21. A Pet Daemon Does Not Sound Fun
A Pet Daemon Does Not Sound Fun
‘What’s a Necromancer?’ I’ll leave the other part for now. The raising a Daemon part.
Micah has gone even more still, if that’s at all possible for an immortal Vampire.
‘A Warlock who practices Death Magic,’ Jezreel says, all flirting gone. ‘It’s beyond Dark Magic. And before you ask, I do not know anyone who has gone down that path.’
‘Not a Witch?’ I ask, my eyes flicking between the Witch and the Vampire.
‘It is possible.’ Her eyes are still fixed on Micah.
‘But unlikely. Technically, we’re all Witches.
However, males are referred to as Warlocks to differentiate them.
Women have a different power than men. I can’t really explain it.
And it would be a betrayal of the ancestors for me to tell you our ways. ’
‘How does your Magic work exactly?’ I only know what I’ve been told, and it never seemed important for me to have accurate knowledge before now. I’m trying to play the detective without actually interrogating her, standing casually with my hands by my sides, head tilted in interest.
‘Witches draw power from the earth. From nature.’ She finally turns to face me, and I definitely see fear in her eyes, although she’s trying her best to hide it.
But her nails are digging into her palms, she’s holding herself still, and I’m not sure she’s even aware of doing it.
‘We also use the power of the ancestors for some rituals and spells. It’s why we stay close to their bones.
Our power goes back into the earth when we die to renew it and enable other Witches to draw upon it. ’
Maybe the Treaty wasn’t the only reason they chose to stay in New Orleans. If they draw power from their ancestors, they would want to be near their burial grounds. Jezreel’s shop is close to a cemetery.
‘How does one become a Necromancer?’ I redirect my questioning, sliding my hands into my pockets, affecting a stance far more casual than what I’m feeling.
The best way to get answers from a suspect or a witness is to make them think it’s not as important as it is.
For some reason, people are far more open when the stakes are lower. I’m hoping it’s the same with Witches.
Jezreel tilts her head back and looks at the molded ceiling as if gathering her thoughts. Then she shakes her head, her earrings following the movement. ‘I can’t tell you that.’
‘Can’t, or won’t?’ I harden my voice, threading steel into it.
‘I’m doing you a favor by sharing any of this with you,’ she says to me coolly, placing a hand on her hip.
‘I’m aware of that. But there is murder involved. Several murders.’ I can’t keep the thread of anger from sliding into my words, coating my voice as I stare at her equally as coolly.
My temperature is steadily rising, and Micah gives me a look that tells me to calm the f down. I breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth, slowly.
‘Fine,’ I concede. ‘Tell me how you know it’s a Daemon.’
‘Now that I can tell you. The claw marks, the pattern, the way they dig into the shoulders. There’s a curvature Lycos lack. And I’ve seen it before.’
Micah looks surprised at her admission, a frown forming on his smooth brow.
‘In a book. Not an actual Daemon. The same as you would have heard legends of them in your time here. I’ve never heard of one being raised; it’s far too dangerous.’ She shudders, fear sliding through her chocolate eyes again.
‘How so?’ I ask. Aside from the obvious murdery bent Daemons apparently have.
‘They’re controlled by whoever raises them.
But they’re desperate to break free of it.
Almost impossible to hold for long. From what I remember, they grow in power every time they’re raised.
’ Jezreel looks sick at this, dark skin paling as she places her shaking hands on the counter as if she needs it to steady her.
‘Any idea who the Warlock is?’ Micah asks, moving around the counter to take her hands in his. She stares at them for a moment in confusion.
‘I already told you, no. But,’ she adds, raising a hand she extracts from Micah’s grip, forestalling me from blurting anything out, ‘I will ask around. See if anyone in our community knows anything. It would be hard to keep this secret.’
‘I sincerely appreciate it,’ Micah tells her with a smile that lights his onyx eyes with stars. I want to roll my eyes and grit my teeth at the same time.
‘It reflects badly on Witches.’ Of course, she’s doing it for herself. I couldn’t care less. Whatever gets us a lead. Or even better, a name.
‘You know serving a Vampire is anathema to us,’ she says to Micah, her face serious. A warning to him? She steps closer and puts her hands on his arms, staring into his beautiful face. Something unnamed slides through me, slippery and unwanted.
‘I’m aware,’ he says carefully, neutrally, giving nothing of his thoughts away.
‘That’s all I can tell you,’ Jezreel says, again to Micah, her red-painted nails stark against his tattoos and bronzed skin.
‘It’s enough.’ He smiles, and her expression immediately changes from recalcitrant to sultry.
‘How long are you here for?’ she almost purrs, and I keep my smile in place, even as I want to grind my teeth together. Or slap her.
Not from jealousy. It’s the obviousness of it. It’s tacky. She may as well be stripping.
‘Until tomorrow.’ His voice is warm and inviting, and I clench my hands at my sides, unable to look away.
Apparently, we’re not heading straight home with our information.
‘That’s a shame,’ Jezreel places a hand on Micah’s shirt, red nails like blood against the black. ‘But still enough time for dinner.’ She’s looking up at him through lowered lashes, her breasts almost pressed against his chest.
Unable to stomach any more, I turn and leave them to it. I got what I came for. If they think I’m rude for not saying ‘thank you’ or ‘goodbye,’ I don’t care. Waiting on the sidewalk. I idly watch tourists across the road heading into Saint Louis Cemetery No. 1, wishing I was with them.
Back at the hotel, Micah leaves me without a word.
I don’t dare to ask him if he’ll be back before his dinner, or if he even said yes to Jezreel’s offer.
He owes me nothing, and the last thing I need is for him to think I’m jealous, or care, or am upset that he’s having dinner with a pretty witch he’s banged in the past. And will again tonight if she has her way.
Thankfully, Ruby Blue is waiting for me in the suite. Filling her in on everything Jezreel said, I watch her beautiful face lose color.
‘What did you find out?’ I sink into a chair as tiredness hits me like a hyper-rail.
‘I don’t know the ME well, but he’s good at his job, and knows about Witches,’ she says, handing me a takeaway Thai beef noodle salad. It looks as if we both forgot to eat lunch, and she looks as worn out as I feel, shadows in her eyes that I’m sure are mirrored in my own.
‘He agreed it’s not a Werewolf doing this,’ Ruby says between bites of food.
‘He’s also heard rumors of whispered legends, but the Witches are a secretive group, so he couldn’t be sure of their veracity.
It sounds as if he thinks it’s this Daemon Jezreel told you about.
But he never mentioned Necromancy as an option. Or Death Magic.’
I nod and grimace. ‘Tell me about it.’
‘Okay, spill the rest,’ she says, and I’m both thankful and hate that she can read me so easily.
‘Micah is having dinner with the Witch.’ I shrug, shoving more beef and noodles into my mouth as if keeping busy will stop me from spiraling.
Ruby looks at me steadily, but then dismisses it.
Neither of us needs to tell me I have absolutely no right to be jealous, especially when I have a boyfriend.
The reason I went to Micah in the first place was that I needed bail money to get Jake out.
That’s all. But the thought slides unwanted into my mind that he said I still owed him dinner, but he hasn’t mentioned it since Vincent Rodriguez’s house days ago.
To take my mind off everything, Ruby and I head to Saint Paul’s Cathedral in the square.
Neither of us is religious, and Catholics have no explanation for supernatural beings that roam the earth, but I crave the silence and ritual.
They’re doing mass, and we sit in a pew near the back, soaking in the history and the peace surrounding us.
The architecture is stunning, and a sense of calm washes through me. I don’t understand the Latin prayers, but the cadence and the passion behind them from the priest are mesmerizing.
We leave as they start communion. It reminds me too much of other blood sliding down my throat, of almost being consumed by it.
We eat at the most expensive restaurant we can find, recommended by the concierge, and have authentic New Orleans fare.
I don’t think I could eat like this all the time, too many carbs, but the flavors are amazing.
I limit my alcohol to one glass of wine as we flirt with our hot waiter and joke with an older couple at the next table. It’s the most normal I’ve felt in days.
On a whim, we join a ghost tour. We’re the only ones not taking it seriously, but we enjoy playing tourist and pretending to be awed and scared by the lore that’s been the lifeblood of this city for centuries.
We each transfer twice as much crypto as recommended by our guide.
He did an excellent job of taking my mind off a pretty Witch and a devastatingly attractive Vampire tangled up in sheets and each other.
When we get back to our suite, it’s just gone ten pm, and no Micah.
Ruby heads straight to bed, and I record a holo for Captain Buchanan and my partner, filling them in on everything we learned today.
I know Butch will want to speak with Micah when we return about leaving it up to the police to catch the serial killers, but that’s not my concern.
Micah will do what he wants, and no one can stop him.
I know the chance of Tim and me tracking down a rogue, thousands-of-years-old Vampire who managed to get a Warlock to raise a Daemon to help them kill is almost nonexistent. But that doesn’t mean we won’t do our damnedest. I will not be sitting back and doing nothing when we have leads to follow.
I’ve just decided to try to get some sleep when a holo request comes from an unknown number. Normally, I’d let them leave a message, but with everything that’s going on, it could be important. It could be Micah, for all I know.
But when I accept it, Jezreel’s face hovers in front of me.
‘Thank God,’ she tells me breathlessly. ‘I found something.’
‘Where’s Micah?’ I ask, frowning.
‘I don’t know. We had dinner, and he left after.’ She pouts slightly, and I try not to feel relief even as it floods me. ‘I have no way of getting hold of him. You know what he’s like.’ A breathless laugh, an edged smile.
I ignore her comment. ‘What did you find out?’
‘I asked around after you left this afternoon, but I hadn’t heard anything back when Micah and I had dinner.
’ Oh, she is definitely disappointed that he wasn’t dessert.
I try not to smirk. ‘Something had been tugging at my mind. Then I remembered an old book I’d seen on how to raise a Daemon.
A friend just brought it over to me. You need to see it.
Can you come to the shop?’ I see excitement in her deep chocolate eyes, her brown skin slightly flushed.
‘Shouldn’t you tell Micah?’ I don’t trust her, even though he clearly does.
‘If you can find him, bring him,’ she says easily, and my paranoia slips down a few notches. I can’t let green tint my vision; there’s too much at stake. ‘Otherwise, you can just tell him yourself.’ She shrugs, as if it doesn’t matter to her either way, and most of my trepidation slides away.
‘I can do that.’ If she has info, I want it. We’re leaving tomorrow, and I have no idea where Micah is, when he will be back, or how to get hold of him.
Leaving a hastily scrawled note, I also send Ruby a flicker, even though she likely won’t get it until morning. Checking my gun and clip, I rack one into the chamber and slip silently from the suite.