The Demon King and I (16 page)

It took him a few tries, but he finally managed it. “I did tell your people I was here. Your phone was off, so they could not alert you.”

“So you just showed up at an interview where there were cameras? How did you get past the station security?”

“I made sure they were distracted and walked past. I also made certain to stay in the shadows so that no one but you saw me.”

“I hope you’re right, because I really don’t want to have to explain you. Hey—wait a minute. How did you get through? The portals are closed.”

“The mages on the council have opened one gate to Earth that is protected by magic.”

Mom had mentioned that the night before, but I’d been so busy I’d forgotten.

“Tell me again, why are you here? The last time we spoke you shoved me into a Vex tunnel because your world was being overrun by black magic.”

“The immediate threat is over, though the darkness still pervades. I’m sure your mother told you that several worlds are involved. What I have discovered on my planet is that there is unity within the darkness. I believe you call it a cult or society of some sort. These people work quietly to bring the evil into our worlds. And they are here, as the portals the other day were opened from this side.”

I looked at the roof of the car for a brief moment.
Why does this have to happen today?
There was so much to do before the ball, and making sure this event happened would take every bit of energy I had. It might sound selfish, but the universe could wait.

“Is there a reason my presence here causes you distress?”

I shoved the car into gear and backed out. “No.”
Yes.
The dream flashed through my mind. Oh, jeez.
Get it together, Gilly.

It was hard not to smile when I noticed Arath white-knuckling the dash. “Is this your first ride in a car?”

“Does it normally go so fast?” The heater kicked in and he jumped when the warm air blew out of the vents.

I had to laugh. “Yes, especially when I’m driving. Do you have any idea who this cult is?”

“Unfortunately, those on my planet preferred to die rather than tell me the truth. Their minds were protected by the evil, so it was no use reading them.”

Die?
He really did have an interesting way of doing business.

“Well, perhaps we can do some investigating on this side to see what we can find out. Maybe one of the mages can trace the magic.”

Arath was silent. I glanced over at him and his eyes were closed as if he were concentrating.

“Are you okay?”

“I must return to Maunra. There is trouble at the castle again.”

“How can you do that?”

“I am attuned to my people. They need me. Can you please stop the machine?”

I nodded. “Give me just a second and I’ll find a place to pull over.” We needed a space where he could disappear without anyone seeing. Since we were less than a mile from the office, I pulled into the private parking garage there and shut the automatic door behind us. “You should be safe here.”

It took him a moment to find the door handle and release his seat belt. “Be safe, Guardian,” he said as he stepped onto the concrete floor. Then he was gone.

Bye.

 
 
Kristen had been true to her word earlier about
not asking obnoxious questions. I wished I could say the same about the rest of the press.

I did a series of phone interviews for radio and print from my downtown office. Most of the reporters were respectful, but a couple brought up the question of Emilio and Markie and I deflected it as well as I could. I was always trying to bring the topic back to art and the kids we wanted to help. It wasn’t easy.

One reporter in particular, from a radio station in San Antonio, kept bringing up Markie. I didn’t lose my temper, but I was firm. “I don’t know how you feel about your friends, but Markie just died and I don’t appreciate people trying to create some kind of scandal out of it. It was tragic and very sad, and quite frankly my heart still hurts.” I sniffled. “We’re going on with this event because Markie loved these kids as much as I do. She was passionate about art and she loved life. It isn’t fair that someone took hers, but don’t you dare try to sully her name with scandal. She was a wonderful, caring woman, and I will miss her more than you know.”

There was a few seconds of dead air. “Thanks for taking the time with us, Ms. Caruthers, and good luck with the event.” Then there was a dial tone.

I laughed. “Guess he wasn’t ready for the truth.”

Sighing, I picked up the phone again to check my messages. Kyle had called with the discovery that Markie had bought one of Emilio’s paintings from the Paris gallery I own. The transaction had taken place over the phone. It wasn’t unusual for her to buy a piece and tell me about it later, but it was strange that she’d bought it the day she was murdered.

If Emilio was in any way involved with her, I’d have to kill him, especially if he had anything to do with her death.

CHAPTER 18

Before I knew it, the time to get ready for the Arts
in Schools Ball had arrived. I’d spent most of the day promoting the event while catching up on paperwork at the office.

As I headed home Kyle called with news about the murders. The medical examiners couldn’t identify one of the toxins found in both victims. That made me wonder if magic might be involved. The murders had been almost identical in that their hearts were cut out and weird incisions had been made on the palms of their hands. With the question about the magic, there was a good chance the killer or killers might not be of the human variety.

“Weird thing is,” Kyle told me as he waited for his flight back to Texas from New York, “the fibers under Markie’s fingernails also can’t be identified. We thought at first it might be the carpet from the motel, but it isn’t. Looks like she may have fought with the killer before he shot her with whatever drugs he was using. But there’s no DNA, just the weird material.”

I would have liked to think over what he had said, but it was now two hours before the event, and I still hadn’t decided on a dress.

Time to focus.

Jax had already put the final touches on my makeup, leaving me a couple of tubes of lipstick depending on the dress I chose. She went back to her hotel to dress and then she’d be available at the party for touch-ups should anyone need them. It wasn’t unusual to have a hairdresser, stylist, and makeup artist in the sidelines, especially before going up onstage in front of hundreds of people.

I wasn’t as high maintenance as some celebs, not that I ever really thought of myself that way. But with the Caruthers sisters always on the prowl for bad guys, we never knew which one of us might show up at party needing a major overhaul.

In front of my mirror I contemplated one of the three dresses Alex had picked out for me. The first had been a red sequined number that fit me perfectly, but I just wasn’t in a red kind of mood. Maybe it was all the dreams about blood lately.

I liked the second one, which was a slinky black concoction from Calvin Klein. I thought about the poll on
E!
and picked up the third dress. A silver piece of fabulosity that looked as if it had been sewn by fairies.

Mo barked his approval from the ottoman and I reached down to pet his head.

“I like it, too, buddy.” The dress fit my body perfectly. Ethereal and flowing, it made me feel like a princess.

“I knew it.” Alex poked her head in the door. “We need to put your hair up. Nothing too fancy, but it will show off that draped neckline.”

“You made it. Is everything okay?” I turned to see the rear view. The dress dipped to my lower back, but not so far as to be crude.

“It’s not great, but there’s been a lull in the action. I have time to put in an appearance, but I may not be able to stay for the entire gala.”

“Are you going to tell me what happened with Ginjin the other day? You two seemed mighty cozy.”

Rolling her eyes, she poked me with her finger. “Basically, I pulled him to safety. I just happened to land in the right spot at the right time. His wing had been ripped to shreds. He wasn’t pleased, which is so typical. He told me, ‘I was prepared for death.’ ” She used a silly macho accent. “I told him that his chance for martyrdom would have to wait another day because his people needed him.”

I laughed. “Considering your history with him, I have to admit I’m surprised you didn’t leave him to die.”

She smirked. “I’m still wondering about that myself. Nothing’s really changed, except that he hasn’t tried to kill me in the last twenty-four hours. Of course, we’ve both been busy protecting the mages so they can work their spells. When I left, things had settled down considerably.”

I glanced in the mirror at the gown she’d picked out for me. “I don’t know how you do it. One minute you’re pulling dragons out of the fire, the next you’re my own personal stylist.”

Alex rummaged through one of the drawers in my closet and pulled out some bobby pins and two diamond-encrusted combs. “It’s a gift. Besides, it’s no different from your killing a horde of demons and then showing up on the red carpet an hour later.” She laughed as she came out, her hands full with items for my hair. Her gown was deep sapphire, her signature color. “I saw your dress in Paris this fall, and knew when it walked down the runway it was made for you. I saved it for tonight.”

“Then why the other dresses?”

“You always like choices. If I’d given you just the one dress, you would have wondered if something else might have worked better.”

Damn. She knew me too well. “I love it.” I air-kissed her cheek, as we were both made up to the nines.

“Sit down so I can fix your hair.” She pointed to the chair.

I spread out the skirt and sat down in front of the vanity. In a matter of seconds she’d whipped my hair into a loose chignon and placed the diamond combs in the back. “You look beautiful, as always.” She smiled.

“So do you.”

“Well, I’m off to make sure everything is in place. The limo will be here at seven thirty to pick up you and Claire. Mira and Bailey are arriving on their own.”

Bailey. Crap. I’d forgotten all about Claire’s request.

“If I haven’t said it in the last twenty minutes, thank you again for pulling all this together. Do you have any idea how many millions of dollars we’re going to raise? We’ll have art and music programs in every school in Texas. Then maybe we can take on the rest of the world.”

Alex took my hand. “Hey, the Caruthers are always here for one another, and you forget, art is one of my passions, too. It is a work of love. I just can’t wait for you to see what we did.” She glanced down at the diamond watch on her wrist. “Gotta go.”

I followed not far behind in search of Claire. She was in her room, which was pink and white. Out of the four girls, she’s the least froufrou of the bunch, but she loves pink.

I found her cross-legged on her bed with a pile of books. “Hey,
chica,
it’s almost time for us to go. You need to get dressed.”

She held out a finger indicating she needed a second.

“Do you want to meet me downstairs?”

“No, hold on.” She still didn’t look up.

I sat in one of the white fluffy chairs waiting for her, grateful my dress wouldn’t show wrinkles. Whatever she was reading, it must have been fascinating. She couldn’t take her eyes from the page. Claire looked like a surfer girl, but she had a brain like no other. The only person I knew close to her intelligence was our brother, Bailey. He was great with gadgets and anything electronic, but Claire could absorb anything.

Finally she took her nose out of the book. “You aren’t going to believe this.” She closed the tome she’d been perusing. Her hazel eyes were bright with excitement. “Your demon king isn’t a demon.”

“Did you sniff glue today? What the hell are you talking about?” I frowned at her.

She sat on the edge of the bed, her long, tanned legs slipping out from under her robe. “I can’t be sure, but I think he’s one hundred percent mage. From what you described, only a real mage could do something like send you through a Vex, or close not just his portals, but ones all over the universe. This has been bugging me all day. I cut my location search short and skipped my hunky man breakfast to come back here and do research.

“Think about it, Gilly. What you saw weren’t just the portals going from his world to ours. You were closing portals to other dimensions. The whole thing is mind-boggling.”

“Claire, there has to be some other explanation. I saw him go all demon, big and red with fangs.” I did the international sign for long canines with my fingers. “He turned one of his own people into a pile of ashes before I could blink. He’s definitely demon. Maybe you missed something.”

“I don’t think so. Do you have any idea how rare male mages like him are? There’s one born every one hundred years or so. They have incredible powers. They can travel through time and space with a word. They control minds, and have enough power to close portals without being a Guardian. We’d have to confirm it with Mom, but it makes sense from what I’ve read.”

“But we know who his father was, so he has to be at least half demon.”

Claire stepped into her pink evening gown and turned so that I could zip up the back. “Screwy genetics and I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that Arath and his brother are twins. I haven’t made it that far in the research.” She slipped on a pair of bright pink Manolos that matched her dress perfectly, and faced me. “His father may be demon, but who knows what happens when a mage mates with a demon. As far as I can tell Aunt Juliet was the first.”

My brain hurt from trying to understand what she said. Oh, it wasn’t that difficult, but the idea that Arath wasn’t a demon, or at least partly so, was preposterous. “But why, and did she know what she was doing? I can’t believe she would knowingly leave her children on Maunra to be raised by a beast. Mom made it sound like Aunt Juliet had no idea Arath and Throe were alive. She told me specifically to keep my mouth shut about it.”

Claire shrugged. “That’s where you come in. We definitely need to do some investigating.”