A Demon Does It Better (12 page)

“What is this?” Lili asked, giving an experimental sniff of her drink, identifying strong alcohol—even if she wasn’t sure which one—and a scent that had her thinking of liquid happiness.

“Something that makes us blissful.” Deisphe nudged the glass upward. “Nothing harmful, and even better, it doesn’t give you a headache in the morning.”

“Deisphe said you’re from Chicago and that you’d worked at Crying Souls years ago,” commented Fiona, a nurse who worked in one of the main healing rooms.

“That’s right.” Lili nodded, sipping her drink and finding it everything Deisphe said it was.

“Didn’t Sera come from Chicago?” Fiona turned to the others.

Lili snapped to attention. “Sera Rainier?”

The nurse blinked at her sharp tone. “Yes. I worked with her in the ER before she moved upstairs to one of the critical care wards.”

“I’ve tried to get hold of Sera since I got here,” the witch explained, keeping her tone as casual as she could. “She worked at the same hospital I did. She has wonderful healing skills.” She refused to think of her friend in the past tense.

Deisphe shrugged. “We worked different shifts, so I didn’t know Sera as well as Fiona did. Strange thing, though. She just up and quit. Dragon Lady was really pissed about it, since we were shorthanded at the time, and we were seeing a lot of cases of that Mage Flu that was going around.”

“It didn’t make sense, since Sera was never late for a shift and always did more than her share of the work,” Fiona brought up. “You could always count on her.” She shook her head, refusing to believe what many would judge as careless and unprofessional behavior.

“And especially when the Mage Flu was so prevalent at the time,” Deisphe said. “We were all working double shifts then.”

“I don’t know why they call it Mage Flu when it doesn’t affect the mages.” Fiona accepted another deep aqua drink with ingredients that shimmered temptingly.

“Perhaps because a mage’s arrogance is enough to make us all sick,” Heron joked. “It was a shame that Sera left, though. She was an excellent nurse, and so sweet too. Does anyone know where she went?”

The others shook their heads. Lili was tempted to ask what they might know about her friend, but she didn’t think this was the time. After all, she didn’t know who she could trust.

She sipped her drink and found the taste as sparkly as it looked. She vowed that tonight was a time for relaxation and laughter, which she hadn’t indulged in for some time, feeling that work was always more important.

If
you
wish
to
be
a
true
healer,
you
cannot
think
just
of
yourself. You cannot say “I’m tired, therefore, I will see to the ill on the ’morrow.” To keep your gift, you must honor it.

“Perhaps I’ve taken my mother’s words too much to heart,” she murmured to herself, accepting a third drink.

“I’m glad you came,” the Were said with warmth and sincerity.

“I am too.” Lili tapped her glass against Deisphe’s. Her gaze happened to lift, and she looked beyond her companions to a tall dark-haired man standing at the bar. He stood sideways so that he was facing her, one elbow braced on the surface while a small glass filled with a black opalescent liquid sat by his arm. His gaze wandered over her face then downward until he reached her feet encased in a pair of pink leather heels. She could feel the warmth of the gold of her ankle bracelet. It had a broomstick charm, dotted with a sapphire. Her moonstone pendant gave off a soft glow and warmed her skin as if lighting up a welcome sign.

“Ooh, look at the lovely eye candy,” Deisphe whispered in Lili’s ear as she realized what had distracted her new friend. “Think he’ll come over and join us?”

“Let’s find out.” Lili downed her drink in one swallow and stood up. Her world tilted for a second before it righted herself.

He still stood there when she reached the bar.

“I was right. It was you I saw outside, when you should be
somewhere
else
.” She didn’t care if her words sounded like an accusation. Even if she had to admit she didn’t want anyone to be incarcerated in such a place.

Jared lifted his glass and raised it in a toast. “Hello, Dr. Carter, good to see you.” His cobalt eyes blazed a trail over the expanse of bare skin, lingering on her legs. “Nice outfit, by the way. I like it much better than those scrubs and lab coat you wear at the hospital. They cover up too much.”

“How do you speak inside my mind?” she demanded, feeling the tingle of angry magick coat her fingertips. She might be a healer, but she could also lay someone flat with her power if she so wanted it. And right now, she wanted it a great deal.

He leaned over, his breath tickling her ear. “You, of all people, should know. It’s magick, Doc.”

Lili felt another kind of heat swarm over her body as the warmth of his body wrapped around her, and his deep blue eyes bored through her as if he could see the color of her underwear. She wasn’t looking at the unkempt patient she talked to at the hospital. She was looking at a male demon who called to her in an elemental way. Very dangerous to her senses.

She still couldn’t understand how Jared spoke to her when she always kept her internal wards running strong.

Just as it was every time she’d seen him outside of the asylum, Jared’s shaggy dark hair was clean and brushed against his ears, rather than the filthy strands that touched his shoulders when he was in his cell. His dark gray shirt, open at his throat, was tucked into lightweight charcoal wool trousers. There wasn’t even any sign of the sarcastic anger she saw back at the hospital. It was as if he was a totally different person. But then he was, wasn’t he?

He
smells
so
good.

Even with the varied perfumes and men’s cologne in the immediate area that teased her nostrils, it was Jared she could still detect most distinctly. She sensed a hint of leather and woods, something clean and fresh. There was nothing there to indicate he was a demon, much less what kind he was.
How did he do that?

She wasn’t good at reading auras. Not that it mattered, since she couldn’t even see anything resembling one around him. All she saw were hints of darkness.

“No wonder you can leave there so easily, since you manipulate the shadows to escape,” she blurted out. She made it sound like a curse. In a way it was, since shadow demons could also be imprisoned by the same shadowy tendrils that helped them.

His head snapped around as he turned back to her, circling her wrist with his fingers. “Would you mind keeping it down? It’s not something I tend to advertise.”

“No wonder. They’re extremely rare and not popular with anyone, not even their own kind,” she whispered fiercely, although she doubted anyone could hear them. She was positive the live band could easily be heard in Japan—another reason why she didn’t go clubbing all that often. “What in Hades is going on?” She tried to tug her wrist free from his firm grip, but he merely gently tightened his hold. She felt the scorching touch of his skin against hers.

He dipped his head to murmur in her ear. Anyone looking at them would have thought they were lovers desiring a private conversation. “That’s what I’m hoping you can tell me. But not here.” He released her wrist. He looked over her head. “Your friends look a little too interested. I’m sure we’ll run into each other again, Doc.” His smile appeared more of a threat than a promise, but it didn’t frighten her.

Lili resisted the urge to look over her shoulder. “Yes, I’m sure we will.” She spun on her heels and walked away, refusing to look back to see if he was still there. It didn’t matter. She could feel the molten touch of his gaze with every step she took.

“Who was that?” Deisphe pounced before she barely reclaimed her chair.

“Someone I saw in Inderman a few days ago,” Lili said, taking a quick look this time and seeing the spot at the bar was now vacant. She felt a tug of emptiness in her stomach.

What
did
you
think
he’d do? Come over here? Ask you to dance? Suggest we meet for dinner some evening? Introduce himself to the others as a maniacal escapee from the hospital?

“Why can’t I meet hot guys like that?” Deisphe moaned, signaling to the waitress for another round of drinks. “There are way too many macho cubs out there who don’t understand a female’s needs one bit. The last one I dated thought females were good for nothing more than spitting out litters. Good thing my Alpha doesn’t agree with that mind-set.”

“You know, we haven’t met a decent guy here in the past six months,” Fiona pointed out, picking up her glass now filled with a liquid the color of butterscotch. “We might have to look for a new club.”

Deisphe laughed. “Or lower our standards.”

“The last thing I need in my life is a man,” Lili stated, laughing as her new friends did their best to argue she was very wrong, even if the women admitted they hadn’t gone out on a decent date in months.

For the balance of the evening, Lili smiled and knew she said the right things, since no one looked at her strangely. She even accepted a few dance invitations, including one from a vampire who showed too much interest in her neck. A tiny snap of flame that caught his attention and didn’t harm him kept his fangs where they belonged. Even then her attention still wandered around the club, looking for the face she knew she wouldn’t find.

By the time she left the club, she felt the bubbles from her drinks coursing through her veins and was more lighthearted than she’d felt in a while.

But she had also learned something new about Sera.

Fiona may have thought that the witch left willingly, but Lili refused to see it that way. No, she was positive her friend didn’t leave of her own accord. She meant to find out just what happened.

***

Burning
pain. His veins were on fire, and Jared opened his mouth to release his agony in sound, but he found his mouth covered. The bindings were so tight that dark blood dripped onto the floor. He breathed heavily through his nose, trying to rise above the throbbing.

“I am sorry it has to be done this way, but what we are doing will help.” The voice in his ear was like glass digging into open wounds. “Your pain enriches your blood, you see.”

Fuck
“we”! You’re the one doing it, and I’m just the victim.

Jared
opened
his
eyes
wide
and
glared
at
his
tormenter, who bestowed a bland smile on him as he drew his blood. A second later, he lost consciousness.

***

The soft whoosh of flame coming from her living room prodded Lili awake.

“Isn’t it a little early for company?” Cleo said unnecessarily, standing up on her pillow. She lifted her head, sniffed the air, then stretched.

“Friend or foe?” asked Lili, although she doubted just anyone could break into her cottage. Not with the wards she had in place. She pressed her hands against her aching forehead. “No headache,” she said. “No, just the head falling off,” she whispered to herself, desperate for a headache powder.

The rich scent of Chanel No. 5 floated into the room, a less-than-subtle warning of just who had invaded Lili’s private space.

“I know you’re awake, Lilianna. Come join me.” The memorable contralto voice had Lili mouthing a variety of curses in ancient Greek. “And no profanity, if you please.”

Lili stumbled out of bed and reached for her robe. She wrapped herself in the aquamarine fleece and tied it closed, even though she couldn’t detect a chill in the air. No surprise there. Her visitor wouldn’t have allowed it. She left her bedroom and headed for the living room. Candles were scattered throughout the room, lending a warm and cozy atmosphere for her uninvited visitor.

Eurydice sat in an easy chair, her tall figure elegant in a green tweed Chanel suit and her hair coiled in a neat French twist. With her pearl-and-diamond earrings and accompanying necklace, she looked more like a society matron preparing to chair one of her many Councils than a witch whose age was unknown and whose power fairly radiated around her.

Lili had long suspected that the witch headmistress had been good friends with Coco Chanel. Her wardrobe of the eternally classic styles she wore when she entered the mundane world was proof of that.

A silver teapot and elegant china teacups were arranged on the coffee table along with a silver serving tray holding a variety of tiny cakes and sandwiches and an engraved silver bowl filled with caviar and toast points.