Last Breath

by Debra Dunbar

  I knew that I wasn’t keeping up my end of the collaboration bargain. And although a crime was a crime, I hoped Tremelay would agree that stopping the four demons topped stopping Araziel.

  The detective paced in frustration. “Will there be any of these mages left to prosecute for Bethany Scarborough and the Dead Run murders or is the angel going to take care of this with his own, twisted, heavenly justice?”

  Well, that, too. I’m sure the higher ups in the police department were having a fit over all this. Riots and gang killings were bad enough; serial-killer mages and mass-murdering supernatural beings weren’t going to do much for Baltimore’s already tarnished public image.

  “There are plenty of other names on that list.” Eleven by my quick mental tally. I just needed to make sure Tremelay got to them first. How the heck was I going to rein in a vigilante angel? Although there had to be a reason he was leaving these dead guys in my parking space. One corpse, I could write off as a coincidence. Maybe the mage had found me through the guy at the magical shop and was coming to talk to me as Gryla had, then just happened to have been killed here. But I doubted five guys individually were milling about my parking space when the angel tracked them down.

  Why me? I glanced down at the illusion of vomit I’d put in my space to ensure visitors didn’t park there. One of the dead guys was half in it, and the police seemed to be giving the fake puke just as much respect as they were the bodies. It was my magic, stamped with an energy signature that would identify me as the mage to anyone who knew enough of the arts to successfully do an identification spell. It was a high-level spell, and tricky, with lots of false readings. But an angel might not find such a thing difficult.

  I’d marked this space as mine through my magic. The angel had to be making some sort of contact here. It was a start. It was an opening I could use to perhaps sway the angel into stopping these killings and letting us humans handle justice ourselves.

  “Look, I really want to concentrate on bringing this angel in and stopping him, but I need to prioritize. And four demons on a killing spree come first.”

  “But they’re all after the same guys. The angel and four demons are all killing our murder suspects. Can’t you stop them all at once, like a mass banishing or something?”

  I wish. “You can’t really banish angels. Let me take care of the demons first. The angel…” I looked down at the dead bodies all lined up in my parking space. There was something I was missing here, something that my sleep-deprived brain wasn’t registering. “I’m gonna try something tomorrow and see if I can get the angel to come see me. A sort of parlay.”

  The police cars and obvious activity had drawn quite a crowd in spite of the early morning hour. It was still dark, but people clustered under the streetlights, watching. Some looked like they’d just gotten off third shift work, others heading out for an early job. There were some partygoers who were wild-haired and bleary-eyed. Were any of them Fiore Noir mages, come to see what had happened to their colleagues? Were any of them demons possessing a human to keep from being detected? I doubted any were Araziel. An angel would have no need for stealth, no fear of anything.

  Which made me wonder, where was Araziel? Did he manifest in a human form, or was he whizzing around like a breeze or like the lightning strike at the park right before Ronald Stull had been killed? How the heck was I going to find him?

  Probably the same way I was going to call the four demons. Summoning. Although I was hoping Dad would have some added information for me—information that he might be willing to part with over the phone since I didn’t have time for the obligatory face-to-face visit. Four demons and an angel, plus the eleven members of Fiore Noir that remained among the living, and this mysterious “stranger” with his soul trap and a grudge against three Haul Du mages. I had a lot of work to do and a shift at the coffee shop in six hours.

  “Do you need anything else from me?” I asked Tremelay. A few more hours of research with Raven, some sleep, work, a quick phone call, then we’d start banishing. Hopefully neither of us would get killed.

  “No. I’ll swing by your work later today if anything comes up.” The detective waved a hand at my very full parking spot. “We’ll need to rope this off. Hope you’ve got somewhere else to park for the next day or so.”

  I didn’t, aside from finding a space on the street.

  Crap. I hadn’t just forgotten about the dead guy, I’d forgotten to move my car. And sure enough when I looked a few spots over to where I’d left it, I found a Hyundai instead of my old Toyota Camry.

  Great. I was demon marked. I had four demons, an angel, and a group of black magic mages to deal with. I had to work in six hours. And my car had been towed.

  Chapter 26

  RAVEN SNAPPED A book shut and slid it onto the coffee table before rubbing her eyes. “Well, the good news is that Dalgas, Gi’nar, and Pinen all report to Mansi.”

  I didn’t get how that was good news, so I just blinked and waited for her to continue.

  “Balsur said the marked guy was one of Mansi’s, so I’m going to put my money on the others riding across the veil on his mark as opposed to having their own marked human gateway from hell.”

  I was exhausted, but not so much that I missed the impact of her statement. “They can do that? So a high level demon, like Balsur, can bring a legion or two of his demons over on the strength of the mark he’s placed on me?”

  “I hope not. It’s a mathematical formula based on the level of the demon, the strength of the mark, and the influence of the human on the veil. And don’t ask, because I have no idea what the formula is. That was lost hundreds of years ago. It’s probably in a book locked up somewhere in your Temple or something.”

  Raven was sounding grumpy, but my heart jumped with excitement at the thought. I’d love to get my hands on that formula. If Dad had it somewhere I’d be set. If not… well, I wouldn’t be allowed inside the Temple without first taking my Oath of Knighthood.

  “Okay, let’s hope Balsur isn’t planning on an invasion or anything and think about Mansi instead. How does that work? If a demon gets a free ride across the veil on the strength of his mark, and drags three with him, does that mean we only have to banish Mansi?”

  Raven shrugged. “In theory. You’ve got more pull with the man upstairs than I do, so maybe you should start praying, because it’s going to be hard enough to banish Mansi. If we have to get rid of three more demons after that—demons who will know we’re on their trail and coming for them—we’re screwed. Royally screwed.”

  My mind felt like it was full of mashed potatoes. I desperately needed sleep, but knew it would evade me if I didn’t get this off my mind. “Do we need to summon and hold all four? I’m assuming if we don’t, the other three will attack us while we have Mansi in the circle.”

  Raven ran a hand through her hair. “Fuck. Fuck. You’re right. After tonight’s fiasco with that Balsur, I’m not sure I can hold that many in the circle. And if your Templar banishment is on the fritz…”

  Yeah. That. “I spoke to Gryla this evening and she pledge to bring as many Fiore Noir mages as she can round up to help.”

  Raven glared at me. “I’ll risk myself to save these assholes from death-by-demons because I don’t like the idea of innocents dying, but I’m not standing beside them in a ritual. Not.”

  “We can’t do it ourselves. No one at Haul Du would help us, you know that. Fiore Noir is getting slaughtered out there. They’ll help, and right now we need all the help we can get.”

  Raven made a low growl noise and threw up her hands. “Fine. You’re right. We need more than two mages to do this. They might not be experienced, but they’re highly motivated. I’m warning you now that if Mansi or any of his cronies get out, I’m using the Fiore Noir mages as a human shield.”

  Fair enough. “They’ll be here just before midnight. Can you make sure you’re here early enough to help get set up?”

  “Sure.” Raven ran a hand through her crimson-tip
ped hair. “You do know that your detective friend will want the mages turned over to him. Are you planning on having him wait outside the door to grab them after the ritual? How are you going to make a deal with these mages to banish the demons, then flip them over to the cops? Isn’t that a bit double-crossy?”

  I winced. She was right. “He just wants them for questioning and he’s already spoken to a few of them. I don’t think he has anything yet he can really arrest them on.”

  Raven’s glare pinned me in place. “And you’ll tell them that? Let them know that you’ll help save their lives by getting rid of these demons, and the angel, but they’ll need to face human justice on their own?”

  I took a deep breath. “Yeah. A prison sentence or being ripped apart by a demon? Or having your soul torn through your rib cage along with all your internal organs by an angel?”

  “I’d take prison.” Raven grimaced. “And I’d figure out a way to get out of town and change my name between you banishing the demons and my arrest.”

  That would be on Tremelay’s plate, not mine. Although bringing the murderers to justice was on my plate too, if I was completely honest with myself.

  Raven sighed. “There’s no way I’m driving home tonight. I get your bed. I’ll work on research and the particulars of the banishment while you’re serving up coffee tomorrow. I don’t need to do that at night.”

  “Go to bed.” I waved her to my room and curled up on the couch with Lawrence and Singtha’s Beyond the Veil.

  The sun was up and the traffic outside my window was roaring with the morning commute by the time I snapped the book shut, finally feeling confident that this might work without any of us dying. I glanced out the window and was contemplating curling up with Raven in my bed when my phone rang. I jumped, heart racing at the loud sound. Snatching it off the dining table, I blindly pressed the answer button to silence the thing before it woke Raven up.

  “Aria?”

  It was Dad. What the heck was Dad doing calling me at… okay, it was eight o’clock. Not exactly early, especially by my father’s standards.

  “Morning, Dad.” It wasn’t the cheerful greeting I was trying for. I was just too darned tired.

  “Are you okay, honey? Athena called last night and told us about the banishing. Her hands are all blistered, and she said your back was burned. Something about claw marks, too.”

  Of course. Nothing in my family was ever a secret. I guessed I should be glad that Athena had waited on the story until she’d gotten home rather than calling from the road seconds after she’d left my apartment.

  “Some mages summoned an assassination demon in DC and it got loose. It slashed my back. Athena and I returned it to hell, but not before he burned her hands and the back of my shirt. We’re fine, Dad. I’m fine.”

  Actually I wasn’t feeling all that fine. Raven had slapped some additional salve on my back and re-bandaged me up, but each twist and turn of my body pulled at the injured skin. Making coffee this afternoon was going to be an exercise in pain management.

  “Athena said it was Innyhal.” Dad’s voice was worried. “He’s definitely banished?”

  “Yes.” I waited, holding my breath for what was to come next. Athena surely told him about Balsur. My sister was smart. She’d connected the dots, and although she hadn’t insisted on every detail about my obvious familiarity with the demon, she knew. And she surely told Dad.

  “So Athena says you also have an angel running around up there in Baltimore?”

  I let out the held breath with a whoosh. What? No insistence that I come home so the entire family as well as the Temple elders could examine my demon mark and chastise me for my carelessness? Maybe Athena had kept that to herself after all.

  “Araziel. There are some death-magic mages up here and a few were doing human sacrifice. They took a woman’s soul that had been promised to Araziel, and the angel’s gone on a bit of a reaper-bender as a result.”

  Dad made a tsk-tsk noise. “Angels are mission-oriented. No doubt Araziel believes he is simply delivering justice. Once he finishes with those he feels wronged the woman, he’ll make his way back to heaven.”

  “He’s leaving dead people in my parking space,” I blurted. “And he killed two junkies who just happened to be nearby. It’s not cool, Dad—both the mercy killing and dumping corpses in my parking spot. I had to park somewhere else and I got towed.”

  Sheesh, that sounded so petty and selfish, but I was tired. And I was beginning to wonder how I was going to get my car back.

  “You can’t banish an angel, Aria. You can call one and try to reason with him, but you can’t banish him.”

  “I know.” I shook my head to clear the thick feeling of sleep rapidly descending on me. “What can I say to him, Dad? And how do I respectfully summon him? He’s one of God’s messengers. I’m endowed with my powers by the hand of God. I assume that’s why my parking spot has become a repository for his dead. I want to lean on that tie between us without insulting him.”

  “No circle. No candles or incense. Nothing except the sigil to burn and your sword held as a holy symbol. They hear prayers, Aria. Pray and he will come. Humble yourself and he will want to honor your request.”

  Humble. I wasn’t all that good at humble, but I was quickly learning. “Thanks, Dad.”

  It was information freely given without an in-person visit. I appreciated my father bending the rules, and knew he only did so because he was worried about me.

  “Get some sleep, sweetie. We’ll talk later when you’re more rested. I’m concerned about the problems in that city you’re calling your home. I’d prefer my daughter not fight a hopeless battle in the land of Sodom and Gomorrah.”

  In the last two weeks I’d faced a necromancer and the resident Balaj of vampires, demons, an angel, and two groups of mages. I was beginning to think Dad’s reference to the twin cities of sin was spot on, but how could I walk away? We were supposed to safeguard Pilgrims on the Path. I was absolutely convinced there were pilgrims here in Baltimore that needed my protection. What sort of Templar was I if I walked away and let them perish in a sea of evil?

  “The Crusades, Dad? We’ve always fought hopeless battles. I’m just doing my job, Knight or not.”

  “Sleep tight, my daughter.”

  I hung up the phone smiling, because underneath all the worry there had been a note of pride in my father’s voice. And that was something that energized me more than a solid eight hours of sleep ever could.

  Chapter 27

  I’D ENDED UP snoozing on the couch and waking up late, throwing clean clothes over a hastily washed body and grabbing my sword and phone as I ran out the door. It wasn’t until I’d hit the bottom of the staircase that I’d remembered my car.

  Crap. Double crap. I quickly copied down the number for the towing company on the parking lot sign, then decided to waste money on a cab. I didn’t have time to walk, or even jog, to work. Cab fare. Towing fines. There wasn’t going to be enough of my vampire-job money to last me another month if this kept up. I’d need to start being poverty-line frugal, or get a second job. Although how I was supposed to find time to work a second job with my Templar duties, I had no idea.

  Digging my phone out of my purse to dial for a cab, I saw I’d missed calls last night. Had it rung? I hadn’t remembered hearing any call besides my Dad’s?

  Frowning, I called for the cab, then checked my settings. Do Not Disturb. Ugh. It had seemed like a good idea when we were in the middle of summoning Balsur and once again I’d forgotten to take the setting off when done. Dad’s had come through, as I’d designated his number as a priority call, but none of the others had. There were several calls from Tremelay, about the dead guys in my parking space, as well as their names and a few more calls from this morning. I scrolled through them, looking over at my space still festooned with crime scene tape and the magical vomit. How long would they block my parking space? I’d need to ask building management if I could have another one assigned to me un
til the police cleared it.

  Dario. I’d missed three calls from the vampire. Each message became angrier as he demanded I call and update him about the angel situation. I had nothing to update him on. Other than Araziel bringing me a bunch of corpses and that I thought the vampires were safe as long as there were death magic mages left to kill, I didn’t know what to tell him.

  It wouldn’t be enough. He’d be pissed. And I felt somewhat guilty for not prioritizing something that was important to the vampires. Dario had stuck his neck out for me a lot. Because of him, Russell was alive, practicing his necromancy and not drained of blood in a ditch somewhere.

  Then there was one message from Janice that had come in just before midnight, urging me to call her. My cab pulled up and I hit re-dial, thankful that the spell on my sword was working and I hadn’t been denied service for carrying the weapon.

  “I tried to give you the heads-up,” she announced in lieu of a greeting.

  “Heads-up for what?” Maybe I should listen to my messages before dialing back next time.

  “The article. This morning’s paper? I had to run it, Aria. There was a slaughter of six people at an apartment in the West End, then all the dead bodies in the parking lot by your apartment last night? People saw that. It would have been negligent of me not to report it.”

  “What exactly did you say, Janice?” I gnawed on my lip, worried that she’d gone and spilled all the beans—demons, angel, death magic, and all.

  “That there is a rash of killings that seems to be resulting from a feud between an occult gang from DC and one here in Baltimore, that there had been ritualistic killings and brutal murders that included innocent bystanders and lawful, working-class citizens.”

  Oh no. “Thanks, Janice. I’ll call you later.”

  I hung up and stared at the phone, pretty darned sure what the messages that Tremelay had left this morning probably said. Just to make sure before I called him back, I listened to them.