“Where you headed?” Bryce called as she dashed through the door.
“I’ll be right back. Stay here.” She bounded down the steps and sprinted as soon as her feet hit the pavement. “Hey! Stop!”
The demon turned around and peeled its lips back into a reptilian sneer. It hissed and darted down an alley into the shadows. Macey veered around the corner and skidded to a stop. Dead end. She had it trapped.
The creature crouched by the wall, rocking side to side on its claw-like feet. It made a screeching sound like metal scraping metal and arched its back like a cat. Macey raised her gun. Head or heart? Would a bullet even kill a demon? She hesitated, hovering her sights between its eyes. No. It had to be the heart.
The demon screeched again, and another assaulting wail answered it. Macey jerked her head around as a second demon dropped into the alley from the rooftop above. Her heart jack hammered in her chest. The whooshing of her pulse pounded in her ears. She pointed her gun at the first demon. Then the second. What could she do? They had her pinned in.
They crept toward her, inching closer, their crimson eyes bleeding hate. The second fiend sprang, leaping toward Macey and knocking the gun out of her hand. It skidded to the feet of the first demon, who picked it up and tossed it aside.
The demons slithered closer, the odor of death and garbage emanating from their pores and assaulting Macey’s senses. She stumbled back and tripped over a broken piece of wrought iron railing. She fell to the ground and quickly sprang to her feet, gripping the metal stake in her hand.
She couldn’t breathe. Fear gripped her heart like a steel fist as she waved the pole at the fiends. If she was going down, she’d go down fighting. “Back off.”
A massive, sandy colored wolf dropped into the alley from above. Without warning, it leapt toward a demon and clamped its jaws on the fiend’s neck. Macey didn’t hesitate. She charged at the second demon and drove the metal spike straight through its heart. The devil exploded into a billowing cloud of ash as the stake clattered on the cobblestone.
Macey gasped and stumbled back against the wall. The werewolf grunted, standing over the ashes of the other fiend. It nudged Macey’s pistol with its nose, sliding the gun across the stones. Macey crept forward and picked it up.
“Thanks for your help. I know you’re not Luke. Who are you?”
The wolf glanced down the alley toward the street and blew out a hard breath. It shifted its gaze back to Macey as its body began to vibrate. A shimmery mist enveloped it, and it transformed into a woman.
Macey blinked. “Alexis?”
She rushed toward her sister and embraced her. “Macey! Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. But…your clothes.” She ran her hands over Alexis’s shirt sleeves. The wolf wasn’t wearing a teal T-shirt and jeans, but when it morphed into her sister, she was fully clothed. “How?”
She shrugged. “Magic, I suppose. Whatever I’m wearing…or carrying in my pockets…gets absorbed in the shift. When I shift back, everything’s in its place.”
“That’s…weird.”
“It’s always been this way.”
“Well, how about that?” She shook her head. “When did you start chasing demons?”
Alexis dropped her arms by her sides. “I don’t…officially. Luke won’t let me on the team since I’m not a pack member. But I figured y’all needed all the help you could get.”
“Thanks. You saved my life.”
“Hardly. You slayed that demon like a pro.” She wrapped an arm around Macey’s shoulders. “You can take care of yourself, little sis.”
Macey sighed. “I’m glad someone thinks so. Walk with me. I need to get back to my partner.”
“Luke being over-protective?” Alexis followed her sister out of the alley.
“He’s treating me like I’m helpless. I have one little altercation, and suddenly he thinks I can’t be alone anymore.”
“You have to remember…he’s an alpha male. About to be the alpha male. It’s in his nature to be protective.”
Macey slowed her pace as they approached Natasha’s building. “I know. You’re right, but…”
“But you’re scared.”
“Terrified.”
“I get it.” Alexis nodded toward Bryce coming down the stairs. “There’s your partner. You’d better get back to work. I’ll call you later.”
Macey jogged to the building and arrived as Bryce reached the street. Natasha still sat on her balcony, sipping her glass of juice and smiling smugly.
“Thanks, Natasha,” Macey called up to her. “It’s taken care of. You have a good night.”
Natasha waved. “Yes, ma’am. I knew you could do it.”
“What was that about?” Bryce said as they walked to his car.
Macey grinned. “It’s a girl thing. You wouldn’t understand.”
Chase leaned against the wall outside Jean Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop. With his hands shoved in his pockets and one leg crossed in front of the other, he appeared calm, casual. To a human, he looked like a normal guy hanging out in the French Quarter. But Luke knew better. Chase’s attentive eyes scanned the scene, raking back and forth across the shadows in the distance. He was hunting demons.
The old Blacksmith Shop-turned-bar was a popular place for ghost tours to stop and give the tourists a break. Built in the 1700s, it was one of the oldest buildings in the Quarter. Two attic windows jutted up from the sagging, shingled roof, and a brick and mortar chimney rose between them. Three shuttered doors stood open on the building front, and patrons filed in and out as they got their drinks and returned to their tours. The structure’s sordid history alone would be enough to attract creatures from hell. The crowd swarming inside and spilling out onto the sidewalk made it all the more appealing.
“Quiet night.” Luke sauntered toward his friend.
“Yeah.” Chase smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He inhaled and opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but he shook his head instead. Luke leaned against the wall and shoved his hands in his pockets to mirror Chase’s posture.
Chase glanced at him with a strange expression and focused back on the shadows. “How’d the debriefing go with your old man?”
Luke exhaled sharply and ran his hand over his face. “Not good, man.”
“Not happy about the demon situation?”
“No. I’ve got a plan for that. We’re going to take these suckers out tomorrow afternoon.” He told Chase about the new information Macey had given him. “Soon as I find someone who can trap the halfling spirit, we’re good to go.”
“What’s the problem then?”
“It’s Stephen. Knocked on the old man’s door as soon as he found out they were home.”
Chase shook his head. “He’s chomping at the bit to be alpha. Dude wants it bad. I hope he doesn’t do anything stupid.”
“He won’t.”
Chase hesitated, kicking at the dust on the ground. “He’s not going to get the chance to be alpha is he?” He raised his eyes to meet Luke’s, and they were tight with worry. “You’ll mate?”
“C’mon, man. You know me better than that.” He let out a cynical laugh. “I told my folks if I couldn’t get Macey back before the deadline, they could choose someone for me.”
Chase raised an eyebrow. “You’d go through with that?”
“As long as the mate understands it’s just business, yeah. I’ll do what I have to do for the good of the pack. But honestly?” He let his gaze drift toward the shadows as his throat thickened. “It has to be Macey. It will be.”
“Yeah. Speaking of Macey and our quiet night, I talked to Alexis a few minutes ago.”
A feeling of dread sank in his gut as he gave him his full attention. “What happened? Is Macey okay?”
“She’s fine. But…a pair of demons cornered your girl in an alley. Alexis fought them off, sent them back to hell.”
His stomach turned. “Holy shit. It must’ve happened when I was meeting with my pare
nts. Goddammit! I should’ve been there to protect her. I’ve got to go check on her.”
Chase put a hand on Luke’s arm. “Slow down, Lancelot. Your princess walked away without a scratch.”
Luke balled his hands into fists. His muscles tightened with the urge to run to her. To comfort her. But what good would that do? She didn’t want to see him. He inhaled deeply and tried to relax.
“Look,” Chase said, “I know you worry about her after what happened to Melissa.”
“I worry about any were who can’t shift. They’re defenseless.”
“Some may be, but Macey isn’t one of them. She’s a badass detective who takes down monsters on a daily basis. So the monsters she’s used to are human. So what? Sometimes those are the worst kind.”
Luke huffed. His friend had a point.
“I don’t know much about women, but I’m pretty sure you rushing in to scold her for doing her job isn’t going to help your case. Think about the things that attracted you to her in the first place. Her independence? Spunk? Confidence? Those things aren’t going to disappear because you’re in her life. They make her who she is. Macey doesn’t need a knight in shining armor. She needs a partner.”
“Damn it, Chase. Why do you have to make so much sense?”
He grinned. “Someone’s got to keep you in line.”
Across the street, the shadows moved. A drunk woman leaned against the wall near an alley entrance, her friends ignoring her as she doubled over and dry heaved. A fiend had found its target. Luke nodded toward the demon. “Looks like we’ll have an interesting night after all.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Luke got up at dawn and headed to Café Beignet to meet Roberta. He could take care of the living halfling and the human, but he needed a medium to trap the demon spirit. Roberta would know who could help.
He turned onto Bourbon Street and headed toward Musical Legends Park. The café was located in the rear of the square. Foamy liquid flowed down the sidewalks and cascaded into the storm drains, and he inhaled the clean scent of soap. This was the best Bourbon Street would smell all day. Every morning, before the sun came up, a crew washed the streets in the French Quarter. Especially this one. The bubbly mixture rinsed away most of the beer, urine, and vomit the tourists had deposited the night before, but it wouldn’t be long before the foul scents returned. As soon as the revelers finished nursing their hangovers, they’d start the party over again.
Laissez les bon temps roulez. Let the good times roll. It was the theme of the Big Easy, and he understood the appeal. He’d done his share of partying, and he couldn’t imagine a greater city than New Orleans.
As he entered the park, he spotted Roberta sitting on an upstairs patio, sipping from a paper cup. Alexis sat next to her at the small, wrought iron table. What the hell was she doing there? Roberta waved, smiling brightly. Alexis swallowed hard and averted her gaze. At least she realized she was overstepping her boundaries.
“Thanks for meeting me, Roberta.” Luke settled into a chair across from the women. “Alexis.” He nodded.
The corners of Roberta’s eyes crinkled, deepening her crow’s feet into canyons. “Anything I can do to help my friends.” She passed a knowing glance to Alexis.
Luke stiffened. Pack members couldn’t keep secrets from the alpha. Normally he could demand they tell him whatever secret they shared. But these women weren’t pack…and he didn’t technically hold the alpha title yet. He’d have to coax it out of them gently.
“What are you doing here, Alexis?” Okay, maybe not so gently, but the woman had been a thorn in his side from the beginning.
She sat up straight. “Roberta invited me.”
“She’s as much a part of this mess as you are,” Roberta said.
His jaw tightened as he glared at Macey’s sister. She did look out for her family; he’d give her that. “Fine.” He shifted his gaze to Roberta. “I need a medium.”
Roberta started to answer, but remained silent as a waiter delivered a cup of black coffee for Luke and three orders of beignets. He hadn’t planned on eating, but he couldn’t resist the sugary pastries. He tore one in half and shoved the French donut into his mouth. Powdered sugar floated down, dusting the table and his pants in white.
Amusement turned up the corners of Roberta’s mouth. “You have a medium. A powerful one.”
“Who?” Luke sipped his coffee to wash down the pastry.
“Macey,” Alexis said.
He choked, spilling hot liquid down the front of his shirt. He slammed the Styrofoam cup on the table, sloshing the coffee everywhere. Roberta handed him a stack of napkins, and he dabbed at the stain on his shirt. “No way.”
“Why not?” Alexis’s challenging tone grated on his nerves.
“She’s the best one for the job,” Roberta said. “Her powers are effortless. She’s a natural.”
Luke shook his head. Macey wasn’t getting anywhere near that demon again. “There has to be someone else. I won’t put her in harm’s way. She knows virtually nothing about the supernatural world. She can’t shift. She’s defenseless against these monsters.”
Alexis crossed her arms. “Defenseless? She killed a demon last night. I think she can handle herself around monsters.”
He froze. The napkin fell to the table. “She…killed one? Chase said that you…”
“I didn’t tell him the whole story. She was fierce, Luke. She rammed a piece of wrought iron fence right through its heart. She probably could’ve taken on both of them if I hadn’t shown up to help.”
His mouth hung open in disbelief. Thoughts tumbled through his mind as he tried to comprehend. “She killed it?”
“I’m telling you,” Alexis said, “she can take care of herself. And she can trap this spirit. You need to give her a chance.”
Maybe she could handle it. She was strong. The strongest woman he knew. “I… She…”
“She’s a detective, dear,” Roberta said. “It’s her job to be in harm’s way. She needs to end this as much as you do. Let her.”
He ground his teeth and swallowed hard. A weight the size of a bowling ball formed in his stomach as he took a deep breath and nodded. “Bring her to the bar at eleven, then we’ll head to the swamp.”
Alexis stood. “I’m coming too.”
“Damn right you are.” His team could handle the halfling and the human. Alexis would help him protect Macey.
Luke brought Chase and James up to speed on the situation while he waited for Macey and Alexis to arrive. Stephen insisted on tagging along, but he probably only wanted to impress the alpha. He’d shown no interest in the demon hunting team before the old man came back.
“Don’t kill the human,” Luke said. “He’s innocent.”
“Are you kidding me?” Stephen crossed his arms. “He’s been summoning demons.”
Luke sighed. This part would take some convincing…for all of them. He wasn’t sure he believed in the guy’s innocence himself, but Macey insisted. “He’s a few cards short of a full deck, okay? Macey says he’s like a kid in a man’s body, and his brother’s been forcing him to do it.”
Stephen’s lip curved in disgust. “Macey? Now we’re taking orders from a human outside the pack?”
“You know she’s not human.” Luke stood and stepped around the desk, asserting his dominance.
Stephen widened his stance. “She’s not pack.”
“She will be.”
“Some alpha you’re gonna be. Taking orders from a woman.”
Luke slammed his forearm against Stephen’s chest, pinning him to the wall. Heat rolled through his body, his beast begging to take over and fight. It might take an ass-kicking to keep his cousin in line, but now wasn’t the time. He took a deep breath, and spoke in a low growl. “I will be alpha. And I’m giving the orders. You better learn to accept that.” He leaned in, pressing the air from his cousin’s lungs. “Show some respect.”
He released him, and Stephen slumped against the wall, rubbing his c
hest. He mumbled something under his breath, but Luke ignored him. It was eleven o’clock. The women had arrived.
Luke stepped through the swinging door into the bar to find Alexis and Macey chatting with his sister. Macey wore dark jeans and a fitted black T-shirt that hugged her curves in all the right places. Her face was clean of makeup, and she’d tied her hair back into a bun. Her gun sat holstered on her hip, while a black messenger bag hung across her body on the other side. His heart flittered at the sight of her, his fingers twitching to untie her hair.
Her eyes lit up for a moment when they met his, but they quickly dimmed as she looked away. His chest ached, but he pushed the emotions aside. “Seen anything helpful?” he asked Amber.
“It’s fuzzy. You guys are clouding my visions with all that testosterone.” She smiled and motioned for Luke to come closer. Leaning in, she whispered, “Watch your back today. I’m sensing friendly fire.”
“Details?” He glanced at his cousin.
She shook her head. “Good luck.”
He turned to his team. “I’ll drive the women as close as we can get, and we’ll walk the rest of the way. Meet us there.”
“Got it,” James said, and the three men darted out the door.
He motioned for Macey and Alexis to follow him to his truck, and they all climbed in. The air hung heavy, tension thickening the atmosphere as Luke scrambled for something to say. Conversations with Macey had always been so easy before, flowing effortlessly like they’d never run out of things to talk about. Now he was at a loss for words. He couldn’t talk about them, so he settled for talking about her. “I hear you killed a demon on your own last night.”
Macey glanced at him. “I did.” Wariness in her voice drew out her words. She sat in the middle of the bench seat, close enough that he could feel the warmth radiating from her skin.
“That’s…amazing.” His hand slid off the steering wheel, and he instinctively reached for her knee. At the last second, he played off the movement by reaching for the AC controls to crank up the air. Luckily, she didn’t notice his almost-mistake.
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