Demon's Doorway (18 page)

The witch upstairs fighting hormones had a challenge. Remove Jack's curse, but not his life. Make him mortal again. He honestly didn't know if that was possible. The magic keeping him alive, if removed, could simply turn him into a two-hundred-year-old man, and he'd die on the spot.

That wasn't acceptable.

Alex emerged from the bathroom, wearing jeans and a tank-top underneath an open buttoned shirt. He wiped his face with a hand towel, and gestured behind him.

"You need to use the bathroom?"

Jack said nothing, simply glaring at him. Alex shrugged, and walked to the couch by the TV. He stretched out and kicked his feet up, obviously comfortable in Victoria's basement.

Jack was curious about the man with the wings. He'd encountered a demon or two in his long life, at very haunted locations. He knew about the gateways leading to the spirit realm, and the far fewer leading to the realm of demons. The typical haunted houses, places of violence and despair, they could let ghosts and demons peek through to the world of the living, move things around and cause havoc.

Apparently, Alex could do much more than peek.

"Are you okay over there?" Alex asked. "You haven't stopped pacing since you got down here."

"Don't talk to me."

Alex shook his head and relaxed on the couch. Jack could see he had more pressing matters on his mind, like leaving to spend time with his wife.

He continued pacing, but stopped when he heard a hitched breath from Alex, followed by a quick snore.

Jack leaned over the back of couch and shook Alex's shoulder. He sat up, stunned, and tried to push Jack's hand away.

"Hey, what the hell is your problem?" Alex said, irritated.

"You don't sleep around me."

"I'll sleep if I want to."

"No, you won't. Besides, how are you gonna sex up the marriage if you're all tired?"

Alex stood up and went to the fridge. He pulled out a soda and paced as well.

"Where's Victoria?" he asked. "I can't stay here all night."

"Be patient."

"No offense, Jack, but you don't strike me as the patient type."

Jack smiled. His patience was actually the stuff of legend. Time flowed differently for him. He didn't have fatigue or exhaustion to tell him what time it was. He once spent weeks strapped to a Nazi scientist's table, undergoing examination that would make a mortal go insane. He thought he was near that point a few times, as time passed slowly. The Nazi scientists and doctors tried to cut him open, shoot him, set him on fire. None of that bothered Jack. What got to him most was the darkness as they dreamed up what to do with him. Being strapped to a table, unable to move, unable to sleep, that pushed his mind to the limit.

But he was patient.

A mortal made a mistake. They tried to cut off his tongue, and were amazed when the scalpel only barely dug into his flesh. They left the instrument just a little too close to him on the table.

They paid for that mistake with their lives.

Jack still remembered when he heard the report about Allied forces discovering the Nazi experiments, the atrocities. They discovered the lab where nearly one-hundred Nazis were murdered. Not just Nazis, but secretaries, janitorial staff, their gore spread throughout the building. Many Allied forces left the hidden lab needing therapy.

Jack wasn't fond of mortals, and he had a temper.

The basement door opened, and Victoria walked down the stairs. Kevin was a step behind her. Jack could almost see glamour shots of Alicia in the witch's pupils. He couldn't help but feel amused, though, and actually wondered if Kevin had a one-nighter set up for the future.

"Hi, guys," she said.

"Victoria," Alex said, pointing at his wrist. "I can't stay long."

"I already talked to Cindy. She's cool, don't worry."

Jack laughed. "Been married a few hours, and already has to clear things with the warden."

Alex glared at him, and shot a questioning look to Victoria. She nodded sympathetically.

"We haven't really done introductions. Alex, Kevin, you know each other already. This is Jack Kursed, a man I consider family. You'll probably have to ignore half of everything he says."

Jack nodded at each of them. "Alex. Glinda. Hey, did you have a good time with Alicia? I was right, of course. She digs you."

Kevin said nothing, and Victoria gestured to the living area. Alex sat in the recliner, Victoria and Kevin next to each other on the couch. Jack chose to stand in the corner, leaning against the wall.

"Okay, I won't run my mouth too much. I know some of us have places to be."

"Alex," Jack said, leaning away from the wall. "Tell me. I can't quite get a read just from watching her. Cindy…does she like the wings? You know, when you're poking her?"

The two young men traded looks, amazed at Jack's gall. Victoria wasn't surprised in the least. Alex's cheeks turned crimson, and not because of his demonic powers.

"She does, doesn't she?" Jack said, a smile on his face. "Oh, man. And I thought Erica was a freak. Hey, me and you have to swap stories—"

"Jack!" Victoria said. "You said you'd behave."

"I'm behaving. I just asked the man a question. We're bonding, here—"

"You're being an asshole."

He smirked. "These two haven't
begun
to see that side of me."

Victoria sighed and lowered her head. "Anyway, I want to talk about what happened today. We can't just sweep it under the rug. I got a call today at Alex's wedding from Bradley, an old friend of mine."

Jack huffed in disgust. "Bradley."

"He told me someone very dangerous was getting off a plane, and from what we dealt with at the office building, I'd say he was right. Now, about that building—" She pointed to the TV behind her, at the muted news report. "I've got people that know me at the stations, already casting little seeds of doubt about what happened today. Kevin wiped half their memories. I don't know what the end story will be, but trust me, it won't be about demons."

Alex waved his hand. "Hey, uh, did they get any video—?"

"No, Alex. There's no video out there of you flying."

"Okay, so, what do you know about the guy?" Kevin asked, looking at Alex and Jack. "We saw him, just for a minute, at the airport. You said he was a vampire, right?"

"Yes, he's definitely a vampire."

Jack watched as her jaw tightened, only for a second, and she switched her crossed legs. She wasn't being completely honest.

"There's gotta be more than that," Alex said. "What was that sphere, and the demons showing up?"

There was a new voice, at the top of the basement stairs.

"The name he's going by now is Anatol Grigori. He is indeed very dangerous, and it really is a shame you couldn't stop him at the airport today."

Everyone turned to the stairs, and Jack frowned at the familiar voice. He hadn't heard it in nearly one hundred fifty years.

Bradley joined them in the basement. He looked exactly as Jack remembered him. Bradley always dressed nice, and had the snobbish look of someone born with everything. He carried that
everything
from his mortal life to his vampire life. Bradley and Victoria were close, but Jack never got along with him. Of course, Jack didn't get along with nearly anyone.

Bradley studied everyone, giving extra attention to Kevin. Jack knew the vampire was smart, and was tearing everyone down. The witch, the half-demon. He smiled at Victoria, stepping forward for an embrace and a kiss of the hand. His reaction to Jack was the complete opposite. He scowled and made no false presentation.

"John," he said, his tone laced with venom.

"Call me Jack, Bradley. How long has it been?"

"Not long enough."

"Hey, come on, now. Did someone piss in your blood?"

Bradley ignored him and approached the muted TV. A reporter stood in front of the office building, with the camera focusing on the holes on the second and ninth floors.

"I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow," Victoria said.

"This was important enough to move quickly. Believe me, it's very embarrassing, hiding from the sun in a box. But, I have my own private plane and hangar. We've been tracking Anatol for a long time. As you can see, he's…formidable."

"He had a potion on him," Kevin said. "It created some kind of magical sphere. And he walked in the day. Is he working with a witch, like me?"

Bradley looked down at Kevin. "I don't believe anyone was speaking to you."

Jack held in a laugh as Kevin's eyes shot open.

"Where the hell did that come from? I'm just trying to help—"

"Kevin," Victoria said, giving a look of warning.

"Anatol is a vampire," Bradley said. "And he's also a half-witch."

Jack crossed his arms, impressed. "Really. No shit."

Kevin glared at Victoria. "You knew."

"No. I suspected. The scent…." She looked at Bradley. "How is that possible?"

"Who knows? That's like asking how that young man over there made friends with demons."

"They're not my friends," Alex said, frowning. "Just because I named one or two—"

"Maybe he was born a half-witch, and simply had the blood to handle the change," Bradley said. "Or maybe it was a spell gone wrong. I'm sure present company can understand how that would go." He eyed Kevin.

"This isn't good," Victoria said. "How old is he?"

"Old enough."

"Why does age matter?" Alex asked.

Victoria stood and put her hands on her hips. "A half-witch is already very strong. But…give one a few centuries to dream up spells and potions, and he could do some very bad things."

Alex shrugged. "Like what? What's he want to do?"

"I don't know," Bradley said. "But I'm sure it involves a lot of mortal deaths."

"Do you know where he might have made a base for himself? He could be states away right now."

"No. I'm afraid not."

Jack pushed himself away from the wall. He'd been quiet until then, but he'd had enough.

"Okay, everyone, now you know a little more of what you're up against. Of course, Bradley here can't tell you the master plan, or where he went, or anything remotely useful. But hey, at least you know one of his many names, right? Anyway, there's something much more important happening here. Namely, me."

"Jack," Victoria said, stepping toward him. "This isn't the best time. Everything's changed—"

"I'm tired of waiting, Victoria. I've waited two centuries."

"You said you didn't know if you were ready. Well,
Kevin
might not be ready—"

"Glinda, I need a cure. I need you to dig into your bag of witch crap and pull out a cure for immortality."

Victoria put a hand to her head in frustration as Kevin searched everyone's faces, just for a clue. The only sympathy he saw was from Alex, who was just as lost as he was.

"Me?" Kevin asked, then looked at Victoria. "Immortality? What's he talking about?"

Jack spoke before Victoria had the chance.

"A witch cursed me, almost two hundred years ago. A full-blooded witch, like you."

Bradley smirked. "Perhaps you should have been more careful as to who you invited in your home."

"How did you phrase it?" Jack asked, nearly snarling. "Oh, yes. I don't believe anyone was speaking to you, Bradley."

Victoria approached Jack and gingerly put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's not do this now. We can sit down later, the three of us, and talk about this."

He ignored her. "I need this immortality gone." He tried to keep his voice from cracking. "I can't die. I can't sleep. Only a full-blooded witch can cure me."

"How?"

"I was hoping you could tell me."

"Wait a minute," Kevin said, putting his hands up. "You're telling me, if I wanted to, I could
curse
someone? Make them not die?"

"Is it so much of a leap?" Bradley said. "You gave Victoria immunity to the sun, cured a werewolf. I'd have thought you'd figured it out by now. Witches are stronger than any of us. It's a big reason why I'm not fond of them."

The color left Kevin's face. He took a step back, almost afraid they'd attack him at any moment. Victoria wanted to say something, but between the discovery of a witch that was also a vampire, and the arrival of Bradley, her own thoughts were swimming.

Kevin said nothing. He simply turned and walked up the basement stairs.

"What's his problem?" Jack said. "What's he got to be upset about?"

Bradley shot him a look. "He's too young to be trusted."

"Victoria," Alex said. "Are these the kind of people you hang out with when I'm not around?"

"Everyone, shut up!" Victoria shouted. She looked at Jack. "You still have no idea how to talk to anyone."