Demon Ex Machina: Tales of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom (24 page)

Eric met my eyes, and for a moment I was certain he could read my mind. Then the moment passed, and I saw a glint of humor. I exhaled slowly in relief, cautiously optimistic. Perhaps we hadn’t lost him yet.

He looked from me to Stuart. “I thought one of you might know someone who could repair a broken window,” he said. “Seems I had a break-in.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Stuart said smoothly. “But don’t worry about it. We’re happy to help you get it fixed.”

“Good,” Eric said, his eyes no longer on me but on my husband. “I figured you could help.”

“So if that’s it—” I moved forward and took Eric’s arm, turning him and aiming him toward the front door.

We stopped cold.

Because right there in the doorway was my old buddy Thor, the World Wrestling Federation demon reject who had attacked Eric and me that very first night.

“I am here,” Thor said, with a deep bow to Eric, “to serve you.”

Eric’s arm tightened protectively on mine, even as he twisted around to face Stuart. “Go,” he said.

“I don’t think so,” Stuart answered, his eyes darting between Thor and Eric.

“Eric?” I asked, my eyes darting from Stuart to the girls, who were standing stock-still on the far side of the room, Allie positioned in front of Mindy, the knife they’d been throwing tight in her hand. Behind them, I could see Timmy, asleep on the library floor.

“It’s okay,” Eric said. “It’s okay, I swear. Trust me.”

I drew in a breath, saw the confusion on Lila’s face, and made a decision, hoping to hell it wasn’t the wrong one. “Didn’t you have something you needed to show Lila upstairs?” I asked Stuart, forcing a smile. “Why don’t you go on? I can deal with this contractor by myself.”

“Kate.”

“Contractor?” Lila asked.

“Highly recommended,” I said, forcing a smile. “Go on. Bernie would be so upset if you didn’t show that thing to Lila.”

He wanted to argue, I could see it on his face. But I shook my head and broadened the smile so much my face hurt. “I’ve got it under control.”

He nodded, and helped Lila to her feet. “She’s right. I totally forgot, but Bernie wants your opinion on one of the upstairs rooms, and if we hurry, we can probably still catch him before he leaves the supplier.”

“But—But—” Lila sputtered, but she was no match for Stuart who had her up the stairs and out of there. And, bless him, he grabbed a pair of knitting needles on the way. Though how he intended to explain
that
to Lila, I didn’t know.

I had my knife in my hand now, and though I kept my eyes on Thor, I spoke to Allie. “Safe room.” She wasted no time, just grabbed Mindy’s hand and took off.

“Master,” Thor said, with a low bow to Eric.

“Out,” Eric said. “You can serve me by leaving me the hell alone.”

“I serve you,” Thor said once again. “And I serve your beloved as well.”

Eric cast a sideways look in my direction. “She wants you out of here, too.”

The demon’s bland, subservient expression shifted into a sneer. “Your
true
beloved, sire. This one is merely a distraction. This one,” he said, lunging toward me, “must die.”

His motion was so fast, so unexpected, that I barely managed to get clear. As it was, his fingers grazed my shirt as I darted out of his way even as Eric moved in front of me to block the beast.

“Get out of here,” Eric said to me. “I’ve got him.”

No way. Even if Eric had been one hundred percent, there was no way I was leaving Timmy. That simply wasn’t an option, and so instead of leaving, I shifted on my heel and switched direction, running back toward them, Eric’s curses echoing through the foyer. The demon lashed out, knocking Eric out of the way, though he apologized loudly as he did so. Then he dove at me and managed to catch me around the ankles. I went down with a splat, my knife sliding out across the slick marble floor.

I cursed and clawed at the floor, trying to get purchase, but the demon was hauling me back toward him. I relaxed, planning to attack anew once he’d pulled me closer, but before that happened, he let go of me. I flipped over, and realized that Eric had tackled the beast. They were on the floor now, each one struggling for the upper hand.

“Blade!” Eric shouted. “Kate, kick me your blade!”

The knife I’d dropped was right at my feet, and I hesitated only a second. And then, praying that I wasn’t reading Eric wrong—praying that this wasn’t a demonic ruse to gain my trust—I thrust my leg out and sent the knife skittering across the floor to Eric.

His fingers closed tight around it, and even as Thor screamed out Odayne’s name, Eric slid the blade home.

“Don’t call me that,” he said with a sneer. “The name’s Eric. And if you can’t remember that, you lousy son of a bitch, you can call me David.”

Then he pushed the body off of him, laid back on the tile, and sighed.

I took the time for one quick glance toward the library, saw that Timmy had managed to sleep through the whole thing, then slid across the floor to rest my head in the crook of Eric’s arm.

“Thanks,” I said.

“You would have handled it.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “But I’m glad you were here to do it.” I rolled over and propped myself up on my elbow. “I’ve been worried that I’d lost you.”

A sad smile touched his lips, but he shook his head. “Maybe for a little bit you did,” he admitted. “I don’t really remember.”

I hesitated, but knew I had to ask. “Was it Nadia?”

His brow furrowed. “She’s really here then?”

“Gave me a message for you.” I met his eyes. “She’s waiting. And she’s wanting.” I sat up, then took his hand. “Do you know who? Who this She-Demon is?”

He shook his head, and when his lips curved around the word
no
, I was both disappointed and relieved. Relieved that he hadn’t fallen that much further into the abyss, but disappointed he had no new help to give us.

Beside me, he shifted, and I sat straighter, suddenly wary. “What?”

He didn’t meet my eyes. “I don’t know who she is,” he repeated. “But I think I’ve been with her. Kate, I think that’s where I was.”

“Oh.” I swallowed, hoping he could see how much his words shook me. “Well. That’s—”

“Troubling,” he suggested.

I almost lied, but knew that I couldn’t. Not to him. “Yes,” I said. “But you found your way back.” I squeezed his hand hard, pushing down my own fear. “You found your way back, and you’re going to hang on.”

“I’m back,” he admitted, but I didn’t like his tone or the way his silver-gray eyes skimmed over me.

“Eric? What is it?”

He didn’t have a chance to answer me, though, because Stuart’s overly loud voice echoed down from the upstairs. “I’d really like to show you a few more rooms.”

“Later,” Lila said. “Bernie’s not even answering his phone. We’ll have our snack, and the upstairs will keep.”

“Get him,” I hissed to Eric, nodding toward the body. We dragged it toward the kitchen as Stuart’s and Lila’s footsteps echoed down the stairs.

“I think I left some cutlery in the kitchen the last time I was in here,” Lila said, and I sighed with exasperation and looked helplessly at Eric.

He, thank goodness, kept his cool. He opened the cabinet doors under the sink and shoved Thor’s head inside. Then he crouched down and started muttering about pipes and fittings.

Lila stepped in, opened up a drawer at the opposite end of the counter, and looked curiously toward Eric.

“Plumber,” I said brightly. “We’ve got a leak.”

“We have a lot of them,” Stuart said, stepping into the kitchen and immediately into his role. “After he finishes under there, maybe we can have him take a look at the upstairs.”

“Great,” I said, with a huge smile toward Lila. “I think the girls got distracted. You head on back to the picnic and we’ll be right there.”

Her smile matched mine, and with a handful of silverware now in her hand, she practically bounced back to the foyer. I sent Stuart a desperate glance, and he followed her out.

“Bring him,” I said to Eric, who followed me toward the safe room, dragging Thor behind him. He dumped him at the threshold, only jumping slightly when Allie squealed “Daddy!” and shot off the bed to hug her father.

I stood there with a body at my feet, no useful help, and a slightly nosy woman in the foyer. “Mindy,” I said. “Come give me a hand.”

As Allie clung to her dad, Mindy and I dragged the body into the room and then shoved it under the bed. “Sorry,” I said to her. “But thanks.”

“Are you kidding? That was the coolest. I got to hide a demon. I mean, like wow.”

“Wow indeed,” I said with a smile. “Come on girls, back to Lila before she gets curious.”

Allie nodded, then broke away from Eric, still standing just outside the entrance to the safe room. I frowned, suddenly uncomfortable, and I kept my eyes on him as I stepped out of the safe room as the girls rushed ahead for snacks.

“Thanks,” I said, watching his face.

“Not a problem.”

“Thor definitely had it in for me.” A shadow seemed to cross his face, his silver eyes darkening. “What?” I asked. “Eric, what is it?”

“Nothing,” he said, his voice remote. “But he didn’t understand.”

I swallowed, feeling suddenly cold. “Understand what?”

He smiled, then reached out to stroke my hair. “That you’re not to be harmed. That we don’t want to harm one single hair on this perfect head.”

And then he leaned forward and kissed my forehead. And so help me, for the first time in my life, I shuddered under Eric’s touch.

 

 

I didn’t sleep. Instead
, I lay in bed, my forehead seeming to burn under Eric’s kiss, and my heart twisting in fear. He’d told me that “we” didn’t mean me any harm, but who was “we?” Eric and Odayne? Odayne and his beloved?

And why were they allowing me to remain safe? Out of Eric’s love for me? Or was there some other, more nefarious reason?

My fists clenched in the sheets, my mind whirling. What was I supposed to do now that the demon was truly mixed up with Eric? Maybe not completely, but there was no denying that Eric’s soul was poisoned, and I was no longer sure there was a way back.

I tossed in bed, and at some point sleep must have come, though it was filled with dreams of fire and knives and Nadia bending close over Eric’s naked body. And Eric turning his head to look at me, telling me they wouldn’t harm me and that I had to watch, watch, watch as he descended to rule in Hell.

I woke up with a scream caught in my throat, then almost released it when I saw the faces looming over me.

“Dammit! What are you two doing?”

“Nasty dreams?” Eddie said.

“Are you okay?” Allie asked at the same time.

Beside me, Stuart stirred, and I could tell the moment he realized we had company. He stiffened, then sat up. “Kate,” he began. “Why is half the household standing over our bed?”

“I haven’t got a clue,” I said grumpily, but I plumped up the pillow behind my back and sat up to hear the answer to that very question.

“It’s Lilith,” Allie said. “Lilith’s the She-Demon.”

I swallowed a gasp and looked at Eddie, who nodded seriously. Lilith is one of the world’s oldest and most powerful demons. A creature who existed even before the world was formed. A vengeful female who legend said mated first with Adam, then cursed all men when he bound himself to Eve. “Are you sure?”

Allie nodded. “I’ve been doing all sorts of research, and I finally found a reference to Odayne and a lover.”

My gaze shifted back to Eddie, and he shrugged.

“
Forza
doesn’t know anything about this,” I said.

“Yeah. I know. I found it in some online role-playing games.”

“Allie!”

“No, it’s good information,” she protested. “I contacted the guy who plays under Odayne’s name. And he’s like some theology buff. Got a Ph.D. and everything. And he did all this research and found these love poems. Only they weren’t really poems. They were more like prayers. But not to God. They were to Lilith, and he said he found them in the archives of some disbanded satanic cult. At least that’s what he thought, but it turned out not to be satanic at all. It was goddess worship. Only not a benevolent god. It was a cult that worshipped Lilith.”

I was staring open-mouthed at my daughter. “You found all this out by going to online gaming sites?”

She shrugged. “
Forza
’s not the only group out there that knows stuff about demons.”

“She’s a smart kid,” Eddie said, giving her a gruff hug.

“That she is,” Stuart muttered.

“So what did these poems or prayers say?”

“That’s just it,” Allie said. “They were prayers for the safe return of her beloved.”

“I thought Lilith’s whole thing was that she had no use for men,” I said.

Allie shrugged. “Guess she found one she could stand, ’cause the poems were more like love songs, you know? About how Lilith and her mate were one, and each was the heart and soul of the other. Sappy stuff, but creepy, too. And a little bit sad, even, because he was gone, you know? Trapped. I’m not really sure how, but bound I guess. Like the time Andramelech was bound in Solomon’s Stone,” she added, referring to a vile demon who had been trapped inside a stone that God had once given to Solomon. The stone had eventually been cut down and placed in a ring, and now that ring was safe inside the Vatican. “But the poems mention her mate’s name. And it’s Odayne. And I guess Lilith is, you know, like really in love with him.”

“Lilith and Odayne,” I said, as ice-cold fear shimmered through my veins. This was worse—much worse—than Eric merely having a demon trapped inside. Now he had a demon inside that one of the most vile and powerful demons in history wanted released.

“You did great work, sweetie,” I said, smiling despite my fear. “Amazing work.”