by Rain Oxford
“I don’t know what you’re doing here and I don’t care,” she said to Logan. “You and your pet need to leave. This is my home and I’m more powerful than you.” There was no sorrow in her over her husband’s death.
Out of both full demons I’d met, one hundred percent referred to vampires (and me specifically) as pets to demons.
“We’re not here to encroach on your winnings. We’re here to find out how Don Jerket died.”
“I want to know who killed my husband more than you do,” she snarled.
Logan didn’t instantly respond, yet I only sensed calmness from him. Finally, he said, “Others have died in the same fashion. It was foreseen that my mother will be killed the same way.”
Her expression softened subtly. “I have no leads. Ian didn’t do it, as you know. The staff loved him because he was overly generous. No one could buy them away. He didn’t make enemies.”
“You know about him and Ian, then?” I asked.
“Of course. Don wanted to marry a woman because he wanted to be “normal” but love is a gift and I can’t take that from anyone. I wouldn’t even if I could. He wanted both a wife and his lover, and that I could give him.”
“To your knowledge, does he have anything to do with a woman in Louisiana?”
“Not to my knowledge, but I don’t keep track of all of his acquaintances.”
“Where is his body?”
“He has been cremated. That was what he wanted and I wasn’t going to let the so-called authorities defile him by autopsies and biopsies and all that human crap.”
“I thought you wanted to know who killed him and how?”
“You think the humans could have found out?”
“You couldn’t risk humans discovering paranormals,” I surmised. It potentially made the case harder to solve, but if the humans figured out about us, we were all in danger. She had sacrificed her answer for the good of all paranormals.
“Where was his body found?” Logan asked.
“In his office. I’ll show you, but there is nothing to indicate what happened.”
“A curse sounds like the most likely cause,” I said.
“That would mean someone hated him enough to curse him, and I don’t believe that,” she argued. “He was the nicest person I’d ever met and he gave his time and money to the less fortunate daily.” She led us down a fancy hallway into an office. It had a metal and glass desk and a high-end computer, but the wall-to-wall bookshelves were filled with old books. There were two chairs at the desk. In the northwest corner, however, was a plush, brown suede reading chair. A book was sitting on the desk next to it.
“Was he reading that when he died?” I asked.
“It was on the floor, like he had dropped it,” she said.
I started to pick it up, only to grab the chair arm instead to brace myself with when whispers filled my head. I saw myself standing in a dark room facing a woman in a living room. She had fallen asleep in front of the television. I’d never met her and I didn’t get the strange urge to kill her…
And then a little boy emerged from the hallway.
“Rory!” Logan shouted, pulling me away from the chair. I started to stumble before my natural reflexes stabilized me.
“Are you okay?” Susan asked, disturbed and confused.
“I’m fine. Thank you for your help. If we learn anything, we will let you know. Logan, give her your card.”
He did without arguing and we left. “She could have killed him. Demons have that much power,” he said when the four of us got in the car.
“Deimos and Phobos weren’t bothered by her. Any vampire can kill a human and some of us do so regularly. That doesn’t mean a human found dead on the street was killed by me. It doesn’t even mean they were killed by a vampire.”
He nodded and started driving. “She could have been lying to us.”
“She wasn’t.”
“Were you attracted to her?”
That was the last question I expected him to ask. “Why?”
“You’re bisexual and she’s a demon who’s more powerful than me.”
“I’m not attracted to power. Were you?”
“She wasn’t my type.”
“Being bisexual doesn’t mean I have no standards. I have a type, too, and it isn’t whoever’s around that’s the most powerful. I thought you were smarter than that.”
“I don’t know that many bisexual people.”
It really wasn’t his fault. There was a lot of confusion and outright arrogance over what it meant to be bisexual. Cody, the first person I really dated, asked me if I would be satisfied with a man or if I had to have a girlfriend, too.
“What happened in there? Did you see his death?”
“No. I saw something completely unrelated.”
“Are you sure it was unrelated?”
“It was a kid and his mother.”
“You had a strange look when you saw the man’s picture.”
“Yes. That’s because I’d seen him three days ago, in a vision/dream, just like I saw the boy a few minutes ago.”
“Are you becoming psychic?”
“I really hope not.”
“Maybe you’re seeing people who will be killed by magic. It could be a side effect of facing Marluk.”
“I haven’t seen your mother’s death.”
“But you did hear the whispers in the kitchen and in her bedroom.”
“Have you had any side effects?”
“I wasn’t marked. Plus, my demon blood would factor into it. Had you told me about this months ago, we could have figured out what it was and stopped it.”
“It takes a lot more than a few whispers and headaches before I’ll admit something is wrong with me. Let’s go tell your sister we spent the whole night getting nowhere.”
“Not so fast. I got a text. There’s another mummified corpse found a couple of hours ago outside a club in San Francisco, California. We’ll have to stop at the hotel so that you can stay out of the sun, but first, I thought we could drive around and see the land. Sedona is known for its beauty.”
“That’s why you wanted a Jeep? So that we could go off-roading?”
“We could go straight to the hotel if you’d prefer. It’s already booked and they gave me the key to the room when they gave me the key to the car. We’re both from the north and I’ve always been a little interested in seeing the desert.”
He could have gone ahead with the investigation without me, but he wanted me to be part of it. I shrugged. “Alright. I’m game. I just didn’t expect a half-demon to be interested in sightseeing. Are you called a demidemon like demigods are?”
“No.”
* * *
We didn’t just sightsee. We found a nice place to park after a while and made out until Deimos and Phobos started howling. Logan asked if they were commenting and I lied that they weren’t. When wolves in the distance howled back, we decided to move on.
One of the reasons I didn’t travel much as a vampire, besides the obvious obstacle, was that I had to worry about territories of other paranormals. Logan was fun to travel with, though. Whenever we saw unique formations, we would discuss what they resembled. It didn’t take long to figure out exactly what was on Logan’s mind.
“That one looks like an axe through a skull,” he said.
Logan was a little bit psychotic. I liked it. He told me of some of the strangest and most dangerous artifacts he’d collected or found for someone. He had a dagger that had to be locked in a special case because anyone who held it would feel compelled to kill. He had a potion that could supposedly revive a dead person from sunset until sunrise. “I’d never used it, so I can’t be entirely sure it works.”
“You could use it on someone who was killed so that they can identify their murderer,” I suggested.
“It’d be great at parties, too.”
“I would go to that party.”
* * *
Eventually, we got some food and went to the
hotel. It was nicer than the motel room from Lilly’s town, but not anything terribly fancy. It had two queen-sized beds, a reading chair, a table, a television set, a dresser, a balcony, and a bathroom. The décor was minimal and pleasant.
“Did you bring enough blood?” Logan asked as I transferred four bottles of Sanguatine from my cooler to the fridge.”
“As long as a demonic monster doesn’t crash into the fridge again, I should have enough for a week or so. It depends on how much energy I exert and if I get injured.” While Deimos, Phobos, and Logan ate, I showered. I wasn’t expecting the whispers to overcome me, and by the time they did, I couldn’t fight them.
I was standing on a subway train. Although there were other people around, it was one man I was focused on. He was nodding off in his seat. When the train suddenly lurched to a stop, most of the people hit the floor, including him. Then the lights went out.
* * *
Logan was drying me off with a towel. We were in the bathroom of the hotel room and the boys were standing outside the bathroom, growling with worry. “What happened?” I asked. I was on my knees.
“You slipped… out of the shower and into the door. I thought you were being attacked. The light was flashing and the door wouldn’t open. Was it another vision?”
“I think so. I was on a train and it lurched to a stop. Maybe it was a form of sleepwalking. I’m surprised the door held.”
He half closed it so that I could see the huge dent in it. “Did you feel the urge to kill anyone on this train?”
“No, but I felt like someone was going to die.”
“These visions are escalating too quickly. I am going to get something from my shop that might help. I’ll be back by sunset.”
Logan only slept a few hours a week. “We don’t even know what’s causing this.”
“Then I will get several items from my shop that might help.”
Chapter 4
1995
I was eleven and getting myself ready for bed. I liked living in California. I liked the sun, the aquarium, and my school. I was even starting to make friends. When the lights flickered, shivers ran down my spine. After grabbing a flashlight, I headed downstairs to my dad’s lab. However, his door was closed, and I knew I wasn’t allowed to enter without permission. For a few minutes, I deliberated whether to knock or just go to bed. Finally, I raised my hand to knock…
And heard my dad speak.
“There’s no way it will be done in time.”
I assumed he was on the phone and decided to wait until he was done with his call before knocking. I was also a terribly curious child and wanted to eavesdrop on the conversation. I really hoped we weren’t moving again.
“It must be,” said another voice. The masculine voice was not unusual or sinister in any way that I could point out, but it bothered me deep inside. I wanted to turn on all the lights and go back to bed. Instead, I quietly opened the door.
My father wasn’t on the phone. He was talking into a steel bowl and something inside it cast a blue glow on his face. “I don’t have the coordinates.”
“Then I will send you to the other side and let you---”
“No,” my father interrupted. “I told you I can’t leave Rory.”
“Six months, Ascelin. If you haven’t fixed the problem in six months, you’ll go there yourself.”
* * *
I woke feeling like I was being watched. Deimos and Phobos were asleep. It wasn’t a sound or smell that alerted me of danger, but my instincts. I listened and heard cars, people, and water running, all outside. It was dusk, judging by the clock next to the bed. Movement caught my eye. Shadows were spreading across the far wall until the wall was unnaturally dark. Then words formed in blood.
Let her die
Or HE will be next
“That is the scariest thing I’ve ever seen,” I said half-heartedly. “A demon’s pet sent me creepy-ass visions and sleep paralysis and all you can do is write a message on the wall? Am I supposed to guess who ‘he’ is? Because I really don’t care.”
The sensation of a powerful predator, which I was beginning to associate with demons, never came. Instead, I sensed the danger fade away. Deimos and Phobos woke simultaneously a second before the door opened. “What happened?” Logan asked, his eyes immediately falling on the blood.
“We got a message from your mother’s killer. I’m really glad you can see it, too. I hate going crazy alone.”
“Did you see the culprit?”
“No. Did you get something to help with the whispers?”
“Possibly.” He pulled an amulet out of his pocket. It looked like a pentagram made of silver rose vines. “It isn’t your style, I know, but it is effective in protecting your mind from foreign power.”
The last thing he got me from his shop was a robe that would protect me from the sun. I knew it worked because I’d had to rely on it already. Thus, I would wear a necklace if he thought it would help me.
Phobos grumbled, grabbed the remote, and turned the television on so that he could watch cartoons.
“What did he say?” Logan asked.
“That he wants carrots for dinner.” Deimos slid open the balcony doors so that he could overlook the city. I took the amulet from Logan and put it on. “Hopefully, this will end the visions, headaches, and whispers.”
“If it doesn’t, it will at least narrow down the possibilities of what the affliction is.”
“Don’t call it that. I’ll clean that up while you get ready to…” I stopped talking when he waved his hand at the wall and the blood disappeared. “Or that. That works.” We grabbed our stuff, replenished the ice in my cooler, and left. The sky was still light, but the sun was not visible.
At the airport, we were directed to the same plane as before, so we couldn’t talk about anything paranormal or the case. The ride took three hours.
* * *
We arrived in San Francisco, where a 2017 Audi Q7 was waiting for us. When we passed a burger restaurant on the way out of the airport, Phobos started whining. “Let’s get a hotel room first and order pizza for the boys,” Logan suggested.
“Sure.”
Phobos popped his head up between our seats and licked Logan in the face, causing him to laugh. It was the first real, major laugh. We passed several hotels before Logan pulled into the driveway of a fancy waterfront hotel.
“I’m not sure the boys are allowed in here.”
“With enough money, a rabid orangutan would be allowed in.”
“That is strangely specific.”
“I was not able to get us separate rooms, however. I trust that won’t be a problem for you.”
“Why would it be? I hope you got separate beds, though, or the boys will be kicking you off.”
“I didn’t plan on sleeping.”
Logan parked us in front of the door. A doorman opened my door for me and then the boys. Logan gave the man his name and car key.
The hotel was very rich with glass, chrome, and lights everywhere. The fountain in the middle of the lobby was going overboard. To the far end was the front desk with a massive aquarium behind it. To the right were three elevators.
Instead of going to the front desk, Logan headed to the elevator. There were only a few people chatting in the lounge, and they all scrambled to get as far away from Deimos and Phobos as they could. “What’s their problem?” Logan asked.
“You stink,” I answered. He nodded and got in the elevator. “I was joking,” I explained when the doors closed.
“I will shower nonetheless.”
We got out of the elevator at the top floor and walked down the hallway to our room, which Logan unlocked with another key he had gotten at the airport. The room looked like a tastefully furnished condo. It had soft tan carpet, black leather couch, black leather chairs, and a glass coffee table. It was simplistic, which I liked, and along the far wall was a wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling window and a sliding glass door leading out to a private balcony.
“Are you rich?” I asked.
“I have power, which is better than money. People owe me. Money doesn’t hurt, though, and I have enough to live a good life. I imagine your finances are equally stable.”
“My bar does well and Brandy and I aren’t high-spenders, so yeah, we’re good.”
“I’m going to take a shower and change.”
“We’ll need Google maps or something to find the place. Do you have a phone charger?”
“Actually, no. I didn’t think to bring it.”
“Oh? Were you in a hurry because I called you?”
“I didn’t poke around. Where is yours?”
“I forgot it, too. I’ll order a few pizzas and head to a convenience store.”
Logan passed me the key and closed himself in the bathroom. I used my phone to look up the closest pizza delivery and ordered three large meat-lovers. If Logan didn’t eat all of his pizza, the boys would. Then Deimos and I left the hotel. Phobos was happy watching cartoons, waiting for pizza, and guarding Logan. The streets were vibrant and I was tempted to explore.
I liked living in the city, but major cities and party cities were too much for me. My focus was attracted to movement, so flashing lights was overwhelming. Furthermore, my prey drive was triggered by human shouts, even if they were shouts of laughter. Brandy wasn’t a party girl either.
Using my phone for directions, I found a convenience store easily. Unfortunately, the instant I opened the door, I scented another vampire. Deimos growled. “Be nice,” I cautioned. “We’re in their territory.”
Rogue vampires ventured into claimed territory at their own risk. Vampires who belonged to a coven never entered another coven’s territory without permission or it was calls for immediate death. The problem was that it was impossible to tell who was in a coven and who wasn’t based on sight or scent alone.
