Elven Blood (Imp Book 3) (6 page)

“Sam?”

I didn’t respond, all my attention on a formidable foe who was ripping chunks from my thighs. I couldn’t feel my legs. The only thing holding me onto his back were my hands gripped tight around his neck: his thick, solid, unbreakable neck.

The shower noise stopped. “Sam?”

Any minute Wyatt would come out half–naked to investigate. One blast, one rake of a clawed foot and he’d be dead. My head spun from repeated violent contact with the wall behind it. I had one last chance. One shot. A blast of energy burst from every pore of my body into the demon. He froze with a gasp then exploded, sending me crashing to the floor in a spray of flesh and blood.

“Sam?” I heard the bathroom door open, the pad of bare feet on the hardwood floor.

“I’m okay. I’m okay.”

I quickly fixed my injuries, but there was nothing I could do about Wyatt’s ruined bed and the gore decorating his walls, floor, and ceiling.

“Sam!” Wyatt halted at the doorway, his face pale.

“I’m okay,” I repeated. “It was another demon, but I got him.”

I was torn between wanting to reassure Wyatt that all was fine, and being honest with him that it most definitely was not fine. This wasn’t a Low. This demon had been fairly close to my level. He’d been able to easily change form, manipulate energy for offense and defense. He knew how to fight. This was really worrying me. What if I hadn’t been here? The demon would have easily gotten to Wyatt before he could get from the bathroom to one of his guns.

He moved towards me and I held my hand up. “Stay there. You’re all clean from your shower. I’ll take care of it.”

I stood and looked around at the wreckage. I needed to buy Wyatt a new bed, and do some serious cleaning. So much for rent day. I rubbed my hands through my hair, frustrated at the turn the morning had taken and wondering what Haagenti would be sending my way next.

“It’s not that bad, Sam—few hefty bags and a good douse of Clorox should fix it. I needed a new mattress anyway.”

I shook my head, depressed and worried. A hand caressed my shoulder and I looked up to see Wyatt beside me, ignoring my edict and standing in a pool of blood as he comforted me. His hair was damp, tousled about his head, and he was naked except for a towel around his waist. Drops of water beaded on his skin in places where his rushed drying efforts had missed. I should be licking the water from his neck, feeling his naked body against mine. Instead I was standing amid a pile of demon guts in a destroyed bedroom.

Wyatt continued to rub my shoulder. “Sam, it’s fine. Really. We’ll take care of this problem. We’ll figure it out together. We’ve killed a lot of demons. We can handle anything this guy throws at us.”

Maybe. Or maybe not.

“I better get started cleaning this up. You finish your shower, maybe put on a pot of coffee, and I’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

“You’re really gonna scrape all this up and run it down to Columbia? Didn’t you have something you were supposed to do this morning?”

“It’s rent day.” I gave a largish chunk of flesh an angry kick. “I’m tired of having these idiots fuck with my schedule, with my life. I’ll never get to rents if I have to haul this carcass down to Columbia. I should just let Boomer eat it, but he’s fat enough as it is.”

“Stick it in your freezer,” Wyatt suggested, shifting his towel. “Haul a bunch down at one time and save yourself a trip.”

That was a good idea. I hated the thought of this mess in with my pork chops though. Perhaps I should get a second freezer, just for demon guts.

“Let me grab some of your trash bags, and I’ll put this guy on ice.” I eyed his towel. “Hurry up and get dressed. We’re late and I’ve got fifteen houses to collect from.”

Wyatt’s eyebrows rose. “That may be your idea of fun, but it’s not mine. I’m playing Call of Duty with some friends this afternoon. Why would I go with you to collect rents?”

“Because this guy snuck in through your locked door and blew your bed in half. I was barely able to kill him. And the last time I left after a demon attack, there was a second one and you nearly bled to death.” A vision of Wyatt, slumped on the floor in a pool of blood sprang from my memories. What if I hadn’t come back in time? What if he’d hit an artery? Worry gnawed at me.

“I have my gun. I have lots of guns, actually. I’m not going to collect rent with you; I’ve got plans, and I can take care of myself. I killed that one last time, all on my own, remember?”

“I remember you almost bleeding out,” I retorted. “Fine. I’ll put off rents until tomorrow and stay here with you.” Ugh. Spending an entire day watching Wyatt play a video game would be worse than being boiled in oil. Although it was a small price to pay for his safety.

“Sam, I don’t need a babysitter. Get out of here. I’ll take care of this mess. I’ll even order a new mattress. Go collect your rents. Then go hang out with Candy or Michelle. I’m serious. I don’t want you popping in here every ten minutes fussing over me. I’ll be fine.”

I hesitated. What if he was wrong? What if I went out and had a great day, only to come home and find him dead, clutching one of those little plastic controllers?

Wyatt whipped off the towel and began smacking me with it. “Get. Go. Now.”

“Sure I can’t stay?” I teased, admiring his magnificent nakedness as I tried to avoid the snap of the towel.

“Later,” he promised. “After ten tonight. Bring some hot wings.”

“I will,” I shouted, halfway out the door.

I walked back to my house, hoping Wyatt remembered to have one of his guns handy. Or two. I was worried our luck was running out. The last two demons had come straight to his house. Haagenti had obviously discovered how much I cared about Wyatt and was now targeting him. I needed to find a way to make Wyatt safe, a way that hopefully didn’t involve me returning to Hel and accepting my punishment. This elf deal was looking like my best alternative at a long–term solution. I just needed to somehow squeeze it in between the Ruling Council meeting and everything else on my agenda.

Leethu was on my sofa with a bottle of vodka in one hand and a carton of milk in the other, alternating swigs of the beverages as she watched the morning news. I put on a pot of coffee, because I knew she hadn’t the foggiest idea how to work the machine, then went up to shower. My room was trashed. Despite my edict, the succubus had slept in my bed, gone through every drawer, dumped out half the contents of my bathroom toiletries. I was beginning to rethink my hospitality.

“Are you heading out somewhere today,” I asked her before I left. “Dance club? Biker bar? Grocery store?” She was going to destroy my house from boredom if she didn’t get out and incite orgies somewhere soon.

“The angels will get me if I leave. I’ll just hang here and watch porn. Don’t worry about me at all.”

I did worry about her; and my house. I made a mental note to pick up more booze on my way home, and see if I could grab some smutty magazines. Maybe I’d hook her up with an Internet chat room later. That might entertain her for a while.

Leaving Leethu to her pay–per–view porn, I headed in to Frederick to lose myself in the joy of rent collecting. On the way my phone rang. It was Candy.

“Wyatt has informed me that I am to keep you occupied until ten tonight, then send you back to him with hot wings,” she informed me. “Oh, and he says to stop texting him.”

It had only been three texts. And that one phone call before I’d left my house. Just to check on him.

“I’ll be busy until late afternoon,” I told her. “Rent day, you know.”

“How about a run then? We should be able to get a quick one in before sunset.”

Candy was my jogging buddy. We usually did a trail run at least once a week, regardless of the weather, but we’d both been so busy lately that it had been almost a month since we’d been out together.

“I don’t have any running clothes with me,” I told her. “Unless you want to run four legged? We could run after dark that way too.”

“Can’t.” Her voice was full of regret. “Full moon was last night, and we had our sanctioned hunt. I can’t risk losing control and getting caught without a permit.”

Werewolf life was strictly monitored by the angels under an existence contract. The penalty for being in wolf form without permission was death. Candy sometimes took the risk, but the chance of discovery this close to the full moon was high, especially if Candy succumbed to her instincts and made a kill.

“The Eastside Tavern then?” I asked. “I can get Wyatt’s hot wings there too.”

“I’m in town today showing some commercial properties out by the mall. Let’s do that new Korean place.”

“Text me when and where,” I told her as I pulled into a parking spot. “I’ll be there.”

There were three apartments I needed to visit on this street full of row houses. They were all over two hundred years old and had been converted into apartments decades ago. A good number of my slum rental properties required a monthly cash pick up, and there were always the one or two deadbeats where I needed to make a personal, threatening collection visit. These three would be fun. Two drug dealers and a violent ex–con. The other twelve were just routine cash collection from people who didn’t trust the banks or postal system.

I hopped out of my Corvette, placed my hands on the parking meter and ran a stream of energy through it that melted the electronics and blackened the screen. This month I was melting them. Last month I’d broken a dozen off at the base then dragged them around the city behind my SUV like a string of huge tin cans. Done with my vandalizing, I locked my car and pulled my coat tightly around me as I made my way to the first apartment.

Last night’s snow had melted into a wet mess that slopped around my shoes. The chill wind whipped my hair against my cheeks and the damp air made the temperature seem far colder than it was. I hugged my coat tight and shivered. Even with the bad weather, I enjoyed this part of my business. There were a few interesting tenants that I liked to chat with and the delinquents gave me an opportunity to take out my frustrations on their skulls. This day, I’d begun later than usual, delayed by my insane night of fucking and my demon–killing breakfast. Still, I only had to break into two of the houses and threaten people with mutilation. That was a big improvement from five last month. People were learning.

Michelle had already left the office by the time I wrapped up, so I headed over to her house to drop off her cut. She’d want it before the weekend, and with all the craziness in my life lately, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to meet up with her before then.

Michelle lived in one of the subdivisions just outside the city limits. The development had been planned during the sixties and been through several developers who had all been unable to complete the original vision due to financial issues. The modern, cedar–sided houses were nestled deep within wooded areas, hugging a man–made lake and perched on steep rocky slopes. It was beautiful, but the roads were a mess, cracked and sunken from poor drainage. Michelle’s contemporary was three stories with layers of decks and a switchback of stairs leading down from the road to the front door. I wondered how she managed to lug groceries down these steps every time she shopped. No wonder she was thin.

I trudged from the parking area down to the landing. Halfway down the stairs I stopped. Seriously. I stopped. I couldn’t go any further forward. It was like I was pressed against an invisible wall. Hopping over the railing, I navigated the rocky slope along the front of the house and down the side. The invisible wall continued. I circled the house, but couldn’t get in anywhere. An impenetrable barrier surrounded the entire house. Back on the landing, I hollered for Michelle. I knew she was home. Her car was parked up top, next to mine.

I called a few more times before I came to my senses and dialed her cell phone.

“Hey,” she answered. “What’s up?”

“I’ve got rents,” I told her. “I’m outside, halfway down your stairs on the landing but I can’t get in. There is a weird invisible wall around your house. You might be trapped inside forever. Should I arrange for PeaPod to deliver food or something? Fuck, I’m not even sure they can throw the food through this thing. You might just starve to death.”

“Oh, Sam! I’m sorry about that.” She opened the door and walked up the steps, through the invisible wall to where I stood.

“When you said you were having problems with demons attacking you, I had this put in. I was worried they might come after me, especially since Wyatt’s been attacked too.”

“You put in an invisible wall?” I was astonished. I didn’t know humans could do this. I didn’t know anyone could do this. It wasn’t like that hex Gregory had done this summer that melted my arm practically off my body. This was a barrier—an impenetrable barrier.

“It just blocks demons,” she said apologetically. “Everyone else can get through.”

“Did you do it yourself? How?”

Michelle looked a bit embarrassed. “My Aunt did it. I wouldn’t have the foggiest idea how to do something like this.”

“Is your Aunt a sorcerer? “ I asked, knocking on the wall to reassure myself of its continued presence.

“No, a priestess. You have no idea the trouble I’m in with my mother over this though.”

A priestess? I’d never known any religious organization whose gods or goddesses actually responded to their clergy. I needed to meet this woman.

“Your mother is upset you didn’t turn to her for assistance first?” There was a protocol to follow in human families that went along relationship and gender lines. It’s very complex and I never have been able to understand it.

“No, my family thinks my Aunt is crazy, and they’re upset that I’m encouraging her by having her do this. Honestly, I wasn’t sure it would work. I always thought she was crazy too, but after finding out I know a demon and a werewolf, and that vampires own my favorite nightclub, I figured I’d give her a chance.”

“It worked.” I tapped the invisible wall in admiration. “Your mother should give her more respect now.”

“Oh, she’d never believe me. You’re the only one so far that’s not been able to pass. And I’m thankful for that. I really don’t want a bunch of demons hammering at my door. No offense,” she added hastily.