Demons Are a Girl’s Best Friend (5 page)

“Easy. The so-called ‘blob from the swamp’ had been seen cruising the human communities for the previous couple of weeks,” Maggie said. “Dogs and cats were missing, and fear escalated when a four-year-old boy disappeared. Luckily, he was found a couple of hours later. The Bloater had nothing to do with that, but we needed to neutralize this one before something worse really did happen. Anyone know how we got the tip it would be at Damnation Alley?”

Frebus studied the contents of the file folder in front of him. “The call was anonymous and couldn’t be traced.”

“Then we need to find out if that was the only Bloater causing trouble,” Maggie announced, getting up from the table. “Frebus, you put in the request for a researcher. Meech, it’s your turn to write up the report for Mal.” The creature groaned. “Consider it safer than pissing off Reesa any more.”

“I’m willing to offer a personal apology to Declan,” Tita volunteered with one of her patented smiles that were guaranteed to make a male offer up a vein.

“That’s been done,” Maggie said crisply.

“O’Malley, to the holding cells.” Mal’s voice boomed from the speakers implanted in the walls. “
Now
.”

“Everything is now up to him.” And she knew just why her boss was demanding her presence there.

It all had to do with a demon named Declan.

***

Declan paced the room with the impatience of his kind. The last place he wanted to be was in the Hellion Guard compound. But Snips’s news that Anna had been brought here was enough to have him out of bed and in his car in seconds.

Not that the idea of seeing Maggie again didn’t have its charm. The witch intrigued him, and he intended to find out just why she had invaded his dreams and his very being.

“As I told you, she won’t awaken until late tonight,” an elf with large lavender eyes informed him.

He sensed that the elf’s delicate exterior housed a steel-like core. Tough as titanium, just like all Hellion Guards. Just like Maggie.

Except when she smiled up at him after he pointed out the flower—and what was it she had said? Something about new life amid the desolation.

“And she will awaken when I demand she do so.
All I have to do is see her
,”
he said between clenched teeth. He took one step forward into the elf’s personal space. To her credit, she didn’t back down.

He froze when a razor-sharp blade rested against his neck and one arm was smoothly pulled behind his back.

“I suggest that the big, bad demon back the Hades up
now
,” Maggie purred in his ear. “Otherwise, I would be forced to grovel to the brownies so they’d scrub demon blood out of my favorite jeans. And they really hate demon blood.”

Declan knew better than to go up against a Guard, especially when he had other activities in mind for the sexy witch.

“The elf…”

“The elf’s name is Sybil,” Maggie said tautly.

He tightened his jaw. “Sybil explained that Anna had to be sedated. I can awaken her.” He deliberately relaxed his muscles to show he was as nonthreatening as a kitten.

He breathed easier when the knife was removed.

“The sedation used had to be very strong,” Sybil explained.

“And she is mine,” he reminded her. “I want to see Anna now.”

Sybil looked as stubborn as the other two but finally nodded and gestured him out of the room.

Declan felt his temper begin to simmer as Sybil led the way and Maggie walked behind him down a dismal gray hall toward a guarded room at the far end.

“Why is she considered a prisoner?”

“She was a danger to herself. We had no choice but to restrain her,” Sybil told him.

“Anna doesn’t have one violent bone in her body.” The half-demon looked ready to create some violence of his own as his eyes shimmered silver. The temperature rose a good twenty degrees.

Sybil pulled a PDA out of her pocket, tapped the screen a few times, and handed it to Declan.

“
Blood! So much blood! Brutality. She must be found for the sacred sacrifice so the evil one may return!
” The female demon’s screams seemed to bounce off the walls even as she paced back and forth. Sybil could be seen in a corner in observation mode.

“
Who is he, Anna?
” The elf’s voice was calm with none of the bite she was known to exhibit when interrogating vicious prisoners.

“
The revered one. One who ruled the world to the south.
” Anna’s dark eyes glowed with a fervent light. “
The Destroyer. The god of destruction.
”

“What in Hades is she talking about?” Declan whispered.

“Sounds like she’s talking about someone from your part of the world rather than mine,” Maggie commented.

He pushed the PDA back at Sybil.

“Is Anna under arrest for something?”

She shook her head. “As I told you, she was brought here for her own protection. I know this looks upsetting, but she was better off being taken here than to our hospital, where she would have had to be restrained to a bed.”

“If that was the case, I should have been called. She should have been brought to me, not locked in a cell.” His jaw twitched with the emotions flooding his system. He despised being in a situation that was beyond his control.

“All we knew was that she was a demon. We certainly didn’t know anyone was looking after her,” Sybil said. “We only wanted her kept safe.”

Declan looked through the small window into a room where a slight female body lay unmoving on a narrow iron bed. He pressed his hand against the shatterproof glass. It wouldn’t have taken much power to melt it, and with the way he felt at that moment, he was very tempted to do just that.

He replayed Anna’s cries in his head. She was too delicate to be here. But the alternative was unthinkable. Here, he could protect her.

“I want in there now. I will awaken her.”

“It’s dangerous to interfere with a healer’s work when the patient has been sedated that deeply,” Sybil argued. “Anna’s mind could be damaged if she isn’t handled carefully.”

“Unlock the door, or I will destroy it.” Declan felt the heat and fury flow through his body like molten lava.

Sybil opened her mouth to further protest, but Maggie placed a hand on her arm.

“It’s all right, Syb. Perhaps Anna will be calmer with Declan here.”

Sybil pressed her hand against a metal plate by the door and whispered a few words in her language. A soft click followed her words, and the door silently swung open.

Declan pushed past the women and entered the room. He knelt on one knee by the bed and rested his hand on the sleeping female’s forehead before bending his head and lightly pressing his lips in the same spot. He felt the heat of her skin as bad dreams and fear infected her body.

Anna’s eyes slowly opened. The dark orbs brightened as she recognized him, and she tried to sit up while talking rapidly in their language.

“
He wishes to destroy us all. We must stop him!
” She clutched at his arms.

“
You are safe, little one. I will never let anyone hurt you,”
he soothed, wishing he had the knack for providing comfort, but consoling someone wasn’t something he was familiar with.

“Last night she talked about blood and danger,” Sybil said, while she stood nearby.

Anna gasped and gripped Declan tighter.

He stood up and gathered Anna into his arms. “This is over. I’m taking her home.”

“That isn’t possible.” Maggie stood in the doorway.

Declan knew she wouldn’t harm him as long as he had Anna in his arms. No matter what, he considered his charge an innocent.

“We are leaving. There will be no interrogations.” He glared at Sybil, who continued to look serene. “There will be no cells.”

Anna whimpered as the tiny room’s temperature increased. He took a deep breath, and the heat dissipated.

Maggie stepped back and to one side.

Declan left the room with Anna still cradled in his arms.

“We need to talk about this,” Maggie told his departing back and then yelped as flames flared up from her toes. “Hey! These are my favorite boots!”

Declan fervently wished someone would try to stop them as he left the compound with Anna holding on to him. He knew it wouldn’t happen when he heard the elf tell someone they were cleared to leave.

As if that would make a difference. He was getting them out of there no matter what.

“I am sorry,” Anna whispered to him.

“You did nothing wrong.” In a short amount of time, he was outside the compound and tucking Anna into the passenger seat of his BMW. “I’m just glad you’re safe.”

“But I’m not.” She curled up into a tiny ball, her bronze-colored hair falling over her face. “You’re not, and I’m so afraid.”

He slipped into the driver’s seat and reached over to cover her hand with his. “Believe me, Anna, you are safe. You are under my care. No one will ever hurt you.” He started up the car, soothed by the sound of the powerful engine.

Anna pulled in a deep breath and exhaled. “She likes you.” Her words were hesitant and shy.

“Who?” He knew even before she replied.

“Maggie, the Guard. She’s very pretty.”

Surprised laughter escaped his lips.

“I think she’d also like to fry me.”

“But you forget that with our kind, that’s an act of love.” Anna arranged herself in the seat to look out the window.

“Perhaps we’d be better off just sending candy and flowers like humans do.”

“I am so stoked.” Sybil fairly bounced out of Maggie’s venom-red Viper and walked around the hood.

“Sybil, hon. Please don’t say ‘stoked,’” Maggie begged. “It doesn’t suit you.”

She fixed the back strap on one of her plum leather sky-high heels and then shimmied to smooth down her going-out uniform of a black leather skirt barely long enough to cover the essentials and a plum-silk tank top. She was sporting her club look with sparkly gel in her hair to slick it back.

Sybil had chosen a hot-pink strapless dress and had pulled her lavender hair up into an artful twist secured with black lacquered chopsticks that Maggie knew would turn into weapons, if need be. Sybil slung the chain to her tiny black bag over her shoulder.

“I’m not allowing you to spoil my mood. I never get to go to the edgy clubs,” she complained.

“You might not even like Damnation Alley. Edgy clubs are usually dangerous, and most only like Dark ones coming in.” Maggie passed her hand over the Viper’s hood. “Protect yourself. Allow no one to cross your boundaries, and if so, sic ’em,” she ended with her usual relish for danger.

The car’s response was a throaty growl and a shudder as a dark shimmer overlay the convertible. “Besides, I thought elves and Fae had their share of sinister and edgy clubs.”

Sybil looked away for a moment. “We do, but as a member of the Hellion Guard, I am never welcome. They always think I’m spying on them. If it wasn’t for you, my social life would be woefully pathetic.”

“Pathetic? You date more than I do!” Maggie thought about it. “You’re right. It is pathetic. Most of our social lives revolve around activities at the compound. Sweetheart, you’re a total downer.”

She walked swiftly past the long line waiting to get into the club until she reached the black leather rope and the giant guarding the entrance. Black flames covered the rope, ensuring no one would try to get through without permission. If they tried, they would end up as ash on the cement.

“What makes you think you’re welcome here, Guard witch?” the giant bouncer growled even as he gave Sybil the typical male once-over. She smiled at him, but her eyes glowed with a green fire that sent the ugly giant a step back.

“Wow, where did Declan find
you
? Talk about someone who’s not a people person,” Maggie remarked. “Not a good way to bring in the business, big boy. You need to work on your conversational skills, because, guess what? I can go wherever I want.” She wiggled her fingers before zapping the rope. The power died in the leather.

“You
will not
enter.” The giant held up his hand, palm out.

“Shrink him, darling,” Elle advised from her spot on Maggie’s collarbone. The diamond-studded spider glared at him. “I would love to have him in my web. He might last longer than my last male.”

“Patience, pet,” the witch advised. “I’ll find you something inside.” She took a step forward.

“No.” The giant presented himself as a wall with his hand still up.

“Hmm, guess what? I don’t do ‘no.’ And I don’t talk to the hand.” She stared at his palm. “So I suggest you step aside, little man.”

The giant growled again and took another step toward her, deliberately crowding her personal space.

“It’s all right, Anton.” Declan stood in a doorway that pulsed with tiny red-and-yellow neon lights lining the doorjamb.

“I haven’t searched her for weapons yet.” Anton looked way too happy at the prospect. “It’s obvious she’s carrying many of them.”

“He’s really looking for a whomp upside the head, isn’t he?” Sybil whispered.

“I can search him.” Elle skittered to Maggie’s other shoulder for a better look at Declan. “He does look tasty.”

“Hellion Guards are required to be armed at all times.” Maggie stood her ground as she looked the giant square in the eye and ignored the demon standing behind him. “And even if we weren’t, I wouldn’t give up my weapons to anyone.”

“Anton.” Declan’s quiet voice sliced through the stare down.

The massive creature slowly backed away but didn’t take his eyes off Maggie, who displayed a toothy grin as she and her friend sauntered past the rope.

“I’ve got to give you credit, Declan. You have an excellent security force,” she told him as she and Sybil followed him further into the club.

She was relieved that she had used a noise-dampening spell for her tender eardrums because the hard-core music battered them with the vengeance of an angry boar. She’d advised Sybil to do the same, but the elf insisted she wanted the entire experience. Judging from the pained expression on her face, she wished she’d listened to Maggie.

“You also seem to have a great cleaning service. I’m impressed you got the place up and running so fast.” Maggie looked into the club’s main room, which was packed with dancers and drinkers. She grimaced at the sight of a gremlin dancing on a table.

“The only difference I can see is your bartenders’ uniforms.” She gestured toward the demons manning the bar in blue polo shirts that mirrored the neon-blue lights buried in the black glass counter. She noticed the lights pulsed in time with Disturbed’s “Into The Fire,” which blasted from speakers embedded in the walls.

“Do you think that’s some sort of code?” Sybil stared at the bar with the fascination of one who could be easily hypnotized.

“Could be, so I wouldn’t look at the lights for too long.” Maggie pulled her along and then stopped short when Declan turned around with two champagne flutes in his hands. He smiled and held them out.

“A product of France,” he assured them.

Sybil disregarded Maggie’s look of warning and accepted the flute held in front of her. “As if he’d try something here.” She took a tiny sip and giggled. “The bubbles,” she explained.

Maggie wanted to refuse the champagne, but she knew she couldn’t with her friend sipping away. “I’m usually more a Stoli gal, but you did say the champagne is French.” She took an experimental sip and then another. For a moment, she was transported back to a France of beauty and old-world elegance, where carriages were everyday transport and a lady never revealed a bare limb.

And Madame Guillotine would have had another victim if a rogue of a French pirate hadn’t spirited her away from the dungeons holding the nobles awaiting their death. During that dark time, Maggie had learned that some of the cells below the earth held a magick-dampening effect. The experience had taught her that she liked her head where it was—and that a pirate ship smelled worse than the cell where she’d been incarcerated. Even after all these years, the memory of the stench remained in her olfactory memory.

“What stories do you have to tell?” Declan murmured in a voice that was meant for her ears only. “What adventures have you had over the centuries you’ve wandered this earth?”

“Very boring. I’m sure you have much more interesting stories of your time in the demon realm.” She observed no reaction from him and decided to press further. “Or is that why you chose to come here? For a change of pace? Did you receive the club for good behavior or for your birthday?”

“I earned this club,” he told her. “And I intend to keep it.”

“Dancing, I’m going dancing.” Sybil moved toward an elf that’d given her the eye. She set her champagne flute down on a nearby table as she swiveled her hips his way.

Declan stopped Maggie’s instinctive motion to check out the male her friend was pursuing. “Nothing will happen to her,” he assured her. “By now, everyone in here knows the two of you are under my protection. Although I’m certain you don’t appreciate the gentlemanly gesture,” he teased.

She was chagrined to discover that he had managed to maneuver her away from the dance floor and toward the entrance of a long hallway. Every step of the way, she’d felt the heat of his hand resting lightly against her spine. The moment they passed through the archway, the music became so muted that she had to deactivate the sound-dampening spell.

Declan stopped at some double doors and threw them open.

“Come into my parlor,” Maggie murmured as she brushed past him.

“You surprise me, Maggie.” He opened a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of champagne, opened it with a thought, and lifted it in a silent question. He topped off her flute and then filled another.

“I’ve been known to throw people off-kilter.” She walked around the office, noting the spare decor and a large desk of highly polished dark wood that boasted only a laptop, a telephone, and a six-inch statue carved from black psilomelane drusy. She wondered how he had obtained such a large chunk of the rich, natural-black metallic mineral. The quartz crystals covering it glimmered in the dim light.

She ran her fingertips across the top of the figurine and then lifted it, rubbing the tip as she gauged the magick that coated the stone. “I will admit curiosity. Why do I surprise you?”

“You were worried for your friend until I guaranteed you she was safe. You trusted me enough that you left Sybil out there. And you didn’t hesitate to come back here with me, where you had to know we’d be alone.”

He perched himself on the arm of a nearby chair, watching her movements with the intensity of a cat stalking its prey. He lifted the glass to his lips and sipped the sparkling liquid.

Except it had been a long time since Maggie had allowed herself to be intimidated.

“So, why are you here? You didn’t come here to dance, and for obvious reasons, Bloaters are no longer allowed in here,” he said.

She nodded. “Good idea, since I’m sure the speed-of-light cleaning service was pretty pricey. Although, with what I saw bellying up to the bar, I’d say you can afford it. Especially since you’re wearing the monochrome wardrobe. What do you do when you get up and get dressed? Just open the closet and say, ‘Oh, I guess I’ll wear… black,’ right?”

His lips curved in a smile. “Would you like to see my closet, Maggie? You might be amazed by what you find.”

She shrugged. “You’ve seen one… you’ve seen them all.” She savored the champagne as she studied the man across the room.

Declan didn’t need to be a half-demon to be sexy. She knew he had what it took no matter what, and it wasn’t just that spicy scent from his skin that she detected.

While his silk button-down shirt was the usual black, she saw a hint of silver gray in the shadow stripes, and the black slacks fit his lower half to the extreme. The two open shirt buttons allowed a hint of golden tanned chest, and she noticed a black fire-opal set in gold on his ring finger.

Hmm, left hand. Does that mean he’s taken? And if he is, why did he march me up that volcano? Plus, is he the type to show he’s committed to one woman?

“Are we through with the small talk?” Declan asked, getting up to refill his glass and then hers. Maggie tried hard to keep her eyes away from his seriously nice ass and the fluid way he moved around the room.

“I guess so. I never was good with small talk. I just like getting down and dirty.” To her horror, she felt a blush creeping up her bare neck as she felt Elle’s tiny chuckle skittering over her skin.
Terrific, Maggie, just shove your stiletto right smack into your mouth!

Only the tiniest hint of a smile indicated he was tempted to follow up on her faux pas.

“We need to speak to Anna,” she said in her most businesslike manner, deciding it was time to get to matters at hand.

“Not possible.”

Maggie nodded, expecting Declan’s refusal. Not that she’d accept it. Just that she knew he wouldn’t give in too easily.

“It’s obvious she knows about something that could threaten us all.”

“What makes you think that?” This time he moved over to the black leather couch and sat down, leaning back.

Maggie likewise moved to sit in the nearby chair. “This is really comfy.” She shifted her ass into the glove-soft leather. “Although, would it really have hurt you to buy this in, say, white? Or even navy, if you want to stay with the neutrals.”

“Don’t you ever say what’s expected? What kind of witch are you, Maggie O’Malley?”

“I haven’t carried a wand in centuries and never wore a pointy hat. Although my cauldron still gets used on occasion. There are some traditions you can’t give up.”

“But you work as a Hellion Guard, and as you say, you’re never unarmed. I’m sure that puts many males off.” He seemed to keep a wary eye on the glittering spider that now perched on her shoulder and watched him intently.

“They’re not worth my time if they can’t handle it.” She set her glass on the nearby table. “I’m serious about Anna, Declan. The things she said to Sybil when she was first brought in mean something’s going down.”

“Who’s to say it’s not demon-related?” he asked her. “What is that phrase again? Oh yes, ‘Everything isn’t all about you.’” He leaned over and pulled a cigar out of a hand-carved box. He nipped the tip and then puffed on it once before the tip glowed red.

“I gather you also don’t adhere to the no-smoking bans in public places.”

One eyebrow lifted in amusement. “That’s a human law, not mine. As you know, humans aren’t allowed in here.”

Interesting, he says
mine
and not
ours
. And they say the Guard is a law unto itself.

“Your predecessor Ratchet allowed them in. He thought they made excellent playthings, even if he knew his activities with them were illegal.” Her eyes flared with anger.

Declan’s features turned to golden stone. “He had his rules. I have mine.” He kept his gaze on Maggie. “Is that why he disappeared? Because he brought humans into the club even though he knew the Guard didn’t allow it? Why didn’t you just shut him down?”

Maggie thought of the horrifying mess she’d found in the middle of the desert with a bloodthirsty Ratchet in the midst of it. That was the night she’d experienced the pure pleasure of dispatching him to the deepest bowels of Hades. She hadn’t regretted her actions since.

To date, no one but her knew exactly what had happened to Ratchet. She preferred to keep it that way.

“We didn’t have to. He did it to himself. Ratchet was the lowest of the low.” She settled back in her chair and crossed her legs, seemingly oblivious to how far her skirt inched up her thighs. Her shoe dangled from her foot. The brilliant emerald set in the broom charm on her gold ankle bracelet winked flashes of color.