Steal the Day (23 page)

I groaned because Dev’s sexual bucket list was getting longer by the minute. I knew we were getting closer to the grand finale when the name “Nemcox” was chanted over and over again. I hoped this was the real thing and not some group of deluded asylum escapees. I might have a shot dealing with an actual demon. If they were all just taking a little of what they gave Dev and spilling some blood and calling it a ritual, then we were screwed.

The thought also occurred to me that I might be overestimating my celebrity. What if this Nemcox hadn’t been reading the demonic version of
People
and had no idea who I was? I was certain it wouldn’t be the first time some poor sacrifice had tried to talk him out of his dinner by claiming they were too important to eat.

The chanting reached a crest, and Mary Jo held her hands up as she finished the incantations from the black leather book.

The minute I smelled the brimstone, I knew I was in luck. I forced my head off the wooden altar, and sure enough, there was a medium-sized, red-skinned demon looking around. When I say medium-sized, I mean for a demon. They can run to the extra-large, so I was less intimidated by this one than I had been by Lucas Halfer. Of course, I was really intimidated by Halfer, so it’s all relative.

The demon roared, greatly impressing the coven. They were effusive in their praise for their master. There was a lot of butt kissing inherent in this ceremony. Mary Jo was particularly good at telling the demon how much she worshipped him and how devoted she was. Apparently, she and Mr. Renfro were trying for innocent sacrifice number five. I was really going to have to kill her if I got the chance.

“Great Nemcox, we have not one but two souls for your pleasure this evening,” Mary Jo stated grandly, her hands gesturing toward the altars. “I’ve used my special divining necklace to bring an angel to feed your hunger.”

The demon turned his head toward the altars, suddenly very interested in what was on the menu. I strained to try to see him. His dark eyes looked at Dev, and then he took a deep inhale, scenting the air. I expected him to leap onto the altar and begin the bloodletting, but that great horned head was thrown back, and a menacing laugh filled the air.

“You really are a stupid bitch,” the demon said in a very familiar British accent. My heart sank. He was walking my way. “There are absolutely no angels here. You managed to bring me something even better.” The demon smiled down at me, his fangs shining brightly. “Zoey Wharton, what a surprise. Long time no see.”

Of all the demons in all the planes, Mary Jo had to sacrifice me to Stewart. He was the one demon who had a personal beef with me, well, besides Halfer. He’d tried to ruin a job I ran earlier this year, and Daniel had broken his neck and then shot him and then Dev had killed him, too.

“Hey, Stewart.” I tried a bright smile. “Nice to see you survived. I knew you would pull through.”

“No thanks to you, love. I don’t suppose you brought along your sweet little puppy, did you?” Stewart had been very impressed with Neil. Not that it helped us since Stewart had then sicced a weretiger on him. “And where is that nasty vampire you married? Felicitations on your wedding, dear. So sorry I haven’t sent a gift yet. I’ll have to remedy that. Let’s see who you did bring with you.”

The demon jumped from my altar to the one holding Dev.

Dev looked up at him and laughed. “I don’t think that’s Stewart, Zoey. He looks weird.”

Dev had never seen Stewart in his demonic form. Unlike Halfer, Stewart couldn’t change forms at will. If he wanted to look human, he had to possess some poor sap. He liked to call it his meat suit. It usually ended poorly because Stewart didn’t take great care of his clothes.

Stewart grinned as much as someone with enormous fangs can grin. “Maybe I should have a little of what he’s having. Hello, Fae creature. Your mind is so open right now. You’re a dirty, dirty boy. He’s about to die and would you like to know what he’s thinking about?”

I could guess. Stewart was an empath. He picked up on emotions and could magnify them for his own use. It was important to remain calm around Stewart or he could learn things you didn’t want him to learn.

I needed to bring his attention back to me and away from the never-ending porno that likely played in Dev’s brain. “Leave him alone, Stewart. You deal with me.”

One of the witches slapped me hard across the mouth. My head snapped back and hit wood. Pain ripped through me. I managed to maintain consciousness, but I could feel he’d drawn blood.

“You do not talk to the Dark Lord, bitch,” he snarled.

Stewart looked at the witch, his face darkening. “Don’t you touch her.” Stewart hopped off the altar, stalking the witch who struck me. His cloven hoofs stirred up dirt. He hauled the witch up with one hand, and I could see the witch start to choke, his legs twitching. “She’s worth a hundred of you. She’s a companion. Do you know how rare a creature she is, you mundane idiots? Even the ridiculous Fae creature is worth more than all of you put together. Her value is immense, and if one of you harms her again, I will kill the lot of you.”

Stewart let the witch drop to the ground, but I didn’t think he would get up again.

“Thank you.” I was polite because I needed him. I didn’t do defiance when courtesy would work just as well.

“Don’t thank me, love,” he replied shortly. “If anybody is going to hurt you, I want it to be me.”

“Great Lord.” There was a tinge of hysteria to Mary Jo’s voice, as though she was just figuring out I had told her the truth. “How can you choose some human slut over your devoted followers?”

The demon rolled his dark eyes. “Yokels,” he muttered. He waved his hand. “Witches, silent.”

The witches found themselves robbed of the power of speech. They touched their throats trying to speak but nothing would come out.

He looked back down at me. “So, I was looking forward to seeing you at the ball, love. What were you going to wear? I was thinking Brad Pitt. I don’t know though, he’s getting a bit long in the tooth. If I wanted to be terribly ironic, I could wear that boy from the
Twilight
films. Note, dear, I am using the past tense since you won’t be going to the ball anymore.”

“You aren’t going to kill me, Stewart,” I said with a surety I wasn’t feeling.

Stewart smiled and walked slowly around Dev’s prone form. “He thinks I am. It’s just now penetrating his drug-addled brain. He’s very upset.” Stewart ran a finger over Dev’s sculpted chest. “He really is lovely, dear. You have excellent taste in men. You are fucking him? These images I get from him aren’t just his fantasies? You must tell me what you’re doing to these men to keep them in line. This one could screw anything he wanted. He’s descended from an actual sex god, but he follows you around like a pathetic lapdog, and then there’s the vampire. He should have killed this one the instant he looked at you with those covetous eyes of his. Yet the Green Man lives and shares your bed. Seriously, companion, what’s in those pants of yours because I need some of that.”

“Cut the crap, Stewart,” I said flatly, not willing to engage him. “Do you really want to deal with the Council? It didn’t go so well for Halfer.”

“It wasn’t the Council that tripped up old Brix, love. That was you.” Stewart was still running his hands over Dev’s body, caressing him like a lover. Stewart did love a hot boy. “I should have sent you a thank you note. Sometimes I forget my manners. You really did set Brix back, and that helped me immensely. He’s making a bit of a comeback, though. I really would like to know how he’s doing it. But I digress.”

Suddenly one the witches decided this game had gone far enough. The witch came at the demon, a ceremonial knife held above her head. She probably thought that little piece of engraved silver was defense against a Lord of Hell. I had no doubt that whoever had sold it to her had promised a demonic killing machine. Unfortunately, you can’t get something like that off the Internet or at a little shop that sells incense and herbs.

This is the problem with calling demons that almost no one is willing to accept. Demons are evil. They might help you out to start with, but sooner or later they will turn on you. Being able to call a force of nature to your hand might seem like a powerful thing to do, but after a while, you forget who has the real power. Stewart showed her. With a flick of his hand, her throat came open and sprayed across the field.

“Son of a bitch,” I screamed as I got a nice coating of witch blood.

The rest of the witches were running, but it didn’t do any good. Their throats split, heads falling back like broken dolls. Blood ran and the demon licked his chops. He breathed in the death, loving the feel of all those souls rushing to Hell.

“I really was getting tired of coming here anyway,” Stewart said, brushing off the deaths of people who had worshipped him. “Now that’s over and we won’t be interrupted. I’ve thought about what you said, and the truth is you make a point. Ripping your heart out and gobbling it down while you watch really will cause me more trouble than pleasure. I suppose your vampire would be very upset. I doubt he would let the matter drop. So you’re off the hook, so to say.”

I sighed, thankful that demons really were easier to deal with than backwoods witches. “Let me up, Stewart, and I think you’ll find that my husband will be grateful.”

Stewart ran a finger across Dev’s now blood-soaked chest and brought it to his lips. “Yes, he will be grateful, won’t he? Your boy has ambitions. Anyone can see that. The Council is arrogant if they think they can control that one. I, for one, think he can do it. I’ve played around in his head, and I think he’s capable of far more than you could dream of. You think he’s doing this for the greater good, companion, but you’re underestimating the lure of power. It calls to him. He’s caught between his love for you and the need to see if he can be a god. Which need do you think is going to win? I have a suspicion. I think your boy is going to give this world hell. I think this plane will run red with blood before he’s done. That is a man whose gratitude I would find useful. He might be thankful if I let you go, but how much more would he value me if I did the one thing he cannot do?”

Suddenly that knife was in his hands, and he was tracing a light line across Dev’s very vulnerable throat. That dumbass knife had meant nothing to the demon, but it would nicely spill my lover’s lifeblood. Terror engulfed me. I strained against the ties that held me down because all it would take was a little flick of the demon’s wrist to end Dev’s life.

“Please, don’t.” I would do anything, say anything to keep that knife at bay. I couldn’t just lie there and watch it happen.

Stewart’s eyes lit with triumph. “There, now, that’s what I was waiting for. You’re awfully good at keeping me out, but there’s that terror I love. This is excellent, dear. You love him. That can’t make your vampire happy. Poor little Zoey, caught between two men. They’re going to chew you up and spit you out. I would be doing you a favor, too. This one is going to get you in trouble. Take my advice. Serve your master, companion. Give him the blood he craves and warm his bed. That’s your job. It’s what you were born to do. This one might bring you pleasure, but he’ll bring you all down in the long run. Trust me on this. In the end, you’ll thank me.”

He took the knife in both hands and held it over his head.

“I know what Brix is doing,” I shouted, giving up the last card in my hand. If this didn’t work, Dev was dead, and I would spend the rest of my probably short life trying to kill one demon.

Stewart let the knife fall harmlessly to the side. “Now, see, you really do know how to get a gentleman’s attention. I’m listening.”

This was desperation but I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t let Dev go, and there was no way to lie to Stewart. He would know immediately if I wasn’t truthful. He was smart to bring out my emotions because I had nothing to hide behind now. “He has an angel.”

Stewart thought about it for a moment. “Are you serious?”

I opened my mind as wide as I could, letting my every emotion spill across the demon. He actually took a step back as he took it all in. “You tell me if I’m serious.”

“Fine. So Brix is juicing an angel. That explains his resurgence. How is this supposed to help me? I’m not in a position to steal from him, and snitching tends to get you in hot water on the Hell plane.”

“I’m going to handle it.” I was grateful for the damn ropes now because my hands were shaking.

He looked at me like I was insane, which I probably was. Then a light of recognition lit those black eyes. “The witch’s divining amulet. Of course, that’s why you’re here. It really works? I thought she was just bat-shit crazy.”

“It works. I’m going to use it and free the angel. Halfer will lose his advantage on the very night he needs it.”

There was a triumphant smile on his really scary face. It was nice to know my plan was demon approved. “You’re an interesting woman. You plan to sneak out of the ball with your little divining rod, find the angel, unbind him because the only way Brix could keep him is to bind his magic, and then return him to his plane. You’re going to die, you know.”

I had him in my trap. I just had to close the door behind and make sure he was in. “Probably. But what if I don’t?”

“I think it will be immensely entertaining either way.” Stewart waved his hand and my limbs were free.

Though my every muscle was shaky and weak, I forced myself up and made my way to Dev. I climbed on his altar, taking his face in my hands, reassuring myself that he was alive. Tears clouded my eyes as I stared down at him. So close. That damn knife had been so close to his throat. With aching hands, I started to work on his bindings.

“Allow me.” Stewart didn’t need hands to undo Dev’s binding. They simply fell away.

I pulled Dev’s head into my lap, my hand smoothing back his hair. He opened his eyes, obviously fighting the drugs that were coursing through his system. “Zoey, you need to run, sweetheart.”

And leave him here? I knew it was the most expedient thing to do, but I simply couldn’t. “Not on your life, lover. You go back to sleep. I’ll take care of everything. It’s going to be all right now.”