The Others 03: The Demon You Know

by Christine Warren

  If you can call what you do eating. You had a cup of yogurt and half a sandwich for lunch yesterday. What the shit is that? Birds eat more than that.

  "Yes, well," she muttered, "some of us are trying to avoid acquiring a layer-of-heat-conserving-blubber. And watch your mouth. While you're in my head, you can keep a civil tongue in yours.”

  Of all the gin joints in all the world, I had to walk into this one.

  “Trust me, Rick, neither one of us is all that happy with the situation.”

  She started to throw back the covers and paused, feeling awkward. Maybe the only eyes Lou had to see out of at the moment were hers, but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was someone else in the room watching her. Especially when she could feel its anticipation. She glanced around and saw the full-length mirror on the back of the bathroom door, the one she'd have to walk past to get to her clothes.

  "Nice try," she grumbled, and yanked the sheet from the bed, wrapping it around her and taking it with her into the bathroom.

  Spoilsport.

  When she closed the bathroom door behind her, she realized the uncomfortable feeling of not being alone was still with her. Crossing her arms over her chest, she blew a stray hair out of her eyes and looked into the mirror. She looked the same as she always had, but that didn't mean she was the same.

  "Look, this was a lot easier when you were inside playing dead," she said, pressing her thighs together against the suddenly urgent need to pee. "I'll make a deal with you. You give me half an hour to shower and get dressed and whatever else, and I'll let you pick breakfast. Okay?”

  There was a moment of silence inside her head, and Abby had the uncomfortable feeling that Lou was weighing the possibility of eating his favorite foods against the certainty of getting to see her wet and naked.

  Deal, it finally consented, grudgingly. But don't say I never did nothin' for you.

  "Perish the thought.”

  She waited a good five minutes, against her bladder's fervent protests, just to make sure that un-alone feeling was gone before she hurried to pee and shower. She didn't trust Lou not to come back early and claim it didn't own a watch.

  By the time the fiend did reemerge, she was thankfully showered and dressed, and she took great delight in drowning out its grousing, however briefly, in the din of her hair dryer. It turned out her dad had been right all those years. Hair dryers were so loud they made it impossible to hear oneself think.

  Bless them.

  Rule found her an hour later, stretched out on the sofa in the media room, with one arm draped across her eyes and the other cradling her stomach.

  "Is something wrong?”

  "Many, many things," she groaned, not moving an inch. "Beginning with runny fried eggs and ending with a deep-fried peanut butter and banana sandwich. If I don't hurl soon, I may have to make a trip to Graceland to desecrate Elvis's grave.”

  Rule frowned down at her, noticing that the snap of her jeans had been unfastened, exposing the little curve of her tummy to the open air. "Did you eat all of that?" he asked carefully.

  "Believe me, it wasn't my idea. And if I have my way, I might never eat again." She paused and sucked in a slow, shallow breath. "In fact, if you don't mind, can we please change the subject? The idea of food is making that hurling thing a distinct possibility.”

  Frozen halfway into a sitting position on the edge of the sofa beside her, Rule thought better of it and turned to settle onto the coffee table facing her. "Can I get you anything?”

  "I need a young priest and an old priest.”

  Rule groaned. "Is there no one on this plane who has not seen that bloody movie?”

  "It's a classic," she defended, but he could tell her heart wasn't in it.

  He shook his head. "I take it that means Louamides had something to do with your present discomfort?”

  "Try everything," Abby snorted. "He blackmailed me into letting him choose breakfast. Not a mistake I'll be making again soon.”

  There was a moment of silence before Rule heard her mutter something that sounded suspiciously like, "No way, you perv. I'll think of something else to keep you occupied.”

  Rule raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?”

  She shook her head, then groaned, as the motion clearly upset her stomach. "Nothing," she said, raising her arm to her forehead so she could open her eyes and look at him. "I wasn't expecting to see you this morning. I thought you and Noah would be out pounding the pavement, so to speak.”

  "Your brother is. I have been talking with Tess." That brought a little color to Abby's cheeks. "Has she found an exorcism she thinks will work?”

  "Unfortunately, no." The animation fled from Abby's face, and Rule felt a squeezing around his heart. It still astonished him that making this woman happy could mean even more to him than keeping her safe. He leaned forward, bracing his forearms on his thighs, letting his hands hang down between his knees. "She is still working on a solution, but in the meantime, we have been debating other possibilities."

  Abby frowned. "Other possibilities for what?"

  "For flushing the fiend out of hiding."

  "I assume you're talking about Uzkiel."

  "Yes. I had not expected him to be so hard to locate. This city is large, but there are few fiends here at any given time, since they must wait to be invited before entering.”

  "I've been wondering about that." Abby lowered her arm, being careful not to jar her stomach, and reached out to take Rule's hand. Almost absently she joined their fingers together, and he again felt his heart contract. "How did Uzkiel get here in the first place? I have a hard time believing even a summoner would be stupid enough to call on him to exact revenge on the girl he couldn't date.”

  Rule snorted. "I see you share my high opinion of summoners." The question had bothered him, as well, and the answer he'd given Rafe sat no better with him now than it had several days ago. "I am afraid the fiends may have discovered and exploited a loophole in the invitation clause.”

  Abby looked her question.

  "When a summoner casts his spell and issues an invitation to a fiend, what he is doing, in essence, is opening a temporary gate between here and the Below." Rule looked down at their joined hands and twined his fingers with her much smaller, much more delicate ones. "The summoner then names the fiend he wishes to bind, and in doing so, because he uses the demon's true name, he commands the demon to pass through the gate into this world.”

  She nodded. "That's the impression I got, but I admit I'm far from an expert. Most of what I knew before last month came from watching the late, late movie.”

  "The assumption has always been that fiends do not enjoy being enslaved, even temporarily, which I believe still holds. But what if the fiends had discovered that by one piggybacking on the summoning of another, the second fiend could pass through that gate as well and enter this world unbound to the human who had opened the gate?”

  Rule watched Abby frown as she worked through the scenario, then saw her pale. "Oh, my gosh. That would be…horrible. If that's possible, it would allow any fiend who wanted to come through into this world and just roam around unchecked, killing anything or anyone it pleased." She paused, gripping his hand tighter. "Is it possible?”

  "Unfortunately, Tess agrees that it may be.”

  "But that would mean the fiends could just all relocate here if they wanted to and not be under the control of the Watch anymore. They could build an army if they wanted.”

  That nightmare scenario had also occurred to Rule. He shook his head. "I cannot deny it is possible, but I don't believe the threat is imminent, and Tess agrees. While yes, theoretically any fiend who wanted to could piggyback on another's summoning, the gates opened during those spells are very small and very brief. We believe that at most one additional fiend could travel through at a time. Unless the summoners begin opening gate after gate after gate in a short period of time, the number of fiends here at any one time would be finite.”

  Abby breathed a
sigh of relief. "I suppose that's some comfort.”

  "Some small comfort," Rule agreed. "In any event, while it does limit the number of fiends in the city, it makes it more difficult to locate one. Uzkiel and any others present at the moment appear to be wise enough to lay low for the time being.”

  "So how are you going to flush it out?”

  This was the part of the conversation Rule had been dreading. "That is why I came looking for you. I thought we should join the others and all discuss it at once. If the idea Noah and I dreamed up is to work, we will need everyone's help.”

  She smiled at him, her sweet expression glowing with trust. "Then let's go find them. Just do me one favor." She eased herself carefully into a sitting position and grimaced. "Don't take us anywhere near the kitchens."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  They convened in the library, which was beginning to gain the nickname around Vircolac of "the War Room." Tess, Rafe, and Samantha sat on the sofa, looking expectant, while Noah lounged in an armchair across from the one his sister had curled into. But his lazy appearance didn't fool anyone. Graham, Rule had learned, had taken Missy on a short trip to the country, because "fresh air would be good for the pup." He wasn't fooling anyone, least of all Missy, who had said, "He's just trying to keep me out of trouble.”

  Rule couldn't blame the Lupine. If Rule had the choice, he probably would have done the same.

  This was not a moment he had been looking forward to.

  "Well?" Tess prodded. "Let's hear it, O fearless leader. What's the plan?”

  Rule glared at Noah. Tess might have asked the question, but Noah had been just as involved in the planning as he had. The only reason Noah didn't stir himself to answer the witch's question was that he wanted to watch Rule squirm. Apparently Noah wasn't quite as nonchalant about Rule and Abby's relationship as he had assured them he was.

  "You all know parts of it," Rule began. He stood beside Abby's chair and rested his hand on her shoulder. "I have discussed aspects with each of you over the last few days. Our goal, of course, is to locate Uzkiel and bring the fiend to justice, whether that involves binding it and returning it to the Parliament to face formal charges for its crimes or whether that involves destroying it outright.”

  "We're not going to be picky," Tess volunteered.

  "The trouble has been in locating Uzkiel. He remains well hidden, unexpectedly so.”

  "Hardly surprising in a city as large and populous as this one," Rafe said. "Especially considering our population of Others and magic users is disproportionately high.”

  Rule nodded. "Noah and I, however, believe we might have thought of a way to flush him out. To make him come to us.”

  Samantha looked dubious. "You really think you're going to get a fiend you've been hunting for years to just knock on the door and turn himself in? That doesn't sound like a plan; it sounds like an episode of Scooby-Doo.”

  Noah shot her a sideways glance. "Well, we do have a talking dog on our team.”

  The Lupine visibly bristled and Rule stepped in to distract her before she could make Abby's brother eat his words. "Of course, we don't expect Uzkiel to voluntarily surrender. We will set a trap and lure him into it.”

  "A trap implies the use of bait," Rafe pointed out. His voice sounded mild, but his eyes were sharp.

  Rule nodded brusquely. No one was going to like this idea. Even he didn't like it, and he and Noah were the ones who had come up with it.

  "You are correct, Rafe. The trap will need to be baited. We will need to use Louamides. We will exorcise it from Abby and place it in another vessel. Then we will dangle it in front of Uzkiel and wait for the trap to spring.”

  Samantha snorted. "I stand corrected. I've seen better plans on episodes of Scooby-Doo. We'd be better off with a bedsheet, a skateboard, and a washing machine.”

  While he didn't phrase it so bluntly, Rafe seemed to agree with the Lupine's assessment. "The trouble with mousetraps is that often the prey steals the bait and still escapes the snare. Can we afford to take that risk?”

  "We don't have much choice.”

  Abby shook her head. "Sure we do. We must. What about the coven Tess mentioned? They're trying to track down Uzkiel. Why not wait to see what they come up with?”

  Rule's hand squeezed her shoulder. "Time is running short. The Parliament Below is losing patience. They want Uzkiel delivered so they can bring him to justice.”

  "Well, they can just hold their horses. We're doing the best we can.”

  "Our best is not counted quite good enough.”

  "They do have a point, though," Noah observed.

  "From what Rule and De Santos tell me of them, I've concluded they're a bunch of whiny little snot-nosed pencil pushers who wouldn't know how to run a location and extraction mission if we drew them a diagram. But they've got a point about needing to move on this. If Tess and Rule are right about how the fiends are getting to town, it's not a far stretch to imagine they're doing it at Uzkiel's suggestion. If that fiend is trying to build himself an army, we need to put a stop to it yesterday.”

  "Why does that buildup make me think I'm not going to like whatever it is the two of you have dreamed up?”

  Noah just grinned at his sister. "Doesn't matter, Ab. If your boyfriend couldn't talk me out of it, there's no point in you even trying.”

  Abby shook her head in immediate denial. "No way.”

  "Sorry, Sis. You don't get a vote.”

  "There is no way," Abby repeated, jumping out of her chair and glaring daggers at her brother. "There is no way in whatever it is you consider hell that I'm letting you take on Louamides and offer yourself up to Uzkiel on a platter. It's not going to happen, so just get the idea out of your head right now.”

  "Like I said, Abigail, you're not going to be able to talk me out of it. And I'd like to see you stop me any other way.”

  "You may be older than me, and you may be bigger than me, but I'm sneakier than you are, Noah James. And I happen to know where you sleep.”

  "I can fix that soon enough. If I want to take chances, that's my decision. It's not just my decision; it's my job. Or did you think I just spent my days polishing boots and posing for recruitment posters?”

  "That's a completely different thing. You're a soldier. You're trained to fight. I get that. But you're not trained to fight fiends, and you're not trained to handle being possessed by one.”

  "If you can bear up under the strain, I'm pretty sure it won't kill me.”

  "No, but Mom might. Why don't I just give her a call and tell her what you have planned?”

  "Low blow, Ab.”

  "Children." Rafe rose from his seat on the sofa and stepped between the two of them. "Enough with the bickering. It is not helping matters.”

  "The only thing that's going to help matters is a swift blow to my idiot brother's stubborn head," Abby muttered. She turned on Rule, her eyes narrowed in anger. "And you're going to let him do this? You were just planning to stand by while he throws himself to the wolves and give your blessing to this ludicrous plan?”

  Beneath her furious bluster, Rule could see the real fear in Abby's eyes. He had known the idea of her brother putting himself in danger would be intolerable for her and couldn't blame her. Rule didn't like the plan, either, but it turned out that Noah Baker was almost more stubborn than his baby sister.

  "Of course not," Rule said quietly, reaching out to grasp her arms and pull her toward him. She tried to bat his hands away, clearly not in the mood to be comforted, but he persisted. "I do not want your brother in danger any more than you do. But he is a grown man, Abby. I have no authority to gainsay him. What would you have me do?”

  "Stop him." She stamped her little foot in emphasis.

  "How?”

  "I don't know. Do whatever it is you do. Work some demon magic or something. Heck, go ahead and kidnap him and lock him up in a stronghold somewhere. It seemed to work where I'm concerned.”

  Rule shook his head. "Your brother
is not an innocent bystander, Abby. He's a trained soldier. If I tried to lock him in somewhere, he would try to escape. The only way for me to stop him from killing himself would be to do the job for him. I somehow doubt that is a solution of which you would approve.”

  "Rule, you can't let him do this. Please." Her voice went from brassy to begging, and her wide, mismatched eyes pleaded with him. "You have to stop him.”

  "He can't," Noah said.

  The words came out harshly and Rule glared at him from over Abby's head. Rule would have snapped at the other man if he hadn't seen the haunted look in Noah's eyes. His brusque manner clearly served to hide just how difficult this was for him.

  Abby turned in Rule's arms, aiming her miserable expression at her brother. "Why are you doing this? It's not your fight. Why put yourself on the line?”

  "Because someone has to.”

  It was the same answer Rule had received when he'd asked the same question. Rule suspected that kind of commitment to duty was what had inspired Noah to join the military in the first place. He had the strength and the skills to handle this kind of situation; therefore he was honor bound to do so. To Noah, it was that simple.

  To Abby, it remained a mystery.

  "Someone doesn't have to be you," she said, and pushed herself away from Rule's chest. He tried to pull her back, but she ducked out of reach. "I'm the reason you're in this situation, and Lou is already perfectly at home inside of me. There's no reason to drag someone else into this mess. If anyone is going to act as bait, it should be me."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  "Absolutely not." Rule's veto came immediately and unequivocally. Abby had expected that, but she didn't react. She just took a deep breath and went on with her alternate plan.

  "Not only is Lou already inside me, solus spell and all, but that other fiend—Seth, Uzkiel's minion— knows where Lou is hiding. That's why Seth came after me in the first place. Why try to reinvent the wheel? The fiends know about me and they know I'm being protected by the Silverback Clan, so they must have some idea where I'm hiding. It's ridiculous to move Lou to Noah and then have to let the fiends find out about it before they can even come looking for him. I'm already set up and ready to go. We should move now. The sooner the better.”