whiskey witches 01 - whisky witches (26 page)

“Ambling around without a leader,” Dexx finished.

Paige pursed her lips and nodded. “But that also means someone is vying for power. Someone has probably already started working to gain enough prestige to take the throne right out of Lucifer’s control.”

“That can’t be good.”

“No.” Paige stretched her legs as much as she could. “And with the guardians gone?”

“There’s no one to stand in their way.”

“So,” Paige said, “just to be clear. Your theory is that the greatest trickster, Sven, is working to take over Hell.”

“Why else would he be doing all this?”

“This,” Lucius said, his voice low, “the trapping of my brethren and I, is not the work of the Fallen.”

“What do you mean?”

“We can enter easily even without a gate.”

Dexx tapped his fist against the steering wheel. “Then why—”

“The angels,” Lucius said, raising his voice. “They cannot use you so easily. They need the gate to roam the Earth.”

Paige twisted to look at Lucius. “You said Gabriel bound you.”

“Yes.”

“And backed Rachel,” Balnore said, “in taking Leah.”

Lucius narrowed his eyes “That broke you.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Dexx said.

“So why would the archangels need the demon summoner out of the game, and how does that have anything to do with Sven?”

B
ALNORE ACTED FUNNY
the rest of the ride back to St. Francisville. He requested Paige send him and Lucius out to track down their leads. She did, not knowing what was going on with him. Maybe he needed to talk to Lucius. She didn’t know. Frankly, she didn’t care.

Dexx and Alma didn’t approve, but, again, she didn’t care. Something still didn’t feel right, like she had to constantly fight to remain in her own body. It could be the aftereffects of possession and having two demons in the backseat. Sure. That could be it.

But she wondered if there was more to it. What was it Dexx had seen at the station? He’d been freaked out. She remembered that, but only that.

Her grandmother was a different matter altogether. Whatever Lucius had done, the wounds he’d reopened, the memories, he’d brought back, Paige couldn’t stand looking at the other woman. She needed Alma to go home.

The old woman wasn’t pleased.

Paige really didn’t care.

Watching Alma and Tru leave had been harder than she’d thought. The situation was huge and felt a lot bigger than she was ready for. She couldn’t afford to be a pansy, and they needed someone of Alma’s caliber on the case. A strong kitchen witch with incredible white magick? Yeah. That. She needed that.

But it belonged to the same woman who had made being possessed possible.

No. She needed people on her team she could trust.

She trusted two people. Brian White and Dexx Colt.

Leaving Dexx in bed, she went off to be reckless. Not that it was a good idea. She knew better. But she had a lot of extra energy to shake off. She called up her scry globe, searching for Sven. The sooner she could get that key and send him and all his demon friends back, the sooner she could go home.

Even with her powers back, she wasn’t stupid enough to go alone. No. She called for backup.

The globe led her to the outskirts of nowhere. Trees crowded the scene. She’d parked here because the road stopped. As in, it disappeared into forest. A rickety iron fence poked through the vines, fighting its way out.

Chief White got out of his car and walked along the hard-packed dirt road.

Paige watched him through the side mirror. A slight breeze caressed her face.

He set his hand on the door and leaned over. “Paige.”

“Brian.”

They’d both admitted they’d experienced too much together to keep the boundaries of protocol between them. It felt awkward for Paige. She didn’t even call her partner in Denver by his first name. But Brian White had seen her possessed. Her partner hadn’t.

“What are we doing here?”

Paige opened the door, shoving the keys in her pocket. “My scry globe showed a group of demons nearby. I want to check it out.”

He winced, narrowing his eyes at the sun high in the sky. “I’m never going to get used to that.”

“You might want to try.” Sweat trailed between her shoulder blades. She hated the heat. Dear God.

“Plan?”

“Go in. I use my super powers. We get answers.”

“Have you even slept?”

She’d tried.

“What questions are we asking?”

“Where’s Sven.”

“Where’s who?”

“Sven.” She unclipped her gun, not that it’d be useful, but she always felt better with it in her hand. “He’s the third person, the master-mind. A demon of epic proportions.”

“Is it possible he turned Mike?”

“They’re not vampires, Chief.”

He flicked his gaze at her, his lips quirked.

A gravel pathway overridden with weeds and grass led them into the heart of the forest.

They reached the outskirts of an old cemetery. A tall, full tree with hanging Spanish moss presided over the scene, giving it an austere feel.

“I don’t get it. St. Mary Episcopal Church should be sacred ground.”

“Is that where we are?” She’d seen where the demons were located. She hadn’t been able to tell the exact location. “Demons can go anywhere.”

“But a church?”

“You’re going to have to get over these misconceptions you have about church and demons.”

“Fine.”

They walked past a cracked tomb, the door barely ajar.

A bad feeling crept into her chest. “Is this an active church?”

“No. When they put in the highway, it left St. Mary’s inaccessible. No one could get here, and no one built new roads.”

“So, it’s abandoned.”

“Yes.” He jerked his gun to the side.

Paige went still beside him, her ears peeled. She caught his gaze and shook her head once.

He tipped his head, concentrating, then relaxed. “Must have been an animal.”

She didn’t miss the fact he whispered. “Did you want to stay in the car?”

“Nope. What good do you think I’m going to be in a demon fight?”

“I doubt there will be one.” She stepped around a headstone she hadn’t seen until she was right on top of it. 1898—1898. A child.

“Do you think they’re in the church?”

Her skin buzzed as if she’d stepped through an electro-static curtain. They were either close, or something strange was taking place there.

“So they’re just going to talk?”

The thick air shifted and an acidic smell teased her nose. “Yeah. Probably.” She tried to decipher what the smell was, but came up blank. She’d never really been good with scents. Dexx, on the other hand, had a super-sleuth nose. “Demons like to gloat.”

“And you think they have reason to gloat.”

“Yeah. All we have to do is find the key. It could be hiding anywhere.”

“In the open?”

“Depends on how sneaky they’re trying to be. It’s harder to see something right in front of your face.”

He peered inside another tomb. “So a key.”

“It’s a copper Celtic knot.”

Brian stopped, his expression droll. “That’s not a key.”

“Which is why hiding it in the open would be ideal. No one would see it even if they were looking right at it.”

“Jesus.”

She reached out with her gift, trying to feel anyone or anything in the area. All was quiet.

Too quiet.

She stopped and shook her head. Calling the elements to her, she focused the power into her cupped hands.

The sphere appeared with a slight pop.

Brian glanced over at her, turned away, and then did a double-take. “What is that?”

“My scry globe.” She found herself. Easy enough. She was the only purple dot, but where were all the red dots that had been there minutes before?

He came up to her and leaned in to see better. “I take it something’s wrong.”

She widened the search area, trying to figure out where the demons had disappeared to.

The globe from St. Francisville to New Roads was demon free. No magickal people of any kind.

What the hell?

She banished the globe and scanned the old cemetery. “They’re gone, but not just out of here. They’re nowhere.”

“That’s good.” Brian straightened. “Right? It could be over.”

“Without them taking Lucius? Without them powering the key and opening the gate? I doubt it. No. It means they’re hiding.” How could they hide from her? “Are there any other structures? You said something about a church. Where’s it located?”

“Honestly? I don’t know.” Brian spun in a slow circle then shrugged.

“I want to find it. If they were here, so many of them, they were probably in a building. If not, I need to see where. Search for trampled grass, broken saplings. Whatever. I need to know if they left a clue.”

Brian nodded and took off in one direction.

She couldn’t say which direction he went. She had no mountains to tell her which way was west, and she wasn’t on streets she knew like the back of her hand. She was lost. Great.

After searching for the better part of a half hour, her phone buzzed. Taking it out of her back pocket, she checked it. Dexx. He texted her, Where are you?

With a grimace, she Swyped back, Looking for demons. She didn’t bother stashing it back in her pocket. She paused in her meanderings as her phone vibrated again, then again, and again in quick succession.

Are you ducking kidding me?

Give me your location.

I’m going to ducking kill you. You hear me?

She grimaced and texted back, I’m fine. They’re gone.

His reply was almost immediate as if he’d sent it before she’d responded. Call me.

So she could get an ass-chewing for doing her job? Not likely. No.

Her phone vibrated again. Brian. Found nothing. You?

She scanned the area one last time. No.

Bring it in, he responded.

Sure. If she knew where she was.

She’d made it out of the small cemetery and into the surrounding woods. Nature amazed her. When humans deserted a place, the trees and grass and other things reclaimed it. No muss. No fuss. Just took it back.

She retraced her steps, the sun starting the darkening decent. She should have brought her flashlight, but hadn’t realized they’d be there this long. If she got truly lost, she’d use the flashlight app on her phone.

Dexx’s text message vibrated in her hand. She ignored it, looking for landmarks to guide her back.

That’s when she saw it.

A broken branch and what could have been a game trail leading off to the side. She hadn’t seen this coming from the other direction. Her eyes on the swivel, she took the path, following the broken branches and the flattened vegetation.

The trail spilled out into what had to have been the front lawn, and rising out of the forest stood a good-sized stone church.

Her phone buzzed again. She hit the call button, Brian’s name, and put the phone to her ear.

“Where are you?”

“Really couldn’t say for sure, but I found the church.”

“Is anyone there?”

It didn’t look like it. She heard nothing but birds squawking all around her. She saw no movement through the large busted windows. “No. I think it’s empty.”

“Is your GPS on”

“Yes.”

“Fine. Give me a minute. I’m coming to you.” The call went silent.

She ignored Dexx’s text message and scanned the area in the dimming light. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary for a large, abandoned building. Not all empty buildings were haunted. She knew that. However, her experience with the girl ghost, Jessica, was still fresh in her mind. She waited for Brian to show.

Which he did surprisingly fast. “Dexx is pissed,” he said as he broke through the tree line. “He told us to wait for him.”

She shook her head and took a step toward the church.

Brian stopped her with a hand on her arm. “And since I don’t know how to expel a demon, after what I’ve seen these guys lay out for you? I’m in agreement. We wait.”

I
T TOOK DEXX
a lot longer than Paige wanted to wait, though she couldn’t disagree with them. She’d been to one crime scene and one unattached investigation. She’d been hit with a trap spell both times. Then, if that wasn’t bad enough, she’d been abducted from her own room, tormented, and had a demon forced into her.