Satan's Sword (Imp Book 2) (26 page)

“You better hope you get this thing, and that you have the good sense to turn it over to Haagenti. Maybe he’ll be so pleased with the object that he’ll take it easy on you. Otherwise you’re going to be in for a difficult couple of centuries. Either way, you’re not leaving this casino on Sunday, so you better get your affairs in order.”

There wasn’t a gate within a hundred miles of the casino, so his comment could only mean one thing. He had a button. The thought chilled me even further. Buttons were created by the elves, and sold by them at substantial cost. Haagenti wanted to ensure my return enough that he’d bought one, or possibly more, and given them to his staff. All Sobronoy had to do was grab me, activate the portable gate, and we’d probably be standing right in front of Haagenti. Damn.

“Either way, I’m trying to ensure you don’t make a terrible fashion mistake.” I pushed the blue polish into his hand. “I’m not going home accompanied by a demon wearing pink polish.”

I turned and strolled out of the spa. I was good until Sunday. Not sure what I intended to do from that point on though.

“Where is the other one?” I asked Mario.

He spoke quietly, little more than a whisper into his tiny headset.

“Dice.”

We walked over toward the dice table and I saw her right away. She was around my level, although her form was somewhat odd with too-thin, bent legs and a nose that looked more like a beak. She had a huge platter of calamari, and her vampire minder was desperately trying to keep her from placing it on the felt of the game table. Maybe she would have played better betting calamari rings. She certainly couldn’t do worse from the ever-decreasing pile of chips by her side. Demons are usually very good at gambling. We can count cards with the skill of a computer, run the odds, and, when that fails, weight the dice slightly or rig the slot machine. She must not have understood the game rules to be losing so badly. That or she was distracted by the calamari.

I strolled up beside her, took a piece of calamari and ate it, not looking directly at her. She stiffened, recognizing me, and then looked down at the fried squid. I took another piece and ate it, licking my fingers. Mario made a strangled noise, and I could feel him tense. No doubt he thought walking up to some unknown being and eating their food uninvited was picking a fight. Not with demons. Stealing food, especially in this blatant way, was a social thing. Stealing anything else would result in immediate retaliation, but not food.

“Are you enjoying your vacation?” She offered me more of the calamari. Mario’s eyes widened and he released the breath he’d been holding for far too long.

She was Labisi, I finally realized. It took me a while since Labisi didn’t normally go in female form. She was one of Amaimon’s servants. I wondered if Haagenti had borrowed her or if he’d been owed a service. He and Amaimon were in the same peer group.

“Yes.” I took another calamari ring. “Although I assume by your and Sobronoy’s presence that my vacation is coming to an end.” A nasty, bloody end, probably.

She smiled cruelly, eating a couple of the rings herself and wiping her hands on the table felt, much to the annoyance of her minder and the dealer.

“Yes, I’m here as back-up. Although given Sobronoy’s reputation, I doubt my services will be needed.”

Lovely. Labisi wasn’t as good of a retriever as Sobronoy, but she was still formidable.

“My meeting isn’t until Sunday. Hopefully I’ll get the artifact and Haagenti will be less pissed off at me when you guys reel me in.”

She shrugged. “Doesn’t matter to me. I’m enjoying myself, and I get paid whether Sobronoy brings you in or I do.”

I nodded, and stuffing another calamari ring into my mouth, walked away. Mario followed me closely, even as I left the casino and headed up to my room. I needed to think and plan before my dinner with Kelly.

The third demon was waiting for me by my door. Mario stood attentively by the elevator and watched as I approached the guy. This one I didn’t recognize.

“Let me guess. You have a witty speech about how doomed I am, and how the moment this meeting is over you’re going to snatch me and present me with a bow to Haagenti for my well-deserved punishment.”

He was amused. “No, I’m here to make you an offer.”

I looked at him with suspicion.

“The offer from Ahriman still stands,” he said. “One word and all this goes away.”

Ahriman. The breeding contract. Gregory would fucking kill me if I accepted that offer.

“Why me?” I asked him. “Wasn’t Ahriman alive during the wars? He’s ancient, powerful. What would he want with a troublesome imp?”

“He finds you interesting. You are the first thing since the war to jolt him from boredom. He thinks you will contribute to amazing offspring, that you will be an enjoyable partner.”

I stared at him in amazement. “Does he know that I take? That I devour?”

Bad things happened when demons got their personal energy too close to mine. I hoped I’d be able to breed without killing a demon, but I’d begun to wonder. If I’d really snatched part of Gregory and kept it, a powerful angel, what would I do to a demon? Even one as strong as Ahriman.

“Ahriman finds that an admirable trait in a partner.”

I stood for a moment, considering that statement.

“I’m rather occupied right now.” I repeated what I’d said to the elf’s messenger. “I will consider the offer though.”

He nodded. “He is ready to assist if you need.”

The demon turned and left as I went into my room and shut the door firmly behind me. That elf lord, and now Ahriman. Offers of protection with strings attached all around me. I wondered if Gregory would show up with a similar offer. Something inside me lurched a bit at the thought. It would never happen though. He’d probably be happy if Haagenti took me off his hands. He’d probably think I deserved the punishment. He’d probably laugh at the whole situation.

Chapter 20

I
was surprised to be meeting Kelly that night in one of the resort’s Italian restaurants.

“Really?” I asked once we’d ordered. “I thought you guys didn’t do the garlic thing.”

We’d decided on a basket of garlic bread, and angel-hair pasta with clams and some butter-white wine-garlic sauce. Poor Wyatt wouldn’t want to be within five miles of me tonight.

Kelly looked annoyed at what was clearly a stereotype. “I love garlic. No one accuses humans of being allergic to garlic if they don’t want it on their ice cream or in their milk. I don’t understand why everyone thinks that just because some of us don’t want garlicky flavored blood that we’ll run shrieking every time we’re within two feet of a plate of pasta.”

“Believe me, I totally understand,” I told her. “Humans are always throwing salt at me. Helloooo? Didn’t you just see me eat that bag of potato chips? What am I, a slug or something?”

Salt could actually be a problem, but only with the right ritual and a witch or sorcerer with a decent degree of power. Hardly anyone knew the appropriate ritual to summon one of us anymore, let alone trap us in a circle of salt. The inquisition had wiped out most everyone with those skills centuries ago. Of course, the elves could do it. I winced slightly with the memory.

Kelly nodded. “Yes, I’ve heard that salt thing with you guys, too. And how many times does someone have to throw holy water at us? Ruins my make-up and pisses me off. Doesn’t make me melt into a pile of goo.”

“Yeah, and I’ve clearly seen you guys out and about during the day,” I commented.

“Well, we
are
nocturnal,” Kelly admitted. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll burn to dust if I have to drag myself through a day shift.”

“And the religious symbol thing?” I rolled my eyes.

“Well I
was
brained in the head once with a ten pound brass crucifix.” Kelly laughed. “Thing almost killed me, so maybe there is something in that legend.”

Our waiter came by at that moment and attempted to remove my wineglass.

“Oh no you don’t.” I grabbed the stem. “I want wine.”

“Yes, I know you ordered wine. I’m taking this glass though.”

His tone was very patronizing. I really didn’t care about the man’s snobby attitude, but I did love to mess with the humans whenever I could.

“Why is this glass here if it’s not for wine? Why did you bother to put it on the table, just to take it away five minutes later? I want wine, and I want it in a wine glass.”

The waiter attempted a tug of war with me. “Yes, I’ll bring you your wine in a wine glass. This isn’t the right glass. I need to bring you the wine in the appropriate glass.”

I didn’t let go. In fact, I yanked hard, practically hauling the waiter face first onto our table.

“But this
is
a wine glass! Why do you bother putting it on the table if you don’t use it?”

“This is a red wine glass,” the waiter said, tugging firmly and ignoring the furious looks Kelly was giving him. “It’s not the correct one for the wine you’re ordering.”

We’d already had an argument about my insistence on red wine with the clam pasta. I gave in on that one. I wasn’t giving in on this.

“I don’t care. I want my wine in this fucking glass. It’s here, and I want to use it, dammit.”

Kelly reached over with a blur of speed and pinched the waiter’s arm, ruining my fun. He jumped and looked at her, paling suddenly as he realized what he’d done. I saw red spreading on his white shirt sleeve and thought how strong she must be to break his skin with just a pinch.

“There is no need to remove the glass, Jeffrey.” Her tone was friendly, but her eyes did not look friendly. Jeffrey nodded and dashed off to the kitchen. Before I could begin to complain about her interrupting what was promising to become a brawl of epic proportions, Kelly wiggled a finger. In a shot, another vampire was at our table.

“Stephen,” Kelly said in that scary, friendly voice. “Jeffrey has proven himself to be an unacceptable waiter. Please take care of the situation.”

Ah, so this was the rival Stephen. No wonder he looked so pissed. She’d caught one of his staff behaving badly and it reflected on him personally. Plus now Kelly could rub his nose in shit even more. I had a strong feeling that Jeffrey would not live to see the light of day.

“Now, where were we?” Kelly asked with an apologetic smile.

“I take it Jeffrey is a dead man?” I didn’t really care about Jeffrey’s fate, but I was very curious about how vampires ran their society.

Kelly’s eyebrows raised. “Would you have tolerated that sort of behavior?”

“Oh we behave like that all the time. Yeah, we punish, but that’s more because we enjoy punishing than because of any need to enforce rules or standards of etiquette. It’s just an excuse to have fun with someone.” Not that we normally needed an excuse.

“With vampires, rules and codes are inflexible.” She smoothed her napkin. “If you get caught, that is. If you’re stupid enough to get caught, then you deserve whatever punishment is deemed appropriate. Even death.”

“What about Old ones? I can’t see anyone telling your master that he’s going to be staked because he flipped someone the bird.”

“Of course not,” she smiled. “Old ones, especially the Born, make the rules and are free to change them at will. If you’re on the top rung of the ladder, then you get to do whatever you want.”

I got the distinct feeling that Kelly had that top rung in her sights, that in a matter of centuries she’d be knocking others off that ladder right and left on her ascent. Forget Kyle Fournier. Did their master realize what a viper he was harboring in his bosom with this girl? She’d bide her time and not hesitate to slide a sharp stake into his back when the moment arose. Born or not.

“And that Stephen? How embarrassing for him to have this happen with one of his staff,” I commented.

Kelly’s chin rose and a light sparkled deep in her eyes. “Stephen won’t be here long.”

Yeah, he’d probably be in the bottom of a ditch. I looked at Kelly again. Pride. Ah well. She had such promise, too. Sad to see talent like this go to waste.

“So, are you Born?” I asked.

I was relatively sure she wasn’t a Born. The reminder might jar her back to reality. I thought that maybe if I put a little pin hole in that rapidly inflating ego, she’d come back from the edge before it was too late. Kelly winced.

“No,” she said, her voice flat.

“Isn’t that a hindrance?”

She squirmed a bit. “There aren’t many Born. A few Made hold territories and have families.”

“Hmmm.” I chewed thoughtfully on a hunk of garlic bread. “Is that Kyle guy down in Baltimore a Born? He’s not a bad looking dude and I think he’s got some power. Maybe you can hitch your wagon to him and have him pull you up the ladder a bit.”

Kelly sat ramrod straight and shot me a furious look.

“I do not need to
hitch
myself to anyone, Born or otherwise, to advance.”

Our meal arrived then and we ate in frosty silence. I was sorry that I’d smashed our budding friendship. I liked this Kelly. Liked her enough to try to put her on the right path. I may be a cockroach. I may fuck up a lot, but I’m still almost a thousand years old. I hate to see a promising vampire bite off far more than she can chew.

Chapter 21

I
took off my clothes and surveyed myself in front of the full-length mirror. If Kelly didn’t hate me after our conversation at dinner, she’d definitely hate me after the activities I’d planned for tonight. With a pop of energy, I assumed the shape I had in mind. Instantly a tall, thin Scandinavian woman peered back at me. I’d Owned this woman a few hundred years ago. She’d been in her eighties when I Owned her, and I’d been pleased to see how much of a knockout she had been in her youth. If she’d been a human in current times, she’d have been a supermodel. Six feet tall with long legs and an elegant frame, she had naturally pale blond hair, ice blue eyes, and cheekbones sculptors dreamt about.

Assuming forms is a skill with varying degrees of talent. When we Own a being, we have access to all the information necessary to replicate their flesh and house ourselves in it. Some demons struggle to put together a convincing human form, no matter how many they Own. There are always slight errors, off parts.