Red Moon Demon (Demon Lord) (14 page)

Still naked,
I walked to
a
chair by the window.
I stood there looking out at crows hopping on my lawn; had to be an omen though I didn’t know
of what
.

The small hairs at the base of my neck tingled. Shifting my hips, I checked over my shoulder. Leona was looking past me, out the window toward the crows, as if she knew they were there. Izumi was looking at my
ass. W
om
e
n are hornier then man, they just hide it better, most of the time.

“Take a picture it will last longer
,
” I said.

“I already have, the camera is in my safe” Izumi said.

“What
!
When?
” I asked.

“Who do you think changed you
?
” Izumi
said
.

“Leona, you let
a demon near me when I was vulnerable
?”

“Hard to turn down a grand for every picture, and can you put some pants on already
.
I
’v
e seen more of your junk lately then I have all year
.”

I put the laundered clothing back on and secured my weapon
s
where they could easily be drawn. Weighed down with
them
, I felt human again.

So what now?

I need
ed
to find out
quite a few things.
I was going to have to do
some
research, one of the many reason
s
why I hate jobs like this
.
Good thing my office was a bar.
I was going to
need a
very large
drink
. T
he only kind of research I’m
normally
good at involves
undressing
nineteen year old
super
models
and pu
t
t
ing them
to bed.

I grabbed a few books from my shelves and
took
them
out into the hall
.
There was no sign of
Old Man
. I went slowly, not quite a new man, and felt tired again by the time I reached the office.
Walking in, I saw Leona sitting on the bar. Izumi sat on a bar stool. They watched me with piercing stares as
I settled in a well-padded recliner by a
n unlit
fireplace
.

I opened a book, holding it up in front of my face.
“Hey
,
can someone get me a drink?”

Izumi’s icy tones lowered the temperature in the room.
“You
’
r
e
hurt
,
you look like hell
,
and you want to drink?”

“I
deserve
a drink precisely because I am hurt and look like hell,” I said.

Leona
jumped off the bar and headed for the door, her tail a stiff club swaying in her wake. She said, “We’ll be back in a few. Izumi, let
’
s get him his drink.”

Izumi rolled her eyes
,
and f
o
llowed Leona out
.

I rolled my eyes as well.
I hate it when people
watch over me
when I’m hurt
.
H
ell
,
I
’d
be happy left alone
, without a
n
ice princess or spirit leopard to help lick my wounds.

On the coffee table was
a
new stack of
books
.
Old Man
had been here, doing research of his own. Curious, I looked at what he’d gathered. They
contained folklore on
succubae
. Bookmarkers were set in numerous locations. I put aside my books on ancient talismans and thumbed through what he’d left for me to find.

There were three bookmarks on one page in the middle book.
Ah-hah! A
clue.
The marked passage highlighted
a very
special
succubae clan
. They
didn’t
give birth to
children, but recruited from
human
s, turning them through
some kind of
dark
ritual
involving
a kiss beneath a dark moon—usually followed up with an orgy
.
He’d hoped for details, and pictures,
but there
weren’t any.

There
was plenty
else
on the
demons
, one of the oldest succubae clans around
. Few in number
, they
’d
been around
a long time, steeping themselves in the oldest magic. Most
other
demon
s feared them
. T
he
succubae
were know
n
to enthrall large number
s
of humans just being near them
. T
he thing that got me was that they
’
d wait as long as it
took
to get a
special
human they liked
. B
y turning a human female
,
they
didn’t
run the risk of giving birth to a
domineering
incubus
,
or
to
a weak succubus
.
T
hey
made
sure
every
generation was stronge
r—
and
female.

I
set the books aside, sliding deep into thought.
A ritual that turned a human
female in
to a demon would take a lot of power,
and
a spell caster that knew the ritual
. T
he succubus
would require
a place of power
. It had been no coincidence that he’d found Sarah at
the
M
ission
. She was working with the succubus.
I
’
d seen
high-level
spells
in action before. T
here
was little chance a
spell
-
caster
could
control
and focus that amount of power
,
and do the spell at the same time.

Unless…
th
e amulet
.
It could run any spell—no matter how advanced—all by itself. That explained why a lone succubus needed Sarah’s help to transform Haruka. The succubus was probably the source of the dispel
poison that
worked
even on me
. The deeper mystery was where Sarah had laid her mitts on a relic that was
almost alive.

Could it contain
trapped soul
s? They
have a lot of power
.
I remembered back to the battle at the mission. The
amulet
hadn’t seemed to posse
s
s life force, only magic
.
That thing’s
going to give me a headache
yet,
I can tell.
There’s no way I can go after Haruka until I come up with
a counter to what Sarah’s using.

Izumi came
back
with my drink,
but without Leona. Instead,
Angie
strolled behind. They swept toward me, their faces betraying nothing.
Mental note; never play poker with these two.
And here I’d thought Angie didn’t have a poker face.

Izumi
offered
me the
glass.
I smell
ed
rum
.

I took the glass that was frosty cold due to her hands. “That’s more like it.”

Izumi
stepped back and faded magically in a swirl of snowflakes, her voice lagging a little behind, “Later, love.”

Angie
dropped
in
to
the other recliner, sitting cross legged in the chair.
The bouncing of her large breast
s
told me she wasn’t wearing a bra. That’s what I like about lady werewolves; they seldom do. Something about cleavage diminished the rage I should have been feeling.

“
What do you want
?
” I
asked
.

“Sorry I got in the way before
.
”

“
You didn’t just happen to get in the way. You turned on me in a fight. I’ve killed people for less.”

“I
’
m
…
sorry.”

“
You should be
. Fortunately,
I kno
w how you can make it up to me.”

“How’s that?”

“We
could start with a lap dance. I’m sure other things will occur to me. Later, I’ll even let you get
on top
.
”

“
Let
me? I’m a
wolf
. I take what I want.”
Angie looked to the
open
door, then back at me
,
her eyes
burning amber. She
bit her bottom lip
in indecision
, st
aying in the big yellow chair that dwarfed her.
“I
can’t give you what you want. Y
ou
’
r
e
hurt and weak
.
I
’
d break you
.
”

“
Y
ou can try
.
”
I downed half
the
drink,
feeling it burn down my throat. “
I may be hurt and weak
ened, but part of me definitely isn’t dead.” I pointed at the pup tent
in my trousers.

Through the cloth, she eyed the humongous size of my engorged package, and unconsciously licked her lips. “Well…”

The door creaked open a little wider as
William walked in.

Come on!
Can
’
t a man get
laid
after a close call on his life
?

William
sniffed. As a wolf, his nose would easily pick up on the sexual tension in the room. He looked at A
ngie
. “Give us a
moment
.”

She nodded, unfolding her legs, sliding them to the floor while leaning forward. I had a wonderful if frustrating view down inside her shirt. Standing, she hurried off, closing the office door behind her.

William turned to me, staring down.
I really
didn’t
like that, or the look of blood in his eyes. Here was a wolf thinking of killing something.

FOURTEEN

“
Vodka? No, just
water
. I
gnore

the
empties
in the
trash
.”

—
Caine Deathwalker

“Angie told me
what
happened
at the Mission,
” William said.

“Yeah
,
your granddaughter
’
s a hand full
.
”

“She can be
, but family is family
.
”
He
paused
, searching for the
right words.
“I need to know you
’
r
e
not going after her for what she did
.
I don’t know why she did it, but I’m sure she had a
good
reason
.
”

“I can
’
t promise anything
when she’s liable to
try
and
kill me
again.
And I’m
pretty
sure
she’s involved with
a
succubus I need to kill. I don’t see how we’re
not
going to clash.
”

“
T
hen there not much
left
to talk about
.
”
William lunged
.

Drawing a silver dagger, I sliced at him to force him back while rolling sideways, over an armrest. I
hit the floor
and a grunt of pain escaped me. Sparks danced before my eyes as the world tried to go gray. Dragging my feet under me, I braced for whatever he’d do next.
Damn so weak. I felt like a girl scout could knock me over with a cookie
.

The chair was snatched up and flung across the room, crashing into a barstool and the side of the bar.

Crap,
Old Man will make me pay for that
even though it’s my
own
house
.

I
stood
crouch
ing
, watching his face crinkle in fury, the bones melting, flowing into a more bestial shape. His nails lengthened into claws. He didn’t
completely change
since it was daylight, but an extra twenty pounds of solid muscle ghosted onto him from nowhere
, a
nd his eyes
were
full wolf

I tossed my knife, hoping to bury it in his heart.

He blurred to the side, letting it safely pass through the spot he’d vacated
, hitting the far door
.
Damn!
He had full wolf speed
.
I didn’t dare try a spell with my arm not quite healed.
All my tats
were interlinked
, tapping my life force.
Something
could go deadly wrong if they weren’t back in balance yet. It would be an irony I’d never live down if I killed myself trying to save my life
.

I cross
-
dr
e
w my
twin
PPK
’s, trying to remember if either of them had a silver clip ready to go.

Kicked, t
he door
exploded inward
.

William
paused, glowering over his shoulder at the intruder.

“It was unlocked,
” I yelled,
“
thanks for costing me money
.
”

Angie ran in
to
the room
. Forgetting William was her
Alpha
, with power of life and death over her,
sh
e screamed at him, “What in hell do you think you’re doing?”

He growled
.

Realizing she was challenging him, she lowered her eyes meekly, stopping
, dropping to her knees in submission
.

William swung back
to me
, utter disdain in his eyes over my
choice of
weapons
, until a swirl of
black
mist appeared between us, solidifying into a hundred and forty pounds of Spirit Leopard.
Leona
crouched, muscles bunched,
white
fangs
bared
,
as she
hiss
ed
in white-hot fury.

“Hiding behind a kitty cat?”
William
asked.

“Yeah,” I said, “you know all about courage, attacking an invalid and all.”

Angie
was up off her knee
s
, but still low to the floor, edging around William, giving him lots of room. Leona caught the movement, switching her baleful stare to the she wolf
, sending a growl that wa
y
.

“
Everyone,
stand down,
” I said. “T
his is over.
”

Leona gave no sign she’d heard me, but William made a show of relaxing, shaking the tension from his body, offering me a wolf’s friendly grin.

I didn’t b
u
y it. I kept my guns extended, covering William
and
Angie. She’d turned on me in a fight once before. I don’t forget things like that.

William’s hand
, the one closest to Angie,
twitched
.

Reading
the
signal, she lunged, scooping up Leona, carrying her off to the side. Leona squalled, squirming
,
her claws slicing and dicing. I heard Angie cussing passionately as blood was drawn. At the same time, William leaped for me, into the rapid-fire thunder of my automatics. I guess one of the clips did have silver, cause he flinched aside
, crashing to the ground, twitching like a junkie, claws gouging the floor,

Angie tried to break away from Leona, only to find that next to impossible. Leona had every claw hooked into Angie while straining to reach the wolf’s throat. Angie’s face had coarsened, shadowed
with fuzz, turning bestial wit
h
a partial change. Her wolf yellow eyes were losing all trace of human control as I watched. Their struggle would soon be one only death could end.

“Leona,” I called, “let her go.”

She continued to ignore me. I couldn’t really blame her. It had probably been a long time since she’d been able to
pull out all the stops
. Still, I didn’t want two dead wolves on my hands.

William started writhing.
I wondered,
How the hell isn’t
he
dead yet?

T
he windows crashed in, and more of William’s pack arrived, I knew the answer. Pack magic. As
Alpha
, he had the power—the magic
and
the life force—of all his wolves to draw upon
. His wounds spat out the crumpled silver slugs, closing up. Silver wounds normally are difficult for wolves to heal. This was the difference being an
Alpha
made.

William’s eyes were open, centered on me, promising me an orgy of pain.

His wolves were coming on fast. I knew I couldn’t outrun them. Fortunately, Old Man and I had contingency plans for just such events.

The chimney was right behind me. I crawled inside, and grabbed the lever built into the fireplace grate. A steel door dropped, sealing me. I didn’t worry about Leona out there with all those wolves; she could fade out whenever things got too rough. I pushed the lever back in place. This activated the dumbwaiter I was in.
The small platform I was on dropped smoothly. In moments, I’d be in the wine cellar.

Above me, the steel barrier dented, booming as William battered it with preternatural strength.

I grinned. “Good luck with that, buddy, it’s charmed.”

The battering continued.

The dumbwaiter reached the basement where a wall panel hinged out of my way. I crawled out, stepping down to the floor.
I walked over to
the desk
in the armory section.
I had emergency guns
,
ammo,
and
swords
from
all over
from those I’d
killed
.
I grabbed extra handguns, paying little attention to what type, and looked for silver ammo. I was glad I had the backup armory in here, but could have also used some armor.

Note to self: put some in here … if you live.

One sword wasn’t a trophy,
the
one
Old Man and Red-Fang
had
made for me
. Displayed above its black lacquered sheath, the katana was all black, four and a half feet long instead of the usual three and a half. The round hand guard was a circling dragon wreathed in flames.

I
t begged to
be used
, wanting to spill blood in my name
.

I lifted my hand, reaching toward the sword on the wall.
“C’mon, baby, let’s go killin’
” The
repaired
rune
on my
right
arm burned like acid
,
but the pain was welcome, a sign that magic was awakening to my call. I needed to be sure of that before going back upstairs to take on a whole pack of wolves.

T
he sword
disappeared
in a
pale gray
clo
ud
of smoke
, creating a soft
whump
of imploding air, and reappeared
in my
closing
hand
.
Excellent.

Carrying the blade to the cooler, I
took
a bottle of wine
out and o
pened it
. F
our hundred years old
,
just right for a
possible
last drink
.
I guzzled with abandon, corked the bottle, an
d put it back.

Now, to get back upstairs. Angie knew about the elevator. Activating the dumbwaiter had deactivated its controls, but it would be watched along with the chimney. That left only one way to go—the treasure vault. Despite what I’d led Angie to believe, the chamber couldn’t be physically accessed from here. The only portal there w
as
magical; the mirror in my room
.
I went to a jumble of old furniture, each piece an antique covered with a sheet. Throwing a sheet aside, I uncovered
what looked to be
second mirror.
There was a third inside my vault, but not really. They were all the same mirror, occupying three different points due to a set of magical wrinkles in the time-space continuum. Stepping through any one could take you out of either of the others.

My fingers traced the runes carved into the frame. No pain came as the portal opened. The magic of enchanted objects is paid for by the one who fashions such things. The glass rippled like water as I stepped through the full-length mirror, entering my vault.

A living room set surrounded me, an office desk and laptop off to the side.
At the far end were two Mayan-style pyramids, one made of silver, the other gold. Between them
lay
heaps of gold coins
and
precious jewels
. Another pile contained ancient relic and enchanted artifacts.
A large cooler held my rarest wines. Wafting overhead, several will-o-the–wisps hung like silver-blue stars, throwing soft light everywhere.

One of them came over, shifting to a yellowish green in agitation. It wined at me, “We want to go home. The iron here hurts us.”

I shrugged. “You should have thought bout that before leaving the land of Fair
e
to cause trouble in
my
territory. Killing people
d
raws too much attention.”

“They were old and sickly. They couldn’t swim worth poop.”

“They were senior citizens
, someone’s grandparents
.
Only I’m allowed to put them out of their misery.”

“We won’t
d
o it again. We promise.”

“I know you won’t. I need the free power.”

I was just about to turn around and use the mirror to go to my bedroom w
hen
I felt demonic energy coming
in
. I
scanned the room.
A blue-green haze shimmered in the air.
Old Man
stepped out of it, turning to face me.

“How did you get in here?” I d
emanded
.

“I taught you everything you know, not everything I know
.
”

“
Yeah,
well just don’t take anything
.
”

“As if.
This is trash compared to my vault
.
”

“
R
eally
?
” I said, “
W
here did you say you kept your stuff?”

“Isn’t it too soon to be going back on the job?”
Old Man
said.

“
Like I got a choice. Have you seen what’s going on upstairs?
”

“
No, I came straight to you.”