Satan's Sword (Imp Book 2) (32 page)

“I’m so glad to finally meet you Mr. Master. I’m Samantha Martin. You can call me Sam.”

My host looked at me with the same placid, bored look as the rest of his crew. Unlike his crew, though, there wasn’t much beyond the surface that appeared human. Kyle was Born, but he still looked like all the other vampires. This one didn’t, and I wasn’t sure if it was his age or his power or a combination of them both that set him apart. He wasn’t good looking in the conventional sense of the word. Thin, almost gaunt, with sharp angles everywhere, and eyes that seemed glassy and feverish. His skin was a grayish color. If he’d been human, I would have thought he was in the late stages of cancer or some wasting sort of disease. He even smelled like something that hadn’t been exposed to fresh air for centuries. In spite of that, he had a sort of aristocratic air about him that made me feel like I was a poorly educated, naughty child. This was going to be a long five minutes. I wiped the drool from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand.

“Excellent jerky you’ve got there,” I said, by way of conversation.

A ghost of a smile crossed his face. “Yes, we made it ourselves.”

Clearly this was an inside joke. I wondered if the jerky was some poor sap that’d lost big at blackjack. I’d eaten human before, so it didn’t exactly faze me.

“Please sit.” My host motioned toward the guest chairs as he moved to sit behind the desk. I plopped myself down on the couch and he frowned, changing direction and turning around one of the guest chairs to face me. Clearly this was a lot more informal than he’d planned. Too bad.

“I’d like to start by apologizing for the incident in the lobby with my former casino manager,” he said smoothly. “We don’t tolerate that kind of behavior, and I’m hoping you don’t hold her disrespect against our family.”

“I’m terribly affronted that she didn’t actually show up to shove Doritos up my ass. That would have been epic.” I shrugged. “I totally understand if you needed to kill her. Shame, though. You’re missing some spunk like that in your ranks. Of course, if you’re worried that her power might rival yours, then you should definitely off her. Taking out strong rivals under the guise of keeping behavioral standards is a good way to prop up a tottering empire.”

His dull skin glowed somewhat, a silvery gray. He knew what I was doing, but the implication that he was old, weak, and outdated still stung.

“You do realize that we cannot just hand this artifact over to you? That it chooses who it goes to and isn’t likely to go to a courier?” He ignored my comments.

“Oh yeah, your son told me that already.” I was amused to see him start as I referred to Kyle as his son. “I just thought we’d chat a bit before I go home and get my ass soundly beat.”

He looked at me with some curiosity. “Why go to all this trouble to get a meeting if you know you won’t be able to retrieve the artifact?”

“And miss out on a few days of gambling and killing at some other demon’s expense? I never pass up a freebie.”

His eyes brightened slightly. “Surely that isn’t your only reason?”

I was hardly going to tell him I was hoping to mitigate my smack-down from Haagenti a bit by putting in an effort.

“No. My boyfriend had a computer game tournament up here and I wanted to come along to make sure you vampires didn’t end up making jerky out of him.”

That was a horribly insulting thing to say, but my host wasn’t paying attention to me. He wasn’t even looking at me. Instead he was frowning at something on the coffee table. I looked down and saw the egg sitting there, right next to my hand. Fuck. I thought I had put it back on the bookshelf. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d stolen something and not really been conscious of it, though.

“I’m sorry.” I picked up the egg and replaced it on the bookshelf. “I was admiring some of your decorations, and didn’t realize that I’d not put that one back.”

This really didn’t look good. I didn’t want the head of the entire northeast region of vampires thinking I was stealing his personal items. Hastily, I dug in the little duffle bag and pulled out the box that held my gift. Well, Dar’s gift, actually.

“Here.” I tossed the box at him. He caught it in a quick, smooth motion, and raised his eyebrows at me. “A gift. I was told I was to present a gift to you.”

He looked at the box suspiciously then opened it. A soft gasp escaped him as he looked at the tiny vials, and he ran a finger lovingly over them. Dar clearly did something right here.

“I cannot accept this, Baal. This gift is precious beyond words, and I cannot reciprocate by giving you the artifact.”

I waved my hand at him. “Keep it. Otherwise I’ll sell it on ebay and it will end up collecting dust on the shelf of a forty year old fat man living in his parent’s basement. There are only so many people interested in buying elf blood, you know.”

He nodded, and giving the vials one last caress, closed the box and placed it on his desk.

“So, what else should we discuss? The weather, perhaps? Or your favorite sports team?”

“Nope. I should probably head out,” I said, making to rise.

He halted me with an upraised hand and frowned at my bag. “Is there something else in your satchel, Baal?”

“Just a change of clothes,” I replied, checking quickly. My face reddened and I pulled out a metal egg. I was so fucked. No amount of elf blood was going to make this one right. And he’d caught me stealing it, too; otherwise how would he have known it was in my bag?

I got up to put the egg back once again. Suddenly, it flashed and morphed, and instinctively I threw it across the room. In a panic, I jumped up on the couch as if it were a mouse and shielded myself with a couch cushion.

“Get down, it’s gonna blow,” I shouted.

After a few seconds of silence, I peeked around the couch cushion to see the egg lying on the coffee table once again. A chunk of the bookcase had broken into splinters on the floor where the egg had impacted.

“Perhaps if you held onto it, rather than hurling it across the room, you’d figure out what it is,” my host said sarcastically.

I reached out tentatively and picked up the egg, still holding onto the cushion with my other hand, just in case. In a flash, it became a sword. It was rather plain, with a braided hilt and round knob pommel.

“So this is what all the fuss is about?” I asked. The master guy nodded.

“Well, it’s very nice,” I lied. “Should I stick it back on your bookcase, or is there somewhere else you keep it?”

“It appears to want to go with you,” my host said.

Wow, this was a lucky turn of events. I could give the sword to Haagenti after all and maybe be back here before Wyatt died of old age.

“You cannot give it away. It will remain with you until it decides otherwise.”

“I have no use for a sword,” I said in frustration. “I don’t know how to use it. I don’t fight with a sword. What the fuck am I supposed to do with this thing?”

He shrugged, looking like he might start to laugh at any moment. “It can change shape to whatever you want. A knife? A staff perhaps? Or an egg? At this juncture, it’s mainly ceremonial, although if you need, it can be a powerful weapon for you.”

“What sort of ceremonies?” I asked. I couldn’t recall any demon ceremonies off the top of my head, let alone one that included using a sword.

“At Council meetings, or if someone questions your authority. Or you could always just chop off an angel’s wings with it,” he added, his eyes glittering in amusement.

I looked at the sword with a growing sense of doom. Now I really didn’t want the damned thing. Not if it was what I thought it was. As if Gregory didn’t hate me enough right now. He’d destroy me if he saw me with it.

“It’s the Sword of the Iblis, Ha-satan.” He sounded rather sympathetic. “Surely you didn’t think you were coming to retrieve Excalibur, did you?”

Of course. But why would Haagenti have wanted such a thing? Yeah, I could see him drooling at the prospect of chopping angel wings off, but I didn’t envision him wanting to be the Iblis. Nobody wanted to be the Iblis. I certainly didn’t want to be the Iblis.

“Can I give it back? Maybe you vampires can hold onto it until some other sucker, I mean demon, comes along?”

He shook his head. “It’s a sentient object, Ha-satan. I have no control over it.”

What the fuck was I supposed to do with this thing? Maybe I could hide it and no one would know. Stick it under my bed or something.

Well, there was nothing to be done about this right now. I needed to leave pronto and sneak out of this hotel or I wouldn’t make my rendezvous with Wyatt. Of course, it was going to be hard sneaking out of a casino with a big sword in tow. I concentrated on the sword, begging it silently to turn into something useful, like a Gucci bag or a pair of Ferragamos. There was a flash, and a gold barrette in the shape of a feather lay in my palm. Oh, the irony.

“Well, thank you very much for your hospitality.” I clipped my hair back with my newest accessory. “I wish you the best of luck in quelling the upcoming rebellion.”

He shot me a shrewd look as he rose to shake my hand.

“I’m hoping I can count on your continued support and friendship, Ha-satan.”

“Oh absolutely,” I lied, grabbing my duffle and heading out the door. “I’m totally in your corner on this one.”

Time was running out. I raced for the elevator, and jumped in, smacking the button for the lobby. The hotel was not tall, and I only had a few floors to go, so I dropped the duffle bag and quickly popped my form into the tall blond, blowing apart every stitch of clothing I had on. In a moment of panic, I grabbed at my hair thinking I’d blown apart the Barrette of the Iblis along with my clothing, but I was relieved to find it there undamaged. I’d never live it down if I managed to destroy a priceless demon artifact within five minutes of taking possession of it. Scrambling, I threw on the jeans and white t-shirt from the duffle bag, going commando for speed in dressing, and shoving my ID, money, and my cell phone into a pocket. Just as I was pulling on a pair of wedge pumps, the elevator dinged and I stepped out, leaving the duffle behind.

I meandered around the casino for a bit, searching for either Sobronoy or Labisi. They both knew my meeting was this morning, but I’m sure they assumed later. Maybe they weren’t going to bother staking the place out until lunchtime? I headed toward the hotel lobby area and stopped dead as I caught sight of Mario. He’d most likely seen the footage from before and might recognize me as this tall blond woman. It was too late to backtrack without bringing notice to myself, so I casually kept walking, hoping he’d not see me. Nope. He glanced up and froze, staring intently at me. Fuck. I slowed down and looked at him, wondering what to do. He was clearly wondering what to do, too. How tight was he with the late Kelly that I’d screwed over? He knew both Sobronoy and Labisi were going to grab me. Would he rat me out to them?

Our eyes met for a brief second, and I saw him smile. Walking with an inhuman speed toward the door, he touched the sleeve of a man there. Sobronoy, I thought as I saw him turn. Fuck, Mario was going to hand me over. I did not want to have a knockdown, drag out fight with Sobronoy in this hotel lobby, but there was no way I was going down easy. I took a breath, ready to pull my energy up, but something made me hold back. Sobronoy walked away, with Mario following him. I sighed with relief and saw Mario give me the peace sign behind his back. That vampire was on my good list. I owned him one.
Anytime Mario
, I thought.
Anytime.

Feeling like escape was within my reach, I walked out the revolving doors and grabbed a cab. Within ten minutes, I was outside the city limits and happily walking into an IHOP and Wyatt’s arms. Home free. Almost.

Chapter 26

“I
was followed,” Wyatt whispered into my neck as he hugged me. I was actually taller than him in this form.

“Is she here?” It had to be Labisi.

He shook his head. “In the parking lot. Sam, I’m not sure how we’re going to get out of here. Maybe if you stay like this, she’ll think I’m cheating on you. Then we can go to a rent by the hour motel, and hopefully she’ll give up and head back to the casino.”

She might, but I thought she’d probably continue to follow Wyatt until Sobronoy told her he had me in his grubby little hands. Soon enough Sobronoy would figure out that I’d slipped out of the casino, and she’d connect the dots.

“I think our best bet is to act like you’re flying the coop with me. We’ll head home as fast as we can and if she comes after us I’ll deal with it.”

“They know where we live, don’t they? Even if we get away from them, they’ll eventually show up at your house to grab you. Wouldn’t it be easier to deal with them here?”

I shook my head. “At home I’ve got Boomer and even Diablo to help out. You have no idea how amazing Boomer can be if I turn him loose, and I know Diablo will be happy for the opportunity to kill something. He blew a deer apart the other week. He’s pretty impressive. I know he’d love to help me kill a demon.”

Wyatt looked surprised. “I thought you all didn’t kill each other?”

“Well, not in the normal course of things, but I’m not going home and the only way I can send a strong message about this is to kill every single demon Haagenti sends to collect me.”

Wyatt nodded and we walked out the door like two illicit lovers, got into the Corvette, and drove off. I was driving, so if Labisi came after us I could take off like a maniac. I hoped she was stupid, because there would be no way Wyatt would just hand over the Corvette to some random hot chick. The moment I got into the driver’s seat, she should have been on us.

Clearly she was stupid, because we pulled out onto the highway with her a respectable distance behind. We’d made it all the way into Delaware when she must have gotten the phone call from Sobronoy. I saw the grey Honda weave around traffic and speed up. She was fast and rather reckless, clipping other cars to catch up, but I’d been living as a human for forty years and my driving experience far outclassed hers. I’d pulled away and put about a quarter mile between us when she began to catch up. Fuck.