The Catalyst (22 page)

“Yes.” She wasn’t about to challenge him. This wasn’t
his problem. He’d be justified in sitting this one out. “Thank you
for helping us.”

“Oh, believe me, it’s entirely selfish. I don’t want
your ragtag band of wolves occupying my dimension forever.”

He was never going to admit he cared and was invested
in what happened to her. He took a strong interest in the safety
and happiness of his demons, but going this far above and beyond
was unheard of.

“What does my mate have on you?” she asked,
finally.

The demon turned sharp eyes on her. “Excuse me?”

She took an involuntary step back. “Well, I mean… he
said he helped you once, and sometimes there’s tension between you
two, so… what does he have on you? That’s the only motivation I can
figure.”

“He has nothing on me.”

She knew it was a lie. But it wasn’t worth pushing
the issue, so she let it drop.

Cain poked his head in a tent. “Daria. I need
you.”

“For what?”

“Killing vampires.”

“Oh, goody!” She popped out of the tent looking like
Xena Joins A Harem
.

Cain looked her up and down in that way men do. “Are
you wearing that?”

“Oh yes. I will distract with my cleavage, then kick
asses.”

He chuckled. “Don’t get too excited. Our intelligence
says there are magic users in the group. That could mean some
danger.”

Daria shrugged. “So, we bring our own heat. Isn’t
Luc’s girl a witch?”

He growled.

“What? She’s got all her memories. She could be
useful. If she trapped Luc in that house for half a century
then…”

“I don’t have time to track them down. They could be
anywhere,” Cain said, obviously not keen on the plan.

“Well, they could be, but they’re not. They’ve got a
tent a few blocks over. They’ve been here the past three days.”

“Why didn’t I know about it?”

“They were laying low.”

Cain growled. “Find two more strong fighters, older
ones. I don’t want anybody under a thousand, and I’ll get my
brother and his witch on board. And weapons. We need guns. Wooden
bullets.”

“If we’re only going with older demons, we can throw
fire at them.” It was one of the few demon powers that didn’t
manifest until much later. Cain had explained it all to Jane during
her shapeshifting training.

“Magic users. Remember?” he said. “Magic can block
magic fire. Get guns.”

He turned without waiting for agreement from Daria
and headed in the direction she’d pointed. He was a big bundle of
irritated energy, and only an idiot would cross him right now.

Jane followed to Luc’s tent. “A witch on our side is
a good thing,” she said, trying to calm him down.

“A witch is never a good thing. Do not trust them,
Jane. You’ll end up trapped in some stupid fucking curse. A house.
A bottle. Some awful cave. Stay away from the magically inclined.
So help me, if you start befriending magic users…”

She thought Cain was taking the witch thing too far.
If the witch was mated to another demon, she was on their side.

“We
do
know a pretty strong sorcerer, Dayne
Wickham. He might help…”

“No! A sorcerer is worse.”

“It was just a suggestion.”

Cain ripped open the tent and Jane followed him
inside. Luc looked up, startled, and the female looked scared. This
was the witch the demon was so freaked out about?

“Well, hello to you, brother. You know, we could have
been in the middle of something,” Luc said.

“Nothing I haven’t seen,” Cain shot back. “I need
your help. And Anna’s.”

Luc’s hand tightened on the woman’s. “What do you
need Anna for?”

“She’s a witch.”

“I’m not,” she protested.

“Do you or do you not remember how to do magic?” Cain
asked, losing patience.

“Yes, but…”

“Then you’re a witch. We need you.”

Jane put a hand on Cain’s arm. “Why don’t I take her
outside and talk to her, and you can talk with Luc.” The woman
looked like she was about to step out of her skin, and Jane, though
also a demon, could pull off the nonthreatening vibe much better
than Cain. The demon leader wasn’t subtle.

“Fine.”

Jane held out a hand, trying to look as encouraging
as possible. Anna didn’t take her hand, but she went with her,
taking as wide a path around Cain to get out of the tent as she
could.

When they were outside, Anna said, “I’m never going
to feel safe around him. He says I’m one of you guys, but…”

Jane reached out to touch the woman’s arm in a
comforting gesture, ready to reassure her that Cain was just tense
right now and probably meant her no harm, but her hand went right
through the other woman. “What the…”

Anna looked down to see Jane’s hand passing through.
“Oh, yeah. This is one of the side effects of becoming mated to an
incubus. Fun, fun.”

Jane looked horrified. “So, you’re a ghost forever?
How do you and he…” she gestured wildly, trying not to say anything
too crass. Sometimes it was a hard habit to break. Even after the
way her life had changed, sometimes she was in pink-hair, punk-girl
mode with all its attendant lack of tact.

“Oh, yeah. No, we’re fine for that. I’m solid if he’s
touching me. And I’ll be able to be solid on my own eventually.
Over time, I’ll absorb a lot of his powers.”

“That is so fucked up.”

“Yeah, well. What can you do?”

Jane took a deep breath and launched into her plea
for help, telling Anna all about Anthony and how he had her pup.
She ended with, “We’d be unstoppable if not for the fact that he
has magic users.” She couldn’t imagine what Luc had done to make
that woman lock him in a house for half a century. That was pretty
hardcore, even in Jane’s book. And she’d seen a lot of shit.

Anna bit her lip. “Well, I’m out of practice. I mean,
I remember my time as a witch, but I’m not sure how useful it would
be. Tam is who we need.”

“Who’s Tam?”

“Only the most badass super-witch I know. She’s in
Golatha Falls. I bet, if you explained your situation to her, she’d
help.”

Jane glanced toward the tent. Cain and Luc were in a
heated argument. Should she mention Tam to him? She poked her head
in.

“What?!” they both shouted in unison.

Okay, that would be a no. “Um, Anna’s on board. I’m
just taking her back to the camp. Meet you there?”

“Fine,” Cain said. It was his new favorite word.

Jane hoped the demon leader wouldn’t blow his top
when she showed up with an extra witch, but they needed somebody
strong, and this Tam chick seemed to fit the bill. He couldn’t be
too mad about it, could he?

***

Cain was sullen as he walked in uncomfortable silence
next to Luc. At least his brother was helping. Cain had played the
I took care of you for fifty years while you couldn’t feed
yourself
card. He wasn’t sure how much more mileage he was
going to get out of it, but he’d use the card as long as it
worked.

Luc hadn’t wanted Anna involved, which he could
understand, but this was war and they needed a witch. Anna was the
closest thing they had.

“If I’d flat out refused, would you have imprisoned
me in the cave?” Luc asked.

“What? No. Of course not. You’re my brother. Why
would I ever …?”

“Oh, I don’t know. You killed me that one time.”

“That was eight thousand years ago when we were both
human.”

“Whatever.”

Cain was never going to be able to make it up to him.
That single betrayal had cursed him. He’d thought the curse was
only for his human life, then it would be over, but the Hebrew god
had more in store for him, making him the first incubus and giving
him this world to rule over.

Since then he’d been on a mission to prove he could
be loyal to something or someone. Watching the god spit out all his
rejects, turning them into demons, and leaving them without any
means to understand their new state, Cain had taken it upon himself
to protect them and make sure they had a good life. Inside his
dimension, they’d created their own hedonistic paradise—their own
sanctuary.

As far as Cain was concerned, it was better than
heaven, which was a point of pride for him. But the soured
relationship that had started it all still wasn’t completely
healed.

“Lucien… Abel…”

Luc rounded on him. “Don’t call me that. If you think
reminding me of that time makes any of this better…”

“It was so long ago, can’t we just move on?”

“We could have moved on, until you fucked with
Anna.”

“The curse was her fault!” Cain growled in
frustration, then took a breath. “I know I have no right to ask for
either of your help. I know none of this is your fight, but I care
about my people. Jane is one of mine now. Her problems are our
problems.”

“I said I’d help. I just don’t want you to think this
means I’m finished being mad. Anna is terrified of you.”

Cain shrugged. “I don’t trust her. She’s a
witch.”

“
Was
a witch.”

“Whatever. I still don’t trust her.”

They were getting close to the camp of werewolves
now, and Luc stopped walking. “And how will that turn out for
her?”

“I’m not going to hurt her.”

“You do and we are done. I don’t care if you’re the
leader or what power you have to lock me up. Are we clear?”

“Crystal,” Cain said.

They started walking again, and as they got closer,
his eyes narrowed at the new and unexpected addition.

Tam smiled brightly at him. “Hi Cain, long time, no
kicking your ass. I’ve missed it.”

The growl rumbled out from deep within his chest. It
was the only warning he was giving her. So she’d thrown that one
energy ball at him. Big deal. Anybody could be caught off guard
once. He still wasn’t sure why he’d just left after that. He could
have retaliated with fire, but he’d wanted out of that house.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“She can help us,” Jane said. “She’s a strong witch.
If we’re getting my pup back, we need a strong witch.”

Tam moved closer to Luc, lowering her voice. “I need
to do a small spell with you.”

“No,” Cain said.

She shot him a dirty look. “I wasn’t talking to
you.”

“What do you need?” Luc asked, ignoring his
brother.

“I want to make Anna solid temporarily. I need to be
able to do what you do with her. If we’re going to be able to chant
and shield you guys while you fight, I’ll need her solid.”

“How are you going to do that?” He sounded
intrigued.

Cain wanted to throttle him. This was why Luc got
trapped in houses.

“I’m going to borrow a tiny part of your essence so
the bond thinks I’m you.”

“I forbid it,” Cain said.

“Okay,” Luc said, “whatever you need.”

Tam shot Cain an annoyed look, and just for that, he
sent her a naughty image of the two of them together: both naked in
his tent, him taking her from behind, his hand wrapping around her
throat in a darkly possessive manner. He was betting with her focus
split so many different ways, she wasn’t shielding from demon mojo
right now. He bet right.

Her face flushed, and she grabbed onto Luc’s arm to
steady herself. Cain felt how hot the suggestion made her, and in
spite of himself, in spite of the illusory nature of the whole
thing, for a moment, he
did
want her. Until she fought
through the hypnosis and produced a glowing ball of purple
energy.

Cain sailed backward several yards and landed on his
ass. If he hadn’t been so wrapped up in the fantasy himself, he
would have remembered to go noncorporeal.

“Don’t ever do that again,” Tam said. There was
another energy ball ready in her hand. He’d never met a witch who
could regroup that fast. It shouldn’t be possible.

He stood, glowering at her as he brushed himself off.
That was it. He didn’t have time to break out the fire power now,
but when this was over, he was killing her. This was the second
time she’d dropped him like a baby demon.

“Whoa,” Jane said, impressed.

Cain glared at her. It wasn’t just Jane or the pack
or the panther who had seen it. It was Daria, and the two demons
she’d brought on board: Jackson and Mace. Though Jackson had
already seen this show the first time Tam had done it back at Luc
and Anna’s house.

Rather than look weak again, he said, “This is why we
don’t associate with magic users. Is the threat real enough for you
all now?”

There was a mumble of assent from his people and a
lot of eye contact avoidance.

Cain gave Tam a look that promised death, but she
smiled sweetly in reply. He moved the rescue party away from the
rest of the pack. Those who weren’t going didn’t need to hear all
of this. Cole stood to the side, looking like he was itching to
lead. Tough. The demon had to regain control of things now that Tam
had started throwing magic at him.

“Go do your ritual with Luc. I’ll brief everyone
else, and then Jane can fill you guys in on the way.”

He expected her to resist him, but the witch nodded
and took Luc away from the group to do her magic. Cain shook his
head, unable to believe his brother would trust another witch, or
that he was mated to one. Cain was just glad it wasn’t him.

The demon turned back to the assembled warriors.
Daria had gotten plenty of guns with wooden bullets and was busy
passing them out.

“Okay, here’s the plan. All the demons are going in
invisible. Nobody goes visible until I say. That includes you,
Jane. We have no reason to think Anthony knows you’re alive. Only
the witches and the therians will be visible. The witches are going
to protect us from magic so we can ride through on brute force. We
will not be telling Anthony the location of the hive. We will fight
until we win.”

Chapter Thirteen