The Darkening (26 page)

"Really?" she asked, almost too casually. "What about?"

"About how he's Dr. D. Patrick."

"What?"

He had her undivided attention now, so he told her about Paddy's involvement with the initiation ceremonies and the demon.

"I just can't believe it," Lexi said when he was done. "We have to tell the police. I know a lot of those people didn't ask to be converted, so he's responsible for murder."

"We'll have to deal with that later. There's more. Do you remember how we heard him singing that song in the bar? Well, the hounds of hell are real. They're shade demons believed to be locked away. If Amadja releases them..." He shook his head. "Now I know what the succubus meant about needing to feed Amadja's pets."

Lexi's eyes widened at the mention of the succubus. "When did you talk to her?"

He quickly told her about his encounter with the succubus, though he did his best to skirt over the seduction parts. Somehow, he didn't think Lexi would appreciate hearing that.

"And that's not all," he hurried on, hoping he was giving her too much information at once for her to focus too long on Daphne. "Paddy saw my tattoo and as much as admitted he'd seen the same one on Tain. So I know Tain is there-it's just a matter of finding him."

Lexi took a step toward him and laid her hand on his arm. "I know you're worried about your brother, but you can't go after him yourself. Not with the succubus out there. Talk to Adrian first-please."

"Okay," he agreed, somewhat reluctantly. "Let's call him."

She picked up the phone and dialed Adrian's number, and soon Darius was talking to him.

"I think you should come to Seattle as soon as possible," Adrian said, unsurprisingly, after Darius explained everything. "They know you're there, which means your life is in danger."

"But I know who this demon is," Darius argued. "I can bind him and destroy him."

"Don't you think we thought of that?" Adrian asked. "Amadja isn't his real name any more than the name I knew him by. The only sure way to destroy him is to combine our powers."

"rain is here," Darius said.

"You saw him?"

"No, but I know he's here. If I can get to him-"

"Don't even think of trying to rescue him," Adrian said. "Trust me, he's not the same-he's crazy."

"So we turn our backs on him?"

He heard Adrian's sigh. "I don't like it any more than you do. Come to Seattle and we'll figure out what to do."

They talked a few minutes more before Darius hung up the phone. He looked over at Lexi, who was studying him closely. "He wants me to fly to Seattle."

"I think you should go," she said. "I'll get you another ticket."

Darius felt a stab of disappointment. "Careful," he said, keeping his tone light. "I might think you want to get rid of me."

"It's not that," she said. "I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"Ah, so you
do
care." He'd been keeping his tone light and teasing, but there was nothing playful in the way he looked at her.

"I don't know why I should." He heard the hurt in her voice. "I obviously repulse you."

"What?" He was stunned. "Nothing could be further from the truth."

"Then why is it that every time we start to have sex, you stop?"

He saw the pain and hurt in her eyes and knew he had to tell her the truth. "When I was summoned to the dream dimension, Whitley warned me about two things. The first was about my life force-which I told you about. The other thing he warned me about was ... embarrassing, if you must know the truth."

"Go on." she encouraged when he hesitated.

nc
LOOK a breath. "Sekhmet was afraid I'd enjoy myself too much while I was here, so she quickly cast a spell as I was being pulled to Earth. But only pieces of the spell touched me, and it got twisted." He looked at her, praying she'd understand. "The gist of the spell is that if I climax while having sex, I'll forget everything, including-"

"-who you are," she finished for him. Then her eyes shot sparks. "You were with that woman that first night, weren't you? The one with the pink hair. You climaxed with her, and that's why you lost your memory"

"You make it sound like I was cheating on you," Darius countered, getting a little heated himself. "As I recall, you weren't interested in having sex with me at the time. Furthermore, I wasn't with
a woman.
She was a demon. And not just any demon-a succubus. She tucks the life out of you and leaves you for dead. Although now that I think of it, maybe that's just women n general." He was beyond frustrated and making maters worse, but he couldn't seem to stop. Then he ieard a small chuckle and turned to see Lexi smiling it him.

"If you are planning to spend any time with me at ill, I think it's only fair to warn you that I get a little )itchy around the full moon."

"Lexi," he sighed, all the fight leaving him. He closed he distance between them and cupped her cheek vith his hand as he gazed deep into her eyes. "I never rieant to hurt you." He dipped his head and captured ier lips with his. The hunger that shot through him was 1tensely primal, and when she wrapped her arms round his waist, he kissed her like he might never get le chance again.

Finally, they broke apart, both a little breathless.

"Much as I want to stay, I should probably go now," he said. "But when this is over, I'm coming back to finish what we started. That's a promise."

"I'll be here," she told him. "However long it takes, but please be careful."

"I will." And then, before he could change his mind, he walked out the door.

After Darius left, Lexi couldn't help wondering if he had really told her the truth this time. His explanation about being jinxed by a partial spell, while possible, was a little hard to believe.

Not sure what to make of it, she forced her attention to more urgent matters. She went to the kitchen table where the necklaces were spread out and found the one she thought Mai would like. She put it into the velvet pouch, put the bag with disc transmitters in her pocket, along with the receiver, and left.

When she got to Mai's apartment, she found her friend busy working on her story.

"How's it coming?" Lexi asked. "Any chance you'll let me read it?"

Mai scowled at her. "You know the rule-not until it's finished."

"So-do you have plans for tonight?" Lexi asked, not bothering to be subtle.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Mai replied. "But don't worry. I'm not going to the Crypt. I have a friend coming over-a male friend."

At Lexi's surprised look, Mai smiled. "Before you ask, he's not anyone you know. Just a guy I met, but he's drop-dead gorgeous, and so considerate and fun to be with."

"Oh, Mai. I'm so happy for you." But Lexi couldn't prevent the cynic in her from wondering exactly where Mai might have met this man. Who was he? What was his background?

"Stop it," Mai said. "I see the expression on your face. Can't you just, for once, be happy that I found someone?"

Lexi felt guilty now "Of course. I'm sorry. Yes, I'm delighted you've found someone. And I'm thrilled you're not going to the Crypt. So," she said with a smile. "Tell me more about this mystery man."

Mai merely shrugged. "There's nothing to tell. What's that you have?"

Lexi handed the velvet pouch to Mai, whose eyes lit up with childlike excitement. "What's the occasion?"

"I'll tell you in a second. First tell me if you like it."

Mai opened the pouch and pulled out the obsidian necklace. She held it up, and Lexi breathed a sigh of relief at the look on her friend's face.

"It's not my birthday," she said to Lexi, obviously fishing for the reason Lexi gave it to her.

Lexi took a breath. "I gave it to you for your protection."

"From what?"

Lexi looked around and then gestured to the couch. "Let's sit down, and I'll tell you what I know"

Mai listened as Lexi told her everything-about the demon lord trying to destroy the world, Calling the Immortals, the vampire conversion scheme, the succubus-even about finding Howard Parks dead. To her credit, Mai listened to all of it, asking only a couple hundred questions.

"I didn't tell you sooner because I didn't know all of it until just recently," Lexi finished.

"And the necklace?"

"Obsidian is a protective stone. It might not be the strongest magic, but it will help. Please wear it for me. So I'll stop worrying about you constantly."

Mai reluctantly nodded and put the necklace on. "Happy?"

Lexi smiled. "Yes, thank you."

"So where are things between you and the Immortal?" she asked.

"They're ... I don't know. They're confusing. He's gone to Seattle to be with Adrian until the other two brothers-Kalen and Hunter-show up."

"Kalen?" Mai repeated thoughtfully. "That's not a name you hear often."

"No, I suppose not," Lexi agreed, finding Mai's statement odd.

"You like him, don't you?"

"Kalen? Oh," Lexi said when Mai shot her a look. "Darius. Yeah, I suppose I do." She glanced at her watch and stood up, worried that if she didn't leave, Mai would bombard her with questions she wasn't ready to answer. Questions about how she really felt about Darius. "I need to go. Please wear the necklace for me and be careful. I'll call you later tonight."

"I promise," Mai said, following her to the door.

It was getting dark when Lexi left Mai's apartment and caught a cab. She thought about Darius, sitting alone at the airport, waiting for his flight. He must be She stopped in mid-thought and frowned. How was he planning to fly to Seattle without a ticket? Had Adrian bought him one? That had to be the case, because she certainly hadn't. She'd been distracted by his confession-and then later by his kiss.

She pulled the receiver from her pocket and turned it on. When she'd kissed Darius, she'd been holding one small discs in her hand. Without knowing why she'd done it at the time, she'd slipped the disc in his pocket when she'd wrapped her arms around him.

Now she turned the dials of the receiver to adjust the grid. Almost immediately she saw the light that be longed to Mai's necklace. She enlarged the geographic view and searched for another blinking light. Two appeared. One, she remembered, would be the garbage truck, while the other had to be Darius. Neither, she noticed with a frown, was at the airport.

She checked the location of each dot in turn and saw that one of them was in a part of town she wasn't familiar with. The other, however, was blinking at a location that was all too familiar-the Crypt. She didn't need two guesses to know whose dot that was.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Darius moved down the hallway of Amadja's underground dwelling, searching for Thin. Instead of going to the airport when he left Lexi, he'd gone straight to the club. Using his key, he'd sneaked inside and found the magically disguised door. In the end, getting in hadn't proved that difficult. He'd simply walked through the door.

He'd worried about being spotted, but soon discovered that none of the vampires or demons below ground seemed interested in him. He supposed it was because the only creatures down there were supposed to be down there.

Beyond the door had been a series of chambers he'd not yet been able to search. Beyond the chambers, a long tunnel stretched out before him like a long, untraveled road with no beginning and no end; dark and desolate, with only magical lanterns to light the way.

The end of the tunnel, when he finally reached it, split into three hallways. He explored each in turn, but only the last one was of any interest, with a set of huge double doors guarded by two vampires.

Too late to turn back unnoticed, he considered pulling his sword and dispatching them, but something made him hesitate. Instead, he strode toward them, and, to his surprise, they opened the doors at his approach and allowed him to enter the room beyond.

As soon as he stepped into it, Darius knew this was a room of some significance. It was a huge, relatively open area with a high domed ceiling. To the right was a dais on top of which sat a throne and a side chair. A heavy drape hung from the ceiling behind the dais, sectioning off a portion of the room. When Darius went to check it out, he saw that behind the curtain was a small, plush bedroom with thick area rugs and a luxurious bed piled high with pillows.

In the middle of the room, sunk in the floor, was a large rectangular pool. He moved to the edge and stared at the opalescent substance inside. On a hunch, he dipped his hand in and scooped some up. Even as he watched, it melted into his skin, and he felt the rush of energy that could only come from living magic.

He remembered what Daphne had said about collecting magic for Amadja. This pool of living magic was the culmination of all the life forces the succubus had collected to feed the shade demons. But where were the shade demons? Had they already been released?

Darius recalled Paddy talking about the full moon, and he wondered how that played into Amadja's plan.