Darkness Taunts (24 page)

She took a long look at the surrounding windows. “Shit. It’s going to take a lot.”

I grabbed her arm and started dragging her with me to the kitchen. “Then we need to get started.”

We didn’t have any time to waste either. I’d just felt the life force of one of the vampire guards outside go out. With him gone, it left a gap near the back door where we weren’t protected from the outside. To make matters worse, another dozen demon hosts had just arrived.

“Here,” Kristen said, handing me a canister of salt. She grabbed several more and passed them around to a couple of witches in the kitchen.

The head warlock came over to us. He didn’t look happy. “What are you two doing?”

“The demons are attacking outside. We’ve got to get the salt laid down in case they try to get in,” Kristen explained.

He put his hands on his hips. “We don’t need salt. Our coven can handle a few demons who aren’t even in their natural forms.”

Now I knew who’d refused my request to salt the place. The excuses Aeson told me had sounded lame, but it hadn’t been my call.

“Tell you what,” I said, guiding the idiot toward the dining room. “You and your coven can protect the front. Kristen and I will handle the back. It’ll make your job easier that way.”

He’d have the help of all the powerful guests that way as well. I’d sensed a couple of them go out to help with the fighting outside, which had reached close enough at this point they must have noticed it, but most were still inside. We’d spread the news the alpha had been taken down without a fight. That had scared most people from wanting to face the demons head on. The last thing we needed was too many heroes until we knew how the demons were killing sups. Who knew what their magic was doing?

“But…” the warlock started to say as I guided him out the door.

“What? You can’t handle the front?” I asked, lifting my brow.

He huffed. “Of course I can.”

“Then don’t worry. We’re all set back here,” I said, smiling and letting the kitchen door swing closed.

Kristen smiled. “You handled him better than I would have.”

“Let’s get that back door salted. The demons are getting closer.”

We raced over and poured the salt along the threshold. Once we finished, I went over to the closet where they’d said the roof entrance was. “Watch the door, just in case. I’m going up to see how things look outside.”

Her brow creased. “Are you sure it’s safe?”

I pulled the door open to find a ladder attached to the wall. “One of Lucas’ vamps is up there. He’s more than strong enough to handle anything that might come our way.”

“Okay.” Her eyes darted to the back door. “What do I do if they try to get in?”

I put my foot on the ladder. “They can’t cross the salt. If they manage to knock the door down they’ll still be stuck outside. You might line the kitchen entrance with some too in case they somehow get through all the guys up front.”

She continued to stand there as I climbed. I could feel her worry, but I needed to get a look at what was going on outside. Another sup from our side had gone down. However the demons were taking them out it wasn’t through killing blows, but I still couldn’t identify the magic they used.

The chill air hit me as soon as I reached the top. It had to be below freezing, but compared to Fairbanks it was a heat wave. A few minutes outside wouldn’t kill me. I made my way over to Fallon where he paced along the roof’s edge. The vampire had agitation written all over his face. His steps faltered for a moment when he spotted me, but a piercing scream drew his attention. I moved to stand next to him and saw the battle raging a short distance down the street.

The demon ranks had grown since my last mental check. At least thirty men and women, young and old, fought against our front line of defense pushing them back toward the restaurant. Their glowing red eyes sent chills down my spine in a way the cold hadn’t. The swords they swung with impressive skill didn’t give me a good feeling either. Where in the heck had they gotten those? Most of their hosts wouldn’t have had them in their homes.

Our side had brought swords as well, but their strength advantage seemed diminished. It was as if they moved in slow motion compared to their lightning-fast opponents. The expensive tuxedos they’d worn to the opening were in tatters except for Lucas, who had streaks of blood coating his bare chest. My breath caught at the sight of him. He couldn’t die, not even at demon hands. The fact I had to remind myself of that said how much he was growing on me.

I looked over the nearby businesses and didn’t see any with lights on inside. The street didn’t have any inhabitants on it either except the combatants. The coven had activated all the wards they’d set up ahead of time so humans would stay away. Aeson also had one of his people keeping the police out of it. I’d been filled in on the full plan before coming.

Something was niggling at my senses as the fighting drew closer. My head had begun to ache from too much information coming at it, but I knew the demon hosts felt stronger than they should for being in human bodies. It didn’t feel natural. They had to be getting a power boost somehow. Lucas could usually kill off anything with little effort, but he’d only managed to take out one of them since I’d come to the roof.

I closed my eyes and focused my senses, pushing past the nearby spells the coven put up for protection. My gaze narrowed in on the rear area. A high fence separated it from the front. Most of the demon hosts had come to the restaurant from the street, but a few in the first wave had circled around to the rear. They’d killed the vampire guard before someone got to them—I thought I remembered sensing Lucas go back there. The strange part was the vamp’s body hadn’t turned to dust. Something prevented it.

My senses could detect dark magic emanating from the body. Every instinct said I had to nullify it. I raced back to the roof entrance and climbed down the ladder. Kristen stood at the bottom with my coat draped over her arm. She must have planned to bring it up. I took it from her, grateful to cover myself with something that went down past my knees. Running around with no underwear on during a battle didn’t feel all that comfortable. Damn Lucas.

Kristen followed me across the kitchen as I explained the situation.

“You can’t just go out there by yourself,” she said.

“I have to stop the spell.” I pulled my gun from my purse. “If they get close, I’ll shoot them.”

“Maybe I should go with you,” she said as I jerked the back door open.

“Stay here and keep an eye out. Whatever they’re doing, it’s taking powerful guys down without a fight. I’m immune to that crap, but I don’t want them getting to you.”

She started to say something else, but I took off down the stairs without waiting to hear her. At the bottom I turned and headed toward the vamp’s body. The dark magic coming from it almost choked me. An ashy taste coated my mouth and the pain in my head took a turn for the worse. I’d faced some dark stuff, but not at this level.

The body had no sign of life, but the spell kept it in a sort of stasis. I cursed when I realized the reason. In a steady stream, the vampire’s energy leaked out and fed the demon hosts nearby. I could almost follow the tendrils of it going in their direction. Variola had planned to do a similar spell for Nik last year—until I messed things up for her. She’d wanted to boost her power level and chose the master vampire as her potential source. It sickened me to think he’d almost gone down that way.

I knelt next to the vamp’s body and ripped the silk shirt covering his chest open. The same burn I’d seen earlier on the dead werewolves was there, except it looked a lot darker and nastier than theirs. I took my knife out and made a small cut on my finger, letting the blood well up before pressing it to the burn. It didn’t stop the flow of magic. That left the stone which had to be inside. I’d really hoped to avoid cutting another chest open.

A glance in the direction of the fighting told me I didn’t have much of a choice. Lucas and the others were wearing down. I could feel their energy dropping the longer they fought without time to recover from their wounds. Another twenty minutes and they’d be done. Nephilim and Cambions couldn’t be killed by black magic, I didn’t think, but they could weaken to the point of losing consciousness. Everyone would be left vulnerable then, including the sups hiding in the restaurant.

I took a deep breath and cut into the chest the same way I’d done earlier in the day. The blade sliced through the skin without a problem but got stuck on the ribs. My strength alone couldn’t break though. I looked at the vamp still pacing the roof. Lucas had kept my sensor abilities a secret from his men, but I needed Fallon’s help more than his ignorance.  

Standing up, I waved my arms at him. His head jerked in my direction. I gave him the universal “get your ass down here” sign since I didn’t want to shout and draw the wrong kind of attention. He hesitated for second, but then he hopped down from the two story building, landing with a slight bend at the knees. Sometimes I really envied the sups their abilities.

He stalked over to me. The annoyance on his face said what he thought of having to leave his post. “What are you doing?” he demanded.

“In case you haven’t noticed, they’re having trouble up front. This guy’s body has a spell on it that’s helping the demons. I’ve got to stop the magic, but need to get to his heart to do it. Can you cut it out for me?” I handed the knife to him before he even had a chance to say yes.

He gave me a look that said I should be checked into the nearest mental facility ASAP. “How do you know there is a spell?”

“Look at this.” I pointed at the dead guy’s chest. “That burn mark on his skin is caused from the magic emanating out.”

Fallon bent over the body. Sometimes physical evidence got through to people faster than trying to explain how I could sense things. Even those who were familiar with my kind didn’t understand us that well.

He straightened up. “How do you plan to stop the spell?”

Now to explain the part that would give me away. I lifted my cut finger and smiled. “With my blood.”

“How’s that going to do anything?” he asked.

I’d really hoped to avoid saying it out loud. “I’m a sensor,” I said in a low tone. “Now cut the damned heart out.”

A look of shock went over his face. “But my master would never…”

“I’m the exception to his bigoted rule,” I interrupted. “Get over it and please do as I ask before your master weakens any further. They’re losing out there.”

With one last look of uncertainty, he gripped the knife and cut the chest open. “You want me to take the whole heart out?” he asked.

Did he think I only needed the right ventricle or something? “Yes, pull it out and put it on the ground.”

He dug his hand in and squished around until it came free. Apparently he hadn’t performed this maneuver as many times as his master. The heart had some extra pieces hanging from it that Lucas didn’t bring out. Once Fallon set it down I took the knife from him and cut the heart open. Blood coated my hand where it held the organ, but at this point that was the least of my problems. I found the stone and set it aside.

The first slice on my finger had already stopped bleeding so I had to make a new cut. If it had been anything but vamp blood on the blade I might have been reluctant to use it on myself, but at least this way I’d heal fast. A few drops of blood came out before the wound closed. I pressed them to the stone and felt the spell break. The body turned to dust a moment later, making me choke on the fine particles before they blew away.

My shoulders sagged in relief at getting the job done—until my senses told me the demons hadn’t lost much strength. Through the miasma of supernaturals and magic flying around, I ferreted out the problem. Several other dead sups had the same power leaching spell on them, giving the demons a boost. The bodies I needed to neutralize next were either in the middle of the fighting or beyond it where the battle first started. I had to figure out a way to get to them without getting myself killed.

“There’s more,” I said, wiping my messy fingers on my jacket. “The dead sups up front have the same magic spell on them. Is there any way you can grab the bodies and bring them back here?”

Fallon looked in the direction I spoke. A howl pierced the night air before it cut off midpoint—my senses told me a werewolf had just gone down and not in a very pleasant way. Dammit, the pack wasn’t supposed to join the fight. We’d specifically told them to stay out of it until we learned how their alpha died. Not to mention they weren’t supposed to turn furry in the middle of the city.

“It won’t be easy,” he said, “but I can probably bring one back at a time.”

I gave him a weak smile. “That would help. Every guy the demons take down makes them that much harder to defeat. We’ve got to work fast.”

He stood up. “Will you be okay on your own?”

I showed him my gun. “I’ll be fine. Just make sure they don’t catch you.”

We did not need them sapping the powers off a fifteen hundred-year-old vampire.

He nodded and zoomed off. I stood and began my own round of pacing while waiting for him to get back. My senses told me when he made it to one of the bodies, but his movements had turned slow—too slow. All the guys on our side felt to be moving at a snail’s pace despite being in the middle of a battle.

I walked over to the fence and concentrated my senses once again, ignoring the ever-growing ache in my head. Too many sups and active spells clogging the area made it hard to keep track of everything. Now I had at least seventy to eighty supernaturals in my range and all kinds of magic being used on or by them. It didn’t help that the spells the demons were doing pushed harder at my psyche than I’d ever experienced before. My senses wanted to shy away from focusing on them.

Now I felt the thickness in the air around the battle. For the guys on our side, it must have been like pushing through sludge. With every sup that died, the power fueling the slowing spell increased. I had to do something fast or most of them would be dead soon and hybrids like Lucas would be too drained of energy to keep fighting.