Ethan cursed under his breath, clearly not happy I had two baal demons on my side as two giant panthers.
“What’s the matter, little brother?” I sneered, loving the anger on his face. “Did the cats catch your tongue?”
Ethan threw the glass from his hand, his lips moving in what was surely a dark curse. Baldy, Lanky and Hannah all sprang into action. Soul blades hung in their hands as they separated, assessing us. I hadn’t seen the other Unmarked use dark magic, but it didn’t mean they couldn’t.
“Watch out for his big black balls!” I shouted, knowing just how dirty that sounded. Gareth laughed and I swear I heard Tyrius the panther snort.
Ethan’s brows knotted, his lips moving fast. A darkness began to build, crackling from his body like forks of lightning and coiling up around his arms and wrists to his palms.
A push of air, and Samuel the vamp blurred past me. He moved like a shadow with the vampire speed that was utterly annoying, going straight for Layla to rescue his boss. But he was also right in Ethan’s trajectory.
“Samuel! Stop!” I screamed.
The vamp never stopped. He never saw the large, dark magic ball of energy flying towards him until it was too late.
The ball hit Samuel squarely in the chest. My ears popped as an explosion of black sparkles pushed my hair back. Samuel hit the floor and didn’t move, his lifeless eyes still on Danto. A shimmering black haze marked his burnt body.
“I’m going to throttle you,” Danto shouted but hissed as Layla pricked his pretty skin even deeper.
Crap. This was not good. Eyes narrowing, I focused on Ethan, his face twisted in concentration as he conjured up another spell.
I had to get to Ethan before he got another spell going. I had a feeling the bastard wasn’t as good with a blade, which explained why he opted for his magic.
“Get Danto,” urged Gareth, reading my expression. “I’ll cover you.” The elf sprang into the fight, his black coat billowing behind him like wings. Baldy and Lanky rushed to meet him.
Instinct kicked in. I yanked out my silver sword and ran after him. The sound of claws tearing up the granite floors thundered around me as the two panthers shot forward with me.
The two men scattered. Baldy spun around the elf, avoiding him, and came for me.
My pulse quickened, and a rush of excitement poured into me, fueling my legs with the minute amount of energy I still had, thanks to Gareth.
“You should have stayed dead,” said Baldy as he swung his blade at me.
“And you shouldn’t have been born,” I replied, catching his blade with my sword. I tried to push him off, to cut him, but my strength gave out and I slipped, falling to my knees. Baldy moved above me as I desperately tried to keep his blade from slicing my neck.
Shit.
The Unmarked smiled. “Now you’re dead.” He pushed off, punching me the face. Gasping in pain, I crumpled and fell to my knees. The world spun, and I blinked in time to see a flash of black.
And then Gareth was there.
His long coat swinging, he shouted in a language I didn’t understand. His hands flung out, showering Baldy in a cloud of green elf dust. The force hit in a silent, colorful concussion of greens. His eyes went wide and he stumbled to his hands and knees.
“Go!” yelled Gareth, pulling me away as the other male Unmarked hurled himself at Gareth, hate in his eyes at what the elf had done to his brother.
He didn’t have to tell me twice.
However, to get to Danto in one piece, I had to stop Ethan from conjuring his dark magic.
Heart pounding, I turned and searched for Danto as a ball of black energy flew across the room.
“Gareth! Get down!” I cried, seeing its trajectory heading right for the elf. At the sight of the dark curse, the other Unmarked jumped out of the way, telling me they weren’t immune to their own magic curses. Good to know.
The elf spun, bringing up his jacket like a shield.
And then the dark magic ball hit Gareth.
Fear galvanized me as I saw the elf stumble and fall. The scent of sulfur made my eyes water. I rushed over to him.
“Gareth!” I yelled as he pulled himself up, and relief spilled into me. Now I had to get a coat like his. Sweat ran down his brow in a rivulet to vanish under his clothes. He was alive. But I could see the pain in the creasing of his brow and the tightness of his jaw.
The male Unmarked was back, leaping towards us.
“Go get Danto,” cried the elf as he met Lanky with a curse of his own, hitting him with a cloud of golden dust. The Unmarked screamed, his weapon slipping from his grasp as he fell to his knees, holding his throat like he’d been poisoned. Nice.
My gaze moved to Ethan. Tag, you’re it, I told him with my eyes.
And then I was running again.
In a spurt of motion, I leapt over a coffee table, pushing past a sofa to reach Ethan—
I saw a blurred fist, and then agony exploded in my head as I stumbled to the ground. Hannah was suddenly next to me, two soul blades in her hands. Crap. I hadn’t seen her coming. Darkness shimmered at the edges of my sight, and I felt my strength weaken. I was in no shape to fight. But I had to.
She came at me, swinging her blades like nunchucks. “Where do you think you’re going, Rowie?” she mocked in a baby-like voice.
“Going to kick your ass, Barbie,” I shot back, pushing myself up, which made my head pound even more.
Hannah lost her smile and then she sprang. I anticipated her move, sidestepping as I spun and landed a side kick squarely in her gut. I fell back on my butt from the impact, and Hannah pitched back with a grunt, landing hard on the ground and hitting her head. Her soul blades slipped from her grip.
Panting, I rolled to my feet. “Told you.” Damn, that felt good.
Something flicked in my peripheral vision. I spun. A ball of black energy was coming straight for me.
No way I could outrun this one. Eyes wide, I stared for a moment, dumbstruck, as the ball became bigger and bigger as it neared my head—
A blur of black knocked me down. I heard a whimper as I fell, and pain from my hip bone sent my teeth clattering. I recognized that sound. Panicked, I rolled around and pushed myself on my knees as a cry escaped me.
“Tyrius! You idiot. What did you do?”
Tyrius hit the floor, seizing as the dark magic lashed into him. The black panther lay on his side, convulsing with foam forming in his mouth. The smell of burnt fur rose all around me. Fear choked me. I couldn’t breathe.
“No! No! No!” I shouted, finding my voice. Big, hot tears spilled down my face as I scrambled on the ground and pulled myself next to Tyrius. I put my hands on his ribs and felt a little relief. He was breathing.
In a flash, Kora landed next to Tyrius. She let out a bone-chilling roar that shook the club. Her yellow eyes blazed with deep hatred as she crouched low and protectively before her mate.
This had gone from bad to worse in a matter of seconds.
My breath was shallow. Every muscle in my body was flaming. I was faltering. I knew I couldn’t keep this up.
A rage like I’d never known welled in me. I saw darkness. I saw death. I wanted to kill Ethan.
But I wasn’t stupid. I knew we couldn’t defeat his dark magic, and by the winning smile on his face, he knew it too. But he was breathing heavily, his posture hunched as he held on to a chair for support. The bastard was drained, and he wasn’t conjuring more dark magic balls. So, there was a limit to his dark magic.
And just when I thought I’d finally gotten a break, it got much, much worse.
Hannah stepped into my line of sight.
A black haze glowed around her hands, solidifying as her fingers manipulated the magic and her lips moved to give it strength. An ugly smile of anticipation came over her, widening as she held the beginnings of black energy of who knew what.
Crap. I had no doubt it would be just as deadly as Ethan’s.
“Great. Barbie has magic too,” I whispe
red. I don’t know why I was surprised. I knew Ethan couldn’t be the only one.
I saw Gareth from the corner of my eye, grappling with the other male Unmarked and holding fast with strikes of his elf dust. The scent of sulfur and burnt hair was heavy, nearly making me choke. I had no idea what he was doing, but his face was creased with strain. He couldn’t keep this up much longer.
I turned in time to catch Kora’s great maw around the scruff of Tyrius’s neck as the white panther dragged the unconscious black panther out the club’s door. A sigh of relief slipped from me.
“Rowyn! Get out of here,” cried Danto, wiggling in Layla’s hold on him. Our eyes met and I saw the pain there, not for him but for me. “Leave me. It’s okay. I won’t let you die for me. You hear me? Get the hell out of here!” Layla’s eyes fixed on the vampire. She wasn’t smiling anymore.
She was going to kill him.
I wasn’t going to leave him to be killed. I couldn’t. Not while I could still draw breath.
But Hannah got to me first.
Barbie hurled her magic at me. Her aim was spot on, like she’d had lots of practice. But I was ready. I might not be able to beat it, but I could as sure as hell contour it.
I ducked, pitching myself on the ground, and felt the top of my hair sizzle as the energy ball grazed past my head. It hit the wall behind me in an explosion of black fire. Steam coiled from where an evil-looking, foaming mass slipped down to the floor burning a hole through the granite. Holy shit. That could have been me.
Frantic, Hannah stood, muttering another curse. But she wasn’t as fast as her brother. Sucks to be second best.
I was up on my feet, barreling towards Layla, her dark eyes going from me to Ethan.
Seeing this, Ethan tossed the hair from his eyes and looked up, his expression twisting in anger. “Kill him!” he shouted at Layla. “Kill the vampire.”
Layla turned to Ethan. Her expression wild. There was something on her face, and then I saw the slightest flicker of hesitation. It had lasted just a moment, but I had seen it.
“Kill him, you stupid bitch!” howled Ethan, spit flying from his red face. “Do it! Kill him!’
Layla raged, the blade trembling in her hand.
No! I pushed harder, legs pumping.
Layla’s body tensed and then—she pushed Danto back with the force of five men.
The vampire stumbled backwards. I pitched forward and caught him, stumbling to the ground at the added weight with him in my arms. Wow. He was heavy.
The next thing I knew, Gareth was next to me, shielding us with his coat. Strong arms gripped me and I stared at Danto, his eyes black and furious as he pulled me to my feet and yanked me into a run with his vampire strength. His face was wild with anger. Gareth still shielded us with his coat as he ran alongside me.
My ears popped, and a savage explosion shook the ground as a ball of black energy hit the floor next to where my feet had been a second ago.
But for a moment, I glanced over my shoulder to Layla and saw the confusion on her face at what she’d just done. She hadn’t killed Danto, and she hadn’t wanted to.
Then Danto hauled me into a faster run, and together the three of us barreled out the door.
27
“You sure about this?” Tyrius shifted on the floor next to me in my apartment, his tension becoming more obvious as his tail slashed behind him in quick successions.
“I am,” I said, sitting on my heels with my knees pressed against my living room floor. I had lost the grimoire, but Tyrius, being Tyrius, had a photographic memory. With his help I was able to draw the summoning circle and write down the spell to conjure the archdemon.
Only last night, Tyrius had been hit with a dark curse, but he had recovered really quickly in less than twenty-four hours, which was the only reason I’d allowed him to come with me. Kora had stayed to watch over Gareth as he got his strength back. He was exhausted and I had a feeling some dark magic had penetrated his magic-proof trench coat.
The cat cocked his head and sighed heavily. “Carry on.”
I had already poured the salt around the Seal of Solomon sigil, which was a circle within a closed triangle, with three additional demonic symbols drawn inside each triangle corner. It was the usual sigil to summon all demons and I drew it from memory.
As such, I knew what came next. My fingers trembled and sweat beaded on my forehead as I lit three candles and placed them on top of the three demon symbols inside the triangle corners.
Next came the mirror. With my heart pounding madly, I shifted my hips and grabbed the same oval-shaped mirror from my bathroom I had used to summon Degamon in the middle of the Seal of Solomon.
I was struck with the sudden overwhelming feeling of déjà vu. This whole situation felt similar to when I’d summoned the Greater demon Degamon.
“You think he’ll show up?” asked the cat, his brow raised in question.
“He’ll show up,” I nodded. “He gave us his name, remember?” Lucian, I repeated in my head. “He has no choice. I have his true name. I could just as easily summon him by simply saying it.” Degamon had been pissed when I’d summoned him. It was only logical to assume Lucian would be... well... it was going to get ugly. But my mind was made up. I was doing this.
Tyrius leaned back on his hind legs. “You’ve got this all figured out. Don’t you?”
“Don’t patronize me, Tyrius.” I rubbed my forehead, feeling another migraine on its way from lack of sleep and food. Maybe I should have stayed with Gareth one more day. His bed was comfy. “I’m doing the best I can.” This was going to work. It had to.
Tyrius pressed his paw on my thigh. “I know. Just... just be careful and don’t give him anything personal. He’ll use it against you.”
“I don’t think he wants to hurt me,” I said, hoping I was right. God, I hope I’m right.
“You never know,” he replied. “You don’t know what’s in that archdemon head of his. Who truly knows why he wanted to help you in the first place. Very, un-demon like if you ask me. Archdemons are notoriously self-centered. Their giant egos were one of the reasons why they fell from Horizon. There’s something in it for him. I know it.”
My eyebrows rose and I looked at him. “You’re a demon and you help me all the time,” I said, giving the cat a pointed look.
The baal demon shrugged. “We’re besties. Totally not the same.”
I leaned back and exhaled. All that was left now was to write Lucian’s name with my blood on the mirror and say the incantation, which I’d written on a piece of paper with Tyrius’s help.
The cat took a breath and said, “He’s going to be pissed that you’re summoning him in a circle.”
My eyebrows rose, and I stifled a shiver. “Probably. I’m hoping he’ll look past that.” Hoping that an archdemon, though my father, wouldn’t kill me once he realized that I had bound him to a summoning circle—was stretching it. Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea.
“You sure about this gift thing?” Tyrius said between yawns, and guilt hit me hard. He shouldn’t even be here. He should be with Kora resting at Gareth’s with a belly full of pizza. “Didn’t he say it was a one-time offer only?” added the cat.
“He did,” I answered, my tension rising. “But he’s an archdemon. And I think he lied.”
“I did,” said a polished voice.
Heart in my throat, I whirled around on my knees—and froze.
Lucian stood in my kitchen. He wore a tailored three-piece gray suit made of the finest silk. The soft yellow light from my kitchen gleamed on his dark slick hair. His blood-red eyes rested on me, making me shiver. Smoke coiled to the ceiling as he toasted me with his cigarette and took a puff while showing me his straight teeth.
Damn. I was neck-deep in doo-doo this time. There was an archdemon in my kitchen and I wasn’t protected by the Seal of Solomon sigil. There was nothing I could do but pray to the souls he still wanted to help me, and not hack me apart like a piñata.
“De
mon balls!” screeched Tyrius as he leaped on his feet, his fur brisling like he’d been electrocuted. “How did he get here?” asked the cat, pulling the question right out of my mouth.
“I heard you call my name,” said Lucian, smiling as he took in the rest of my apartment. “You need a new decorator. No wonder you’re still single. Who would want to stay the night in this 1970s atrocity?”
Alarmed, my lips parted. “You heard me call your name in my head.” Holy, shit. What have I done?
“I did.” Lucian opened my kitchen cupboard and started to look through it. “I’m your father. As such, we share a psychic connection, you and I. You are connected to me, as I am connected to you. Think of it like a land line, a one-way caller.” He closed the cabinet door. “You’re very messy,” he said as he turned around and leaned on the kitchen counter, his cigarette between his fingers.
My eyebrows rose, and I stifled a cold shiver as it licked up my spine. My eyes darted to the Seal of Solomon. Damn. No use in trying to cover it up.
“Nice circle,” commented Lucian as he took a drag of his cigarette. “Was that for me?” He blew out a long shoot of gray smoke.
“Rowyn,” warned Tyrius, and I reached out and put my hand on his back, entwining my fingers through his fur.
“It’s okay, Tyrius,” I soothed, though my skin prickled in goose bumps.
Lucian pushed off the kitchen counter and came forward. “Not bad for an amateur,” said the archdemon, his face creasing in thought. He straightened and looked down at me. “Don’t do it again.” He ran his cigarette-holding hand over his slick hair. “It never ends well for the summoner. But I’ll let this one go, just this once.” He snapped his fingers. There was a pop of displaced air. And with a sudden burst of wind, the Seal of Solomon sigil was gone. And so were the candles and my mirror.
My shoulders stiffened. I pushed myself on my feet, not liking that the archdemon was staring down at me. I wanted to stare at him face to face, leveled. But the real reason was I didn’t want him to see that he scared the crap out of me.
The thought of telling the archdemon about the other Unmarked rose through me, but then I shoved it out of my head. If he hadn’t sensed them by now, maybe he never would.
Dark Gift Page 21
