Grim Rites

by Bilinda Sheehan

  I slid into the blue faux leather diner seats. Choosing the booth at the back of the restaurant had luckily been pretty painless. It seemed Nic shared the same level of paranoia as I did. The desire to always have a wall at your back and an unimpeded view of the rest of the room wasn’t always possible, but this morning we were lucky.

  I watched him grab two menus from the counter and then return to the table with them. Without waiting for him to even drop the menu in front of me, I caught it from his grip, my stomach audibly rumbling.

  I’d been foolish the last time I’d used my magic, allowing it to deplete my energy. It wasn’t a mistake I would make again. Learning to live with my new abilities definitely required a learning curve. If I could even call them new—I mean, I’d had them all my life, I just hadn’t known about them until Lily had done her thing and unblocked the protection spell my mother had used on me.

  A protection spell that had left me open and vulnerable.

  I still hadn’t spoken to her about it. I’d contemplated it a million times, and yet every single time I picked up the phone to call her, something stopped me.

  “Earth to Amber,” Nic said, cutting through my thoughts.

  “Sorry, what did you say?” I met his gaze head on, the curiosity in his eyes causing my stomach to flip.

  “Have you decided what you’re going to order?” he asked, gesturing to the menu he held in his own hands.

  “That’s not what you really want to ask me, so spill it,” I said, letting out a long sigh and rolling my shoulders back so the joints popped.

  He dropped his gaze to the table and I noticed the tightening in the muscles of his shoulders as he stared down at the vinyl table top.

  “You started to bleed back there, like full-on bleed…” he said, his words dropping into the silence between us.

  I glanced down at the front of the black top I wore. If it was covered in blood, then I couldn’t see it. I did a quick mental check, running over every inch of my body searching for any new injuries that I’d somehow managed to overlook, but I couldn’t find any.

  “I fell in the blood, maybe you saw,” I started to speak, but Nic shook his head and lifted his face to meet my gaze.

  “It wasn’t his blood, it was yours, Amber, look….” He held his hand out towards me and I stared down at the blood stain smeared across his hand. It had dried in and he’d obviously tried to clean it away, but that was the problem with blood: it was nearly impossible to completely get rid of it and this was no exception.

  Shaking my head, I plastered a smile on my face. “Nic, I’m fine, you can see that I’m fine. Really hungry, maybe, but not a scratch on me.” I put on my best reassuring voice but I couldn’t even convince myself of that, never mind actually try and convince Nic of it.

  Something had happened. I’d put too much power into walking the scene and I’d come pretty damn close to paying for it with my life. I’d felt the demon’s hand sink in to my chest, felt its claws grate against my rib bones as it sought entry, grinding inwards until the sharp claws had brushed against the muscle of my heart, splitting it wide open.

  But why? Why would my power come so damn close to actually killing me? Wasn’t it supposed to help me? It was an extension of me, and as such, at all costs, the instinct should have been to preserve and save.

  “You guys ready to order?” The waitress’s too-happy voice and smile curdled my stomach. Considering everything I’d gone through that morning and the thoughts running through my brain, I was tempted to glare at her. But if I did that, all I’d be doing was giving into my bitchy side, and it really wasn’t her fault, especially not when she was just doing her job.

  “I think we need a couple more minutes,” I said, lifting my tone so I didn’t sound as though everyone I knew and loved had just been horribly murdered. My attempt was a complete failure, my voice sounding more like a teenage boy whose voice was breaking.

  Nic shot me a sideways glance and then gave the waitress his most winning grin. She instantly melted. Well, “melted” doesn’t even fully do it justice. She practically puddled at his feet and her girlish giggle set my teeth on edge.

  She leaned down over the table, turning her back to me in the process as she gave Nic as much of a view down the front of her blouse as she could. The pen she’d been holding just seconds before found its way into her mouth as she continued to giggle and fawn over him.

  “We’ve got a special on today with the pancakes. You can have any sauce you want; I’ll even throw in a side order of cream if you like?”

  How she could possibly make pancakes sound like the promise of sexual favours was beyond me. Nic opened his mouth and I rolled my eyes at him.

  “What the hell, you’ve twisted my arm. I’ll have the pancakes, Tessa, and that side order of cream you promised. Also a pot of coffee….”

  “I’ll have the same,” I said, breaking apart the moment they seemed to be sharing. “Can you also bring him some hot water and a towel so he can clean the blood from his hands, Tessa, or would that be asking too much?”

  The waitress shot me a dagger-filled look over her shoulder before side-eyeing Nic’s hands. I knew the second she saw the blood, her eyes widened, her pupils dilating. I wasn’t really sure what I expected her to do, but continuing to smile at Nic and giving him puppy dog eyes was not it.

  “I’ll bring it right out,” she said, giving Nic a gentle pat on the arm before sashaying away from the table.

  “Seriously, how do you do it?” I asked the second she was out of earshot.

  “Do what?” Nic said, a hint of a smile hovering around his mouth.

  “Don’t play coy, you know exactly what I mean. How do you do that with women? I watched you do it with the demon in Sanctuary, and every woman we come into contact with can’t seem to keep their eyes off you.”

  He shrugged and gave up all pretence of trying to hide a smile, giving me the same winning smile he’d just shared with the waitress. “I guess women just find me irresistible.”

  I snorted and quickly clamped my hand over my mouth, heat suffusing my cheeks as I realised just how loud the noise had actually been.

  “Well, I take it from that reaction you don’t agree?” Nic dropped his voice and I felt it slide across my skin, instantly transporting me back to the kiss we’d shared in my apartment.

  “Just cut it out…” I said abruptly, wiping the smirk from his face.

  “Fine, then, if we’re going to play it like that. Explain to me exactly what happened back in that alley.”

  “What am I supposed to say, Nic? You know as much as I do.”

  “I know you nearly died and now….” He trailed off as the waitress returned to the table and set a heaped plate down in from of him.

  She dumped mine, not even looking at me as she poured two cups of coffee before she slipped something across the table to Nic.

  “In case you get bored,” she said with a smirk before leaving the table.

  “Please don’t tell me that was her number,” I said, the first real prickle of jealousy flaring in my gut.

  “Would it matter if it was?” Nic asked, his gaze serious.

  I shook my head and picked up my knife and fork. “I guess not.”

  He sighed and dug his fork into the food set out in front of him with enough vigour to make me worry for the plate.

  “I’m still waiting for an answer,” he said before he crammed his mouth full of pancake.

  “I don’t know what happened. I guess I made a miscalculation. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.”

  “A miscalculation? Amber, I’d love to believe that that was all it was, but I nearly watched you die and there was nothing I could do to stop it.”

  “You did, actually,” I said, remembering the sound of his voice calling to me as the blade had twisted in my chest.

  “I did what?”

  “Pulled me back, listening to you, the feel of your hands on me … it anchored me somehow. Forced me to remember who I wa
s.”

  Nic shook his head my cellphone started to ring, the sound startling me enough to make me drop my fork. It clattered onto the plate and then down onto the floor as time slowed to a crawl.

  Glass shattered, but everything sounded off, the pieces sparkling as they slowly exploded inwards into the diner from one of the large front windows. I watched as people moved as though in slow motion to escape the shards, but it was what had caused the glass to shatter that really caught my attention.

  A demon propelled itself through the broken window, the blur of its red leathery skin telling me it instantly that it was one of Madeline’s own pets. The Elite had been dealing with these types of underlings for longer than I could remember.

  They were notoriously hard to kill and dogged in their determination. Whatever this one had in mind, I knew I wasn’t going to like it one little bit.

  It darted across the diner, making a beeline in my direction; one flash of its yellowed teeth made me shudder and I pushed up from my seat, sliding out of the booth as fast as my body was able to.

  The demon was faster, barrelling into my chest at full force and knocking me onto my ass. Planting my hands either side of its sinewy shoulders, I held it off me, its mouth snapping just inches from my face as it fought to sink its teeth into me. The underlings, though smaller, were just as deadly as their larger counterparts. One bite and my body would begin to seize, my limbs freezing, joints fusing, giving the demon time to drag me off somewhere quiet to eat me in peace.

  My arms started to ache, my elbows weakening as I fought to keep it off me. As though it could sense my weakness, the demon howled in anticipation, the sound reverberating through my body, tearing at my eardrums.

  The world jolted back into action, time catching up with the demon’s actions. A flash of movement at the corner of my eye had me break my concentration and the demon sank lower over me, its saliva dripping down onto my shoulder, soaking though my shirt with a sizzle.

  Nic’s booted foot connected with the demon’s midriff, sending it spinning off me. It screamed, the sound sending everyone else in the diner huddling for cover as I rolled to my feet and grabbed a knife from the diner table.

  The demon lunged again and this time I met it head on, not giving it the opportunity it craved to barrel into me once more. I drove the blunt knife up into its jaw, forcing its mouth shut as the blade came out the top of its face. It fell away from me, screaming and writhing on the floor as it clawed at its now-useless mouth.

  Reaching down into my core, I prepared to draw my magic out. I didn’t have time to call in the Clean Up crew; they wouldn’t get here in time, and the underling would get the knife out of its jaw in a matter of seconds. The moment it did, everyone in the diner was at risk, and that wasn’t a chance I wanted to take.

  “I command thee back to Hell!”

  I paused, energy bubbling in my core, and I fought to hold it in check. This wasn’t something I was used to doing; normally when I called my power out, it had somewhere to go, a target to focus on.

  A man’s bulky form pushed past me, elbowing me out of the way as the underling pulled the knife out of its jaw and bared its teeth once more. The smell of incense filled the air and I fought back the urge to sneeze. It reminded me of the churches back in Ireland; the strong smell of incense, candle wax, and something else. Something I’d never been able to put my finger on, but my mother had always assured me it was nothing.

  Peering around the stranger’s body, I watched as he doused the demon in a thick, viscous liquid; it dripped down over its leathery red head and body, searing through the skin of the creature everywhere it came into contact.

  “I drive thee back to Hell, in the name of God. Never walk this plane of existence again!” A box of matches appeared in the stranger’s hand and he cracked one against the side of his belt, the flame glowing blue before he flung it at the creature which was still scrabbling at the smouldering ruin that had been its face.

  There was a moment of nothing, and I searched the floor for signs of the match. Maybe he’d missed his mark? Although, the confidence in his voice and the manner he’d shoved me out of the way suggested this was something he was more than used to doing.

  The demon screamed as flames engulfed it. It was always such a strange thing to witness; I always imagined demons would enjoy fire, or at the very least not be bothered by it, and yet it was one of the only sure ways to kill them. “Kill” was the wrong word; sending them back to Hell was a far more accurate description. And even then, you needed a special blend of Holy Oil sent straight from the Vatican—for some reason, it was something they were always so stingy about supplying.

  The demon writhed on the floor, its body disintegrating, and the stranger turned his back on it. I stared up into the man’s face and there was something so familiar about it that, for a second, I found myself merely opening and closing my mouth.

  “Jason?” It was the shock in Nic’s voice as he said the name that snapped me out of my reverie.

  Why was the name so familiar? Why was this guy’s face so familiar? There was something I was missing.

  “You know him?” I asked, glancing back in Nic’s direction. The colour from his face had drained away as though he’d seen a ghost. What the hell was going on?

  “Hey, little brother. Long time, no see…” the stranger said, addressing Nic.

  The pieces of the puzzle snapped into place and the contents of my stomach curdled as the world lurched around me.

  Jason. Nic’s dead brother, the one supposedly murdered by a rogue shifter pack while in the army … the same brother who’d drawn the witch hunter mark in the bathroom of Nic’s apartment. Alive. In King City.

  Nic’s brother held his hand out to me and I could see the same witch hunter mark on the back of his hand. The world lurched again.

  “Saga Venatione,” I said, without meaning to. Jason gave me a considering look.

  “Everyone calls me Jason … only the ones I hunt call me by my professional title.”

  I clenched my hands into fists at my sides. There was something in his voice when he spoke to me that suggested he knew more than he was saying. Or maybe it was just my paranoia over who and what he was that was throwing me off.

  Oh, God, I just needed to act normal, get myself under control, and everything would be fine. All I needed was a little time to….

  “You bastard!” Nic said, launching himself past me, his fist connecting with Jason’s face, sending both men sprawling to the floor.

  They fought, rolling across the floor, and I stood by, watching them.

  I’d needed a distraction and I got it. Perhaps God was listening after all? And if He was, would it be asking too much for this all not to end in death?

  Chapter 13

  The brothers continued their fight, neither one gaining the upper hand, and yet I could tell to look at them that Jason was holding back. Was it because Nic was his brother and he didn’t want to hurt him, or he just didn’t want to give away what he was capable of?

  Sighing, I stepped into the fray, grabbing the collar of Nic’s jacket and hauling him back from his attempt at battering his brother’s brains out. Jason lashed out, his leg hooking behind my knees and sending me sprawling onto my ass for the second time that day. Growling, I rolled back up into a crouch and dodged the stray punch that swung in my direction. I drew back my fist and caught Jason square in the jaw.

  I could tell from the look of surprise, but not pain, on his face that it didn’t hurt. I was certain of that—or at least I was certain it hadn’t hurt him. His face seemed to be made of marble and my knuckles seemed to be the victims in the story.

  Hopping to my feet, I tried to brush off the pain in my hand, but it continued to niggle at me.

  “What was that for?” he said, rubbing the side of his jaw. Maybe I had hit him hard enough to make it hurt.

  “For knocking me down. It’s not something I take too kindly to,” I said, forcing as much irritation into my voic
e as I could.

  “Well, if you didn’t insist on getting caught in the middle of something that wasn’t any of your business, I wouldn’t need to knock your ass out of it.”

  He was a jerk, plain and simple.

  “Don’t talk to her like that, Jason. The only one in the wrong here is you. What happened to you? We all thought you were dead, you broke Mom’s heart.”

  Jason dropped his gaze to his heavy-duty army boots and for the first time since he’d strolled in and set the demon on fire, his smug expression slipped, his face a mixture of pain and regret. Just as quickly as it had slipped, it was back in place, his shoulders stiffening as he shot Nic an arrogant look.

  “You’re questioning me? What about you? You were supposed to be there that night to bail me out, but if I remember correctly, you were too busy getting drunk off your ass and starting bar brawls with blood suckers.”

  I knew how much guilt Nic carried over that night; he hadn’t told me in so many words, but he hadn’t needed to. I’d seen it in his face, reflected in his eyes as he’d told me what happened. For Jason to bring it up now had to hurt, and I could see the flinching around Nic’s eyes as his brother spoke.

  “I’ve changed…” Nic said through gritted teeth, “but I see you haven’t.”

  “Changed? From the looks of it, little brother, you haven’t changed at all. You’re still hanging around with trouble makers, getting in way over your head, and letting your dick lead you down blind alleys….”

  Anger made me bristle and it took every ounce of self-control to keep my power under wraps. If he was truly a witch hunter of old as the mark on his hand suggested, the least brush of magic would set off alarm bells in him. That was more than I could afford.

  No matter how much I wanted to drive my power through his chest.

  I cut off the dark direction my thoughts seemed to be taking and swallowed hard. My inability to control even simple things such as the thoughts that occupied my mind was getting worse. I needed to work harder at pulling it all under wraps; if I couldn’t, then I was in more trouble than I’d ever imagined possible. What I really needed to do was find a way to neutralise the demon mark—maybe if I could do that, things would get easier.