Dare Me

by Parker Blue

  Austin gave him the address, then hung up and looked down sadly at the woman. Her death would be glossed over, a story concocted, and her family and friends forced to believe it was true. Such a waste.

  Vincent appeared in the doorway. “We have Josef contained,” he said. He glanced at the woman on the table. “What do we do with her?”

  “Lieutenant Ramirez is picking her up. He’ll take care of everything.”

  “Good,” Vincent said.

  Austin gazed at the poor woman on the table and asked her friend, “What’s her name?”

  “Cyndi. Cyndi Krupa,” the woman said, sounding as if she was zoned out. The mojo did that to some people. At least it was better than being in shock.

  Vincent gave him an odd look. “Does it matter?”

  “Yes. Yes, it does,” Austin said, his anger heating. “It matters because I caused the death of a human, something I swore never to do when I joined the Movement.” How could he condemn Luis when he’d just done the same thing? He couldn’t. “I should at least know her name.”

  “But it was an accident,” Vincent protested. “And she attacked you. Not your fault. If she was as strong as one of us, how could you know she was human?”

  That made him a little better than Luis, but Austin was still at fault for stupidly assuming anyone that strong couldn’t be human. He’d screwed up, and there was no way to make it right.

  “Besides,” Vincent added, “the real person at fault is the one who controlled her and sent her after you, unprotected.”

  True. Maybe there was a way he could atone, at least in some small measure. Austin’s jaw clenched, and he gazed down at the lifeless body on the table. “I will find the person who caused this and make him pay,” he promised Cyndi. Even if it was the last thing he ever did.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Val

  AFTER AUSTIN WENT down to the secret bat cave, I walked back into the living room of the penthouse, hoping to get some rest. Unfortunately, the slasher movie décor was anything but restful. And Mood had turned up again and was looking awfully chummy, sitting on the couch next to Shade, reading one of the encyclopedias.

  Alarm thrilled through me. “What are you doing?” I demanded, wincing as the harsh words hurt my throat.

  She looked up in surprise. “Well, since you aren’t looking to see if there are any spells that can help us with this, I decided someone needed to.”

  “You decided?” I croaked, then asked Fang, Can you relay my thoughts to them?

  SURE.

  I snatched the book away from her.

  Fang broadcast to all three of us. DON’T YOU REALIZE HOW DANGEROUS THOSE BOOKS ARE IN THE HANDS OF ANYONE BUT THE KEEPER?

  “No.” She looked like she didn’t believe it, either.

  I didn’t ask him to relay this next part, but he added it on his own. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN FOR THE PAST TWO MONTHS? SIBERIA? OR IN SOME STUPID SELF-CENTERED EMO WORLD? YOU KNOW WHAT THOSE BOOKS DID TO JOSH. YOU THINK YOU’RE IMMUNE?

  She looked uncertain. “But, Shade . . .”

  SHADE IS ONLY READING THE ENCYCLOPEDIA PORTION OF THE BOOKS, NOT THE MAGICKAL PART, Fang explained for me. HOW LONG DID YOU HAVE IT OPEN?

  “Not long,” she said.

  Probably true. We hadn’t been gone all that long.

  GOOD, Fang said for me. DON’T TOUCH, UNDERSTAND? OR THE PALADIN WILL BEAT YOUR EMO BUTT BACK TO THE STONE AGE.

  Shade looked surprised and narrowed his gaze at me. “Didn’t say that,” I croaked.

  “I didn’t think you did,” Shade said. He gave Mood an annoyed glance. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize what she was doing, or I would’ve stopped her.”

  Mood scowled, and I wondered if she’d been able somehow to make sure he didn’t notice. I didn’t totally understand her gift, but I wouldn’t put it past her to use it for her own benefit.

  KIND OF LIKE YOU DO WITH LOLA OR THE AMULET? Fang snarked.

  It’s not the same, I insisted.

  UH-HUH. JUST KEEP TELLING YOURSELF THAT.

  “So why haven’t you been looking up spells?” Mood challenged me.

  For one thing, I hated using them. Hated messing with the balance of power inside myself, worrying how much the spells would take away from Lola or other important things. But that was none of her business.

  SHE’S TOO BUSY WITH PALADIN BUSINESS, Fang told Mood in haughty tones worthy of Princess.

  Thanks, Fang. Appreciate the support.

  NO PROBLEM. BUT SHE DOES HAVE A POINT.

  I know. I picked up the third book from the coffee table and sat down in another chair to take a look.

  SHE’LL LOOK NOW, Fang reported.

  Shade looked puzzled. “Why is Fang talking for you?”

  Sighing, I parted the collar on my shirt, figuring bruises were probably starting to show up. I knew the swelling was.

  Mood gasped.

  Fang said, SHE NEARLY GOT STRANGLED BY A CONTROLLED VAMP.

  “Do you need me to heal you?” Shade asked in concern.

  It was tempting, but the only other person here right now was Mood, and since Shade’s form of interdimensional healing meant the two participants also shared memories and emotions . . . uh, no. I shook my head.

  MASOCHIST, Fang said privately.

  No, just private.

  Shade gave me an odd look. “Your throat wouldn’t require much healing. I doubt you and Mood would share much.”

  I gave Fang the beady eye. Did you tell Shade what I was thinking?

  The hellhound studiously ignored me. That meant yes. Busy body.

  “Do it,” Mood said. “Can’t afford to let our Paladin not be at her best.”

  I gritted my teeth, but couldn’t find a way to refuse gracefully when Fang knew exactly why I didn’t want to.

  Shade told me to sit next to Mood on the sofa, then stood behind us and placed one hand on my throat and one on Mood’s. A thrill went through me—it had been a long time since he’d touched me, for any reason.

  But I tried to ignore my hormones and Lola’s interest as the healing waves began. I got a sharp slap of awareness of Mood’s irritation, then the healing was done. Thank goodness, Shade was right—I didn’t have to share my mind with Mood.

  “Thanks,” I said, and was happy to see my voice was much better and the pain was gone. “Much better.”

  Shade nodded and came around to sit across from us. “How did this happen?”

  I explained, and just as I finished, Austin returned to the suite, his face set in rigid lines. Was he pissed, or just trying to hold his emotions in so no one could sense them?

  I’LL ASK MOOD, Fang said. Then, shortly after, he said, SHE SAID AUSTIN IS VERY UPSET. PROBABLY BECAUSE HE ACCIDENTALLY KILLED A HUMAN. WANT HER TO MELLOW HIM OUT A BIT?

  Ask him, not me.

  Fang apparently had a brief conversation with Mood on the subject. They both looked at Austin, but Mood shook her head, evidently deciding not to.

  “You killed a human?” Shade asked incredulously.

  Austin cast me an annoyed glance.

  I held up my hands in defense. “I didn’t say anything.” I gestured at Fang, who didn’t even look guilty. “It was an accident,” I told Shade.

  “You shouldn’t be talking,” Austin said. “Have you done anything for your throat?”

  “Yes, Shade healed me, just now.”

  “Good.”

  No jealousy? Nothing?

  INTERESTING HOW AUSTIN SEEMS ONLY CONCERNED FOR YOUR WELFARE, Fang mused. UNLIKE CERTAIN SHADOW DEMONS I COULD NAME.

  I shot him a dirty look. You’re pushing Austin on me now?

  I’M JUST SAYING.

  But Shade was talking now, so I could ignore Fang’s disturbing insight
.

  “Val and Fang explained what happened,” Shade said.

  I glanced at Mood who was listening avidly. This was really none of her business. She wasn’t exactly in the higher ranks of the Demon Underground. Why don’t you ask her to check on Princess and the puppies? I suggested to Fang.

  He must have, because Mood brightened and said, “Princess needs some attention, I think,” and headed for the hellhounds’ room.

  Austin was obviously trying to keep it together. He was much better at hiding his emotions than Shade, but even he let some things slip. Now, for instance, I saw grief and anguish cross his face.

  “Not your fault,” I reiterated.

  YOU’RE RIGHT. HE COULDN’T HELP IT. I SAW IT ALL.

  I repeated what Fang said for Austin and Shade’s benefit.

  “What exactly did you see?” Shade asked. He glanced at Austin. “Fang can help us relive the experience from his eyes. Remember when he did it before? Will you do that, Fang?”

  SURE, Fang said. HERE GOES.

  WE WERE EXITING THE HOTEL, Fang said, and I felt a little disoriented seeing myself from his eyes at knee level. I wondered if his neck ever got sore, looking up at everyone.

  I DON’T LOOK UP TO ANYONE, Fang snarked to me alone.

  I rolled my eyes. “Go on.”

  And suddenly, I was in Fang’s head and thoughts once more.

  I heard Val and Austin arguing, again. I wasn’t about to get in the middle of that conversation, and I wished they’d just chill. All of a sudden, a bolt sprouted from Austin’s neck. Crossbow! I spun and leapt heroically onto the most dangerous assailant—the chick with the crossbow—so she couldn’t get off another shot. I couldn’t read her mind, so she wasn’t demon, and she didn’t smell like vamp. Must be one of those shadow demon hunters. Unfortunately, she’d already reloaded the crossbow.

  I bounced off her chest and landed nimbly on the ground. Austin was already on her, trying to take the crossbow away from her, but Ms. Charm snarled at him and attacked like a maniac. I set my teeth into the meaty part of her calf, but it was like the chick was on meth or something—she didn’t even feel it.

  Austin could have laid some serious hurt on her, but it looked like he was pulling his punches, not wanting to hurt a woman. Bad move. The crazy woman was just as fast and strong as the vamp.

  He tried to use the crossbow in his hand as a club, but it was already reloaded and accidentally fired, right into the woman’s eye and smashed into her brainpan. Down she went.

  Austin glanced at Val, and his eyes widened. I whirled. She was in trouble! I leapt to help her, and Austin looked frantic. No time to waste. We had Val to save. We charged to the rescue, and Austin treated the guy to what it felt like to be strangled. Have to say, I cheered him on the whole way.

  AND THAT’S HOW IT WENT, Fang said.

  I blinked, suddenly back in my own head.

  Shade blinked, too. He glanced at Austin. “Yeah, it wasn’t deliberate. It was an accident, part of the fight. Don’t worry about it.”

  It was generous of him to say so, especially since he obviously considered Austin a competitor. And it was better coming from him than me. Maybe Austin would actually believe him.

  Austin looked like he wanted to, but wasn’t quite there yet. He shrugged as if it was no big deal and gestured at the books in my lap. “Find anything there?”

  Big tough Austin was strung out about killing a human? I had no idea he cared so much about the sanctity of human life. I stared at him for a moment, wanting to explore this new side of Austin some more, but let it go. He obviously wouldn’t thank me for it. “I was just about to look,” I said.

  “Good,” he said. “Oh, and Micah is calling a meeting with all demons later this evening at the club to talk about what happened here and what it means.”

  “Okay.” Austin excused himself to go check on Josef, and I flipped through the pages of the second volume while Shade explored the first one that listed vampires, demons, and other paranormal creatures.

  This wasn’t a whole lot of fun, especially since I wasn’t quite sure what some of the entries were about. There was one that showed how to call down the lightning to kill someone. That might be useful, but the warning made it sound very dangerous for me, too. Another detailed how to call a wolverine to your side, though I had no idea why you would want to do such a thing. Unless we were talking Hugh Jackman, of course.

  Then there were some other things I just didn’t get. Like, what was a boil, and why would you want to use magic to remove it? And there was a spell to clean your jerkin. What the heck was a jerkin? Some kind of pickle, wasn’t it? Or was that a euphemism? In that case, I could see why you’d want a clean pickle.

  Fang chuckled. REMEMBER, THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN A LONG TIME AGO. SOME THINGS MAY NO LONGER APPLY. AND THE PICKLE IS A GHERKIN, NOT A JERKIN.

  So what’s a jerkin?

  WHAT DO I LOOK LIKE, A DICTIONARY? He trotted off to see to his kids.

  I shrugged and turned back to the book. There were other spells for causing major disasters like earthquakes, tidal waves, and volcanic explosions. None of them helpful in this situation. Worse, reading the magick words was difficult. I’d never had a problem with my eyes or reading before, but after about an hour of reading the spells, my vision began to blur, and the letters jumped around. That was new. And not at all helpful. Was it the magick?

  Finally, I closed the book and rested my eyes. “Find anything?” I asked Shade.

  “Not yet,” he said, his head buried in the list of demons and other supernatural creatures. “There’s a demon or two that can control someone for a short time, like the mage demons, but they don’t make the person stronger and faster.”

  “Maybe we’re on the wrong track,” I said, frustrated. “Maybe they’re being controlled by some kind of drug, or a talisman like Dina’s teardrop.”

  “It could be,” Shade said. “But I don’t know how we’d go about learning about those—I haven’t seen anything about objects in these books, just supernatural creatures.”

  I sighed. “The Internet? After all, some people on there do know what they’re talking about when it comes to demons and vampires.” Luckily, no one believed them.

  Shade nodded. “It’s worth a try, though it’ll be a real pain working through all the crap to find anything useful.”

  “Then I’m glad computers are much more up your alley.” My alley held monsters that I killed to keep San Antonio safe.

  “I know.” He glanced toward Sharra’s room. “Sharra has my laptop, researching stuff in New Mexico. Shall we check on her?”

  “Sure.”

  He looked a little reluctant, but probably felt I’d be a good buffer between them. I didn’t know if the twins would be able to regain their former closeness, but hey, if it helped with Shade’s abandonment issues, I was all for it.

  I followed him into the room where Sharra swirled with interdimensional energy as she tapped rapidly at the keyboard.

  “Any luck finding out what’s going on in New Mexico?” I asked.

  “Not on the Internet,” Sharra reported. “But I have a friend who has a friend . . .”

  “And what do these friends know?” Shade asked.

  “Not a lot. Yet. But give them time. They’ll put out some feelers and see what they can find out.”

  So, was Sharra as big a geek as Shade was? Surely not. Suddenly realizing there was someone missing, I asked, “Where’s your little dog?”

  “Tiny Tim? He’s sleeping in his bed,” she said, pointing toward a corner of the room where the small ball of fur was curled up, trembling. “He tried to get a look at Princess’s puppies. She didn’t care for that, and now he’s a bit traumatized.”

  I grinned. “How do you get a real dog to be so calm around demons? They were all
terrified of me.”

  “Well, little Timmy isn’t the brightest pup in the pack,” she said with a twist of her mouth. “I kept searching until I found one. Eliminates a lot of problems, you know.”

  “I imagine.”

  “I never would have thought of it,” Shade said.

  “Well, I think he has some hellhound strain in him, far back in his lineage,” Sharra said.

  REALLY, REALLY FAAAAAAAR BACK, Fang said from the other room. ONLY A DROP OR TWO. JUST AS WELL—WITH THAT TINY BODY, HE COULDN’T DO ANYTHING HELLISH IF HE WANTED TO.

  I don’t know, I sent to him privately. You seem to do pretty good, and you’re not exactly huge.

  I’M NOT THAT SMALL OR THAT STUPID.

  Ooookay. I’d better drop the subject. “I take it Princess and the pups are okay?” I said aloud. “She didn’t let Tim get close enough to accidentally hurt them?”

  Sharra said, “No, she did not. She’s fine. The pups are fine.”

  Fang snorted. HECK, THAT LITTLE RUNT IS ALMOST AS SMALL AS MY PUPS. WHAT COULD HE DO TO PRINCESS?

  He could annoy her. And none of us want that.

  VERY TRUE, Fang conceded.

  “I’d like to do a little more research on the ’net,” Shade told Sharra. He explained what we were looking for.

  “Okay,” she said. “Sounds like a wild goose chase to me, but it’s your computer.” She relinquished the laptop to Shade.

  Austin showed up at the door, looking more serious than I’d seen him in a long time.

  “Everything okay downstairs?” I asked. “Learn anything?”

  “Maybe. Micah wants us to attend a meeting at the club to tell everyone what we’ve found out. You ready to go?”

  I checked my watch. No rest for the weary. Micah was taking his job of protecting his people seriously now. But I could see why he’d want to hold it tonight—these hunters were dangerous. Best to warn everyone as soon as possible and all at the same time then let them ask questions.