Mira hopped the fence and my heart kicked up. This was a familiar area for me. The place I’d once lived and worked. But she strode past the street where the guild disguised as a dojo used to be. Now it was just a boarded up, sad-looking building waiting for someone to rent it. The assassins trained by the guild had either assimilated into society or been recruited by the IEPEU.
We slipped down a narrow side street, cobbled and silent. Mira stopped. Hands on hips.
Here?
She morphed into dark mist and began to skim across the ground.
“What is she doing?”
Gathering more information. This is what happens each time. She catches the weak scent, tracks it to a particular spot and then it’s just … gone. If we knew what they looked like, if we had a piece of them … blood or flesh or hair then we could sense them coming. We could hunt them. They never leave anything behind. He sighed. There are always signs of struggle—blood of our djinn, tattered clothing from our djinn, but nothing from them.
There were no feathers floating about which meant the Ghandarva was specific to Urvashi’s disappearance. They were a tight-knit group, rooming together in the skyscraper at the center of the city which housed their main enterprise, Perfect Leisure.
“We need to speak to the Ghandarva. If one of their own is missing they’re bound to know. Maybe they can help us investigate?”
Or maybe they’re somehow involved. The friend you spoke to on your mobile device was evasive also. There is a bigger plot at play here, and we cannot trust anyone.
“We can’t run an investigation without asking questions. But we can ask the questions in such a way as to ally suspicion. The Ghandarva have huge parties every month on the night of the full moon. They call them Chandra Celebrations. They’re the event of the month.”
Chandra?
“It means moon. Anyway, if I could just find a way to get an invite to one of those …” I snorted self depreciatively. “Okay, that isn’t going to happen. Only the affluent and powerful are ever invited to those events, and unless I can raise my status in the next week, there won’t be an invite landing on my mat any time soon.”
Mira was back, her mouth downturned with annoyance. “How about Banner? He’s an elder witch?”
“Yeah, he’d definitely get an invite.”
Mira smirked. “And he’d probably take a date …”
Oh … “Mira, you’re a genius.”
She grinned, her eyes lighting up and for a second she looked like the Gemma I’d come to care for. My chest tightened. That little girl had been an illusion.
Someone care to fill me in?
Mira grinned wickedly. “Carmella is going to seduce the city’s playboy and compel him to take her to the event of the month as his date.”
____
I don’t like this idea.
“It’s a solid plan. It’s our only plan.” We were back in Piccadilly, two minutes away from the soup kitchen.
“He just doesn’t like the idea of being stuck in your head while you play kissy face with hot Banner.”
My cheeks heated. “There’ll be no kissy face.”
Mira arched a brow. “How the heck are you going to seduce him without giving him a taste?”
When it came to dating I was the queen. I’d done it enough, hadn’t found my forever prince yet, but still, I had the technique down.
“Well?” Mira prodded.
“By making him imagine what he could have if he worked for it.”
“Ooo, evil.”
“I don’t usually play games, but with Banner, a man who’s used to women throwing themselves at him, a little chase will serve to whet his appetite.”
You will not be intimate with him?
Now my ears were on fire. “Not part of the plan.”
“But if the opportunity arises …” Mira wiggled her brows.
Mira, shut up. He snapped.
We rounded the corner to the soup kitchen. It was almost seven in the evening. I was an hour late. Victor may not mind. But I did. This was my commitment.
What is this place?
“It’s where she feeds the smelly people,” Mira said.
I stopped and looked down at her. “How do you know about this place?”
She rolled her eyes. “I made a fly by visit a few days ago.”
The black cat … of course.
The doors were ajar, and I pushed through into the familiar scent of old linoleum, unwashed bodies, and savory stew.
Mira wrinkled her nose and Paimon gagged.
“Deal with it.”
Victor raised his hand from behind the serving counter. “I didn’t think you were going to make it.”
“I’m sorry.” I joined him behind the counter, pulling my hair up into a knot at the top of my head. “It’s busy tonight.”
He chuckled. “It’s shepherd’s pie night, what do you expect?”
“Yeah, they do love the pie.”
“And who is this?” Victor was staring at Mira.
“I’m Gemma. Carmella is looking after me.” She dimpled prettily.
Victor blinked, his brow furrowing, his nostrils flaring slightly.
Could he sense what she was? I didn’t have a clue about rakshasa and their abilities aside from knowing they were uber strong. But then he was smiling and offering her a plastic cup.
“You want to get yourself some juice? You can grab a seat back there.” He pointed to a couple of chairs shoved up against the wall behind us.
Mira took the cup and skipped off … literally skipped. Man she was good.
A chuckle reverberated in my head.
Victor’s head whipped up. “What was that?”
Shit, had he heard it?
But then the doors burst open and the room erupted in screams.
Victor stepped in front of me, shielding me with his huge frame. Feet planted wide, body vibrating, he faced off against the threat. The Yaksha loped in, all claws and fang. They’d turned, so their faces and hands were bestial but their bodies had retained humanoid form. Massive hulking humanoid forms, with thick bulging biceps and thighs. Even so, Victor dwarfed them with his six-foot-five frame and tank size body.
People scattered, scrambling to get away from the monsters who could tear them limb from limb.
Mira was beside me, her body thrumming and ready for action.
Paimon switched to high alert in my mind. Carmella. Leave. Leave now.
“You’re not welcome here.” Victor’s voice cut through the whimpers of the kitchen’s patrons.
Dammit. I needed to get my phone, dial Melody. Let them know the rogue Yaksha were here.
One of the Yaksha—dark furred and dark eyed—stepped forward. “We go where we please.” His voice was thick and distorted by his muzzle. “We eat whom we please, and we ask no permission.”
His pack-mates threw back their heads and howled. And then they attacked.
Victor vaulted over the counter, meeting them head on with a roar that made my head ring.
Mira grabbed my hand and yanked. “Come on. We need to get you out of here.”
What? Was she crazy? I couldn’t leave these people to die. Victor was in the center of the room, fighting for his life —one rakshasa against seven Yaksha.
I yanked my arm out of her grip, and ran around the table.
“Carmella!” Mira called out.
Dammit woman.
My body was flooded with the familiar icy heat of Paimon’s power.
Someone to my left screamed as bone crunched.
No! I barreled into the yaksha with its teeth buried in Jeremy’s arm and punched it in the head. Frost shot out from my hands, slamming into him and encasing him in ice.
He screamed, falling back to bat at his head. The frost dissipated, and his snout crinkled, exposing lethal fangs, and then he launched himself at me.
I jumped back and swung, connecting with the left side of his face with a thud, punctuated by a crack that reverberated up my arm. S
omething was broken.
Carmella, back up. I can’t channel enough. I won’t … dammit.
The yaksha swiped at me, his claws missing my abdomen by a hairsbreadth. My triumph was short lived as his other hand smashed into the side of my head, bringing darkness and stars and the cool comfort of linoleum against my cheek.
Carmella. Ya Ibn el Sharmouta
My breath whooshed out of my lungs as a pulse of energy lanced through me. I flipped onto my back, alert and focused. The yaksha fell on top of me and I slammed my palms into his chest, elbows locked. Dammit he was strong. Frost spread out from my palms climbing over his body, eating away at his shirt. Yes!
He growled and rolled off me. I scrambled up and stumbled back as he scraped at his chest, trying desperately to remove the curse my hands had laid on him, but the frost was relentless. He released a final howl as the ice climbed up his neck and ate at his face.
My hands … just like with Jinx. What the fuck? My foot knocked against something … Jeremy’s unconscious body. His arm lay at an awkward angle, and blood pooled across the floor.
We had to get him out of here, had to get them all out of here. The carnage registered—screams which had somehow been muted by the blood roaring in my ears. I caught a glimpse of Mira, on all floors, her face twisted into an expression of agony. She licked her lips, her gaze on the pool of blood at my feet. It was agony all right—the agony of holding back. My belly shuddered—repelled by what she was.
“Mira, snap out of it. Help him. Get them all out of here.” I grabbed my phone from my pocket and slid it across the ground toward her. “Hit speed dial three. Tell Parker to get the IEPEU here now!”
She blinked and locked gazes with me, her chest rising and falling rapidly.
“Now!” My voice was a whip galvanizing her into action.
I turned back into the fray.
Your friend needs aid. Paimon sounded weak … far away.
Energy coursed through me, the conviction I could lift a fucking house if I needed to. Victor went down with a yaksha snapping at his face. Victor’s face rippled but he didn’t change … what would he change into if he let go? I didn’t know of anyone who could answer that.
I grabbed the yaksha by the collar and yanked him off Victor, flinging him over my shoulder with ease, and he went flying into the wall with a sickening thud.
Victor stared up at me in shock. But then four Yaksha were leaping at us at once. We were surrounded, back to back, being circled. The room was empty save for Victor, me, and the hungry Yaksha. Mira had pulled through.
“You should have run,” Victor said.
“Yeah? Then who would have saved your arse?”
He snorted. “I’ll hold them off best I can. Get out of here.”
“Not happening.”
There was power running through my veins, a desire to do some hurting. The doors behind the Yaksha flew open and two humungous guys strode in.
Victor let out a bark of laughter and the Yaksha froze, and then slowly turned to the entrance.
“Look what we got here, Devin, a trio of mangy mutts,” the fair-haired big guy said.
Devin, his dark haired companion, rolled up his sleeves. “Dammit. I just had this shirt dry cleaned.”
The Yaksha looked torn.
“Back up, Carmella. Things are about to get … messy,” Victor said.
Do as he says. Paimon whispered. Do it now.
I slipped from the circle while the Yaksha were distracted, backing up until my butt hit the counter.
And then all hell broke loose.
Fur and fang, fist and muscle, roars and howls, blood sprayed, bone crunched. My brain struggled to keep up with what was happening.
A gunshot ripped the air
“IEPEU! Everybody freeze!”
It looked like the cavalry had arrived.
Melody Parker stood in the doorway, her hair pulled back in a severe bun, showing off her delicate heart-shaped face. She was a tiny spit-fire of a woman, a damn powerhouse on the training mat and a respected patrol leader. Her unit spilled in now, cuffing the Yaksha and … Victor.
“Wait!” I rushed forward. “Not these guys.” I indicated Victor and his buddies.
“They with you?” Melody asked.
I nodded. “Victor works here, and these guys were helping out today.”
She sighed. “Looks like you got lucky having three rakshasas on the premises when you got hit.” She ran her gaze over the Yaksha. “Or maybe the mutts were just unlucky.”
Devin pinched his shirt between finger and thumb. “My shirt…” It was splattered with blood.
Melody ran her gaze over him. “Cotton?”
He looked up. “Yeah.”
“Soak it in white vinegar for about thirty minutes then rinse it with cold water, rubbing out the stain. Should get it out. If not, use hydrogen peroxide.”
He grinned. “Thanks.”
She was here, now was the time to pump her for information about Urvashi’s disappearance. Find out what the heck was so classified that the enforcement office had been dicks about the whole thing. I opened my mouth to question her, but the words dried up as a figure walked through the door.
Drake.
12
D rake strode in, dressed in the standard IEPEU gear, his hair pulled back in neat cornrows. Why did he still have to look so good? There should be a rule saying exes had to become unattractive as soon as they left you. His intense brown eyes scanned the scene and finally settled on me. It was like being slammed with a sledgehammer in the solar plexus.
Carmella …
No. Not now. I couldn’t.
Drake frowned and headed toward me. “Car … Look at you. Shit.” He made to reach for me.
“Is she okay?” Penelope ran into the room, her golden hair mussed from the drive in her convertible. Her open topped, frigging brand-new mummy-bought-it-for-me convertible.
Drake stepped back, curling his hands into fists. “She’s fine. A little banged up, but fine.”
My throat was too tight to speak, and I really needed to stop staring at him. It looked … desperate.
Something tugged at my mind, and a chilly determination stiffened my spine.
I stood straighter. “I’m all right.”
Penelope smiled. “Oh good. We were at the IEPEU office when the call came in. Drake was beside himself.” She leaned into him, stroking his shoulder. “He knew how upset Malina would be if anything were to happen to you. She did ask us to watch out for you while she was gone.” She smiled her fake smile.
The urge to scratch it off her stupidly beautiful face was almost too much. “I’m fine. I just need to get home and—”
This time Drake did reach for me, gently taking my arm and lifting it to examine it. “What the fuck?”
I blinked at my hand, blue and purple and swollen to twice its size.
Penelope gasped.
Drake blew out a breath, his eyes lighting up with some kind of revelation. “Damn it Car, you must be in agony.”
Yeah … I should be … Paimon … he was doing this. He was holding back the pain.
We need to leave …
The energy in my veins began to pull back.
Carmella.
“I gotta dash.” I extricated myself from Drake’s grip and backed up.
“Let me fix it,” Drake said.
There was a time when I would have happily taken him up on the offer. A time when being powerless hadn’t mattered to me, because I’d believed he loved me regardless. But now the thought of him touching me with his magick made my stomach ache with yearning for something that would never be mine.
“I’m fine. I got a ride.” I backed up some more.
Victor caught my eye and made a move toward me. But Paimon tugged at my mind. I turned and strode into the kitchen, out the back door, and ran.
Mira? Mira where are you?
But Mira was gone, and the power Paimon had loaned me was leaching away.
My knees gave way, leaving me leaning up against the wall, the edges of my vision darkening.
Alley, get in the alley.
People were walking toward me, but I turned away, slipping into the alley to my left.
“Paimon. I can’t …” And then there was only darkness.
_____
“… Foolish and idiotic.” Mira said.
If you’d been there, it wouldn’t have been an issue.
“I was getting the pathetic stinky humans to safety.”
You did well.
“And you didn’t—materializing just to bring her home. Why not let her crumple in the street? A passerby may have done her a mercy and called a medic.”
I believe she did not wish the human Drake to know of her weakness.
“So you exposed yourself? You could have been tracked. Dammit, Paimon. I cannot keep you safe if you do not adhere to my rules.”
My eyelids were too heavy, my body a lead weight. I wanted to see, to know, but I couldn’t summon the energy. A shiver of ice rippled through my veins.
Do not forget who you speak too hinn, lest I lose my temper and crush you.
“Apologies my lord.” Her tone said otherwise. “I merely wish to be of assistance. The female is stubborn and foolhardy. You instructed her to run and she did not obey. I will find a new host.”
A sigh that reverberated throughout me. Yes, she is stubborn. She is foolhardy, but she was protecting her people.
“Those grotesque smelly humans?”
I believe so. She feeds them. She cares for them. She would not abandon them. How can I begrudge her that when here I am, doing the same for mine?
“Oh please, don’t tell me you’re comparing her to us? These humans care only for what they can obtain and what can serve them. They have no higher purpose. Greed and ambition is what drives them.”
Yes … that is what I believed …
The weight pressing down on my body lifted a fraction.
Carmella?
Urgh. I rolled onto my side. “I’m okay.”
“You were stupid,” Mira snapped.
“Thanks for helping.”
She sniffed.
I have healed you.
I raised my hand, no longer blue and swollen. “Thank you.”
Binding Magick: an Urban Fantasy Novel (The Witch Blood Chronicles Book 1) Page 7
