Demons Are a Girl’s Best Friend (12 page)

“My illusion spells are perfect,” she argued.

“And you, of all witches, should know that even perfect can be broken by the right being.” He didn’t stop until they reached the car.

“What did you sense that I didn’t?” Maggie curled her legs under herself and turned in the seat to look out the back as they left the parking lot. Two men exited the building after them and watched as they drove off. “And please tell me that they can’t get any info off your license plate.”

“Not a thing.” He kept driving until they left the area and then headed for a coffee place. “They won’t even be able to connect the car to the club.”

***

Maggie snagged a corner table while Declan ordered for them.

“Peppermint tea.” He placed the cup in front of her.

“Yum!” She took a sip, savoring the rich taste. “There was magick all throughout that rave.”

He nodded. “If I’m not mistaken, someone, if not more than one someone, is feeding off the energy of the teens.”

His words chilled her to the bone. She kept her voice low, even though they were the only customers in the shop. “That’s demon.”

“Other creatures siphon off energy, but yes, some demons are notorious for it. It’s the only way they can exist. It’s their food and drink.”

Maggie looked at Declan, seeing the sorrow etched in his features. “It hurts that you have to think of your own kind as monsters.” She held up her hand, halting him from speaking.

“No, hear me out. Yes, I used to consider all demons as evil, but you’ve shown me that’s not the case. And no way Anna’s dark. Let me tell you, every race has its good and its bad. I’ve killed witches because they practiced baneful magick. I destroyed them because they were harming the innocent.

“Did I feel bad? Only that those with so much power would use it for evil.” She took another sip. “If demons are running the raves, we need to take them out. Just what happens when they siphon off the power?”

“It’s like tapping into one’s life force,” he said wearily. “Many only take a sip, enough to keep them going until they find another human to do the same with. All it will do is shorten a human’s life a day or so. Some might even lose a month. But what I felt in there was much stronger. Those kids were losing years.”

“Okay, not good at all. First the god of destruction needs to go down, and now we have this.” She nodded. “It’s not as if the Guard doesn’t have enough teams to cover pretty much everything, but how did this fly under our radar?”

“How many incidents involving children have you dealt with?” He finished his triple-shot espresso and went back for a second.

“And I thought the ferrets lived on super-caffeine.” Maggie waited until he was seated again. “As for children? We have special teams that deal only with children. I can’t even fathom how they can handle it.”

“The demon behind this is old. I felt ancient power in there.”

“I wondered what I sensed. I only knew it was wrong.”

“They’re very good at hiding.”

“I’ll let Mal know, and he can send in a team.”

“You know they won’t find anything. Raves move from building to building with little advance word.”

“All those kids are in there, not knowing what might happen to them. And even if they’re gone, there might be traces,” she insisted, pulling out her cell. She made a quick call, giving Mal all the info. “Okay, we have to go back and make sure Courtney and her boyfriend are out of there.” She picked up her cup.

The drive past the building showed the motorcycle was gone, but more teens streamed inside.

“Do you think they figured out exactly who we were?”

“They might have sensed a demon was in there, but I didn’t make any threatening moves. That’s why it’s still open.” He glanced at her. “Are we waiting for your team to move in?”

She shook her head. “They wouldn’t like me being here.”

Declan drove back to the restaurant parking lot and waited while the valet brought Maggie’s car.

“I had a lovely evening,” she told him.

“I’ve got to say, you do make dinner out more interesting.” He smiled, and she felt her insides heating up. “And informative.”

“Scary to be on the good guys’ side, isn’t it?” She reached up and kissed him lightly on the lips. “Good night, Declan.”

“We could go to my place for a drink,” he offered.

“Next time.”

It wasn’t until she drove away that Maggie realized she’d admitted to Declan that she wanted to see him again.

Now it’s getting complicated.

***

“What the fuck have you done?”

Declan hadn’t been in his apartment for more than fifteen minutes before Wreaker materialized in a dark swirl of power. His gray hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail.

Declan turned around and faced his cousin. “If I remember correctly, you’re not welcome here. This is my haven.” He stalked over to Wreaker, his face harsh with fury. “I was promised none of you would enter my private quarters without my permission. And you
do not
have my permission.”

“You’re turning traitor, cuz.” Wreaker plopped on the couch and conjured up a bottle of beer. His boot heels scarred the coffee table as he propped his feet on the polished wood surface. “The old man’s not happy with you at all.”

“Do you really think I care how he feels about me?”

“You should when you’re acting like some frat boy looking to date the prom queen. Although the witch is a great-looking piece of ass.” Wreaker chugged his beer and then belched.

“If the women you seduce saw you like this, they’d run the other way.” Declan walked over to his bar and poured himself a stiff Scotch. He feared this wouldn’t be the only one he’d be downing.

“The women I fuck love me this way. Nothing like a bad boy to get them ripping off their clothes.” He gestured toward the black leather vest that revealed his living tattoos and chaps. His dark eyes glinted with sinister humor. “But we’re talking about you, stud. You were spotted in a club tonight that you had no business being in—and to make it worse, you were there with the sexy Guard.”

“Nothing wrong with clubbing.”

“There is when the average age at that rave was seventeen.” Wreaker finished his beer, stared at the empty bottle, and watched it refill itself. “And I know you’re not into tender flesh.” He eyed Declan.

Declan knocked back the Scotch in one gulp and refilled the glass.

“Why do Maggie and the Guard worry our kind so much? They rarely interfere with our politics unless one of us catches their attention by making a splash in the world of humans.” Declan turned around and leaned back with his elbows resting on the bar. “Such as you might do, if you’re not more careful. The Guard protects humans.”

“If they rarely interfere with us, why were they at Damnation Alley?”

“I told you. She was tracking down a rogue Bloater. Nothing to do with me—or even the club.” He watched his cousin closely. His lack of expression had Declan wondering if Wreaker knew more about the Bloater incident than he let on.

“You’ve tightened up the portal. Not letting so many through.” Wreaker looked at him over the brown bottle. “What’s that about?”

“Keeping the numbers even. Ratchet let so many through that there was chaos everywhere,” Declan said, curious about his relative’s inquisitiveness.

“She killed him, you know. Your sexy Maggie turned Ratchet into pâté.”

Declan got a sick feeling in his stomach. Wreaker wasn’t saying anything he hadn’t thought of before, but he didn’t want any demons focusing on her. “No one knows what really happened to Ratchet.”

“Maybe we don’t have rock-solid proof, but many feel she had something to do with it. It’s been said that his pieces were scattered to the winds.” Wreaker made his bottle disappear and stood up. “Make sure she doesn’t do the same to you, cuz. We’d like to keep you around.” With a smile and salute, he was gone in a puff of smoke.

I should have killed him when I had the chance.
Declan picked up the Scotch bottle and carried it to bed. He knew it was going to be a long night.

Chanting. Words in a long-forgotten language filled the air. The smell of smoke, the scent of death in the air, coming from the victims as each was stabbed through the heart with the sacred knife.

Blood flowed down the stone steps while the sky turned dark and ominous as the ritual progressed. Clouds turned orange; fire rained down; and the portal swirled open in a mass of black smoke.

A tall, bronze-skinned man wearing a coat of brilliant feathers and a feathered headdress made of gold smiled at her. Not until then did she realize she was lying naked on stone, her hands bound with leather cords and words of power painted on her skin.

“You and the girl will finish the ritual.” Even though he spoke in the ancient language, she found herself able to understand him. He raised the stone knife, the tip red with blood. “Once I have eaten your heart, I will be invincible.”

Even though she was securely bound, she refused to give up. “Then expect some heartburn. Heart. Burn. Get it?” she grinned.

But then she really looked at the priest and felt horror fill her body.

This wasn’t someone from an ancient race. This was someone she knew.

The face she looked into was Declan’s as he brought the knife down to her chest.

***

“Whoa!” Maggie shot up in bed and struggled to catch her breath.

“Sleeping here,” Elle said in a groggy voice from her silken web.

“Good for you.” Maggie pressed her hand against her chest, feeling the rapid rise and fall as air failed to fill her lungs. A blind grope showed there were no wounds, no blood streaming down her body, even as she was convinced she still felt the pain from the blade piercing her flesh.

A wave of her hand gave life to the candles scattered around the bedroom. The soft yellow light was meant to be calming, but her heart rate didn’t show any signs of slowing down. She grimaced as she realized her hair was damp with sweat and her skin was slick.

“Did you have a nightmare?” Elle asked, finally rousing herself.

“A whopper—and one I’d like to forget.” Maggie pushed back the covers that suddenly felt too heavy.

The spider skittered her way to the bed and across the comforter to Maggie’s pillow and attached herself to Maggie’s shoulder. “What happened?”

“I dreamed I was the sacrifice along with Courtney.” She made her way into the bathroom and used a damp washcloth to sponge the sweat from her body. “And Declan was the priest performing the ritual. But why should I have this vision?”

“Perhaps it is nothing more than a nightmare. You could have had this because this is the day you will meet the girl face-to-face. Could you have fear that you will fail in protecting her?”

“Thank you, Sigmund Freud.” Maggie splashed cold water against her face and leaned against the sink.

“If I was Freud, I’d compare the knife to Declan’s penis.”

“Not going there!” Maggie turned the shower up as hot as possible so it would warm her blood, which now ran cold. The shower and a change of pajamas made her feel marginally better.

“Have sex with the demon. You will feel much better. I always feel better after sex.”

“Elle,
please
. If it happens, it will happen on my time, not yours.”

A wave of Maggie’s hand had the bedsheets stripped and fresh ones on in a flash, and she crawled back under the covers. She left the candles flickering in an attempt to keep the darkness at bay, since she knew sleep would be a long time coming.

And fearless Maggie jumped a foot when her cell chimed “All Star.” A glance at the Caller ID told her it was Declan.

“Do you know what time it is?” she said by way of greeting.

“Did you just have a nightmare about Mayan priests?” he countered with his own.

“How did you know?”
Because he was there, Mags!

“Because I had one, and you were there,” he spoke in a clipped voice.

“Don’t tell me. You were the priest, and I was the sacrifice. You carved out my heart. You were pretty sloppy about it, too. Or were you the sacrifice, and I was the scary priestess?”

He swore under his breath. Some of the curses were new to her, and Maggie mentally cataloged them for future reference.

“Someone knows we’re coming,” she said.

“I could have done without that nightmare,” he muttered.

“Couldn’t we all? But there are two ways of looking at it. We’re being targeted specifically, or the bad guys sense something and only sent out a blanket spell to warn off whoever is on their trail. It’s like a two-way mirror. They know someone’s watching, but they can’t see who.”

“I tried contacting Anna, but they wouldn’t let me through. I need to talk to her. To know she’s all right. For all we know, she’s a target, too.”

“The Seers’ Pavilion is warded more heavily than the entire compound. No psychic dreams would get through their protections.” She picked up on his panic. “She’s safer there than she’d be anywhere else.”

“But if she has the same nightmare.” He took a deep breath. “What if she dreams she’s the sacrifice and I’m the—”

“I will check on her and call you back.” She knew she wasn’t going to be returning to sleep any time soon. She disconnected and then punched in the extension number for the Pavilion. Ten minutes later she was assured Anna was asleep and that whatever horror had visited Maggie and Declan hadn’t invaded his half sister’s slumber.

“She’s all right?” were Declan’s first words.

“Haven’t you ever heard of ‘hello’?”

Before she’d called him, she’d gotten herself a glass of wine and returned to bed with the covers wrapped around her. A grumbling Elle had returned to her web. She’d declared that since she wouldn’t be sleeping any time soon, she might as well check her email in hopes someone had found that illusive immortality spell.

“It’s one of those polite things most of us do. And yes, Anna’s fine. She’s asleep with no sign a beastie is ruining her snooze.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re stressed and worried about her. I get it.” She lifted the glass to her lips.

“No, I’m sorry I killed you in the dream.”

That stopped Maggie cold. The last thing she wanted was a reminder of her horrifying illusion. “Apology accepted, and we really don’t need to revisit that.” She could hear him breathing on the other end of the line. “Umm, haven’t you ever had a nightmare, Declan? I mean, with your family background…”

“We create nightmares. We don’t have them.”

“Well then, welcome to my world. If we’re lucky, we’re still flying under the radar and they’re just sending out feelers. Better a bad dream than something tangible.”

“What about Courtney? Do you think she’s going through this, too?”

“I don’t know. This is new to me. I’m usually the one sent to take care of the baddies. I’m told where the rogues are, and my team and I go in and clean them out. I don’t deal with kids. I don’t deal with ancient cultures, and I don’t go up against bloodthirsty cults.

“Well, there was one in Bolivia.” She thought back. “They were actually idiots playing with something they couldn’t handle, so we had to handle it for them. Very messy.”

“Are you always so glib about your work?”

“It makes it easier. That’s why I’m not addicted to creaBay or watching
What Not To Wear
. Although Frebus does give me good fashion tips.”

She paused and thought of Declan on the other end of the phone line; she sensed he was more vulnerable than she’d yet known him to be.

“And I’m doing it again. Okay, here goes. There are times when I’m so scared, I can’t breathe. More than once, I’ve gone on a mission with the knowledge I might not survive. And then I wonder who will mourn me.

“I know my team will, but they’ll go on because they have to. The way I’ve moved forward every time we’ve lost a team member.” She plumped her pillows behind her so she could sit up. “I value the friends I’ve known for more than 700 years. I know they’ll always be there for me, but sometimes I want…”

“More.” He finished it for her. “Something that’s just for you.”

“Exactly.” She lit up, pleased he understood.

“Love.”

“I told you, it’s not in my future, and I’m surprised you’d think of that word.” Maggie shifted uneasily, since Declan’s voice had lowered to a caressing tone that stroked her nerve endings. She wasn’t ready for this.

“Call it my human half. And you can’t deny there’s something between us.
Hey
! Dammit!” He paused. “You did that, didn’t you? I’ve got Scotch all over me.”

“You get personal, you get a bath. I’m going to get some sleep. I have to look bright eyed when I meet my new ‘cousin,’ and concealer can only do so much.” Her voice softened. “Good night, Declan.”

“Good night, Maggie. Sweet dreams.”

His words hit her as soon as she extinguished the candles and pulled the covers over her chest.

“No dreams for me. No dreams at all. No dreams to see. No dreams that will gall. A good night’s sleep for me.” She smiled as she felt the magickal sparkles drift over her. A moment later, she was sound asleep with the image of Declan’s face in her mind.

***

“Why didn’t you call me last night?” Sybil sat cross-legged in the middle of Maggie’s bed and watched her friend dig through her closet. The elf’s wings rustled softly, sending calming fragrance through the air.

“We could have sat up and talked, experimented with makeup, or told ghost jokes. I heard a good one from Janus a few days ago,” she said, referring to the compound’s resident spirit.

“Declan called. He had the same nightmare and was afraid that Anna might also be experiencing it. I was able to find out she was okay and let him know.”

“And…?” She lifted an arched eyebrow.

“And we talked for awhile.” Maggie pulled out a dress, held it up against herself, and looked at Sybil. The elf shook her head, and Maggie threw the dress back into the closet. The second and third dress met the same fate.

“This isn’t working. I don’t even know how to
dress
for the role Mal thought up for me.”

“That’s because you’re trying to look either too professional or too boring. There’s no reason for you to do either.” Sybil climbed off the bed and gently pushed her friend to one side. Within thirty seconds, Sybil had pulled out a bright-pink-and-turquoise-print V-neck blouse paired with a black skirt and turquoise jacket.

“And when did you get these cute shoes?” She held up black peep-toe pumps that sported a small pink bow. “I would have borrowed them in a second. I like how you kept your makeup simple. You won’t need an illusion spell to charm the authorities.”

“Tita could pull this off.” Maggie quickly dressed and took the jewelry Sybil held in her hand.

“She’d show up in black leather and scare everyone. You’re protecting someone important, Maggie,” she said softly.

“Then why don’t I feel that way? Yes, I know the young are easy targets, but there’s so much going on here. And now there’s that rave Declan and I followed Courtney to. Who knows how much damage is done to the teenagers who attend them? How do we know that demons aren’t somehow involved with the Mayans and managing to keep themselves under wraps?”

“No one we’ve brought in has even hinted that,” Sybil told her. “The team that went to the warehouse only found traces of the demon power, but no hint where they’d moved to. Mal sent witches to cleanse the area, so the demons can’t return there.”

“They’re off somewhere else, and more teenagers are being affected,” Maggie mused, fluffing her hair and spraying on perfume. She adjusted her blouse, gratified that her push-up bra did its job. “Okay, I’m gone.”

“You’ll do great.” Sybil followed her out of the room.

“You better come visit me in that house Mal set up for me.” She hugged her friend and hurried out of her quarters with the elf walking behind her.

“Wait up!” Mal ambled up to her as she exited the building. He handed her a sheaf of papers. “Don’t forget your ID, backstory, and credit cards. Just don’t go overboard charging up a storm.” His wizened face looked her over. “You look downright harmless, O’Malley.”

“And what will you be doing while I’m playing mommy?” She stuffed it all in her bag.

“Looking into how you and the demon were visited by nightmares. And make sure the kid wears this.” He handed her a necklace made of hammered brass links. “Tracking and protection. This is for you to use if you have to track her.” He added a bracelet to it. “You wear this. Touch the links, and you’ll see where she is. If she feels fear, the bracelet will alert you. If she’s hurt, you’ll find that out, too. Keys to the house.”

Maggie nodded. “Are you sure someone else can’t do this?” She hated the whine in her voice.

“Witch up, O’Malley. You’re the one.” He waddled off in a haze of cigar smoke.

“Easy for you to say.” She glanced at her watch and realized she’d have to race to make it in time for her meeting.

***

“You think you can dump me with a perfect stranger?” A teenage whirlwind rounded on the judge, the attorney, and Maggie. Her glossy black hair with its white blonde streaks flared around her shoulders. “How do you know she’s not some perv just looking to sell me into white slavery?” She glared at Maggie.

“Or a drug dealer who plans to use me as a mule? Or put me in porn movies? I won’t go with her.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest. A chest that Maggie sadly noticed was a bit more abundant than her own.

Maggie’s first thought was
All righty then, she’s all yours
. Her second was
This kid has a pretty good imagination.

“I realize this is upsetting to you, Courtney,” she said, doing her best to put across total normalcy. “I’m just sorry I couldn’t have been here sooner. I didn’t hear about your parents’ deaths until a couple of months ago. I’ve been living in Europe for the past ten years, and we didn’t keep in touch like we used to.” She used the cover story Mal and company had cooked up for her. “When I heard what happened to you, I knew I needed to come here and offer you a good home.”

Courtney glared at her from wide eyes lined with kohl. Her dark-red skirt looked more like a Band-Aid, while her matching top was postage-stamp size. Maggie thought of her own outfits when she went clubbing, and none of them were that miniscule.