Accidentally Demonic (34 page)

The vision in her head of this poor little girl chained to some chair fled, her bitter fury didn’t. “How old is she?”

“Vampires age slowly. In human years, she’s about fifteen. A very difficult age for a child, worse for one who’s been around as long as she has,” Wanda added, her features softened by concern.

And people complained about their teenagers. Imagine having one who was a teenager for centuries? “What’s her name?”

“Naomi.”

Naomi.
Her heart fluttered in sympathy. That could explain all the mysterious phone calls Clay received. Teenagers could be very difficult, especially at fifteen. Being a young adult with all those conflicting emotions teen girls suffered couldn’t be easy—especially when it went on and on with no end in sight. “So how’s Hildegard able to keep her claws in Naomi? I don’t understand the hold she has over the child. I definitely understand why Clay wouldn’t off himself now, and why he lets Hildegard feed from him makes even more sense, but I don’t get the relation to Naomi.”

“Naomi is basically Hildegard’s. To make doubly sure Clay wouldn’t take his immortality into his own hands, just before she mated with him without his knowledge, she bound the child to her with some sort of binding ritual. She made her a demon companion. At the time, Naomi was a toddler—unaware—innocent. But here’s the real trouble. If anything happens to Hildegard, Clay could lose her to Hell forever because you can bet your bippy, Hildegard might not have hurt the girl till now, but if she’s forced into Hell—Naomi will go with.”

Casey’s head spun so fast, she had to cling to the edge of the table. Everything was so clear, but so fucked up now. “She’s holding a child hostage? A
child
? Someone wanna explain to me why we’re sitting around here looking at each other? Let’s go fucking off the bitch,” she growled under her breath, this time not at all surprised by her howling rage.

Nina reached across the table, grabbing Casey’s hand. “Take it down a notch. I know this half of you. I know it well. I had the same reaction when Greg told me about Clay. I just wanted to choke the bitch. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned since I was turned, it’s to fucking think about your next move—carefully. This paranormal crap isn’t like the human world. If you fuck up, you’ll end up only making it worse.”

Casey fought tears. This wasn’t about Clay or even her anymore as far as she was concerned. It was about an innocent kid. “Okay—so the question then becomes, how do we get Naomi from Hildegard without creating more trouble for her or Clay?”

Greg’s face was grim. “That’s the dilemma. If Clay doesn’t allow Hildegard to feed, because Naomi’s bound to her, Naomi will end up in Hell, too.”

“But if I’m Hildegard’s DNA twin, that means in essence, Naomi’s bound to me, too, right?”

He nodded. “Technically, that’s true. But first, you’re nowhere near the level of skill that bitch possesses, and to stop her from feeding from Clay, which would end her life on this plane, you’d have to be. Believe me when Wanda tells you, she is maniacal enough to drag that poor kid back to Hell with her if Clay or you try to stop her.”

There was always a fucking technicality, wasn’t there? But it didn’t mean she couldn’t try, and when she got a hold of Clay, she was going to flame the living shit out of him. Literally. And that was that. No way was she letting some kid take the fall for this—no matter whose fault it was. “I have to go,” she said, wooden and flat, nudging at Wanda to let her out of the booth.

Wanda gripped her arm, her eyes blatantly filled with fear and worry. “You’re not going anywhere, Casey. From here on out, we’re like twins—the Siamese kind. The fuck I’ll let you end up in Hell because of this craziness that wasn’t even your fault.”

Casey was floored, her response was shaky with unshed tears. “But you’d let an innocent child end up there? A kid who has no idea what this all means? A kid whose whole life will be turned upside down because of some fruit loop with an ego the size of the Ukraine?” Casey shook her head with a violent twist. “I don’t know about you, but if I have to live an eternity with that on my plate—it’d be just like Hell anyway. No can do.”

Wanda’s eyes filled with tears. “Casey—I won’t let you do this. Hildegard’s too strong for you to take on. I absolutely won’t let you risk sacrificing yourself. You didn’t ask for this!”

“And Naomi did?” she squeaked, brushing a hot tear from her cheek.

Greg reached across the table and put a hand on her arm. “Clay would never allow this. Never. It’s why he didn’t tell you himself, but if he didn’t find a solution, I certainly wasn’t going to let you be blindsided. I have to believe he would have come to you because that’s who Clay is. But my lovely wife overheard me talking to another clan member who knew something about Hildegard, and if you know my Nina, you know there’s no stopping her. She said we had to tell both Wanda and you. I’ve already apologized to Clay in a voice mail he’ll have when he wakes. But promise me this, Casey. Don’t do anything rash until I poke around some more, okay? We’ve got some time before Hildegard’s due to feed. Let me see what I can come up with before you do anything, understood? There’s no way we’ll let you go into this alone.”

“It’ll be all-out war, Greg,” Nina warned. “That freak’ll bring reinforcements, maybe more than we have. Do you really think the clan’s going to get involved in matters of mating? I think we both know how that fucking goes. If we do it, we do it rogue.”

Greg turned to Nina, his serious eyes softening in her direction. “I know what has to be done, honey. I know it means employing those who’re willing to go against clan law, but there’s a kid involved. At this point, I don’t care what the clan says.”

“I appreciate all of this, but right now, I really have to go.”

“Where?” Wanda asked.

Casey’s eyes narrowed. “To kill a vampire.” She pried Wanda’s fingers from her arm. “And Wanda, you have to let me. I’m not saying I don’t want your help, but I am saying Clay has a lot of explaining to do—to
me
. Not you.”

Nina was the first to relieve some of the tension by laughing. “You give him shit, kiddo. He deserves it for keeping that kind of crap from you.”

Greg’s brow furrowed. “Hush, woman. Don’t encourage violence.”

Nina made a face at him. “Yeah, except everything that goes on in this kooky world you dragged me into has something to do with violence. It’s always the endgame.You know it, and so do I. Wasn’t it you just planning a rematch of the Sharks and the Jets? Clay deserves a good lickin’ for not telling her.You do remember the part about not telling me what needed tellin’ until it was almost too late, don’t ya, honey?”

Greg made a face back at her. “Yes, precious. I remember, but it was for your own good, if you’ll recall. I didn’t want you to feel pressured into doing something you might regret.”

“Hah! And look where that landed our asses—in the middle of a crazy smackdown with a fucking maniac. What is it with you bunch anyway? All these secrets and bullshit. It always leads to the same thing—a fucking throwdown. So don’t you tell me not to encourage Casey to kick his night-dwelling ass, pal. He should just bend over and let her have at it.”

Greg ran an impatient hand through his hair. “He was only trying to protect her, Nina. So she wouldn’t be any more pressured than she already was. Adding Naomi to the mix is a fucked up twist that Casey didn’t see coming. If she offers herself up—it’s suicide for her. If she doesn’t, she’s the bad guy for putting herself before a young girl. That’s more than a rock and a hard place. One Clay didn’t want her in.”

Nina spread her hand over the table in a wide arc. “And look how that’s workin’ out, life mate,” she observed with a wry expression.

“Look,” Wanda intervened, her blue eyes watery. “Go confront Clay. I’m all about getting things out in the open, but don’t do anything stupid, please. Don’t do anything until we can try and find a way out that’s best for everyone. I
know
there has to be a way. I won’t believe otherwise. We’ll figure out how to take her down.”

A steely determination had gripped Casey. Nothing Wanda or her paranormal friends could say would stop her from doing what had to be done, but she knew it was prudent to keep her convictions to herself. “I’ll do that, Wanda. And please, don’t worry, okay? Everything will be fine.” She paused, turning to Greg and Nina. “Thanks for telling me. I know Clay won’t like it, but that’s too damn bad.You did what you thought was right, and it’s appreciated.”

Nina held up her knuckles to Casey, and Casey cracked them with hers. “Go home and go to bed. Your eyes look like they’ve been on a five-day bender,” she said.

Greg rose as she exited the booth. “Casey? Call me if you need me. Don’t hesitate.”

Casey nodded, letting Wanda take her hand and walk her to the door. The warmth of it comforted her. “Honey, promise me . . .”

She fidgeted, moving from foot to foot. “I promise I’ll be careful.”

“Wait, one more thing.”

“What?”

“This has more to do with Clay than you’re letting on. You’ve developed feelings for him.”

She’d developed something. “I won’t lie and tell you I don’t find him wildly attractive, Wanda. I do. I also won’t tell you that I wouldn’t have considered stopping Hildegard even if I didn’t find him attractive, because I probably would have. It’s unjust and sick what she’s done to him and now a child. I couldn’t walk away from that. It’d be like leaving a puppy to starve. If I have the power to help, then I’m in. Do I wish I’d met him under any other circumstances—oh, believe me, I do.

“But here we are. That there’s a young girl involved makes me want to wretch. It makes me want to hunt that crazy slut down and set her ablaze while I roast marshmallows over her. So the answer is yes, this has to do with Clay. I like him. I like him even though he’s cranky and funny all at the same time. He’s also impatient and impossible to talk to, and I know very little about him. But I think now that I know about Naomi, now that I know the lengths he’s gone to in protecting his little girl—I like him a whole lot more. But not even Clay’s immortality is as important to me as Naomi’s.”

Wanda bit her bottom lip, her eyes full. “If I could take this away, I would. You know that, right? You know I’ll do whatever I can to protect you. I saw this coming. I saw how googly-eyed you were over him every time he walked into a room, but I just kept telling myself it was your overactive hormones, and that he was the best option to protect you from things I know next to nothing about. This isn’t how I’d want you—anyone—to begin a relationship, Case. Not with this kind of cloud hanging over it.”

Casey swallowed hard. “Well, it isn’t the way I would have liked to do it, either.
Match.com
doesn’t look like as much of a ridiculous long shot as it once did. And we haven’t started a relationship. We slept together. I’m not so far gone that I don’t know where that leaves me, especially with a guy who hasn’t had sex in centuries. I know the score. But you know, at first I thought my instant, almost uncontrollable attraction to Clay was based solely on this freaky transference thing with Hildegard, but not anymore. My hormones might be in an uproar because of it—magnified—but the rest is all me. Hildegard doesn’t want Clay for anything else but the life he gives her on this plane. She never wanted him. And from the sexual escapades she’s had, she’d go on living the way she has forever. She’s just a snake—a coldhearted, vain, bottom-feeder—and if there’s something I can do to prevent her from having what she wants, I’m just in. Period.”

Wanda squeezed her hand hard, her face shaded with a mixture of fear and sympathy. “You’re falling, Casey. Maybe it hasn’t happened yet, not totally, but you’re falling.”

“Maybe so. I can’t seem to stop it. But I’m not falling anywhere until I break Clay’s legs. Oh, and maybe an arm just because.”

Wanda pulled her close with a shaky whisper. “
Please, please
be careful, Case. Please. This is the most time we’ve spent together in years, and I don’t want to give that up because you’ve gone and gotten yourself dead.”

Casey pinched her cheek in response. “Dead would suck after all this, huh?” She laughed, pushing her way out the door and storming back to the apartment.

She didn’t stop storming until she reached the bedroom where Mr. Vampire slept the sleep of the comatose. A glance at the clock told her he wouldn’t be awake for several hours.

But that was okay.

It gave her time to plan his demise.

CHAPTER 16

“Look who’s awake,” Casey chirped from the couch.

Clay smiled.
Smiled
. Funny that. “Hey,” he mumbled back, sleep making his tone sexy-gruff. He came to stand in front of her and pressed a hand to her forehead. “How ya feelin’?”

“I feel great. Superb. Fantastic.”

His eyes instantly became leery. “Do I detect sarcasm?”

“Do you?”

“I think I do.”

“Huh.” She shrugged with a casual shift of her shoulders.

“Huh. That’s it? No way. I just know you have something on your mind.”

“Me? Whatever could be on my mind?”

“Spill.”

“Like you spill?”

“Casey.”

She mocked his tone. “Clay.”

“Clearly there’s a bug up your ass.”

“Yeah, it’s called my pending death.”

“That won’t happen. I’ve said it at least ten times.”

“Right. Because you’re not going to
allow
it. Yep, you’ve told me that like you have some say in it.”

“So we’re back to angry?”

“Nope.”

“Then where are we?”

“Right here on the couch.” She patted the buttery-soft leather.

“Casey—knock it the fuck off and speak your piece.”

“Are
you
back to angry?”

“I’m losing my patience.”

“This is me all surprised.”

“Okay, so in an effort to try and get somewhere, I’ll concede I can be quick to snap. I’m sorry. Are we all better now?”