Demon Blood: A Demon Soul Prequel (The Caine Brothers) (5 page)

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M
arie-Therese put
the phone down and finished scribbling her notes. She had most of the herbs her father spoke of, and with the phrases of incantations he passed to her, could figure out a complete spell quickly enough if she needed to. What she wasn’t sure of, was if the spell would work. Her father hadn’t even thought of using magicks to close a portal, so she’d be going in with incantations untested in this area.

Worried, she went to her bedroom to grab her kit. Passing back through the living room, she saw what she had missed earlier – Gideon, in full Lotus position, eyes closed. Meditating.

He looked like he belonged.
Merde.
It
felt
like he belonged.

She walked by him and set her bag down at the door. Took a few deep breaths. She turned, right into Gideon’s arms. He caught her, his hand warm and hard as he smoothed down her back.

“I’ll be ready in a few minutes.” He kissed her on the shoulder and disappeared into the bedroom.

She inhaled the scent of him. Felt it arrow down into the center of her being, and the flutters of fear that had been attacking her stomach since he first mentioned closing the portal with magicks grew larger at the thought of being with that man for the rest of her life, and beyond. She wasn’t ready for either.

Marie-Therese was staring out the kitchen window, sipping on espresso, when he returned.

“I’m all set. You ready?”

She finished the coffee, set the cup down with deliberate slowness. She could do this. She could. Anything that was handed to her today, she would deal with, and prevail.

It was the only option.

She turned to him, nodded. “Your pants dried, I see.” He looked good in the black pants and blue scrubs top. She let out a mental sigh. “Let’s go.” At the front door, she picked up her bag.

Gideon poked at it. “What does today’s witches’ kit contain?”

“My tools. Some knives. Some herbs.” She shrugged and unlocked her car, stowing the bag in the trunk. They settled in, and she glanced at him. “Am I taking you to your car?”

“No need. I didn’t take it to the beach. I have a small house not far from the steps.”

“Wow. Nice, to have a home near the beach.”

“It suffices for just me. But I miss the family home.”

She heard the wistful tones in his voice, and she ached for his loneliness. “Tell me about the family home, about your family.”

Marie-Therese drove and listened.

She heard a man who missed his brothers, who missed his parents and the sense of camaraderie he’d always known.

“And then one day, mom and dad just disappeared.”

Marie-Therese was glad she was at a stoplight. She stared at him. “They disappeared? How? Why?”

“The light’s green.”

“Don’t change the subject.” She moved ahead, transitioned to the freeway easily. “What happened to them?”

“I’m not sure. When I kicked up a fuss, the Council said they are fine, but they are out of our reach right now, and gave my brothers orders off to various parts of the country, where they ended up finding their mates. I don’t know if someday my parents will come back, or if we’ll never see them again. I just don’t know. But I do know that I’ll never do that to my kids.”

The passionate denial in his voice stirred her sympathy. “How long have they been gone?”

“Five years.” He shifted in the seat next to her, and she could sense the restlessness in him. “They also left detailed instructions. The house is in a family trust, to be passed down from generation to generation. The beach house was deeded to me, though I will also put it in the trust, for those who come after me.”

At the pain in his voice, she changed the subject. “Tell me how to close a portal not using magicks.”

“It depends on the type of portal, and how it was opened. There are three ways to open a portal that I know of. One is a ritual, using the souls, and blood, of those who have died for the purpose. It’s a dark magick, and I’ve only read about it in some old textbooks. I haven’t ever heard of anyone actually doing it, but I suppose it’s possible. Exit at Sherman Way, and go west,” he added.

“I’m guessing this portal wasn’t opened that way. What are the other options?”

“The second way is have an ancient one open it. Something about the power in the blood of the aged.”

She nodded. “The Fae have opened portals onto the Chaos Plane, when necessary.”

“What would make it necessary for the Fae to need the Chaos Plane?”

Marie-Therese shot him a glare and he sighed.

“Moving on. The third way, however, is an opening due to natural disasters or phenomena. Frankly, since I’m pretty sure this was a natural opening to the Chaos Plane, I think it’s going to take blood to close it, whether you do it with magicks or I do it with brute strength. Turn right here.”

She took the turn down a street. “So you told me how to open them. How do you close a portal?”

“With blood and brute force. And hopefully with blood and magicks. Keep going this way.”

“Are we close?”

“We need to go further north.”

She followed his directions, taking them into neighborhoods that were increasingly desolate. It was a beautiful day. There should be people out, cars in the driveways, sprinklers running. Children playing in the streets.

But the neighborhoods were empty. She kept turning when he said to until he finally gestured. “Park here. Open your window, and listen. Scent the air. I think we’re close.”

She parked. “Why? Is there some demon-sense that you have that senses portals?”

He laughed at that, holding his stomach as he guffawed. “Demon-sense? That sniffs out portals? Are you kidding me?” He laughed again.

She swatted his shoulder. “Don’t laugh.” She couldn’t help it though and giggled along with him. “No, I just thought…maybe.” Her laughter subsided and she sat back. “I don’t really know how to react to you, I guess.” She sobered up and faced him directly. “You have the blood of demons in you. I thought maybe that comes with special powers.”

His eyes were kind when he finally contained his laughter. “Well, of course. I can change into a demon. Without changing into my demon, I can run, very fast. Fast enough that humans cannot see me. I have the strength of a demon, and I shall live a very long time.”

She nodded. “Similar to the Fae traits that are passed down. But Gideon. I have been taught to destroy demons.”

He quirked a smile at her. “So have I. So that makes me, what, your target?”

“But you healed me. So we are kin, in an abstract way.”

“Yeah. And?”

“And…” her ears pricked up. “Do you hear that?”

“What?”

“A hum. Something electronic. It’s buzzing around my cranium.” She rubbed her hands over her head. “Disturbing.”

“Then we should follow your disturbance.”

She glanced at him in surprise, and he grimaced.

“I am not…I cannot sense, exactly, what you do. I am more demon, which in many ways means I cannot always find my own kind. We are not a welcoming people.”

Okay then. She was leading. It wasn’t like she
couldn’t
lead, it was more like the men in her acquaintance wouldn’t
let
her lead. Even in the Faerie world, the men had sheltered her because she was part human. And here was a man who was less human than she was, offering her a chance to lead. Good? Or bad? Only one way to find out.

She squared her shoulders. “Then we go toward the empty houses.”

They got out of the car and she shouldered her kit.

Aware of the buzzing in her head, she rolled her shoulders and sighed deeply. “All right. Let’s do this.” She headed toward the danger she sensed, the danger that warned her away.

They passed lawns had turned brown and trees that drooped. She frowned. “How long has this gas leak been happening?”

“Six months.”

She chanced a look at Gideon’s face, and it was set hard. “What happened?”

“People got sick. Some young children and some senior citizens died before anyone explained about the gas leak. Even after that, it took them far too long to move people.”

She walked slower. “Has the leak been stopped? Contained, or plugged, or whatever?”

“Almost. They are drilling a well to plug it.”

The buzzing in her skull grew stronger, drowning out Gideon’s words. Marie-Therese put her hands to the side of her head. “
Merde.
The source of this buzzing is close.”

Gideon’s strong arms came around her and she let him turn her into him. “Point me in the right direction.”

She closed her eyes, breathed deeply, and followed the thread of pressure with her mind until she was sure she could pinpoint it. For a moment she could see it, and her breath caught at the stench of evil threatening to overwhelm her. With a gasp, she opened her eyes, grateful for Gideon’s steady strength.

“Well?”

Marie-Therese took a shaky breath and eased from his grip. She turned toward the row of silent houses and pointed to the one at the end. The other side of it was a big orange orchard. “There. But I don’t know if I can close it.” The doubt shook her to her very core.

“I’m here. I can help. If you can’t close it with magicks, I can close it with brute strength. We can do this, woman. Never doubt it.”

His confidence shriveled her fear. “Well. Then we do it. It’s at the back, not actually in the house.”

“Good. We won’t be charged with breaking and entering.”

“No, just trespassing,” she muttered.

He laughed, pulled her close for a kiss, and she lost herself in his lips, in his arms, long enough to know that she had a damn good reason for closing that portal.

Hell, sex was a good reason for doing a lot of things. Why not closing a portal?

She could feel the smile lift her lips. “Well then, yes, by all means. Let’s go slay this dragon.”

He quirked a brow at her. “Did I miss something?”

She laughed and shook her head. “Come on.”

As one, they turned and jogged lightly down the road to the corner house. The closer they got, the more she understood what her mind had shown her. There was an arroyo, a steep gulch that guided water through the valley which ran behind the house. Beyond it was a fenced-off orchard.

“So maybe in the arroyo?” She shook her head. “No, anyone could see it. It has to be somewhere fairly hidden.”

“What are you saying?”

“That something’s off.”

“Well, we knew that.” They slowed as they got closer to the house. “I’ll check the arroyo, you check the back yard.” Gideon sent her a smile. “If you don’t mind.”

Marie-Therese grinned. “Nah. You can take the easy part, not a problem.”

They moved quietly around the side of the house. No fence obstructed their ability to get into the back yard, so she went to the right around to the back while he went to the left, and the arroyo.

She stopped when she saw the yard. A swing set had been carelessly tossed aside and now it lay, it’s anchoring legs up in the air and the swings sprawled out on the ground. Her gaze moved to the far back of the lot. Yards away from the arroyo, a storage shed had been built.

Nausea hit her hard and she fell to her knees, her kit bag banging her on the side.

Gideon was there, his hand on her back. “You okay?”

She shook her head and swallowed, hard. “Look. The shed.” She kept her gaze on the grass. “I’m dizzy and nauseous and I don’t think I can go closer.”

He dropped beside her. “Look at me.”

She looked into his blue eyes, comforted a bit at the warmth she saw there. “I don’t know what’s wrong.”

“Breathe deep, and look into my eyes, Marie-Therese.” He put his hands on either side of her head, his grip firm but gentle. “Breathe. You’re with me. We’re going to close that portal and kick any demon ass we see. Okay?”

As she breathed, her head cleared and her stomach settled. “Yeah. Okay.”

“Shoulder your bag and grab your knives.” He stood and drew her to her feet, kissed her forehead. “We’ve got this.” His knife glinted in his hand.

She grabbed hers, nodded. “I’m ready.”

They moved toward the shed and without warning, the door exploded outward, sending chunks of metal flying toward them.

She swung her bag in front of her and batted away a piece of metal, her focus on the two Boargan that came thundering out at them. Their eyes were wild and foam dripped from their mouths.

She and Gideon separated and as the demons sped past, both her knife and Gideon’s swung, and took first blood. It filled her with satisfaction.

The Boargan pair grunted and squealed. They skidded to a stop and turned, came back fast. To her surprise, however, the demons ran right back to the shed and into the glowing portal, disappearing from sight in a flash.

They exchanged a startled look. “Well, at least we know it’s there,” she said. They went closer, skirting the pieces of metal.

“Let’s get the damned portal closed. Faugh, it reeks.” He tugged wide what was left of the shed doors and stared inside.

Bags of manure had been ripped open and spread out.

In the farthest corner from the portal, a pile of human bones pulsed blood red. She shuddered and forced herself to study the gaping black of the portal edged in a crimson glow, ignoring the ache in her chest at the loss of life.

Gideon’s voice came from behind her. “Can you close it? Or do you want me to?”

She took a deep breath. “I can do it. Mixed with blood though, I’m afraid.”

“Well, you’ve got plenty then,” he said, and turned his left side toward her. She turned to him and frowned, watching the blood flow slowly down his shoulder.

“It’s going to waste. Follow me.” She made her voice crisp, moved back to the open grass and knelt to rummage in her bag. She pulled out a metal cup and beckoned. “Sit down so I can collect it.” When he settled at her side, she pushed the edge of the cup into his skin just below the gash in his shoulder, pleased with the steady flow. “I’ll have enough in just a few minutes. Better than a blood bank.”

“Thanks for your kind concern.”

She snorted. “You want this portal closed as much as I do. If this wasn’t natural, it wouldn’t surprise me if the gas leak weakened the area here, which could have allowed the portal to be opened from the Chaos Plane. Can you hold the cup?”