by Misty Evans
“Because he knew you wouldn’t go along with it?”
“I was out of commission when the deal went down. He didn’t have a chance to ask.”
Kirill thought for a minute. “You believe he did it to save you.”
I glanced at him. “You don’t?”
“Damon doesn’t put anything ahead of his commitment to the Bridge Council. Not even you.”
Memories of the past and my dealings with Damon surfaced. Kirill was right. “You think he cut a deal for my safety with Lucifer because it benefited the Bridge? How so?”
“He needed you alive and in fighting condition for this war.”
“I’m just a soldier, Kirill. Damon was our commander-in-chief. He’s worth more than a dozen of me in any battle.”
“He must not have seen it that way.”
I chuckled under my breath, as confused as ever. “I’ve never understood the way he thinks.”
Adjusting his blanket, Kirill snorted. “Makes two of us.”
Back to business. “We struck out with Pestilence. Any other ideas?”
His cheeks rose in a smile. “Au contraire, enforcer. We didn’t strike out.”
The gleam in his tired eyes sparked hope in me. “What did you do?”
“My blood. Have you drawn any?”
“Seraphina took a couple of tubes.”
“His calling card is in my blood. When he infected me, he left a breadcrumb.”
I wasn’t following. “A breadcrumb?”
“Every disease has a calling card. An originating source. We can track his calling card. Like GPS.”
Satan be praised. “I can find him by using the breadcrumb he left in your blood.”
He nodded, pleased with himself. “Actually, I’m the one who can track him since it’s my blood.”
“How soon can you be up and ready to travel?”
“Give me a few hours of sleep. I’ll be good as new.”
Sleep. Sounded good. “You got it. I have one issue to resolve at sunset and then I’ll be back for you.”
“You still have to figure out how to kill him once you find him.”
Some of the air left my balloon. “I have the dagger that poisoned me. The one forged in angel fire. Will that do the trick?”
“Let me see it.”
It was strapped in my boot. I removed it and handed it to him.
The blade flashed under the fluorescent lights as Kirill turned it over and over. He sniffed the blade, closed his eyes and channeled magic at it. When he opened his eyes, I saw the archdemon behind his human façade. “Where did you get this?”
“Parker. It’s the blade she used against me in the park.”
“Hmm.” He tasted it, running his tongue along the flat side of the blade. “Interesting.”
“What?”
“It’s indeed forged with angel fire, but there’s another component I don’t recognize in the makeup of the silver.”
“Angel or demon?”
“Maybe both.”
Both? “Is that good or bad? Can I kill Pestilence with it?”
He sighed, handed it back to me. “I doubt it. The energy is…”
“Is what?”
“Off.”
This was getting me nowhere. “Can you be more specific?”
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was forged by Death himself.”
“Death, as in the last Horseman?”
He nodded.
Great. How did Parker get a weapon forged by Death? “And if the weapon is forged by a Horseman…”
“It won’t kill a fellow Horseman.”
Exhaustion weighed heavy on me. Or maybe I’d lost the earlier spark of hope. “Any other brilliant ideas?”
He yawned, eyes at half-mast. “Let me think about it.”
He was asleep before I walked out the infirmary’s door.
Chapter Forty-four
Sleep. The mere idea made me stumble as I trudged to the third floor. I eyed Damon’s apartment door where his magic still stood guard. The room beckoned me to slip through the security and come in. That type of thing—breaking into a guarded place and snooping around—didn’t usually bother me. I was a demon after all. But my stomach was comfortably full, Kirill was going to survive and my brain was mush. Entering Damon’s room seemed like a violation. A sacrilege.
My apartment was too quiet. Too still. Perfect for a few hours of shut-eye if I could turn off the voice in my head.
I undressed, put on my favorite Hello Kitty flannel pjs and crawled under the covers. I’d just settled in when a soft knock on the door got me back up.
Di was on the other side. “Sorry. Were you sleeping?”
Seeing her standing there in all her goddess beauty, I nearly wept. Since I’m not a crier, I threw my arms around her and hugged her tight.
I’m not a hugger, as evidenced by her grabbing my arms and setting me back so she could look me over after she returned my hug. “Are you all right?”
“Not in the least.”
“Saving the world is a thankless job, isn’t it?”
I motioned her into the room and we sat together on the luxurious white settee Dru had given me. I’d brought it to the apartment to escape Rad’s wrath.
Di fixed the pillows around us and opened up a soft chenille throw to drape over our laps. We propped our feet on the coffee table and Di scanned my face. “Talk to me.”
“I need Michael’s sword to stop the Horsemen, and even if I succeed in beheading each of them, Michael himself is coming to wage war against Lucifer. Damon cut a deal with Lucifer to guard his witch in return for Lucifer rescuing me from Vatican City. In order for Damon to fulfill his side of things…”
Di stopped me. “Forget about all of that. Let’s talk about what’s really bothering you.”
I’d never had a friend like Aphrodite. She saw through my outer layers and into my heart. “What’s really bothering me? Di, I’m trying to…”
She interrupted me again. “Is it Rad? Did he do something to bring up the past?”
Rad was my past. He was also my present. “He’s imposing restrictions on me and our relationship.”
“You feel fenced in.”
“Not fenced in so much as…” I hesitated, searching for the right term. “I can’t live up to his expectations. I know I’m going to fail, and fail big.”
“The same issue you’ve experienced with Damon on multiple occasions.”
She knew me so well. “On some levels.”
“You believe you’ve let Damon down many times, but he’s entrusted the care and keeping of the Bridge Council and this Institute to you. Doesn’t sound like failure to me. Does it to you?”
Not when she put it that way, but Di always saw the glass more than half full. “I’m in love with Rad.”
She followed the conversation’s right turn seamlessly. “That scares you.”
“What scares me is letting him down. I’ve never put anyone above my work and today, when he asked me to hide instead of fight, I wanted to. For him, not me.”
“But knowing you, you told him to fuck off.”
“Not in those exact words.” We shared a small laugh. “He knows my job means everything to me. I can’t stick my head in the sand because I’m in danger.”
“I think he understands that. He’d do anything for you, Kali. Protecting the woman he adores is part of his genetic male makeup. The human side and the demon side.”
Tipping my head back, I closed my eyes. “I should be protecting him. I’m stronger, faster, and more…well…everything, thanks to my genetic makeup and the recent boost from Dru’s blood.”
“Logically, he knows that. Emotionally, he hates it.”
“Then we’re going to keep having problems.”
She was silent and the heavy air of love-goddess analysis descended on me. I cracked open one eye. “What?”
“In work, you enjoy problems. They energize you. In relationships, you fear them.”
�
�And by the look on your face, that’s wrong. Right?”
“Actually, it’s completely normal. You’re secure in your job. You’ve made a name for yourself, built a reputation. Supernaturals respect you for who you are and what you do. Your relationships—with potential mates and with friends—aren’t as cut and dried. They’re messy and unpredictable and they tend to confuse you because you don’t rely on emotions when making decisions. In your case, your love for Rad screws with your female mojo. It keeps you off balance.”
Boy, did it. “Sometimes in a good way. The problem is when it interferes with my job. How do I avoid that?”
“You can’t. None of us can avoid conflict between our jobs and our loved ones. If you give everything to one, the other suffers. It’s called devotion.”
I wiggled my feet under the blanket. The truth was hard to hear even if I already knew it. Coming from the goddess of love, it held more weight.
“The good thing,” she continued, “is that women have been making it work for millions of years.”
“I’m not an ordinary woman.”
“Neither am I.”
“No offense, but you suck at long term relationships.”
“Maybe I don’t want a long-term relationship.”
“You believe in soul mates. How can you not want a long-term relationship with yours?”
Now it was her turn to look away. “I haven’t found him yet.”
Sadness and guilt flooded me. The goddess of love had never found the very thing she symbolized, while I, a demon of vengeance, had never loved anyone but Rad. In turn, he loved me back.
I thought of Lucifer and Amy. Obviously a love story that had survived everything heaven could throw at it.
Heaven, hell, earth. They all came together somehow and shifted inside me. Perspective was a wonderful thing. “I’m sorry for being so selfish. Di.”
She chuckled and patted my hand. “It’s your nature to be selfish. Never apologize for being true to yourself. Besides, you’re my best friend. I’m here for you, no matter what.”
Loyal, selfless and full of heart. My friends were pretty amazing, especially this one.
Thinking about my nature reminded me of my last intimate run-in with Dru. He hadn’t acted any different since our kiss and subsequent fight, but the memory stayed just under my skin…dynamite ready to explode. “I kissed Dru.”
The surprise on her face was comical. “Why, you little minx.”
Yasmin’s label burned in my ears. “Slut is more like it.”
Di waggled her eyebrows. “Was it good?”
“Aphrodite!”
“What? Did you have sex too?”
I covered my eyes with my hands and groaned. “Thank Satan, no, but bottom line, what’s the difference? I cheated on Rad.”
“It was just a kiss, Kali.” She forced my hands away from my face. “Right?”
“My demon made an appearance.”
“Damn.” Her face said it all. “Must have been some kiss.”
“His blood…his magic…I don’t know what it was. All I know is that it can never happen again.”
“You sure about that?”
Yes. I was sure. For the first time that day I was definitely sure about something. “Dru and I share this weird bond, but I don’t love him. Not like I love Rad.”
“Love and sex aren’t the same thing. You can desire someone you don’t love.”
“I don’t want to desire him. He’s a freakin’ vampire!”
“A sexy Master vampire who has deep feelings for you and wants to please you. Why wouldn’t you be attracted to him?”
Suddenly too hot, I sat up, tossed the blanket off my legs. “You’re not helping.”
While I picked at my nails, she sat forward so we were shoulder to shoulder. “If Rad finds out, he’ll be extremely disappointed. That’s what scares you more than admitting you want to jump Dru’s bones and scratch that itch.”
“Disappointed? Try devastated. And he’ll try to kill Dru, which will end up with one or both of them getting hurt.”
“Dru can take care of himself.”
“I don’t want them fighting over me.”
She wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “That’s what males do. It’s supposed to make you feel desired.”
“It makes me feel nauseated.”
She squeezed. “Oh, Kali. You are truly one of a kind.”
“Why do relationships have to be so hard?”
“They’re hard for all of us, but I’m proud of you. You’re not a one-man island anymore. You’re spreading your wings and letting all of us who care about you in.”
“Being an island was a hell of lot easier.”
Her infectious laughter got to me and I smiled. In Maria’s court, I’d never had a friend. No one to talk to about Rad or my love life. No one in three hundred years to tell me these complicated, human-like feelings were perfectly normal. “Does this qualify as a heart-to-heart about boys?”
“You bet it does. Now,” she rose from the settee and pulled me up with her. “Time for you to get your beauty sleep, defender of the world. We’ll talk more later.”
We meandered into the bedroom and she watched as I climbed under the covers. Our conversation hadn’t actually resolved my issues with Rad or Dru, but I felt better anyway. “Thanks, Di.”
“I keep telling you, that’s what friends are for.”
“If I don’t save the world, will we still be friends?”
Her forehead pinched. “Of course, silly. We’ll go down in flames together. Thelma and Louise style.”
After she left, I lay there looking at the ceiling and feeling odd. “What just happened?” I said out loud.
The walls and furniture had no answer, but my demon did.
Kali Sweet, vengeance demon, has gone soft.
Chapter Forty-five
A buzzing in my blood woke me a few hours later. The room was cast in shadows and I sat up like I’d been shocked, eyeing the corners of the suite for intruders.
I smelled blood. Felt it in my bones. Blood my body craved.
Dru.
I scanned the shadows again but he wasn’t hiding in them. Throwing back the covers, I followed the scent of his blood until I reached the apartment’s door.
Through the heavy wood, Dru’s voice spoke. He knew I was on the other side, sniffing him out. “Kali, I thought you should have a pint of my blood before you do battle tonight.”
Satan be damned. He wanted me to drink from him.
My body shuddered. I licked my lips.
Laying my forehead on the door, I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to calm my racing heart. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Damn. My voice betrayed me, coming out low and breathy.
There was a strained pause. “I know you find drinking directly from my vein unappetizing, so I’ve prepared a glass of blood for you. I’ll set it down out here and you can drink it if and when you’re ready.”
I heard a tray settle on the carpeting. Heard heavy footsteps walking away.
I flung open the door and sure enough, there was a crystal glass of the warm blood at my feet. Dru’s back retreated down the hallway.
My throat was tight. I managed to speak through it. “Thank you.”
It was barely a squeak, but he heard it. Without looking at me, he stopped, nodded. When he started to walk away, I called out his name. “Dru?”
His body was so tense, I could have bounced my wooden stakes off it.
“Be careful out there.”
Again, nothing but a nod with his back still facing me. “You, too, queen. Remember our deal.”
Watching him walk away, I raised the glass to my lips with a shaking hand. The blood was thick and tart, puckering my lips, but I downed it.
The velvety liquid slid across my tongue and down my throat, and even though it was still warm, none of the heady feelings I’d experienced feeding at Dru’s wrist came with it.
Disappointing. That was a high
I’d never be able to duplicate otherwise. There would be no more feeding directly from him.
Forcing the rest down, I went back inside the apartment. I felt revived, confident. Ready to do battle against Parker, Maria and anyone else who got in my way.
I showered, did my hair, and took stock of my weapons.
Then I dressed, making sure to wear the leather bustier…and a whole lot of sharp weapons.
Chapter Forty-six
Kirill was still sleeping and I left him alone, figuring our quest for Pestilence could wait until after I’d dealt with Parker.
Cole was in the training center. Damon would have insisted he stay there, getting the teams ready for their scouting missions. Doing things Damon’s way no longer appealed to me. It was time I embraced my own way of handling things.
“I’m heading to my place,” I told Cole once I pulled him away from a group of soldiers. “I need backup.”
His brown eyes sized me up, lingering on my décolleté neckline. My request for help wasn’t that unusual and yet he seemed a little surprised. “I’ll get my stuff.”
We met up again in the parking lot. “What gives?” he asked.
“My place. Parker. Possibly Maria. Rad is baiting them.”
The control freak War demon insisted on driving. We were out the gate before he commented. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but it could be a trap.”
“You think everything’s a trap. But this time you’re right. It is a trap. For Parker. I have to deal with her before I go after the Horsemen.”
He kept his eyes on the road, avoiding the clogged streets and roaming marauders as best he could. His right hand was tight on the wheel. His left hand held a loaded gun on his lap. One finger lightly caressed the trigger as if itching to pull it. “Something you should know about Guitar Boy.”
Now what?
“Little bird told me he’s been meeting with Parker in secret.”
“He told me. She wants him back. Beyond that, he has this plan to draw her out so I can kill her.”
Cole shot me a look of jaded disbelief. How could I be so naïve? “You can’t trust him, Kali.”
“But you trust your source?”
“She’s credible.”
