by Sadie Waters
“Can I ask you a question?” He brought his coffee over, as well as a plate of Ruby’s cookies.
Trying not to sigh too loudly, she found a smile. “Sure. What do you want to know?”
“Okay… so you’re dating all three of these guys? I mean all three of them are your… lovers or whatever? And you all live together?”
A giggle escaped at his use of the word “dating.” She took another drink of her coffee, which was fairly cold now, and said, “It’s a little more complicated than that. It’s really more like I’m married to each of them. I’ve pledged myself to all three of them, and them to me, and that’s the way it’s been for the last several hundred years, so long as each of us was alive.”
“But… what if one of them lives to be really old, and you’re just a little kid.”
“It’s happened. I don’t need to be charged until I’m at least sixteen, so it doesn’t matter when I’m a child. But once I’ve reached my age of maturity, then it doesn’t really matter to me how old they are.”
“What if one of them dies a long time before you? How do you get your power back?”
“I have to find someone else. I don’t like it, but it is what it is.”
Zach made a face. “Just, like, a random Thrower or something?”
“Not random. I’ve had other men on my team before. I usually just find one of them. Also, before, when I had a Seer on my team, I could use him, if he was willing to charge himself first.”
“Huh?” That part got Zach’s attention.
Ember grinned at him. “A Seer can act like a sort of a carrier of a charge. So… my Seer can get the power I need from another Xana and then pass it on to me.”
He raised both eyebrows. “So he’d have sex with a Xana and then with you?”
“Yes.”
“And he was okay with that?”
Ember shrugged. “We are a team. We do what we need to do. I don’t particularly like it myself because I don’t really want my men with other women, but then, if that’s the easiest way for me to restore the power I need in order to do my job, then so be it. Since Seers don’t charge anyone, though, a Seer doesn’t have to necessarily have a sexual relationship with the leader.”
Zach was quiet for a second, thinking through all of that before he said, “It seems so crazy to me that the Bible is so against sex with multiple partners, but this is like sanctioned by God.”
“The Bible isn't against that. It’s against fornication outside of serious relationships. There’s a difference.”
“So your Seer wouldn’t be in a serious relationship with this random Xana, would he?”
“Sex that serves a purpose is more than just fornicating, Zach. I’m guessing you’re not a virgin, but you’re not married, right?”
“Right. No, I’ve been with a few women.”
An eyebrow twerked of its own accord at the way he made his confession, and Ember tried not to grin.
“What? I’ve been with more than one woman.”
“I believe you.”
“You're not looking at me like you believe me.”
“No, I do. I do.”
Now it was Zach’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “I’m not sure what’s crazier to me. The fact that arrangements like this exist outside of Utah or that my neighbor was killed by a demon that you captured last night.”
Mention of the demon had her eyes shooting back to her phone. She needed answers.
All Zach had was questions. “So… how do these powers of yours work? What prevented him from just going invisible again, like shifting back into another realm or whatever?”
“It’s complicated. It takes a lot of energy for demons to manifest themselves in a human-like form. That’s why they generally feed before they slip back into the shadows. He hadn’t gotten the opportunity to do that yet, so it would’ve taken all of his energy to do so, which meant he might not be able to come back in order to feed. So… I assume that’s why he ran instead.”
“And how did you catch him?”
“We have various weapons that allow us to take them prisoner, like the handcuffs the guys used to keep him here and negate his powers. A lot of the weapons you’ve probably heard about in mythology classes are real. Some have been lost over the years, but a lot of them do exist.”
“Like Excalibur?”
“Uhm, no. Like Poseidon’s Trident, although it’s not really his because he doesn’t exist.”
“No, of course not. That would be ludicrous.”
Ember rolled her eyes. “The Sword of Justice, Achilles' Armor, things like that.”
“And what about your power? Does it just catch things on fire?”
She smiled at him again. “No, I can use it to do lots of things. It basically manipulates energy, so anything that requires power of any sort can be done through the light I possess.” It was getting low at the moment. She would need a charge before she went on too many more hunts. Thoughts of Jake had her so distracted, she almost missed Zach’s next statement.
“Well, it’s all very confusing.”
“I know. You’ll get used to it, though.”
He shook his head. “At least I don’t have to worry about work anymore. My boss heard about my neighbor and gave me the rest of the week off for bereavement.”
“That’s great, but you’ll probably need more time than that.”
Zach sighed and took another drink. “What about class? I’m getting good grades, but I can’t keep skipping.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe you can finish from home--or here--if they know what’s happened with Myke?”
“I guess I could email my dean and see. I’d hate to quit when I’m so close to graduating. But I also don’t want to find out what it feels like to have scissors impaled in my throat.”
“It hurts,” Ember assured him, rubbing the side of her neck. She’d had that experience once before and didn’t need it again.
“What’s on for today?” Zach asked, letting it go, which she appreciated.
“As soon as the guys get up, we’ll head over to interrogate our new friend.” She knew Ryan was up because she’d heard his shower before Zach even came downstairs. She had a feeling Carson would be asleep until at least noon. Jake was a wild card. She considered sneaking into his room and getting that charge she needed, but that would leave Zach alone while she did so. “And… I need to figure out why the hell Lane was in the cells last night and what he wanted with my prisoner.”
Zach raised his eyebrows, echoing her sentiment exactly. Something was up with Lane, and she needed to find out what it was sooner rather than later.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Bringing Zach sounded like a mistake before Ember even left the apartment, but he’d insisted on coming, and Ryan and Jake both said they’d keep an eye on him so Ember could run the interrogation. So… against her better judgment, she’d let him come. Now, the further down the stairs the team descended, the more he complained. “Why does it smell like piss in here?” Zach wanted to know. “This is a church, not a septic tank.”
“And… this is exactly why we should’ve locked you in the closet at home,” Carson muttered.
“Is that why?” Ember said to herself. She could think of a million other reasons why she shouldn’t have let him come. But then, she would’ve had to have left someone behind to keep an eye on him, too, and that wasn’t ideal. So here they were.
Eventually, they reached the cells. Torches lined both sides of the walls. Jake brought each of them to life as they passed by so Ember could conserve her power. The first time, Zach jumped at the sudden flicker of light. He did the same thing the second time, and every time until they reached the cell where they’d left their friend the night before.
“Keep screamin’ like a little girl, and we’ll leave you down here,” Carson threatened.
Zach only narrowed his eyes at the hulky Ink. What else could he do?
Once Ember was sure the threats were over with for
the moment, she surveyed the cage. The demon was sitting in the back of the room, his body facing them, but his head was backward, staring at the wall.
“Not acknowledging we’re here then?” she called. He didn’t move. “That’s okay. We can do this the hard way.”
She glanced up at the camera she’d installed when they’d brought him in. It would stay in place now that she knew others had an interest in her demon. She’d called Lane earlier, trying to sound as if she had no idea he’d been sneaking around down here in the middle of the night. He hadn’t answered, though. Hopefully, he’d hear her message, think nothing was the matter, and give her a call back. Otherwise, as soon as she was done interrogating this bastard, he’d be next on her list.
“What’s your name?” she asked the demon in an authoritative voice.
He didn’t turn to look at her. “Go to hell!”
Ember chuckled. “You know I can’t. But you can. Do you want it to be now, or later?”
“You won’t send me there as long as I have what you need.” His voice was a gravely, gritty, irritating sound, like nails on a chalkboard.
“You better give me something, then, buddy. How am I supposed to know you know anything if you won’t even tell me your name?”
He flinched at that, as if he realized she had a point. “My name is unimportant.”
“Not true. You know we like to check you assholes off of our list as we send you back to where you came from. So… what’s it gonna be? Whatcha got for me?”
The demon didn’t move, so after a few seconds went by, Ember nodded at Jake, and a blast of fire shot through the cell doors, hitting the demon squarely in the back. He screamed and jumped up, his head rotating back into place as he attempted to get out of the way of the bolt, but Jake followed his every move, even when the demon fell to his knees and tried to seep into the floor, an impossible task in these cages.
“You’re hurting him!” Zach said behind her. Ember turned to look at him, her forehead puckered. “Is this really necessary?”
“You do realize this is the same jackass who ripped your friend’s throat open with a pair of dull scissors, right?” Carson asked him, shaking his head.
“So? Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
“This isn’t wrong. This is the definition of right. This is what we were put on the earth to do,” Ryan attempted to explain in a calm tone.
“God wants you to torture another creature?” Zach asked, his disbelief evident in his voice.
“Yeah. You ever heard of fire and brimstone?” Carson asked him. “He ain’t all sunshine and rainbows, son.”
The demon began to shriek, so Ember prompted him again. “I can make it stop as soon as you answer my question. It’s an easy one. What’s your name?”
“Go. To. Hell!” the demon roared.
“Okay, stop, stop, stop!” Zach insisted, pushing as hard as he could on Jake’s shoulder with the last word. Ember signaled for Jake to pull back, so he did, though it had nothing to do with the measly shove from the alleged Seer.
“Zach, maybe you need to go home….” Ember began, but he was already approaching the cell.
“Hey, are you all right, dude?” he called through the bars, grabbing hold of two of them with his hands, his face near an opening.
Slowly, the demon dragged himself up off of the stone, his body creaking and sloshing as he pulled it back together. Zach turned his head to the side for a second, his throat moving like he might be sick, but he pulled himself back together.
On his feet, the demon eyed Zach, his head cocked to the side as he puzzled over the apparent human showing him mercy.
“Are you all right?” Zach asked again. “That looked painful. Look, man, I know you’ve done some bad things in your life. I get that. We all do things we regret. But seriously, if you could just do us a solid and let us know what your name is, and maybe who you’re working with, I promise you, we’ll let you go.”
“We’ll what?” Carson asked, taking a step forward. Ember put her hand out and stopped him, knowing it wasn’t worth it to charge up there to stop Zach because the demon wasn’t going to play along anyway.
“You’ll let me go?” the demon growled, moving closer to Zach.
His knee wobbled slightly. Ember knew he was terrified. But he held his ground, even leaned in a little closer. She had her hands ready but wanted Zach to learn this lesson for himself. “Yeah, yeah. We’ll let you go.”
“You mean to tell me this powerful Xana and her three Incubi will simply uncast their spells, unchain me, and let me go?”
“Sure. They’ll do all of those things.” Ember waved her hand and the chains around him came free, clanking against the floor. “S--see?” Zach stuttered.
Jake raised an eyebrow at her, and Ember shrugged. If he was going to learn, may as well learn good.
The demon continued to walk toward Zach in a slow, methodical lumber, his head cocked to the side as he stared at the man on the other side of the cell.
“It’ll be fine. I promise.” Zach’s knee was shaking so hard now, Ember thought he might actually piss his pants.
Without warning, the demon shot across the empty space, his hand latching onto Zach’s throat, squeezing with all his might. Ember and Jake both hit the demon full force with their power, flinging him back against the wall as Zach fell to the floor, grasping his neck. Ryan went over to him to make sure he was okay. Ember thought he’d be feeling that for a day or two, but in her experience that was the best way to drive a lesson home.
Ember used her powers to rechain the demon to the wall and then gave her attention to Zach. “You okay there, champ?”
“You… knew… that was going… to happen,” he croaked.
She shrugged. “I tried to warn you. He’s an evil motherfucker, Zach.”
Zach closed his eyes and lay his head back on the stone, as if he had fallen asleep. Stifling a laugh, Ember turned to face the demon. “Ready for another round, asshole?”
“You will never break me!” he growled.
“Fine. Light him up, Jake.”
Before the Ink got a chance to throw his fire, Zach said, “Hold on a minute.” He shot up to sitting, his eyes wide open, his voice raspy, but audible. “Gobnu,” he said, looking at each of them and then at the demon. “Gobnu, the ironsmith. No wonder you prefer metal scissors.”
“What’s that?” Ember asked, not sure what was happening.
Zach stood, slowly walking back toward the cell, but not too close even though Ember wouldn’t release the chains again. “You are the one who discovered me. You reported your findings back to your mistress, and she sent you to destroy me. Twice, though the second time, you’ve since realized, was a set up. She sacrificed you for an opportunity to have it out with Ember, which didn’t go as expected since her team was stronger than usual. She wasn’t expecting Lane to be there, too. Not that it even mattered. You are willing to stand here and take that sort of pain for a bitch who set you up?”
“Go to hell!” Gobnu roared, his face contorting. “I serve no one save Lucifer himself.”
“Yeah, Lucifer and his would-be bride, Lilith. It’s fine. No reason to pick his brain anymore, guys. I got it.”
Ember stared at Zach dumbfounded for a long time, not knowing what to make of any of this. Even when they had Seers as their disposal, she’d never seen one do that before. It was as if Zach could read Gobnu’s every thought.
“So Lil knows about you?” Ember clarified. Zach nodded. “She knows what you are?”
“Yes, but she doesn’t know I can do that.”
“We didn’t know you could do that,” Carson reminded him.
“I didn’t know either,” Zach admitted. “But when I was seeing stars, I realized, I could see other things, too, like inside of his head. It’s not pretty in there.” Again, he looked like he might throw up.
“Come on, kid. Let’s go home,” Ember said, hooking her arm around his shoulders. He still drove her crazy, but he was a valua
ble weapon, and if that meant that she had to keep him safe, she may as well get used to it.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ember didn’t go back to the apartment. Instead, she headed over to Lane’s place. Deciding it would be best not to take her entire team with her, and especially not Zach, she grabbed a cab and Carson and went to pay the Ink a little visit.
Jess opened the door, wearing a button-down shirt--not quite buttoned all the way--and her underwear. The noise Carson made earned him an elbow in the ribs. “Hi, Jess. Lane around?”
“Not right now.”
“Really? You and Rube havin’ a pillow fight then?” Carson asked, his eyes still doing a little more wandering than Ember cared for.
“I just haven’t gotten dressed yet, thank you very much.”
“Fine. We’ll come in and wait for him.” Ember pushed her way in before Jess could protest, though that didn’t stop her from shouting after them.
Walking into the living room, it became apparent Jess was sent to lie and hadn’t done a very good job of it. Lane was sitting on the couch in a pair of tight, red briefs, watching a movie on the big screen TV that wasn’t likely to win any awards for best costumes since there didn’t seem to be any.
“Seriously, Jess? Didn’t I tell you to send her away?”
“Sorry to interrupt orgy time,” Ember said, using her powers to turn the television off, which had Lane spewing curse words at her.
“Orgy? The other girls are asleep,” Jess said, her arms folded beneath her ample bosom.
“Good, then if we have to kick your asses, it’ll be a fair fight.” Ember wasn’t mincing her words.
“What’s gotten into you?” Lane asked, making no attempt to hide his arousal--which Ember hoped was due to the movie and his mostly naked girlfriend, not her.
“It’s not about what’s gotten into me, Lane, it’s about what you almost got into. Why the hell were you messing with my prisoner last night?”
