Demon Soul (29 page)

Rose reeled. "You put him on me?"

"A bit extreme," she admitted. "He didn't seem to mind at the time, and it seems to have been effective, so far. Now, trust yourself. You will have the strength you need, when you need it. Remember to call on him for help. Though he is no friend, he is not your enemy, either. Mephisto will make all the difference in the fight to come." Abruptly Maria Therese gathered Rose in a swift embrace. "Be strong." And she was gone.

Rose opened her eyes, the scent of the citrus orchard slowly fading as she looked around at Gabriel's childhood room. She could have sworn she'd been talking to Maria Therese, out there in the orchard.

Rose yawned and gazed up at the spiral on the ceiling. Pretty. What did it say? As she followed the words, once again she succumbed to the lure of sleep.

Two Caines sat opposite the three weres of the Santa Monica Preserve.

"Where's Justin?" Danny shot an irritated look out the window where the sounds of nightlife were diminishing.

Gabriel followed his gaze and pushed down any worry. "He'll be here any second. So, what's the plan? Now that you have your women back," he added.

"You are right, we need to take out the club and all the vampires. Tonight." Danny Roush paced between the conference table and the door. "They need to pay for what they did to our women."

"We agree. We do. But we can't go anywhere near Twisted tonight." Gabriel put up his hands before the weres could protest. "It's not that we don't want to," he added. "Rose has also been compromised by Satine. She's under a compulsion to bring all of us to Satine tonight. So getting anywhere near the place is suicide for us."

"What we were figuring is to go in at sunrise tomorrow," Kellan said. "The vampires' powers will be weakening. And they lost a good dozen demons today. Unless they have more than we think they do, they'll be even more vulnerable at first light."

Danny studied him. "Do you think they'll bring in more demons?"

"That depends on where they got these. If, as rumor has it, they're bringing them through from the Chaos Plane, they won't have time to re-staff tonight. My guess is they'll flee. Find another playground." Gabriel shrugged. "But it's hard to say. Satine isn't the most stable vamp around."

"Tell me about Rose," Danny said. "She's a fire demon? I was surprised to come around the corner and see her standing there, tossing fire."

"Hitchhiker from her time in Purgatory," said Gabriel. "Possibly up to three months ago."

Danny looked impressed. "She's held on for a long time, then. Will she be safe tonight?"

"Yes. She has a bodyguard. A witch," Kellan added, his voice dour.

Danny frowned. "I didn't know you worked with witches."

Gabriel sent a glance toward Kellan who shut up. "So far, she’s been helpful."

A smile tugged at Danny's full lips as he looked from one to the other. "Your family is—most unusual. That you're willing to work with both witches and wolves is admirable."

"I suppose so. Kellan, give us our bomb options." Gabriel, uncomfortable, turned to Kellan. "When we do go in, it would be nice to blow the place to smithereens."

"If we set off four charges one level down, that should pretty much take the building down.”

“Risking any people on the streets. But we have an alternative,” blurted out Favor.

"Sig? What’s your alternative?" Danny regarded his second with a raised brow.

"We go in. Satine doesn't know Favor or I. We go in, clear the place of humans, kill the vampires, and get out."

Gabriel steepled his fingers, shooting a glance at Danny. "Simple, to the point."

"And stupid," Kellan ground out. "Every vampire there will know you for what you are."

"Exactly," shouted Sig. He stood and punched the air with his fist. "We hide in plain sight. Doing anything else will get many killed."

Kellan gave a snort of disgust.

"Sig. Sit," ordered Danny.

"Kellan," Gabriel said, his voice quiet.

The two men bristled. Kellan turned away, went to sit on the far end of the conference table. Sig leaned against a wall and stared at the rest, his chin thrust into the air.

"So bombs aren't going to be viable," Gabriel concluded.

“They
are
viable,” Kellan argued. “If we’re going in during the day, it’s all good. Going in at night is more difficult. We’d need to get the bombs in position and clear the place of humans.” Kellan tapped his fingers on the polished table.

The sound reminded Gabriel of the passing time. Where was Justin?

Danny shrugged. "If we can get both Satine and Vlad out of the way?"

“Then we have a better chance of slipping in with little notice. We just need to figure out how to detain the two of them.”

Kellan interrupted. "Wait. The lower we go, the less precise the bomb has to be. Or if we do several small charges, and add fire, I think it will do enough damage to destroy the building without taking the entire building down, or harming anyone on the surrounding streets. The sonics shouldn't cause that much damage. It may take out a few windows in the neighborhood." He shrugged.

Sig sighed. "What is the point, if we don’t kill any vampires? We need a big enough bomb. I’ve had training," he added, eyeing Kellan. “I could help.”

"Do we know
why
the J'aadt demons didn't defend their territory?" Kellan swiveled around on the table to look at Danny. Gabriel caught their surprised glances. "Remember? They all up and left. We practically waded through the lot of them to get to you guys."

Chagrined, Danny shook his head. "J'aadt demons can be bought. If they weren't paid, they'd walk."

"Perhaps a fire demon was more than they bargained for. J'aadts don't like fire. If Rose tossed a fireball at one of them and it went poof, the rest would clear out." Gabriel glanced to the door, expecting Justin.

"J'aadt demons don't like fire any more than vampires do. That is the most likely interpretation, I agree," Danny said.

"Where is Justin? He should have been here an hour ago." Kellan looked to Gabriel. “I can’t reach him. Can you?”

Justin? Where are you?
At the lack of response, an icy shiver trickled down Gabriel's back. He shook his head and looked to Danny. "Have there been repercussions from the loss of the were tiger?"

"Not yet. Rumor has it he hooked up with Satine a few years ago after being kicked out of his own pack.”

"So only Satine will be the injured party." Gabriel looked toward his brother. Alerted by the tension in his shoulders, Gabriel cleared his throat. "Kellan? What's up?"

"Vampires." He turned to his brother, his eyes whirling iridescent gold.  "They've got Justin. There," he added, and looked out the window.

Gabriel could easily see across the shopping mall to the building opposite them. There, spread-eagled, two stories off the ground, was Justin.

His head lolled to one side. A vampire held his right arm and leg, another vamp had his left arm and leg. They hovered, grinning right at the group in the window.

Gabriel swore a quiet oath.

Kellan put a hand on his brother's shoulder in sympathy. "Open to her."

"No." His eyes blazing, he glared back. "You don't know what you're asking."

"It's the only way we'll find out what she wants."

"She wants Rose. I'm not sacrificing Rose for Justin. And I'm sure as hell not sacrificing Justin for Rose."

Let me in, Gabriel.
Satine's words sliced deeper than usual in his mind. With a roar, Gabriel dropped into a chair and clutched his head.

"She wants in," he gasped.

His golden eyes gleaming, Danny looked at Kellan. "We could take down the club since she is here. She's here,and her demons are gone. I'm thinking we go boom, if...”

Kellan grinned. "I have some smaller bombs in the car. Just in case," he added. “My car is a ’68 Mustang. Electric blue. Take the back stairs out of here. It empties out into the alley, which backs into garage number four. My car is on the second level, you can’t miss it.” He tossed Sig the keys. “Bring it back here when it’s over. You can handle it?”

Sig jingled the keys and grinned. "I can handle both the bombs and the car. When you see fire in the sky, you'll know we’ve succeeded."

“Take the place down,” Gabriel ground out.

“Go. Now!" Kellan moved to Gabriel's side as the weres swiftly left the room.

"Talk to her. I'm with you, Gabriel. I'll do what I can, just don’t let her in. I'm not as good as Justin, but..." He put his hands on his brother's shoulders as Gabriel opened the connection up between him and Satine.

Satine. What are you going to do to Justin?

Nothing. If you cooperate.
The tension in her mental voice added to the pain in Gabriel's head.

What do you want?
The pain lessened, and Gabriel was grateful for Kellan. He took a breath, focused mentally on Satine and saw her pacing in front of their office door.

You know what I want. Your soul. Forever. Come to me, Gabriel,
she said, and her voice turned seductive. The pain eased and pleasure filled him.
Be with me. Keep me safe.
Her voice lightened, and more and more she sounded like Rose.
Let me in, Gabriel, hold me. I need you. I love you,
she whispered in Rose's voice.

Rose? Yes. Come in. Come to me,
he answered, desperate, and at Satine's crow of triumph, the spell she'd woven shattered.

He gripped his head. "She's coming. Damn bitch."

"Well." Kellan wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I caught some of that. She tricked you into thinking she was Rose. You didn’t have much option."

"You can't stay." Gabriel dared his brother to contradict him.

"I know." Kellan sighed. "Ready to go out the window?"

"No. I've got to stay here. Try to detain her, give the weres their chance."

"Too bad," Kellan said and, opening the second story window, he perched there. "Don't be long." And he jumped.

The scent of lilies grew strong as Gabriel moved to the window.

"Gabriel," and he turned, his back to the opening.

Satine stood in the doorway, dressed in black leather, her dark red hair curling down below her waist. A whip curled in her hand. Her lips shone electric red.

"Satine," he said. "Always dressed like a cliché. Why do you have Justin?"

She blinked. "Insurance. I need him. I need you. I want you. Can't you feel how much I want you? You took everything from me. My tiger. My demons. Now I get you in return." Her need pulsed between them. He took a step backward, bumped into the wall when Rose's voice burbled in his brain.

Gabriel. Just checking in with you. I'm awake, and Maggie and I are going to eat junk food and watch episodes of NCIS until you get home. Gabriel?

Relief filled him, along with a sense of her energy. Refreshing. He took a breath in gratitude.
 Rose, remind me to kiss you.
 Gabriel looked Satine in the eye, took hold of the window frame.