Double Down on Demons (Pandora's Pride Book 1)

by Annabel Chase

  Liam turned toward me. “He’s using his sexy voice. Makes me want to drop my panties right here.” He reached for the button of his pants and Tate smacked his hand away.

  “Focus, you twat,” she hissed.

  We approached the boarded-up warehouse with caution and Saxon held a closed fist in the air that seemed to keep everyone quiet. Only when we stopped did he point to me.

  “Ooh, he wants you,” Liam whispered.

  Tate punched his arm and he winced.

  I shuffled forward. “Me?”

  “You and I will go in first,” Saxon said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “It’ll be a good experience for you,” he said. “Minimal risk.”

  It didn’t feel like minimal risk when a team of trained agents was required to sweep a warehouse that potentially contained a dangerous demon. Any fighting I’d done had been in the wilderness. Bricks walls and a concrete floor was entirely new terrain.

  I blew out a quiet breath. “Okay.”

  Saxon addressed the rest of the group. “Wait for my signal.”

  Liam saluted him. “Aye, aye, Captain Halo.”

  Saxon ignored him and turned back toward the warehouse. I paused to admire the visible hilt of his sword. The design was intricate without being too fancy.

  “Nice sword,” I said.

  “Thanks. It was a gift from Doran.”

  “Are you angel buddies?”

  He snorted. “He’s everybody’s buddy. He treats us all like his favorite child. It can be annoying, but mostly it’s nice.”

  “I know we’re only supposed to look for information, but what if the demon’s here?” I asked.

  “Whatever you do, don’t let it spit at you,” he said. “If its saliva hits you, you’ll be paralyzed.”

  “Forever?”

  “Long enough for it to suck out your insides and kill you.”

  Lovely.

  We reached the side door and halted. “Ladies first.”

  “How sexist of you.”

  “You’d rather stay behind me? I thought that would be sexist.”

  I narrowed my eyes before grabbing the door handle and gently pushing down on it. The door was already ajar and easily gave way without a creak. I peered into the darkened warehouse.

  “See anything?” he whispered. His lips were so close to my ear that I actually shivered.

  “No. I can do a light spell.”

  He clasped my hand and held it in place. “No. No light, not yet.”

  His touch was electric and I instinctively pulled my hand away. “You don’t have to restrain me. A simple no will suffice.”

  “Did you hear that?” he asked.

  I paused to listen. I heard it too—a shuffling sound coming from near the back wall of the warehouse. “Does it sound silky or smooth?”

  “Very funny.”

  We crept toward the sound. There was no sign of any children, although there were a couple of blankets on the floor. Without closer examination, it was hard to know whether they’d been used for the victims.

  As we maneuvered around a tower of empty crates, I caught sight of the demon illuminated by a crack of sunlight that slit through one of the blocked windows. The creature looked like a giant worm with multiple stubby arms and antennae on its head. It slithered across the floor, leaving a trail of goop in its wake.

  Saxon surprised me by stepping forward. “Tell us where they’ve taken the children,” he demanded.

  The demon stopped moving but stayed silent.

  “Where’s Supai?” he asked.

  No response.

  “Tell us where the children are. Now.” I adopted the authoritative voice I generally reserved for rural mountain bars. Those weren’t places to show any sign of weakness, especially not if you were a young woman.

  The Velvet demon turned its squishy body to face us and hissed. Spittle flew but not far enough to be a threat to us. Even so, Saxon unsheathed his sword.

  “Can he actually speak in a language we understand?” I asked. Because Nita wasn’t allowed to give the rest of her presentation, I wasn’t up to snuff on the capabilities of Velvet demons.

  “He can communicate if he’s so inclined.” Saxon directed his attention to the demon. “Isn’t that right, friend?”

  The demon surged forward, its mouth opening like the whale as it prepared to swallow Jonah. Before we could make a move, a body pushed between us and I saw the glint of a blade as it slashed across what qualified as the demon’s neck. The squishy head dropped to the floor with a soft splat. Liam spun around to face us, wearing a triumphant smile.

  “Drinks are on you later, suckers!” he proclaimed.

  Saxon stared at the demon as its body collapsed on the floor behind its head in a heap. “Liam, what did you do?”

  “Helped speed up the show. What does it look like? Now we can search the warehouse without fear of paralysis.”

  “I was in the middle of interrogating him,” Saxon said. “The goal is to get intel and the demon had intel.”

  “We were waiting outside, but you never signaled,” Liam said. “What did you expect us to do?”

  “Exactly. I didn’t signal.” Saxon shoved his sword in its sheath. “Follow orders. I know you find that part difficult, but it’s a necessary part of the job.”

  “We tried to stop him,” Leto said, as he and Tate appeared behind us.

  “Liam, your shoes,” Tate said.

  Liam glanced down and moaned. “Not the shoes. Do you know how hard it is to wash off all traces of demon guts?”

  “Nita will know,” Tate said.

  Saxon shook his head. “Serves you right.”

  “Anyone have a spare cloth?” Liam asked.

  “Leave them until we get back,” Tate said. “It’s not urgent.”

  He began to pout. “You only say that because you’ve never had to scrub demon guts off your shoes.”

  “I’ve had to wash it out of my hair,” she said. “That’s no picnic either.”

  “We needed Evadne tonight,” Tate said. “She could’ve tried to read its mind.”

  Saxon looked at me. “You can’t read minds, can you?”

  “I can confirm that she can’t,” Liam said, “because if she could, I’d be black and blue by now.”

  “I never thought I’d say this, but too bad Evadne’s still in quarantine.” Leto kicked a pebble on the floor of the warehouse and sent it sailing across the room.

  “Fan out and search for clues,” Saxon said. “Let’s not go back to HQ empty-handed.” He gestured to the floor behind us. “Liam, toss those blankets into the back of the van and we’ll have the lab analyze them.”

  Between the five of us, we covered every inch of the warehouse, gingerly stepping over the headless demon.

  “What will happen to that guy?” I asked.

  “We’ll send a clean-up crew since it’s local,” Saxon said. “We don’t want anyone coming by later and reporting to Rex. Otherwise, they’ll know we’re on their tail.”

  We loaded back into the van and returned to HQ with the sparse items we found. Emil directed Liam to the healer’s office for a quick inspection as he was the only one that made contact with the Velvet demon.

  “What happens now?” I asked, as we stood in the lobby. “Do we reschedule my training session with Saxon?”

  Emil shook a delighted finger at me. “I like your attitude, Callie, but no, I think you’ve had enough training for one day.”

  Harmony emerged from the elevator bank. “Excuse me. Callie, any chance I can speak to you before you go?”

  “Sure.” I left the others and joined the healer. “I swear I’m fine. It was a minor scuffle and I only got to use my bossy voice.”

  Harmony’s heels clicked across the floor as she guided me to an empty conference room. “It isn’t that. Come in here for a sec.” She made room for me to enter and quickly closed the door behind us. “It’s about your blood test.”

  My chest tightened. �
��Oh gods. Is my disease getting worse? My dad always said that was a possibility. It’s why he was so adamant about me taking the potion every single day.”

  The healer’s smile reassured me. “Whatever that potion is, it must be a miracle cure because, according to the results, you don’t have Melchior’s, or any other disease for that matter.”

  I balked. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean there is no trace of Melchior’s Syndrome in your system. I had the lab run a disease-specific analysis.” She opened her arms wide. “You’re free and clear of every known disease.”

  I felt like the air had been sucked out of my lungs. “I didn’t even know that was possible.” My father had never even hinted at the possibility.

  “I don’t think it is, but it’s possible you were misdiagnosed when you were younger. Your father was a mage, not a healer.”

  My father didn’t make mistakes, I instinctively wanted to say, but I refrained because obviously he had. “Thanks for letting me know.”

  “Looks like you won’t have to worry about replenishing your potion supply after all.”

  “No, that’s actually tremendous news.” I continued to stand there, feeling shellshocked.

  “How did your first assignment go?” she asked.

  My head was still stuck on the big news. “Huh? Oh, fine. Liam has an issue with premature decapitation.”

  Harmony tossed her head back and laughed. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

  I frowned, still thinking about my disease-free body. Was she right? Had my diagnosis been a mistake? I was too young to remember when I started taking the Green-Eyed Monster and who’d diagnosed me.

  She opened her arms. “You seem traumatized. Would you like a hug?”

  I took an awkward step backward. “No offense, but no.”

  “None taken. Tate likes a good hug, whereas Saxon would probably sink his fangs into my arm in retaliation.”

  I glanced at Harmony’s goddess-like body. “I bet Liam enjoys the hugs.”

  “He’s banned from hugs,” Harmony said simply.

  I laughed as I exited the conference room. I had no doubt that Liam was a handful for the Pride. That being said, he had to be an asset to the team or they wouldn’t keep him around. Abra clearly didn’t mess around.

  When I returned to the lobby, Saxon was the only one still there. He stood at the unmanned reception counter, leafing through an antiquities book. His head swiveled toward the sound of my footsteps.

  “Good news?” Saxon asked.

  “Apparently. A disease I’ve had my whole life…I don’t have it anymore, or maybe I never did.”

  Saxon smiled. “That really is good news. There’s an open-air biergarten at the end of the boardwalk. Come on, I’ll buy you a pint to celebrate.”

  “You don’t have to do that. I can go back to Salt and crack open the mini-bar.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. You survived your first assignment and you’re free of disease. I’d say multiple drinks are in order.”

  I pushed down the tug of attraction. This would be a friendly outing and nothing more. No need to worry about Pride rules because we would remain in an upright position during this excursion, not that upright would preclude…

  “Shit,” I said, my cheeks growing warm at the thought.

  His mouth twitched in amusement. “Sorry?”

  In an unusually self-conscious gesture, I tucked a strand of pink hair behind my ear. “Shit, what kind of monster would I be if I said no to an offer of beer?”

  Chapter Eight

  The boardwalk was more rundown than I expected given the opulence of the casinos. I thought there’d be designer handbags and exotic animals. Instead there was a vendor selling roasted chestnuts. Homemade fairy fudge. T-shirts with slogans like paranormal is my normal and Ghost Hunters Do It In Haunted Houses. A pawn shop. A tattoo parlor. A store that proudly declared that everything inside was only ninety-nine cents.

  A trolley car encased in plastic rolled past and I moved to avoid being hit. “Should we be riding in that?” I asked.

  Saxon shook his head. “Best to avoid the seagulls though. Their aim is notoriously accurate.”

  As if on cue, a seagull left a parting gift on the transparent side of the trolley. I cringed and kept walking. On the amusement pier ahead of us, the Ferris wheel loomed. “Does that thing still work?”

  “Yes. Actually, it has one of the best views in the city. Uninterrupted ocean.”

  As romantic as that sounded, I knew he didn’t mean it that way. He was simply passing along a common sliver of information. I wasn’t disappointed…Okay, fine. Maybe a little, but I knew it was delusional. I’d only just met him and he was off limits anyway. Off. Limits. Besides, he didn’t seem particularly interested in me as anything other than a potential new colleague.

  “In the market for a body piercing?” Saxon asked. He angled his head to indicate the sign.

  “Doesn’t anyone here believe in cute shop names? They’re all descriptions. Paintball. Vaping. Even the art gallery is called the art gallery. You’d think that one would be willing to get a little creative.”

  He laughed. “Only the boardwalk is like that. The casinos and other places in the city are more traditional with their names.”

  “I guess the biergarten is actually called that too.” I sighed. “I was hoping for some ridiculous name like the Salty Pretzel or Lederhosen and Lagers.”

  “Keep those names under your hat and you can use one for your own place someday.”

  A seagull swooped low and I had to duck to avoid a collision. “What makes you think I want to run a biergarten?”

  “It seems low-key and friendly, like you.”

  Saxon thought I was friendly? Huh. That was new.

  He seemed to sense my uncertainty because he bumped me with his arm. “It’s a compliment, Wendell.”

  We passed by another casino called Sweetie’s. “That’s an odd name for a casino. It sounds like it should be an ice cream parlor.”

  “It’s named after the owner’s dog. A white Pomeranian.”

  “How old is the dog?”

  “Rumor has it we’re on the fourth generation of Sweeties, but who knows?”

  With every step we took, I found myself transfixed by the ocean. Part of me couldn’t quite believe it was right there, mere steps away. “Would you mind if we took a closer look at the ocean before we hit the biergarten? I’ve never seen it up close.”

  Saxon’s brow lifted. “You’ve never been to the beach?”

  “I grew up in the mountains in the middle of the country, so…” I shrugged.

  “How have you lived this long away from water?” He shuddered. “I don’t think I’d survive.”

  “I haven’t been away from water. There are beautiful lakes and rivers where I’m from.” I followed him down the boardwalk steps to the sandy beach and slipped out of my shoes.

  “Leave them there. No one will take them.” He stepped out of his shoes and we sauntered down to the water’s edge. The sound of gently rolling waves lulled me into a kind of trance.

  “It’s too cold to swim, I guess.”

  “You probably wouldn’t be comfortable. Nothing to stop you from rolling up your pant legs and wading in though.”

  I didn’t hesitate. I hiked up my pants and splashed through the water. I expected dramatic waves and an undertow that threatened to draw me out to sea and drown me, but the ocean was surprisingly calm.

  “Is it always like this?” I asked.

  Saxon joined me and we stood ankle-deep in water. “No. It changes all the time. One of the things I really appreciate about it. One day it’s calm like this and the next day there’s lightning and crashing waves.” He stared at the horizon. “No matter what’s going on in our world, the ocean just does its thing.”

  “I wish my dad could’ve brought me to see the ocean.”

  Saxon glanced at me. “In a way, he did.”

  A seagull flew overhead and skimme
d my head. “These are clearly Jersey seagulls. They’re the most aggressive birds I’ve ever seen.”

  He laughed. “If you want to see aggressive, there’s a game at the arcade I can show you.”

  I cast him a sidelong glance. “Wow. Is that the sound of a gauntlet being thrown or what?”

  He started back toward the boardwalk, grinning. “You coming?”

  “Just a sec.” I continued to stand with my feet buried in the wet sand, enjoying the sensation of the water swirling around my ankles. My fingers drifted to the poker chip tied around my neck. “I won’t let you down, Dad. Promise.”

  I turned and raced to catch up with Saxon. We rinsed our feet and let them dry in the afternoon sun before replacing our shoes.

  “You handled yourself well today,” he said, as we strolled past more casinos, a beach bar, an indoor playground, mini-golf, and a half dozen psychics, half of which seemed to be named Olga.

  “It’s not like I had much to do, not once Liam came in swinging.”

  “Still, for someone who’d never encountered a Velvet demon…or an Abaasy for that matter.” He scratched the nape of his neck. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I can see why they wanted you. You’re a natural.”

  “A natural what? Supernatural agent?” I smiled. “Is that even possible?”

  “Well, whatever you have, you must’ve demonstrated it during your assessment because they’ve never let anyone join the team so quickly.”

  That got my attention. “Really?”

  “Really.” His mouth split in a charming grin and my stomach dipped in response. “You sure you don’t mind stopping by the arcade? We can keep going to the biergarten.”

  “Are you trying to back out already? I must be more intimidating than I thought.”

  The arcade was half empty—or half full depending on your outlook. Saxon guided me to a machine with a narrow alley and circular targets at the end.

  “I bet you’ve never played skee-ball.”

  I examined the machine. “I think we need special coins. It doesn’t take normal money.”

  “I know where to get them.” He disappeared so quickly that I didn’t get a chance to respond. A hazard of hanging out with a vampire-angel hybrid.