by Lexi Blake
“That could be tricky,” Dev replied, frowning. “The elevators are out. That’s why it took me so long to get down here. I had to take the stairs. The wards are holding, though. We don’t have civilians in the hallway.”
Just before the heist, Sarah put up wards on the floor to keep the guests in their rooms. It was nothing harmful. They would just have a sudden and complete desire to spend the evening in.
I looked down at the corpse Daniel had left. Sure enough, he was wearing a charm around his now defunct neck. They had been prepared for witchcraft. Someone had done their homework. If only they had been prepared for a hungry vampire and werewolf, maybe they would be alive.
Daniel grabbed my arm. “We’ll take the stairs. You stay close.”
I shivered as my entire body chilled. A cold wind swept through the room, like a wave lapping at my skin.
“Oh, that would be a great deal of trouble,” a silky smooth voice said from the doorway. “Let me save you the trip.”
I looked at our new guest. The demon the men had talked about had finally shown up.
Chapter Sixteen
“Vampires and faeries and werewolves, oh my!” the demon said with a smile of great pleasure spreading across his face.
He was in human form. He appeared to be a tall gentleman with lanky grace and a designer wardrobe. He wore and immaculately cut three piece suit and the vibrant blue tie stood out.
“You run with interesting company, little human.” The demon’s accent was crisp and British. I wondered briefly if demons had nationalities. Halfer had a bland Midwestern accent.
“Did Halfer send you?” I tried to sound more blasé than I felt. I felt like screaming and running away, but I knew it wouldn’t do me any good. The backpack I was carrying suddenly seemed heavier than before.
“Are you talking about Brix? He’s going by Halfer? That’s so obvious.” The demon rolled his eyes. “Not at all. He would be perfectly perplexed to discover I showed up, which is, of course, the point. Did you enjoy the trio I sent to you at the club? Brix was pissed that I tried to take you. I wasn’t going to hurt you. Much. I just wanted to ask a few questions. Luckily, he’s easily led. He thinks he caught the culprit. For a doubt demon, he is really sure of himself. I like to think of it as his tragic flaw.”
“Why would you fight another demon?” Dev asked. “Shouldn’t you be on the same side?”
The demon laughed. “Oh, yes, the Hell plane is a magical place of demonic harmony where we all hold hands and shit rainbows. We’re at war. Always. As for Brix and myself, you could say we’re auditioning for the same part, and I’ve decided to play a little rough.”
“What exactly are you looking for?” Don’t say the box, don’t say the box, was the mantra going through my head.
“Dear child, I’m looking for the box.” He dashed my every hope. “Please call me…well, I’m certainly not going to give you my real name. I don’t want to get summoned. Let’s go with Stewart. It fits this meat I’m walking about in.”
There was a moment of silence as my stomach churned at the thought.
“You’re in a human being?” Dev’s voice shook ever so slightly.
I looked at Daniel in the hopes that he would tell me this Stewart thing was lying. The only demon we’d dealt with up until now had been able to change form at will. Daniel frowned and nodded, indicating that everything he sensed was indeed human.
Stewart rolled someone else’s brown eyes and sighed. “You don’t have to sound so disappointed. Not all of us can do that thing Brix does. It’s impressive, but do you understand the kind of will it takes to completely dominate a human? Even now I can hear this miserable piece of meat screaming in our head. It’s distracting, but I persevere. And I can do things Brix can’t even think about.”
Neil growled at the demon.
“Now that’s just rude.” The demon gave him a coquettish frown. “And here I’ve tried to be so pleasant. Vampire, call off your dog if you want him to live. Don’t think I won’t do it because the truth of the matter is I’m really more of a cat person.”
“Neil, you should change now,” Daniel ordered.
There was that rush of power that always filled the room when Neil changed forms and then he was back to his human body and in all his glory. One minute he was a beautiful wolf, and the next he was a gorgeous man. Neil was utterly lovely. He was smaller than Daniel and Dev, but perfectly formed. His hair had changed back to his normal blond and it curled over his ears.
The demon stopped, his eyes widening, and I would have sworn there was just a hint of drool. "Goodness, and by goodness I mean badness. I take back what I said about cats. You look scrumptious, puppy.”
Neil shrugged but gave no obvious emotion. “I get that a lot.” He picked up his clothes from the floor as I turned my head, trying not to blush. I just was never going to get used to random nakedness.
“Please don’t. Not on my account.” The demon practically purred like the cats he purported to love.
Neil laughed, though it held no humor, and I turned again just as he was pulling his white dress shirt on. He left it and the top button of his pants open for effect, showing off his perfectly cut chest. He smiled his best male model smile. “It’s not on your account, Stewart. It’s totally on hers.”
The demon gave me a tsk tsk sound. “Humans and their odd morality. Here you are, little girl, stealing an important thing from these seemingly pleasant faery creatures, but god forbid you see a very lovely penis. I really have no comprehension of your people.”
“Right back at ya, buddy.” I started to slowly shuffle my way backward as the demon seemed to be closing in on me.
Stewart stopped his stalking of me long enough to look at Daniel and Dev. “And the two of you are panting after her? Someone is going to have to explain that to me. At least I can somewhat understand the vampire. She has that special blood you crave. She can make you strong. But you, faery, explain the fascination the human girl holds. I can see she’s vaguely attractive, but she’s certainly not in your league. Yet you fear for her. Even now I can feel your anxiety for her. You really hope that I don’t break her. You and the vampire would exchange your lives for her pathetic human one. It doesn’t seem like a fair trade to me.” He looked between the men and then suddenly turned to Neil, frowning. “Not you, too, puppy. I thought better of you.”
“In a heartbeat.” Neil crossed his arms over his muscled chest. “She’s my friend. I’ll do what I need to do.”
Stewart looked back at Dev as though waiting for an answer.
“I haven’t slept with her yet,” Dev said bluntly.
I shot Dev the dirtiest look I had in my repertoire. He shrugged and smiled sheepishly. I forgave him because I knew what he was doing. He was trying not to give the demon any emotion. It was already apparent this Stewart was an empath. He thrived on emotion, the nasty kind. We needed to stay as unemotional as possible, or he could use it against us. The menace was heavy in the air. All it would take was for one of us to panic and he would have us.
And my panic was only inches from the surface.
“And she’s the vampire’s whole world,” the demon said quietly as though he truly pitied Daniel. He studied Daniel for a moment. “But she doesn’t give you what you need, does she? You’re Vampire. She is obviously a companion. I can barely look at her, she’s so bright. It should be easy, but nothing is easy for you, is it? Everyone on the Hell plane is concerned with you, Mr. Donovan. You’re different, and different in the vampire world is bad. You could say you’re the talk of the town. So when I found out you happened to be involved with Brix, well, you understand I had to learn what was going on. And I had to find out why he wanted that box.”
“Do you know what it does?” The longer I could keep him talking, the more time Daniel had to recover from being shot forty times. I glanced at him, waiting for some sign of what he wanted me to do. I planned the heists. Daniel got us out of hot water.
Stewart never too
k his eyes off Neil. “Not a clue. I just know that if he wants it, I have to keep it from him. That really won’t do.”
Dev raised his pistol and tried to fire. Stewart turned to him, and with a simple flick of his wrist, the pistol flew across the room. Dev looked down at his empty hand dumbly and then back to the demon. The demon smiled before flicking his wrist a second, more decisive time. This time it was Dev who flew across the room. He hit the far wall face first and slid down.
I tried to run. I tried to get to him. I needed to make sure he was all right, but Stewart was standing before me with one hand held out, and I found that movement was impossible. I couldn’t get a single muscle to comply. My feet felt nailed to the floor, my hands at my sides. I had to concentrate just to breathe.
“Oh, are you stuck, dear? How much farther should I go? I could stop your lungs or your heart.” He turned to Daniel, a smug smile on his face. “You see, vampire. I am strong. I do what it takes to be strong. I don’t let little things like a conscience keep me weak. You should have taken her whether she wanted to be taken or not. You are Vampire. She is chattel.”
I glanced at Daniel, who stood staring at the demon with no emotion at all in his eyes. He was relaxed and still in a way only a vampire can be. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought he was ignoring all that went on around him.
Neil helped Dev up. He stood on shaky limbs, a smear of blood on his face. I’d led everyone into this. They all depended on me, and I couldn’t move my feet.
“Now, I will have that object on your back, little bitch,” the demon said with a snarl that went against his gentlemanly persona. “After that, I will kill you, and there is nothing your weak-ass vampire can do about it.”
My heart seized, and I worried he’d decided to stop it. He started to come toward me when Daniel moved. I didn’t so much see him move as felt the effect after he was done. One moment Stewart was coming toward me with a look of inexplicable evil on his face, and the next Daniel was behind him, turning his neck in a way the human neck doesn’t turn. There was a horrific crack, and the demon slid to the tile, his borrowed body limp.
“Even weak ass, I’m still faster than you.” Daniel looked at the slumping human form on the floor.
I could move again. I stumbled toward Daniel. He caught me, his arms encircling my body. Deep blue eyes stared down at me, lust plain in the alien orbs. The smell of blood still hung heavily though the room. There was an air of death and decay that was unmistakable, and it called to Daniel’s beast as surely as it had called to Neil’s. Now I was stuck, but for a different reason. Lust flowed between us. I would have sworn I could feel his heart beating, calling to mine.
“We should go.” Dev broke through the moment. He wiped the blood on his face off with his sleeve. “You want to protect her, right? He’s going to be back. It’s your job to protect her.”
For a moment, Daniel looked like he would argue. His fangs were out again, the violence of the moment bringing out his beast. His eyes were on my throat. I remembered how he’d handled Neil. Contact. He’d touched him. I placed my hand on his face. I heard Dev’s shocked intake of breath but caressed that cheek anyway. I let both of my hands run across his face and down his neck, reveling in the contact. His eyes closed as though the touch brought him pleasure.
“Daniel, we have to go,” I said as calmly as I could. He pulled at me, but my logical brain insisted we leave. “I need to go now. It’s dangerous for me to stay here.”
Daniel swallowed, and just like that, the menace in the air was gone. He shook his head as though ridding himself of bad thoughts. “Right, we have to get her out of here. Let’s move. He’ll be back any time now. If not in this form, he’ll find another.”
His eyes slid away from me, our moment, our connection, gone. I could breathe again, but there was a part of me that resented Dev for breaking it.
Neil went first, scenting the hallway to make sure Stewart hadn’t brought along more friends. Dev followed him, then me. Daniel watched my back. An eerie quiet reigned as we made our way toward the stairs. I could hear my footsteps on the carpeted floor. The path to the stairs was illuminated by well-chosen lighting, each perfectly lit sconce another road sign to where we needed to go. We were utterly alone, the wards we’d placed on the floor now working against us. No one had taken notice of the struggle that had gone on in the room so close to them. We could fight and bleed and die and the world around us would sleep right on.
Neil opened the nondescript door that led to the stairs. We were fifteen floors up, but at least at the bottom there would be a certain amount of freedom. We had cars parked in various places to aid in our getaway. Neil gave the clear sign, and we started through. Neil and Dev were halfway down the first flight when I picked up the pace. The pack on my back felt heavier than before, but I needed to keep moving. My crew was only as strong as the puny little human. I hit the first stair at a run, which is precisely why I fell so hard when I hit the ward protecting it.
I flew back, hitting Daniel in the chest, causing both of us to fall back. So much for hoping we could get through this without dealing with magic.
“Zoey!” Dev crossed the barrier with no trouble. Neil came fast behind him.
Dev put a hand out, hauling me up.
“It’s the box,” Neil said. “Leave the box, and we can get out of here.”
Daniel pulled the box off me before I could protest. He threw it at the barrier, and sure enough, it bounced back, flying right at his face. Daniel caught it.
Daniel pushed me at Dev, securing the backpack to his own back. “Get her out of here. I’ll meet up with you after I figure out how to get out of here with the package.”
“Daniel, leave it.” I had no intention of stranding Daniel. We could figure something else out. Dev took my hand to pull me down the stairs.
Daniel smiled, a sad little expression. “Not on your life, baby. This is your soul. I’m not leaving it behind. I’ll figure out a way around it. Neil, get her as far away as possible, and don’t let her out of your sight. That’s an order.”
Neil nodded, and even as I struggled I felt myself being pulled toward the first step, and then Dev was on the step and I was face first on the floor.
The ward held without the package. Someone didn’t want me to leave.
Dev grabbed my hand again and tried to pull me through, but there was no amount of physical strength that was going to get me through that barrier.
“Zoey, I can’t leave you.” Dev clutched my hand.
“Yes, you can.” I moved back, twisting away from him, moving closer to Daniel. “Neil, get him out of here, and that’s a freaking order.”
I was pissed to see Neil look to Daniel for confirmation before dragging Dev down the stairs. If I made it out of this hotel alive, we were going to have a talk about the chain of command. What can I say? I have control issues.
Daniel and I looked at each other, tension thick in the air.
“Let’s see if you can go up.” Daniel took my hand, and sure enough, I could take the steps going up.
We were halfway up the first flight when the door flew open. Stewart was back. He’d managed to turn his head back around, though the bone jutted out at sickening angle. I gasped my horror when he started talking.
“Do you have any idea how much that hurt?” Stewart’s voice was rougher than before, and his eyes were black with no hint of an iris. He seemed to have trouble controlling his legs, jerking awkwardly with every step. “Well, at least the screaming stopped. That’s something. You like killing, don’t you, vampire? Trust me, this arsehole is dead, and it’s your fault. Add him to your victim list.”
“Go, I’ll meet you on the roof.” Daniel shoved me upward.
Stewart was still talking, his inhuman voice echoing through the stairwell as I climbed as fast as I could. One flight at a time. One step at a time. I didn’t stop though I thought my heart would burst. Every step brought a fresh burn to my pumping legs. If I lived through this
, I was joining a gym.
“I don’t want trouble with the Council.” Stewart’s voice echoed through the space. “I really don’t, but you pissed me off. I can’t just let that go, no matter who you are.”
I couldn’t see what was happening, but there was no mistaking the gunshot that shook the walls. The small space made the shot crack in a way that caused my ears to ache. I stopped in my tracks as my hand touched the door to the roof. I shook as I turned, praying to see Daniel behind me. He had a gun. He had to be the one who shot Stewart, and he would be up in a minute, and we would get out of this.
We had to get out of this.
I nearly cried out in relief as Daniel stumbled up the stairs. He held a hand on his chest. Blood coated his pale flesh. His blood.
“That’s silver, you bastard.” Stewart’s voice came ever closer. “Hope you like it.”
A lock held the door to the roof shut, but Daniel placed a single kick and it flew off the hinges. We stumbled into the night. I took a deep breath of the early spring air. There was a chill hanging onto the evening. Before too long, every day here would be hot as hell, and looking down at Daniel, I wondered if he would see the summer. He tumbled to the ground. I fell to my knees and put my hands on his chest to try to stop the bleeding. Tears sprang to my eyes as I pressed close. It was coming too fast. There was too much.
“Danny, what do I do?” My voice broke with every word.
“Run, Zoey.” His breath rattled in and out of his chest like a faulty radiator. “I can still hold him off. Run and hide and call Neil. He’ll come back. He’ll get you out of this. Sarah can get rid of the wards and you can get away from here. You can take the box and give it to Halfer.”
“I can’t leave you.” I pressed harder against his chest. It might have been my imagination or just a wild hope, but I thought the bleeding was a little better.
“You have to, Z. He wasn’t lying. The bullets were silver, and it hit too close to my heart. I can’t survive it.”
