Make Me (28 page)

Dan’s face scrunched in a kind of agony and he grabbed the discarded chains, hauled the heavy things up and swung them at the wall. The crashing, clanking sound of metal against wood was horrendous and the chain left huge dents in the studs.

WELL, THAT’S ONE WAY TO LET YOUR AGGRESSIONS OUT, Fang said. It wasn’t so much snarky as sad. Fang liked Gwen, too.

Dan reared back to swing them again, but Austin stopped him with a hand on his. “Why don’t you all come to my rooms at the blood bank?”

I nodded. “Yes, let’s go. Asmodeus will be able to sense the books if he gets within five hundred feet of them. Your building isn’t that tall, but your room is almost on the top floor and it’ll make it harder to sense them there. Besides, the security is excellent.”

Austin didn’t take his eyes off Dan. “We’ll be able to see anyone coming up the stairs or elevator and we can plan how to get your sister back to you.”

Dan stood for a moment, his head bowed, then nodded. He dropped the chains and ran a hand over his face, looking resigned and defeated. “I’m out of my depth here,” he admitted. “I don’t understand your world.”

“It’s okay. We’ll find a way to bring her back,” I told him. I hoped. “Come on.”

He gave one decisive nod of his head, and we all headed for the cars, David promising to follow us back to the blood bank.

Micah and Princess rode in the backseat with Fang and me. As the two hellhounds snuggled together, I said to Micah, “Can you tell us what happened? What made him kidnap the two of you?” Hearing the story would help us focus and we might learn something useful.

Micah told us the story, obviously blaming himself for everything that had happened to Gwen. Dan didn’t disagree, just remained stoic and silent. Maybe he needed someone to blame.

DON’T WORRY, Fang said. KNOWING DAN, HE’S FOUND REASONS TO LAY THIS ON EVERYONE.

In my case, it was true. Why hadn’t I anticipated something like this? Why hadn’t I taken the mage demon–locator spell the first time the books offered it? Why hadn’t I warned Dan that Gwen might need more protection?

STOP IT, Fang said. YOU DID WHAT YOU COULD. IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT SOME IDIOT MAGE DEMON IS LUSTING FOR POWER. DON’T USE YOUR ENERGY TO BEAT YOURSELF UP. FUNNEL IT INTO FINDING GWEN.

Good advice, though not all that easy to put into practice.

When Micah finished his story, Dan said, “Tell us everything you know about this guy who calls himself Asmodeus.”

Micah did so, thoroughly, finishing as we arrived back at the blood bank.

Dan twisted around in the front seat to give Micah a piercing glare. “Tell me the truth. Will he hurt her?”

Micah shook his head. “I don’t know for sure, but I can’t think of any reason why he would. She’s his slave and will do his bidding. She’s more valuable to him unharmed.”

Dan nodded and returned to his thoughts, that grim look on his face.

Austin had called ahead to let the vampires know they were about to be invaded by a horde of demons. Lisette agreed to host the San Antonio Demon Underground leader and his entourage, so we had no problems going up in the elevator.

Once we were all assembled in the living room of Austin’s suite, and the metal shades clanged shut against the coming rising sun, Micah took charge. “What we need is a way to bring him to us, at a place and time of
our
choosing.”

I explained to Micah that we’d already ruled out using the finder or a prophecy. I hated to suggest it, but… “Maybe we could use Jack’s funeral?” I suppressed a twinge of guilt. “He wouldn’t mind. His entire life was spent protecting the books.” Now, he could do that even in death. “Asmodeus will expect us to be there, and he won’t question the presence of additional demons.”

“Funeral?” Micah repeated, looking concerned.

Oh, crap. He didn’t know about Jack. I explained it quickly.

Looking pained, Micah said, “It isn’t necessary to use the funeral. I know you want to honor Jack in the right way, so we’ll do that later. Instead, we’ll lure Asmodeus to the Naming Ritual David requested.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. There was no guarantee Micah would still be leader after that.

“I’m sure,” Micah said with finality. “And if he doesn’t show for the Naming Ritual, we can set a trap at the funeral.”

Dan perked up. “That could work. We could deliberately leave Val alone so he’ll think she’s unguarded and vulnerable. I think he’ll take the bait.”

“How do we get the word to Asmodeus so he’ll show up?” David asked doubtfully.

I shrugged. “He obviously knows where the demon hangouts are. We’ll put out the word to all the demons we know and he’s bound to hear about it.”

I checked my phone, surprised by the date. “Today is Christmas Eve. Can we get enough people to attend a Naming Ritual today?”

WE HAVE TO, Princess suddenly said. THE BAD MAN WANTS TO BE LIKE GWEN.

Fang translated. PRINCESS HEARD ASMODEUS THINK THAT HE WANTS TO TURN HIMSELF INTO A VAMPIRE, LIKE LILITH DID. TO BE EVEN MORE STRONG AND POWERFUL.

Austin looked puzzled. “If vampires go crazy when they drink demon blood, what happens to demons who are turned into vampires?”

Whatever happened, it couldn’t be good. Luckily, Gwen was fully human, so we didn’t have to worry about the mixing of the blood.

“The process of combining the two does one of two things,” Micah said, looking sick. “It usually drives the demons crazy as well as the vampires, and they turn into raving beasts. Most of the time, they accidentally kill themselves by wandering into the sunlight.”

“What’s the other thing?” I asked impatiently.

Micah seemed reluctant to respond, and wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“Telll theeem,” came the creepy voice from the bundle of bones huddled in the corner.

YES, TELL THEM, Fang said, sounding grim.

Micah rubbed his hand across his face and sighed. “It’s rare, but sometimes, you get something else.”

Impatient with his reluctance, I said, “Come on, spit it out. What do you get?”

“A… Memory Eater,” he said reluctantly. “They’re able to read minds and memories with the vampire part, while having the added ability of being able to remove those memories. But the two sides are constantly at war within.”

We all turned to stare at the one in the corner. Ohmigod. No wonder she never seemed quite sane. “You mean the Memory Eater isn’t a type of demon?”

“Yes and no. She had demon powers once, but I don’t know what they were. She rides on the edge all the time, balancing the demon and vampire sides of her nature. If she lets one have too much control over the other, she slips further into madness.”

“Is the reverse true?” Austin asked, his eyes narrowed. “Can some vampires become Memory Eaters by drinking blood from a demon?”

Micah shook his head. “I don’t know, but our history doesn’t mention the possibility.”

Austin’s jaw looked like a block of granite. “We never knew.”

I could see why they wouldn’t tell the vampires. Any vampire who turned a demon into a Memory Eater wouldn’t have survived with his sanity intact. I hadn’t realized how much Micah had to worry about as leader. Maybe there was a good reason for keeping some secrets.

Tension rose as Micah and Austin stared at each other.

Ludwig broke it when he stood. “So, the overwhelming odds are good that Asmodeus will be driven crazy, right? Problem solved. Why disrupt his plans?”

“You don’t understand,” Micah said, seeming grateful for the change in subject. “Asmodeus brought Lilith’s spirit into this world, and he’s the only one who can let her go. So, if he’s killed or goes mad before he does that, we won’t be able to get Lilith out of Gwen.”

NOT GOOD, Fang said. I WANT GWEN BACK.

ME, TOO, Princess said in a small voice.

We all did.

“What about that demon-exorcising spell?” Austin asked. “Would that allow you to free Gwen?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Maybe. Will the spell treat Lilith’s spirit as a demon and exorcise it? I have no way of knowing.”

Austin nodded slowly. “And if you exorcised Asmodeus’s demon, it would leave him incapable of freeing her.”

“We can’t chance it,” Dan said. “We have to capture him, not kill him, and force him to free Gwen.” He turned to Micah. “Are you sure he hasn’t tried to become a vampire yet?”

“Not when I saw him last. He had Lilith knock me out, then he was on his way to meet Val to get the books.”

Oh, crap. “He knows by now that we rescued you, and that we know Lilith has control of Gwen. Nothing is stopping him from getting turned right now.”

Dan whipped his head around to stare at Austin. “Is that true?”

“Possibly,” Austin said. He asked Micah, “Who turned Lilith?”

“She found some random vamp under Congress Avenue Bridge.”

Austin relaxed a little. “Some hang out there at night, but they won’t be there during the day. And none of us will let others know the locations of our daytime resting places.”

“What about here, at the blood bank?” David asked. “There are obviously vampires here.”

“They don’t see clients during the day here,” Austin explained. “And none of them would turn a stranger simply because they ask it.”

Not good enough. “But what’s to keep
Lilith
from turning him?” I asked.

Austin looked surprised. “I thought you knew. She can’t. She’s too newly turned to be able to turn someone else, especially during daylight hours.”

I’d never learned the details of how someone got turned into a bloodsucker. Mostly, I just made the undead very
dead
dead. But I was
really
glad to hear that.

“So the odds are good that he won’t be turned anytime during the day today?” Dan asked, looking intense.

“Right,” Austin confirmed. “But once the sun goes down…”

THE POOP HITS THE ROTARY BLADES, Fang said.

An understatement.

“Okay,” Dan said decisively. “We plan the ritual for today. Right after sunset so he won’t have time to get turned and can bring Gwen with him. Can you make arrangements that fast?”

“Tessa can,” I said. I had faith in Tessa’s ability to make just about anything happen. “She’s the ultimate organizer.”

“Even making a ritual happen today?” David asked doubtfully.

“You don’t know Tessa,” Micah said. “I’ll call her. If I can borrow your phone?”

I handed it to him and he went into the corner to make a low-voiced call to his assistant.

Pia talked at David with her hands, and he nodded. “We’ll work on getting the word out to the Demon Underground in both cities. And let a few we trust know that we’d like a good turnout… and why. They’ll come.”

“Asmodeus better damned well come,” Dan said. “And when he does, what’s the plan to take him alive?”

I raised my hand. “That’s my department. Micah said he doesn’t have a shield like Trevor’s, so I should be able to use Lola on him.” So long as I still had control of her, that was. “Then I can force him to get rid of Lilith.”

“What if Lilith tries to control your mind?” Dan asked.

I grinned. “It won’t work. If she tries to control me, it will allow me to read her mind, know what they’re planning.”

“What if he tries for you first?” Micah asked, rejoining us. “He’s awfully handy with that dart gun and the Perdo.”