Everything was too quiet.
Tzader's warning dug into her thoughts, reminding her not to fight demons alone. You're not immortal or impervious ... One mental call for help would bring the closest Belador running to give her support.
She considered that idea for all of a nanosecond.
Beladors would come--grudgingly--if she called. Screw that, and she wasn't bothering Tzader. His meeting was too important.
I can't put this off with those two boys at the mercy of a Cresyl demon.
She drew a shallow breath and walked further into the parking lot. The closer she got to the demon the more foul the air turned. Would the female Cresyl be in her demon form, or could the thing have fed on another human and now be masquerading in that poor soul's body?
Where were the twins? Her panic for their safety was rising high.
A scraping sound above her drew her gaze over her shoulder, up to where two identical blond males clung to a galvanized pole mounted thirty feet off the ground that supported the halogen security light. One of the boys kicked his boot against the brick wall and struggled to keep a grasp, but neither uttered a sound.
Thank the goddess they were safe.
The demon had muted them--something she'd wanted to do to the back-talking Kardos on occasion--but this wasn't funny.
Evalle needed something to break their fall. She spied a Dumpster and lifted her hand to telekinetically move it into place.
All of a sudden a blast of energy knocked her backward. She hit the brick wall four feet off the ground and slid down, scraping her arms on the rough edges but landing on her feet.
Ready to fight.
Her hand went to the dagger in her sheath and paused.
The demon that leaped into view from between steel containers on the far side of the parking lot was not a Cresyl or a female.
Scrolled ink designs ran along one side of his face, moving like a tangle of angry snakes. He was pushing eight feet tall, and she had a bad feeling this one could grow larger. She based gender this time on the very human fit of his jeans that were tight enough to leave no doubt about his endowment or sex.
Ah, crap, he was shifting from human to demon form.
What kind of demon was this thing, and what was he doing here? Who had opened the hellmouth downtown?
More to the point, how did she close it again? Preferably with the demons on the right side of it. 'Cause no offense, she was getting tired of the cleanup.
He locked his hands--that now had claw tips--together in front of his chest. A supersized black hoodie covered thick shoulders, but he was still shifting. Horns had already started growing from his thick forehead just above each eye. His nose widened and lengthened to a curved tip. Ew! Boar demons were ugly. A thin red tongue lashed out from between pointed teeth.
And what the heck had happened to his ears? They were cauliflowered like a battered boxer's instead of pointed.
The back of his pants ripped open, and two tails grew six feet long with spikes at the end.
Now she knew what he was.
A Birrn demon, far more dangerous than a Cresyl.
Oh, yay! Just what her suckass night needed.
If the stories she'd heard were true, he should smell like tar or burned rubber, not sulfur ... unless ...
He'd eaten the Cresyl.
Great. Just great. Even better. He'd eaten her evidence. Did everything have to conspire against her tonight?
But a Birrn wasn't a free agent. He answered to a master, so he wouldn't be here unless he'd been sent. VIPER would definitely go after whoever sent a predator here. If Evalle could show up with this thing smelling of Cresyl, even Sen would hesitate to point a finger at her for the dead human.
She hoped.
The demon bellowed as both horns curled and thickened at full extension.
"Hello, Mr. Ugly. Care to explain why you ran my friends up a flagpole?" And here she'd thought only bully humans were that cruel.
"I want your power," the demon whispered, a deep and menacing sound.
Was he hunting any and all powerful beings or ... just her?
"Um yeah ... no offense. Think I'll hang on to it for a bit." Evalle crossed her arms and glanced over her shoulder. "What about those two?" Had he sucked them dry?
"Bait."
Okay ... how did he know anyone would come to help the twins, much less someone with my level of powers? She'd chalk it up to a good guess, but his kind really weren't that smart. "Let them go and we'll chat."
He shook his head in an easy motion. "Bait always dies."
"Bad news for you then."
The demon pulled back. Dull confusion fogged his glowing red eyes. "Why?"
"Cuz you're not bright enough to come after me yourself, which makes you somebody else's bait."
Worry skipped through his gaze for a split second, just long enough for Evalle to take advantage of his lack of attention. She whipped both arms away from her body, throwing an arc of hot energy at him that knocked him backward. He slammed into the steel shipping containers, which crashed down on him, the sound shattering the predawn quiet.
Using her telekinesis, she directed a Dumpster to cross the parking lot and park below the boys. "Jump!"
A sick thought hit her at the same moment.
What if the Dumpster was empty?
Or worse, had something in it deadly for them? Surely they wouldn't be that stupid.
Well ... Kell wasn't that stupid.
But when the boys dropped, it sounded as though they'd landed on a cushion of garbage. Thank Macha.
"Get out of here," Evalle ordered the twins when they scrambled over the top and jumped down in front of her. "And get a bath. You smell like rat piss."
"We wouldn't've if you'd caught us instead of dropping us in a shithole." Kardos brushed off his hands, then paused to take her in from head to midriff. "Hellooo, hoochie mama."
His brother Kellman shoved at him. "Excuse my mentally defective brother, Evalle. Real glad to see you again. Thanks for the assist."
"You're welcome. Gotta fight demon now. Go."
Kardos eyed her greedily before he did his idea of a bad boy pose. "Baby, we're not abandoning you. Wouldn't want to see anything happen to all that ... software I've got a hard drive for."
"Gah, I think I just threw up in my mouth. Yeah, I definitely taste bile." She had to find a coven in the city that would take them before they ended up in the metro Red Guard gang.
Evalle stepped close to Kardos, who stood at eye level with her. Both the twins did, but Kardos tried to sound another four inches taller. "First, your powers only work on small animals, not demons. Second, you'll get in my way. And third, you really need to grow some more, especially in maturity. Now stop acting like a warlock and get moving or get eaten."
Kardos grimaced at the male witch slur she generally reserved for a Medb.
Steel banged against steel. The demon was pushing his way out of the pile.
Kellman grabbed his brother's arm and dragged him toward the street. "We're just going to get her hurt if we stay."
Kardos groused two steps, then picked up his pace, calling out arrogantly, "We'll harrumph harrumph later."
In your dreams. She opened the gate for them, then shut it again and swung to face the demon, who was pushing up to his feet.
She winced. She should have been attacking him while he was down instead of letting the twins distract her.
He'd grown larger in size, thick body ripping out of his hoodie. Black scales covered the top of his arms, the middle of his face and his chest.
Crud. That meant he was gaining strength. She should feel flattered that he considered her that much of a threat. But really, she'd rather put him down quick.
"You know, I've been looking for you." She hoped to stave off his attack until she got some answers.
He stopped growling. "Why?"
"You ate a female Cresyl, right?"
The belch he released blew across the expanse to smack her
in the face with sulfuric halitosis. Added to his twisted grin, that sufficed as a yes in her book. "What about the male? He know you ate his mate?"
Another grotesque demon grin. "You kill him?"
"Yes."
"Thought so."
What did that mean?
He flicked a hand at her.
She jumped sideways, barely missing the blast of energy that struck the ground at her feet.
The Birrn howled with laughter.
She tsked at him. "Didn't your mama tell you it's rude to play with your food?" This Birrn eating the other demon was no coincidence, not in her line of work. "What are you and the Cresyls doing here?" Besides eating the tourists and making her life hell.
The demon spread his arms wide, hands open in a show of indifference. "I hunt. They died. You might not ... yet."
She'd have liked to feel encouraged by that, but demons could do things that made death look appealing. "You'll understand if I don't make the same offer in return."
He lunged, his body going airborne, diving at her like a demon torpedo.
She went to the right, rolling and coming up on her feet, now facing the wall where the boys had hung. The demon hit and flipped, landing surefooted and ready for her. She spun her hands around each other as though winding invisible knitting yarn at hyper-speed, then threw a ball of energy at him.
That should plow his fat head through the brick building.
Her roll of power hit him square in the chest, but he just made an umph grunt, then laughed, a deep, sinister cackle. He was enjoying himself.
She doubted he'd play with her for long or that he'd let her get past him again.
The Birrn dropped his head down and growled, pawing the ground with the focus of a bull after a trespasser in his pasture.
She threw up a force field of energy to stop him when he barreled forward.
Didn't work.
He struck so hard that he knocked the force field and her backward, up in the air onto the loading dock, slamming her into one of the wide loading doors. The corrugated metal folded in around her and slid across the concrete floor--with her on top--plowing through shipping boxes.
Now that just hurt. She wouldn't be able to move tomorrow. But she better move tonight or she wouldn't have to worry about anything ever again. And her favorite doctor would be weighing her organs on Monday.
When she came to a stop, her back and legs screamed in pain. She sat up, shoving boxes off her, and rubbed her head.
No alarm sounded. Good, her powers were holding and still interfering. The last thing she needed was the police. If they came, it'd only make her job that much harder.
She really wanted to kill this demon, but that wouldn't help her one bit with VIPER. All she had to do was contain him, then call Sen, who would teleport the demon to headquarters, where they could extract answers. She didn't know how Sen interrogated, but Tzader and Quinn said the word was Sen could get answers out of hell.
All she had to do was hand him the Birrn. To do that, she'd have to blind the thing.
The demon roared and pounded the last few steps across the parking lot, then jumped up to the loading dock. Now up to full size, his head just cleared the fifteen-foot-high opening left by the wrecked loading door.
The inked designs continued down one half of his body, but now she could see the shapes better. The scrolled lines were a Celtic weave ...
What the ...?
Birrns were Nigerian in origin. There shouldn't be anything Celtic on him.
On the other hand, there were millions of demons from all over the world. Sometimes things weren't listed, and as she'd learned the hard way, many research websites sucked.
Not wanting to think about that, she had to stop him from getting too close so she could set up for her attack. Birrn demons were dangerous, but stupid.
Best of all, they hated to be mocked.
"You don't even know why you were sent here, do you? Poor little bait demon." She laughed sarcastically, slowly moving up to sit, then sliding forward until she was on her knees. He'd think she was acting submissive.
Must have worked.
He stopped to answer, probably because he couldn't walk and think at the same time. "Do, too."
"Yeah, right." She rolled her eyes. "If you knew, you'd say. But you don't. Forget I even asked. I didn't mean to insult your lack of intelligence."
"I do too know." The demon sounded as though he was going to pout, which would be funny if not for the jagged teeth and claws curving out of thick fingers.
"Awww, don't feel bad, little demon." She softened her voice to one she'd use with a three-year-old. "Nobody expects a Birrn to know why they do anything. You're only a gofer demon for someone else." She smiled good-naturedly, keeping his attention on her face and not the subtle movement of her hand to her dagger.
Blind a Birrn and he was at your mercy.
His horns dropped low over his eyes when he frowned. "I do know. Looking for the Alterant."
Those words jolted her. Who was after her?
More to the point, why were they after her?
"Who sent you?"
When he shook his head, she raced through what had happened and how she'd ended up here. "Did you ... know that I'd find the other Cresyl?"
Smiling seemed to be his yes, so she took his smirk as an affirmative. "Did you put a spell on the Cresyls?"
"No."
"Your master did."
He puffed up with pride and nodded.
Feeding his ego was working, so she stroked it again. "Okay, that's impressive, but the female Cresyl didn't eat the human. She made the death look like a beast attack, but I doubt your master's spell could have made her do that. Killing the human that way was clever. Had to be the Cresyl's idea, right?"
"No. My master's."
That's what she needed. If he'd tell her that, then Sen should be able to squeeze the same confession out of him. Plus the Birrn had said he was here looking for the Alterant, which confirmed someone was targeting her. Definitely not paranoid. "How'd you know to grab the two male witches to get me to come here?"
The demon's mouth opened, then he shook his head. "No more talking."
"But we're getting to know each other. Who's your boss?" She rocked back on her heels like a runner at the start line. Except she was preparing to go for his eyes instead of sprinting and hoped she hadn't underestimated his power or overestimated hers.
He bent his head back and bellowed an unearthly howl that slammed from wall to wall, echoing through the building. Birrn demons also liked to posture. When he faced her again, his eyes glowed, red embers with yellow centers. He raised his hands and murmured words she could barely hear.
Time was up. She hoped that what she'd read about blinding a Birrn was more than some urban legend. She took three steps and leaped into the air.
Something invisible grabbed her body in midair and held her ten feet off the ground.
No one had told her a Birrn could do this.
She better not find out Tzader and Quinn knew.
Getting caught in the demon's power wasn't ideal, but she didn't think he'd eat her if he was supposed to deliver her alive to someone else. If that happened, she'd meet his master ... who wanted an Alterant for what?
She hoped Parcheesi, but since she couldn't play ...
The demon flipped her back and forth like he was shaking a toy. Then her body started floating toward him.
Oh, come on. ...
She tried to use her telekinesis to drop a chunk of the ceiling on his head.
For once nothing happened.
She called to Tzader telepathically.
No response.
He had her powers blocked ... This was bad. Very bad. The scent of burned rubber filled her nostrils. Could there not be one single demon who didn't stink?
The demon's power was filling the warehouse, closing in on her.
Not looking good for the home team.
Her only hope was to distract him. "Oh,
I see. You just don't know who your master is. He won't tell you, huh? Sucks to be you. And I hope you just made up the part about looking for an Alterant. Because I'm not one."
Her body stopped floating toward him.
"Yes, you are."
"Nope. You got the wrong person. I'm just a witch. What's your master going to say when you show up with a witch instead of an Alterant?"
She'd stumped him to the point of being mute. Go back to the important detail of who was hunting her. "No one important is looking for an Alterant or word would be all over the city." She tried to shrug, but she couldn't move her shoulders. "You're good at what you do. You should find a master you deserve, one with a higher rank on the food chain."
The demon had a puzzled look, as though trying to decide if telling her would win this game. "He's powerful."
"So you say. But I'm betting he's so insignificant I've never even heard of your master."
She might have pushed him too far with that. The pressure around her chest tightened until she could hardly breathe. Even if he didn't mean to eat her he could crush her.
Flames licked at the corner of the Birrn's mouth, and his eyes flared solid red. "My master is powerful," he said so low that she almost couldn't hear him. "He is called--"
Bright light erupted behind the demon on a loud blast.
A bolt of power shot a hole through his middle, barely missing Evalle's feet. The invisible binding that had held her body captive fell away and she could feel the demon's power withdrawing.
She hit the ground and stumbled backward, but kept her footing. The demon remained upright for the ten seconds it took his body to suck into itself and disintegrate into a pile of smoldering black chips that reminded her of manure ... right down to the stench.
She cursed at the bad timing. She'd been a slip of a second from finding out who was directing the demon, and now she had nothing to give VIPER.
All her evidence gone into one steaming pile of demon sludge.
And she wanted blood for it.
As the smoke cleared, Evalle looked up to find a brute of a man standing where the door had been before she went through it. He held a black-and-silver weapon that looked like an oversize six-shooter with a cylinder big enough to hold six hand grenades.
He started toward her with purpose, weapon aimed straight at her chest.
Crap. It was Dr. Doom, and she was now the patient.
THREE
"Who are you?" Evalle widened her stance, ready to fight and bash in his head, since he'd destroyed her Birrn and ruined her chances for an easy alibi.