To Dance with the Devil

28

Emma insisted on driving me. I didn’t argue. I went into the house just long enough to arm up, use the bathroom, and finger-fluff my hair, then followed her to her car.

It was a quiet ride to the airstrip, but not uncomfortable. Both Emma and I had a lot to think about. Waiting on the tarmac was a military-style helicopter. I had no idea what kind it was; all I knew was that it was big, green, and aggressive looking, with two engines, four rotors, and a fairly large cargo bay.

I jumped out the second Emma’s subcompact came to a full stop, then leaned back in just long enough to say thanks and grab my purse before slamming the door and hurrying away.

Chris was waiting inside the open cargo door of the helicopter, looking impatiently at his watch. “What took you so long?”

“Traffic.”

He grunted with displeasure. “I have other things I want to do yet tonight, Graves. We need to get moving. What’s our destination?”

“Edwards Lake.”

“Did you hear that, Rob?” Chris called over his shoulder to the pilot.

“Got it. Do you have an address, or do you just plan to direct me when we get there?”

I told him the address. Then I clambered on board and took one of a pair of empty seats, strapping on my shoulder harness.

The bay was large but crowded with cartons and wooden crates. A lot of the boxes were labeled, so I could see that they contained medical equipment. I supposed the crates were probably for Chris’s other client. I didn’t need or want to know what might be in them.

My inspection of my ride was interrupted by an unexpected arrival at the cargo door.

“Emma, what are you doing here?” Chris was shouting to be heard over the sound of the engines and the whup, whup of the rotors.

“I’m coming.” She pushed past him and climbed on board.

“Em,” I shouted, “what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m coming.” Her eyes flashed, her chin jutting out aggressively. Chris didn’t argue, just rolled his eyes and gestured for her to take the seat next to mine. Then he closed the door firmly, as if to ward off any other invaders.

“Did you get any details?” I asked, but Emma shook her head.

We didn’t talk after that. It was too loud. Besides, there was nothing to say. Plenty of experience had taught me that her talent as a clairvoyant wasn’t something to underestimate.

There was an abrupt, upward jerk, and we were airborne. I closed my eyes, concentrating on not giving in to panic and not tossing my cookies. Once upon a time I was very afraid of flying. I’ve worked on that with Gwen. Most of the time now, I do okay. But the jerky liftoff of a helicopter is always a problem, and it gets worse when I’m nervous—which I was. I forced myself to remain calm. I succeeded, but mostly because I just couldn’t bear thinking about the amount of crap I’d have to put up with from Chris if I didn’t.

Vanity? Oh, yeah. But this once, at least, it was useful.

Forty miles was a short hop for a bird as large as this one. I had no idea how fast we were traveling, but we slowed to a stop and landed after just fifteen minutes or so. I helped unload the equipment while Chris did his medical stuff with Michelle, who was perplexed but cooperative. I hadn’t explained anything to her or any of my team; I’d barely had time during the helicopter flight to text them to let them know I was coming,.

In less than ten minutes Chris was finished and the chopper was lifting off. Kevin, Emma, and I watched it go, hands shielding our eyes against the glare of chopper lights. Bubba was inside cooking dinner with Michelle. Talia had gone off duty awhile back and was out of sight, somewhere else in the house. At least I assumed she was. I hadn’t seen her.

Maybe it was the wind raised by the rotors, but I caught a scent on the air, faint at first but growing stronger quickly. Beside me, Kevin stiffened. In the house, I heard Paulie start barking frantically.

Emma sniffed delicately. “Does anyone else smell smoke?”

I turned, tracking the odor, and on the ridge saw a wall of fire. In the instant that I stood there with my mouth hanging open, it began to race toward us.

“Everybody into the vehicle. Now!” I shouted. “We’re evacuating.”

Kevin followed my gaze. He swore, then bellowed, “Move, people! It’s time to go!” His voice carried better than mine had; through the windows, I could see movement inside the house. Digging in his jeans pocket Kevin drew out a set of car keys, and the three of us ran around the house to the garage, where his SUV was parked. He started the engine with a roar as Bubba rushed out of the house with his gun drawn, a terrified Michelle at his heels, and Talia and Paulie close behind. Talia was naked and sopping wet from the shower, but she carried the holster with her Glock in it.

By the time we roared out of the garage, the fire had reached the driveway. The air was thick with smoke and soot, and it was hard to see. It was hard to breathe, and what air I could suck into my lungs stank of burning. Everyone was coughing, even the dog.

We flew down the road; crackling flames reaching for the vehicle like greedy fingers. The car lurched and bucked as we tried to outrun the blaze. If we could reach the dam, we should be safe.

Bubba was swearing under his breath, generating an impressively steady stream of profanity.

The fire chased us. No kidding. The road wound, and the fire wound with it, always staying slightly to our rear. At last we burst out of the woods, out of the flames, and onto the road that led across the dam at the base of the lake. The smoke and soot cleared just in time for Kevin to see a semi parked sideways in the middle of the dam, completely blocking the road. Sunlight reflected off the barrel of the rifle that rested at the ready on the truck’s hood. I couldn’t make out the shooter’s face.

“Shit!” Kevin downshifted and slammed on the brakes, pulling sharply on the wheel. His attempt at a tight bootlegger turn rocked the vehicle onto two wheels and killed the engine, leaving us sitting sideways across both lanes. I shoved Michelle to the floorboards and climbed awkwardly over her to open the door and get out. Using the vehicle as a shield, I aimed my backup Colt at the threat in front of us. The fire continued to move inexorably forward, though it was considerably slowed by the lack of fuel out on the concrete dam and by the presence of water on one side.

The first shot rang out—not from the rifleman ahead but from an unseen shooter somewhere behind. It was a miss, but a second shot, fired from the bigger weapon a few yards away, thunked heavily into the engine compartment of the SUV.

“We’re sitting ducks.” Bubba fired his big old .44 cannon at something behind me. My eyes were all for the rifleman. He was biding his time, waiting for the perfect shot. That wasn’t going to be easy with all the swirling smoke. My eyes were streaming and everyone was having periodic coughing fits.

“All right. I’m going to create a diversion. Give me a five count, then here’s what we’re going to do. Kevin, you take Michelle, Emma, and Paulie down to the water’s edge. If you have to, you can jump into the lake to escape the fire. See if you can make your way back to Fred’s by sticking to the edge of the lake; I saw an aluminum canoe at the dock there. Take Michelle out onto the center of the lake and wait for my signal. She’ll be safe from the fire there and it’s too far for a clear shot.” I reached down, took my backup Derringer from its ankle holster, and handed it to Emma. If things went really bad, it wouldn’t help much, but it was better than nothing and Emma was a steady shot. “Bubba and Talia, you take out the shooters behind us. Try not to get killed. I don’t want Mona pissed at me.”

Bubba gave a short bark of laughter.

“All right, people. Good luck.” I took a deep breath, checked my weapon, and dashed away from the SUV, running straight for the enemy in front of me. In that moment, I did something I rarely wanted to do: I embraced my inner monster. I called to it, pulled on the always-simmering bloodlust to give me everything it had: strength, speed, vampire hearing and vision, the works. I tore across the pavement toward the semi, the scenery blurring around me as I gave a primal yell that flashed fangs.

I didn’t get a good look at the shooter until I was almost upon him. I’ll give him this, Jack Finn was no coward. I could hear his pulse speed up, but he still tried to take aim at me. He didn’t stand a chance; I was moving way too fast. I leapt over the hood of the vehicle, screaming in rage and grabbing for him, but I had too much momentum. I overshot my target and landed on the pavement a few feet away. I spun around in an instant.

I expected him to fight, but he surprised me. Dropping the rifle, Jack rolled completely under the truck and out the other side. Scrambling to his feet, he ran straight for the edge of the dam, hurdled the railing, and dived in. The spell he’d used to control the flames died before he hit the water, the fire flickering and guttering quickly out.

The human ran so slowly that I had plenty of time to raise the gun in my hand and aim at him. Then I stopped.

Spare the pawn.

I didn’t want to spare him. I didn’t want to spare anyone. I wanted blood, and I wanted it now. I heard the splash as he hit the water, out of my reach, watched as he swam toward the dock with its little aluminum canoe.

He was gone.

But there were others close at hand.

I turned. With my vampire vision I could clearly see the humans a few yards away, despite the swirling remains of smoke and ash, despite the thin metal shell that enclosed some of them. As one, they stared at me.

I stared back, holding my body perfectly still as I tried to remember why I should not feed on them. There was a reason. I knew there was. But I was so hungry I couldn’t think of it.

They were so warm, so alive. I was so cold. Hunger cramped my belly.

Still, I held my ground and tried to think like a human. I had a name. What was my name?

“Celia?” One of them said, without moving. It was smart of the large human to stand still. But it was oh so frustrating. If he just came closer I could feed, ease the pain, the hunger, and the cold.

My hands tightened into fists, nails digging deep into my palms until they drew blood. I was Celia—Celia Graves. The large human was Bubba, my friend. He was not food. None of them were.

The glow of my skin faded. I was Celia. I would not feed on humans. Not now. Not ever. But I still did not trust myself to let them close. Turning my back on them, I walked away.

I sat on the edge of the dock, my bare feet underwater, kicking in an uneven rhythm. I stared out at the moon reflected on the nearly still water of the lake, taking deep breaths—in through my nose, out through my mouth. The lapping sound of the water combined with the acrid smell of smoke competing with the heavy scents of algae and fish drowned out other sounds and other scents, but I still knew when Kevin drew near.

“You okay?” he asked.

“No.” What else could I say?

I’d managed to beat back my beast, but it had been a hard fight. And I hadn’t been thrilled when the very people I was trying to avoid followed me off the bridge and down to Fred’s neighbor’s place.

Kevin dropped two small plastic bottles onto my lap. “Emma bummed a couple of nutrition shakes from the lady who owns the house. I brought them with me.”

“I take it you drew the short straw?” It sounded more bitter than I’d intended.

“I volunteered. I figured I knew best of all of us what you were going through.” He squatted down beside me.

“You know what it’s like to see your friends and only be able to think of them as big, warm juice boxes?”

He grinned, showing lots of sharp teeth. “Steak tartare.”

I laughed so hard there were tears in my eyes. Cracking open the first bottle, I took a big slug: strawberry, a little too sweet and a little too cold. But I knew that in a few minutes it would help take the edge off.

He was grinning when he sank down onto the dock beside me. “Mona’s on the way with the minivan. She’s bringing food. She’ll take us wherever we’re headed, but she can’t stay. She needs to get back to the boat. Her brother agreed to babysit, but I understand he wasn’t happy about it. I’m hoping to talk Em into going back with her. Or maybe she can ride with you and Dawna.

“Dawna’s coming?”

“Yeah. I figured you’d need someone nice and harmless looking to deal with the authorities, and a ride home after.”

Damn, he was good at this. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“We should probably talk about something else,” I suggested. “Distract me.”

“What would you like to discuss?”

“How’s the client holding up?”

“She’s a little shell-shocked, but she’s hanging in there. Paulie’s staying close to her.”

“Good.” The last thing we needed was for her to flip out. Not that I’d blame her if she did. As a normal person, she would never have had to deal with this kind of crap. I was actually used to shit storms, and this one was bad even by my standards. “Did Talia and Bubba get their guys?”

“Nah. When your guy bailed, the other ones set off some spell disks. By the time Bubba and Talia got through, all the bad guys were gone. Why didn’t you shoot your target?”

“That was Jack Finn. A clairvoyant told me to spare the pawn, and a ghost told me Jack was the pawn.”

“Well, shit. Doesn’t that just suck.”

I couldn’t argue with that sentiment, so I didn’t even try. After a minute or two of quiet sipping, I asked, “How are you on magical theory?”

“I was raised by my father,” he answered drily. “I picked up a bit.”

“Good.” I ignored his sarcasm. “I’m going to bounce ideas off you. But this is all hypothetical and confidential as hell. You didn’t hear anything. I didn’t say anything. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“I think”—I looked over at him as I finished off the first bottle—“that I’ve been an idiot.”

He raised an eyebrow at that but didn’t answer. That was probably a wise choice. We’re friends, but I was his boss now.

“It takes four mages to do the spell to control a node, right?”

“Yes,” he agreed, “one for each compass point. And the power of a full moon.”

I nodded. “And a mage has to die by magic to activate it.”

He blinked, apparently surprised that I knew that. I guess it’s not common knowledge among the unwashed masses. “Yes.”

“Does it have to be one of the four who are stationed at the compass points?” Isaac had said my idea was good, but he was also a champion liar. If he thought that I might interfere with the plan in order to save one of my friends, he’d lie to me to keep me out of the way and not feel guilty about it in the least. So I asked Kevin, knowing that he’d give me the truth, no matter how unpleasant. It’s just how he was.

“No. In fact, it’s better if it isn’t. If one of the four dies, the whole thing gets thrown off balance, and the other three have to work harder to keep things stable.”

Cool. That was what I’d hoped, and it was very good news for our side. But then the thing that had been bothering me all along, the thing I hadn’t been able to pinpoint, finally reared its ugly head. “Michelle isn’t a mage.”

“No,” Kevin answered.

I cursed briefly under my breath. This was a big problem that I couldn’t see a solution for. I kept talking, trying to work it out. “Since she’s not a mage, killing Michelle isn’t going to do Finn and his buddies any good at all as far as the node is concerned.”

“Whoa … Connor Finn is trying to get control of a node?” Kevin’s eyes widened. “Oh, fuck. That is bad. That is so bad.” Kevin didn’t say it was impossible or doubt my sanity. That was a really refreshing change.

“Yeah. Tell me about it. He and his buddies are going after the node beneath the Needle.”

Kevin shook his head. “Not doable so long as the prison’s up and running. The magical protections around it would put up too much interference.”

I opened the second bottle, chocolate mint. Not bad at all. I was starting to feel better, more in control. And chocolate after strawberry put me in mind of Neapolitan ice cream—one of my favorites. So I didn’t sound the least bit irritable or panicked when I said, “More than half the protections around the prison are already gone. Creede, Bruno, Matty, and Isabella DeLuca are headed out there to bring them back up.”

Kevin leaned back, stretched out with his elbows propping up his upper body. I could see that he had lost weight and gained muscle over the last few months and looked more like the man I’d crushed on when Emma and I had been in college together. “Repairing them should be much easier than tearing them down. You can use the existing remnants as a base instead of starting from scratch or having to break things so they won’t interfere with whatever bad stuff you were planning to do.”

“What would it have taken to bring down the Needle’s defenses?”

He answered without a second’s hesitation and without flinching. “Blood magic. And it will take more to destroy the last of them.”

So somebody had already died and the bad guys needed someone else to die in addition to the mage. Things were starting to make sense again. “What if Michelle’s death isn’t really about the old Finn-Garza feud? I mean, Connor Finn wants her dead because of the feud, and the curse is how he’s going to do it … But the reason he’s doing it now is so that her death will take down the last of the prison defenses. And because of their shared bloodline, Michelle is a link to Jack Finn, who is a mage. And he’s supposed to die so Daddy and the others can do the whole node thing.”

Kevin blew out a breath. “It scans, but it’s a little complicated. After all, Connor’s already got a direct link to Jack. He doesn’t need Michelle.”

“Yeah. But if he uses himself as the link, he can’t use blood magic to make the kill; it’d double back on him. And if he does something to block that, he breaks the link. And he still needs to kill someone else anyway. So to my way of thinking, Connor Finn’s decided to kill two birds with one stone.”

Kevin and I sat in silence for a bit after that, both of us thinking hard. Finally he said, “It makes sense. You may not be exactly right, but I think you’re at least in the ballpark.”

I didn’t know whether to be glad or sad. I suppose it was good that I had some idea of what was happening; it might make it easier try to counter the bad guys’ plans. But a little part of me had clung to the hope that there was a more benign explanation. Silly. I knew that Connor Finn was truly a bad guy; meeting him had confirmed that for me.

But I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that there are people who have such little value for life. I looked at Kevin. “You know what pisses me off most?” I sighed. I felt so tired and so damned stupid. All of this should have occurred to me earlier. If it had …

“What?”

“I’m the idiot who tipped Jack off to what was going on. If I hadn’t, we’d still be safe over at Fred’s.”

“Well, hell. That sucks.” He shook his head. “Why’d you do that?”

“When I went to see Connor, he baited me, said I had no clue about the big picture. I figured Jack didn’t know he had Garza blood and would die if his father went through with the curse. I thought I might be able to turn Jack and that he would help us. And if I couldn’t, maybe he’d let something useful slip.”

“Not a bad idea.”

“Yeah.” I looked across the lake at the charred ruins of Fred’s home. “Didn’t work out so hot.”

“Nothing you can do about that now.” He gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “And hey, we all survived.”

“Yeah, we did.”

“So now that you’ve figured out what’s going on, what’s the plan? Do you have any brilliant ideas?”

“As a matter of fact, I do—but I’m not sure you’re going to like them.”