Authors: Parker Blue
"Val,” Shade corrected, and didn't let go.
Josh looked confused. “What?"
"Her name is Val,” Shade insisted, looking annoyed. “She's not a thing, not some monster you call the Slayer. Her name is Val. Say it."
How sweet. It kind of gave me warm fuzzies all over.
But the others just looked stunned. I was a bit, too—I hadn't expected Josh to admit his guilt so quickly.
"But why would you take them?” Tessa asked, looking bewildered.
I made an impatient gesture. “We'll explain everything later, but right now, we need to find Andrew. He has the books now."
Josh looked even more sad. “I-I'm sorry. I couldn't stop him."
"No, but I did,” Mood said grimly.
Now that surprised me.
Josh stared at her, his mouth open. “What? How?"
"After . . . after Shade healed you last night, and I got all your memories, I tracked Andrew down. He was ranting about how the books told him he had the perfect way to kill a lot of vamps in one fell swoop. All he had to do was set the mansion on fire during the daytime and he'd roast them alive. They'd never be able to defend themselves.” She grimaced. “He wanted to wait for Thanksgiving to make his revenge even more sweet, more to be thankful for."
Fang snorted. SO YOU DID YOUR HOCUS POCUS AND MADE HIM THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS?
"You could say that.” Mood shrugged. “I had no choice. He was so crazy he wasn't worried about the war that'd provoke between us and the vamps or the danger to the rest of the neighborhood.” She looked defensive. “I was going to tell Micah everything tonight, after the party."
The knowledge that Andrew was under lock and key didn't make Shade any happier. In fact, he looked even angrier. “Do you realize what would have happened to Val if Andrew had been stupid enough to go after the vamps? She almost had to go to work for Alejandro."
"No, what?” Mood asked, looking fascinated by Shade losing his cool.
She might not know, but I had visions of being locked inside Alejandro's mansion, slaving away in a house full of undead creatures, playing Renfield to his master vampire—and roasting alive with him. No thanks.
"Never mind that,” Micah said and gestured at Shade to calm down. “Where's Andrew now? He's obviously not currently under your control."
"I fed him some sleeping pills and locked him in my basement. He's not going anywhere."
"I don't know,” Josh said. “He's stronger than you think, especially if he has those books."
"Not to mention meaner than we thought,” I said.
Micah glanced at me. “You think the SCU could help with this, discreetly? He sounds dangerous."
"Hold on. I'll call Dan.” He and Lt. Ramirez were the only ones I knew of in the SCU who wouldn't go off half-cocked.
Dan picked up on the first ring. “Sullivan here."
"Hey, Dan, it's a long story, but we've found the thief."
"Andrew, right? I've always suspected him."
"No, he didn't steal the books, but he got them later. He was planning to burn down the vamp mansion today. Kill Alejandro and all the others."
"Is he crazy? The other vamps would take revenge. There'd be all-out war."
"I know. The good news is, he's locked up in a basement right now. We need to take him into custody. Think you and Ramirez could help?"
"Hold on. I've got a call coming in. From Ramirez."
Silence. I waited anxiously while Dan talked to the lieutenant. When Dan came back on my phone he let out an expletive.
"What's wrong?"
"Andrew was spotted five minutes ago heading toward Alejandro's mansion. I can't get there in time. I'm on the other side of town."
I closed my eyes for a moment, wishing we could catch a break, even a little one. I glanced outside. It was still about an hour until sunset . . . plenty of time for Andrew to have himself some vampire barbeque. “I'm at the Demon Underground,” I told Dan. “So I have folks who can help."
"Be careful, Val."
"Thanks."
I clicked the phone shut.
Shade, still holding on to Josh, looked appalled . . . and more than a little ticked. “ Andrew's rage, combined with the books’ dark magick . . .
NOT A GOOD COMBINATION, Fang said grimly.
No kidding. Andrew by himself was bad enough, but with the addition of a powerful magickal influence . . . ? We were so screwed.
Micah took charge. “Tessa, call Ludwig and tell him to meet us there, then you stay here and watch Josh. Mood, come with me, and I'll pick up Kyle. Let's do this."
I headed for Gwen's car, then realized Shade wasn't following me.
HE TOOK OFF ALREADY, Fang said. ON A MOTORCYCLE.
That was strange. Why hadn't he just waited for me? As we sped toward the mansion, Fang said, YOU CAN'T LET SHADE GET THERE FIRST.
"Why not?"
MICAH'S WORRIED ABOUT SHADE. WHEN A SHADOW DEMON GETS ANGRY . . .
"I know, but he's been able to keep it together so far. And I'll be there to help him."
YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. I CAN SENSE SHADE FROM HERE. HE'S REALLY PISSED THAT ANDREW WOULD HAVE SET A FIRE AT THE MANSION EVEN IF YOU WERE WORKING THERE, NOT TO MENTION PUTTING YOU IN THE POSITION OF HAVING TO WORK FOR THE BLOODSUCKERS, AND HE'S NOT LISTENING TO ANYTHING I SAY.
"Well, maybe he'll listen to me."
WITH ANDREW AND THE DARK MAGICKS EGGING HIM ON?
Oh, crap. Fang was right. I redoubled my speed and spotted Shade up ahead. But he managed to stay ahead of me the whole way on his more maneuverable bike. When we got to the mansion's gates I thought for sure he'd try to crash them, but instead, he slowed only enough to punch in the code and barely waited for them to open before he sped up the long driveway to the house. As I zoomed to a halt at the front door, several lengths behind him, I saw the two human guards come toward us, their hands stuck threateningly inside their jackets.
"Is Andrew here yet?” I asked Fang.
Fang sniffed the air. I SMELL HIM . . . AND GASOLINE. ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE HOUSE.
Oh, crap. The side with all the trees . . .
"Talk to the guards,” Shade said curtly as he took off running. “They know you. I'll take care of Andrew."
VAL, NO, Fang said. DON'T LET HIM GO.
Like I had a choice. Shade had already disappeared around the side of the house. The guards ran after him, guns drawn. Being shot wouldn't help Shade calm down any. “Wait,” I yelled, jumping out of the car and waving at them to stop. “We're trying to help."
They slowed and one of them said to the other, “She's the Slayer. Alejandro did say she's a friend."
The other one glared at me, obviously wanting to disagree. “Talk fast and make it good,” he barked.
I explained what was going on. “You go tell Alejandro, and we'll take care of the demon.” I turned Lola loose on them a little, to get them under control. “Your first job is to get the vampires to safety, right? Move!"
The two men nodded and bolted inside the mansion. Fang yelled, COME ON.
He bounded to the left and I followed him around the side of the house. Shade and Andrew were slugging it out and the smell of gasoline was everywhere—on the grass, the trees, and even on the brick walls. With the assistance of dark magicks, Andrew might even be able to make brick burn. Crap. He was really determined to see everything go down in flames. And with the trees so close to this side of the house, it could spread to the rest of the neighborhood quickly.
I hurled Lola at him, but it did no good. He was too angry, too caught up in the wild, twisted magick, and Lola couldn't grab a toehold.
Andrew head-butted Shade, who fell backward, looking like he was about to explode at any moment. What would be worse? Andrew's fire magick or Shade losing control, then channeling every vicious demon who wanted a way into our world?
Andrew looked triumphant. I crashed into him, taking him down. At that moment, I seriously thought about staking him, even though he wasn't a vampire.
I wrestled with him, trying to pin him. But though I was stronger, he was bigger and wilder, thrashing in all directions, so that it was hard to hold onto him.
Finally, Andrew went rigid and glared at me. My skin began to grow warm. Heat swallowed me.
"Get off him, Val,” Shade yelled.
"No!"
DO IT, Fang yelled. YOUR CLOTHES ARE SMOLDERING.
So that was why I felt so warm. Crap. I sprang away from Andrew. Tiny licks of flame ignited all over my clothes.
"Roll,” Shade said urgently, shucking his hoodie.
I rolled in the dirt as Shade beat out the flames with his jacket. Fang danced around, yipping with worry and anger.
Andrew scrambled to his feet. “Dirty vampire lovers,” he shouted. He blasted a fist of flame at the house. The house and the trees next to it went up immediately, the flames licking greedily along the brick and bark, hungering for more fuel. Crap, crap, crap. I was no longer on fire, but everything else was.
I didn't have any power over the elements. Where the hell was Micah?
"No!” Shade yelled.
CONTROL HIM, Fang barked.
It hadn't worked before, but maybe it would now. I gathered my wits together and dug down deep then thrust Lola's needs into Andrew, who was raising his arms and dancing like he'd just scored a touchdown.
This time, I caught him with his magicks down, so he froze in place.
NOT HIM, Fang said. SHADE!
What? I glanced at Shade and saw him standing stock still, his arms spread wide, fists clenched, and head thrown back as if he were straining against something. His ribbons of light whirled faster than I'd ever seen them, and purple flashed so that it looked like the mother of all lightning storms going on inside his body.
Oh, no. And when Shade's anger opened up the doors between dimensions . . .
WE'LL BE BUTT-DEEP IN DEMONS, Fang said. STOP HIM.
I pulled half of Lola's attention away from Andrew and slammed it into Shade. She wasn't as needy, wasn't as strong since she'd already fed, and the energy seemed to disappear into him, out the other side to . . . somewhere else. Another dimension?
No, no. This couldn't be happening. I pulled some of the energy from Andrew and fed it into Shade. It helped slow the whirling energies a little, but not enough. Ignoring the raging fire behind me that had now leapt to a couple of trees, I threw myself at Shade and wrapped myself around him, hoping the bodily contact would help.
Shade's face was distorted in agony. “No,” he screamed. “Kill me!"
"No,” I shouted back. I siphoned more energy from Andrew, but it still wasn't enough. If I let go of Andrew, he might set fire to the whole city. He looked crazy enough to do that. But if I didn't focus all of Lola's energy on Shade, Shade would kill himself rather than let a herd of demons into our world.
No way. Not going to happen.
Hoping like hell I could capture Andrew again after Shade was under control, I released Andrew and concentrated Lola's entire attention on Shade. Wrapping myself even tighter around him and dragging him down to the ground, I kissed him hard. I forced even more energy into his body, letting the tendrils fill him up with lust and longing, grounding him as much as I could in this world, in this body.
Slowly, it worked. I felt Shade relax as he gradually gained full control of himself. I knew he was okay when his arms went around me and he returned the kiss.
"Dude,” Kyle said above us. “This is so not the time."
Shade pulled away and laid back on the ground, looking wiped out. “Thanks, I'm okay now. Go get Andrew."
I scrambled up and saw Micah and Mood had arrived with Ludwig and Kyle. Ludwig was using his massive fists to punch huge geysers of water at the fire. So that was his talent. He was a water demon.
"Mood, can you control Andrew?” I called.
She shook her head, looking strained. “I've been trying to reach him, but he's too strong. I can't . . . “ She slumped. “I lost him."
"Can you help me with Shade? We really, really need Shade to stay calm."
"Sure,” she said, looking glad for something to do.
I glanced around. The sun was setting, and I couldn't see Fang anywhere.
I'M OVER HERE, came Fang's voice. ANDREW IS HEADING FOR HIS CAR.
I ran through the woods. The hellhound was smart enough to stay out of Andrew's sight, but he'd followed him after the coward had run off.
I caught sight of Andrew at a distance, as he was about to climb the estate's wrought iron fence. I wasn't sure if Lola could reach him, but I had to try. I slammed Lola into him with all my might. “Stop, right there!"
It worked. Andrew froze with one foot on top of the fence and the other on this side. A dazed expression replaced the fury on his face. I walked slowly toward him, debating what to do. I could tell him to impale himself on the fleur-de-lis decorations on top and claim he'd done it to himself on accident. Who would know?
YOU WOULD, Fang reminded me.
"Yeah, well, it was only a fleeting thought.” I sighed. “Andrew, get down from there and come face the music."
With Lola suffusing every part of his body, Andrew had no choice but to follow me back to the house. He looked almost groggy, as if I were the Pied Piper and he was a hypnotized rat. I was glad to see that Ludwig had put the fire out, but there was a loud argument going on between demons and vamps at the front of the house. Alejandro and his two lieutenants were outside, now that the sun had set.
Shade hung back and stayed out of it, thank heavens, but the rest were having a shouting match amid the stench and smoke. Mood looked too tired to control anyone but Shade.
When Austin saw us, he flashed his fangs at Andrew and snarled, “Fire demon."
Everyone turned and surged toward us, but I held up my hands. “Stop unless you want to end up in thrall like him."
I let them have a taste of Lola, just to remind them what I could do. They simmered down, but Luis, for one, still looked murderous. Even Alejandro glared at Andrew.
"He's just a stupid kid,” Micah said.
"He's adult enough to try to kill everyone in this house,” Luis bit out. “Justice demands that you hand him over to us for vengeance."