The Devil You Know (7 page)

Instead, I batted my eyes, switching subjects and moods, sweetly asking, “So, the car?”

Good humor returning, Seth shook his head, took a sip of wine, and flashed a fang.

“Then perhaps my shoes?”

He shook his head again.

“Someone else’s shoes?” I tapped my foot as he kept shaking his head. Exasperated, I threw my arms up, my sugary tones fading fast. “Seth, it’s a long walk to Gandsai. I’d lasso one of your Were guards and ride him all the way, but I seem to be missing my spurs.”

Choking, Jacq sputtered at the word
spurs
. I gave her pale face another concerned look, wondering if I should take the wine away before she drowned.

Seth said, “Cate, I simply cannot. It’s not logical.”

I narrowed my eyes. Being the near opposite of his sister, Seth was nothing if not illogical. I was waiting for the punchline, which wasn’t long in coming.

“If you walk,” he said, “who will drive the good detective’s car to your house? I’m sure she won’t be far from your side.”

I whirled to face Jacq, noting the rumpled clothes and dark circles under her eyes.

“I was going to tell you,” Jacq said. “Someone went for the car. But…” She put the wine on a side table and smiled apologetically, too polite to say Seth and I hadn’t given her the opportunity.

Jacq’s weariness permeated every word. Her foggy eyes and slow reactions made me suspect Seth had slipped her something to help her sleep. I began to step to her side, to offer what comfort and energy I could, but stopped when a tall woman opened and stepped through a door nearby.

“The car is here,” the woman said with a slight Russian accent. She was beautiful with light brown skin, dark wild hair, and deep Caribbean-blue eyes. She carried a pair of familiar boots. “The one called Vanguard said to give you these. Apparently, the smell of blood was difficult to remove. He sent them out to be cleaned.”

Bon, who had been with us in the fight against Nicodemus, stood behind the mystery woman. Wiry and small with constantly messy dark-brown hair, Bon was quiet and by far my favorite of Serena’s vamp guards. He smiled and gave me a small salute before shutting the door. He would be through the door and at Seth’s side within the blink of an eye if called but the semblance of privacy was there.

Not asking why there had been blood on my boots when it was my head that had been injured, I moved forward, eager to retrieve my shoes from the woman, but stopped when she smiled, showing a pair of slightly elongated incisors.

Seth introduced the visitor with an almost disinterested tone. “Cate, meet Gemini Roskov, Domini Roskov’s daughter.”

Domini Roskov had been the financier with Wellsy in the Virginian coal mine cave-in. He had been truly dead, his vampire body possessed by Nicodemus, when Jacq took his head.

“Gemini is here to kill the person who killed her father,” Seth added.

I quickly stepped between her and Jacq. If she knew to seek out Seth, she likely knew Jacq had taken her father’s head. Jacq hadn’t killed the senior Roskov, but it could look as if she had. What I wouldn’t have given at that moment for a good old-fashioned sawed-off shotgun. I began to summon my magic, wincing at the resulting burn in my head. That damn demon had fried my brain but good.

Gemini held up her hands, her movements surprisingly graceful considering she was waving around my dirty boots. “Don’t worry, little witch. I know my father died long before Detective Slone stopped the dark one called Nicodemus. It’s true I believe his possession was no accident and I seek the one responsible for his death.” She gave Seth a look somewhere between irritation and resignation. “But that’s not my reason for this meeting.”

At Seth’s nod of confirmation, I gratefully let my magic slip away, trying my best to soothe the demon stirring within. As I moved back to the sofa I thought,
I really should find shorter friends.
It wasn’t that I was little, though everyone simply
had
to say so. I merely always seemed to be in the company of giants. I looked at Seth’s haughty expression. The term referred to more than their height.

As I moved, I watched the female vampire, quickly reassessing my evaluation. Vampire wasn’t the right word. Her skin glowed with the sun’s kiss. And while not every myth about the Kin was correct, that one was. In the light of day, they turned crispier than a piece of buttermilk-battered chicken.

I reached the sofa and sat beside Jacq, thankful for her body’s warmth. As Gemini explained exactly what she needed and from whom, I looked fondly at my shoes. I didn’t bother to slip them on, instead tucking my legs under my body and leaning against Jacq who slipped her arm around my shoulders. Hopefully, Seth’s lackeys hadn’t left my good detective’s car running.

It looked like we would be staying a while.

* * *

Hours later…

They say the darkest hour comes before the dawn. Watching the sunrise as we drove over the Mississippi River, for the time being leaving behind NOLA and thankfully the demons and vampires, reminded me that the sky begins to lighten long before the sun peeks over…and that the darkness is still there, lingering behind the light. Although we were leaving the night behind and driving into the sunrise, I felt like I was bringing a small part of night with us.

Before leaving Seth’s, I’d offered to drive, arguing that I had some sleep, whereas my auburn-haired sidekick had gotten little during her brief nap on Seth’s couch. Exactly how much sleep had been surprising. I’d awoken believing it was almost Tuesday morning, but it was Wednesday. I’d been out of it for over twenty-four hours.

Upon hearing this, I’d nearly run for the nearest phone…until Jacq assured me she’d called and spoken with my business partner, Mynx, who’d promised to tell my aunt and Nana anything but the truth. What and when I told them of the previous night’s events would be my decision. Mynx planned to stay far, far away from that mess.

This exceedingly long rest should have made my argument, but Jacq had pointed out that it didn’t count as rest if you were knocked into it, adding with a leer that sidekicks by tradition were shorter, so therefore she was obviously the tall dashing hero. As she’d teased, that half-smile and dimple I loved so dearly had peeped out, her tired eyes momentarily twinkling. I wasn’t sure what she’d been drinking, but I’d considered buying two bottles of it and calling a cab to take us to a hotel, knowing she was in no shape to drive.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending upon your perspective), Jacq appeared to have a very high metabolism. By the time we had borrowed bathrooms, taken showers, and had my head again bandaged by Seth’s Were doctor, Peregrine, Jacq was perfectly sober. During our talk with Gemini, or Gem as she preferred to be called, Seth ordered food be brought. Jacq and I had consumed more than I imagined possible, and I had watched, fascinated, as Gem had packed away her own fair share.

The conversation hadn’t taken long, but even with the wine, Jacq was fit to drive before we left. So I had gratefully consented, and we were now quietly riding in her silver Corvette, making our way home. To my home that is.

Home to the Delacy homestead, where my Nana and Aunt Helena and a multitude of guests awaited. Home to the darkness within their hearts. I’d never seen it there, never considered its possible existence, but now I couldn’t help but wonder if the portion I carried within myself wasn’t necessarily from my demon-half.

Maybe after last night and the previous night’s events, after all that I had learned and still had to learn about my demon grandmother, demon father, and their plans for me, it would seem strange that I wasn’t focused on that. But those troubles would follow me home soon enough. Currently, we were winging our way toward another set of more pressing troubles because I wasn’t sure how I or my family would react when I reached our destination. And an unpredictable Delacy was a very dangerous thing.

A room full of them was positively explosive.

Monday night’s betrayal wasn’t my first, greatest, maybe not even the most dangerous I had experienced. But it had widened my eyes and provided a clearer picture of what resided within me, what I might one day become. More importantly, it had made me remember. My new grandmother had mentioned demon children and their magical control, reminding me of a text I had once found in our library about the precocious little hell-spawns.

Unlike most Supernaturals, demons began showing magic as toddlers. Perhaps it was an evolutionary thing, considering the Otherworld had more predators and no need to hide. Whatever the cause, even half-blooded and in a different realm, I should have developed my magic sooner…not later. Which reminded me of the botched spell I’d conducted three years ago and the feeling I had broken something within myself. My magic had begun to truly surface not long after.

Sensing my need for privacy, Jacq’s presence in my mind withdrew, not leaving completely…but enough. She couldn’t know what I was considering but she felt my turbulence and radiated unassuming sympathy. She turned on a blues CD and sang softly while steering her car through the smattering of traffic. I closed my eyes, leaned my head back, and kept my hand on hers as she moved the gearshift, needing that connection as I contemplated who had betrayed me so long ago.

It would have taken a powerful spell conducted by no less than four witches to bind another’s powers, especially burgeoning demon ones, so deeply that even the one possessing them wouldn’t know they were there.
Four.
It would have taken four to bind them so deeply that the spell would carry over to my other powers, including my guardian ones. I checked the four off, inwardly wincing as each face flashed in my mind, my heart breaking as I thought of the lifetime, my lifetime, they had spent lying to me.

My mother… Red braid bouncing as she chased me at age four around the gardens, threatening me with a tickle attack, finally catching me and delivering the promised assault as I rolled in my grandmother’s daisies, laughing so hard I cried. Her promise that one day I would never need to run, to hide again. All the while, she had done something to prevent that future, to make me too weak to fight the bad things that would eventually come for me.

My aunt… Green eyes misting, holding my ten-year-old hand as I cried because the other children had called me a bastard, and then her offering to turn them all (temporarily, of course) into the rats they were. Her following, now painfully striking, reminder that a stranger’s actions were worth nothing when compared to those committed by the ones we love.

My Nana… Gray-haired and deceptively frail-looking but strong and sure as we sparred. Her knocking my thirteen-year-old self to the ground over and over again, always gently helping me to my feet afterward. Her promise that she wanted to make me strong—to make me a Delacy—made me now wonder if being the Delacy half required sacrificing everything else.

And the fourth? An image of green eyes and brunette hair surfaced. After what had been done to Mynx, she would never participate in something even remotely similar. To bind a witch’s powers was remarkably like stealing them or swapping souls. The latter had occurred when the evil sorceress Hexamina had tried to steal my ancestor Erin’s powers. Something had gone wrong and Hex’s soul had ended up in the body of Erin’s cat familiar, Mynx. Mynx’s soul had ended up in Hex’s body. Mynx had been taught by generations of Delacys until she knew more than her teachers. Then the roles had reversed. Mynx had been my mentor growing up. Now she was my business partner and closest friend. Despite being centuries older and unrelated by blood, she was my sister of the heart and wouldn’t have helped with this.

So my grandpa then. Born of another strong guardian family but not able to manipulate the gates, John Langston had been a powerful witch with a kind heart who had patiently taught me much of what I knew about life, love, and parallel parking.

I could still see his tan weathered laughing face as I coaxed the old Chevy to new heights of speed, the wrinkles around his eyes and mouth deepening, could hear his voice reminding me to obey the speed limits. He’d said the laws were there for a reason, which made me question why my beloved grandpa, who had so respected the mortals’ laws, would break magic’s most sacred one.

That was my four betrayers. I considered them for most of the long drive, even as my body felt the roads turn from three lanes to two to one, from concrete to asphalt and finally gravel. Their intentions had been pure…maybe even necessary. But that didn’t lessen the hurt. Their actions toward a child showed a lack of trust that was no doubt justified. That I could understand.

That I could forgive.

But I hadn’t been a child for many years. Their inability to share this secret that so directly affected me, to undo what they had done, showed something I could only assume was a current lack of trust. I hadn’t appreciated being treated as a child even when I was one. To be treated as one now?

There weren’t sufficient words for how deeply it cut.

The last half hour of twists and turns was familiar. The car pulled to a stop. I knew we were home despite not opening my eyes. Nearly asleep, I felt Jacq place the hand laying over hers back in my lap then gently kiss my cheek. It wasn’t until she said, “Your eyes are leaking,” that I realized my cheeks were damp. Warm lips brushed my face, kissing away a tear.

I blinked open my eyes, releasing more salty droplets to slide down my cheeks, and sat up. Wiping a tear away, I turned to face her concerned gaze. My borrowed shirt’s collar was cold and damp against my neck. I’d cried more than a few tears.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.

I opened and closed my mouth, trying to find my voice, finally croaking out, “I don’t think I can.” I didn’t cry often but when I did, talking only made it worse. I gave Jacq a watery smile. “Rain check?”

She dubiously eyed the rain currently dripping from my eyes and nodded. I reached out and tucked a lock of auburn hair behind her ear. My fingers lingered on her cheek.

“Can we just go to bed?” I asked. I blinked and my hand was cradling empty air. Behind me, the door opened.