Steal the Day (5 page)

“What?” I asked, trying to keep a professional demeanor. What I was really wondering was “when do we start running?” A thousand things ran through my head. When you live the kind of life I do, you can call up some real nightmares when you try hard enough.

“Nothing.” Daniel crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m getting absolutely nothing.”

“Not nothing, exactly,” Neil qualified. “More like an absence of something.”

“And the definition of nothing is?” Daniel replied with a sarcastic zing.

“We really must go.” The priest’s hands fluttered restlessly, gesturing down the hall and then clutching at one another. “They will grow angry.”

“You’re afraid of nothing?” I ignored the priest. Danny and Neil were still trying to figure out what was at the end of that hallway.

“I know something’s there, but it’s like there’s a hole in the church.” Neil pointed down the hallway. “About a hundred yards that way, my senses stop and pick up again a few feet later.”

“It’s weird. I think we should go, Z,” Daniel said. “Let’s take you home and Neil and I will come back and figure out what we’re getting ourselves into.”

I just stared because that was the stupidest thing I’d ever heard.

Daniel sighed because he knew when I looked at him like that, I wasn’t going anywhere. “Just stay close to me.”

“If you will please come this way.” The father walked, taking short, jittery steps. I felt kind of bad for the little guy. Even over the phone he’d seemed uncomfortable. I wondered what these people had on him to force him to act as a go-between when he so obviously didn’t want to. He didn’t seem like the type to be involved in anything unsavory, and I didn’t say that because he was a priest. I’ve met some badass priests who could chop the head off a demon without dropping their rosaries. And then there were those nuns…

The father stopped in the middle of the vestibule, right beside the holy water. He absently took some and made the sign of the cross. “You wouldn’t be armed, would you? This is a house of the Lord. There are no weapons allowed in the church. I must insist on it.” He looked nervously at the three of us as though he expected a fight.

Why fight when a lie will work?

“Nope.” I was comfortable that my Ruger was hidden under Neil’s blazer. I had two extra clips in the pockets, but I doubted the padre was going to pat me down.

“I’m a pacifist,” Daniel replied with a predatory smile. He was carrying at least two guns and probably a few knives, but he didn’t really need them. Daniel was a weapon.

Neil, the only one of us who never carried a weapon, simply smiled.

Father Francis nodded as though he didn’t really believe us, but he wasn’t going to press further. He held his small hand out, gesturing toward the sanctuary. It was a typical Catholic church. The sanctuary was dominated by a statue of Christ on his cross looking down on worshippers. Down the long row of pews, standing in the middle of the aisle in front of the altar, was a couple. From a distance, they looked nice enough. It was a man and a woman, both in their early twenties. They were both blond and had bland good looks. She was in a slim skirt and pink sweater while he wore slacks and a button down. They could have been parishioners checking out the church.

I glanced back at the father, who was sweating though the church was cool. His hands shook as he pointed to the couple. “There they are. Please do whatever they say. Please.”

And then the father ran.

Chapter Four

Neil and I watched the priest run down the hall, but Daniel never took his eyes off the figures in the sanctuary.

“Where is he going?” Neil asked.

“I think he’s going anywhere they’re not.” I turned and looked into the sanctuary, wondering what the hell had the little priest so spooked.

Daniel sighed, seemingly resigned to whatever was going to happen. “Are you sure you want to do this? You’re sure she’s worth it? Sarah did shoot you.”

I remembered. It hurt like hell, but nothing hurt more than the look on her face as the demon sank his claws into her body and pulled her to Hell. It might have been different if I thought she was comfortably dead, but that’s not the way demon contracts work. There’s no parole and no end to time served. Death would have been acceptable, but what Sarah had to endure, I couldn’t live with.

“I’m sure.” I didn’t see or sense whatever had the boys in a tizzy, and I decided to let ignorance be bliss. Or rather bravado. With my trusty handgun snug against my body, I strode down the aisle toward the nice suburban couple who scared the shit out of my badass boys.

Daniel cursed behind me, but he and Neil caught up easily. Daniel would prefer I follow behind him, but I just wasn’t that girl.

“Hello,” I said as the female made a move to meet me.

She stepped into a shaft of light, and I had to stop. Had I thought she seemed bland from a distance? She was lovely. Blonde, with alabaster skin that practically glowed, she was delicate and fragile and everything feminine. She smiled gently, and I had a sudden urge to please her, to do whatever she requested so I could keep that smile on her face.

“What the hell are you?” My question came out harsher than I’d intended. I didn’t like the way she made me feel. If I hadn’t had so much experience with magic, I probably would have wondered if I was maybe more bi-curious than I imagined, but I knew what this was. This was a very strong, well-placed glamour. It wasn’t crazy and out of control like Dev could get, so I didn’t beg for her love or anything, but it was there. She obviously wanted me able to think, but she definitely wanted me willing.

A glorious smile crossed her face, lighting up the room. “I’m so pleased to meet you. I am Felicity Day, and this is my brother, Oliver.”

I forced my eyes away from the shining beauty and glanced at Oliver Day. He obviously didn’t give a shit whether I was willing or not. He scowled as though he disapproved of the entire meeting. I had zero desire to please him, so I knew he wasn’t working any mojo on me.

“If you don’t turn down the glamour, I’m going to pick up my wife and leave here, and there won’t be anything you can do about it.” Daniel put a hand on my shoulder as though he would pull me away at any moment.

Oliver snorted behind his sister and looked at Daniel with arrogant disdain. He seemed to want to dispute Daniel’s assertion. His sister turned in a flash. For a moment, it seemed like they were having an argument the rest of us couldn’t hear. Oliver finally nodded shortly, his face a grumpy mask. Felicity turned back to us with an apologetic smile.

“Please forgive my brother.” Her voice was light, almost musical. “He will be more amenable from this point on or he can keep silent. It’s his choice. Now, Mr. Donovan, you’re angry about a glamour? I don’t understand.”

“He’s talking about the magic you’re working,” I explained. Her face was so open, I found myself believing her. “I don’t know what plane you’re from, so you might not understand the terminology, but here we call it a glamour. It makes you more beautiful, more attractive on every level. It doesn’t work on Daniel. I’m not sure about Neil, but it’s definitely having an effect on me. I would appreciate it if you would turn it off. I can’t take a job if my head isn’t clear. And it makes my husband nervous.”

I looked over at Neil, who was watching Felicity like an eager-to-please puppy. Yep, the glamour had to go.

She laughed, an enchanting sound. “I apologize. I didn’t realize I was doing it. I’ll try to tone this down.”

The need to please dimmed, and she was merely beautiful. Daniel relaxed slightly behind me.

“Thank you,” I said, enjoying the return of my complete free will. “I would appreciate it if you don’t use any more magic.”

“What’s she’s saying is if we get another whiff of witchcraft, we walk,” Daniel said irritably.

Oliver took a step forward, but Felicity merely nodded, stepping in front of her brother.

“No witchcraft, got it. Is he always so testy?” she asked me with a conspiratorial grin. It was the kind of thing one girlfriend said to another, and I was suddenly aware of how much I missed Sarah. There was so much I hadn’t told anyone because she was gone.

“He’s a nightcrawler, sister,” Oliver stated flatly. “What did you expect, manners?”

“The correct term is vampire, Oliver.” Felicity didn’t bother to look at her brother. “He is also a king, a very rare creature, so some amount of respect is due.”

“No, I’m not,” Daniel replied quickly.

He didn’t like to be called by that particular name. Like many parts of Daniel’s vampiric status, I’d had to learn this tidbit from other sources. Apparently, once every couple of thousand years, a superstrong, über-vamp rises, and some sort of hell breaks loose. Daniel had been holding that lucky ticket when he punched out. Honestly, I didn’t think it could possibly be that great a thing since the last king was no longer in the building and hadn’t been for a long while. I’d promised myself that the next time Marcus Vorenus was in town, I was going to ask him what happened to the last vampire king. I was betting it didn’t end with “and they all lived happily ever after.”

Felicity considered Danny with soft, almost sympathetic eyes. “Whether you choose to wear the crown or not, it changes not one whit of your nature. You are what you are, and your destiny will play itself out.”

Oliver scoffed. “The king of a dung heap is still full of shit.”

And Daniel being Daniel actually laughed at that. I did not.

“And he is possibly the only one who can get into where we need him to go,” Felicity said, finally showing some temper. Even with her brows slightly furrowed, she was stunning. “If you cannot keep the contempt from your voice, please be gone. I will take care of matters on this plane. I’m sure you can find something to contemplate at home.”

Oliver scowled but held his tongue.

I’d had enough of the introductory chatter. I was anxious to get to the meat of the matter. “The priest said you could handle my little problem. My question is how do you even know about my little problem?”

I’d been extraordinarily careful in my investigations. I put everything in hypotheticals, and even then they weren’t hypotheticals that anyone could trace back to the reality of the situation. I hadn’t walked around asking for a guide to Hell. The last thing I needed was someone talking about the crazy chick who was planning a heist on the Hell plane. I wasn’t interested in warning Halfer of my half-baked plans. As it was, my plan was probably doomed to fail spectacularly even without the mark finding out I was coming.

“I’m very well informed,” she stated simply.

“I doubt that.”

She chuckled a little. “Correct me if I am wrong. You lost a very close friend to a demon contract a little over seven months ago. A witch named Sarah Tucker. Her contract was written as a legacy. She was the daughter of a witch who was heavily into dark magic. To strengthen their coven, Sarah and her sister, Lily, were given as offerings to the Hell Lord Brixalnax. The Tucker sisters were conceived with the help of demon kind, making them extremely strong in certain forms of magic. The contract was due to be active on the girls’ twenty-fifth birthdays, but Sarah made a contract of her own to try to save her sister. She was contracted by Brixalnax to ensure you failed in completing your own contract. But the demon wasn’t really interested in you. He needed you to get around the Vampire Council and force the king to be his willing assassin. When you very cleverly managed to find a way to fulfill your obligation, the demon took your friend. Now you wish to get her back. Please feel free to fill in any details I might have missed.”

Fine. She knew a little bit. Maybe she knew way more about certain parts of the episode than I did since the information about Sarah being part demon was news to me. It didn’t put me at ease. It just made me wonder. How did Felicity know everything? And why the hell did she need me? “You have your facts correct. Sarah Tucker is my friend. She was a member of my crew and that makes me responsible for her. I want to break into Hell and bust Sarah out.”

“By the way, we were very pleased you didn’t end up on Halfer’s leash, Mr. Donovan,” the blonde said. “It would have gone poorly for all of us. He had certain plans for you that would have been counterproductive. It was good that your companion was so quick-witted. It is this cleverness that I wish to use. I think you’ll find that my brother and I are also facing a dilemma. But if we put our particular talents together, I believe you’ll discover we can all get what we want.”

“And what is your particular dilemma?” This had to be interesting.

Even Oliver managed to look a little sad as Felicity began her tale. “Our brother, my twin, Felix, was also taken by Halfer. He went missing over six months ago, and it has taken a while to discover exactly what happened. You must understand that Felix is very special.”

My eyebrows rose because “special” made me think not politically correct things.

Felicity sighed. “It’s not that. He’s a kind soul. He loves the world around him, and that is possibly his downfall.”

“Was it a contract?” Daniel asked.