Dark Forsaken (The Devil's Assistant Book 3) (7 page)

Ronin laughed. “So not only do you want your people returned, but you need something from me now? I’m not exactly feeling charitable, lass.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s the wrong girl, and if your boss is who I think he is, the big three have already noticed. Do you really want to get on the Devil’s bad side by taking Sorrel?” Of course, they thought Sydney was Mab’s enforcer, so maybe my argument was weaker than I thought. His boss didn’t care about pissing off the big three.

He snorted, crossed his arms over his chest, and looked down his nose at me. “And who do you think my employer is lass?”

I considered the options. I didn’t think it was Mab. Why would Ronin go back to her? Mr. X, the owner of the spelled restaurants downtown was also an option, but Sydney had been working for him for weeks—although she did say she didn’t think any of the employees at the Jaded Dragon had ever met him. Someone had thought she was Mab’s enforcer, but that could have been a random on the street, not necessarily someone from the Jaded Dragon.

Even if the employees weren’t convinced X was the true ruler of Fallen, he was clearly the guy turning things upside-down in Underworld. The big three had noticed, but it wasn’t like it all started yesterday. Some of those restaurants had been up for weeks and there were lots of closed businesses. X’s operation was clearly big enough to effect druids, pagans, and demons. So what had tipped off the big three?

The mob. Harry said his boys would take care of it, but The Boss said they agreed I would have to do it. Maybe they thought it was localized to the fallen because of places like the Jaded Dragon. Even with the spells, the mob would have eventually noticed. Profits from protection services would have started falling short.

Johnny could have reported that to Harry, who then discussed it with Mab and The Boss. But why wouldn’t X just open new businesses and keep paying the protection money—at least while he finished building his empire? It was like he just stopped expanding, or slowed it to a trickle, and the closed businesses were drawing attention the spells couldn’t counteract.

No matter what, X was clearly a major player in all of this. Ronin had to work for X. Deciding to take a chance and see how Ronin reacted, I said, “Mr. X, or whatever name he’s using. The guy who owns the restaurant we were in and the Jaded Dragon, and is probably responsible for all the spells downtown making people incapable of seeing what’s happening. That guy, he’s your boss.”

Ronin didn’t move, but his lack of response was telling. I smiled as I saw through his facade. He raised his chin, remaining defiant.

“How can I get Sydney and Sorrel back?” I asked. “And we do need to talk—it’s about who you really are. I mean, if that’s something you’d be interested in knowing.”

His left eyebrow quirked up. “Pray tell, lass, who am I?”

“Not until I have Sydney and Sorrel.”

He laughed. “I can’t go back on my word to my employer, but I’ll do what I can to save your girl. The spawn’s on his own.”

“Your loyalty is admirable, but why do you always seem to be working for the bad guy?”

Ronin shrugged. “Bad is a matter of perception, lass. The Devil’s bad, Harry’s bad, even you’re bad—a killer, I believe. My employer is no worse than the rest.”

“How did you know Sydney, who you thought was the enforcer, was downtown?”

“She’d been spotted by an informant.”

“Until yesterday, she worked at the Jaded Dragon, so why now?” I asked. “At least, I assume it was a standing order.”

Ronin shrugged. “My employer has many varied interests. They don’t all hold his attention equally.”

“Right, he has people for that. Well, those people really should have continued to pay the protection money because the big three are now aware of the problem,” I said, taking a guess at how X’s operation had finally been noticed.

A buzzing sound came from Ronin. He reached down and pulled his phone from a pocket on his cargo pants. I considered trying to stop him, but my only option was to take him to the past and I wasn’t sure how easy that would be if he decided to fight me.

“What?” he barked into the phone.

I couldn’t hear the caller.

“No, stay there. Wait for me and don’t hurt the girl. Why did you take the spawn?” After a minute, he said, “Who changed the order?” Ronin grunted and then ended the call.

“Why didn’t you just tell them to let her go?” I asked.

He sighed, “It’s not that simple, lass. And I’m not convinced she isn’t the enforcer.”

“She isn’t.”

He chuckled. “I’ll need to see her myself. And if she’s a contender, lass, why haven’t you already killed her?”

“The prophecies are complicated, but at least now I know where her twin is: Mab’s enforcer, did you say?”

“Ah,” he said. “You’re going to use her as bait to get the other one?”

I shook my head. “That wasn’t my plan.”

“That’s probably a good thing, lass, because did I fail to mention that the enforcer is also Mab’s untouchable?”

I grimaced at that news and he laughed.

Fuck me. Of course she was Mab’s untouchable. Why would Mab try to play fair? Of course she’d try to make her contender un-killable. “Why does X want her?”

Ronin shrugged.

“What, you’re just a follow-the-orders guy? That didn’t work out so well for you last time. There has to be a reason.”

“Not one I can discuss. Now it’s time I left. Drop your wards.”

I shook my head. “I told you we have things to discuss.”

“Oh, right, you’re going to tell me who I really am. Alright, go on then. Who am I, Claire?”

“It’ll work better if I show you.”

I grasped for his arm, but he pulled it out of my reach.

“Chicken?” I goaded.

“I could just knock you unconscious, lass. I doubt the wards will hold up then.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Cinnamon created them, and let’s just say she’s not just good at being gorgeous. Not to give you any ideas, but I’m fairly sure they’ll hold even if I’m dead.”

He flattened his lips into a hard line.

“It won’t take long for me to show you,” I assured him. “Then, I want your word you’ll help Sydney—and Sorrel—get out of this mess with your boss.”

“I believe what you’re asking for is a favor, lass.”

“I’m doing you a favor,” I argued.

He laughed. “Funny, because I don’t seem to remember asking you for one. So if you want my cooperation on this little walkabout you have planned, then you’ll owe me a favor, lass. I’ll try my best to help your girl, as long as she isn’t who we want, but as I said before, the hellspawn is on his own. And this help I’m providing with the girl isn’t tied to our deal. You’ll get a bit of cooperation from me. I’ll go where you want me to go and do what you need me to do for the next two hours—for a favor—but that’s it. Do you still want the deal?”

Shit, that wasn’t what I wanted, but I needed his help to use my ability. If I could get back to the fourth realm I could get more of my own power, I hoped. Either way, I needed to take him to see Kane. He said he’d try to help Sydney. She wasn’t the girl he wanted, so he had no reason to keep her, but was that enough to owe him a favor? Did I really have a choice?

He looked at his watch, then pulled out his phone and sent a short text. He returned the phone to his pocket. “You’ve got two hours if you want them. Then I’ll stop playing nice.”

“Fair enough,” I said. “I agree.” A small twinge of pain touched my shoulder. Blinking to see my second sight, I found a faint line between Ronin and I: a physical connection representing the favor I’d just agreed to. Ignoring it for now, I held out my hand to him. This time, he stepped forward and I laid my hand on his arm. I thought about the meadow, about Leland Kane, and the dragon Tarik—but nothing happened. Of course, I’d felt nothing when I’d thought of the advisor last summer, but I’d still wound up in the clearing about to be shot.

I opened my eyes, half expecting to be staring down a double-barrel shotgun, but I was still in my office. Ronin stood there with a smug expression on his face and one eyebrow raised.

I tried again, but nothing happened. Why wasn’t this working? I tried to snap a line to the fourth realm, but that didn’t work either.

“I don’t have all day, lass. The clock is ticking.”

“It’s not working. I can’t get the line to snap.” I dropped my hand from his arm. Frustrated, I paced the room.

“Maybe it’s me. Try to go alone.”

I raised an incredulous eyebrow at him. Was he being funny? “I can’t. It only works with you. Why else do you think I made the deal?”

He chuckled. “Well then, it sounds like you need your power back. A pity you don’t still have Harry’s blood.”

Glaring, I said, “Like I’d be able to get one of them to juice me if I did. You’re not helping.”

Still chuckling, he sat down on the love seat and stretched out his legs. Leaning back, he closed his eyes. “Just let me know when I can go. Unless, of course, you’ve got some of Harry’s blood hanging around.”

Was he serious? “And what if I did?”

“I might know a guy.”

“What guy? A guy that can infuse me with Harry’s blood?”

Ronin cracked open one eye. “You need the blood first, lass. But you’ve only got me for one hour and fifty-eight minutes, so you better think fast.”

I pursed my lips. It wasn’t like Harry would ever give me any blood, and he’d removed it from the museum after the “incident” last summer. I thought back to that day in the museum when Mab forced Harry’s blood into me. She’d called it from the blood room, but the vial hadn’t been full. I remembered thinking it was odd. I’d just seen it and it was like the others, full to the top. Had there been more than one vial, or had someone taken some of the blood before Mab used it? Could that someone have been me?

Fuck yeah. I smiled and said, “Get up. I know where we can get the blood.”

Chapter 9

“Stay quiet until the room clears,” I warned Ronin before closing my eyes and stepping outside my body. I thought of the museum, of the time when I was looking for the quads’ blood last summer, and snapped a line to that location. With little effort, Ronin and I slipped into the past. I held us in the in-between while I watched my past self double over in pain. The past me didn’t know it yet, but Raven had just woken up from being knocked unconscious and had taken Thanos back under her thrall, pulling him away from me and causing the pain in my heart that almost knocked me unconscious. A minute later, Mab arrived, which was when everything really went sideways. I waited, unable to do anything to help my past self as Mab picked the other me up and threw me out of the room.

As soon as Mab was gone, I materialized with Ronin.

“I see now why she likes you, lass.”

“Fuck you, Ronin.”

He chuckled.

Ignoring him, I went to the cabinet and said, “The quads.”

Like before, it seemed to take forever, but I eventually heard the clinking of glass. I opened the door and found the twelve vials. Mace’s vial was empty and broken. Cinnamon’s and the twins’ vials were not full; they were as I’d left them. The four pink vials were still intact. I picked up the empty one, which I assumed was mine—and maybe the only one I’d be allowed to remove from the museum. Of course, I was also returning after the curator was dead, so if luck were on my side at all, I’d make it out with Harry’s blood.

Jayne’s vial hummed when I touched it. I knew The Boss and Mab’s would cause their marks under the skin on my forearms to react. I compared each of the other vials against both marks. Only one vial caused no reaction: Harry’s. I opened my empty vial first and set the stopper to the side. Harry’s blood poured easily into the waiting crystal. I tried to remember exactly how much I’d seen in the vial before Mab pushed Harry’s blood into me. I didn’t want to take too much. When I had enough, I returned Harry’s vial to the shelf with the others.

“Return,” I said and watched as the vials disappeared.

Ronin stepped up behind me. “The museum may not let you take the blood,” he said.

“The curator’s dead and this is my vial, so let’s hope you’re wrong.”

I grabbed his arm and returned us to my warded office. I was relieved when I felt the vial still clutched in my hand. I had some of Harry’s blood—that was all that mattered.

“You should have taken more,” Ronin said.

“More would have been noticed. I’m not completely sure Mab didn’t notice before. The only plus is she’d have no way to know who took it or when they took it. So I’m not going to worry about it.”

He nodded, as if agreeing with my reasoning.

“Okay, I’ve got the blood. Now what?”

“If you drop the shield, I’ll take us where we need to go.” Ronin held out his hand, but I didn’t immediately take it. “After you have Harry’s blood,” he said, “your debt to me will be worth something. For that reason alone, you should trust me.”

I considered the faint line that had formed between us to mark our deal. He was right: it would be worth more once I had my powers back. I took his hand and dropped the wards.

We disappeared and reappeared outside a small tattoo shop in Underworld. I wasn’t familiar with this part of town, but just like everywhere else, more than one business was closed or deserted. I briefly wondered why this place was still open. I could tell from the outside that it wasn’t new, which was a trademark of X’s establishments. The bricks were all worn with age and the writing on the glass door was thin and weathered by time. It read
Salvation Ink—For Life
.

I stretched out my senses to get a lay of the land. Scanning the shop, I was surprised to discover everyone inside was almost exclusively druid. I clutched the vial containing Harry’s blood in my hand. I shoved it in my front jeans pocket, and took a step back, shaking my head.

“I can’t go in there,” I said.

Ronin laid his hand on my back, stopping me. “He isn’t going to care whose blood it is, lass.”

“There are too many druids in there, and I don’t exactly have the best track record with them.” Johnny and his boys, the Underworld’s corrupt mob-like police force, were all druids, and I’d had more than my share of run-ins with them. “I don’t like druids any more than they like me.”

Ronin tightened his veil around us and pulled me toward the door. “Don’t worry, they won’t sense us.”

A few of the druids looked up when they saw the door open and close. One nervous-looking guy with dark brown hair got up and left. The others just sat there as if doors opened by themselves all the time, which they probably did.

Ronin led me to the back of the shop. The name Raal Alexander came to mind when I a saw the dangerously handsome half-demon, half-druid sitting hunched over the arm of a full-blooded druid I recognized. Raal, pronounced like Paul with an R, was bald and shirtless, showing off perfectly-inked skin with enough intricate detail to make you dizzy.

I glared at Ronin.

“What?” he asked. “I told you they can’t sense us, lass. Only you have that skill, remember?”

I raised my eyebrows and whispered, “And they can’t hear us either?”

“Not unless I want them to.”

“But in the restaurant you covered my mouth and said—”

He chuckled. “I just wanted you to be quiet, lass.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.” Pointing at the man getting inked with a mermaid tattoo by Raal, I said, “That’s Frankie, one of Johnny’s boys.”

Ronin shrugged.

I placed my hand over my pocket. “I’m carrying Harry’s blood, so forgive me for being a bit paranoid.”

Brushing off my concern, he said, “Shush now, lass. I’ve business to attend.”

A shimmer rippled across the veil.

Ronin cleared his throat. “I’m here to collect.”

Raal stopped what he was doing. Frankie looked around, confused.

“Out now,” Raal said in a clipped British accent. “The shop’s closed.”

“Shit, man,” Frankie whined, looking down at the half-finished mermaid curled around his forearm. “I can’t walk around like this.”

Raal growled and his demon half flashed across his eyes, turning them red for a split second and making Frankie flinch.

“I said we’re closed.” He grabbed Frankie’s arm, covering most of the half-finished tattoo. Mumbling something I didn’t catch, he squeezed Frankie’s arm and the druid started screaming. As I watched, the tattoo faded away, reappearing for an instant on Raal’s already covered skin. Another quick chant and the half-finished mermaid reduced down to the size of a pinkie nail and settled in among Raal’s other tattoos as if it had always been there.

Frankie jumped up from the chair when Raal released him. Frankie rubbed his arm, which was raw where the tattoo had been. “Fuck you, Ra.” He grabbed his coat from a hook by the door as he flew past Ronin and me. He yelled for someone to move as he stormed through the shop and slammed the door on his way out.

We followed Raal into the front room. “Everyone out. Shop’s closed,” he yelled.

There were a few grumbles, but chairs scraped the floor as everyone cleared out. Raal flipped the sign and locked the door before turning to face the room.

Ronin unveiled us. Raal gave me a cursory glance before returning his gaze to Ronin. “You here to collect?”

Ronin nodded.

“What do you want?”

Ronin glanced down at me. “The lass needs to be spiked.”

Raal turned his attention back to me. Pointing at my sweater, he motioned for me to remove it. I snapped my fingers, one of the few tricks I could still manage, and the outer part of my twin set disappeared. He raised one of his eyebrows, but he didn’t comment on the ability.

Circling me, he appraised my bare arms as if I were a blank canvas. “This will square us, mate?”

Ronin nodded. “Aye, it will.”

Stopping in front of me, Raal grabbed both of my hands. With a click of his tongue and a mumbled chant, a warm sensation covered me. “Show,” he said, and the glow of a thorny vine snaked up my left arm. It twisted around until I felt it disappear under my shirt. A few moments later, the same glow, but a different non-thorny vine, wound down and around my right arm, disappearing under his other hand. He took a deep breath and his eyes glowed a faint amber.

A tingling sensation crawled along each of my palms. He turned my hands up and I saw a tulip on my right palm and a rose on my left before the design disappeared.

Gasping, Raal released my hands and stepped back. “Who are you?”

“Not important,” Ronin answered before I could speak. “A debt is owed. You will pay. Or,” Ronin threatened, looking around the shop, “Salvation Ink goes back on the list.”

Raal narrowed his eyes at Ronin. “This keeps me off the list permanently?”

“Aye, it will.”

Tightening his jaw, Raal turned his gaze back to me. “How much blood do you have?”

I pulled out the vial and handed it to him. I wasn’t sure how this worked, but I was hoping there wouldn’t be enough to do the entire design. I didn’t want to walk out of here with a full sleeve of vines running over each arm. I glanced at Ronin, about to ask, when Raal opened the vial and knocked it back like a shot of whiskey.

“What the hell…” I gasped as Raal clamped his hands around both my forearms.

His chant was jumbled, but a few words like “shape,” rang out as the vines from my design grew out of his own tattoos, covering his arms as they had mine just a minute ago. I screamed out in pain when he uttered, “metamorphose” and blood-colored vines etched across my skin, disappearing from Raal in the process.

Ronin’s name for this was accurate. The process felt as if Raal was driving spikes into my flesh.

Raal’s eyes grew wide as Harry’s blood mixed with mine and flared a fiery red all along the design. My body seized and jerked as the vines met at the base of my neck. Cursing, Raal attempted to pull away, but he couldn’t stop. He had to finish. I grabbed hold of his arms, drawing blood as my nails dug in.

“Finish it,” I yelled.

His eyes flashed crimson as a chill surged through me and settled the ink. I released him. He dropped to one knee as the ebb and flow of power coursing through my body flared, and then everything went black.