The Demon You Know

by Christine Warren

  “Right, because all my life men have been falling in love with me for my keen intellect.”

  “Abby, no offense, ’cause you know I love you, but all your life, your taste in men has pretty well sucked. When you’ve even bothered to date.”

  “Why do you think I do that so rarely? Men aren’t exactly lined up at my front door.”

  “How would you know? You barely ever open it. This stuff about you being unattractive . . . these are not rational thoughts.”

  She bit off a laugh. “What about this situation is rational?”

  “More than is irrational. Look, I know I’ve had longer to deal with the supernatural thing than you have, and I’m sorry about that, but I think it’s time to forget about being freaked out by reality and find a way to deal with it.”

  “Trust me, I’m open to suggestions.”

  Noah rested his hand on her foot and squeezed through the blanket. “First off, I’d suggest you stop fighting things so hard. It’s obvious to everyone but you that Rule is pretty much crazy about you, so I think you can stop thinking it’s Stockholm or boredom or a lack of attraction that makes his tongue hang out every time you walk into a room.”

  Abby couldn’t help the surge of pleased warmth that filled her at hearing that. “Yeah?”

  Her brother rolled his eyes. “Honestly, Ab, have you considered therapy for these hang-ups of yours?”

  Helplessly, she laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.” She poked him with her foot. “You think sex therapy would help?”

  “Don’t be gross. That’s my little sister you’re talking about.” He pushed her foot away playfully. “I also suggest you stop tying yourself up in knots like this. I like Rule. I think he’s a good guy, and I think you’re the only person in the known universe who hasn’t noticed that in his eyes, you’re like Helen of Troy and Venus Aphrodite and Miss Universe all rolled into one.”

  Abby remembered the look on Rule’s face when he’d first fit himself against her body, remembered the heat and the unexpected tenderness in his gaze, and felt a flicker of hope and possibility spark in her belly. She smiled. “Thanks, No.”

  He grinned. “That doesn’t mean I ever again want to walk into a room with you two and find you half naked with him, but if you’re going to have to get mixed up with anyone, at least you’re showing some good judgment. I know Rule will take care of you.”

  “I’m not half naked,” Abby protested, managing a half-smile of her own. “I’m covered from head to foot.”

  “You’re not wearing pants, Abigail. That counts as half naked. I don’t care if you’re covered in pixie dust and moonbeams.”

  “Pixie dust and moonbeams? Sounds kinky.”

  “Shut up, Ab.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Rule strode directly from Rafe’s office to Graham’s, and with every step he took, a strange sense of foreboding began to fill him. By the time he stepped into Graham’s office and saw who was waiting for him, he felt not even a twinge of surprise.

  “Good evening, sir.” Rule shut the door behind him and waited to be acknowledged.

  The figure on the side of the room was just as large as Noah had judged, a tall, burly-looking man with thick arms, dark copper skin, and improbably bright red hair.

  “Rule.” The prime minister of the Parliament of Below turned away from the window he’d been gazing out of and fixed his Watchman with a dark stare. “I had expected to hear word of your progress well before this. Where is Louamides?”

  Rule’s jaw flexed and his spine straightened, but he didn’t blink. “He has been located, but I have not been able to find Uzkiel. I am certain he must be somewhere in this city, but so far he has eluded me.”

  “Not surprising. Uzkiel and his minions have been eluding the Watch since before you were born, Arulnagal.”

  Rule flinched at the use of his real name, but he masked it well. The full names of demons had power; that much of the human folklore was correct. A name could be used as a summoning, or a name could be the component in a curse. Either way, few demons cared to share their names casually. Only three beings knew Rule’s full name: Prime Minister Bal; Rule’s mentor in the Watch, Kurien; and Rule himself. All others who had known it were dead. It was Bal’s way of reminding Rule of his authority.

  “I believe I am getting closer, Prime Minister Bal,” he said calmly. “I am certain I will have him in just a few more days.”

  “If you tell me this, I will not doubt you,” the ancient demon said, “but we cannot take any chances in these matters. If you have located Louamides, you will bring him to me so that I can return him to the Below. He will stand trial before the Parliament and be sentenced to a suitable punishment. If you wish, you may remain here and continue to search for Uzkiel.”

  Rule felt his jaw clench. “I’m afraid that isn’t possible, Prime Minister.”

  Bal stared hard at him. “Why should it be impossible, Arulnagal? You have the fiend, and I have the authority. You will turn it over to me.”

  “With all due respect, I cannot do it, sir.” Rule stood his ground and sent up a fervent wish that the gamble he was about to take would pay off. “The fiend is currently trapped inside a human and cannot be exorcised. It cannot be returned Below in its present state.”

  Bal waved a hand. “Humans are expendable. One will not be missed.”

  “I’m afraid I cannot agree with you.”

  The door opened and Rafe strode in from the hallway, looking characteristically elegant and nonchalant. Before the door swung shut behind him, Rule caught a glimpse of Tess standing in the hallway. It looked as if she was shooing her husband into the room.

  “I requested a private meeting.” Bal scowled. “I have not given leave to any interruptions.”

  “Ah, but I have not given leave for your visit,” Rafe said, his tone mild, his expression easy, and his meaning clear as glass. “It is considered polite, and in observance of all current treaties, that a visitor from another realm present himself to local authorities before completing his business.”

  “I do not intend to stay long. There is little time for formalities.”

  “There is always time for formalities. They make life so much more . . . lasting, don’t you think?”

  In that moment, neither Rule nor Bal had any doubt that the Felix head of the Council of Others had lethally sharp claws of his own.

  Bal gave an abrupt nod. “I will be leaving momentarily. Please convey my regards to the proper authorities.”

  “There is no need. I am the authorities.” Rafe’s smile was charming and sharper than steel. “Rafael De Santos, head of the Council of Others and Felix of the City of New York. At your service, of course.”

  Bal nodded again. “I am Bal of Infernium, prime minister of the Parliament of the Below. I merely came to discuss with my Watchman the progress he has made in his current assignment.”

  “I informed the prime minister that while Louamides has been located, we have not had such luck in finding Uzkiel,” Rule explained.

  “Ah, yes. Most unfortunate. But I have every confidence in your abilities, Rule. As, I’m sure, does your prime minister.”

  The redheaded demon puffed out his chest and scowled. “No one doubts . . . Rule’s abilities, but the situation is most grave. While Louamides is in possession of the solus spell, it presents a danger we cannot ignore. The spell must be destroyed.”

  “I understand your concern, but I admit to a certain innate curiosity.” Rafe flashed a very white, very toothy smile. “It is in my nature. And I have had my wife do some research on this spell. What she has found has proved to be most interesting.”

  This was the first Rule had heard of Tess’s investigation. He’d known Rafe had been trying to gather more information on the spell and on Uzkiel in hopes of leading them to the fiend’s hiding place, but the Felix hadn’t mentioned any discoveries.

  “From what my wife tells me,” Rafe continued, “there are only two ways to destroy this spell. One is t
o cast it.”

  Bal didn’t react, just watched Rafe through un-blinking black eyes.

  “The unfortunate thing is that casting the spell also destroys the caster. Rather inconvenient, wouldn’t you agree?”

  “And what is the other way?”

  Rule suspected Bal wouldn’t like the answer to his question, but he had to ask it.

  “To kill the one who knows it.” Rafe turned his gaze on Rule, and beneath the urbane façade the demon could see a powerful swell of anger. “Destructive little bit of magic.”

  Rule’s gut clenched, and he nodded abruptly. “So it would seem.”

  “And I haven’t even told you the best part,” Rafe continued, his mouth curving in a feral smile. “The spell has one other nasty little surprise that the fiend Louamides failed to tell us. Anyone who teaches the spell to another will also die. A sort of magical sowing the fields with salt, as it were.”

  That time it wasn’t Rule’s gut clenching. It was his heart. In his mind he heard the echo of Lou’s words telling him the spell would kill it if it gave it to Uzkiel. Rule hadn’t understood what that meant at the time. Now he did. The solus spell was like a time bomb lurking inside Abby, just waiting to be set off. When he’d called it a Doomsday device, he’d been right. No wonder the spell had been hidden and forgotten after the wars.

  “Yes, you see how destructive it is,” Bal said. “That is why it is so important that it be returned Below where our people can develop a way to disarm it.”

  “Not while the spell is hidden inside the human. I will not risk her life over this.”

  “Her? Louamides and the spell are concealed inside a human woman?” Bal snorted. “What more proof do you need that the hiding place is expendable? One human woman will not be missed. Let me take her to the Parliament and have done with it.”

  Rule felt a growl beginning to vibrate low in his chest. Rafe sent him a warning glare.

  “No. In my city, no humans are expendable,” the Felix said. “We are on the verge of war with the humans as it is. I will not add this girl’s disappearance to the tally of our sins.”

  The prime minister’s mouth curled in a sneer. “So the tales are accurate. You have gone and revealed yourselves to the humans. It’s disgraceful. And no good will come of it, mark my words.”

  “You are not the first to speak them, and you are not the last I will ignore. This is not your world, and your opinion holds no weight here. But this is not at issue. The woman is, and she remains under my protection.”

  “This is none of your concern, mortal.” Bal’s voice held a clear warning. “Do not meddle in the affairs of the Below.”

  Rafe arched a dark brow. “At the moment, you are here in the Above, and in this world, my word is law. She stays. You, however, are invited to take your leave at the earliest possible opportunity.”

  “I am not accustomed to being denied.”

  “Think of it as a learning experience.” Rafe reached behind him to open the office door. Looking out, he beckoned to a Lupine security guard stationed in the hall. “Evan, the prime minister was just leaving. Please escort him to the gate outside the Council chambers and see that he gets off safely.”

  “Yes, Mr. De Santos.” The guard stepped into the office and attached himself to Bal’s side without so much as a blink.

  The demon snarled. “I suggest, De Santos, that when Uzkiel seizes the girl and the spell, you not come begging to the Parliament for aid. You will find we have long memories.”

  “And you will find that I never beg.”

  With a parting glare, Bal stormed out of the office and down the hallway with the guard a silent, steady presence at his heels.

  When the pair disappeared through the doorway leading down into the cellars, Rule turned to the Felix and frowned. “Abby is in even worse danger than I thought. We have to find Uzkiel now. And I want her under twenty-four-hour guard until we find that fiend.”

  Rule knew he sounded dictatorial and paranoid, but he couldn’t seem to ignore the clenching that had begun in his gut when he’d listened to Bal suggest offering Abby up as a sort of sacrifice to the greater good. No good was great enough be worth the loss of her. He would do anything he needed to do to keep her safe.

  The knowledge of what that meant struck him with the power of a catapult blast. He fought to keep from listing to the side as the full weight of his concern for the mousy, ordinary, thoroughly beguiling human woman dropped on his heart.

  Graham had been right all along. Abby Baker had captured not just his reluctant attention, but his heart as well. She was the woman he would take to mate, the only one he could envision spending any stretch of eternity with.

  And spending eternity with her required that he keep her safe. At any cost. In fact, if he could help it, he planned to keep her within arm’s reach beginning now and ending never.

  Rafe smiled. “It’s a good thing I am such a mellow sort, or I might take offense at being given orders by a second demon in the space of a few short minutes.”

  “You know what they say about demons. We have no manners to speak of.”

  “I had heard that,” Rafe said conversationally as the two men stepped into the hall and headed toward the stairs. “But I didn’t really believe it until I saw the evidence with my own eyes.”

  “So what happened?” Tess demanded, falling into step beside them.

  “It was as we thought. The prime minister wanted to take Abby back Below with him.” Rafe tucked his wife’s hand into the crook of his arm and led the way upstairs.

  Rule noticed that on them the oddly old-fashioned gesture looked entirely natural.

  “I hope you told him where he could shove that idea.”

  Rafe laughed. “Not in so many words, my crude little darling, but I believe he understood the implication.”

  “Good. Imagine thinking we’d just let him take Abby away like that. I mean, how stupid can you get?”

  “He was right about one thing. Abby is not safe while Louamides and the spell remain inside her.”

  “I’m working on that,” Tess frowned, “but it’s tricky. Traditional exorcisms banish a fiend back to the Below or bind it to an inanimate object. If we cast Lou back Below, we’ll be in almost the same position as if we let that creep take Abby with him. And the solus spell can’t be cast into an object, so neither can a fiend who knows it.”

  “Keep working on it.” Rule reached the top of the stairs first and turned immediately toward Rafe’s office, the last place he’d seen Abby. “In the meantime, Noah and I will resume the hunt for Uzkiel. If he’s in this city, we’ll find him.”

  Tess nodded. “Don’t worry. I’m not a quitter. I’ve also asked a friend of mine, another witch, to whip up some mojo. She and her coven had a talent for finding lost things. It can’t hurt to have some extra eyes on the lookout.”

  “Fine. Let me know as soon as you hear anything.”

  He slipped into the office and shut the door firmly behind him. Outside, Tess and Rafe looked at the door, then looked at each other. They both heard the snip of the lock sliding home.

  “The demon has locked me out of my own office,” Rafe mused, half-smiling.

  Chuckling, Tess pressed herself against her husband’s side and nodded. “It’s getting late, and Gabriel will be ready for bed in a couple of hours. Once he’s asleep, I can show you that our bedroom is much more comfortable than your office.” She leaned close and pressed her lips to the side of his neck. “And it has an even better lock.”

  Rafe grinned. “Let’s go home and say good night to our son. After he takes his bath and hears his bedtime story, I know another story I would like to tell you.”

  “Ooh, I hope it has a happy ending,” Tess purred.

  “Of course.” Her mate grinned wickedly. “But this tale is definitely not suitable for children.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Abby stirred in the middle of the night and bumped up against something solid. It took a moment for her sle
ep-clouded mind to register that not only did the something belong there, but also she’d asked it to be there. Not that Rule had seemed at all inclined to say no. Still, it was the kind of thing a girl should remember, the first time she asks a man to spend the night with her. Especially since she’d fallen asleep with him still buried inside her, his heavy weight pressing her deep into the mattress. It had been a little tough to breathe, but what did that matter? He felt like home.

  He had eventually moved off of her and now lay sprawled on his stomach across the wide mattress, one arm draped across her body as if anchoring her to his side. Not that she had any desire to move. In fact, if she could have lived forever in this moment, lying in the dark beside Rule, listening to the rhythm of his breathing in the late-night silence, she would be perfectly content.

  She stared up into the darkness, her fingers instinctively stroking the velvet skin of her lover’s bare arm where it pressed her into the mattress. She knew the visit from the prime minister had upset Rule. Even his carefully edited version of their meeting told her that. By the time the men had emerged, she’d been too tired to ask the questions swirling around inside her head and had obediently let Rule lead her up to her temporary bedroom, but she hadn’t let him drop her at the door.

  He hadn’t struggled too hard.

  Abby smiled and shivered at the memories of his hands on her, as eager and urgent as if he hadn’t had her only a few hours before. She had always dreamed of the man who wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off of her, but she hadn’t expected to find him. She was hardly a femme fatale, after all, and shy, plain women with hang-ups about religion and her own attractiveness didn’t usually find the men beating down their doors. Heck, men didn’t even usually bother to stop by. They were too busy rushing over to the beautiful girls’ apartments.

  This time, though, the man hadn’t just stopped; he’d also lingered. Deliciously.