Too bad I hadn’t put Poppy in his sights. I would have been outside already.
Probably.
Groping my way back toward the door, my fingers brushed a smooth basin with a familiar curve. I fumbled around, thanking all the gods and fates when I felt the tap. Only the tiniest trickle of coppery smelling water came out but it was the richest treasure ever. I ripped off my shirt and immersed it in the water as much as possible. Tying it around my head like a scarf, I then wet my bra and upper body as much as I could.
Eyes screwed shut, I advanced inch by inch. Flaming bits of ceiling rained down on me, burning my skin. But the wet shirt kept my hair from catching on fire. I held one sleeve in place across my nose and mouth, sucking on the water, desperate for cool air in my desert-dry mouth.
Once in the hallway, my progress slowed further. I had to feel for each step before I placed my weight. I didn’t know where the roof had collapsed and I didn’t want to plunge down to the main floor.
Lily cried out again, sobbing.
I stepped into the room that sounded like the source and carefully cracked one eye. The fire was in here as well, but there was a flame-free circle. Lily sat in the middle of it, tied to a chair with rope. She’d fallen over in her attempts to wriggle free and her left ankle had puffed up to twice its size. Flames licked at the boards, millimeters from her hair. A gag was tied around her mouth with enough of it slipped down for me to have heard her cry out.
“Nava?” she hiccuped.
I ran over to her, pulling the gag all the way off. “Do you remember how you got here?” Her face was streaked with soot, as were my hands.
“It was Samson. He told me Rohan wanted to see me. I felt like I had to come.”
She babbled as I untied her ropes. “He said that when it came to envy, we humans were the architects of our own misery and it never ceased to amaze him the lengths people would go to to achieve their heart’s desire. What was he talking about?”
Me. Lily was my gift. One to save or destroy and both choices came with a price. Fucking demons.
I helped her to her feet, taking her weight as she hobbled unsteadily. “We need to get out of here.”
I eyed the window. Of course, it had to be the one that still had glass. But the outside wall brushed the edge of the circle so we had a chance of escaping without being burned alive. I hoisted the chair and heaved it out the window.
Behind me, Lily shrieked. The rush of oxygen had fed the fire. She was still safe inside the circle but all around it flames blazed hotter and higher.
I stepped to the window. Outside, on the ground, Rohan and Drio turned their faces up to look at me. It seemed like Drio was holding Rohan back from racing inside.
“Jump,” Rohan yelled at me. He and Drio moved into position to catch me.
I held up one finger. When I returned, Rohan was glaring at me.
“Jump,” he yelled again.
I moved Lily to the window. His face drained of all color.
Yeah, I get that I’m not the priority anymore, but thanks for sparing my feelings. I used my fist to smash out any glass along the bottom of the pane, ignoring the bloody gashes welling along my skin. “Lily, you need to do exactly as I say.”
Her pupils were dilated in fear and she clung to me, paralyzed.
“Okay, we’ll do this together.” I maneuvered her so she sat on the pane. “I’m going to swing your legs out and–Shit!”
She grabbed my shoulders, her fingers digging in like talons, snagging my hair in the process.
“Rohan will catch you. You know that.”
She nodded. Shaky and with more than a hint of disbelief, but she pried her fingers off of my flesh.
While the magic circle kept the flames out, the heat flayed the skin on my back. I couldn’t stay in here another second, so I swung Lily’s legs out the window and essentially shoved her out. I checked to make sure she’d landed safely, then, without waiting to see who’d be there to catch me, I hung off the window sill, pushed off the house, and dropped.
I looked at my rescuer. Drio held me, not Rohan. He was busy comforting Lily as she was examined by a Rasha paramedic. The two dead hunters from earlier now lay in body bags on the ground.
“Thank you.” I rested my head against his chest, exhausted.
Keeping me in his arms, Drio walked in the opposite direction of the paramedic.
“Shouldn’t I get checked out?”
“You will be. By the Rasha doctor on standby. We’ll drive you over to him.” He carried me to a yellow ambulance with red stripes. Mirek opened the door for us and helped position me on my stomach, inside on a gurney, before spreading some kind of cool salve on my back.
I grit my teeth against the million pinpricks of pain, simultaneously flushing hot and shivering with cold. It made me think of the vral claws fondly. The salve helped, numbing my skin somewhat. I propped my head on my chin, having a clear line of sight outside as Drio hopped out of the van. I tracked him over to Rohan. Drio said something and Rohan nodded, all his attention on Lily.
Mirek shut the ambulance door. The passenger door in front opened and closed and then the motor started and off we drove. I wasn’t sure if I was happy or disappointed that I couldn’t watch Rohan and Lily disappear from view.
I was kept at the doctor’s clinic over the next few days so he could keep an eye on me. I slept a lot and let my healing abilities do their thing.
Rohan didn’t visit me. Drio did once, after he left me in the doctor’s care. A brief stop to bring my things over from the hotel.
“How’s Lily?” I asked.
“Good as could be expected. She was worried about you.”
I plucked at my blanket. “That’s sweet of her. What did you tell her?”
“Nothing about demons. She thinks Samson had a grudge against Rohan.” The best lies always had a grain of truth. Drio explained that he and Rohan had to deal with clean up and debrief and would see me back in Vancouver. They’d be busy providing evidence of Samson’s death for the world. I got that.
Guess Rohan wasn’t worried that I’d be targeted by the Brotherhood any more. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder if he had made time for Lily. I tortured myself obsessing over whether they’d had their talk yet. Then I coughed up more vile black shit, tired myself out, and fell asleep again. The joys of having a routine.
Since my flight out wasn’t until Monday night, I called Leo on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday morning to check if she’d heard from Dr. Gelman. She hadn’t.
The flight back was business class as well, but I was a lot more subdued on the way home. I was the only one, it seemed. In the airport and on the plane, everyone was buzzing with the news of Samson King’s tragic demise in a fiery car crash. His burned remains had been found outside Prague in a Ferrari that had been wrapped around a tree. Speculation was that he was still partying after the wrap of Hard Knock Strife. I would have been more amazed that the Brotherhood had been able to produce a corpse if I hadn’t known that they, or some of them anyway, were dealing in demons.
I was thankful that no photos of Samson and me were rerun in light of his death. My name or past association wasn’t mentioned either. The Executive had a long reach. It was a chilling reminder of what I was up against and made me wonder if the reason they’d sent the gogota after me was as much about me putting myself in the public eye without their approval as meeting with Gelman.
I spent the flight back staring at my personal entertainment screen, watching movie after movie with no real memory of any plot. The one thing that did pierce the haze of my brain was yet another story on some entertainment show about Samson’s demise. Poppy was interviewed, the grief stricken co-star in elegant black, off to Ireland to shoot a new picture. When asked about rumors of her getting cozy with Rohan, she gave a coy smile and said they were just friends.
That meant Rohan was back in Rasha mode and done with her. I couldn’t muster up enough energy to care.
With the time difference going back to Canada, I l
anded in Vancouver late Monday night local time. A week and a half and a lifetime since I’d left. The chapter house was silent when I entered. I left my suitcase in the foyer and climbed the stairs. Baruch’s door was open, so I knocked softly. “Tree Trunk, you up?”
I tiptoed inside, listening for any sound of deep, even breathing, until I remembered with a pang that he’d gone back to Jerusalem. I pushed his door open to make sure, taking in the empty hangers in his closet. Feeling like a hole was punched inside me, I sank onto his bed, crying. Big gulping sobs, my face pressed into my hands. The harder I tried to keep quiet, to stuff this sloppiness back inside, the more I shook.
“There’s no crying in Rashaland.” Kane sat down beside me, yawning, and pulled me into his chest.
“Long trip?”
“Yes,” I wailed.
“He’ll be back. Baruch wants me. Seriously, there’s no other reason for how often he flies out here.”
I laughed through my sobs, knowing it was Ms. Clara that kept Tree Trunk coming back. And on his toes.
“That’s better.” He brushed away my tears. “Let’s get you to bed.” He waited until he’d tucked me in, airplane clothes and all, and kissed my forehead to ask, “Any idea where your wayward twin is?”
“He’s at home.” With Samson out of the way and any immediate danger to Ari gone, he’d left our cousin’s apartment. I was sure he had his reasons for still avoiding Kane but if I learned it was so he could chase demons without a babysitter, he was toast. I’d find out when I spoke to him in the morning.
“Uh-huh.” With a huff, Kane went back to bed.
I lay in the dark listening to the clock tick. Baruch gone. Rohan gone. The Brotherhood playing a waiting game for reasons unknown. I turned over, my fingers brushing something furry in the darkness.
Sebastian. I clutched my battered black panther stuffie to my chest. Ari must have brought him over while I’d been gone. I cuddled the toy, sorry that I’d ever forgotten about him. He’d languished in a closet the past couple of years, but growing up I’d slept with him every night.
A tiny ray of hope cracked through the sorrow tightening my chest. Maybe Dr. Gelman would phone tomorrow. Maybe, finally, I’d have my brother fighting by my side. It wasn’t much, but I clung to it for all it was worth.
I got to Leo’s the next morning a half hour before the hoped-for 11AM phone call. My friend took one look at me and poured a giant cup of milky sweet coffee, pressing it into my hand.
I pulled her into a hug. “I’m so happy to see you.” I’d been a giant idiot letting our friendship slide.
“Pffft. You’re just a slut for the many services I provide.” She pushed her straight red hair off of her shoulder, busy hopping around the living room gathering up all her funky silver jewelry to put on.
Sinking onto the sofa beneath the colorful print of Warhol’s flowers, I waggled my eyebrows at her. “Are we broadening our friendship boundaries?”
Leo ran a hand along herself in fine show model form. “You couldn’t handle this much woman.”
“A little goes a long way,” I teased, alluding to her height.
“So I’ve been told on many an occasion.” She winked lewdly at me.
11AM came and went.
As did 11:10, 11:20, and 11:30.
I placed my cup in the sink. “She’s not phoning.”
“We’ll try again tomorrow. Come on,” Leo hooked her arm in mine. “I’ll walk you out. I need to check my mailbox.” We’d said our schmugs, and I had the front door to the building open when Leo called me back. She held a letter up. “It’s for you.”
There was no return address and the postmark was smudged. We ran back to her apartment and I tore it open. A faint hint of cigarette smoke clung to it like perfume.
Dear Nava,
If the cancer hasn’t killed me, you can be sure the Brotherhood won’t. It’ll take more than some mutant fiend to rid them of me. I promised you the ritual, and you’ll have it, but first: remember that Vashar amulet I gave you?
I stopped reading aloud. “Vashar. That’s what the gogota kept saying when it attacked me. Why the amulet?”
Leo jogged my elbow to get me to resume reading.
It’s a powerful artifact. In fact, it’s the only thing capable of stopping a…
I trailed off as I read the next word.
“I get if you don’t want to share that with me.” Leo didn’t look perturbed.
There were so many reasons to keep this information from her. She wasn’t Rasha. She was a half-goblin. This information could seriously harm the Brotherhood if it got out to the demon world. It would get me killed if I was seen as the source of the leak. There was only one reason to tell her. After Ari and Rohan, Leo was the person I trusted most with my life. I kept reading aloud.
…stopping a Rasha induction. Use the amulet during a traditional ceremony and it sucks the magic into itself.
Leo whistled.
The Brotherhood knows you have it. They also know that you’ve been causing trouble for Isaac, insisting that there is no point in testing your brother further. That you are the only rightful Rasha in your family.
“Isaac?” Leo asked.
“Rabbi Abrams.”
“That’s ballsy of them. Make the Brotherhood think you’re a whiny, petty bitch, which they’re probably inclined to think anyway. Then you team up with a witch who gives you an amulet capable of stopping Rashas from being made.”
“Yup.” I squinted at the postmark again but its point of origin remained a mystery. “When Ari proves to be Rasha, the Brotherhood will believe it happened via the usual ceremony and if I’m not happy about it, that will make them very happy.”
I’d have to turn the amulet over to Rabbi Abrams, but I could have kissed Dr. Gelman and her devious mind. The gogota wasn’t sent to kill me because of the secret ritual. It was sent to kill me for the Vashar. Well, I’d be handing over the amulet soon. Eliminating one strike against me. I might live awhile after all. Even better, Ari was safe. I was the bad guy in this situation.
The rest of the letter detailed the ritual. How to prepare for it, what to say, how to use the vials of water and dirt that I’d brought back from Prague. The rabbi would have no problem following it.
Final item and I can’t stress its importance enough. You must be the one to perform this ritual. The fact that the first ceremony to determine initiate status was never performed on you, combined with your Rasha essence asserting itself during Ari’s induction has caused any division between you and your twin to disappear in this matter. This ceremony will separate you both as it inducts your brother. It is simple to follow, but know this. If the ceremony fails–
“It’ll kill me?! What the fuck?” I glared at the letter but there was no “Psych! Kidding!”
Leo squeezed my shoulder.
I realize this may not seem different from Brotherhood actions, but there is a difference. If this works, and I believe it will, then you and Ari will both have magic with no harm done. But more importantly, now it’s your choice. For once, you should be the deciding factor in your fate.
She’d underlined “your choice” twice. The letter ended with Gelman wryly admitting that should I live, she expected to see me live and in person to yell at her. We’d also discuss that other matter at that time.
“What other matter?” Leo shook out the envelope but there was nothing else in it.
“I might have more magic tricks than previously assumed,” I said.
“The force is strong in you?”
“Apparently.” I peered into my mug as if more caffeine might magically appear. Or rum.
Leo tucked her legs under her on the couch. “Are you gonna go through with it?”
“Do I have a choice?’
“D’uh. She didn’t say you’d die if you did nothing.”
“Leo,” I sighed. “Do I have a choice?”
Scowling, she jabbed a finger at me. “Fine. But if you die, I am going to screw all memory
of you out of Rohan’s brain.”
I snorted. “Good luck getting him away from Lily.”
“Let me have my revenge fantasy here.” She shoved me and I fell backward against the sofa.
“Fine. I die, you screw, and I won’t spend eternity haunting you.” I tucked the letter in my pocket. “Before I meet my alleged demise, I think I better chat with Rabbi Abrams.”
I found him in the kitchen back at the chapter house, almost as if he’d been waiting for me. Or waiting for his kettle to boil. I slid the amulet across the dark granite counter to him as he poured boiling water into his mug. “No, no, don’t take this from me.”
He pocketed the amulet, stroking his beard. “You leave me no choice. Shame on you, Nava. I’m incredibly disappointed in your behavior. Such mishegoss.” His eyes twinkled at me.
I retrieved his honey from the cupboard. “Yeah, I’d be sorry, but what can I say? I’m the only Katz twin who deserves this. My brother’s a loser and unworthy of the title.”
He stirred the honey into his tea. “And to partner up with such a bitter witch.”
“Desperate times, Rabbi. Desperate times.”
He took hold of my hand, running his thumb over my glamoured Rasha ring, and spoke a few words. The ring transformed to its normal state. “There.”
“Rabbi?” He looked at me. “Thank you.”
He patted my hand. “Navela, you understand the danger?”
“I do.”
“You still want to go ahead with this?”
I nodded. “You won’t tell Ari, will you?”
“No. You should. You must.”
Agree to disagree, Rabbi. I was the one in danger. My body, my choice. Ari would never be part of the ceremony if he knew. He was always conservative with his bets, whereas I could happily let it all ride on one hand and let the chips fall where they may.
“Alea iacta est,” I said.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket to fire off a quick text to my brother that the ceremony was a go and that I’d phone him later with the details. By the time I’d finished, the rabbi had gone. But I wasn’t alone.
The Unlikeable Demon Hunter Collection: Books 1-6: A Complete Paranormal Romantic Comedy Series Page 54
