by Cat Adams
He turned his head fast and stared at the seemingly empty air. “I don’t sense anything hostile. Nothing at all.”
Then, while I watched, a fourth line ripped across his stomach muscles. This one was deeper and caused him to let out a pained sound. “What the hell!” He put a hand on the new scratch, and when I crouched down in front of him and pulled it away I saw blood on his palm. But more important, there was also an odor I recognized—brimstone.
“Definitely what the hell. We need to get you to a priest. Now. These are demonic. They’re identical to the ones I got when I fought the greater demon at the ballpark.”
His breath stilled and he looked down at me with wide, suddenly frightened eyes. “Oh, God. The barrier. It’s figured out how to attack us through our magic.” He winced again and his head rocked to the side like he’d been slapped. A red mark appeared near his temple. An inch to the left and he would have lost the eye. “I’ve got to get back to California. Now. If it’s doing this to me, the other casters could be dead by now.”
Fuck a duck.
He held out his hand to help me to my feet. I took it and we started to run back across the landscape. I didn’t know if the demon could somehow sense Bruno’s location or what he was doing, but it was a pretty weird coincidence that the next strike was to his right leg. It buckled and I grabbed him to keep him from tumbling into a cactus patch. He started muttering swearwords in a blue streak and put a hand to his thigh. He took a tentative step and let out a low growl. When he tried to put weight on the leg, it held. Barely. “Just do the best you can, Bruno. It’s only a few more feet.” The others were in sight now. Okalani, watching, noticed that something was wrong and disappeared from sight to appear right next to us.
“What’s wrong?” Then she saw another claw mark tear down the side of Bruno’s face and she knew. Her mouth opened wide. “It’s a demon, isn’t it? Like the one that attacked you at Pili’s house.”
I nodded. “He needs to get back to California. The mages who put up the shield are being attacked and need to be blessed by priests. Can you take him? Come right back. We may need to make multiple trips.”
She nodded and took my place at Bruno’s side, holding his weight on her slender shoulders. For once he didn’t argue, but he did hold out a hand to me with a concerned look. “Be careful, Celie. This could just be another ploy by the demon to get to you.”
I leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips that had more emotion than heat. “I don’t think I have anything to do with it at this point.”
I hoped and prayed I was right.
They disappeared and I ran the short distance to the others. “We’ve got a problem. Bruno was attacked by a demon. Okalani took him back to the rift barrier. As soon as she gets back we need to start moving people around, fast.” I pointed at the young redhead. “Beverly, can you cross the barrier?” I was hoping pagan magic recognized the family connection—giving ownership to her as an heir of Mick’s. “Concentrate on the need to tell your dad what’s happening. Think really hard about him, because this is important.”
She took a deep breath, set her jaw, closed her eyes, and started walking. Her forward progress stopped, but she pushed against the invisible barrier like a street mime, using her whole body weight. Panic showed on her face. There was a shimmering of the air around her, a sparking of magic that flowed over her skin and raised her hair in a cloud. Then she was inside, so suddenly that she fell to her knees.
I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. “Okay, good. Go find your dad. Scream; yell; do whatever you have to do to get his attention. When you find him, bring him back here and wait for us if we’re not here. Most important, stay behind the barrier.”
“But you need me to blow the horn.”
I was frankly hoping neither of us were needed. “If we need you, I’ll send Okalani to get you. But we may be beyond that now. I won’t know until I get there.”
She nodded and then sprinted into the distance, yelling at the top of her lungs, “Dad! Come quick!”
Adriana was alert but hadn’t moved from her comfortable seat. “I’ll remain here. It’s quite possible the instructions will be written in Atlantean. Someone will have to translate them and bring them to you.”
Good point. If the spell needed to be spoken, a faulty translation would be bad.
“Okay, I’m back. What’s next?” Okalani had appeared right next to me.
“What’s going on at the rift? Is that where you took Bruno?”
She nodded and let out a heaving breath like she had been running. “Yeah. He also had me transport his brother and another man in robes to him and the other mages. I would have been back sooner if not for that.”
In robes? “Was he an older white man with an accent? Were his robes all white?” Had she actually transported the Pope to the rift? I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.
“No. He had tan skin and black hair and the robes were red and black.”
Ah! Archbishop Fuentes. He was a friend of Matty’s and a damned tough former warrior priest. “Okay. Good job. Now, here’s what I want you to do.”
* * *
I arrived to a scene of pure chaos. I looked around, searching for Bruno or Matty or anyone else I knew, with no luck. “Ma’am, you can’t be here.” I turned my head to see a uniformed Highway Patrolman with his hand on the butt of his service revolver.
I still had the FBI badge Rizzoli had given me and now I hung it so the cop could see it. His stance immediately relaxed. “Sorry. Ma’am. But your friend will have to leave. No kids allowed.”
“What friend?” I didn’t even turn my head. Okalani should already be on the way to her next task. When he looked around for her, she was gone. Just like we’d planned. “Sorry, Officer. The heat must be getting to you.”
He shook his head and wandered off, muttering to himself. I pulled a little on the hair I’d put into a ponytail to keep it out of my eyes, loosening some strands to cover the tops of my ears. Sunscreen can only do so much good.
“Ceil! Where have you been?” I turned to see Creede headed my way. There was a stitched gash across his forehead and a patch of gauze covering half his neck. I felt a pang at the sight. He pulled me into a hug so hard my backpack fell off my shoulder. “I’ve been worried sick about you. Why haven’t you returned my calls? DeLuca said you were right behind him when he got here. That was an hour ago.”
I opened my mouth to answer, but he put his lips over mine and the speed and pure energy behind the kiss left me breathless when he finally pulled away. “Um. Wow. I’ve been…” Where had I been? I looked down at my forearms and held them up. “Weapons. I had to get my stuff together. Where are Bruno and Matty? Are they okay?”
Creede nodded as he put me back on my feet. Oh yeah—he definitely noticed that the kiss had gotten to me and I was trying to change the subject. “DeLuca got here just in time. All of us got beat up pretty bad in that first attack. As you can see.” He motioned to his forehead and then stared at the black gash of space with undisguised anger. “We might still lose Panna and Bordan. They were the first two hit, before we could get a secondary circle up.” He grabbed my hand. “C’mon. I’ll take you to our staging area.”
We race-walked through the crowd and it was a good thing Creede had hold of my hand, because there were even more people here than last time, if that was possible, and I never could have made my way through the crowd without his help. Matty was sitting on top of a steel drum, in serious discussions with three other priests and Archbishop Fuentes. I didn’t know Fuentes personally, but I’d seen him on the news plenty of times.
Bruno was painfully putting his shirt back on. A wide surgical patch of gauze was covering his chest and another strip of white covered the side of his face.
I didn’t even have to pull away from Creede. He just released my hand when he noticed my reaction to Bruno. That simple act made me turn to look at him. I couldn’t tell what emotion was swimming behind the fire in
his eyes. He was a solid blank wall. I touched his hand with my fingers and gave him a wink. That earned me a small smile before he turned away to head toward Matty and the others.
“Bruno!” I rushed forward just as he looked my way. Relief made his whole body slump. He opened his arms and smiled. I didn’t throw myself at him because I imagined that would hurt. Instead, I stopped just before we touched and put a hand on either side of his neck. “I was worried about you.”
“You and me both, Celie.” I put my lips against his and he pressed forward, opening my jaw with his. He reached for my waist and pulled me in tight. If it hurt, he didn’t give any sign. I hadn’t kissed him like this in a long time and wasn’t sure what it would feel like—especially considering how Creede had just turned me into butter.
But Bruno had a whole different kissing style than Creede. It made me feel warm and safe and left me wanting more without feeling frantic or out of control. If Dawna asked me which I liked better, I’d have to struggle and probably wouldn’t give an answer.
“I knew you’d come, Celia. I’ve been waiting.” The words boomed through the air, silencing all conversation around us. Bruno abruptly released me and we all stared at the figure of a man, at least eight feet tall and completely naked, watching me from the other side of the barrier. He was … excited, too, which made me turn my eyes away.
You’d expect a greater demon to be hideous—uglier than the lesser ones. But no. He was gorgeous. A beauty so perfect that statues should be carved of his likeness and paintings hung down from the ceilings of cathedrals. He had wings of luminous pearlescent feathers like every cheesy Halloween costume ever made. Except real and perfect and … beautiful.
But it was all for show and I’d seen it once already. “Why don’t you drop the act and show everyone what you really look like. Nobody here buys the fallen-angel story.”
I saw a man in a charcoal suit speak into his hand: “It’s made contact. Get the vice president.”
The demon chuckled low and I hated that the sound pulled at things deep inside me. He definitely had my number. “Perhaps this form would be more pleasing to you?”
I flicked my eyes up and then down again because now he looked like Bruno, down to the gauze, in all his naked glory. The demon looked just the way Bruno did just before really good sex. It was … impressive. “Sorry. Try again. No sale.” Bruno was likewise watching the ground uncomfortably, because that’s not really the sort of thing you want displayed to a few thousand people. Nobody was jeering, though; it was too scary. But a week from now, after we’d all survived? It would be all over the tabloids. “I can’t believe you’re going to all this trouble just to try to get me here to kill me.”
He made a clucking sound with a long tapered tongue that seemed really freaky coming out of Bruno’s mouth. “Celia. I didn’t do this for you.” The form changed again. I could tell from the feet. This time it was even worse and I had to throw up my hands and turn around with a blush. Now he looked like Creede. And wow, if his representation of Creede’s body was as accurate as his version of Bruno had been … just wow. “But you will be my first stop when the barrier’s down. Though … maybe you’d prefer even fresher meat.”
“Who the hell?” Bruno’s anger was immediate, so yeah, I had to look. But oh, jeez!
I looked at Bruno and now Creede, who were both staring at the vision of Gaetano’s war-scarred, heavily muscled body. They both looked at me with raised brows. I had one arm across my stomach and the other hand was shielding my gaze from the heat in burning eyes. Finally I threw up my hands. “Fine. He asked me out! But I don’t even know his first name.”
“Christopher!” a woman yelled from the crowd, and a few people tittered. Yay. My humiliation was complete.
Then both Creede and Bruno let out sharp, simultaneous gasps and blood splattered across my arm and face. The demon was back in his demonic form, complete with red skin and tail. He was clawing a long line through the magic barrier while the men I cared about cried out in pain. I didn’t dare look at them to see what had been damaged. It would only make me crazy.
“Stop it!” I shouted, and finally stared right at the demon, stepping closer to the barrier and drawing a blackened knife. “Leave them out of this. If you want me dead, bring the fight to me.”
His smile was a leer of razor-sharp teeth. “This is bringing the fight to you, Celia. They’re the two most powerful mages here. If I kill them, the shield will fall and then I’ll have you. What could be simpler?”
Put that way, he was right. Damn it. “You’re starting to bore me.” I channeled my old drama teacher to give him the look of a snippy head cheerleader being asked to the prom by a nervous freshman. “When you get new material, have someone find me.”
It was the hardest thing I’d ever done to turn and flounce away from that barrier, the demon, Bruno, and John. Matty stared at me with undisguised anger until I shot him a c’mon, let’s get out of here, we need to talk look and stabbed my thumb toward a battered canvas tent that I’d noticed was housing the triage for the priests.
As I walked past, he leapt off the barrel and tried to grab my arm. I shook it off and turned the knife on him. With his eyes locked on mine I spoke directly into his mind: We need to get the horns ready to blow. Call my cell phone and tell Okalani, “Now!”
He should recognize her name. A single nod and he pulled his hands off me in a mock surrender that made it seem like he was afraid. In reality, Matty could probably kick my ass to town and back. Nobody else stopped me until I reached the tent. In fact, a few people cleared a path. The demon let out a howl of rage that I would dare walk away from him. My heart was pounding like a trip-hammer, fearing he would simply make an all-out effort to break the shield.
Instead, he quieted down, so by the time I was enclosed in the cool white cotton shelter I could breathe and take a moment to close my eyes and regroup.
“Celia.” When I opened my eyes, I was facing the third naked man depicted by the demon. Of course. Why wouldn’t I expect to see a medic in a triage tent?
“Gaetano.”
He let out a small smile before turning to an IV unit to adjust the amount of fluid dripping into the arm of a priest. “Might as well call me Chris.”
I was saved from responding when Matty walked into the tent. There wasn’t any way he couldn’t notice my blush, along with the cause for it a dozen paces away. Matty patted my arm with actual sympathy and handed me the handkerchief from his pocket to clean up the blood that had spattered on me before speaking: “If you survive the day, we probably need to talk.”
My weary sigh sort of said it all. “That would be nice.”
“Ms. Graves?” I looked up to see Vice President Marion Lovell briskly walking toward me as I spit on my arm and rubbed it with the now-pink hankie. “Could we speak?”
Can you actually refuse to talk to the vice president of the United States? I wasn’t sure, considering all the Secret Service agents at her sides. “Sure. Why not? What else can go wrong today?”
22
I felt amazingly vulnerable in the wide circle. The whole area had been deserted. Troops and police had pulled back fifty yards to a newly constructed outer barrier. There was no question that the one a mere twenty yards from me was going to fall. Everybody knew it, so it made sense to create a new one, tied to hundreds of mages, rather than just a few—so no one man could be hurt as badly as Bruno and Creede and the others had been. I’d never seen that much magical firepower in one location before. Just the residual bleed from it made my teeth feel like they’d been chewing on live wires.
The demons all knew something was up. They were standing all along the flickering casting circle, just waiting. I was going to be between the barrier that was about to drop and the new one that had to be raised—with the horn.
Matty was with me in the circle. He’d volunteered once the archbishop said I’d probably only survive if someone was constantly praying for my salvation.
“I feel li
ke I want to throw up.”
“You ate, right?”
I hate night? Huh? I pulled the noise-canceling headphone from my ear. “Sorry. What was that? I can’t hear a thing with these on.”
He looked appropriately chagrined. “Sorry. You’re not supposed to hear. I asked if you ate.”
Oh. “Yeah. Dawna gave Okalani a couple of bowls of that awesome broth from the barbeque place. I should be good until this finishes, but if not, there’s a spare in the backpack.” I motioned to said backpack with my toe. “How about you?”
“Filet mignon and fresh asparagus,” he said appreciatively. “The Feds are really good about last meals.”
“It’s not.” I had to believe that and stared at him hard, willing him to believe it, too. While Matty and I hadn’t really ever gotten along during my engagement to Bruno, we’d seemed to have come to an understanding in recent weeks. Matty was thinking of me less like a really annoying person and more like a person really annoying things happen to. “You want to go over the plan again?”
He pursed his lips and whispered, “Seems pretty clear to me. The first barrier goes down and all the bad guys race toward you, me, and the other priests—the fresh meat.”
I nodded and replied in a similar way: “Then you raise the first trip wire and the circles go up around and everyone starts praying the same prayer.”
He glanced at his watch. Just seconds left. “That’ll be the tricky part. I haven’t tried to raise four separate circles before. I know it’s the magic from the others that will keep them up, but it would have been easier just with the two of us. We have enough firepower to hold off an army.”
I touched one of the dozen protection charms and major holy items strewn around my neck and waist. The Archbishop of Canterbury had donated one of the crosses from the Tower collection. Supposedly it had been used during the Crusades. Matty was carrying a shield with a white rose barely visible on the old iron; it vibrated with energy, even after hundreds of years. They were our “just in case” backups.
