Deals With Demons (5 page)

Pounding music filled the air and red lights lit the crowded dance floor. This was definitely not a place for humans. Here the demons were not even attempting to blend in. Looking over the crowd, Talia saw horns and wings. Red eyes watched her with unnerving interest and several men licked their fangs as Devlin guided her over to the bar. Talia squared her shoulders and added a roll to her hips. If they wanted to play she’d make sure she came out on top. Devlin had told her to be dangerous. Talia let a cold smile curve her lips as she strode through the crowd. She could do dangerous.

The bartender slipped up to them the minute Devlin leaned on the counter. Talia was mildly surprised by the respect he commanded without even trying. She knew he was intimidating but in her eyes he was still the man who had rescued her on the most horrible night of her life.

“What will it be?” the bartender asked.

“Can I order you a drink, darling?” Devlin asked, running his hand down her back.

Remembering her role, Talia shook off her nerves and smiled sweetly up at him. “Whatever you’re having, love,” she replied, pressing herself closer to him.

“Our special is a true bloody mary tonight,” the bartender said, looking at Talia with a hostile gaze.

Talia’s eyes widened.

“I’ll have a whiskey on the rocks,” Devlin said easily, ignoring the man’s hostility, “and a tequila sunrise for my date.”

Tequila sunrises had been her favourite drink as a teenager. Talia glanced up at Devlin, surprised by his memory.

The bartender quickly prepared their drinks and handed them over. As Devlin paid, Talia cautiously sipped her drink.

“How is it?” Devlin asked.

“Excellent for a tequila sunrise without the tequila,” she replied wryly. “My, he must have thought I was underage.”

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Devlin smiled slightly. “I told you this place wouldn’t welcome you.”

“Yeah, well I believe you.”

“Come on,” he caught her free hand. “Let’s get a booth and you can start looking.”

They threaded their way through the dance floor even though Talia saw no free booths. Given the hostile stares and hisses coming her way, she hoped they found something soon. She had never felt this exposed before. Of course, she’d never been in a room crowded with demons before. Even living with Devlin, she’d never seen this many demons in one place.

They walked over to the row of booths lining the wall and Devlin strode to the first one. A young couple sat in the red velvet seats, laughing and flirting. They looked up in surprise when Devlin stopped before them and Talia actually saw their faces pale.

“Please, sir, help yourself,” the girl stammered, pushing at her date to get out of the booth.

Devlin watched with an amused smile as the couple fled, leaving the booth empty.

“What are you, the boogie man?” Talia asked, sliding into the seat.

“Close,” he agreed, sitting beside her. “Remember your role, Tali. You need to be closer to me.”

“Don’t call me that,” she replied automatically as she let him pull her to his side. “Judging by the reception you’re getting, I think you owe me an explanation. How big a bad ass are you in this town?”

“You lived under my roof for five years,” he replied. “Didn’t you pay attention?”

“I only saw Devlin the friend. These people see Devlin the demon.”

“Mmmm,” he murmured, tilting her face up to his. “Does this mean I can scare you into following my orders now?”

She smirked at him. “What do you think?”

“I think,” he said, tracing his thumb over her lower lip, “it takes beings far more horrifying than I to make you cower.” He replaced his thumb with his lips, kissing her lightly. “I never wanted to scare you, Talia.”

She relaxed into his embrace, touching the tip of her tongue teasingly to his lips. Taking her up on her offer, Devlin kissed her more forcefully. His hand trailed over her body, running up her abdomen to loosely cup her breast. She gasped into his mouth, nipping him lightly in warning. Even if it was a cover, she didn’t do heavy petting in public. A girl had to have standards when sleeping with the damned.

“Your acting is very convincing,” Devlin taunted quietly as he trailed his lips down her throat.

“I learned from the best,” she snapped without thought.

Devlin jerked back, regarding her with puzzled eyes. Talia knew he was about to ask questions she didn’t want to answer. In order to distract him she rose up on her knees and swung a leg over his thighs.

Straddling him, she cupped his beautiful face in her hands and kissed him passionately.

His hands gripped her hips to steady her as he thoroughly enjoyed her onslaught. When she finally drew back she was out of breath and more than a little turned on.

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“As much as I am enjoying your…acting,” Devlin said. “You should see if you can pick up anything on Saleel.”

“Yeah,” she agreed breathlessly, ignoring the hard bulge pressing between her thighs. “I’ll try.”

Devlin drew her closer to him, hiding her face in his chest. “Close your eyes,” he whispered. “Cast out your senses. I’ve got you.”

Relaxing into his hold, Talia did as he said.

“Quietly, Tali,” she heard Devlin whisper in her ear.

She didn’t have time to correct his use of the nickname. Knowing she’d been too obvious with her powers, she pulled back, softening her scan. She didn’t want the other demons alerted to the fact that she was working tonight. They tolerated her for the moment. The last thing she wanted to do was start a bar fight in a demon club.

Devlin continued to trail kisses across her skin as she worked, moving her body to the pounding beat of the music. Talia forced herself to ignore how good it felt to be in his arms.

Concentrating hard, Talia worked her powers through every inch of the club, looking for any sense of the demon she sought. The search was frustratingly hard, especially since she couldn’t use her full range of powers. Being subtle definitely sucked.

Then, without warning, she felt it. At the very edges of her senses she felt a sickeningly familiar tingle. It was one she had felt before, right before she dove from her bedroom window.

“Got him,” she whispered, nauseated. “Backdoor.”

“You’re sure?” Devlin asked.

Talia pushed herself up and nodded. “He feels the same in my head,” she confessed softly. “I can still remember what it was like to find him in my house…”

“Shhh,” Devlin soothed, wrapping his arms around her. “He’ll never touch you, Tali. I’ll keep you safe.”

For once, she didn’t argue with him. Clutching her old protector to her, she tried to steady herself and push away the fear. She could fight this nightmare. She hadn’t gotten her reputation by handing out flowers and hugs to the monsters she hunted. This was simply one more job. Besides, this time she had the ultimate ace in the hole. She might hate Devlin, but even she acknowledged he was a more vicious warrior than she’d ever be.

When she was in control once more, Devlin helped her to her feet and expertly navigated them through the crowd towards the backdoor.

“Which way did he go?” Devlin asked as they stood at the entrance.

Talia closed her eyes, touching the door handle lightly. “He went out,” she said.

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Without a word, Devlin opened the door and guided them up the cramped stairs. They exited into a dark, empty alley. Closing her eyes, Talia tried to pick up the trail. It was old and hard to find. Saleel had been trying to cover his tracks, which meant he knew what she was.

Sensing wasn’t a science. She couldn’t close her eyes and magically know what the demon she was chasing would do. It was more like she sensed the shadows people left behind. Everyone left traces of themselves as they went through their lives. Her job was to find those traces and immerse herself in them until she saw and felt everything the demons had. Sometimes it was easier than others. Saleel, unfortunately, was not such a case.

Opening her senses to the alley, she unleashed her full powers. There had to be a hint of him somewhere.

She moved blindly around the alley. Sometimes she picked up stronger images if she stood in the same spot her marks had been in. If she was lucky enough to cross his path everything would be much easier.

Devlin stayed silent as she waltzed around the alley. This was her area of expertise, not his. Wisely, he knew enough to stay out of her way.

Stepping slowly through the space before her, Talia felt a sudden rush of excitement and stopped cold.

The emotions swirling within her were definitely not her own. All she should be feeling right now was fear and disgust. Freezing in place, she forced herself to open up to Saleel’s emotions. She needed to sense his desires, his plans. Though it went against every instinct in her, she welcomed in the feelings of her family’s killer.

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Chapter Five

He had stood here last night, right where she was. He’d looked up at the sky. Talia felt her head tilt back in grisly mimicry of her nightmare’s movements. He’d breathed in, happy to be back in the city once again. Talia felt hungry and knew he’d been considering feeding. She blanched as she realised why he hadn’t attacked some poor unsuspecting person. Anticipation was half his fun. He wanted to fantasise about her death instead of sating the need with some stranger. He was saving all his hunger for
her.

Talia faltered, too horrified to look deeper. But this was the first step of the trail. She needed to know where he went next. She was a professional. This was her job. There was no room to be squeamish, not when the stakes were so high. Concentrating once more, she forced herself back into Saleel’s emotions.

He’d been happy when he walked out of the alley. Talia felt her feet moving of their own accord, following the killer’s footsteps. He’d left the alley and turned right. One place in particular had been forefront in his mind.

“He went to my childhood house last night,” Talia gasped, jerking from her trance. “Devlin, he went to my house.”

The thought of Saleel in her home again turned her stomach. She thought she could be strong through this but she didn’t know how to stand tall in the face of such horror.

Devlin put a hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it off. Instead, she ran her fingers over her rose mark.
Courage
, she thought.
You can do this. You can survive this.

“We should go,” she said, straightening her shoulders. Her childhood home was the last place she wanted to go, but as usual she had no choice. Talia walked stiffly from the alley, a silent Devlin trailing behind her.

It was a short drive to her old home. When they arrived, Talia was surprised to see it was inhabited.

Some other family lived in her house, no doubt clueless to its history of horror. Somehow she’d imagined it’d stood empty all these years.

“What did he do here?” Devlin asked.

With a sigh, Talia got out of the car. She walked to the front of the yard and closed her eyes.

It was easier this time to sense Saleel’s presence. She knew immediately where he’d stood, moving automatically into the same spot at the head of the walkway. He’d stood here and watched the house. Talia swallowed hard as she realised he’d wondered if he should kill this family too. The hunger was there and

the desire to destroy. He watched the family at dinner, saw the smiling children and loving couple and wanted to rip them apart.

Talia forced herself to go deeper. Why hadn’t he killed these people? The answer slowly bubbled to the surface. He hadn’t wanted to alert Talia to his presence. A mass murder in her childhood home would have been too much of a coincidence to ignore. His game with her had saved this family. At least it was one thing to be grateful for.

“Where did you go?” she whispered to herself, scanning harder. He’d watched the family for a long time, trying to decide whether or not to attack. When he was finished he’d gone to…the cemetery.

Talia got back into the car, choking back the bile in her throat. “He is going to my family’s graves,”

she informed Devlin.

He hissed in anger.

“Saleel wants to admire his work.” She shook her head in disgust.

Devlin shifted the car into gear and then headed for the cemetery. “We’ll get him,” he told her.

“Promise?”

“You have my word.”

Talia smiled bitterly as she rubbed the rose on her neck. It was an absent movement born out of habit.

She didn’t even think about who she was doing it in front of.

Devlin watched her actions with hooded eyes. “Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Touch the rose.”

She dropped her hand as if it burned her. The rose and the events surrounding its appearance were topics she never wanted to speak of, but Devlin was waiting for an answer. Sighing, she replied, “I touch it for strength. It’s a symbol of a horrible mistake in my life. Touching it reminds me to never let myself be that foolish again. I have to be strong.”

“Horrible mistake?” Devlin bit out. “Nice to know.”

“You asked,” she snapped.

Devlin’s eyes darkened in anger but he held his tongue. They drove the rest of the way in silence.

When they arrived at the graveyard Talia got out without a word and started down the familiar walk to her family’s graves. She never spared a glance for Devlin.

They hiked through the dark cemetery and Talia tried her best not to be freaked out by the creepy setting. It was an old cemetery, the kind featured in horror films. It wouldn’t be hard to imagine a monster lunging at them from behind an old grave.
Not a monster
, she amended grimly.
A demon.

Finally, they crested the hill and saw her family’s graves. She sucked in a sharp breath when she realised what awaited her.

Four white lilies lay before each headstone. Four dead white lilies.

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