Kind? There were different kinds of demons?
Of course there were. The demons I knew about, like skinwalkers and similar creatures that poured out of vortexes to wreak havoc, were mindless killing machines. These guys looked human, wore normal clothes, and knew how to play pool. No dressing in the skins of those they’d slain or smearing themselves with their victims’ blood. At least, they weren’t doing such things at the moment.
I shrugged, not knowing what to tell Mick. He responded with another nod.
John finished the game, winning. Monica and I did girlfriend things—she congratulating her sweetie with a kiss, me commiserating with Mick. Mick paid over the money he’d lost to them without fuss. “Good game,” he said.
John tugged Monica into the circle of his arm. “It’s early,” he said. “We’re in a motel in Flat Mesa. Want to come for some beers?”
He and Monica looked directly at Mick, waiting for his response, as though Mick made the decisions for us as a couple. Mick shook his head regretfully. “We have a lot to do tomorrow and need to make an early start.”
This was news to me, but as I didn’t really want to go to Flat Mesa with Monica and John, I didn’t argue.
John shrugged. “Oh, well. Maybe another time. Could have been fun.” He ran his gaze over me, and Monica laughed and gave John’s backside a pat.
The two of them made no move to leave—in fact, John started gathering balls for another game. Mick and I couldn’t very well stay after Mick’s excuse, so we put up our cues and made our way to the front. The demon guys paid us no attention.
Mick broke off to say something to Barry, then he returned to usher me out the front door with his hand on the small of my back.
“What do we do now?” I asked once we stood in the darkness. I liked that the air was growing cooler now after the sun went down, bringing the true touch of autumn. September days could still be very hot, but nights were pleasant.
“We watch,” Mick said. “They have to come out sooner or later.”
“Or go on a killing spree inside,” I said glumly.
“I don’t think they will. They’re sizing things up. I told Barry to spike their beer with a little ash.”
Mick led me to the shadows of a cedar, beyond the glare of the parking lot’s light. Barry had only one lamp for safety—the bikers who came there didn’t necessarily like to be lit up.
“Ash?” I asked. Mick was watching the bar, his eyes filling with black, the dragon in him settling in for surveillance.
“Demons love fire, smoke, ashes, anything to do with flame and its aftermath. A little ash will make them happily woozy, kind of like an opiate. That will keep them from going on a destructive kick and easier to handle when they come out.”
“Good.” I settled back into Mick’s warm body, and he put strong arms around me. The dragon tatts on his arms shimmered. “Why did John and Monica act like they were ready to call it a night, and then all the sudden decide to stay and keep playing? I don’t think they’re connected with the demons. I didn’t get any sense of binding around them, and they’re human, not supernatural.”
Mick’s chest rumbled with his soft laughter, as though I’d said something funny. “They wanted us all to leave together and adjourn to their motel room. For sex.”
I turned in his arms to look up at him in amazement. “They wanted us to have sex in their room? Like where? In the next bed?”
Mick turned me around again and held me closer, his cheek next to mine. “You are sweet. They wanted the four of us having sex together.”
I jumped, banging back against him. “Seriously? Ew.”
Mick’s body moved with his chuckle. “Some people are into it. I liked that they were cool with us either way.”
I looked at Mick. He had his gaze on the bar and its front door, watching with the patient stare of a dragon who knew he could sit there for years if need be.
I tried to process the group sex idea and couldn’t. Mick had been my first lover, and I’d had no other but him. While Mick could be creative in the bedroom, I was somewhat naïve about sexual practices in the wider world. Oh, I knew they existed, but I’d never come into direct contact with them.
I had to wonder now whether Mick had participated in any menages before he’d met me. He’d been alive a long time, and he seemed unconcerned with John and Monica’s offer. The fact that he’d figured out what they wanted while I’d been oblivious meant this hadn’t been the first time he’d been propositioned. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
Mick leaned to me again, his breath warm in my ear. “Go home if you want, sweetheart. I can stay and wait for demons.”
I snuggled into his embrace. “No thanks.” If I went back into the hotel, I’d only have to solve problems like leaky faucets and the magic mirror trying to scare the somewhat magical. Out here, I could continue my date with Mick, even if we had to spend it on the watch for demons. He warmed me against the night, and moonlight glinted on the turquoise and onyx ring he’d given me when a breeze moved the tree’s limbs.
After a time, I asked him. “What did you mean, what kind of demon?”
“There are several varieties,” Mick answered readily. “The ones from Beneath are pretty much monsters with little going on in their brains. They act on instinct and hunger. But there are other demons, born of the earth as the dragons are, who can live among humans without detection if they choose. They’re still flesh eaters; they’re just more subtle about it.”
“Great. And I don’t know about them, why?”
Mick kissed the top of my head. “They’re rare, and they tend to lie low, far from any mage who could detect them and stop them.” I felt the smile in his kiss. “And, you’ve been busy.”
“If they stay away from mages, why did they come here?”
The Crossroads Hotel was becoming notorious as a refuge for the paranormal. I had one of the most powerful mages in the country as my manager, a Nightwalker in my basement, and a shaman storing her magic in the room next to the Nightwalker’s. Not to mention a dragon I was going to marry, and me, the crazy woman with the Stormwalker and Beneath magic mix. Plus Gabrielle, who was more powerful than I was, and various and sundry supernatural guests.
“It is curious,” Mick said.
When Mick sank into his dragon self, his mode of speech became archaic, more precise. The biker bad boy started to sound like a Victorian college professor.
“Curious is one word for it.”
“Suspicious is another,” Mick said. “Especially coming hard on the heels of Emmett’s impromptu visit.”
“You think they’re here to help steal the mirror?” I glared at the open front door of the bar as though it would give me answers. “I don’t think they stand a chance.”
“I’m sure Emmett’s plan is more devious than sending demons to carry off a giant mirror weighing close to three hundred pounds.”
“I know you’re trying to make me feel better.” I patted Mick’s broad hand where it rested on my abdomen. “But it’s not working.”
“A dragon’s got to try.”
His answering caress reminded me of other things my dragon boyfriend liked to try. I shifted with impatience. As soon as the demons emerged, we’d grab them, interrogate them, and maybe slay them, and then I’d haul Mick off to bed. The remnants of our date night might just be salvageable.
On my hotel side of the parking lot, the shadow of a woman emerged from the hotel’s saloon. The saloon had just been rebuilt and refurbished after its last run-in with a dragon, who’d burned it down. To be fair, the dragon had then made all the arrangements to have it renovated, and he’d paid for everything. The construction had taken very little time, but then, Drake could be persuasive.
The young woman walking toward us, unerringly, was Gabrielle. She moved without her usual verve, and when she reached us she simply folded her arms and faded into the shadows with us.
“Cassandra yelled at me,” she said sullenly.
&nbs
p; Cassandra, my tidy hotel manager who was a strong Wiccan witch, never yelled. But I knew what Gabrielle meant. No doubt Cassandra had explained to her, sternly, how a powerful mage should behave.
“Cassandra’s pretty smart,” I said.
“I’m not sorry I plastered those guys to the ceiling. But, okay, I get what Cassandra means about being subtle. Next time, I’ll turn them inside out quietly so cops from three different departments don’t converge on the scene.”
Mick’s voice was soft in the darkness. “Now, you’re catching on. Even better—the mere threat of such things can bring people in line pretty fast.”
Gabrielle considered this, then she unfolded her arms and put her hands into her back pockets. I noticed she was still wearing clothes she’d robbed from my closet up in Many Farms.
“You’re cute, Micky,” she said. “All you have to do is look at someone and they wet themselves in fear. They look at me and see a sweet-faced girl they think they can take advantage of. I have to assert myself.”
“You can do it without destroying buildings,” Mick pointed out.
Gabrielle sighed. “I suppose. What are you two doing out here, anyway? I thought you went to help Barry. I don’t think you’re catching on to how dates are supposed to go.” She broke off glumly. “Not that I’ve ever had one.”
I let Mick answer her, while I took in her rare confession of loneliness. “We’re doing surveillance,” Mick said. “Not easy to do while making out. Though it can be done.”
Could it? I gave him an interested look. “Barry has some suspicious clientele,” I told Gabrielle. “We’re waiting for them to come out.”
“They’d come out if you burned down the bar.” Gabrielle raised her hand, a spark dancing on her palm.
I broke from Mick’s embrace and put myself in front of her. “No.”
Gabrielle laughed and lowered her hand. “I was joking. You two are so easy.”
I wasn’t sure whether I believed her quick backdown. She could burn up the building without a second thought.
“If you want to help, then stay here and watch with us,” I said. “But quietly, all right?”
Gabrielle studied me with her dark gaze, her expression revealing nothing. Her rage of a few hours ago had gone. Either Cassandra’s lecture had been effective, or Gabrielle had chosen, with her lightning-swift changes of mood, to let it go.
She watched me a moment longer, then said, “All right,” folded her arms, and swung to face the bar.
From here, we could see both the front door and the path leading to the back. Barry kept the back door locked, though a determined demon wouldn’t care about locks.
It was nearly midnight before anything happened. Gabrielle grew bored, as I thought she would, but instead of abandoning us entirely, she slipped back to the hotel and brought us bottled water to keep us hydrated. Then she settled in to watch again.
Bikers began to drift away, though the bulk of them would remain until the bar closed at two. It would close exactly at two, no later, because Sheriff Jones made sure county hours were adhered to. He liked to catch violators and had trained his deputies to be on the lookout.
At twelve fifteen by the clock on Mick’s cell phone, the three demons emerged. They looked like ordinary bikers in leather jackets, chaps over jeans, and chunky boots.
They weren’t alone—our new friends John and Monica came out with them. From what I could see, neither Monica nor John were afraid or looked as though they’d been coerced. The five were talking and laughing like old friends. Monica and John headed for a big Harley to ride double, and the three demons glided their own bikes over to it. They were leaving together.
“Shit,” Mick said softly. My sentiments exactly.
“Why don’t you just flame them?” Gabrielle whispered to Mick. “Because they’re with normal, innocent humans?”
“I won’t flame them, yet,” Mick said. “Janet?”
“Let’s go,” I said.
“I’m coming with you,” Gabrielle announced.
Mick turned swiftly to her, his head tilted in that unnerving way of his. I knew that my boyfriend at this moment was almost all dragon—the fact that he was still human shaped meant he was using a lot of strength to keep himself calm.
“All right,” Mick said quietly. “But you ride with me.”
Chapter Four
It was not difficult to guess where the bikers were headed. Monica and John had wanted us to go to Flat Mesa with them, and I assumed they’d suggested the same to the demon guys.
Gabrielle obediently rode with Mick while I came behind on the Softail Mick had bought me this summer. I’d have preferred to wrap myself around Mick’s warmth, but that would leave Gabrielle to ride my motorcycle, which was not a good idea. She didn’t yet understand the concept of respecting other people’s things, plus she might simply turn around and ride off wherever she wanted. Tomorrow, I’d talk about sending her back to Many Farms and my grandmother’s supervision.
Meanwhile … demons. Would three demons ready to devour their victims go unnoticed in the one motel in Flat Mesa?
Mick knew how to follow people without being noticed, even on a noisy motorcycle. He stayed far enough back so no one would think he had any interest in them, and I kept my bike behind Mick’s, head down into the now chill wind.
The miles between the Crossroads and Flat Mesa went by quickly. Mick took his Harley around the back of the two-story motel, parking in the shadows. I pulled up beside him and killed my engine as Gabrielle slid down from the seat.
Sure enough, Monica was leading the demons up the stairs to a corner room of the motel. I saw no sign of John.
Not good. As soon as Monica’s door closed, Mick left the shadows and swarmed up the stairs, Gabrielle right behind him. I followed as fast as I could. Running in my heavy boots wasn’t easy, and Mick could move.
He’d already shouldered his way into the room before I was halfway down the metal-railed balcony. Night wind nipped at me, the air suddenly cold.
Gabrielle, light on her feet, charged inside after Mick. I heard no sound from the room. No screams, no shouting, not even maniacal laughter from my sister. Nothing. My blood chilled, and I quickened my pace.
Someone came up behind me. John. The kerchief still covered his hair, the wind stirring it. His tatts gleamed on his arms under the yellow glow of the balcony’s one light.
John halted in surprise when I turned to him. “Janet? You guys decided to come after all?”
“Those men you hooked up with,” I said quickly. “They’re dangerous.”
John’s hard biker face took on a look of bewilderment. “What do you mean, dangerous? And Monica’s in there with them?”
He tried to charge past me, but I stuck out my arms and got in his way. “Mick’s dealing with it.”
Supposedly. I still heard nothing. Dread touched me with icy fingers.
John’s expression turned scared, desperate. “Move—I need to help her.”
“No,” I said firmly. “Stay here. Let me check it out first.”
“You? Seriously?”
John looked me up and down. I knew he saw a young Diné woman on the short side with a slim face, dark eyes, and flyaway hair. I probably looked like I couldn’t bring down a flea. However, whether he believed it or not, I was the most dangerous thing in Flat Mesa tonight. Well, perhaps Gabrielle was, and she looked even more harmless than me.
John shoved past me, not roughly, but powerfully enough that I couldn’t stop him physically. He ran inside, and I sprinted after him.
The hotel room was full of fire. Not natural fire—this was the hellfire of demons mixed with the cleaner fire of a dragon. I ducked a stream of flame coming for me and tackled John before another could scorch him.
The silence outside had been an illusion. Screams, shouts, and unearthly screeches filled the space. Someone, maybe Mick, had put a spell on the room so no one outside would know that hell had opened up inside.
Monica was
facedown on one of the beds, unmoving. I couldn’t tell if she were dead, unconscious, or just lying low. I climbed carefully off John, but he stayed on the floor—smart man.
That left three demons, Mick, Gabrielle, and me.
Gabrielle was yelling. “Get out of the way, Mick! Let me take them!”
Mick completely ignored her. He was fighting like a soldier, striking, feinting, trying to drive the demons into a knot so he could finish them off.
The three demons still looked like human bikers, but they no longer hid their smoke-and-flame auras, which bulged their skin and cracked it in weird ways. They didn’t have horns and tails—most demons didn’t—but their eyes were glaring white, and they could throw fire as potent as Mick’s.
I had no storm magic to help me—it was a pleasant, cloudless night. Calling Beneath magic would put me in danger of taking out the entire motel, but I had to do something.
Gabrielle, as usual, had no qualms about using Beneath magic potent enough to flatten the building she was in. She controlled her inherited power with far more ease than I did. But then, she had only one kind of magic to contend with. I was a mix of earthbound shaman magic and goddess powers, the two constantly trying to fight each other with me in the middle.
Gabrielle whooped as she sent shafts of blinding white light at the demons. “Come on, Janet. Let’s kick some demon ass!”
As she turned to me, a double-dose of flame came at her, and she couldn’t duck in time. Fire knocked Gabrielle sideways, and I smelled burning flesh.
She dropped to the floor, holding her arm. “Ow! Asshole. That really hurt.”
Gabrielle flipped a ball of light at the demon that had flamed her. The magic struck him, turned him to ash, and took out the wall behind him.
The other two demons, seeing their fellow die, shouted and renewed their attack.
Streams of fire shot from Mick’s hands, but the demons were negating the onslaught by flowing their own fire into his, keeping his flames from reaching them. The walls, carpet, and empty bed were burning by now, and yet, the fire consumed nothing.
I realized Mick had put a containment spell around the flames to keep those within the room from being roasted alive, and also to prevent the rest of the motel from catching. The spell was a tough one, and he had to maintain it as well as fight the demons.
Dreamwalker Page 3
