“But I would have healed.”
“In six months, maybe eight, sure. And how many demons could come into town in that time? How many vampires like Martínez or Veilchen? The ghoul was right. You’re needed to keep the bad things away.”
“Erin.” It was all I could think to say. Or rather, it was all I could say. I could think of a dozen other things but none of them would have been accepted very well.
“He didn’t ask for much,” she said.
But sometimes it was the littlest things that had the biggest consequences.
“Just a favour to be called in at a later date.”
“But that could be anything.”
Erin looked at me, her lips twisted into a bitter smile. “But not anything illegal. Those terms we’d worked out earlier.”
“Earlier?”
“He can heal William. Get rid of his tumours and make him perfectly healthy.”
A fist tightened around my heart. “Why didn’t you…?”
“Because, I guess, when it comes down to it, I got scared. Healing you, while important, was relatively minor. He said it himself. Anything more, like completely ridding my husband of the cancer, wouldn’t have given me room to negotiate as much as I did. If I’d asked him to heal William, Asmodeus could have demanded anything of me in return. Anything.”
“But William would be all right.”
“And how would I face him after that if the price of it was an innocent life? Or two lives? Five, a dozen. Is William’s life worth more than someone else’s?” She pulled in a deep breath. “What if I’d done it and William found out? He’d hate me.”
“Sweetheart,” I whispered and put my arm around her.
Erin flinched when my hand rested on her left shoulder.
“You’re hurt?”
“I don’t know.” She pulled back the neck of her top and bared her shoulder.
On the pale skin just under her collarbone was a dark bruise. She twisted to show me her shoulder blade. Four more.
“His mark,” she said. “His fingerprints. It will let other demons know I’m beholden to him.”
“Jesus Christ. Erin, this is too much. How could you do this?”
She straightened her top. “I told you why.”
“You don’t even like me.”
“I like demons, vampires and werewolves even less. And I’m starting to think I don’t want to get to know any more ghouls.”
Well, there wasn’t a lot I could say to that. Instead, I stood and offered her a hand. For a wonder, she took it and I helped her up.
Inside, Kermit was on guard duty over Amaya, though Asmodeus seemed to have been telling the truth about the properties of his hair. She could move, but it was as if great weights were attached to each of her limbs, including her wings. When Erin walked past her, Amaya flinched. I settled Erin on the blankets, looked at the tattered rags that was once my shirt and resigned myself to going topless for the rest of the night. At least it wasn’t winter.
“Time for some answers,” I announced. “Amaya.”
The demon hauled herself into a sitting position. “Yes?”
“Amaya of Nick and Amaya?”
“Yes.”
“As in Lila Reyes?”
“Yes.”
All too clearly I could remember the feel of her lips, the soft touch of her hands, the sweet way she had of leaning toward me, of looking me in eye when I spoke. Starting to think I shouldn’t have given Dr Campbell the flick. I could probably use some head shrinking when all this was done.
“That first day in the restaurant. Did you mean to take me somewhere private to kill me?”
She nodded.
“Why didn’t you?”
“If you recall, you’re the one who refused.”
I laughed. “Darling, you’re the succubus. I’m sure you didn’t bring your A game to the table in that regard.”
Amaya rolled her eyes. “I’m a succubus, yes, but it was human minds that decided we’re only interested in sex. It’s humans who are ruled by sex. The children of Asmodeus are designed to give humans what they want, either when we’re bound or in trade. It just so happens a lot of humans only ever want sex.”
“I’m human. I’m also a long way away from my last fulfilling sexual encounter. I think I might want some sex.”
“But at the time, what you wanted more was information on demons.”
She made sense. Didn’t mean I had to concur, though.
“And the second time we met?”
“Again, you wanted only what I could tell you, not what I could do to you. You surprised me, though. Even if people want something else, sex usually creeps in eventually.” Her tone turned ironic on the last words. “You, however. Totally focused on your goal.”
That was a surprise to me. I’d spent plenty of time thinking about sex with Lila.
“You’re very good at suppressing things,” Amaya continued. “I tried to touch your mind during the day. Completely closed. At night, you had this intense focus that wouldn’t allow anything else in. Then there’s other reasons you didn’t want to have sex with Lila.”
“Being?”
The demon smiled. “You’re not my summoner. I don’t have to answer that.”
“Why not that, when you’ve answered everything else?”
“A womanly prerogative?”
I snorted. “Don’t push it. I’ll let it go, for now. We’ve sorted out my wants. How about yours? Tell me, Amaya, what do you want?”
She stared at me. “I want to be free.”
I left the living room and went into the garage. Picked up my SAS knife and went back in.
“Promise me you won’t kill me,” I said as I knelt in front of her.
Amaya moved her hands away from me. “I can’t. Tonight’s the deadline. You were supposed to summon me and break his binding.”
“And then set you free?”
“As well as helping me exorcise Asmodeus back to the demon realm.”
I glanced at Kermit. He shrugged. Turning back to Amaya, I asked, “So, you and the Lord of Lust aren’t working together?”
“Father and I have not agreed on anything in a very long time.”
“What’s he doing in this realm?”
Amaya shivered. “I don’t know exactly. It was something to do with Geraldine Davis. He gave her the means to do something she’d always wanted to do. I don’t know what the cost of it was, all I know is Lucifer didn’t like it, so he worked to get me here, to stop Asmodeus.”
Kermit hissed a short, sharp breath of shock. “The King doesn’t stir himself for small things.”
Amaya nodded in agreement. “Whatever Asmodeus is up to, he’s doing it without Lucifer’s blessing.”
In a strange twist of morality, I found myself agreeing with the King of Hell. I didn’t know Asmodeus’ ultimate goal, but what I did know was a woman had been murdered, a man was skating close to insanity, Erin had nearly died and a young man with untamed powers was running loose, summoning very dangerous demons.
“Why you?” Erin asked softly. “Why not another Demon Lord? Someone with the power to confront Asmodeus as an equal?”
A fleeting smile crossed Amaya’s face, and it wasn’t a happy expression. “Because I’m the only corporeal demon in this realm.”
“No. I don’t agree with that.” Erin seemed to come awake, throwing off the shock of what she’d done in order to save me. “Asmodeus can use the imps to create a body that has all the benefits of his corporeal one. Another Lord could have done the same thing.”
“You don’t send a nuclear bomb to do the job of a heat seeking missile.”
This time, all of us turned stunned expressions on Kermit. The ghoul crouched in a corner, picking at dry, flaking skin on his knees.
“Two Lords going at it wouldn’t leave much of this city standing. Demon society is a very strictly ordered thing. The Lords have complete control over their children, but mistakes happen and creatures like Amaymon are crea
ted.”
Amaya swallowed hard. “What do you mean? Mistakes happen?”
Kermit narrowed his eyes. “You know what I mean. You’re not like other demons. How many others do you know have defied their Lords? Lucifer chose you, not because you’re here, but because you’re the only one with a chance to oppose Asmodeus.”
“No.” Amaya scrambled backwards awkwardly, true fear in her eyes. She kept going until she hit a wall and couldn’t go any further. “I don’t have that strength. Lucifer can’t even control him.”
“Defy him, defeat him.” Kermit shrugged. “You had to do that much to get here in the first place.”
I held a hand up to stop Kermit from saying anything more. She was properly scared and I could see her starting to retreat from the world. I’d had some experience with life altering revelations, not the least of which was learning that by forming a link with Mercy I was promoting myself to something akin to a vampire Primal. My confused, scared reaction had nearly killed me. If Amaya didn’t snap out of this growing panic, she might not survive against Asmodeus. She needed a distraction, something to keep her thinking and moving. So I asked the first thing that popped into my head.
“What’s the deal with Nick?”
She started, her leaden wings jerking and then sluggishly curling around her trembling body. “I’m bound to him, as well.”
“But he didn’t summon you.”
“No. He’s strong enough to not need to perform a summoning. He bound me accidentally.”
“How does that work?”
Amaya sighed. “It’s a very rare thing, not only because demons can rarely cross the boundary between our realms. A powerful enough human can bind a demon by looking them in the eyes and commanding them. That’s how Nick caught me. I walked into his shark museum one night when he was having a function. I was lost and needed directions. When Nick tells the story, he says we just happened to look across the room at each other at the same instant, and it was love at first sight. That’s partly right. We happened to make eye contact, he said he wanted me, and I was bound.”
“Sucks to be you,” Erin muttered.
“Tell me about it,” Amaya said. “From that moment on, I had to give him everything he wanted from me. He wanted a chef for his expedition ship, so I became a chef. He wanted a girlfriend, so I became his girlfriend. I never left his side and I was deliriously happy to be there because he wanted me to be. Somewhere inside, though, I knew I wasn’t there by choice.”
Erin made a small, sympathetic sound.
“But when you were summoned here, it didn’t break the bond with Nick,” I said.
“Nick’s bond is entirely subconscious on his part. I’ve never experienced anything like it before. Because he’s not aware of it, neither am I, until I’m not under his direct influence. When I was summoned here the first time, I woke up, I guess. I realised what Nick had done to me. And when my summoner unbound me, that bond to Nick was still there. All he wanted was for me to come home.”
“So you went and hence the story of the poltergeist.” I sat down, feeling a tad worn out. “Nick’s a strong psychic?”
“No. It’s not psychic power that binds a demon. It’s something deeper, a remnant from a more primitive time. Nick feels a strong connection to sharks, a creature that’s been untouched by evolution for millions of years. Highly evolved but ancient. That’s the power a summoner sends out to catch a demon. It’s wild and dark and it calls to something inside of us. Nick’s is filled with his respect and awe for the sharks. It’s how he connects to me.”
I didn’t want to ask, but had to. “And me?”
“You’ve not summoned or bound me. I’ve not felt what it is about you that would catch me. But you got Asmodeus and that’s scary.”
Kermit stirred. “Told you.”
I glared at him.
“What about the person who summoned you here?” Erin asked. “What’s their… connection to you?”
“Pain. Anger. Resentment. Betrayal. It’s all mixed up in there. He’s not focused at all. A lot of raw power, very little refinement.”
Sliding the knife through my fingers, I said, “And if I was to cut that hair around your wrists, that person’s power would make you kill me?”
“Yes.”
“Bind her,” Erin said to me. “It’s the only way. She told you how to do it.”
“The wench is right,” Kermit said. “You screwed up summoning the other bastard. Fix it now, while you can.”
Amaya didn’t make a motion either way. She just sat there, eyes lowered. I could understand why.
They were right. To protect myself I had to bind her. Thing was, I was empty. I was tired and sore and more than a little upset. It’s not every day you find out the woman you’d spent three days tongue wrestling with was also the demon sent to kill you. That’s not something you can just deal with in a couple of hours. It’s also not every day another woman with whom you have a complicated relationship offers up her soul—or something very nearly as expensive—for you.
Things were easier when you didn’t let people get close.
Into the raw, open spaces of my mind, came a heavy, sharp weight.
“No,” Amaya said, struggling against the hair around her wrists. “He’s summoning me.”
It was just as she’d described. Angry, hurt, bitter. And it was familiar.
The power struck Amaya. She gasped and, wide eyed, was drawn away.
I pulled out my phone. “Anyone know what time it is in Adelaide?”
Chapter 35
It was midnight (really? Only midnight?) by the time we’d cleaned up the house as best we could. Hopefully, if the owners ever moved in, they’d think the cracks in the walls and ceiling were from shonky builders. Because she was the only one remaining with transport, Erin offered to take Kermit home. She said the firm could pay for the decontamination of the car. Perhaps a little more reluctantly, she let me come too.
The drive to the cemetery was quiet. Kermit curled up in the backseat. I tried to see if he wanted to talk about the experience, but he just said it had been little different to any other possession. At the cemetery, Erin pulled up at the gates, Kermit checked to make sure the ghost tour had cleared out and then he scarpered into the trees.
“Well,” Erin muttered. “Now I can add ghouls to my weird menagerie.”
“Don’t forget the imps.”
“I had, actually, but thank you for the reminder. So, what now?”
“A couple of odour eaters for the backseat?”
She gave me a thin lipped smile.
“I guess I need to find somewhere secure for the rest of the night. Amaya’s out there and hot for me, again.”
Erin put the car in gear and pulled out. “Right.”
“Where are we going?”
“My office. The building has a pretty upscale security system. Sol wouldn’t have anything less.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve gone over the security for the whole building myself,” she said. “Yes, I’m sure.”
“No, I mean, are you sure you want to help me. Again.”
“I made a substantial investment in you tonight. Would be stupid of me to throw you into the path of a marauding demon.”
“When you put it that way.”
Erin parked in the underground car park beneath the office building. It was only when the gate rattled closed behind the car I realised how tense I’d been. Having that barrier between me and Amaya was a relief. She could probably blow it apart as she had the garage door, but at least it would slow her down, maybe tucker her out a bit.
It took a PIN to open the elevator and we rode it in silence to the twelfth floor and her office. Inside, Erin turned on the lights and went to Ivan’s desk. She pulled out a hidden drawer and showed me a bank of tiny TV screens. We had shots of the garage, the foyer, the elevator and the hall outside the office. With a push of a button, she cycled through several more views. The building was completely empty.<
br />
“There’s motion sensors in the foyer and halls,” she said. “They’ll alert us if anyone gets inside.”
“They didn’t go off when we came in?”
“The PIN I put in downstairs sent a signal to the security company that monitors the building. They would have recognised me and cleared the alarm.”
“You mean if Amaya does come here and gets inside, there’ll be witnesses?”
“There’s always witnesses.”
Nodding in complete agreement, I looked around speculatively. “Got a Niko?”
“What for?”
“Added security.”
Arms crossed, she dared me to keep being mysterious. I caved rather quickly and when I’d explained my idea, she grumbled about it but scrounged up a couple of thick nibbed pens. Between us, we drew hasty versions of the summoning ring on the main doors, the windows and every wall. Kermit had said Amaya wouldn’t come too close to the circle in case she accidentally got caught. My theory was it might keep her away if she found us here.
When we were done, Erin walked into her office. I followed. She’d turned the lights off after our art project was done, but the blinds were open and the glow of the city at night sent soft, hazy light into the room. Erin took a bottle from the sideboard and two shot glasses. She held the scotch up in invitation.
What the heck.
I took a glass and she poured a quick nip into it. When she had hers, we clinked glasses and tossed back the scotch. Erin didn’t offer a refill, putting the bottle away and the glasses on the sideboard.
“What now?” she asked, her voice quiet.
The pale light suited her. It hid the weariness in her face, covered the bruises and caught fiery highlights in her hair. She looked up at me, looked me right in the eyes, and faster than ever, her aura reached out to me.
It was all dark chocolate and rich coffee, with barely any hints of the sweeter parts. I wanted to kiss her again, to taste what emotion was fuelling this heady rush. Was it the same recklessness that saw her take a big chance on kissing me earlier? Was it something deeper? Something more in line with what had driven her to making a devil’s bargain with Asmodeus?
Night Call (Book 2): Demon Dei Page 31
