella said.
She had printed instructions for finding a demon’s summoner. The spell involved blood. Lots of blood. There were words Krista didn’t recognize that Stella had laboriously translated and written below.
Krista tapped the folder. “I think the summoner realized his mistake and is hiding from Vogdris. Or maybe he’s dead. Vogdris is trying to mark human women so he’ll have a way back here once he goes home. He wouldn’t need to do that if the summoner was still available to him, would he?”
Stella rolled her chair away from the table and smoothed her colorful dress. “I’m pregnant.”
Krista’s mouth fell open and she stared at Stella, her eyes wide. “What?”
“Pregnant. Preggers. Expecting. With child. In the family way. Knocked up. Bun the oven. Having a baby. Spawning. Encei—”
Krista patted her leg. “Shhhh. It’ll be okay.”
Stella shook her head. “Pregnant. Me. I never wanted to have a child, Krista, you know that. I’m obsessive about things. I’m half machine and half witch.” She gestured at the room of machines. “What kind of mother will I be with my strange ways and eccentricities?
“An excellent one. And you won’t be alone.”
“I haven’t decided if I’ll have it.”
“Just let me know what you need.”
“Don’t ask me who the father is.”
“Okay.”
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Back to the spell—I don’t think it’ll work if the summoner isn’t in the city—which may be why Vogdris can’t get to him.”
Krista nodded, her mind still whirling with Stella’s surprising news. “Talon’s lines.”
“But if he’s still in the city, he will come. And when he does, Vogdris may feel him and try to take him from you.” She patted Krista’s clasped hands. “Just be prepared for anything.”
“I know the drill,” Krista said. “We’ve gone through quite a few episodes of “Spells Gone Wild” in our day, haven’t we?”
Stella laughed. “Fun times. I would help, but I’ll need to be careful until I decide what I’m going to do.”
“I’ll let you know how it goes.”
“Okay. Now get out of here and let me work. I’m hot on the trail of a very bad woman I’m about to get a boatload of money for finding.”
Krista got up, then leaned over to kiss the top of Stella’s head. “Happy hunting.” But at the door, she turned back. “Stella, where’s Henry? I’d like to give him a pat and tell him thanks for saving me from Vogdris.”
Stella wheeled her chair around and stared.
“What?” Krista asked.
“If you give him a pat, he’ll eat your arm. Best you stay away from Henry.” She turned back to her machines. “Pat him,” she muttered, shaking her head.
Krista left the room and let the door shut gently behind her. She shrugged. “It worked with Trig,” she muttered, then could have kicked herself when the pain of his absence came roaring back.
She did a conference call with Luke, Talon, Barbie, and Asa on her way home. “I have a spell,” she told them. “Doesn’t require much more than a few words and a truckload of my blood.”
“Risks?” Asa asked.
“I might grow a few extra body parts,” Krista said. “It might not work. The summoner might be carrying and blow me away. The spell might get greedy and take too much of my blood. Other than that, no. No risks.”
Asa sighed. “When do we do this?”
“How about now?”
“I can’t,” Barbie said. “Busy day at the hospitals. All of them.”
“I took a call in Banesville,” Talon said. “I can be back in about forty-five minutes.”
“I’ll be with you,” Asa told her.
“I will, too,” Luke said. “Where do you want to meet?”
“Stella thinks we should attempt it in the middle of the city. Chances of the summoner either working there or living there are good. If it doesn’t work, we can try other locations.”
“City center?” Asa asked.
“Yeah. That’s where we do our best work.” Her voice was calm, but anxiety swirled in her stomach. New spells freaked her out. Stella had shown her pictures of people deformed by misfired spells, and those images were at the forefront of her mind as she went to meet Asa and Luke in the city.
She could only hope that when they were done, the summoner would be in their custody and she wouldn’t have grown another nose.
20
“I’m due a break,” Krista said, casting her eyes heavenward in a quick plea. “Come on. I’m due a big freaking break, you guys.” Then, just in case the invisible listeners decided to take her a little too literally, she clarified. “No broken bones. Not that kind of break.”
“Who are you talking to, Kris?” Luke asked, walking up behind her.
She grinned. “Hi.”
He leaned forward and gave her a light kiss, a promising kiss, then they stood in silence for a few moments, arms around each other’s waists, watching the people go about their normal daily life. They saw no children.
Asa walked up and stood on the other side of her. He slipped his arm around her shoulder
s, and she rested her head against his chest. “I think we’re about to resolve this situation,” she said. “I feel it in my gut.”
Neither man said anything. Perhaps they weren’t quite as optimistic as she was.
“Okay,” she said finally, as the day began to wane. “Let’s stash ourselves in that alley and see if we can call a summoner.”
Asa was skeptical. “Just by putting Vogdris’ name into the spell.”
“Not just. But yes.” She hesitated. “It might not work. But I’ll try anything just to accomplish something. I’m feeling a little ineffective.” She had a good feeling, though. Stella wouldn’t give her a crap spell. She just wouldn’t.
Luke nodded his understanding. “Give it a go, Kris.”
She pulled the folded paper from her pocket and took a deep breath. She called her magic, brought it gently, and walked a few steps away from the two men. She turned in a circle, burning blood magic into the pavement, enclosing herself in a large scarlet ring.
It marked the pavement, then faded. She did it again. She did it six more times before the faint outline of red remained glowing upon the ground. Then she pulled her knife and sliced into her palm—right beside the scar Maggie had given her to kick her bhorn’s ass.
She could see by Luke’s frown and Asa’s stiffening body that they were getting worried, but they stood where they were, watching. Hoping.
She walked the circle, letting her blood run from her hand to fall upon the blood magic circle, and a red fog began to rise from the ground. The second she saw it, she began whisper-chanting the words Stella had written on the paper. She’d memorized most of the spell but still had to refer to the paper once or twice before she got into a routine, closed her eyes, and focused.
Every time she murmured Vogdris’ name, she got a little more determined. A little stronger. Angrier. And the power built.
An hour into her attempt, Talon joined Asa and Luke. She didn’t see him, because she couldn’t see through the red haze surrounding her, but she felt him. That feeling very nearly broke her concentration, but she yanked herself back into the spell, and she sank a deeper into her mind.
It took her nearly two hours to pull the summoner to her.
Two hours.
But she did it.
The summoner sped toward her like a train, confused, frightened, angry, even, because he couldn’t fight the pull. He broke the red haze of blood magic as he barreled into her circle, and Asa, Luke, and Talon stepped up immediately to make sure he didn’t escape.
Dehydrated, exhausted, and depleted, her entire body throbbing with pain, she stared at the summoner. “You,” she said, her voice raw.
“What the hell is this, Krista? Why am I here?”
Asa stepped into the circle, which was no longer powered. “You’re here because you summoned the soul-stealer, Kyle. And the council wants your fucking head.”
Kyle Ricci understood the futility of denial and didn’t even try. “You don’t know what you’re doing. Any of you. I can bring Vogdris here right now to kill you all. I can bring his wrath upon the council if they try to hold me.” He jerked his stare from Krista to Asa then back to Krista. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
“He’s killing children, Kyle.” She had trouble getting the hoarse words through her raw throat, but he heard her. “Where is he?”
Talon narrowed his eyes as his famous temper began to swirl. “Are you hiding him?”
“I lost control of him,” Kyle murmured, something terrible in his eyes.
“You never had control of him,” Luke said, coldly contemptible. “He’s a demon lord and you’re just an asshole.”
But Asa wasn’t satisfied that his boss was simply an asshole. “Why did you do it?”
Kyle’s shoulders slumped. “Power. Why does a man do anything?”
“A human can’t take power,” Krista said. “Tell us where he’s hiding and if we find him, we’ll release you and keep your secret.” If Kyle showed remorse, if he turned the soul-stealer over to them, she would absolutely let him go.
But she would watch him.
Luke looked at her but said nothing.
Kyle sighed. “All right,” he said, finally.
But before the words were out of his mouth, she knew he was lying. His eyes didn’t change. He did not care about the souls Vogdris was stealing and he had no intention of telling them where the demon lord was hiding. Kyle Ricci had gone over the edge, and there was no bringing him back.
And he saw that in her eyes.
He leaped away from them and lifted his hands. “Vogdris,” he yelled.
To their shock, his hands began to glow.
“Not possible,” Krista breathed.
He laughed, then waved his hands in the air. “He has given me power. He…”
“You think he cares about you,” Krista realized.
“I know he does. Just as your demon lord cares for you. We are the same, Krista. I didn’t do anything you didn’t do. We can become a team and rule—”
“We are not the same. Vogdris is harming children. Trig would never do that. I would never do that. Redeem yourself.” She grabbed his shoulders, despite his strangely glowing hands, and got in his face. “Tell me where he is.”
“I won’t,” he said, and grabbed her throat. He slung her around to use her as a shield, though surely some part of him knew he wasn’t escaping the men who immediately stepped forward. “I will kill her if you make another move,” he threatened.
Krista waited for the pain of magic to sink into her throat, but there was nothing. Maybe a tiny vibration, but that was all. Vogdris hadn’t given Kyle power. He’d simply given him a dim showing of power.
“Let her go,” Asa said, his voice low, dangerous, and full of rage.
“I’ve got this,” Krista told him, and sent a sharp elbow into Kyle’s ribs. She didn’t want to hit him with magic. He was human, and it would have killed him.
She wanted him alive. He would give up Vogdris when he saw there was no way out, no power, no hope. She brought her head forward and snapped it back against his nose, pulled his hand from her throat, then dragged her taser from her belt as she turned.
He didn’t have a chance. Kyle Ricci was rich. He hired people to do things for him. He’d never had to learn to defend himself.
But apparently, Kyle’s driver had called in backup, because a car roared down the street toward them. Its driver slammed on the brakes, causing the car to skid for what seemed like a good ten minutes, its tires screeching in rage before its doors flew open and expelled four extremely large people. They were dressed in suits, and every one of them held a gun.
“Shit,” Krista whispered. They were humans. They would shoot the slayers who held their boss, and the slayers could not use magic against them.
But Asa strode toward them, causing her heart to lodge in her throat. He wasn’t intimidated. Those were people he worked with every day. Still, it scared the hell out of her.
Talon stayed with her and Kyle, and Luke walked beside Asa.
“I didn’t want him to die,” Kyle said. “He’s my favorite, you know.”
“You’re mad,” Krista told him. “Vogdris’s influence has warped your mind.”
“Out of the way, Asa,” one of them said. “Mr. Ricci, you okay?”
“No,” Kyle said. “Kill—”
Before he could another word, Krista zapped him. When he dropped, she followed him down and zapped him again.
“We can fight,” Asa told Kyle’s people, “But you should know he’s the one who summoned the soul-stealer.”
Krista watched as he turned to look at the man on the right, who pointed his gun at Asa’s face.
“One of your kids was taken,” Asa said, “because Kyle summoned the demon lord. We need to find out where he’s hiding the son of a bitch and free those children before it’s too late.”
Kyle’s man lowered the gun, his face pale with shock. “Ricci called the soul-stealer?”
The other three lowered their weapons as the man who’d lost his kid tried to push by Asa to reach Kyle. Asa put his palm on the man’s chest to stop him. “We have to question him, David.”
“Let me question him,” David said hoarsely. “I’ll get the truth from him. You know I can.”
“Leave him to the council,” Asa said. “They’ll do things to him you can’t imagine. He’ll talk, and we’ll get those kids back.”
“They’re on their way,” Luke said.
Krista was surprised. She hadn’t heard him call in the CIA. And Asa was right. If Kyle knew where Vogdris was, the council would absolutely make him talk before they killed him.
She almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
A black SUV pulled in behind Kyle’s guards’ car, its slow, careful arrival quietly sinister. The CIA had arrived.
They took Kyle Ricci away, and then there was nothing to do but wait.
And hope.
21
“Can’t you call him to you?” Talon asked.
“I tried,” she said, pacing her kitchen. “I can try again, but I don’t think he’ll come. I can’t force him—I can just attract him.”
“We need to find his den and catch him asleep,” Luke said. “Then we can burn the fucker down.”
“And we need to find a way to keep him from escaping to his world when he’s strong enough to go,” she said. “Though I’m not sure he’ll ever feel he’s strong enough, or he would have gone already.”
“There may be a way,” Talon said. “If we could…”
Krista grabbed the thread of hope. “If we could what?”
“Paint the veil with blood. Not the blood of magics.” He looked at Luke. “It was in your book.”
Krista raised her eyebrows. “You gave away your book?”
“I didn’t write the damn book,” Luke said.
“He let me borrow it,” Talon told her.
“Anyway,” Krista said, stopping her pacing as Talon yawned and stretched, drawing her attention to his perfect body. His t-shirt rode up, exposing a tan line of flesh that she would have liked very much to touch.
“Anyway?” Luke prompted, when she forgot to speak.
