by Noree Cosper
“Whatever. You do what you need to. I’ll just be here, killing demons.”
“Next time, let me know if you’re in the area.”
“Not like I knew you were here either.” She wrapped the tape around the ankles of the body and stood up.
“Do you need any help?” I asked.
“Nah, I got a special place for this one.”
I turned and marched to the street. I paused and glanced back as Marge hefted the body back on her shoulder and headed deeper into the alley.
There had been a lot of demons still in New York these past few weeks. The street drug Blasphemy had spread pretty quickly, but since we’d killed Cambione, the dealer passing it out, it had dried up. Yet, the demons were still in the city. Why hadn’t they left yet?
A queasy feeling stirred in my stomach. Between the demons and the mind meddling surrounding Esais, my nerves were set on edge.
Something was building in the city, like the pressure in a geyser about to burst. I wasn’t sure how much of New York would be left when it exploded.
Chapter 7
Two days passed since my failed attempt to capture a demon. I hadn’t had any luck in finding another demon, much less Faust, but that would change today. Lucy had texted me an hour ago, telling me to meet her in the library of the office. I bounded up the stairs of the office. My heart raced as I opened the door that led from the stairs to the second floor.
Music and singing met my ears, and I paused. Two male voices were belting out the dangers of playing with the old Egyptian gods. It had to be a stereo or television, judging from the canned quality of the sound. I blinked and walked down the hall to the library itself which took up half of the second floor.
Bookshelves that came to my shoulders covered every available wall space and were filled with books on different supernatural creatures and magical lore. This had been Esais’s pet project as he had spent months tracking down the different books. Some were even first editions he had imported from his family home in Romania. In the center of the library stood several tables with four chairs each.
A television rested on the end of one of the tables. Crowded around the other end in chairs taken from various part of the office sat Esais, Irae, and Aaron, of all people, with a large bowl of popcorn in front of them. Viktor sat beside Esais, but a few feet away from the huddled group. The distance between them was like a gulf. Viktor’s back was straight and his shoulders were stiff as he glanced at Irae and Aaron with furrowed eyebrows. Lucy lounged on a table behind them with one booted foot swinging, licking butter from her fingers as she devoured her own bowl of popcorn.
My stomach growled at the buttery scent wafting in the air. Had I eaten today? I shook my head. Wasn’t important now. I glanced at Aaron with a raised eyebrow as I walked towards Lucy. What was he even doing here?
On the television, two cartoon men faced off with each other. One was dressed in a modern depiction of a Pharaoh’s garb while the other was dressed in colorful, but simple robes.
Lucy looked up from the movie and grinned at me. “Hey, dearie.”
I narrowed my eyes at her and crossed my arms. “You need to answer your phone more. I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for days.”
“I was busy,” she shrugged. “I texted today.”
“Busy with what?” I asked. “What is more important than the demons running around the city?”
“Shhh!” Irae turned her head, her icy blue eyes boring into Lucy and me.
Lucy scrunched her nose at Irae and stuck her tongue out. She made a circling motion for Irae to turn around. Irae’s eyes narrowed at her in a look like she wanted to hurt Lucy in the worst way possible.
“It’s just a movie,” I said to Irae with a raised eyebrow. I grabbed Lucy’s hand and whispered to her. “Can we talk somewhere else?”
She glanced at the movie and nodded with a sigh. She hopped off the table and sauntered to the hall, carrying her bowl of popcorn. I followed her as a chorus of voices began to chant about sending God’s scourge and Plagues upon Egypt. An icy torch brushed across my mind.
Visions of the patrols and hunts I’d been on over the past month passed before my eyes. Something was thumbing through my memories again. I shuddered as goosebumps ran up my spine and glanced at Esais. His gaze remained focused on the movie as he sat back in his chair. He glanced at Viktor and squeezed his hand. Viktor’s gaze darted to him, and he seemed to relax with a smile.
I rubbed my temples, turning to Lucy and the stairwell. I followed her up the steps to the third floor where she went to one of the empty bedrooms and flopped on the bed. Though everyone had their own homes around the city, we’d put these rooms in for the nights when we had to sleep at the office. They were little more than a single bed and a nightstand with a lamp.
Classic rock drifted from Adrian’s workshop down the hall. Most likely, he was trying to avoid the growing crowd that seemed to attach itself to the office.
“Why is Aaron here?” I asked.
Lucy shrugged. “Esais seems to have taken a liking to him. Weird since he doesn’t seem like Esais’s type. Not like Viktor.”
“Beyond weird. I thought Esais was supposed to lead him away from here, not invite him in,” I said.
“That was the plan.” Adrian stepped into the room and leaned against the doorframe.
I allowed my gaze to travel over his tight-fitting t-shirt before meeting his gaze. “How can you hear anything over that music?”
He smirked at me. Was it because of my gaze or words? “I monitor all activity on this floor, especially with our growing list of freeloaders.”
I breathed out a small laugh and rubbed the bridge of my nose. “So, what changed with Aaron? I thought he was supposed to be investigating us.”
“Esais took care of that part, but he invited him back.” Adrian’s mouth thinned into a straight line. “It turns out that Aaron is a nephilim, as well. Convenient.”
I glanced at Lucy. “So, that up there was what? nephilim bonding time?”
Lucy was a nephilim as well an accomplished fortune teller. However, her power wasn’t the ability to see the future. She’d learned the art of telling the future over her long lifetime. Her actual power was more fitting in a fight. Lucy’s regenerative ability made her almost impossible to kill, though she used it to consume copious amounts of drugs and alcohol more than hunting.
Lucy smiled. “Yeah, Esais said he wanted me to meet the newbies. They’re kind of boring though. I suggested we go out club hopping. I got some weird fire and brimstone lecture from the chick… Iris?”
“Irae,” I said.
“Whatever,” she said. “I think she has a problem with me being a hell side nephilim.”
Lucy’s aura showed two red glittering horns semi-imposed on her head. Irae must have taken that to mean she wasn’t angelic-born. However, it never changed Lucy’s intent to fight the forces of Hell or any other evil that rose.
“Is that why you were acting childish towards her?” I asked.
“She’s a stick in the mud.” Lucy shrugged. “Anyway, no club. So, we ended up with Prince of Egypt.”
I raised a brow.
Lucy sighed and gestured to the floor. “The movie. I swear, Gabby, you really need to catch up on pop culture.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I have better things to do than watching cartoons. Like catching Faust. You said you had some information for me?”
“Oh, yeah.” Lucy pulled out a folded piece of paper from the pocket of her skirt and handed it to me.
I straightened it out and looked down at a printed map of the Midwood area. 327 Florence St. was scrawled at the bottom in Lucy’s loopy handwriting. That was over an hour away if I took the subway. My heartbeat sped up as I gripped the paper.
“You’re sure it’s him?” I asked.
“That’s what the dousing told me,” she said. “I looked right before I came over. So, hopefully he hasn’t moved on.”
“Excellent.” I pocketed t
he paper and adjusted my sword. “In case I don’t catch him, be sure to answer my calls.”
“Sure, whatever,” Lucy said and hopped up. “Well, I think I’m done with the whole bonding thing. Night’s still young… and I can find a hot, young thing.”
She kissed Adrian on the cheek and flounced out of the room, humming a rock song on her way down the hall.
Adrian studied me. “You’re going after Faust tonight?”
“That’s the plan,” I said.
“He’s dangerous.”
“So am I.”
“Let me grab my equipment and I’ll go with you.” He started down the hall towards his workshop.
I followed him. “I’m older than all of you combined. I don’t need a chaperone.”
He glanced back at me with a hint of a smile. “I’m aware. Actually, I have a few questions for Faust about his work with Raina’s company.”
Oh.
Raina Benson had been a vampire who had been working on spreading brimstone through the vampire-controlled company she worked for. Apparently, she and Adrian had had a thing as well. I didn’t have a problem with him going. That meant I didn’t have to deal with the cramped subway. I shuddered at the thought of bodies pressed together.
“All right,” I said. “I’ll meet you by your van in fifteen minutes?”
“Make it ten,” he called as he stepped through the door of his workshop.
I raced down the stairs with my blood singing in my veins. Tonight, a demon would die. I hoped it would be Faust.
Chapter 8
Adrian parked in the alley next to the apartment with the address Lucy had given us. I stared up at the brown brick building with a maze of metal fire escape railings and ladders.
“Are we going in the back or front way?” I asked.
Adrian’s gaze followed the direction of mine. “We should probably go both to prevent any means of escape. What floor is he on?”
I glanced at the address. “Looks like the fourth.”
He patted me on the shoulder. “Not much of a climb for you.”
I snorted. “I’m taking the back then?”
“I don’t have a problem with elevators.”
“Fine.”
I climbed out of the van and checked my gear. Along with my sword, I carried the two Kali sticks on my back and my belt of tools.
Adrian came around to the back of the van and pulled out a long pole with a hook on the end. He walked over and stood under the lowest platform of the fire escape. Clanging filled the alleyway and he reached up and fiddle with the raised ladder with the pole. After a few moments, the ladder descended with a metal rattle.
He tossed the pole in the back of the van and glanced at me. “You have your earpiece?”
I tapped my cheek beside my right ear. “All ready.”
“I’ll let you know when I’m in position,” he said.
I approached the ladder and began my climb. It was a repeat of climb, walk along the platform, and then more climbing. At least it wasn’t the tight space of that death box Adrian was riding. By the time I reached the fourth-floor platform, I was panting. Sweat had started to congeal on my brow from the cold winter air. Two windows led into the apartment from the platform of the fire escape.
I crouched next to the right window and tested it. It raised a few feet with the scrape of wood on wood then stopped. That was as far as it would go. I’d have to wiggle through when Adrian gave me the signal.
“I’m in position,” Adrian’s voice whispered in my ear.
“Me too.” I tilted my head and gazed inside. “I’m seeing a living room connected to an open kitchen. Empty.”
“Good entry point,” he said. “I’ll meet you inside.”
I slid through the window and turned to the room, pulling my sword from its sheath. A black couch and love seat crowded the small living room, their shiny surfaces seeming out of place on the scuffed wooden floor. From the rich scent of leather, both were new additions. Our demon must have felt like upgrading.
The lock from the front door clicked and Adrian stepped into the room with a gun in hand. It wasn’t his usual gun, the one that looked like something out of a seventies science fiction movie. This one looked more like a modern day handgun, with an angular black handle and a narrow barrel.
Adrian scanned the open room and nodded to the door to my left. It had to be the bedroom. I crept forward and rested my hand on the handle. My pulse raced, and a fluttering sensation filled my stomach. This was it. If all went well, Faust would be dead. My hand clenched around my sword. With a deep breath, I swung the door open.
The earthy scent of sex hit me first. A man lounged on a pile of rumpled sheets completely nude. He lay on his stomach to accommodate for the pair of leathery black wings that sprouted from his back. Two tiny black horns curved up from his forehead. A lock of his pale blond hair fell over one red eye as he glanced up at me and a seductive smile curled on his lips. A wave of heat rushed through me, starting with my loins.
Oh, hell, an incubus.
My arms dropped to my sides, and my hand loosened around my sword hilt. My face flushed and my breath came in short paths as images of me on the bed with my lips locked with this man’s filled my mind. I took a step into the room.
No!
What kind of demon hunter was I to fall for lust? Still, I could feel that familiar tingle. How long had it been since John? A month?
“So pretty,” the incubus whispered. “I didn’t know this fair city delivered such delectable snacks. Much better than the last one.”
His glance traveled to the floor on one side of the bed. From my angle, a delicate white hand poked out. That sight sent a different kind of heat through me. Anger.
I narrowed my eyes at the incubus. “It’s over, Faust. I’ve finally found you.”
“Faust?” Confusion clouded his face and he tilted his head. His laugh sent a delicious shiver up my spine. “Oh, no. I’m not him. You came to the wrong house, but stay. I need someone new to warm my bed.”
The desire hit me heavier than last time. The world took on an odd haze. My sword dropped from my hand as I took a step forward… and then another.
A hand gripped my shoulder and yanked me back. Adrian moved in front of me and pulled the trigger of his gun.
It made a soft whoosh of air. A dart appeared in the shoulder of the incubus. He looked down with surprise, and then a laugh erupted from his lips. He pulled the dart from his chest.
“Was this supposed to wound me?”
Adrian glanced at me as he loaded another dart. “Get ahold of yourself.”
He raised the gun again and shot another dart. This one stuck in the incubus’s arm. With a snarl, the demon climbed to his knees and shuffled towards the edge of the bed.
I backed up until I stood in the doorway on the living room side. What was wrong with me? I’d dealt with incubi before and didn’t have this much trouble. I took several deep breaths, trying to fight the warring emotions of lust and anger inside me. I needed a clear head to deal with this.
The incubus stood and staggered forward. His skin has taken a grayish pallor and sweat had started to bead on his forehead. He looked at Adrian with wide eyes. He made a move as if to rush at Adrian, who had his gun raised for another shot. The demon stumbled and hit the ground with an anguished-filled groan. He clawed at the floor as tremors wracked through his body.
The heat of lust subsided within me though the anger remained. I was fine with that. That anger was all me. I walked back into the room and stared down at the writhing incubus. I’d seen the same reaction when demons were injected with holy water. A small dose would cause the demon to sicken for a short time. I tended to use it to weaken them enough to kill the demon with my sword.
“Holy water darts?” I asked Adrian.
He nodded.
“Where did you come up with that idea?”
“I read about you poisoning a lamia when you first met my grandfather.”
I
blinked at him.
“Contrary to what you believe, I do research the old journals of my family.”
“Now,” I said. “You had to learn a few things.”
I stared down at the unconscious incubus and a small pop echoed in my head as I shifted to my spirit sight. In this view, the leathery black skin covered the incubus as he wrapped his arms around the soul of the human he possessed. The humans’ face held a look of ecstasy as he was being pulled into the incubus.
“It’s not Faust.” I gritted my teeth as disappointment filled me. “Lucy got it wrong again.”
Adrian sighed and pulled out a set of cuffs. “Well, at least we have a demon for Jonah.”
I kicked the door frame. “She keeps getting this wrong.”
“Didn’t you say that Faust could possess multiple demons at once?”
“He puts a bit of his essence in them, so it makes them his. But there was nothing of him in there.”
John’s face flashed in my mind. Had he been possessed by Faust the whole time I’d known him? A lump formed in my throat at the thought. Adrian’s action of rolling the incubus over and locking the cuffs over its wrists seemed to slow to a crawl. And the room started to spin. I backed to the wall and rested my head against it. I couldn’t think about John now. Once I found Faust, I would ask him. Then, I would kill him.
“Perhaps he’s jumping around.” Adrian’s voice broke through my thought and the world cleared.
I waved down at the demon. “Look at him. Obviously, he’s used brimstone. That binds the demon and human together. Even they can’t get out. There should be something on Faust there.”
“Are you certain? Faust has a unique ability. How do we know that brimstone would affect him the same way?”
“Good point.” I sighed. “I guess I’m going to have to get with Lucy and come up with a new tactic to find him.”
“Getting Lucy to work on tactics will be a feat.” Adrian stood. “All right. We should be able to carry him down the fire escape to the van so we don’t run into anyone.”
