Speak of the Devil mk-4

by Jenna Black

  “Barbara, as Blair’s only living relative, is paying for her stay at the long-term care facility.” The grimness in Adam’s face told me just which facility he was talking about.

  “The Healing Circle.”

  Adam nodded to confirm my guess. The Healing Circle is possibly the best and biggest hospital-cum-long-term-care facility in the city. It’s also run by demons who tend to be loyal to Dougal, the would-be usurper of the demon throne.

  “Is it a coincidence, do you think?” I asked Adam, not sure what to think myself.

  “Hard to tell. On the one hand, it does seem like a pretty major coincidence that the PI hired to investigate you has any kind of tie to The Healing Circle. On the other hand, anyone who has a relative in the condition Blair is in would want that relative at The Healing Circle if they could afford it.”

  That was true. My own brother had spent a chunk of time there, catatonic after his demon had left his body. He was one of the lucky few who recovered.

  I frowned. “I don’t know what kind of money private investigators make, but is it enough to pay for that kind of care?”

  “I’d say that’s pretty iffy. Of course, if all her clients are like Maguire…”

  I nodded, not needing him to finish the thought. Maguire had more money than some small countries, and I doubted he would spare any expense in his little witch hunt. And that’s all this lawsuit was. Obviously, Maguire didn’t need more money, even if I’d had any.

  “So, have you had one of your little chats with Ms. Paget?” I asked. Adam is a real pro at the intimidation game. Not to mention other kinds of games that I don’t want to think about.

  To my surprise, he shook his head. “Considering that Maguire must be a real cash cow, I doubt I’d be able to get her to back off. And the fact that I’d tried would probably set off all kinds of warning bells in her head.”

  “So what you’re telling me is there’s basically nothing we can do about her?”

  “Pretty much.”

  Great. I was broke. I was unemployed. I was being sued. I was being followed and otherwise investigated. And through all this, I was supposed to help restore Lugh to his throne while his enemies made repeated attempts to kill us.

  I really needed to get a new life. Mine, frankly, sucked.

  CHAPTER 2

  I offered to make a pot of coffee, because caffeine is my drug of choice. I expected Adam to decline. We weren’t exactly bosom buddies, so when he accepted my offer, I knew there was something else he wanted to talk about. Knowing him, I wouldn’t like the subject, but I hoped it would be better than brooding about the lawsuit.

  My financial situation had reduced me to el-cheapo store-brand coffee instead of the freshly ground beans I much preferred. At least it still smelled good and packed the caffeine punch I needed. I brought two mugs of coffee to the table and handed one to Adam before taking my seat once more. I suppose it would have been more hostesslike to move this party into the living room, but somehow that seemed too… cozy.

  Adam regarded his mug suspiciously, then grimaced when he took a tentative sip. I took my own sip and had to admit, it was pretty bad. I’d made it extra strong, and that only served to enhance the bitterness.

  I shrugged as casually as I could manage. “You want gourmet coffee, stick with Dominic.”

  Dominic is Adam’s boyfriend. The two of them had been involved even before the court ordered Dominic’s demon, Saul, to be exorcized, but the relationship had only grown stronger since then. Dominic’s a really nice guy, and he’s also the best cook I’ve ever known. He’d been thinking of opening his own restaurant lately, and I really hoped he’d do it. I was sure the place would be the talk of the town.

  One corner of Adam’s mouth lifted in a grin. “I have every intention of sticking with Dominic, and it’s not because of the coffee. Or the food.”

  As usual, my cheeks heated with a blush. Like I said, Adam is into S&M, and Dominic is the M part of the equation. I wasn’t quite as horrified by it now as I had been when I’d first found out, but I wasn’t exactly comfortable with my knowledge, either. Adam loved watching me squirm when he made references to the kinkier side of his relationship with Dom.

  But apparently today he wanted more than just to see me squirm. “I have a proposition for you,” he said. “It won’t help you afford the gourmet stuff, but it might help you upgrade from this swill to bad coffee.”

  I had no idea what Adam was talking about, but I already knew my answer. “I’m not interested.”

  He laughed. “Nothing indecent,” he assured me. “I was just thinking that, considering your current situation, you might benefit from having someone to split the rent and groceries with.”

  I was so surprised I practically sloshed my coffee out of my cup. “You mean Saul, don’t you?”

  Saul had originally been Dominic’s demon. He’d been attacked by God’s Wrath, the most militant of the anti-demon hate groups, and although he’s one of those demons who finds pain fascinating enough to be pleasurable, the attack had been too much for him. He’d struck back. One of his attackers had died on the spot, and another had died in the hospital a few days later. The law is very strict where demon conduct is concerned. If a demon commits a violent crime, even in self-defense, he’s going to be exorcized. Adam had asked me to perform the exorcism, and it was the first time I’d ever felt bad about exorcizing a demon.

  Saul was also one of Lugh’s lieutenants, so when Lugh decided to set up his court on the Mortal Plain, he’d wanted to summon Saul back from the Demon Realm, where he’d been banished after the exorcism. Lugh had wanted Dominic to host Saul again, but Dom had refused the “privilege.” Although he and Saul had been close, Dom hadn’t been willing to give up what he had with Adam to host Saul once more.

  We’d found another host for Saul—Dick, a mentally challenged product of Dougal’s human breeding program. The poor guy had been raised since infancy to believe his only purpose in life was to host a demon, and so when I’d exorcized the bad-ass demon who’d possessed him, the majority of Lugh’s council agreed he’d be the perfect host for Saul. After all, he wouldn’t have much of a life on his own, what with his complete lack of social skills and his limited intelligence.

  Brian and I had been the sole holdouts. We both thought it immoral to take advantage of Dick’s childlike naiveté, but we’d been overruled.

  Adam’s jerky nod confirmed the identity of my would-be roommate.

  “Trouble in paradise?” I asked, and I couldn’t help the nasty edge that had slipped into my voice. I don’t think I was ever going to get over my disgust at Saul’s possession of poor Dick.

  Anger glinted in Adam’s eyes, but he answered mildly enough. “The three of us cannot continue living together indefinitely, and I’d be happy to foot the bill for his rent.”

  Saul had been staying with Adam and Dom ever since his return to the Mortal Plain, but I supposed it was an awkward arrangement. After all, Adam and Saul had been lovers once, but Adam had clearly chosen Dom over Saul.

  I shook my head. “You can’t seriously believe I’m willing to share my apartment with Saul.” True, Saul wasn’t to blame for the council’s decision to summon him into Dick, but far be it from me to be rational. I couldn’t help holding it against Saul, whether it was his fault or not.

  “You need the money, don’t you? Besides, it wouldn’t hurt for you and Lugh to have a bodyguard, and this would be a way to arrange it without it looking suspicious.”

  “I don’t need a bodyguard!” I protested, and felt a sense of déjà vu. This was beginning to sound like my argument with Brian.

  “Are you sure about that?”

  I didn’t answer, because, of course, I wasn’t sure. Unlike most demon hosts, I’ve retained full control of my body while being possessed. With some practice, and with the help of extenuating circumstances, I’d learned how to let Lugh take control, letting him use his demon strength and healing ability to defend me when necessary. However
, now that I’d finally learned to do it at will, I’d discovered that nothing comes without a price.

  I’d been sick as a dog for about three days after the last time I’d let Lugh take over. The experience left me less than anxious to let him in again, so in reality, a demon bodyguard wasn’t a bad idea at all. But talk about cramping my style!

  “Have you forgotten you’re not the only one who has a boyfriend?” I asked.

  Adam rolled his eyes. “I’m sure you could work something out if you wanted to.” The muscles in his jaw twitched, and his lips pressed tightly together. He was keeping his temper under control, but just barely.

  “You’re probably right, but I don’t want to.” Okay, I bought into both of Adam’s arguments—that I needed the money and that a bodyguard could be useful. But Saul was pretty much a complete stranger to me, and whether it was fair of me or not, I already had a pretty bad impression of him. How could I share my small, cramped apartment with the guy?

  I expected Adam to let go of the reins of his temper and yell at me. I’m a pro at bringing out the worst in him. But instead, he bowed his head and his shoulders slumped.

  “So you won’t do it for yourself,” he said, speaking to the tabletop instead of me, “and I know you won’t do it for me.” He raised his eyes to mine, and I could see how much this conversation was costing him. “Would you do it for Dominic?”

  I blinked in surprise. “For Dominic? Why is he having a problem with Saul? I thought the two of them were great friends.”

  Adam let out a mournful sigh. “As far as Dom’s concerned, they are. But I’ve known Saul a long time. I told you, we’ve been friends since we came to the Mortal Plain. And I can clearly see that what he feels for Dom is more than just friendship.”

  “Oh.” I couldn’t think of anything more to add.

  “Dom doesn’t seem to have picked up on it yet, but he will eventually. And when he does, things are going to get even more … awkward than they are now.”

  I shook my head. “So why doesn’t Saul get his own place?”

  “He will, but it’s going to take time. Remember, he’s a man with no identity. No Social Security number, no driver’s license, no ID … You get the idea. I’m working on fixing that, but in case you’ve forgotten, I’m a cop. If I don’t tread carefully, I’ll get myself into a hell of a lot of trouble.”

  I snorted. “Since when do you ‘tread carefully’? I can’t even begin to count the number of laws you’ve broken since I’ve known you.”

  He nodded. “In controlled circumstances, where I’m taking action myself. Not in circumstances where I have to rely on others to keep their mouths shut. I can’t manufacture an identity for Saul all by myself, but I have to be very, very careful who I approach. So it’s taking longer than I’d hoped.”

  I might not like Adam much, but I did like Dom, and I certainly didn’t want him to get stuck in the middle when he figured out that Saul wanted more than friendship. But despite all the rational arguments for why I should take him in, I just couldn’t do it.

  “Ask Andy,” I said, shaking my head. “He’s got a spare room in his apartment, and he’s not exactly raking in the bucks, either.”

  Andy is my brother. He has twice been the host for the demon Raphael, Lugh’s youngest brother—once voluntarily, and once very much not so. Recently, Raphael had released Andy by taking a new host. Both Andy and I were struggling with guilt, since we’d allowed Raphael to take over another, very much unwilling host. Andy had been reclusive and sullen ever since Raphael took his new host, so I wasn’t surprised when Adam told me he’d already asked and been refused.

  “I suppose I could ask Brian,” Adam said doubtfully. “But there’d be nothing in it for him, and he’s not as … involved as you are.”

  I sighed. “Give me a couple of days to think about it, okay?” I couldn’t believe those words were leaving my mouth, but it was too late to take them back.

  Adam echoed my sigh. “Thanks.”

  I opened my mouth to protest, but Adam held up his hand to stop me.

  “I know you haven’t agreed to anything,” he said. “I’m just thanking you for at least thinking about it.” He smiled, making the laugh lines around his eyes crinkle. “Why don’t you come over for dinner tonight? You can get acquainted with Saul a bit and get a good meal in your belly.” He pushed his mug away, having drunk at most two sips of the coffee. “And get some decent coffee in your system.”

  I had never yet found the will to refuse a home-cooked meal from Dominic, and today was no exception. My mouth started watering at the offer, and there was no way I could settle for ramen noodles with that kind of temptation.

  I hadn’t seen Saul since we’d summoned him to the Mortal Plain, a little more than a week ago. His host was a successful product of Dougal’s eugenics program in Houston—Dougal’s idea of success being a host with superhuman capabilities and the mental capacity of a turnip. The Houston facility had managed to breed an amazing ability into its lab-created hosts: the ability to shape-shift.

  No, I don’t mean these Houston hosts can turn into werewolves. But when a demon possesses one of these hosts, it can rearrange and restructure the host’s appearance. The bad guys had used this ability to change Dick into a replica of a human being they had murdered.

  I knew Saul had been working on changing his host’s appearance. It wouldn’t do for him to continue looking like Devon Brewster III, who, as far as the authorities knew, was on the loose somewhere with a rogue demon in residence. So when I knocked on Adam’s door and a complete stranger answered, my mind knew this had to be Saul. But my instinctive paranoia made me back hastily away anyway.

  Saul hadn’t gone for the stereotypical drop-dead gorgeous look of your standard demon host, but he wasn’t painful to look at, either. He had made himself both taller and leaner than Brewster, and banished the signs of middle age. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have put him somewhere in his late twenties. He’d squared off Brewster’s jaw, changed the color of his eyes from blue to hazel, accentuated his cheekbones, and given him a substantially larger nose. He’d also changed the salt-and-pepper hair to pure pepper, though that might have come from a bottle. All in all, I’d say there was nothing about him that even remotely resembled the previous appearance of his host.

  When I got over my moment of surprise, I blurted the first thing that came to mind. “Wow, that must have hurt.” When Raphael had moved out of my brother’s body, he, too, had taken one of the Houston superhosts who, not coincidentally, was Devon Brewster’s adopted son, Tommy. To demonstrate the abilities of this strain of superhost, Raphael had temporarily changed the shape of Tommy’s nose, and he’d made it clear just how much that small change had hurt.

  Saul grinned, an expression that reminded me of Adam. “Yes, it did,” he agreed, and I belatedly remembered that Saul really liked pain.

  Great. It looked like Saul had Adam’s taste for making me squirm. I willed myself not to blush, but my body never seems to obey my commands. I decided then and there that there was no way I was sharing my apartment with Saul.

  I pushed past him into Adam’s house, then frowned as I realized I still thought of this as Adam’s house when Dom lived here, too. But I had to admit that, except for in the kitchen, Dom hadn’t left much of a mark on the place. Of course, considering what his rat hole of a house in South Philly had looked like, that was probably a good thing.

  I breathed deeply, expecting to catch the scent of Dominic’s cooking, which usually filled the house. Instead, I caught a noseful of way-too-strong aftershave and sneezed three times in rapid succession.

  I glanced at Saul through watering eyes. “What did you do, bathe in the stuff?”

  His nostrils flared as he sniffed the air. He frowned, as if just noticing the overpowering fumes. “Too strong?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Uh, yeah.” I tried breathing through my mouth, but ended up tasting it in the back of my throat instead.

  Saul shrugged. �
��I’ve been without my human senses for a while. I suppose I’m overcompensating.”

  We must have been taking longer than expected to make our way into the kitchen, because Adam came looking for us. As soon as he got within about five feet of Saul, he recoiled.

  “Agh!” he said, his nose wrinkled in disgust. “Remind me never to let you borrow my aftershave again. Did you leave any for me, or did you use the whole bottle?”

  The stuff was so strong, I hadn’t even recognized it as Adam’s scent until he spoke. I’d always found the scent sexy on Adam, but Saul might have just ruined it for me forever.

  Saul gave him a chagrined look. “Morgan was just pointing out that I’d overdone it.” He sighed. “Guess I’ll go take another shower.”

  I saw that the ends of his hair were still damp. If the aftershave were even mildly bearable, I’d have told him I’d live with it. As it was, I couldn’t wait to get rid of him. Adam made a shooing motion with his hand, and Saul trudged to the stairs.

  The scent lingered after he was gone. I met Adam’s eyes, and he had no trouble reading my thoughts.

  “He’ll tone it down soon,” he said. “You can’t imagine what it’s like to experience physical sensations, even tastes and scents, when you first set foot on the Mortal Plain. He’ll overdo it for a little while, then he’ll start acting more like a normal person.”

  I regarded Adam skeptically. “Did you bathe in perfume when you first came to the Mortal Plain?”

  Adam’s frown told me the answer was no. He hastened to explain. “Okay, so Saul’s a bit of a hedonist. But once he gets reacclimated, it won’t be so bad.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Where is everybody?” Dominic called from the kitchen. “Dinner’s almost ready.”

  Adam made a sweeping gesture toward the kitchen. “I don’t know about you, but I have no inclination to wait for Saul before we start eating.”

  My nose was starting to recover from the shock, so I could take in the cooking smells, and my stomach grumbled its opinion. I was halfway to the kitchen before Adam finished talking.