Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
“ A re you sure this is your chosen course of action?” Darius asked me as we pulled up near the mage bar to meet Callie and Dizzy.
Instead of going in himself, Darius had given me ten minutes to run into the mage’s house and get the stuff I couldn’t live without. Eleven minutes later, he’d dragged me out. After that, we’d stopped by the hotel so he could get some clothes on, and now here we were, ready for a beer and hopefully some good news.
The beer was the only sure thing.
“Yes. Callie isn’t great at making friends, and Dizzy is weird at the best of times. He might make friends, but he doesn’t inspire the kind of intimacy that will get someone to spill their secrets. Hopefully I can be the go-between.”
Darius shook his head as he exited the car. I pushed the door open and gingerly stepped on my ankle.
“Would you like me to carry you?” he asked, walking around the car to me.
I snickered. “Funny. ”
His expression was serious.
“The reason I let you carry me the last time was because we had to flee the scene of a crime. That was about speed, not a tweaked ankle. Give me a break.”
“Do you heal at a faster rate than humans?” he asked, shutting the door for me. He adjusted his satchel around his shoulder.
“You keep forgetting that I am human.”
“Do you?”
“Yes,” I said grudgingly.
“Why do you detest the side of you that isn’t human?”
I took a deep breath and paused at the bar door. “I’m sure my dad is a really swell guy, but he rules the land of evil. Of monsters. I don’t want to be reminded of that part of my genetic makeup.”
“Many demons actually do good. Spread love. Pleasure.”
Oh yeah. I’d forgotten about that new knowledge.
I shrugged. “Mainly, though, I only knew my mom. She raised me. Made me what I am. I want to identify with her, and she was human.”
“Human, but with the bloodline of the gods. In essence, she was more than human, more than a mage, like you. On either side, you are extraordinary. There is not one piece of you that is mundane. You should celebrate that. ”
“I like mundane. Mundane keeps me safe.”
“You would not have been able to hide from what you are for much longer. You should be thankful you found me.”
“I didn’t find you, you arrogant ass. You stalked me. And why should I be thankful? Because the shifters will think I’m the enemy, or because I’ll get to be a feeding trough soon?”
“Because I can protect you in a way few others can.”
“Let me guess, this is going to lead into a conversation on bonding.”
“Well, since you brought it up…” Humor danced in his eyes.
I held up my hand, unable to stop myself from smiling. “No.”
“You say no now, but just wait. Your mind will change.”
“Nope.”
“I will rock your world. You will never be satisfied with that human cop.”
Those damn tingles washed over me again. “You’ll get blood, and that’s it. I’ll stand very still and rigid while I fulfill my promise. Then I’ll make your life hell. Somehow.”
He pulled the door open, his honeyed eyes delving into mine. “You already make my life hell,” he whispered. “In the best of ways. ”
The man had a way with words—I’d give him that. “You probably banged your way through the nobles of France when you were a human,” I muttered, entering the dimly lit interior of the half-filled bar. “Even though women weren’t supposed to sleep around back then.”
“Women have always had the same desires when it comes to pleasure and passion. It is society that changes,” Darius said, stopping beside me. “Simply because it was declared wrong in the time, does not mean it didn’t happen. I deflowered a great many behind the veil of secrecy, and they loved me for it.”
“Oh, ew. Tone it down, Casanova. And I doubt they loved you for tarnishing their reputations.”
“Behind the veil of secrecy, I said. I have always been discreet, and I have never lacked for partners, single or otherwise, experienced or not—”
“Please stop.”
“I celebrate a woman who knows her desires, and who demands to have them fulfilled.”
“Seriously, stop.”
“Do you demand to have your desires fulfilled, Reagan?”
Not the tingles! “I demand that you shut it down, and to achieve that end, I’ll shoot you in the leg again like I did in the paddock. Is that what you’re after?”
“So violent.” He gave a dark chuckle. “You have passion in spades, ma puce . I can’t wait to experience it.”
“I don’t know what puce means, but it sounds dirty,” I muttered. I pulled up my leg, snatched a knife from the holster around my ankle, and stabbed him in the side. Just as quickly, I pulled it out of his body, wiped the blade on his expensive shirt, and shoved it back where it belonged. His side would heal, but his shirt was ruined. I knew he’d care more about the latter.
He barely flinched. His reaction was another dark chuckle.
That hadn’t worked out how I’d hoped.
“Ready?” I asked, stalking forward.
“Always,” he replied, the velvet of his voice only easing marginally. He definitely did need blood, and if I wanted him to knock off all this ma puce stuff, I couldn’t even flinch when giving it to him. Nor could I display all this passion he thought I had rolling around in my body. It would be like a handshake, as far as I was concerned. A tight-lipped, stony-cold handshake between acquaintances. That was all.
Nodding to myself, because I knew this wouldn’t be the last time I needed the inner pep talk, I scanned the occupants of the bar for Callie and Dizzy.
“Dude, did you just stab that guy?” asked a young man with wide, disbelieving eyes. He wobbled against the wall he was leaning against, obviously drunk. That brown bottle in his hand wasn’t his first, or even third .
Drunk men had a habit of flapping their gums. Especially younger drunk men when confronted with a woman wearing skintight leather. My choice of clothing wasn’t only good for battle.
First things first.
I pointed at him, my hand too close to his face. “Are you human?”
“What?” He tried to move his head before bringing his hand up to bat away my finger.
“He is, yes,” Darius said, his gaze moving slowly around the room. “One that badly needs a shower.”
“What’s your problem?” the drunk guy asked, pushing upright. His eyes found the bloodied spot on Darius’s shirt. “Oh shit. Dude, you’re bleeding!”
I walked away from the man because he’d only get more disruptive, and checked out the lay of the land. Tables hugged the wall on my right, and there was a small throughway between those and the barstools pressed close to one side of the square bar. To my left, more stools lined the bar, leading to a larger open area on the other side. I knew I’d find more tables back there, maybe a booth or two, and wondered if there was a pool table in the back. Judging by the crowd, the other side of the bar was more popular. It probably had more shadows and less humans. Less humans because the magical folk would scare them away from hanging around .
That was where I needed to be. With the scary folk. They didn’t tattle when you hung them upside down and demanded information. And I needed to demand information at this point. Because what was up with a mage holding me off the ground with air ? That type of thing didn’t go unnoticed, not even in New Orleans.
When I turned the corner, I did indeed see a pool table with one guy bent over the green. Another guy gripping a cue stick stood off to the side, watching the shot. A few others hovered around the table with them, and several more people were spread out across the back area. Among them, sitting by themselves at a table, were Callie and Dizzy.
“They certainly did not make friends,” I muttered, stopping at the top of the bar.
The bartender, a brick of a man in his early thirties, slowed when he came our way. His eyes took me in for a second before pausing on Darius. His expression hardened.
“I’d like a whiskey, please,” I said. “Jameson.”
The bartender leaned against the bar. The muscles on his arms bulged and his hard gaze never left Darius’s face. “You shouldn’t be here, pal.”
“I’m going to take a wild stab here, but…shifter?” I lifted my eyebrows at the bartender. Like vampires, shifters didn’t smell like their other forms.
His gaze flicked to me. “I don’t work for Roger, but I don’t mind chipping in when these bloodsuckers come around.”
“I have as much right to be in the Brink as you do,” Darius said eloquently. “In addition, I am working in connection with the human police department. We are trying to rid your town of mages who are killing people in order to call demons. Or would you rather the death toll rise?”
The bartender scoffed. “Isn’t that a little like the pot calling the kettle black? You kill humans all the time. Why should you care about a few more of them dying?”
“I do not kill them. I share a mutually beneficial relationship with them, which they are free to end at will.”
I grimaced, because the ending it at will part wasn’t always true. Take my situation, for example—I couldn’t get rid of the bugger, and I hadn’t even engaged in a mutually beneficial relationship. I’d tried not to engage in any kind of relationship at all.
The bartender scowled. “Is changing them into swamp monsters what you call a mutually beneficial relationship?”
“You’ve got a valid point, there, Sir Bartender.” I knocked on the bar. “Be that as it may, he’s not changing anyone now, and he’s not feeding on humans. I spoke to Roger about this a couple months ago. Darius is helping me solve a case. Despite my hopes to the contrary, he’s helpful. ”
“These things only look out for themselves,” the bartender said.
“Usually, yes. However, earlier today he broke me out of a mage’s demon-powered magical hold. How the holy hell that mage was able to suspend me in the air without his hands, I do not know, but that is not a power you want running amok in your city, trust me. There is some serious shit going down, and you can take the uncharacteristically high pitch of my voice as proof. I don’t normally get rattled, but any demon that can impart that much power is…really not good. Not good at all.”
I took a deep breath before continuing. I’d been constantly in motion since all this happened, so there’d been no time to think or worry. But now, explaining it, the gravity of the situation was hitting home.
That mage had wielded a power I couldn’t easily counteract, and he hadn’t even been possessed. That meant that the demon who’d imparted its power was definitely mighty, and quite possibly something I couldn’t handle.
What had I gotten myself into?
“Anyway.” I put both palms on the bar and leaned toward the guy, because he was something I could handle. “The vampire’s claws work on that demon-inspired power, which means he needs to stick around. If you have a problem with that, get Roger on the phone. I’ll deal with your alpha, not you. Otherwise, serve me up that whiskey, because I need to talk to my friends.”
The bartender’s face crumpled into an expression of wariness. He leaned away from me, and as he did so, his eyes flicked to the right. Without another word, he turned and went after the whiskey.
“Does your magic work on those demons because you’re a vampire, or because you are an elder?” I asked Darius quietly.
“An elder of my age and experience can handle most demons, all the way up to the higher echelons of power. Vlad has tested this theory with a few level-five demons, but from what I gather, he hasn’t been able to get at Lucifer’s right-hand demons. I would wager that the most powerful demons and angels are beyond our capabilities.”
“He is trying to work out a deal with demons, but he’s testing his abilities to kill them?”
“The demons have power games, like humans. Like vampires. In order to get things done, Vlad is willing to do whatever it takes. He had to kill a few naysayers to prove his worthiness, and kill a few more who stood to oppose the plan. He is one of the most ruthless vampires living.”
“Well, not really living, as it were…”
“You have used that joke before. ”
“It’s funny every time.”
“Hardly.”
“And that is why you didn’t want me to kill that demon at the mage battle?” I asked. “You didn’t want to step on Vlad’s toes.”
“Correct. I am not at Vlad’s level. Not yet. My power is nearly equal, as are my strength and prowess, but I don’t have as many fail safes in place. I can’t let him know that I possibly upset his plans by allowing a demon to be killed. He would take that as a personal slight, and pay me one in kind.”
The bartender placed two glasses of whiskey in front of us, his gaze downcast. “I don’t know what kind of magic you’re wielding, but try to fit in. I don’t need no trouble in my bar.” He must’ve caught my unique scent. Thankfully, he wasn’t as curious as Roger’s people.
“Don’t worry.” I hooked a thumb Darius’s way. “He’ll pay for the damages.”
Darius’s lips thinned.
“Whatever. Look, I know a couple of the mages who like to call demons,” the bartender said, sticking out his hand for money and leaning against the bar. He looked away from us, as though the very sight of us offended him.
I nudged Darius. “Thanks for the drink.” He reached into his back pocket.
“They drink in here,” the bartender continued. “ Usually after they do the summoning. They are always pleased with themselves. They brag about it.”
“They flout the magical law by summoning a demon, and yet the shifters do nothing?” Darius said. “Do you choose which laws you uphold based on your prejudices?”
“That is also a valid point, but now’s not the time.” I nudged Darius again, this time to quiet him.
The bartender’s face came back around, anger plain in his features. “You don’t know shit about this town. If we make a move on a mage here, it’s as good as declaring war with the Mages’ Guild. They police themselves. I’ve let them know a few times that their mages are calling demons, and I’ve let Roger know, too. Nothing happened. You do the math.”
“I have done the math,” Darius said in a dangerous tone. My small hairs stood on end. “The woman standing next to me has as much courage in her pinky as Roger’s entire force of shifters. She will take on the mages, the demon, and the Mages’ Guild, if need be, in order to save your town. Helping her are two other mages, a human detective, and a vampire. Not helping her…” Darius swept his hand toward the bartender, his bar, and then made a wider, more inclusive gesture. It was clear he meant the entire town. “For a species who boasts fearlessness, you sure quiet down fast enough.”
Darius took his drink off the bar, staring the bartender down, and sipped slowly. “This whiskey is subpar.”
The bartender motioned at me. “She picked it.”
“Okay, then. Good talk.” I pulled Darius’s arm. “Time’s a-wastin’.”
“Hey.” The bartender raised his hand for me. He went to the till, showing the bar his big back. A moment later, he turned back with a few folded bills in his hand. “I may not want you here, but I ain’t no crook. And don’t bother tipping. I won’t spend your filthy money.”
It was Darius’s turn to nudge me this time, even though it wasn’t my change. I didn’t argue.
I took the few steps closer to the bar. Darius continued on toward Callie and Dizzy’s table, taking both drinks with him.
“No tip,” the bartender said again, louder. Then he lowered his voice. His eyes were soft and sincere, almost imploring, as he shoved the bills into my hand. I could tell this was more than a mere monetary exchange. “That’s about all I can do. Good luck. I mean that. I got kids here, a business. I can’t afford to be a vigilante. But if you organize something against the guild, Roger will want to know about it. We don’t have the guns against that organization, but he won’t balk about lending a hand to those who do.”
I crumpled the money in my fist and shook my head, playing it up for whatever spectators he was worried about. “Leaving you no tip makes absolutely no sense, you realize.” I slipped the money into my pouch. His nod was slight as he leaned away. “You’ll take the wage after his filthy money is laundered through your business, but you won’t take it directly? That’s just stupid.”
His brow furrowed. “Do you know what laundering means?”
I rolled my eyes. I had thought so…
“Whatever. Suit yourself.” I patted my pouch. “Also, if I don’t die, I’d really appreciate you putting in the good word to Roger. Shifters follow me around about as much as that vampire does, and I’d rather neither of them did. It doesn’t do much for my appearance of neutrality, you know? So, anyway, I’d love it if he heard something good about me for once. You know, like I helped out your town.” I smiled at him hopefully and waggled my eyebrows. “But if you do talk to him, don’t mention the vampire.”
A grin slid up his face. “You’re cracked.”
“I know. But think about it, would you?”
“Get outta here.” The bartender flung up his hand and turned away to serve someone waiting down the bar.
A moment later, I was in the ladies’ room pulling out the money. The white of a bar napkin was nestled between the green bills. On it a lazy hand had scrawled two names. Nothing else, just the names.
“That’ll do, pig,” I muttered. Google would help me put faces to the names, no problem. But this time, I needed the dual mages on board. I knew what I was up against, and I knew I needed more power.