The Demon King and I (7 page)

He poured me a Matador and I sipped the Red Bull, limeade, Triple Sec, and tequila concoction. “Whew, that is some good stuff.” I smiled at him.

He winked at me. “A couple of those and all your troubles will melt away.”

I wish.

“Thanks for this, and tell Pele his crab bites are mind-blowing.”

Patrick laughed. “No way. The chef’s big head barely fits in the kitchen as it is. If I tell him you like it, he’ll be whipping up something else for you to try, and our guests will go hungry tonight.”

Alex sat back in the booth.

Patrick picked up the tray that had held the drinks. “You guys need anything, just call me downstairs.”

Claire and Bailey passed him on the way in, and they stopped to say hi before heading over. Bailey was in jeans and vintage tee. He must have been working, because his curls were a mess. He had two pencils stuck behind his right ear as if he’d forgotten about the first one he put there.

Claire wore a minidress made out of silky yellow material that went fabulously with her blonde curls.

I smiled at them both. “I love you guys.” They group-hugged me.

“Please, she was our friend, too,” Bailey said. “Tell me we’re going after the bastard who killed her.”

“Of course we are,” Mira said behind him. Her red curls framed her face, and she wore jeans with a green V-neck T-shirt and black leather jacket. “He’s going to pay for messing with a friend of ours. So tell us the details, Gilly.”

Alex poured everyone drinks and I shared everything Kyle had told me. I also explained about the dream, and the voice I’d heard.

“Do any of you know of who would want to hurt her?”

A chorus of “no” circled the table.

I blew out a breath. “I have no idea what’s going on in the universe. Murder never happens at a good time, but I’m dealing with a hardheaded demon king. And I have a sense that things are going to get bad very fast. I can’t explain it. Something doesn’t feel right.”

“I don’t know if it’s related, but I haven’t had a day or night off in weeks,” Alex admitted. “The dragons are causing me extreme burnout. Pun intended.” She smirked. “I don’t know why but there are more jumpers than ever and I can’t tell you how many I’ve had to haul back to the other side. It’s almost like they are afraid. What I don’t get is why they would jump to this world, when they know we’re going to kill them or take them back. Doesn’t make any sense.”

Claire took a sip of her drink and pursed her lips. “Whew. That’s strong. I’m with you, Al. I’ve spent more time in the water than on land the last few days. I had one angry water pony who tried to take down a shrimp boat. That was not an easy thing to explain to the fishermen. I finally convinced them that they’d seen a genetically modified whale. Thank God, no one took pictures. The thing caused a huge dent in the bow of the ship, but they didn’t take on any water.”

Bailey sat back. “How about you, Mira?” He looked at her as if he knew something the rest of us didn’t.

She gave him a withering stare, and he only smiled. “Fine. I was attacked by a group of Fae. Last night, when I was in Panama meeting with a pharmaceutical company rep about some new products. When we stepped out onto the street we were jumped by a group of seven-foot, blonde-headed fairies. One of them had the nerve to pull a knife. I saw it coming, but he took a chunk out of me when I tried to push the rep out of the way.” She showed us the bandage on her shoulder. “I was able to take care of them and shoved them through a portal. Scary part is, they didn’t show up on the radar.”

“Same here.” Claire raised a hand. “One of our guys heard about a ship in distress and I jumped to check it out.”

I chewed on my lip. “How the hell is that happening? We have trackers on every portal on Earth. There’s no way they can get through.”

“They can if new portals are being opened,” Bailey chimed in.

“But the treaties.” Alex coughed. “It isn’t possible.”

“Yeah, it is. All it takes is a couple of worlds deciding they don’t want to honor the treaties anymore, and boom, we have a war on our hands.” Bailey crossed his arms against his chest and frowned. His brilliant mind was already at work coming up with solutions. That’s what he did best. That and design cool weapons.

“Do you think that’s what Mom and Aunt Juliet are doing at the high council meeting?” Claire pulled her hair behind her ears. She was more sensitive to change than the rest of us, but she was still queen when it came to killing water-related bad guys.

I shrugged. “Have any of you heard from her?”

There was another chorus of “no.”

“That’s weird. Usually she’d tell at least one of us.” I picked up my cell phone and dialed Jake. He would know where Mom was.

He answered on the first ring. “I’m sorry about Miss Stewart. I know she was a friend.” Jake sounded sincere but distracted.

“Thank you. Is something wrong?”

“Marshall says six jumpers landed in.” He paused for a moment. “Rome. Right in the middle of Vatican City.”

“Oh, hell. I’m on my way.” I hung up the phone and pushed Bailey out of the booth so I could stand up. Before I could say anything, cell phones rang all around. My sisters rolled their eyes.

There wasn’t time to talk, but it would be a long night for the Caruthers sisters. Alex ran for her office. “I’ve got two sabers and three of Bailey’s new guns in here.” She also had an ax, which I borrowed along with a sword. Demon heads can be tough to cut off.

“Let’s catch up later. This is beyond weird. Thanks, you guys, for being here tonight. It meant a lot.” I waved.

Claire blew me a kiss and then picked up one of Bailey’s guns. I heard her say, “Show me how this puppy works,” to Bailey as I touched my tattoos together and teleported away.

Thirty seconds later I landed on my butt in front of St. Peter’s Basilica. I’d been here many times before, so I recognized it instantly. “What is it with these guys and holy places?” I followed the screams. Several priests ran from a small building to the left.

Damn.
I booked it to the door, which led to a small meeting room. It was empty, but I saw another door had been busted that opened into a large dining room with tables.

What the hell are those?

There were three winged demons flying around the room in circles.

“Come on, you big idiots, come and get me.” I swung the ax behind my back so they couldn’t see it and ran as fast as I could.

They acted as guards keeping me from the door, but wouldn’t come near enough for me to kill them. If I had brought one of the guns, I could have picked them off and been done with it. As I moved closer to the door where the other demons had gone, the three winged monsters dove for me. Claws out and teeth bared, the first swooped low and caught me from behind. He pulled me up by the hair.

My skull felt like it split in two as I brought the ax up with my right arm and sliced a clean cut in the creature’s neck. I knew I’d hit my target when it screeched and green goo dropped on my head and my boots. Luckily I was only a few feet off the ground when it dropped me, so I didn’t have far to fall.

I heard something human behind me and swung around. One of the priests had returned and he held a rosary as he prayed.

“Father, get out of here. These things will kill you.”

“No. I saw you come in to fight the hell spawn. I will not leave you alone.” He was young, and probably idealistic, but I didn’t have time to argue with him. Unless that rosary had blades on it, I wasn’t sure it would do him much good against the crazy birds. But I never questioned a person’s faith.

Another of the winged monsters dipped down and tried to pry the ax away with its claws. It had ahold of my wrist, and its claws ripped the flesh from my bones. I used my left hand to grab the saber from where I’d stuck it in my back belt. Swinging my arm up, I drove the sharp point through the head. The damn thing wouldn’t let go of my wrist even in death. I sliced away the claw still attached to me.

“Watch out!” the priest screamed as the last of the creatures swooped down. Not sure where its heart was, I pierced the chest with the saber and then brought the ax up in my other hand. There was so much blood I couldn’t see where the ax began and my hand ended. I used what strength I had left in it to slice upward and hit some kind of artery. The thing fell to the floor screeching.

“Father, I have to go after the others. Please, for both of our sakes, don’t follow me. I can’t protect us both. Keep everyone out of here until I can clean up this mess.”

He stared at me for a moment.

I shrugged. It was never easy explaining something most humans had no idea existed. “I know. Demon spawn on Earth would freak people out. So let’s keep this between you and me. The rest of those guys running for their lives just wouldn’t understand. I appreciate your bravery, but we have to keep these things quiet. Okay? I promise I’ll be back in a few minutes. This is what I do.”

I’m not sure if he believed me, but he nodded.

I took off down another long hallway.

A big light flashed at the end of the hall. “No!” I ran as fast as I could but I was too late. The demons had used a temporary portal to get out of the room. The remains of a steel door was all that was left. Whatever had been in the room was now gone. All that was left was a marble slab and several smashed safe-deposit boxes. Or at least that was what it looked like. It took me a minute to realize it was a room-sized safe. “This isn’t good.”

I raced back to the dining area. “Father, I need a couple of trash bags, and can you tell me what was in the last room on the right? The one with the bank vault inside?”

“Was?” His eyes teared. “No, they couldn’t have taken it all. That is the papal treasury. Priceless jewels and artifacts from centuries were stored there. Even some artwork in the larger boxes.”

Oh, damn.
“You’ll need to find out what they took. Not all of the boxes were smashed so it’s possible they were after something specific.” I pulled out a business card from the back pocket of my jeans. “When you have a good accounting of what’s gone, call this number and ask for Jake. He knows how to get in touch with me. I promise I’ll do my best to get your treasure back, but first I need those trash bags.”

He ran behind the counter where a buffet had been set out. “I do not have bags but I have this.” He wheeled out a large garbage can.

I smiled at him. “That will do. I hear sirens. Can you keep them away for a few moments?” I threw the three demons in the can with my left hand. The right was almost useless now. The demon poison had begun to shrivel the skin. It burned like hell, but I didn’t have time to worry about war wounds. I had to get the creatures out of there before the police showed up.

“What do I say?” He turned back to stare at me.

“The truth, Father, that thieves stole the treasure. If I find it, I promise to return it.”

“May I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Are you Gillian Caruthers?” That was the tough part about having to deal with humans on the job. On occasion we had to send in a mage to clear memories or change things a bit. I didn’t think we’d have to do that here.

I gave him my best fake chuckle. “People say I look like her all the time. I’m flattered. I think she’s kind of pretty.”
You are so going to hell, Gilly girl.

The look in his eye told me he knew I’d lied. He made the sign of the cross in front of him. “Whoever you are, God be with you.” He couldn’t be much older than me, but there was wisdom in those eyes. I knew he’d handle the situation.

As he turned to follow my orders I pulled one of the watches from my pocket. I pushed the button and grabbed hold of the trash can.

Arath had some explaining to do.

CHAPTER 7

“What the hell are these things? And if you say
‘demons,’ I’ll kill you.”

Arath met me at the door. “Threatening a demon king is never wise, Guardian. You are injured.” He pointed to my right hand.

“Yeah. I’m not really interested in the obvious right now. Are you going to tell me what these things are? I’ve seen a lot of demons, studied even more, but I’ve never seen anything that looked like this.” I lifted the lid of the can. The stench, a cross between rotten eggs and something Mo the bulldog threw up on my rug a few weeks ago, made the bile rise in my stomach.

“Shoreh. They are pets of the Nira clan. Where did you find them?” He lifted one out of the can and examined it.

“They were in one of our holiest places, guarding the door while someone else stole priceless antiquities. I didn’t actually see your people do the deed, but since these are demon pets, and our security team saw the jumpers, they must’ve had something to do with it.”

“I will order Comdar, the head of the clan here. He is no thief, so I am certain he will have an explanation.” He threw the dead batlike creature back in the can.
“Rockschlt!”
He roared the word and demons suddenly appeared from the doorways, At least thirty of them filled the hall. “Bring Comdar to me!” The demon horde bowed and fled through the front hallway.

“Before you leave, let me heal your injuries.” He pointed to the hand that still held the ax. I wasn’t sure I could let go of the weapon since the blood had dried and it now felt permanently attached.

“I don’t have any plans to leave.” I stood just to the right of the front door. “I want the antiquities back. They are very important to a certain religion, and I promised to bring them back.” I wasn’t Catholic, but had a feeling lying to a priest meant bad karma any way you looked at it.

“Demon hunter, you are in no shape to argue with me. I will heal your hand, and you will return home to rest. It may be several days before Comdar arrives. His clan lives underground in the Blashen Forest.”

“Well, since you’re the almighty demon king, then you should be able to know exactly where they are and teleport them here. Or they can teleport themselves. They certainly had no problem making it out of that vault before I could get to them.”

He grunted. “I am flattered that you think me so powerful I could pick someone off of the planet and bring them to me, but you are wrong. Let me heal your hand. We will discuss Comdar later.” He turned and walked behind one of the tapestries.