Demons (Darkness #4) (16 page)

“This is all really real?” one of the twins asked, staring at Jonas. “You feel like…”

“A crisp autumn day,” the other twin helped, also looking at Jonas. “So beautiful and mild.”

“You got the twins?” Charles whined. He always wanted to try twins. His kind didn’t produce any that he knew of, and humans weren’t much fun when they were all dopey-eyed.

“We need to learn to choose our linked partner, as well,” Toa continued, still analyzing. “This is too loose. What we have done is without proper guidance.”

“Nature doesn’t conform to rules,” Delilah noted. “And Jen’s right—I can’t believe this is happening! We’d always known we could call the corners—that they were real—but…this…”

“Yes, exciting,” Toa waved her away. “I need to think about what I have learned here today. There are so many more issues than I originally thought. I do not want this exposure at the council.”

His eyes glued to Sasha. “We haven’t much time.
Not at all. If only that mate of yours was in any way sane.”

“You’re one to talk,” Sasha huffed.

“Yes, well.” Toa stood, his glance at the ladies brief. “Thank you, everyone. This has been helpful. I will let Sasha fill you in on our kind. You have gifts, one and all. In fact, Sasha, define the magical levels for me, please. I find I cannot sense their power unless I merge with them.”

She pointed at Birdie.
“Orange. Raw power. But doesn’t seem to have much finesse. Stefan wouldn’t take her for the Watch. You know, if she could fight.”

Delilah got a point. “Not much power, but really, really deft with it. She rode my coattails in the park and undid the last portion of that spell. So, that’s handy. If you work out the linking thing, she’ll be useful, I think.”

Delilah preened. Charles wondered briefly if there was a wildcat under that mousy exterior.

“And the twins are topping at about red. But they work in tandem. They kind of always exist together.
Somehow. Well, they all do. It’s what I love. It’s like holding hands.”

Toa nodded, his suspicion confirmed probably. “Well, then. I’ll leave you to your explanations. With such a large, dangling carrot, I cannot imagine they will turn down an opportunity to learn.”

“A large, dangling carrot, Toa? Really?” Sasha commented dryly.

“Do I need to stay for the explanations?” Charles asked quickly.

“Yes. You’re first watch.” Jonas glanced at Sasha. “Call me if you run into problems, human.”

Charles couldn’t help the sigh. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned further back in his chair. It would be a long afternoon.

“Jonas, be a lamb and grab my knitting, will you?” Charles said to the retreating figure, half mockingly.

“Stop being a bitch and get a man’s hobby!” Jonas growled.

Yeah. That was about the response he expected.

“God, that Birdie can be demanding.” I rubbed my eyes as I let myself into Stefan’s and my living area. It had been a long,
long
day.

Birdie made me explain everything at least twice, in denial about all she was seeing. Even after I proved my magic again, and after Charles agreed with my explanations about his kind, she just had more questions. For a woman who thought computers were a passing fad, it made sense—change needed to be a gradual thing. But it was still more than a little frustrating.

“The other three were easy about it, for daft humans.” Jonas loitered in the doorway, glancing around the empty area. “Where’s the Boss?”

“You know, I can actually fend for myself once in a while. I don’t always need a detail on me.”

Jonas snorted, sauntering over to the couch and sitting down. Apparently that was him not believing me.

“What’s the story with your mongrel friends?” Jonas threw a huge arm over the back of the couch as he got comfortable.
“Haven’t seen them around lately.”

“You saw Ann yesterday.”

“She doesn’t count. What about that supposed head dick? What’s he up to?”

Tim, he meant. God forbid he call Tim
alpha,
or even by his name—that would mean Tim had some clout.

I rolled my eyes and fell into the couch kitty-corner to Jonas. “He’s had another shifter go missing. Ann said he was buckling down and checking the area. He doesn’t want to involve me unless he has to.”

“Doesn’t want the Boss knowing about his movements, huh?”

“If he wanted to keep secrets from Stefan, he wouldn’t tell me what was going on, genius.
So no. But we all saw how you bunch of derelicts worked together—or
didn’t
work together. Tim doesn’t want to fight you if he wanders across a demon.”

“You didn’t see
nothin’. Too busy making eyes at a demon.”

“Ugh—your sense of humor is the pits. Ann filled me in.”

Jonas scratched his nose and rested his hand on his bumpy stomach, more relaxed in this moment that I had seen him before. “I heard the demon situation yesterday went off easily. No mongrels present.”

“Low-powered demon.
When we need to use magic, we’ll want the help of the shifters. Unless you idiots learn to trust them, and get out of the damn way, we’ll always be crippled.”

“
That frosty-headed creep tell you about being able to talk to demons, yet?” Jonas asked, swinging his head my way conversationally.

It took a moment for those words to wind their way into my brain. It took another second to make sense of them. I went with the standard response in these situations. “Huh?”

“That’s a no, then. Overheard them talking about it—him and the Regional. When someone calls a demon, apparently they have the language of the demon. They use that language, and their personal power, or some damn thing, to control it. If the demon’s too strong, it can overtake the guy that summoned it. Kills him, usually. Probably why that cat ran the other day.”

“As far as I know, and bear with me, because today was fairly hazy, but as far as I know, I haven’t summoned a demon.”

“No, but you can understand them. That means you got their language.
That
apparently means you can control them. Just have to assert your dominance.”

“I see.” I really didn’t. “And I do this how?”

“Hell if I know. It all sounds absurd to me. Why would you want to mess around with them things? Kill it as fast as possible, that’s my motto.”

“Fascinating.
Well thanks ever so much for bringing it up.”

We passed a second in silence, a clock ticking somewhere in the distance, before he said, “Frosty is mystified by you, you know. You’re throwing all sorts of weird shit at him and he can’t come up with answers fast enough.”

“Yeah. Weird shit seems to be my bag.”

Jonas snorted. “Feeling sorry for
yourself is just stupid. You landed the head honcho of this joint—something all the females have been after—got another head honcho as a new dad, got a real smart mage as your tutor, no matter how creepy… I’d say you got it made. Crying is just for sissies.”

“So… don’t look for pity handouts from you, then.
Noted.”

“All you
gotta do is let your balls fly and lead this bitch. You got everything you need. Once you do that, everyone else will come around. Nothing to it.”

I took out an imaginary pen and scribbled on the imaginary paper in my palm. “Let…my…balls…fly…and…lead…this…bitch.
Uh huh, got it. Sound advice, as always. Maybe a little too detailed, though.”

Jonas snorted again and let his head fall back against the couch. “I’m not looking forward to that dang council meeting. It’ll be nonstop
fights. I hate when males try to throw their weight around.”

“Not the females?”

He glanced at me sideways. “I like that, but in a different setting.”

“Ah, right. So you’re going, then?”

“Yeah. Gotta watch you. You’ll get picked on, and Charles will definitely get picked on, young as he is, and I’ll have to bust some heads.”

“Sounds like your paradise.”

He pointed his face toward the ceiling. “I will have to stop before I kill them.”

“Ah. Yes, that sounds terrible.” I couldn’t stop from laughing. I liked this easy-does-it Jonas. His language skills were the pits, but he was actually kind of fun in a dry, everyone-is-an-idiot kind of way.

The door opened at the same time as my phone rang. I shot a smile toward Stefan and got a thick pulse of pleasure from the link—it was probably the same thing I was shooting at him. My eyes drifted toward the face of the phone where “Tim – alpha” was displayed in large white letters.

Wonderful timing, as ever.

“How’d it go with the witches?” Stefan asked as he slung a leather jacket across the nearest chair.

For a wonder, Jonas didn’t bother getting up. It was testimony to how tired he was.

I gave Stefan a pointer finger to have him hold that thought as I answered the phone. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Sasha? Tim. We got one.”

A thrill went through my body. I sat up quickly, clutching the cold plastic to my ear. Stefan was beside me instantly.

“Got a demon? You’ve found another demon?” I clarified in anxious tones.

Jonas sat up next, a wave of violence washing over his body—you could tell by the quick flexing of his muscles.

“Yeah,”
came Tim’s voice. “This one is a nasty one. We took out a different one yesterday—very low power. Sacrifice was a small animal and looked a day old. Didn’t bother you with that one.”

“Wait,” I switched ears. “
You
took out a low-level demon yesterday? Because so did Stefan.”

Tim snorted.
“Figured he wouldn’t call us.”

Well, you didn’t call him, either …

I tapped my phone to speaker so everyone could hear. Stefan was already texting someone—probably Jameson.

“This clown is practicing,” Tim said, “But he’s here now. Can’t see his face—he’s hidden behind a blind, but he’s here. He called up a nasty one, and he’s getting ready to unleash it. It seems like he’s waiting, though.”

“Waiting for what?”

“Well…” the pause doused the room in silence for an anxious moment. “He called it on the same spot as Stefan’s parents died.”

So many emotions blasted through the link at once that I had to muffle it. Stefan stared at the phone, wide-eyed, fear warring the calm leader’s mask he was trying for. Jonas stared at the ground, his arms falling into his lap limply.

“So he’s waiting for Stefan, then,” I clarified.

“Yup. Think so. And it’s probably that guy Andris. We only got a glance at his body and the side of his head, but I could swear it was him.”

“How many do we need?” I asked, as close to calm as I could muster. With Stefan’s swirling emotions and swinging mood, one of us had to stay level.

This would be interesting.

“One of my guys is calling this a class three. That is one bad mamma-
jamma, Sasha. I got thirty people, all changed, surrounding it. We got might. We need magic.”

I took a large breath. “We’ll be there as soon as we can. Call if something changes.”

“Yup.” The screen went black as the other line disengaged.

My gaze rose slowly until I met those liquid black eyes filled with uncertainty. We were approaching the moment of truth, and Stefan barely held the reigns of control.

“Jonas,” I said softly. “Go get Jameson. Start getting people ready. Stefan and I will be there in a minute.”

Jonas jumped up. “You got it, mage.”

Before he went through the door, I stopped him. “And Jonas?”

He turned and speared me with a haunted glance.

“Get the witches. We’ll keep them way back, but we could use someone I can sorta link with.”

Jonas nodded, shot a quick glance at Stefan, and then went through the door. Both men knew what I meant—someone I could link with in the event Stefan lost his nerve, shut down, and then unconsciously shut me out.

I faced the love of my life who was scared shitless for the third time ever. “I will be fine,” I said.

His gaze locked on mine. He didn’t acknowledge those words.

“Stefan, I will be fine. If we link, if you give me energy, I can knock that thing out. I know I can. I remember the strange spells from the warehouse, I know exactly how to cut out a
Dulcha,
I’m familiar with the intricacy of Andris’ recent spells—all I need is a bunch of energy and some time. I can do this. I’ll be safe.”

Still his gaze held mine, his jaw clenched, his hands fisted. On the edge, battling his personal demons so hard he could barely focus on the real demon ready to be unleashed.

“What happened to your parents will not happen to me,” I pushed softly. “This time, you will be there. You can help.”

“I can’t help if I’m taken from the fight, Sasha. We’ll need Toa. There’s still time to blood link with him. If we hurry, if we do it in the car, you can develop it. Or you can—”

I put a comforting hand on his bulging forearm. He clenched his jaw, fighting for control. Fighting the raging nightmare of his worst memory coming to life.

My heart went out to him, but I wouldn’t let that thought filter into my gaze. He didn’t need my compassion; he needed my strength.

“Okay. C’mon.” I hauled him up, refusing to feel the butt tingle. Or the knee tingle. Or the goosebumps. Oh yeah, danger was waiting. I was walking, wide-eyed, into a situation that might kill me. And I couldn’t even look terrified. Fan-freaking-tastic.

Outside the door we stalked, side-by-side, down the hall bustling with people. Stefan’s face was a stern mask, nothing of his warring emotions bleeding through his hard expression. As far as everyone else could see, he was ready and deadly, in charge as usual.

We entered the weapon room where I snatched my protective leathers and my dagger. Jameson strolled in, leather duster billowing out behind him. He had the same stern mask Stefan did, but his wasn’t as watertight. Cracks of fear and uncertainly flashed across his expression. “Boss, mage.”

I spared him a glance as I snatched my lucky whistle off its hook. “We’re going to make it through this just fine.”

He started, doing a double take, and honed in on me. It was hard to mistake the pleading in his hazel eyes. And then, slightly embarrassed, he nodded hastily and turned back to Stefan.

“Boss, I’ve got twenty strong here. I’ve
got ten more I’m pulling in from the field. Then I’ve got a group of five magic users, all the best. I’ve also got some humans Jonas is claiming Sasha asked for on the way. I’ve notified the Regional. He is letting you and Sasha take lead.”

Stefan attached his dagger to his side. “Sasha and Toa will make up the chief source of magic to take the demon out. I will balance them, along with the witches. The magic users you collected will be a wall between the demon and them. The warriors will be the front line. We protect the magic users. If those animals turn tail and run, we protect our own.”

Jameson’s eyes hardened. “Who else do you want to link with, Sasha and Toa?”

Stefan slid into his vest, leather hugging his large upper body tightly. He shrugged into his leather duster. “They won’t need anyone else besides the witches. Probably couldn’t accept
anyone else. Between the two of them … and myself, we’ll have a stack of magic and energy both. It should be enough. But…” I got a glance. “The mage has the final say on that.”

“You’re going to hang back with them?” Jameson asked in an almost-level tone.

A muscle in Stefan’s jaw throbbed as it clenched and unclenched. “I am the only one that can balance Sasha’s power. Without me, she cannot link with anyone.”