He said, “Yes maam.”
Monica said, “Oh, and don’t call the mayor, we’ll make sure he knows.”
The Sherriff looked a little confused, but nodded as we turned and walked out of the office. We were all silent until we made our way back to the car and piled inside.
Amber said, “Mayor’s house, we’ll deal with the detective last.”
Kevin started the car, and got us moving. It made sense to get the detective last, when Monica was done with him, he’d be reporting the investigation had come up empty and their concerns were groundless. That would go uphill fast, better to have everyone else ready to accept it first.
Thoughtlessly, I reached over and took Kimberly’s hand, entwining my fingers with hers. Her hands were soft, warm, and small.
She looked at me sharply, but whatever she saw in my eyes made her melt, and she squeezed my hand and seemed content to allow it. It’d been an impulsive act, and I was glad she didn’t slap me again.
Amber’s phone rang.
“You’re on speaker Sherry.”
Sherry said, “The demons are definitely out and about. They’re no longer hiding.”
Amber told Sherry what we just did, and added, “We’re on the way to the Mayor’s house. Most likely there are demons there. The rest of you can track down some of those demons?”
Sherry replied, “Yes, Danielle is plotting the hits we got on the map in google, to see what’s there. Once we prioritize I’ll teleport us to those places.”
Amber said, “Alright, I don’t think we’ll be long, and we’ll join you. I’m tempted to abort and help right now, I have a feeling our part of things was just the distraction, but you aren’t ready for us yet.”
Sherry agreed, “Some of the demons are still on the move too, we’re not sure where they’re headed yet.”
Amber replied, “Alright. I’ll call you for an update as soon as we wrap up our end.”
Sherry sighed, “Be careful Amber, even if it is designed to be a distraction, that doesn’t mean it isn’t designed to kill us.”
Amber said, “Will do. See you soon.”
She hung up the phone, and the rest of the drive was in silence. The sexual tension between Kimberly and I was even higher with me holding her hand, but I couldn’t let go…
The mayor’s mansion wasn’t nearly as large as the coven’s, but it was a little bit larger than the pack’s mini-mansion. It was white, with columns out front as well as the U.S. flag. There were a few police cars in the driveway, one of them the state police which made no sense.
Amber cast the detect evil spell again, and sighed.
“Demons, twenty-two of them. We have to assume the mayor and all of his security is possessed, along with the police who are here.”
Twenty-two demons, which would bring the count to over seventy-five. Plus, a bunch more that Sherry was tracking? I wondered if this was the head demon’s final move. I hoped it was anyway.
She continued, “Without Sherry or Diana with us, bullets are a serious danger. We’ll have to use spells.”
She turned in her seat, and exchanged looks with Kimberly and Monica. The three of them chanted a spell five times in a row. It took almost a full minute.
Amber said to Kevin and I, “Do your best not to get shot at all, the magic won’t hold up forever against fire arms. Most of the demons are fodder, but there’s one very powerful one in there, probably inside the mayor. You three will have to knock them out, while Kim and I take care of them as they flee the bodies. Don’t charge a ready weapon though, let Monica take them down with wind first, and disorient them. That sound okay?”
Kimberly said, “I have a theory I can use my shield to pull the demons out, since my shield ability won’t affect solid flesh.”
Amber frowned, “Your shield might not hurt them, but what if tearing out an unwilling demon kills a human? They can interact with matter when they want to after all. If they resist and take pieces of the human with them, or even just get thrown…” she trailed off.
Kimberly’s face flushed with horror at the thought, and I suppressed the irrational desire to glare at the coven’s matriarch. To say I felt protective of Kimberly was an understatement.
She said, “Alright, no experimenting then.”
Amber shook her head and said, “It’s still a good idea, just not in the heat of battle. We can try it under controlled circumstances if we get one of them helpless, slowly so you can stop and heal them later if it does go wrong. That would be a major advantage for us, we should just be careful when we experiment with our abilities.”
Kevin said, “Derek and I will stay in human form, if we get shot we can shift away most of the damage.”
Amber nodded, “There’s no point in being subtle, they’re waiting to ambush us. I’ll take out the estate surveillance as soon as we get out of the car. The spell won’t take long.”
With that, she opened the door as she started to mutter under her breath, and the rest of us piled out. She finished the spell and we raced across the lawn. Kevin barged into the unlocked side door which led directly to the kitchen and a stairway down to the cellar, and I was just a split second behind him. There were two cops in the room with black eyes, and we didn’t hesitate.
We lunged forward, took them down before they could draw their weapons, and had one hand clamped over their mouths so they couldn’t cry out. It took about fifteen seconds to choke them out. People can hold their breath longer of course, but not when their body is exerting itself as strongly as theirs were.
I heard Monica sigh in disgust, and she said, “Men!” in a voice so low even my shifter hearing barely picked it out.
I snickered on the inside. I guess we had just done what Amber said not to do. It was instinct, to protect our mates and take down our enemies.
I heard Kimberly say in a low tone, “You’re right. It isn’t working. They have a strong grip on the flesh they inhabit. My other idea didn’t work either, maybe because a part of them is already inside the shield.”
I have no idea what she meant by that, what second idea? But I got up quickly when the police officer passed out and black oily shadows and smoke rose from the body. Kevin had similarly knocked his out, and they were both blasted apart by Amber’s light before they’d even fully left the bodies.
Amber glared at her mate, and held up five fingers, and then pointed at the door leading further inside the house. Of course, she should be in charge, since she could feel where all the demons were. I’d have laughed when Monica stepped in front of us rather pointedly, but I was too busy getting glared at by my destined mate. She was gorgeous, sexy as hell, and I couldn’t wait to claim her, to make her my mate in truth and in every way.
I had to believe our talk would lead to that, any other option would drive me insane.
I was smart enough to never say it, but her exotically beautiful face was even more breathtaking when she was angry. Her frowning full pouty lips called to me, and her gorgeous brown eyes were narrowed.
Point was, it was clear we had a lot of things to work out, including Amber and Kevin who were inseparable now, but were still working out the whole authority thing. I imagined our matriarch and alpha pairing would throw a lot of sparks in our lifetimes.
I hated to admit it, but she had a point. The time for Kevin to disagree with her plan had been back in the car, not now when we were trying to be quiet. So far, the demons had no clue we were here. The trap hadn’t been sprung yet, and the longer we could evade detection the better.
Monica looked at all of us, then pushed open the door. Beyond the doorway was a formal dining room, the table was covered in pizza boxes. Demons liked pizza?
There was a fierce wind, but I obviously only felt the edges of it, as the five demons which were standing around the table were thrown to the floor. I cringed as they opened their mouths to scream, but not a sound left them. Well, air conducted sound, and Monica controlled air. It would have been nice to know about that sooner.
The mass sleep spell they used wasn’t effective on the demons. The spell cast from one witch spreading her power to everyone in the building meant the magic was too diffuse to work on them. But one on one, the witches’ magic was overwhelming. These weak possessor demons didn’t stand a chance of resisting the directed spells meant for just one target. They passed out. Seven down, fifteen to go.
Kevin and I looked at each other ruefully. Did they even need us?
Despite Monica suppressing the sound of their voices, their bodies falling must have alerted someone, because another door swung open and two demonically possessed police officers stood in the doorway with their guns out. At the same time, Amber was banishing the three demons with her power, and they hadn’t noticed yet.
One yelled, “They’re here,” and I managed to lunge forward and tackle both Monica and Kimberly. I wasn’t sure but I think I was hit twice, but the protection spell held. I wished I could have enjoyed covering my mate with my body, but I was too scared for her safety in that moment. I turned my head, and was relieved that Kevin took similar action, and we were all on the floor, the large tabletop blocking our view of the second door as they unloaded their magazines.
Monica’s care free expression was all gone, as she waved her arm awkwardly from around me. The blast of wind blew me off both of them, like a feather in a hurricane. That was just the secondary effect. The dark stained wood table and chairs tumbled and flew across the room, and I looked up in time to see the two demons go flying back into the hallway.
Kevin and I were up like a shot and charged the demon possessed. Shifters were fast, it didn’t take long to close the distance and knock them out. Perhaps fortunately, Monica’s attack had also stunned them, because we weren’t faster than bullets, and the demons had been disarmed when thrown.
Unfortunately, Monica’s attack had also been incredibly loud. There’s no way anyone in the house didn’t hear that. Though between the gun shots and the yell it didn’t make a difference.
We choked them out, and Amber destroyed the dark entities as they tried to flee the bodies.
Amber said, “We’re safe for the moment, the rest all ran for the powerful one. If I had to guess, the last fifteen including the leader possessing the mayor have an ambush set up. They’re probably in a study or something.”
I frowned, “If all three of you did the mass sleep spell, could you get all the weaker ones?”
Kimberly shook her head, “That’s five for each of us. It might be possible, if one of them wasn’t powerful and a user of magic. It would disperse our spell, if not outright, at least weaken it enough to be ineffective. Even without him, it might be too much.”
Amber said, “Definitely won’t work, I can feel the wards the magic user laid down. It will fight any spells we do. We can still easily overcome one on one, but…” she trailed off.
Kevin said, “I’m only scenting guns, no explosives, so they aren’t planning to lure us in and blow us up. Unless they used magic to suppress it?”
Amber said, “Doubtful. If they did all the other scents would be missing as well. It would be obvious to you.”
Monica added, “Our best bet is for all three of us to do a banishment spell to finish things. He’s powerful, but no more so than the demon Sherry, Grace and I took out yesterday. We can even time it, so the spells almost complete when we breach the door. The only question is how do we stop a hail of bullets from fifteen guns, in a hallway not much wider than the door. They’ll be ripped from the bodies quickly, but not quickly enough to prevent them emptying the magazines.”
Amber said, “We don’t have a lot of time to consider it either. I bet the demon possessing the mayor called this in as a terrorist attack. We don’t want to fight off all the police and swat teams too, not to mention the FBI. We need to be gone in the next ten minutes or so.”
I said, “I think I have an idea.”
I went back into the kitchen, and examined the large refrigerator door. It was thick, heavy, and covered by stainless steel. I opened and gripped it tightly, put my foot against it for leverage, and then tore it off its hinges. I walked back into the dining room and grinned.
Three witches looked at me like I was insane, but my alpha looked like he thought it was a good idea.
“Bullet shield,” I said unnecessarily, “You toss the spell in, and we’ll hide behind this.”
Kimberly tilted her head, “It isn’t a horrible idea.”
I winked.
Amber nodded grudgingly, “That might work, we’ll be exposed a short moment while we toss the spell, but our shields should hold off a bullet or two. This way.”
Amber led us down the hallway, and at the end she peaked around the corner, before she stepped back.
“The study is at the end of the hallway, the doors opened, and they’re all pointing guns. We don’t have to be in the study to toss the banishment in there, but we’ll have to get a lot closer.”
I said, “Alright, how’s this? I’ll lead the way to the door, you all follow single file behind me. You’ll have to stay low, move fast, and cast at the same time. If we’re lucky, they’ll even run out of bullets and be reloading by the time you have to stick your arms out to toss the spell.”
Amber shrugged, “That’ll work, for some spells that would be a problem, but banishment was the first long spell we ever learned, and we can cast it in our sleep.”
It would be easier, if Monica could simply send a cyclone down the hallway, but she couldn’t do that and cast banishment at the same time. All three of them needed to do the spell at once to overpower both the demon and the wards he had up.
“Just tell me when,” I grinned, the adrenaline and my shifter nature made this kind of thing fun.
Amber said go.
The insane plan went remarkably well, as far as it went. We raced down the hall single file while the guns roared at us, and the witches chanted their ten second spell. The only wrinkle in the plan was I didn’t hold the door low enough, and I got shot in the foot. Worse, the spell protecting me had already taken hits in the dining room, and I bit my tongue to hold back the scream of pain as it impacted my foot. The remains of the spell took some of the momentum out of it, so it didn’t break through completely, but the impact broke a bone.
It would heal.
The rest of the plan went perfectly, and we couldn’t have timed it better. Right after the rain of bullets ended, we were just outside the door, and my mate and two sisters exposed themselves for just a moment to toss the spell into the room. The banishment ripped the demons out of the bodies, and tore them to pieces in short order. The only one strong enough to even fight the spell at all was the large evil entity in the mayor, and a quick follow up blast of light from Amber ended his struggle.
Me? I was leaning against the wall standing on one foot, while laughing.
Kimberly glared at me, while Monica and Amber went in to cover things up and compel the mayor, she came over to me.
“You were shot?”
I shrugged, “I’ll be fine in an hour or two.”
Her eyes flashed, “I don’t think so.”
She dropped to her knees and grabbed my ankle. Her magic flowed into me, it felt like a warm breeze against my very soul. I couldn’t help the moan that escaped me, her magic was very soothing and the pain faded quickly, and it made me feel slightly euphoric as it spread up my leg, into my center, and radiated out to all my other extremities from there.
It also felt incredibly intimate, and my body reacted accordingly. I froze and didn’t move as she let go of ankle, and her face turned red and her breath caught, as she realized she was just an inch or two away from my bulging jeans. I groaned, when she licked those sweet lips of hers unconsciously. Between her magic, and the mental vision of her lips wrapped around me, I was right on the edge. I had no doubt, if it hadn’t been
for the situation and all the other people around, neither of us would have backed down in that moment…
~ Chapter Seven – Kimberly ~
Dear Goddess.
I’d seen his bulge earlier in the car, it had already been impressive then, what I hadn’t realized was at the time he hadn’t even been close to fully erect. My mouth watered, even as I wondered if he’d fit in my mouth, or anywhere else. It was a ridiculous passing thought, of course he would, he’d fit me perfectly, but I’d never been with a man quite so gifted before.
Healing him had been different, usually the humans I healed were all unconscious, he’d been fully conscious, and with my magic inside him I’d felt his bodily response to both my nearness, my touch, and my magic. Goddess, I so needed to talk to him before I lost my mind. I knew it was shallow, and my reactions to him was all our mate bond with no real substance, but I also knew he should be a perfect fit for me. Not completely of course, all relationships took compromise and work, but we should be compatible.
I’d never liked giving blow jobs, but in that moment I had an insane urge to fish him out, and take him inside my mouth. I bit my lip, I needed to get a grip.
I’d never hoped more than in that moment, that all the stories I’d heard about him were wrong somehow. Honestly, spending the afternoon with him, and being painfully aware of his every move, I’d learned he was far from the callous womanizer I’d heard about. Of course, there was still the matter of his wandering eyes.
Except, I hadn’t caught him checking out Amber or Monica even once since he’d attached himself to my side and refused to go away. I’d also caught him checking me out several times, which was a heady and new experience for me. I knew I didn’t have an ugly body, it was just most men had always chosen to focus their eyes on one of my sisters in the past. Did he really like my body? Or was it just the pull of the whole destined mate thing?
I blushed as I realized I was still staring at his bulge, and I backed up as I stood.
Guardian Healer: A Taylor Coven Novel: Book 3 Page 5
