Tess pursed her lips. "Anyone else having déjà vu?”
Abby ignored that. She couldn't say her eagerness was all about the desire to see justice done. A lot of it had to do with the school of thought that decreed it was better to rip a bandage off quickly, so that the pain would be over with in the shortest amount of time possible.
"It's out of the question." Rule's features had settled into those harsh, granite lines again, the ones that said he was the demon and he made the rules. She realized he hadn't used that mask with her since before they'd made love, and she didn't like seeing it return, even if she understood the reasons.
"It's no more out of the question for me to be the bait than it was for my brother to be the bait. We're both human. We're both equally unequipped to do battle with an archfiend.”
Rule glared at her. "Your brother happens to be equipped with an AK-47 and a kilogram of plastic explosive.”
Okay, Rule had a point there. But still...
"Do you really think that when we take Uzkiel down, it's going to be with bombs or bullets?”
"When I take Uzkiel down, you are going to be nowhere in the vicinity.”
She returned his glare with interest. "I already escaped once, Mr. Dictator. Want to see how fast I can repeat that if you try and wrap me in cotton balls and put me on a shelf until this is over?”
Rafe muttered under his breath and stepped forward again. "I swear I should be getting combat pay." He put a hand on Rule's shoulder to draw his attention. "If Noah were to act as bait, what would the rest of the plan entail?”
Abby opened her mouth to say the rest of the plan didn't matter, since her brother wasn't going to be involved in it, but Rafe sent her a look clearly designed to shut her up. What ended up being even more effective was the elbow Tess hurried over to plant in Abby's side. That knocked enough of the breath out of her that she actually couldn't protest for a few minutes.
"Since Noah is a well-trained and experienced soldier," Rule said, shooting Abby a pointed glare, "I have every confidence that he could hold his own in an emergency situation. We would spread the word that Lou had moved into a new human host, and then have him attract the fiend's attention with something suitably Lou-like. A fracas at a strip club would do nicely.”
Mmm, just so long as I got to look for a while before the fracas.
"Shut up, Lou," Abby muttered under her breath.
You're such a fun-Nazi-
"It would not take long for Uzkiel to put those pieces together and send his minions after Noah. We would allow Noah to lead them to a secured area, and once there, we would perform a binding spell and bring the fiend's imprisoned spirit back to the Below for the Parliament to deal with.”
"And I'm sure it would all work out just that tidily." Abby crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Rule.
"That's why Rule pointed out he knows I can deal with emergency situations," Noah defended. "It wouldn't be the first mission I've been on that went straight into FUBAR, and I can sure as hell predict it won't be the last.”
"It doesn't matter," Abby said, "because you won't be on this mission. Like I said, if anyone here is going to put themselves in a situation like this, it's going to be me.”
"Over my dead body," Rule snapped.
"Don't tempt me," Abby hissed.
"I am not certain anyone will be performing this mission," Rafe said. He was frowning, only this time Abby didn't think it was just because the bickering had resumed. He looked about as convinced of the feasibility of this grand plan as she felt. "It sounds like a very large risk with a very small chance of success. Do we even know if we have the capability to perform such a binding spell?" He glanced at his wife and arched an eyebrow.
"Maybe," she said, pursing her lips. "It wouldn't be easy. It would certainly be beyond my fiendish powers, but Rule is a demon. He's from the same plane as Uzkiel. That could give him an advantage. Plus, he told me he's got some kind of special gris-gris or something that's been designed to hold archfiends like this one.”
"It's a silver mirror," Rule informed them grudgingly. "Not a modern mirror, but a highly polished piece of silver with an accurately reflective surface.”
"And that does what?" Samantha asked.
"Another piece of folklore attributed to the wrong place. Vampires have no fear of mirrors because they cast no reflections. One seldom fears an absence of something. But archfiends fear their own reflections. It is a reminder of how far they have strayed from what they once were. At one time, they were demons not so different from me. When they see proof of how evil has changed them, they can become bound to the reflective surface and trapped there.”
Tess looked intrigued. "Really? I'll have to remember that little trick. I always carry a compact in my purse with me.”
"I wouldn't advise using it," Rule cautioned. "The mirror I brought with me is silver and not glass for a reason. A mirror can bind an archfiend and even hold one temporarily, but mirrors are fragile. It doesn't take much force for the fiend to break free of one. They can also break accidentally, and when the mirror breaks, it releases the spirit of the fiend back out into the world. Usually, a much crankier fiend than the one you had originally captured.”
"But the fiend will be unable to break free of the silver mirror?" Rafe asked.
"At least for long enough for me to return it Below.”
"Right. That's a great plan," Samantha observed, her tone dripping sarcasm. "Totally foolproof. Except for the parts where you find the fiend that's currently hiding from you, let it track you to a secure location you haven't managed to locate, and do a spell even the witch isn't certain you can cast. What could possibly go wrong?”
"Anything could go wrong. Which is why it's going to be me acting as bait and not my defenseless baby sister." Noah smiled, an expression with a lot of teeth but no discernible humor.
"I agree. This is too dangerous to involve Abby in. Noah and I will handle it and return here when we've finished.”
Abby turned on Rule, flashing a considerable number of her own teeth. So this was what the phase "her blood boiled" was referring to. "News flash, you arrogant putz, this is not 1942, I'm not the little woman, and I'm not going to stand on the dock and wave my handkerchief at you while you sail off to war. I'm part of this mess, and I'm going to see it finished.”
Tess tilted her head to the side and looked Abby over from head to toe. "She looks pretty serious to me, guys.”
"We outnumber her," Noah said. "The vote is two to one. Abby loses.”
"Then Abby is going to cheat," she bit out. They had her talking about herself in the third person. It was another mark to add to their growing tally of sins. "You can plan whatever you want, and you can try to leave me behind, but the minute your backs are turned, I will start dogging your heels like the specter of a gruesome death.”
The three of them faced one another in the center of the room, faces set, expressions grim, body language screaming with tension, anger, and determination.
The room fell eerily silent.
"I believe we have ourselves a stalemate." Rafe sighed the observation. "In situations like these, I have found the only workable solution tends to be something called a compromise. Have any of you heard the term?”
Abby supposed she should be glad at least someone could see the humor in the situation. "I have, but since it's got more than one syllable, I'd be surprised if the Neanderthal brothers over here had.”
Rafe shot her a quelling glance. "I've had enough of the fighting, Miss Baker. It's time to move past our emotions and reason to a logical solution to our problem.”
"That's what I've been trying to do. It's not logical to exorcise me, move Louamides into my brother, and then try to re-create a wheel that already exists. Lou is already inside me, and Uzkiel already knows he is. If we just use me as bait, we can skip all the preliminaries and go right to the trap. Noah and Rule are the ones who keep pointing out that we need to hurry. If we need to hurry, then we shouldn't
be wasting time building a bunch of extra steps into the process.”
Rafe looked at Rule. "She has a point.”
Abby could see the muscle in the side of the demon's jaw pulsing and knew it took a considerable amount of self-control for him not to just roar out a denial, beat on his chest, and drag her out of the room by her hair. When it came right down to it, men were still ruled by primitive instincts.
"I will not deny there is a certain…efficiency to her proposal," Rule finally conceded. His reluctance came through loud and clear, considering he had to bite off every word through tightly clenched teeth. "But I have to balance efficiency with the possibility of something going wrong. If it does, I will not be able to protect her. Noah can protect himself. That gives him a distinct advantage in the event of a problem.”
You might want to remind him that while you happen to be a girl—with terrific tits, I might add, even if you won't let me see 'em—I most definitely am not.
Hearing Lou's voice just then startled Abby out of her haze of anger. She had almost forgotten that it had been listening to the entire debate.
I mean, I can't say I'm thrilled with any plan that puts me in clawing distance of the big guy, but it looks like those two aren't gonna give me much choice. And even if I'm not up to taking him on, I at least make up for the differences between you and your brother. So I vote I stay put.
"Lou," Abby muttered under her breath, feeling herself start to smile. "If you had a body, I'd kiss you.”
I'm gonna remember that next time I run into you, babe. Just remember, I like a lot of tongue.
Noah turned and frowned at her. "What did you say?”
Abby wiped the grin off her face. "I said, I think the two of you are missing something here. Sure, I'm not as big and strong as my macho older brother, but I'm far from defenseless.”
He sighed. "Ab, a few rape prevention courses at the Y don't qualify you for potential hand-to-hand combat.”
"Lou, help me out here," she whispered. She had never had trouble using the fiend's strength before when she needed it, but she figured that while they were on speaking terms, it would be polite to at least give him a heads-up. Then in her normal voice she said, "Maybe not. But this does.”
Before her brother could guess her intentions, she grabbed him by the arm, swept his feet out from under him, and tossed him over her shoulder like a feather pillow.
He landed like a ton of bricks.
"What the fuck?’
Relishing the gesture, Abby brushed her hands together and grinned smugly down at him. "Like I said, I'm not completely defenseless.”
Thunderclouds rolled in across Noah's expression. Cursing a blue streak, he flipped himself to his feet and glowered down at her. "Mom and Dad should have beaten you regularly.”
"A little late for that now.”
"Oh, that was gorgeous," Tess laughed, wiping the tears from her face. "I think I may have pulled a muscle. I don't suppose you'd wait while I fetched the camcorder, then do it again, would you?”
"That proves nothing," Rule growled. And he had the nerve to call her stubborn.
"It proves that while I'm possessed, I'm at least as strong as Noah and more than capable of defending myself if it comes down to it. More capable, probably. From what I hear, I could probably bench press a Buick, and I doubt my oh-so-tough brother could make that kind of claim.”
She saw Rule shaking his head, but she knew she'd found a chink in his logic.
"But if you can do that because you're possessed, think about what I'd be able to do if the fiend were inside me?" Noah glared at her and dusted off his fatigues. "Possessed, you may be stronger than me, but if I were possessed, I'd be nearly as strong as Rule.”
"It's not just about strength," Rule chimed in. "Noah has had training. He has experience in combat situations—”
"And he'd be a nervous wreck when he saw me racing, alone and unpossessed, into the fray because you made the idiot decision to leave me behind while you two rode off into the enemy camp.”
Rafe put a hand on Rule's shoulder and patted consolingly. "A true warrior," the Felix observed, "knows when the time comes to surrender."
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
"I really wish you'd let Tess grab a camera. I'd love to have a shot of the look on your brother's face.”
Abby forced a smile she really didn't feel as she paced her way across the floor of her bedroom. Samantha lounged on the bed like a boneless puppy, but Abby couldn't make herself relax. She might have won the battle over participating in the plan to trap Uzkiel, but that didn't mean Rule and Noah had been gracious about it. They had immediately convened some kind of testosterone-laden powwow to adjust the mission parameters. At least, that's what they'd told her. She suspected they were drinking beer and playing pool and bitching about her stubbornness.
Samantha sighed. "Don't worry, Abby. They're not going to do this without you. You made them swear on their gonads. And anyway, Tess's spies are everywhere. If they so much as look toward an exit, trust me, we'll hear about it.”
"I know." Abby halted near the foot of the bed and crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself nervously. "I'm just... I guess I thought that once they announced the grand plan, we'd go ahead and actually do it. It's this waiting-around part that's going to give me a heart attack.”
You know, a nice, hot bubble bath might be real soothing.…
"Oh, shut up, you little lech!”
"Huh?" Samantha frowned.
"Not you." Abby sighed. "What time is it?”
"About forty seconds later than when you last asked. You really have to relax, Abby. This isn't healthy.”
"I know. I just want them to give me a time and a place and get moving already!”
"Okay, you know it's not that easy." Samantha spoke with the exaggerated patience you used on a three-year-old. Abby suspected that's what she most resembled at the moment. "First, they have to totally revise the whole strip club thing. I don't care if you were possessed by the spirit of Hugh Hefner, there's no way you'd be caught dead in a place like that.”
"Hugh Hefner is still alive. He can't possess anyone.”
"Propaganda," the Lupine dismissed with a wave. "He was replaced by a battery-powered cyborg years ago. But anyway, they need to think of another way to bring you to Uzkiel's attention without making it look like they're dangling you under his nose like fresh meat.”
"Even if they are.”
"Right. And secondly, finding a place in this city that's private, secure, and out of the way and that we don't mind having blown to smithereens, if it comes to that, is something like finding the Fountain of Youth. It's going to take a while.”
Abby grumbled and resumed pacing. "Your logic has no power over me.”
"Clearly. Come on, Ab, you're making me dizzy. Give it a rest.”
"Shut your eyes.”
A brief knock sounded on the door, but Tess didn't wait for an answer before she waltzed inside. "I come bearing popcorn and eye candy." She waved a DVD case in one hand. The other cradled an enormous stainless-steel mixing bowl overflowing with buttered popcorn. "I thought we might be reaching that scary stage of impatience where we start snapping at our friends for no reason.”
Giving Abby a pointed look, Tess handed the popcorn to Samantha and opened the door on the wardrobe housing the TV. Tess popped the DVD in the player and dragged Abby back toward the bed.
"Pile in and get comfortable," Tess instructed, putting her own words into action. She climbed over Samantha, who had stretched lengthwise on the end of the bed and claimed it as her own, and settled back against the headboard. "We've got two hours of nature's glory just waiting to be drooled over.”
Her glare managed to coax Abby into submission. Settling down next to Tess, she dipped into the popcorn and pulled out a salty handful. She could smell the rich scent of butter before she even lifted it to her mouth.
"Cardiologists everywhere must be cursing your name," she muttered.
; "Without me, they'd be out of work. Now make yourself useful and go grab some drinks. There should be cans in the little fridge next to the closet.”
Abby laughed. "Of course. I forgot all about the minibar. You do realize that this place is eerily well equipped for unexpected visitors?”
"It's a very exclusive club!" Tess called after her. "People come from all over to visit us. You expect Graham to send them to the Holiday Inn?”
Shaking her head, Abby grabbed three cans of soda from the miniature refrigerator and headed back into the bedroom. Samantha and Tess lounged on the bed, munching popcorn and commenting on the movie's opening credit sequence, looking like perfectly normal friends settling in for a quiet evening in good company. Abby blinked and faltered, stopping suddenly in the archway between the short hall into the bathroom and the open space of the bedroom area.
These were her friends.
It struck her, really struck her, in an instant and made her catch her breath. Tess De Santos, witch and mate to the shape-shifting werejaguar who headed the Council of Others, and Samantha Cartwright, werewolf secretary to the Alpha Lupine of the Silverback Clan, had managed in the last confusing, infuriating, surreal week of Abby's life to become two of the best friends she'd ever had. Her. Abby Baker, boring little girl next door. She'd gone from a perfectly ordinary, if unexciting, existence as an average human being to that of the kind of woman who had a witch and a werewolf as best friends and a demon as a lover.
She felt dizzy all of a sudden.
Tess looked away from the movie and frowned at her. "You okay, Ab?”
"Yeah," she said, shaking off the dazed feeling. "Fine.”
Just having a little revelation over here, she thought. No big deal. I just suddenly realized that I kind of love you guys.
The Others 03: The Demon You Know Page 20
