21 Shades of Night, page 170
I shifted my mind to the pleasant thoughts of Shakespeare’s sonnets, exhaled, and imagined my anxiety and annoyance floating away in small puffs of smoke. Adrian watched me with an unreadable expression, his hands clasped behind his back. I showed him my pearly whites.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Your sudden lightheartedness is suspicious,” he said with a raised brow.
“I’ve decided I’m not going to let you affect me. We have a job to do.”
Before he could get another word in, I headed into the crowd. I spun to the side, avoiding two children as they ran by laughing and covered in ice cream. The scent of roasted corn and fried foods wafted past me on a breeze. My stomach growled, reminding me I should have eaten breakfast before we left the house. I bought a sausage-on-a-stick and leaned against the stand, waiting for Adrian to catch up to me. I took my first bite. The hot grease burnt the roof of my mouth, and I sucked in air to cool it. I savored the spiced meat as I chewed.
“This is work?” Adrian asked as he approached.
“No, this is breakfast that can be eaten while we work,” I said.
He studied me as if I was some small reptile he wanted to dissect. “You eat, you sleep, and you get hurt. You certainly play well at being human.”
“Because I am human. How many times do I have to say it?”
“Just because you say it, doesn’t make it true.”
I rubbed my eyes with my thumb and forefinger and sighed. This man would never believe my words without proof. If I didn’t gain even a small amount of this man’s trust, our animosity could get us killed. I needed to be the bigger woman.
“What will it take for you to believe me? Do you want Tres to perform a full physical?” I asked.
He opened his mouth as if to make another comment, but when he met my gaze, he stopped. He must have read the earnestness in my face. He tilted his head and furrowed his brow as though he couldn’t quite figure me out. I kept my face straight. I still had a few surprises in me.
“Why?” he asked.
“Because one of us needs to call a truce. Hell, if you want, I’ll tell you my life’s story, but not here and not now.”
The muscles in his jaw moved. My breath caught in my throat, and my heart pounded. I wanted him to accept me. I would never admit it aloud, but the opinions of Dimitri’s descendants meant more to me than anyone else. The other two would be easier, I hoped. This one, however, remained the exception to everything I knew about the Van Helsings. He always wanted to go on his own.
“I suppose that is acceptable,” he said.
I clapped my hands. “He can be reasoned with! All right, let’s get to work.”
“And how do you propose we do this search?” he asked.
I finished my sausage and tossed the stick in the trash. I moved close enough to murmur to him without being overheard, touching his shoulder. He stiffened. Though we made a semi-truce, trust would be a long time coming. Still, we couldn’t act as strangers.
“First, we need to pretend we’re friends. Otherwise, they’ll see us coming,” I said.
He nodded and relaxed. “How are we going to find them?”
“Leave that to me.”
I tucked my arm in the crook of his elbow and pulled him forward. As we walked, I inhaled and let my senses expand, once again activating my astral sight. A rainbow of colors greeted me. Bright reds and light yellows emanated from happy fair goers and mixed with the grays and muddy browns of others of a more downhearted nature. All human as far as my eye could see. The yellow cloud funneled in several directions. I followed it to its closest source.
“What are you doing?” Adrian asked.
“Searching auras for demons,” I said.
“What you’re doing now disproves your claim.”
Funny he should say that, considering his brothers’ and his own situation.
“We are called emissaries and we are still born as a human,” I said.
“So are vampires.”
“Vampires are undead,” I said, holding a finger up.
“Demons, then.”
“Possess a body. If it is still alive, the person they ride is human.”
“Interesting. There is still a human in there.”
I nodded. “Most aren’t willing.”
“What about what you did yesterday?”
“Ritual magic? Anyone can do it as long as they have the formula.”
He refrained from replying and started into the distance with narrowed eyes. It hadn’t won him over, but he’d gained information. I continued to scan the carnival. Between the glow of pink and green, I saw the red black. The boy wore a leather jacket with the head of a demon on its back. He turned his head, flashing his pocked face.
“We need to move,” I said, darting in the direction before I lost my mark.
“What?” Adrian asked as he was yanked behind me.
“I found someone.”
I pushed aside a tall man, standing in the middle of the walkway. I didn’t stop to apologize. I quickened my steps, my eyes never leaving the black tendrils as they floated past the roller coaster. Adrian caught my arm. I couldn’t hear what he said over the roaring whoosh of the cars as they passed us on the ride. I shook my head and pulled away. Had to keep moving.
The yellow I’d been looking for filled my vision as I passed a building. I closed my eyes against the moment of vertigo. The second man I ran into pushed back and I stumbled but regained my balance before I fell. The man looked down at the remains of the chili pie dripping down his Metallica T-shirt then back to me. His face twisted in a scowl.
“Watch where you’re going, bitch!” he yelled.
I peered past him, but my quarry had vanished. Damn. I let out a huff and turned my attention to the mullet head in front of me.
“Sorry,” I said, not meaning it.
“You’re just gonna say sorry? You owe me a new pie!” He towered over me, his belly peeking out from under his shirt.
“I believe we can compensate you,” Adrian said from behind me.
He pulled a twenty out of his wallet and held it out. The other man stared at it with a look of confusion.
“I’m sure this is more than enough to help widen your girth,” Adrian said, keeping his voice cordial.
The man walked off after shooting me one last glare, unaware of the insult. He didn’t matter. I turned my attention to the building that had surprised me and covered my mouth, fighting to keep the bile down. The outside of the building looked like a wooden caravan, but the putrid yellow infected everyone who passed it. Traces of black mixed in with the yellow and spiraled up into the air. My funnel. The gypsy woman painted on the wall leered at me; her grin seemed to divide her face.
“What is wrong with you?” Adrian asked, his voice filled with cold annoyance.
Before I could reply, the door swung open, and a group of teenagers flooded out. They chattered with each other, passing us by without a glance, unaware their happy auras were marred by tiny mustard spots. The dots spread to people they passed like a virus.
“This place,” I said.
“I’m not going to rely on cards and tea leaves to find a demon,” he said with a snort.
“No,” I said.
I kneeled down, putting my head between my legs. I sucked in several breaths of air and let my vision return to normal. It was too much. I could feel the slimy yellow tendrils reaching out to me. They wanted to touch in a place I could not heal. My mind.
“This place; it’s demon touched,” I said once I could speak again.
He studied the building, as if memorizing every inch of the place. His lip turned with disgust as his gaze reached the gypsy woman.
“Then perhaps a reading would be useful,” he said.
I grabbed his arm before he moved too far. “We need the others.”
“I believe we can deal with one fortune teller.” His voice was filled with confidence.
A flash of leather disappeared behind the roller coaster. Marge followed, hot on his trail, with a wild grin on her face.
“That will have to wait,” I said. “Marge has found something to entertain her, which means trouble.”
Chapter 10
I PULLED ADRIAN through the crowd as I kept sight of Marge’s back. She slipped behind one of the wooden fences at the edge of the carnival and into a copse of tress so thick it made the inside look like twilight instead of late morning. The carnival workers were busy dealing with customers, so they didn’t notice as I slid halfway through the fence.
“Coming?” I asked Adrian.
He waved me along and pushed himself through the fence. I scanned the trees and saw a flash of blonde heading farther into the woods. I grabbed Adrian’s arm, pulling him along. A man’s yell echoed through the tree line, and I broke into a run. The branches cracked under my feet, and my heart pounded in my ears.
Maybe she’d found the demon. I didn’t have my sword, but I had my knives and a vial of holy water in my pocket. If Marge could keep him busy, I could exorcise him. I preferred Solomon’s words to the standard Catholic practice, mostly because the latter required a priest. As a woman, I could never be a priest. Besides, the Church and I hadn’t parted on the best of terms.
I stopped short as I came upon Marge holding the biker hostage against a tree. She pressed her foot into the throat of the biker as he lay on the ground with his head propped against the trunk. He struggled to knock her off balance, but she just pushed harder.
“You’re pretty weak without your gun,” she said. “Now where’s your boss?”
He coughed and gagged, wrapping his fingers around her boot.
“I don’t think he can answer your questions like that,” I said.
Marge spun around, her hair ruffled in the slight breeze. The snarl on her lips lessened as she saw who spoke.
“What do you suggest?” she asked.
“Tie him up and question him. Or hold him at gunpoint,” I said.
She patted her jeans. “Damn, I seem to be all out of guns and handcuffs.”
I pulled a handful of cable ties from my purse. John had shown them to me a few years back, and the nylon strips had proven useful for a lot of things. I held them out to her, and she smirked.
“I like the way you think,” she said.
She snagged them from my hand and turned back to the cowering man. The biker struggled to stand as she moved her boot. She kicked him in the face, causing his head to slam back against the tree and fall forward again. He winced with a groan as blood gushed from his swelling nose. She made quick work of him, putting him in a sitting position with his arms tied between his legs. He blinked up at her, the side of his face already puffing up.
“You can scream and yell, but with the carnival, no one will hear you,” she told him.
He glared up at her. “Fuck off, you crazy bitch.”
“You have no idea. Now, answer my question.”
“What question?”
She bent down and grabbed one of his fingers. She jerked it back. The snap echoed through the woods, followed by his cry of pain. Adrian sighed and walked away.
“I will check to see if he has any friends nearby,” he said.
“Where is your boss?” she repeated.
“Around. Fuck, I don’t know.”
This would take forever. Time for me to step in. “Why were you at the fair?”
“Do you crazy bitches tie people up often? You can’t get a real fuck?”
Crack. Scream. Crack. Scream.
“Answer the damn question,” Marge said.
“Looking for Ose,” he said.
He leaned against the tree and panted. The reddish purple bruise contrasted with the growing pallor of his face. I swallowed and turned my head away. It was only a few broken fingers. He’d be fine with a bit of tape if things ended here. We still had more questions to ask. I rubbed my tongue against the roof of my mouth, trying to kill the bitter taste that had risen.
“Why are you looking for him?” I asked.
His mouth clamped into a thin line, and he stared at the ground with a furrowed brow and narrowed eyes.
Marge raised her foot up and brought it down on his ankle. The boy managed to choke back his yell this time. I turned my head and shifted from one leg to another. The boy had willingly sided with demons. He served them for power and deserved no sympathy from me. He would get none from the demons when he filled his purpose. They would do much worse.
“Ow, ow. Okay,” Pock-face said. “There’s some sort of contract on him. He’s making something big.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And what would that be?”
He hesitated, and Marge raised her foot again. He cringed, bunching his shoulders up. “Some sort of drug, OK?! It’s supposed to be with him, wherever he it.”
“So, where are you meeting up with your friends?” she asked.
Pock-face stared at a tree behind us. He feared the demon in Tattoo more than our capacity to cause pain. Marge chuckled a dark, gravelly kind of laugh. The fact he didn’t talk seemed to please her. I crossed my arms and rubbed my biceps. Marge took out a switchblade and flipped it open, a look of anticipation on her face.
“Tell me,” she said.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. It was as if the blade was traveling across my flesh like others did centuries ago. The boy’s screams intermingled with my own. I hadn’t resisted the clergy when they’d taken me from my home after my family’s death. They’d dumped me in a cell with nothing but a blanket. For days I’d lain there in a daze, wishing for death.
The inquisitor came not long after with his questions and devices. He restrained me in a special chair. It reeked of old blood and other body fluids from previous occupants. He hadn’t liked my response when he asked who I served. Every time I responded with the name of God, the restraints tightened and the blades on the armrests dug deeper. That had just been the beginning. I could still feel the cuts in my arms, the tightening on my wrists, and the burning of my flesh.
“Stop.” I stumbled forward and pushed Marge away from her victim. She glared and shoved back.
“What the hell?” she said.
“This is not working.” I straightened and put as much calm into my voice as I could muster.
“It’s working great. He’ll keep talking.”
“We can find out what he knows in different ways,” I said.
“And what do you suggest?” Adrian asked from behind me.
I spun around and bit my lip. When had he returned? Hell, he didn’t know about Esais’s abilities yet, and I shouldn’t have to be the one to tell him. Both he and Marge stared at me, waiting for my answer.
“What we were doing before was working,” I said.
“Seems like a waste of time,” Marge said. “Besides, this is fun.”
“Why bother with a human lackey when we can question a demon?” I kept my gaze on Adrian. Surely, he would see the best option.
The skin around Marge’s eyes tightened. “This seer isn’t the demon I want.”
“He’s not your demon, either. Just a human.” I raised my voice to meet hers, moving until we were inches apart.
“He’s sided with him. Just as bad.”
“He still has a chance to change that.”
Pock-face groaned and stared up at me with one good eye. Blood ran over the other from a cut on his forehead.
“I’ll take the demons over you any day,” he said.
I sighed. He’d made his choice. Marge moved forward and slammed her knee into his face. His nose crunched beneath the force, and he slumped, unconscious. She kicked him in the gut several more times.
“At least give him a swift death.” I moved forward and pulled out my knife.
“He could be useful. If he’s still alive.” Adrian pushed both of us aside. He knelt beside Pock-face and put three fingers on his throat. He stood and dusted himself off. ”Let’s head back. I don’t want to be caught at the scene of an assault.”
“We’re just going to let him go?” Marge asked.
“For now. Besides, we have to get our fortunes read.”
“How is he going to be useful?”
“Wait and see,” he said.
Marge threw her hands in the air. She muttered and cursed the entire way back. I’d spoiled her fun, but the violence turned my stomach. I was no stranger to anger, and I enjoyed seeing a demon die, but her anger ran deeper and darker than mine. I would have to make sure it wasn’t turned on me or the brothers.
Chapter 11
THE CARNIVAL CROWD paid no attention to us as we slipped back in through the fence. The metal of the roller coaster we stood behind rattled as the car sped its screaming passengers along the tracks.
Marge crossed her arms. “So, where is this fortune-teller?”
I nodded in the direction where the crowd thickened to a sea of bodies. Families stood in the food lines, staring up at the menus with almost glazed expressions. Children yanked at their parents’ arms and pointed to cotton candy and treats on display at the small, metal stands. This would be a nightmare to get through.
“Through the food court,” I said.
“Let’s get on with it. Maybe one demon will die today,” Marge said.
Adrian scoffed. “I doubt that.”.
I sighed and pushed forward into the crowd. I didn’t want to hear more of Marge’s bitching or Adrian’s criticism. Neither of them had the experience to contend with a demon like Malantha on their own. He spent his time in prison instead of hunting. Marge’s tactic was to rush in and beat whatever opposition lay in front of her. Malantha liked games, and both could fall easily into her traps like I’d fallen for a few over the years.
“Wait up,” Marge called as I pushed farther in.
I glanced back. A small girl ran full tilt into her legs and stumbled back. She blinked up at Marge and gave her an angelic smile.
