The Devil You Know (15 page)

“Yes, but I don’t need it.” Cassie smirked, put the borrowed phone on the rooftop next to the stranger’s keys, and a ball of green magic appeared in her now free hand. Gem nodded and placed the gun beside her keys.

“I’ll do my best to protect you and your children, but if I fall, get into your circle and stay there.”

Cassie nodded. She couldn’t afford to risk her life for a stranger. If the woman fell, Cassie would have no choice but to leave her where she lay.

Gem stepped further away, becoming harder to see, but her accented voice flowed out of the shadows. “Call Cate. Tell her Gemini said it’s time to earn her money.” Then all went silent. The strange woman disappeared into the darkness. A dim blur of pink magic showed her location before that too was gone.

Chapter Nine

“Need a ride? Then come on down to Super Bob’s Used Carpet Emporium. We’ve got a fresh stock of previously owned magic carpets and monster deals so good they’re literally flying off the lot. You won’t find any threadbare aerodynamics here, folks. We’re family owned and operated, open late for all you night crawlers, and guarantee the absolute best bang for your buck.”

Finally, the time had come to talk of different things…like demons and their annoyingly persistent queens. Dinner was blessedly over. While I looked on with envy, Fera made a quick exit, excusing herself to walk around the back garden. The rest of us, minus the vampires, retired to the den.

Jacq placed her bright silver sound wards along the walls and ceiling. The vampires agreed to stay outside the room after being advised the wards only worked one way, we would still hear them if they called out, and the door would stay unlocked. Not that a lock would have been a deterrent. So, happily, I’d closed the magic-covered door none too gently in their faces. Now we were all alone and getting cozy over coffee.

It was the perfect moment to finally find out what the demons could possibly want with little ol’ me. To that end, I gave Van several unsubtle glances. I didn’t bother with Kathryn. She stood pensively staring into the unlit fireplace, her congenial dinnertime mood gone.

Finally, Van took a long sip of his coffee, looked at me, and said, “I’m sure you wonder why, Cate. Why we are on this side of the gates. Why we pursued a witch across two states.” Ever the charmer, he flashed my Nana and aunt a smile toothpaste companies would have sold their souls for. “Though I must admit, Mistresses Delacy, dinner alone was worth the travel. And when one considers the beauty of the company, it is small wonder you don’t have more demons scaling your walls.”

I almost laughed at the ludicrous mix of understatements, overstatements, and blatant flirting but bit it back and simply nodded, having noticed Aunt Helena was again within kicking range. Everyone else smiled politely, though I was sure the Delacy matriarchs were secretly gritting their teeth. Or at least Nana was. Oddly enough, Aunt Helena was blushing under Van’s intense gaze. My aunt never blushed, and she was much too young for hot flashes. Maybe Van had other things on his mind besides this conversation and my empathic aunt was getting a sneak peek.

I shuddered, deciding I really did
not
want to know. As far as I was concerned, my aunt and grandmother were as good as nuns and my aunt’s crimson cheeks were from the Were phers hanging thick in the air.

Kathryn gave her nephew a beady stare and growled, “Van, get on with it.”

Unfazed, he leaned back in his chair, crossed an ankle over his knee, and looked at me. “Simply put, Cate, we
need
you. We need you to return with us and take your rightful place as the next Demon Queen.”

I just stared. After Monday night’s revelation, I’d thought they couldn’t surprise me more.

Jacq tensed like a snake waiting to strike, while her arm trembled against my back. She quickly muted our mental connection. But even without the bond, I
knew
. Wary and scared, my detective still didn’t understand the claim she had on my heart. I would have to rectify that soon.

My reaction was not quite so simple. The expected revulsion and outrage was missing. Instead, I was curious and amused, especially as Van continued.

“And of course, there will be a wedding to some demon Lord or other.” At Van’s words, Kathryn’s back stiffened almost imperceptibly. “A demon,” Van winked at me, “who is sadly of no relation to yourself.” He slyly cut his eyes to Jacq. “Once word spreads that my aunt has an heir, prospective suitors will swarm the capitol. Naturally, you’ll want to begin producing heirs as quickly as possible. Those are very helpful in assuring one’s reign.”

Beside me, Jacq’s body grew hot. Something on my armchair snapped, breaking under her ferocious grip. Not a single expression in the room changed. I bit my lip, suppressing a laugh at everyone’s sudden deafness. The effect Van’s words had on me was likely opposite of his intention. The more upset Jacq became, the calmer I felt.

I forced open the connection between our minds, sharing my calm certainty with Jacq, wincing slightly as my cracked head protested. If Vanguard thought I would be a willing bride to some politically-minded hell-spawn he was mistaken. I knew that better now than I had ever known it before.

I was already taken.

I would have thought Van merely presumptuous…had I not seen him glance at Jacq. He wanted to provoke a reaction. But why? Maybe a turnabout was in order.

“Marriage to a demon lord?” I laughed. “Oh my, I see now why your aunt calls you her jester, Van. You can pull a leg better than a pit bull.” Frowning, he opened his mouth to interrupt, but I didn’t give him a chance. Crossing my legs, I smoothed the dress across my lap and looked at Kathryn, who still stared into the fireplace. I said almost indifferently, “But if it’s true and you want me to return with you, then you have a strange way of asking.”

Kathryn turned, piercing me with her light blue eyes. “There is no if. Van speaks the truth. You
must
come with us. More than you realize depends upon it.”

Her crisp order splintered my icy calm. My hackles rose, but I forced them down, along with my demon-half, which seemed eager enough to visit a warmer climate but not by force. Apparently, both my halves had that in common. Neither took orders well.

“
Must?
” My eyebrows lifted. “So this is a demand, not a request. After Monday night, it’s quite clear you don’t value my life or safety. Some blood connection to a man I’ve never met doesn’t give you the right to make demands of me, especially dangerous ones.” I kept my voice low and even, clenching my hands tightly in my lap.

Magic fairly crackled in the air, but with my injuries it was hard to identify the source. Beside me, Jacq’s brow swelled with sweat, her body growing hotter still, her skin softly sheening silver. I leaned into her side, feeling her tingling heat flow into me. With my touch, Jacq relaxed. Even so, if this conversation didn’t end soon someone in the room would erupt. And for a change, it wouldn’t be me.

Nana watched Van with a frown etching her forehead as he made goo-goo eyes at my blushing aunt. The frown deepened when Nana looked to me. “Cate, let Kathryn explain.”

I gave her an incredulous look. Wasn’t that what I was doing? I hadn’t put my hands over my ears and started humming “Yankee Doodle”, so obviously I was listening, if not happily so.

The two older women looked at each other. Calmer now, Kathryn said to Nana, “Mistress Delacy, Gwendolyn, if I may?” At Nana’s nod, Kathryn continued, “Cate’s correct in many things. I cannot say it will not be dangerous, but I can testify that her safety—” She looked at me. “Your safety will be our utmost concern. And the protection of Denoir’s Queen and her guard are nothing to scoff at. As to the other, it sounds as if we refuse you a choice because for us there is none. Not for our home. Not for our people.”

This struck me as remarkably similar to the mysterious statement Aunt Helena had used about the past and present when asked about binding my powers as a child—a discussion she had stepped around by turning the talk back to me and Jacq. This morning’s anger found new footing, and that sensation, like warm wings unfurling, rubbing against the sides of my soul, returned. My demon-half liked the anger. She—we—could work with anger. Or rather, we could…if I would let that half out, which I wouldn’t. My head and body still hurt. I wasn’t in the mood for more tonight.

Unclenching my jaw, I stared at my namesake. “There’s always a choice. Why not let your son or Van rule? They’re certainly more qualified than I.”

Kathryn began to pace, graceful in her low heels. “My son, your father, and the other princes do lead. They lead the armies and, to some degree, police the gates and protect the people. But a Queen’s responsibilities are more than political.” She stopped and turned blue eyes on me. “We are the givers of life for our land. Without us, the fire is lost. And without that, eventually everything else will go until only the darkness remains. There
must
be a Queen.”

I shivered. Though vague, her ominous words reminded me of a dark, tragic image that lurked somewhere in the back of my memory, just out of reach.

Van nodded, and the Queen and her guard shared an unreadable look. Van’s humor faded away. He turned to me, saying in the most serious tone I’d yet to hear from him, “So you see, Cate, there is no choice. Or rather, there is one, but it is not one we believe you will like.”

“Let me be the judge of that,” I said, watching as Kathryn again stiffened before giving her nephew, who looked at her with questioning eyes, a slight nod.

“Very well,” Van said, “if you won’t come, then we’ll have to ask you for something else…something you might deem more precious than your life or your freedom. Something few would willingly forfeit.” Both demons wore stony masks of resolution. They would not leave without what they came for.

Dread clutched at my heart. The foreboding cold returned to my stomach. I dug my fingers into Jacq’s thigh. She gave no indication of moving, but I had the feeling what Van was about to say would be the straw that snapped her control. Nana, Aunt Helena, and I shared a glance. The room’s magic spiked.

A frighteningly serious Van said, “We would ask you for—”

The den door burst open. Marco rushed in. “Your Majesty, we’re under attack!”

The wards began to screech a warning heard throughout the house. Everyone jumped up and rushed after the retreating Marco, even Nana, who bustled faster than I thought her old body could. Everyone except me. Stunned into momentary immobility, I was left to wonder what the demons could ask for that was more precious than my freedom.

They were right. I didn’t like the answer that came to mind.

I pondered Van’s ambiguously ominous, interrupted statement for only a second before running after the others. I was right on Jacq and Van’s tail, both having slowed to keep me in their sights, and had just skidded past the kitchen when Brittan, holding the portable phone, popped her head out, yelling, “Cate, someone named Cassie needs Helena!”

I stopped, sandals sliding on the hardwood, and turned, my white dress whipping about my legs. “Can it wait?” The vampires, my grandmothers, and Aunt Helena had already disappeared out the front door. Jacq and Van looked impatient to be after them. I understood the feeling. There was no telling how much trouble those three women would get into if left alone for long.

Brit shook her blond head furiously. “I don’t think so. She says someone named Gem is in
—
”
Trouble.
Brit’s lips formed the word
,
but the sound was drowned out by a roaring boom.

The wards shuddered violently, screaming in protest as a massive force pushed against them. The house shook. Lights flickered. China in the cupboards rattled. The phone crackled as Cassie shouted about a distant explosion and children cried.

The kitchen door banged open as Fera rushed in. “What the hell is going on?”

Without hesitation, I kicked off my shoes and turned, again running after Jacq and Van, calling to Brit over my shoulder, “Tell Cassie we’re coming. Check on Rom for me and by all that’s holy stay in the house!”

Brit shouted something, but I didn’t stick around to listen. It didn’t take much effort to figure out the Wellsy children and their guardian were in the middle of the same trouble currently attacking my home and our vampire guests.

We were nearly to the wards when I saw Kathryn, Nana, and Aunt Helena. The moon was hidden by thick clouds, but the women were easy to see thanks to the light provided by a large orange ball of fiery twisted metal that had not long ago been Seth’s prized limo. It burned uncomfortably close to the house’s blue and green shield. Its bright, flickering glow made everyone and everything, even the lawn’s individual blades of grass, stand out in sharp relief.

The three women were at an open ward door. The two vampires who had entered with Marco were already flitting away. The few he’d left behind to guard the limo were nowhere in sight. Assumedly they were either crisping within the limo or tracking down whoever had torched their boss’s car.

All three women had magical orbs of varying colors in their hands, and Nana carried a sword I knew was no practice blade. I started to commandeer the weapon but thought better of it. I’d need my hands free for what I had planned. Unfortunately, my thinking ended there.

“Oh, hell no.” I pointed at the three. “You stay inside the barrier and protect Brit and Rom.” Surprisingly enough, my family didn’t give me any guff. Aunt Helena arched a brow but simply chuckled. Her strange good humor aside, I knew I’d still get a lecture later about foul language and bad manners.

Nana frowned. “Very well, but stay out of the fight.” She touched my bruised cheek gently, and a
zing
of cool healing magic lessened the headache that had begun with my sprint from the house, pounding in sync with my heartbeat. “You’re still injured.”

I nodded. Both women released the magic they held in their hands without another word. I turned to Kathryn. Blue eyes flashed red with hellfire, boring into me.