Green Flame Assassin (Demon Lord series, book 2) (49 page)

“Hello, Caine, are you back in town?”

“No, but I need to bail on Sacramento and go to Fairy.”

“You need me to arrange provision for traveling and a portal, right?”

“Yeah.  Do you think you can guide us to this Dream Court retreat so we can deliver the stone?”

“Probably.  How many people should we plan on taking?”

“Depends on how good a mood Josh is in after eating.  If I can talk him into coming, you, me and Vivian make four.”

“Who’s this Josh?”

“Shape-shifter, liger,” I said.

“Hmmm.  Maybe I should ask Leona to come along too.”

“Great idea.  Get busy.  I’ll call you when I need a portal back to Malibu.”

And then we were down the street, parking by the VW bug.  Vivian and I got out.  I noticed a woman across the street watching me.  The bear lady.  She’d tracked me down as well, probably by fey magic.  Her eyes widened in shock as she saw the dream stone in my hands.

I yelled at her, “Who’s your daddy now?  Want a piece of me, bitch?”

She retreated into an alley.  I knew she wasn’t done with vengeance.  She was just smart enough to go into battle unprepared. 

Same philosophy as me.

Now I had more to worry about just the Autumn fey dogging my ass in Fairy.  There’d be one more enemy, two if you count the bear.

THIRTY-FIVE

“Road trip!!!”

                                                    —Caine Deathwalker

An hour later, we were back at the Victorian.  Kat was wailing like an alley cat over her busted knickknacks.  Vivian was helping her clean up.  They were planning on buying some tarps and two-by-fours to plug up the hole in the wall.  I had my bag from upstairs with me, sitting on an up-righted couch.  Josh sat carefully on a desk chair that had lost one leg.

“You want me to go where, and do what?” he asked.

“I need to go into Fairy to put down that crazy bear,” I said.  “It’s the only way I can make sure your people and the water fey will stay safe here.  What’s wrong?  Didn’t you used to be all about Justice, protecting and serving, all that crap?”

“I know but…” he flicked a glance over at Kat, “I don’t think I can go.”

“Look,” I said, “most of the dhampyr and wolves are dead.  The water fey are decimated.  The shifter clans are laying low, waiting to see how things shake out.  By attrition, you are all that holds this city together.  Declare yourself the Master of the City.  Put out word that the L.A. Courts support you in running things, and it’s that, or the vamps who are already snooping around.  Trust me.  This thing is settled, except for a few loose ends you should help me with.”

I’d been arguing for ten minutes and wasn’t sure I was getting through to him.

Kat walked up to us.  “He’ll do it.”

Josh stared at her.  “I will?”

She gave him a fierce stare.  “You will.”  That fierce stare shifted to me.  “But not for free, Mr. Red Moon Demon.  We get paid for this responsibility.”

I smiled.  “That’s fair.  I’ll make sure the local clans know that they are to regularly tithe a percentage of their incomes to support your operations.  It’s for the public good.”

Kat held her hard stare on me.  “We also get paid for this little hunting expedition of yours.”

My smile died.  “Now, wait a minute—”

She smiled.  “It’s for the public good, remember.  Besides, we got to fix this house, and buy another.  The new house will be a money pit at first, and we are a poor clan.”

I got the feeling that Kat was going to wind up running this city, the power behind Josh’s throne.  I also had the feeling she’d be scarily good at it.  I stood and took out my phone.  “Give me a minute to see what I can do.” 

I walked outside and called the water fey.  Their leader came on at once, as if sitting around, waiting for my call.  I gave her an explanation of  how things had gone, leaving out things I didn’t want her to know.

Her voice was effervescent, “You’ve killed off the dhampyr and wolves because they were secretly dealing with the vampires?  That should calm things down for a while.  But what about the bear?”

“It’s a professional assassin, a loose cannon.  I’ll be luring it out of the human world, into Fairy where my friends will help me kill it.  You could help me with that.”

Cause I really don’t want to spend any of my own money if I don’t have to.

She said, “We like it here.  We don’t want to go back and get pushed around, dragged into one war after another.”

“All I need is financial support for the expedition.  After all, you don’t want this Spirit Bear coming back and eating up more of your people, right?”

Her voice with flat, “How much?”

“I’ve heard about the California Gold Rushes,” I said.  “You people live in the rivers.  I figure over the years, you’ve collected an awful lot of gold nuggets.  Just bring me an ungodly amount, and I’ll take care of everything else.”

“You will have your payment, when I have the fur of the bear, its head, or other proof of death.”

“Deal.”  I hung up and went inside knowing that everyone’s heightened hearing had let them to follow the conversation.  I looked at Kat.  “You heard.  Josh brings back a piece of the bear, and the water fey will cover you in gold.”

“So, when do we leave?” she asked.

“Not you,” Josh said.  “You need to keep an eye on things here, and start reaching out to the shifters and fey, plus any
low-level dhampyr still in the city.  Get everyone looking for those two vamp guards that were with Roma at the White Lotus.  I have a sneaking suspicion he may have left his boys behind to see what will happen in the power vacuum.  We don’t want the vamps attacking humans in our city, drawing attention to the preternatural communities.  We don’t want them thinking we can’t stop them either.”

She gave him a snappy salute.  “Yes, Sir!”

I said, “Josh, Vivian, Get in the Mustang and we’ll be off.”

“Driving to Fairy?” Josh asked.

“Yeah,” I said, “by way of Malibu, and a couple magic portals.”

Josh picked up a couple couch cushions and headed for the door.

“My cushions!” Kat said.

“I don’t have a back seat in my Mustang,” I explained.  “He wants to be comfortable.”

Kat said, “Oh.”

Vivian and I went outside while Josh and Kat said goodbye and exchanged saliva with much heartfelt groping.

I stopped dead, staring at falling snow.  It was only coming down over this house.  The air was cold, making my breath into mist.  And there was Izumi, sitting on the hood of my car, waving.  Vivian and I went forward, Josh a few steps behind.  Izumi bounced off the car and sprang into my arms, softly pounding me in the chest with boobs.  I endured it manfully.

“So how are we going to do this?” I asked.

“I’ll open a portal once you get the car going.  The other side will be anchored in your driveway back home.  There will be a moment of cold mist when you can’t see a thing, then you’ll all be in Malibu.”

“Thanks for the favor,” I said.

“This magic is going to cost me a lot,” Izumi said.  “I plan on collecting out of your hide.”

Vivian raised an inquisitive eyebrow.  “Excuse me?”

I shrugged.  “Time is essential now.  We can’t quibble.”

I shoved Josh toward the back door, and sent Vivian around the bumper for the front passenger’s door.  Izumi simply resumed her seat on the hood.  Inside the vehicle, Vivian turned to me.  “What did she mean by ‘collecting out of your hide’?”

“It’s going to be hell for me,” I explained.  “Izumi has a ravenous sexual appetite.”

“You mean she expects you to—”

“When all of this is over, I’ll probably be MIA for days.”  I tried to hide how happy that thought made me.  “Damn it, if only there were some other way.”

She stared at me as I started the car up and shifted into reverse.  Her voice took on an accusing tone, “You’re humming the Hallelujah Chorus!”

“Really?  I thought it was something by Elton John.”

Josh didn’t help me out by snickering in the back seat.

We rolled back into a flash of blue light and a fog bank that blotted out the world.  Sitting on the vibrating hood, she was a flat shadow.  Then we were out of the cold mists, backing up into my own garage.  I killed the engine and we all climbed out. 

I told them, “Come inside and hang a few minutes.  Old Man and
Achill will probably want an update, then we can go.”  I lead them in through the kitchen door, across the living room arch, and left them in the living room.  I opened the door to my office-bar, and went in.  Old Man and Achill were waiting on barstools.  Leona sat on the bar itself, her yellow eyes on me, her tail lashing gently.  Only the spirit leopard looked happy to see me.

Achill
started in first.  “So, we send you down to settle things and now the wolves and dhampyr are almost extinct.  How’d that happen exactly?”

“They died for betraying you,” I said.  “Brought it on their own heads.”

He peered at me like I’d just grown goat horns, but his voice cooled, “Go on.”

“They were working with a Master vampire, Vivian’s father, Aldo Roma.”

“I’ve heard of him,” Achill said.  “If those wolves were taking another master in my place, then you saved me the trouble of killing them myself.”

“I thought you’d see it that way.”

“What about the dhampyr?” Old Man asked. 

“Their leader Brielle had the dream stone.  Knowing I was coming after her, and it, she turned her people into canon fodder.  They were collateral damage, but it was just as well.  They were determined to rule everyone else.  Now, peace has been forged with the survivors.  A new Master of the City has taken over that everybody can accept and respect.  Want to meet him?  He’s just outside the door.”