Blood, Sweat and Demon Tears (The Grateful Undead series Book 3)

by Susan Stec

  Dorius roared and slammed his foot against the door. It shot into the room in a shower of wood splinters. "Christopher! You've gone too far!" he yelled as he trampled over the mess and entered the room.

  We gathered in front of the door for a better view.

  Dorius stood vibrating at the end of the bed. Lily sat against the headboard, black blood dripping from her wrist, red blood dripping from her lips. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "It was my decision, Dorius, one you yourself willingly allowed. Do you not remember? And I warn you, you will not harm my mate."

  Dorius lunged for Christopher.

  Jeni screeched and covered her eyes.

  Lily shot her hand in the air and Dorius flew backwards, bounced off the wall and onto the other side of the room, before he slid to the floor. He got up and, with determination, headed for them again, but Lily flipped her finger toward the exit, and we all jumped back when Dorius shot out the door. Our eyes followed as he went through the wall on the other side of the hall, disappearing into a cloud of drywall fragments, splinters, and dust.

  We didn't hear any screams coming from the room, so it must have been empty.

  Christopher stepped over the door on the floor behind us, and walked through the archway of wood splinters into the hall. "Well it's official, I have me a mate!" He smiled broadly, showing off black-stained teeth and a black-coated tongue as he flicked it over his lips.

  "Tell me you didn't…" Jeni gagged,"… didn't…"

  "Of course not! We just sucked—"

  "La-la-la-la-la-la-la." Jeni had her eyes closed, ears covered.

  "JoAnn is gonna shit a shingle," Mom said.

  "Well, in all fairness, she didn't tell me not to let Lily mate with anyone," I said. "She did say she'd kill me if I let Lily play by the lake, though. Good thing I didn't do that."

  Jeni groaned. "You did too! She was communing with the lake right before we left."

  "I believe we should keep that our little secret," Marcus said.

  "No shit!" Zaire said.

  "You know," Resi said, "if we offer to have a big wedding, maybe Aunt JoAnn would feel better about the whole thing. You know how she loves to shop."

  Betty's ears perked up.

  Paul shook his head. "I really enjoy this family."

  "Hey," Gibbie screeched with such enthusiasm that I had to stick my fingers in my ears, "you think I could be the flower boy?"

  Paul put his arm around Jeni. "Maybe by the time JoAnn accepts the situation, we could have a double ceremony."

  "Over my dead body!" I shouted.

  Jeni smiled up at Paul.

  Betty stuck her head through the hole in the drywall. "Y'okay in there, sugar? Will ya be needin' any help, 'cause I'm thinkin' we should get the hell outta here before the front desk sends–"

  Dorius' brisk baritone vibrated on the other side of the wall. "I'm well aware of the necessity to leave the premises immediately, ElizzzzABETH!"

  The door to the room burst open; and we all turned in that direction. Dorius strutted out, briskly flicking white powder off his leather jacket with the back of his hand. He shot Betty a sarcastic look. "Go busy yourself with the others. Get our luggage and bring it down to the parking garage."

  A wave of heads moved in Betty's direction.

  "Well, didn't we get up off the wrong side o' the floor," Betty said with an exaggerated smile. "Screw the luggage—I didn't wanna do laundry anyway."

  Jeni turned abruptly and headed down the hall, her hand clearly covering her mouth. Warren followed. Paul smiled after her.

  Dorius dismissed Betty with the wave of his hand. "Whatever! Just be in the car when I get there." He turned to Christopher. "We have a lot of testing and training to do, so you and I will have a nice long talk on the way to the compound."

  "I'm not going to leave my mate!" Christopher snapped.

  "Then I suggest you bring her with you," Dorius snapped back, "and since JoAnn will need to go through debriefing and testing, we will be picking her up on the way. The four-hour drive will also give you an opportunity to explain your actions involving her child. When we get to the compound, I'll even give you adjoining rooms, so you can bond while we test and train all of you."

  Betty spoke up, "You gonna test Sonny too?"

  "Yessss," Dorius hissed, "You and Sonny, and who knows, with this family's track record, maybe the snake-shifter-vamp will be a possible mate for JoAnn."

  Before I could comment on purchasing JoAnn a chastity belt, and tossing the key into Lake Harris, my Abyss-to-Earth cell phone rang. I flipped it open.

  Raphael's face filled the screen. A soft breeze blew kitchen curtains around the edge of the viewing area as the demon shook a dinner plate and placed it in a drainboard by the sink. Wispy, white hair sticking out from under a red cowboy hat fell over his cheeks as he looked down at the lens. The demon's lavender eyes sparkled. "Hello little witchy-vamp. JoAnn's cage should alight in front of your barn in a couple of hours—your time. Have the rest of you chosen motorized automobiles as transport?"

  I looked at Marcus. He nodded.

  I smiled at the demon. "Pretty much."

  He smiled back. "Marvelous. Well, I will be expecting you to summon me to pick up Lily for my quarterly visit—your time—at precisely ten in the morning the day after you arrive home."

  "Bullshit!" Christopher yelled.

  Lily shot him a look that made him step back, right into Paul.

  The shifter grabbed Christopher by the shoulders. "You want Susan should send your happy little ass straight into the dark side so you can discuss it with your…"

  "That will be enough," Dorius warned. Betty favored him a side glance, then got back to studying her cuticles.

  My fangs dropped. I pulled the cell to my face. "We have her for a week before your," I made little quotes in front of the camera lens with my free hand, "'quarterly visit—our time'''.

  Marcus cleared his throat.

  My brows grabbed for each other and we locked eyes. "What?"

  Lily interrupted, "May I please speak into the communication device, Aunt Susan?"

  I pulled it away from her grasp. "Heck no! It'll burn you, girl."

  Christopher snickered and jerked his shoulders out of Paul's grasp.

  "Deee-mon. Fire, hell, and briiimstone for breeeakfast," Resi sang.

  Zaire slapped brightly colored gel around on Resi's ass.

  Christopher moved closer to Lily when I handed her the phone.

  "Father," Lily said, "you are not playing fairly. Mother clearly contracted for one week of Earth time. Therefore, I absolutely refuse to arrive a minute sooner than mother's intended time—seven days from…"

  Raphael cut her off. "Your mother approved the contract without specifying a preference, Lily. I merely took it upon myself…"

  "And you know my daughter's an idiot!" my mother blurted.

  "What you did is unambiguously clear, Father, dear," Lily cajoled, "but ambiguously unacceptable. I will return precisely seven days after my mother is released from her cage, and not a moment sooner."

  "Yeah! Precisely!" Mom shouted at the phone, her finger pointing. "That's what you get for taking advantage of that ambiguity stuff! Family doesn't do that to each other!"

  Christopher put his arm around Lily and squeezed a giggle out of her.

  "Dee-mon. Demon doesn't give a shit," Resi sang.

  Raphael's eyes found mine, and with a lopsided grin and a lavender twinkle, he said, "Don't worry ladies. I'll lighten JoAnn's grief by opening the cage immediately following this phone call, which will start the seven days, or more precisely, the one-hundred and sixty-eight hours of Earth time." And with a laugh that was pure evil, he continued. "However, my precious child," he looked squarely at his daughter's face, "the minute your mother is released, I will add twelve years to your life. I love numbers divided by six, three in this case since you will then be eighteen. And for every second you are late to arrive home at your designated time, I will add a
physical year to every Stech woman's age. So be it, says the contract signed and sealed in blood!"

  "Did he say every second?" Resi squealed.

  A parchment floated from the ceiling—I could see the three signatures; JoAnn's, Raphael's and his demon lord's—and burst into flames the minute it touched the carpet at our feet. When the smoke settled, Lily was tall and thin with curvy hips, shiny, black hair, cheekbones to die for and a beautiful, Angelina Jolie smile.

  "Son-of-a-bitch!" I said, looking up at her.

  "Holy crap, she's gonna turn heads," Mom said.

  "Goddamned Raphael!" Christopher shook a small fist at the Earth-to-Abyss cell phone.

  "I'll speak with Father." Lily reached down and patted Christopher on the head. "He will not be allowed to govern my visits."

  "How 'bout your age?" Christopher asked.

  "What kills a demon?" Mom wanted to know.

  I'll get out the spell book as soon as we get home," Resi sang.

  "I don't think you can kill a demon," Zaire said, and then tucked her lips between her teeth.

  Lily's violet eyes sparkled.

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  From the author

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  I've always been weird, even as a child. Might've been influenced by all those fairies and trolls living in and around the streams behind Grandma's house and the cave on the other side of the lake. Today it probably has something to do with five crazy vamp-women, the fanged tyke, fairy, troll, werewolf, demon, and several sexy immortals living in my head.

  In reality I live with my husband and my three King Charles Spaniels on 50 acres of woods, fields, and streams in upper Michigan; hunt deer with my Ruger or crossbow, paint watercolors, sculpture stained glass, and chase butterflies with my dogs.

  One's real life is so often the life that one does not lead~~Oscar Wilde~~~

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