by Melissa Marr
“Ashael, it’s Denise,” she went on, slurring her words so much that it was getting harder to understand her. “Come…now.”
With that, Denise swallowed again. Then, the glass fell from her hand, and she collapsed onto the floor.
Chapter Eight
I had to do something! Maybe I could use my powers to send out a text message to get Denise some help?
As quickly as that hope flared, it died. Even if I could use enough of my borrowed telekinesis to do that, anyone I called would be stricken by the contagious spell mere minutes after they got here. I might already have condemned Denise. I couldn’t condemn anyone else—
Shadows suddenly swirled between me and Denise. In seconds, a tall, extravagantly handsome man with short black curls, deep brown skin, and walnut-colored eyes appeared. Never let it be said that demons failed to make a memorable entrance.
I stared at Ashael as he brushed imaginary lint from an expensive-looking peacock-blue suit. Then, red lit up his dark brown gaze as he glanced at Denise, at me, and then back at Denise.
“Got into a bit of trouble, haven’t you?” he said with an appreciative whistle.
Denise groaned and sat up.
I was so shocked that I barely noticed Ashael pull out his cell phone and say, “Don’t wait up,” to whoever was on the line.
Had Ashael done something to Denise so she could move again? If so, thank God! Or thank…whoever, since he was a demon.
“Whole…body’s…stiff,” Denise said with a moan.
Ashael’s snort managed to be elegant. “Of course. From what I see, you’ve been doused with a powerful immobility spell. You wouldn’t be able to move at all, except for those brands. Magic doesn’t work on demons, and you have enough of our power in you to avoid being a living mannequin like your friend over there.”
I wasn’t even insulted. I was more stunned that Ashael knew that Denise was demon-branded. That was a closely guarded secret. Only me, Bones, Ian, Denise’s husband Spade, and Denise’s relative Nathanial knew about it, or so I’d thought. And how had Ashael known we’d been hit with a spell?
“Good thing both my natures protect me,” Ashael went on. “Now I know why you sounded so desperate. Anyone else you called would only end up stricken by the contagion in that spell.”
How could he know any of this? I mentally raged. How?
“Can you get…this spell…off us?” Denise ground out.
He paused. “Yes and no.”
Always a bargain with demons, and those bargains rarely ended without a lot of regret on the bargainee’s part.
Denise gave him a baleful look. “Do the…yes part.”
Ashael came closer. “Are you sure? Neither of you will enjoy what it takes.”
That sounded ominous. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.
Denise must have read my reluctance from my expression because she said, “Do me first, then.”
Wait! That wasn’t what I meant at all!
Ashael’s lips twitched. “If only I had a dollar for every time I heard a woman say that…”
“You’d be rich?” Denise finished, managing an eye roll.
His grin widened. “Richer.”
With his sin-wrapped-in-seduction looks, I didn’t doubt it, but that wasn’t what grabbed my attention. It was the haze of light that now glowed from Ashael’s hands, and how his gaze had gone from red highlights to twin beams of silver.
Holy shit. This must be Ashael’s other side. I’d never seen it before, our previous contact being very brief, but I’d seen it from his half-sister, Veritas. And she’d almost leveled a house with that otherness after a mere mood swing.
“If you consent,” he said to Denise while power thickened the air, “give me your hands.”
Denise stretched out her hands. As soon as Ashael clasped them, that glow from his hands increased, and Denise screamed.
I didn’t even have to concentrate. Every single bottle from the bar suddenly slammed into Ashael. Glass, alcohol, and then blood covered him from all the flying, cutting shards.
His gaze slanted my way in annoyance, but he didn’t let go, and the glow from his hands only intensified. Denise screamed again, and then bit her lips as if to hold back another scream.
“I’m okay,” she gritted out. “I know what he’s doing.”
Her words were no longer garbled from a half-paralyzed tongue. She also wasn’t slouched over anymore. Now, she was sitting upright, even if her face was pinched with pain.
“How much more?” she asked with a gasp.
“Just a bit,” he replied as more light poured from his hands. That light began to absorb into Denise’s skin, until her whole body started to glow.
“Almost done,” Ashael said in a soothing way.
White sparks came off their joined hands. Denise squeezed her eyes shut, breathing hard while the air filled with the strangest power. Not the skin-tingling energy that marked the auras of strong vampires, or the icy brushes of power that heralded grave magic. This was something I’d never felt before.
Ashael released her hands. Denise fell back. He caught her, lowering her to the floor across from where I was positioned. For a moment, our eyes met, and I stared at her in disbelief.
Were those flashes of silver in Denise’s gaze now?
Then she blinked, and all I saw was Denise’s normal hazel eyes. “Wow, that feels weird,” she murmured.
With that, she stood up, moving as normally as she had before the spell had infected her.
Ashael scanned Denise and then nodded as if satisfied.
“That should hold you, but this power upload is only temporary. To make it permanent, we’d need to strike a deal, and despite what you know, I doubt you’d want to go that route.”
“I don’t,” Denise said, adding “no offense,” with a wry smile at him. Then, she glanced at me. “Don’t worry, Cat. His power upload only hurts for a few minutes—”
“I’m not doing that with her,” Ashael interrupted. “She has nothing in her to increase the way you did.”
That sounded insulting, but more importantly, did it mean I was beyond help even from a half demon, half demigod like Ashael?
“I can, however, give her something to weaken the immobility spell so she can move again,” he went on.
If my hands could have shot out to indicate consent, they would have. Do it! Whatever it is, bring it on!
“But she won’t be good for much after that, and it’s very important that you kill whoever hexed you both,” he finished.
“Why won’t Cat be good for much?” Denise asked, echoing my own thought.
His smile was as bright as sunshine. “She’ll be too high.”
I stared at the demon. Now I knew what he intended to give me to counter the spell. His blood.
Demons weren’t just the inventors of magic; they were the walking embodiment of it. That’s why spells didn’t work on them. Their blood also had a unique effect on vampires, and by unique, I mean that vamps who drank demon blood ended up more wasted than a frat boy after a drinking contest.
Still, being wasted would be an improvement over my current state. Besides, Ashael was only half demon. His other side was of an indeterminate celestial nature, so maybe his mixed blood wouldn’t get me as trashed as straight demon blood would. Even if it did, Bones had once managed to win a fight to the death while sky-high on demon blood.
If he could do it, I could do it.
I stared at Denise, hoping she could intuit my answer.
She sighed. “I don’t like this, but…Cat says yes.”
Ashael rolled up his sleeve while grabbing one of the broken bottles I’d telekinetically hurled at him. Then, he came toward me with a wolfish smile.
“In that case, my lovely redhead, I hope you’re thirsty.”
Chapter Nine
Being born half vampire meant that I’d only been drunk once, after a ghost had tricked me into chugging an entire bottle of uncut moonshine. Not even my half-vampire
nature had been enough to make me immune to half a gallon of 180 proof “white lightning,” as it turned out. Still, despite my relative inexperience with being intoxicated, I felt prepared to deal with the wonky side effects of Ashael’s blood.
Oh, what a sweet summer child I was!
The first splash shot past my lips and went right down my throat. If my muscles still worked, I would’ve gagged.
Be a little more gentlemanly when shooting your load, Ashael!
At least I didn’t need to worry about my lack of ability to swallow. With how forcefully his blood came out, it felt like it went straight into my stomach, and…wow, this rug was so thick. And lush. Had it always felt like this? And the colors in this room were so vivid, especially when reflected in the lights from all the broken glass.
“Beautiful,” I sighed, and then squealed in delight.
I was talking again! Sure, I’d dribbled blood to say the words, but who cared? I wasn’t wearing this dress again anyway.
“More,” I said next, and grabbed Ashael’s wrist.
“Uh, if she’s moving now, is that enough?” Denise asked.
“No,” I garbled out before Ashael could answer. Every swallow made the world more beautiful, warm, and glorious.
“Slow down, Cat,” I heard Denise say.
I loved her, but she seriously needed to shut up.
Ashael’s dark curls brushed my face as he bent near my ear. Even that slight touch felt like silk trailing over my skin.
“Last swallow, little vampire,” he murmured, his voice curling around me like warm, dark waters.
“No,” I said, my inhibitions drowned. “Eat you…all night.”
Ashael’s laugh was more decadent than the richest dessert. “If circumstances were different, I’d let you, but alas.”
Then, his wrist was gone, and that addictive flow stopped.
I tried to yank his wrist back and ended up only grasping air. I leapt up to see Ashael on the other side of the room, wagging a finger at me.
“Ah ah ah, my lovely one. You’re cut off.”
I lunged at him, and then staggered in surprise when the floor rose up to trip me.
“Stop it,” I snapped at the floor.
It undulated in response, taunting me. I stomped on it, and it surged up with an abrupt wave that knocked me flat.
Asshole.
Denise rushed over. “Cat! Are you okay?”
“Fine,” I said, brushing her aside. This was between me and the floor, and I was kicking its polished driftwood ass.
I stomped up and down on it with all my strength. Planks cracked and gave way. When I was ankle-deep in the floor’s wreckage, I howled in victory.
Take that, motherfucker!
“Cat…” Denise sounded worried, but she shouldn’t be. I’d beaten the floor, so it couldn’t attack her next.
“Don’t bother trying to reason with her,” Ashael said. “She’s too high. Give her a few minutes to adjust to the effects of my blood. She’ll be better by then.”
“I’m fine,” I told Ashael. “In fact, I’m fabulous.”
His grin was annoying in its smugness. Should teach him a lesson. Make him bleed a little…and then lick it.
“She’s, ah, growling,” Denise said with concern.
Ashael waved. “Pay it no mind. Now, care to tell what happened that caused you two to run afoul of a sea god?”
“A sea god?” Denise repeated.
“You’re both infected with contagious sea god magic, so you must have run afoul of one,” Ashael said.
I was going to answer, but suddenly, the whole room tipped. Fucking floor was at it again! I grabbed the wall to stay upright, confused to see that Ashael and Denise were still standing without help. Why wasn’t the floor attacking them, too?
Denise sighed. “I couldn’t see most of what went down, but from what I know, Cat pissed off a bunch of witches, and they hit her with an immobility spell. They must have hit me with it, too, although mine didn’t take effect until after they left.”
“They didn’t spell you. Cat did,” Ashael said. At Denise’s shocked look, he continued, “Not on purpose. You know I can see magic as easily as you see colors. That’s how I saw that the magic on Cat is contagious. Once she was infected, she infected you. You would’ve infected me, too, if I wasn’t a demon. This type of magic is very rare, so what did Cat do to anger those witches?”
“She stopped them from killing a kid,” Denise said, sounding a bit dazed now.
Ashael whistled. “Ah. That’ll do it. Ancient gods have no sense of humor when it comes to someone interfering with their sacrifices, and that child must have been the god’s sacrifice.”
“That’s what they said,” I filled in, no longer needing to hug the wall to stand. My head felt a little clearer, too, although I still thought the floor was daring me to a fight.
Ashael’s dark gaze fixed on me. “That’s why the sea god gave its acolytes the power to hex you with contagious magic.”
“Goddess,” I corrected him.
“Goddess, then. Did her acolytes tell you about the other spell they sealed onto you?”
“What other spell?” Denise asked, sounding surprised.
That’s right, she didn’t know. All of a sudden, I felt a lot more sober. “The one that makes me the goddess’ new sacrifice on the full moon.” Then, my voice hitched from more than the room-tilting effects of Ashael’s blood as I added, “And anyone I’ve infected with the spell is her sacrifice, too.”
“But you’re a vampire,” Denise sputtered. “Only decapitation or silver through the heart can kill you, and nothing can kill me except demon bone through both my eyes.”
Ashael looked thoughtful. “Under normal circumstances, that’s true, but with ancient gods, all bets are off. You have until the full moon, hmm? That gives you two nights.”
“So, how do we kill this goddess?” Denise demanded.
Ashael snorted. “You don’t. The sea is older than anything on this planet, so the gods it produced are among the most ancient and powerful. You can’t kill her. Neither can I.”
I started to speak, and then burped with such force that it rustled the hair around my face. I clapped a hand over my mouth, aghast. Then, despite our very serious circumstances, all of a sudden, I couldn’t stop laughing.
“I haven’t burped since I was human! Wow. That sounded like years of trapped air ripping out of me, didn’t it?”
“There must be a way to stop this,” Denise said, ignoring my comment.
Ashael gave her a level look. “Most spells die with their caster, so kill the witch that hexed Cat, and that should do it. I warn you, though: a witch powerful enough to channel sea-god magic won’t die easily, and my race has a truce with other gods, so I can’t help you. The sea goddess would consider my killing her acolytes a violation of that truce. But vampires and humans have no such truce, so as long as you offer the sea goddess a substitutional sacrifice, she shouldn’t avenge her acolytes if you kill them to break the spells.”
Really? That was some bullshit.
“Bad goddess,” I said.
Denise didn’t seem to care about the sea goddess’s refusal to avenge her acolytes. “How do we find the witch who hexed Cat in order to kill her?”
I waved my arms. “I know this one! The same way they tracked me, through the magic in their spell. Right?”
Ashael inclined his head. “That, I could do for you, but aside from that, and from leaving you more of my blood to stave off Cat’s immobility spell, I must remain out of this.”
“You’ve already done so much,” Denise said, touching his shoulder. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
Ashael’s smile was half sardonic, half wistful. “You already did when you and your husband claimed me as family last year. You both had reason to hate demons, and Veritas had only demanded you show me respect, yet you called me family while expecting nothing in return.” He touched the hand she’d placed on his shoulder. “You don’t
know how rare that is, but I do.”
“I meant it,” Denise said softly.
He gave her hand a light squeeze. “I know. It’s why I came at once when you called.”
“Aww,” I said, coming over to them. “So sweet. Group hug!”
Denise let me hug her, but Ashael teleported away right as I got close enough to snap my fangs at his neck.
“Too slow,” he said, laughing as I cursed him in frustration. “And too obvious. You need to be much stealthier if you’re trying to steal some of my blood.”
Denise gave me a cagey look, and then turned to Ashael. “How long before your blood stops giving her immunity from the immobilization spell?”
He rubbed his jaw. “A few hours, probably. That’s why I’ll leave more blood for you. She’ll need it so you can get her somewhere safe before you go after the witch who hexed her and, by extension, you.”
“Denise isn’t doing that alone,” I protested.
Ashael’s brows rose. “You think you can help her in your condition?”
“Fuck yeah,” I said, incensed at the scorn in his voice.
“Cat.” Denise’s carefully neutral tone made me swing around to stare at her. “Maybe it’s better if you sit this one out.”
She didn’t think I could help either? Doubt frothed up, covering my anger. Were they right?
Was I…useless again?
Fuck that! “Come at me,” I said to Ashael, decision made. “No demon tricks. You’ll play the evil vampire witch, I’ll be me, and if you stop me from skewering you through the heart with silver, I’ll stay behind.”
Ashael sighed. “You can’t fight. You can barely stand—”
“Then this won’t take long.” I waved at him in the universal gesture for ‘bring it on.’
Ashael just stood there and stared at me.
“Lazy demon,” I muttered, and charged him.
He sidestepped with an ease that made me so angry, I didn’t notice the wall until I hit it. Then, a smack on the back of my head gave me another face full of plaster. When I spun around, Ashael was studying his nails as if his swat hadn’t given me a second face plant into the now-dented wall.
