by Karen Lynch
“Sorry, have to take this.” He walked to the other side of the roof and I watched him as he spoke to the caller. His voice rose a few times and I picked up snatches of the conversation. I heard him say the name Draegan several times, as well as his uncle’s and cousin’s names. He looked haggard when he hung up and joined me again.
I crossed my arms and confronted him before he even reached me. “Greg, who was that? What is going on?”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. You look like hell every time you get one of those calls.”
He drank down the last of his beer. “It’s just family stuff. I told you my cousin is having a rough time.”
I wasn’t going to let him off the hook this time. I’d seen real fear on his face a minute ago. “Who is Draegan, and what does he have to do with your cousin?”
Panic flashed in his eyes before he schooled his expression. “He’s no one,” he answered in a hard voice. “Leave it alone, Sara.”
“Don’t do that,” I pleaded. “I know you’re in trouble, and I’m betting it has to do with your uncle. Tell me. Maybe I can help you.”
He sighed roughly. “You can’t help me with this. No one can.”
The defeat in his voice shook me. Greg had never sounded so helpless. I laid my hand on his arm. “How do you know that if you don’t tell me what it is?”
He pulled away and put a few feet between us. “I’m not getting you involved in this. It’s too dangerous.”
“Greg, in the last few months, I have been attacked by vampires, demons, witches, mutant hyenas, you name it. I’ve seen things that would give anyone nightmares for the rest of their lives. I can take care of myself, and I’m not alone. I have two werewolves and a Mohiri warrior downstairs. You know Roland and Peter will want to help you, too. Trust me when I tell you we are exactly the people you want to get involved in this.”
He reached for his beer and saw it was empty. I handed him my bottle which was still half full. He took a long swig before he looked at me again. “I can’t do that.”
“Yes, you can.” I took his hand, something I’d never done before, and his callused fingers closed around mine. “Just tell me, and we’ll figure it out together.”
He made an angry noise and pulled me over to the patio area. Once we were seated on the couch, he raked his hands through his hair. I waited quietly for him to speak.
“In June, my cousin Danny got sick and they found out it was leukemia. He went through a round of treatments, and the doctors told Uncle Leo and Aunt Mary that it didn’t look good. In October, he just went into remission. The doctors didn’t know what to make of it.
“Then Uncle Leo was killed in a car crash on his way to visit them. It was a big blow, especially with everything Danny was going through. Aunt Mary couldn’t leave him so she asked me to come out here and take care of everything for her. It was only supposed to take a week or so. But a few days after I got here, a guy showed up at the door, saying he worked for someone named Draegan, and he was here to collect on a debt Uncle Leo owed him. I told him I needed to see proof of how much money Uncle Leo owed, and we would pay him when we sold off this place.”
“How much did he owe this Draegan guy?”
Greg laughed harshly. “More than you can imagine. I was worried about paying off a stupid money debt. I had no idea.”
“Tell me.”
He looked away for a long moment and his eyes were haunted when they met mine again. “Have you ever heard of a blood debt?”
I shook my head as dread coiled in my stomach.
“When the doctors told Uncle Leo they couldn’t do anything for Danny, he went to a demon named Draegan and asked him for help. Don’t ask me how he even knew anything about demons, because I don’t know. Draegan gave him some kind of medicine to give to Danny to drink. Whatever it was, it worked. But the price was steep. Uncle Leo signed a contract saying he would give his life to Draegan if Danny got better.”
“No.”
He nodded grimly. “Uncle Leo had a month to pay his debt. But he was killed in a car accident before he could.”
“But doesn’t that cancel the contract?”
“No. What Draegan didn’t tell Uncle Leo was that if he couldn’t or wouldn’t pay the debt, it could be collected from a male family member who shares the same blood. Draegan’s flunky told me Danny was the closest male relative so he has to pay the debt.”
I inhaled sharply. “No.”
“I’ve been trying to get them to take money instead. I even offered them this place, but Draegan won’t take it. I tried to go talk to him, but he won’t see me. All his people will tell me is that blood is the only thing that will cover the debt, unless Draegan decides not to collect. And he’s not going to do that.”
“Oh, Greg.” I couldn’t imagine what he’d been going through the last few weeks, dealing with something like this by himself and worrying about his cousin. “I promise we’ll fix this.”
He stared off into the distance. “I found out yesterday that there is another way to pay off the debt. I’m Danny’s first cousin, and we share the same blood.”
“No!” I jumped up and stood over him so he was forced to look at me. “No. That’s not going to happen, ever! Don’t even think about it.”
“Sara, if you just listen –”
“Stop. I don’t want to hear it. I’m not letting you die over some stupid debt, Greg.” My voice rose as I became hysterical.
He stood and put his hands on my shoulders. “It’s okay. Please, don’t get upset.”
“Don’t get upset? You’re talking about letting some demon take your life.” I gasped for air. “I’ll kill him before I let him hurt you.”
“No, you won’t. The only way to see Draegan is if he wants to see you. I asked around and word is he is strong, and he’s surrounded by these other demons who work for him. You can’t get near him.” His shoulders sagged. “Trust me. This is the only way.”
“I refuse to believe that.”
He pushed me away, physically and emotionally. “Sara, this is my choice. I know it’s hard, but you have to accept it. If you can’t do that, then... maybe you should go.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“Yes, I do. I knew it was a mistake to invite you to stay here, but I just wanted to spend time with someone I actually care about before I...” He cleared his throat. “I never should have told you about this. I just wanted to tell someone. It means a lot that you want to help me, but you can’t.”
I spun away from him and ran to the stairs. He didn’t try to stop me, not that he could have. Did he really think I would stand back while some demon murdered him?
“What’s wrong?” Roland asked when I ran into the apartment and went straight for my phone.
“Nothing. I just remembered something I have to talk to David about.”
“Are you sure? You look upset.”
“I’m fine.”
He looked at me for a long moment before he turned back to his movie. “Okay.”
I carried the phone into the bedroom I was sharing with Jordan and shut the door. David answered on the second ring.
“I didn’t expect to hear from you today. Is everything alright?”
I sucked in a trembling breath. “I’m not sure. What can you tell me about a demon in LA named Draegan?”
Chapter 7
“Whoa!” Roland stared up at the high-rise building with his mouth hanging open. He wasn’t the only one staring. The thirty-story glass and steel structure was pretty impressive, even if I thought it was totally impractical in a state with an active fault line running beneath it.
Jordan craned her neck. “Nice.”
The building’s glass doors slid open and the four of us entered the pink marble lobby together, then stopped and stared again. In each corner stood a tall, abstract sculpture and there were more security cameras than you’d find at a bank. Directly in front of us was a pair of elevators and to our left was a
desk, behind which sat a burly security guard. He watched us suspiciously then asked us what our business was there. I told him we were there to see Draegan, and he didn’t even blink an eye.
“Damn, who lives like this?” Peter said when the elevator doors closed.
“Rich demons, I guess.” I hit the button for the top floor then faced the three of them. “You guys ready for this?”
Jordan smiled and opened her long coat to reveal the knives strapped to her thighs. Then she turned around and pulled up the back of the coat to show us the short sword in the harness on her back. “I was born ready for this.”
Roland rolled his eyes and gave me a reassuring smile. “We’re good. You look ready to kick a little demon ass yourself.”
I glanced down at my outfit. I was wearing my new dark jeans and a black tank top with combat boots and my leather bomber jacket. Around my neck I wore my grandmother’s silver cross on a long chain, and I kept it tucked inside the tank top. Demons didn’t like silver, but wearing the cross gave me a little extra courage. The silver dagger inside my jacket didn’t hurt either.
The elevator stopped on the thirtieth floor, and the door slid open to reveal a richly carpeted hallway. We walked to the door at the end of the hall, and I rang the doorbell. Almost immediately, it was opened by a large demon with red-tinged skin. He was bald with tiny nubs where his ears should be, a huge bulbous nose, and his eyes were black with red rings around the pupils. He didn’t have horns, but two fangs protruded from beneath his upper lip.
“What do you want?” he asked in a gravelly voice that grated on my eardrums.
“We’re here to see Draegan,” I said.
He scowled. “Everyone wants to see Draegan. He’s busy.”
I put my hand on the door when he moved to close it. “I’m here about a debt.”
“A debt, huh?” He looked us over then sniffed the air. “No shifters allowed.”
Roland looked incensed. “What?”
“Draegan has a demon-only policy. Keeps all the undesirables out.”
Jordan pushed forward until she stood beside me. “I’m not a shifter.”
The demon leaned down and sniffed her hair. “Hmm, Mori demon. We don’t get your kind here.”
“You can tell what kind of demon someone is just by smelling them?” I could see why this guy would make a perfect bouncer for someone like Draegan.
“Yes.” He sniffed at me and wrinkled his nose. “Mori demon, but you don’t smell right. What is wrong with you?”
“She’s been sick,” Jordan said.
The demon narrowed his eyes at me. “I didn’t think Mohiri got sick.”
I gave a short laugh. “Of course we get sick. Where do people come up with this stuff?”
He peered down at me a moment longer before he nodded and waved us inside.
I looked at Roland. “We won’t be long.”
“I don’t think you two should go in there alone.” His eyes were dark with worry. “Maybe we should leave.”
“We can’t leave. Greg needs us.” Not that Greg knew where we were. He thought we were meeting a man about Madeline. Things had been strained between Greg and me since last night, but when I’d offered to go to a hotel, he’d gotten upset. It tore me apart to see him hurting, and I was determined to keep him safe. He’d watched out for me when we were younger, and it was my turn to do the same for him now.
Roland nodded reluctantly. “Just be careful.”
I squeezed his hand then moved past the demon into the foyer. My heart pounded as I followed Jordan into the spacious, opulently furnished penthouse. Except for the art on the walls, almost everything in the room was white. White leather couches, white tile floor, white tables and shelves. Even the pieces of art around the room were made of white marble. It looked like someone had doused the place in bleach to remove all the color. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to live in a place so sterile looking.
The apartment had floor-to-ceiling windows that boasted an incredible view of the city. But I was too busy staring at the twenty or so demons mingling in the room and keeping a strong grip on my power to care about the view. I had never seen this many demons together in one place and my Fae side was not happy about it. Jordan and I stood off to one side to survey the room, and to let me have time to get used to the large demon presence. She recognized most of the demon races, and she identified each one for me.
The short, thin ones with dark skin, catlike eyes, and small curved horns were ranc demons and they liked to drink blood. Unlike vampires, they preferred animal blood. Sheroc demons were green-skinned with long black hair to their waist and drooping purple eyes. They looked harmless enough until Jordan explained that they fed off pain and grief, sometimes driving their victims insane. The rotund, pasty white demons with red eyes and white hair were femal demons. Physically, they were harmless, but they were known to traffic a highly addictive demon drug called heffion to humans.
My eyes fell on a tall, tanned blond man whom I mistook for a human until he looked my way and I saw the silver eyes that appeared to glow softly. Jordan didn’t have to tell me that this one was an incubus, a demon who preyed on women the same way a succubus preyed on men.
“Lovely company Draegan keeps,” I muttered.
Two female mox demons in short white dresses and jeweled collars walked among the guests, carrying trays of food and drinks. Every now and then one of the guests would run a lecherous hand up females’ arms or grope their backsides as they passed. There was no mistaking the fear and revulsion on the females’ faces, and I wondered why they worked in a place like this.
A burst of raucous laughter led my gaze to the gulak demon I had come here to see. Broad shouldered with scaly skin, bat-like wings, reptilian eyes, and a single horn in the center of his forehead, Draegan was easily the scariest looking demon here. He sat at a table with two ranc demons and a sheroc demon, pouring a luminescent, milky substance from a crystal decanter into shot glasses. He set one glass in front of each of them and barked out something I couldn’t understand. One by one, the demons at the table tossed money on top of a stack in the center of the table. Then they put their glasses to their lips and downed the contents. None but Draegan looked happy about it, which told me this was no ordinary drinking game. One of the ranc demons wobbled and caught himself on the table while the other fell over sideways and hit the floor with a thud. The sheroc’s eyes rolled back in his head a second before it hit the table.
Draegan let out a deep rumbling laugh and tipped back his own glass. He slammed it back on the table and said something to the ranc demon that hadn’t passed out yet. The ranc demon held up his hands in defeat and stumbled away from the table to collapse on one of the couches. Draegan laughed again and pulled the large pile of money toward him. He stacked it and handed it off to one of two smaller gulak demons standing behind him.
This was the demon that held Greg’s life in his hands. He had to be seven feet tall and weigh over four hundred pounds. According to David, gulaks were known for their brute strength, and they were the closest the demon community had to organized crime. There wasn’t much they weren’t into and most demons feared them.
Draegan had set up his own little crime syndicate in Los Angeles, running drugs and weapons and intimidating the crap out of other demons. He threw parties to show off his power and wealth, but he also surrounded himself with security, which told me he wasn’t as strong as he liked to portray. Looking at him now in the flesh, I saw nothing more than a loud-mouthed bully who could afford to hire others to do his dirty work. I really hated bullies.
“What is that game they’re playing?” I wondered if it might be the way I could get close to Draegan.
“It is called Glaen,” answered a silky voice on my left, startling me.
I looked at the incubus who had approached while Jordan and I were distracted by the other demons. He smiled, showing off even white teeth. Knowing what he was made my skin crawl, but I forced myself to remain co
ol. All the demons here filled me with disgust, but I had to put my emotions aside and keep in mind why I was here.
“Glaen?” I asked.
“The game is named after the drink. You ante up before each shot, and the last one conscious wins the pot. Draegan never loses, but these idiots keep trying.”
“It’s that strong?”
The incubus laughed as if I’d made a joke. “It’s poison.”
“Poison?” Jordan repeated.
“To us it is. It’ll kill you if you drink enough of it. I guess the Mohiri don’t teach you about things like that.” His silvery gaze appraised Jordan and me. “And what brings two beautiful young Mohiri to Draegan’s of all places? I’m surprised Wilhem let you in. You aren’t exactly like Draegan’s usual guests.”
I ignored his flirting. “We’re here on business.”
“Draegan doesn’t like to do business at his parties.” One of the mox demons came over to us and handed the incubus a glass of liquor. He took a sip and smiled. “He does serve good brandy, though. Would either of you care for a drink?”
“No, thanks,” Jordan and I said together. Even if I could handle liquor, there was no way I’d accept a drink from an incubus. I couldn’t believe I was still standing here talking to one. Just being near him made my skin itch and my gut twist. My power strained against my control, and I clamped down on it even more. Losing control now would be disastrous.
The mox demon turned to leave, and I noticed an unusual black tattoo that resembled a hieroglyphic on the right side of her jaw.
“What does that tattoo mean?” I asked the incubus, my curiosity overriding my aversion to him.
“That is her owner’s mark.”
My spine stiffened. “Owner’s mark?”
“Draegan owns her, and that is his brand to show she is his property,” the incubus explained casually, unaware of the anger igniting inside me. Slaves? Blood debts? My nostrils flared, and I gripped the edge of the small marble table beside me.
Jordan shot me a “keep it together” look then turned to the incubus. “Do you know Draegan well?”
