by Misty Evans
“You don’t remember.” It was a statement, not a question. His voice was low and controlled and every time he spoke, icy fingers of caution tickled my spine.
Scanning his features, I flipped through my memory vault. Salmad—my father had talked about him on many occasions when I was a girl. Not in my presence, but I would hear him in his and my mother’s bedroom, directly above mine, pacing the floor at night and telling my mother about the priest’s latest miracle. The mad priest healed the sick, provided relief to those who suffered odd maladies. He exorcised demons and brought still-born babies back to life.
A miracle worker, some said. Like Jesus. Other’s claimed Salmad was possessed by Lucifer and was a son of perdition. A false prophet.
My attention returned to his eyes. Humans claimed the eyes were windows to the soul. His tugged at me, demanding recognition. I searched my memories harder. “I know your name and have heard the stories about your miracles, but I don’t remember ever meeting you.”
The priest unbuttoned the upper half of the robe and opened it to reveal his chest. The dangling crosses on the end of his metal belt swayed from his motions. “Do you remember this?”
A large, circular scar covered his body from throat to stomach. Inside the circle were runes, both words and magical symbols, dissected into seven sections. The runic words, derived from Old Latin, flowed around the circle. The sacrificial symbols were grouped in threes.
He needed to gain a few pounds, the skin covering his muscles stretched taut over his lean frame. I didn’t need to read the words on his chest. I knew them by heart. I’d carved the same curse on many a human’s body while working in Maria’s torture chambers.
I, master of vengeance, conceal here runes of evil, power and damnation. Incessantly plague this human with maleficence. Doom him to insidious death. I am the way of his destruction. Vengeance is mine.
Looking away, I swallowed the sudden tightness in my throat, tamped down the nausea twisting in my stomach. My past was determined to come back and haunt me one way or another. And the fact was, I deserved it. “How is it you still live, Salmad?”
From the corner of my eye, I saw him close the robe. “Because I am one of you.”
I met his intense gaze once more. “You’re not a demon.”
“I am a vice, like you and Maria. Cast out of Mary Magdalena by Christ.”
My demon jerked even though she was still asleep. I shot a questioning look at Damon. His body language was always reserved, but now it was downright frosty. Combined with the distance he’d put between us, I had no doubt he was planning something I wasn’t going to like. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
One thing the priest excelled at was conveying emotion without so much as breathing. It was the eyes, I decided. The way he transmitted disgust, irritation, admonishment…it was all there in those blue orbs.
Damon was probably jealous the priest had such control and could communicate so effectively without the slightest change in demeanor. The archdemon always held his cards close to his chest and could command most of us with a simple brow lift or jaw clench. The priest’s total lack of facial affect, while still suggesting exactly what he was thinking and feeling, was off the charts. A form of mental language I’d only seen in one other entity.
Me.
How do you do that with your eyes? Maddy constantly asked me. I pretended I didn’t understand what she meant, but I did. When anyone looked into the window of my nonexistent soul, they saw my demon staring back.
“Damon tells me you consider your demon separate from yourself.” The priest’s gaze once more scanned my attire, dropped to my bare feet. “That you are two entities in one body.”
I will not squirm under that gaze. I crossed my arms to hide my shaking hands. “It’s important I keep my base nature suppressed.” I motioned at his chest with my chin. “For obvious reasons.”
“And why do you think it’s possible to accomplish such a task?”
Sheer determination had my vote. “I don’t hurt humans anymore. That was Maria’s influence. Don’t get me wrong, I take credit for my actions and I was a horrible creature then, but I don’t torture people anymore. I protect humans now.”
“To make up for the atrocities you committed under Maria’s rule?”
Nothing could make up for that. “I’m a different demon than I was then. And I’m sorry for what I did to you.”
His face softened. It was the weirdest thing. One minute, it was hard as stone. The next, the tension drained away and his gaunt cheekbones appeared more regal and less haggard. “You are the same creature, Kali, but your virtue has been reignited.”
Virtue? Somebody was smoking the magical bong. “Next you’ll tell me I have a soul, priest.”
“When Christ cast us out of Mary Magdalena, we became both vice and virtue. I am the vice acedia. Sloth. I am also the virtue industria. You are superbia. Pride. Superbia and humilitis. It is your virtue that tames the vice.” He tapped his chest with a balled fist. “You could not kill me, as you could not kill Maria. Harm us, yes. Obliterate us? It is not in your power or the powers of anything on earth.” He lowered his fist, drew a deep breath. “God giveth and God taketh away.”
A weird buzzing noise set up shop in my ears. My legs gave out and I slid to the floor, my ass hitting the cold steel with an undignified thud.
Neither Damon nor Salmad made a move to help me up, so I sat there, legs sprawled and head spinning. The temperature in the cell seemed to drop as I digested the priest’s information, turning it over and over in my foggy brain, seeing if any of it rang true.
Truth, I decided, was highly overrated. I shivered uncontrollably, my lips unable to form all the questions racing through my mind.
Salmad broke the silence. “You’re name is on the Noctifector’s list, as is all of ours who walk the earth. They want to round us up, and since they can’t kill us, not permanently anyway, they plan to incarcerate us. But now that Maria is back…”
I found my voice. “You’re sure she’s one of us? You’re sure I’m one of you?”
Just as the priest opened his mouth, a brilliant white light burst to life directly behind him. In the next second, his head snapped forward and he dropped to his knees, his shocked blue eyes locking with mine.
Until Maria’s ghost hit him again and he did a face plant in my lap.
Chapter Twenty-three
Shit, shit, shit.
The priest was down. Maria was floating in front of me. I couldn’t see past her to Damon. My fingers involuntarily tapped my thumbs, but again, I had no magic, no weapons.
Damn it all to hell.
Maria’s sparkling ghost noticed my movements and laughed. A soft tinkling sound that raised the hair on the back of my neck. “You cannot protect yourself from me, Kalina. I am the strongest of the seven sins.”
Conceited bitch. Truth was in her claim, though. Sin was the root of all evil, but lust was the root of most sin. Humans and supernaturals alike wanted what they couldn’t have, craved what they didn’t need. Sex, money, power…they always wanted more, no matter how much they already possessed.
She might be the strongest of the sins, but she wasn’t the strongest entity in that cell.
I shoved Salmad off my legs, reached under him, fingers searching for his cross belt even as I stayed away from the sparkling light. I started to mentally reach out to Damon, but hesitated. Could a ghost eavesdrop on a psychic link? Neve said anything was possible with ghosts. No way would I give her the upper hand. Damon would have to follow my lead or get the hell out of the way. “What took you so long to come back? It’s been nearly three-hundred years. Lose some of your mojo when I kicked your ass?”
The snarky Italian in me couldn’t resist taunting her. Plus, distraction was my best weapon until Damon either stepped up or I ripped the belt off the priest. I’d never talked back to Maria at Court. Never said one word to her when I hijacked her later on and put her in the ground. Would be interesti
ng to see how she responded to it now. How she would react.
Her brow furrowed, her mouth turned down. “You dare to provoke me?”
My fingers touched cold metal and the belt shocked me.
Salmad had blessed it, of course, but he must have also soaked it in holy water or placed some sort of holy spell on it. That was both good and bad. Good because Maria’s evil would be affected by it. Bad because so would mine.
I gave the belt a hard jerk and it came loose. Running the chain between the fingers of both hands, I ignored the stinging sensation on my skin and stood. The silver crosses spun on each end. I would have preferred iron since I was dealing with a ghost, but at least I had something.
“Provoke you? That would be foolish.” I stepped over Salmad’s body and circled to the right. “I’ve seen what you can do. In fact, that blow to my head at the psych hospital was quite impressive. Put me down for the count. But then, you got the jump on me, didn’t you? Instead of facing me like an adult, you snuck up behind me like a child. Why?”
Damon was edging toward the open door. Was he leaving me? When he caught my eye, he made a no magic sign and hooked a thumb over his shoulder. The steel of the cell was interfering with his magic too.
“You were always full of questions, Kalina.” Maria sighed and shifted closer to me, paying no attention to the archdemon. In her world, he was meaningless. She raised a ghostly hand to touch my face. “Why should I think you altered now? But you know what questions get you, right, my sweet? What happens to the cat who is always curious?”
I stood my ground, refusing to let the chill of her hand affect me in any way. Questions in Maria’s court were not tolerated, especially when it came to her actions. By the time I was ten, I knew better than to ask her anything for fear she would embarrass me in front of her entire entourage. A prideful demon does not want to be embarrassed.
But I wasn’t a ten-year-old demon anymore, nor was I worried about my pride. All I wanted to do was trap Maria’s ghost inside that cell. Would steel work as well as raw iron when it came to ensnaring a spirit? I had no idea.
Damon now stood outside the doorway motioning for me to get out as well. We shared the same idea—trap Maria inside the cell. There was only one problem. Salmad was lying unconscious on the floor. He would be trapped with her. There was only one thing I could do.
Going down on one knee, I bowed my head to Maria and shot a quick look from Damon to the priest. “I protect the innocent now, not harm them,” I said in Italian, hoping Damon understood the double meaning. Salmad wasn’t human, but damned if I’d leave him behind with her. “I am of no use to you anymore.”
Maria chuckled and answered me in Italian. “First, you challenge me. Then you play the humble servant while pretending you have changed. The games we play, no?”
Damon shot magic into the cell, trying to lift Salmad’s body. The moment the magic crossed the threshold, it dissipated into dozens of tiny sparks that fizzled and fell to the floor behind Maria.
Damn. So much for that idea.
It was going to take more than a simple distraction to keep Maria occupied in order for Damon to remove the priest’s body. Or I was going to have to sacrifice Salmad for the greater good of keeping Maria locked away from the world.
Decisions, decisions…
Using the silver belt like I would have used Volante, I swung it around Maria’s feet which hovered a few inches above the floor. The greater good was going to get screwed this time. I had harmed the priest enough.
And I’d taken Maria down before. I could and would do it again.
The blessed silver cut through her ankles and she cried out, toppling backwards. Not the direction I wanted her to go but I was still pleased at the effect the belt had on her. I jumped up, raised one end of the belt above my head and spun the cross in the air. My heart pumped hard and fast, that previously slow-moving blood now swimming through my veins with ease. And while my demon continued to sleep, my body moved with effortless grace and enhanced abilities.
I whipped the cross at her heart and it connected, slicing through her ethereal chest. Not deep enough for my liking, but keeping her off balance. I snatched the cross back and went after her again, driving her away from the priest and backing her against the far wall.
She screamed at me in Italian and raised her hand to throw magic at me. Just like Damon’s attempt, her magic fell flat.
Behind me, I heard the sound of Damon’s loafers shuffle across the steel floor as he grabbed Salmad and dragged him to safety. I was within two feet of Maria and wondering what would happen if I jumped on her when she flew off the wall and went right through me.
The abruptness of her actions startled me. The sudden chill of her spectral body mingling with mine shocked my organs and I went rigid. My already amplified senses screamed in overload. My heart threatened to explode.
And then she exited through to the other side.
My body still in shock, I turned a second too slow and saw her touch Damon’s head. The sparkling light around her hand changed to red, the color of passion and lust. Apparently her succubus skills worked even inside the cell. Salmad’s body was mostly out the door as I tackled Maria from behind. Once more, our two forms intertwined and mine rebelled at the awful sensation.
My attack, however, shoved Damon through the opening, taking the priest with him. As I fell out the other side of Maria’s ghost, my senses reeling, I rolled left and threw the cross belt at her head.
If it connected, I didn’t see. The instant I rolled toward the door, Damon grabbed me by the shirt with one hand and hauled me out of the cell. With his other hand, he closed the opening and magically sealed it.
Chapter Twenty-four
“We did it!” I was breathing hard, pinned against Damon’s chest. “Do you think that cell will hold her?”
He didn’t answer, just stared into at my face. Correction, he was staring at my lips. Next thing I knew, my back was against the wall, and Damon’s hard archdemon body pressed against me. His large hand brushed back my bangs and then stroked the side of my neck. His smoke scent inundated my nose and his mind ambushed mine.
I have to have you. Now.
Oh, boy. Not good. Maria’s touch had lessened his inhibitions. Not just lessened them, infused them with raging lust. This should be fun, telling my boss no. Wouldn’t be the first time, of course, but previously he hadn’t been unstable and consumed with uncontrollable desire.
His other hand found the hem of my shirt and slipped underneath it, feeling up my thigh. A thrill of return desire made my knees weak. What was up with that? Damon was handsome and I liked him when he wasn’t nagging at me, but he was my boss. We rubbed each other the wrong way so often and so extremely these days, I couldn’t be in the same room with him without going on the defensive.
“That’s Maria’s influence,” I told him, checking his hand and removing it from my thigh. My voice was breathy and sensuous, as if I were in the throes of lust myself. My pulse throbbed in my ears loud enough, I was sure he could hear it. So much for not leading him on. “She touched you. Even as a ghost, she can infect you with her sin.”
His lips sought my neck and nibbled my earlobe. I shivered. “I’ve always wanted you. Since the first day I saw you.”
That was a lie. Damon had loved his wife, and when I met him, he’d treated me like a younger sister. Protective, helpful, and willing to forgive most of my faults while he trained me to work for the Bridge Council.
But his wife was human and had died in childbirth a few years after she hired me to take revenge on him. Once I’d convinced her he was not cheating, but loved her deeply, she and I became friends. The two of them showed me the value of preserving human life, helped me get over Rad’s abandonment and grieve properly for my dead family. Damon and the European Bridge Council gave me purpose.
As I learned a new way of life as enforcer, my confidence in the field protecting humans grew, and Damon and I disagreed more often than not. Long y
ears after his wife’s death, I would occasionally see a flicker of longing in his eyes when we talked and especially when we argued. He was lonely and craved companionship. He was an archdemon filled with needs. The attraction between us was there, born of a long-standing friendship and a shared determination to protect humanity…but this confession? It stroked my ego, but it wasn’t true.
I squirmed to get away from him. “Stop it. That’s Maria’s lust talking, not you.”
Maria’s influence or not, he refused to let me go. Magic swirled around us, his scent growing sharper and tangier as he continued to curtail my escape. Like someone had thrown apple wood on a fire when they’d previously been burning oak. “Her sin only highlights what is already there,” he countered.
If that was true, and Damon’s actions were any indication, I was in big trouble. His hands roamed my body, and in return, my body arched into him. Heat built low in my stomach and my inner thighs tightened.
What the hell? Was this a side effect of my collisions with Maria?
That’s when I felt a familiar sensation deep inside my chest. My demon was purring.
Awake now, she wanted Damon. Nothing new there. She wanted everyone, demon, human, and anything in between. Once I’d exited the magic-suppressing cell, she’d been released from her coma.
Damon kissed me, demanding and powerful as always, and my demon rushed to the surface to meet him. I closed my eyes and fought the emotions crashing through my system. I had to get a handle on my demon and on Damon before we brought down the Institute and decimated Chicago.
I pressed my ring fingers and thumbs together, but before I could raise my protective shield, Damon grabbed my hands and pinned them over my head. Without my magic, and with my body rebelling against logic, I was at his mercy.
The thing is, I’ve never been submissive. In Maria’s court, I obeyed her because I believed her propaganda about demons and what our duties were on earth. Maria was the ultimate coercer. She used physical and emotional blackmail to make me and other supernaturals in her court do anything she wanted. She used her sin and her skills to make obeying her pleasurable and disobeying her terrifying.
