Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

It was nearly four-thirty by the time we got back to the office. My nail appointment was at five, so I asked Orik to write up the report for Tana’s case.

“Don’t mark it closed quite yet, but if they discover Kelvin was at fault, then we can put it to bed. Since we’re doing it pro bono, don’t invoice her.” I realized I was hungry. “I’m going to grab a snack before my appointment, but I don’t have time for dinner. Lazenti’s due at seven, so all of you, go out to eat while I’m at my appointment. If you could bring me back something, I’d appreciate it.”

I did a little research on Lazenti before heading down to Ami’s. I learned very little about our vampire friend—there was some mention of him, but I couldn’t pin down who he had been during his life, even with the fact that he’d been a PI.

I thought about what it would mean taking him on, even as an adjunct member of the firm. Working with vamps could be tricky. They were money-savvy, and good at wresting control over the situations they got themselves into. So, if we took him on, even part-time, we’d have to monitor him carefully.

At 4:55, I pocketed my keys and wallet and headed down to the first floor, to Ami’s Salon. She was waiting for me, dressed in a gorgeous blue and purple pantsuit. Selkies were magnetic, and had a charm all their own. The Fae were, in general, an odd bunch and I was cautious around most of them, but Ami, I liked.

“What color this time, darling?” she asked. She was a coquette, but with her it was as natural as breathing.

I thought about it. “Let’s go for the same blue-purple mix of foils that your dress is.” As I sat in the chair, letting her take care of my nails, I thought about the coming appointment with Seton. I hadn’t realized I was so silent until Ami spoke again.

“You’re quiet today,” she said. “What’s wrong, doll? You look like you’re chewing on something mighty somber.”

I let out another sigh. “I found out what kind of demon my father was.”

“Oh?” She knew I was half-demon. Most people did once they’d been in my world for any length of time.

“Arosien Clan. I have an appointment with a demon specialist next week. It seems some of my powers are beginning to wake up.” I licked my lips. “I’m kind of nervous.”

“I imagine so. It’s always unnerving when you start showing up with all sorts of new tricks. The first time I changed into my human form, I was terrified.” She gave me an encouraging smile as she filed my nails.

“What was that like?” I asked. “If it’s not too personal.”

“If it was personal, I wouldn’t have brought it up.” She shrugged. “Selkies are born into seal form, while our mothers are in their seal form. We don’t change into our human forms until we’re about six or seven years old. Our mothers stay in seal form all through that time and keep us by their sides until we make the transformation. I remember my mother telling me that it would happen, and I was so scared. I didn’t know what to expect. Then, one day, I felt something shift inside, kind of like I was stretching, trying to get out of my skin.”

“That sounds uncomfortable.”

She began to paint my nails black, after which she would glue on the foil patches. “It was. I told my mother and she guided me through it. I remember, when I stepped out of my seal skin onto the beach, she’d brought me to, looking around at the world with new eyes. Then I looked down at my tail and it was gone—changed into feet. My mother gathered my seal skin and then helped me learn to walk. I understood then how vulnerable my human side was to the water, and panicked. But I eventually got the hang of it.”

We chatted a little more, then she finished with my nails, gave me a hand massage, and I paid her. As I headed back upstairs to the office, I realized that I was scared, too. I had no idea what I’d find when I peeled back the human mask.

Sophia brought me a turkey on sourdough with tomato and provolone, along with another latte. I guzzled down the caffeine, feeling the wear of the day. Suddenly, I felt exhausted, so I settled at my desk and began to eat my sandwich. I took a deep breath and began to breathe slowly, trying to decompress.

I opened my computer and turned on my meditation music. I wasn’t great at meditation but I took a stab at it on a regular basis. Now, the gentle sound of water and lapping waves helped ease the stress of the day. Talking to Lazenti again loomed like a piece of cake compared to dealing with Kelvin. I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair.

“Excuse me,” Sophia said in a soft voice.

I opened my eyes to see her standing at the door, peeking in. “Sure, what is it?”

“I thought you might like to see what I found out about the Arosien Demonkin Clan.” She held up a file folder. “I can send this via email, as well.”

“Thanks,” I said, taking the folder as I glanced at the clock. It was six-forty-five. “I’ll be in the conference room in fifteen minutes. When Lazenti gets here, you’ll need to invite him in, but it has to be conditional. Say, Welcome into this space, for this meeting only. I’ll revoke the invitation after we’re done.”

“All right,” she said, before leaving the room.

I wanted to dive into the file now, but I had to focus on the upcoming meeting. I didn’t want my attention split. So, I slid the file into my backpack. I almost caved and pulled it out again, but then stopped. I’d have the chance to fully examine the contents later, so I zipped the ag shut and put it on my desk. Then, picking up my tablet and notebook, I headed for the conference room.

Lazenti was right on time. Sophia ushered him in, keeping her distance. In the light of the office, I could see how good looking the man was. Or, vampire. I always felt odd trying to define how to talk about them.

Technically, they were corpses—they had died and returned from death. But they weren’t like zombies or ghouls, they were thinking souls, trapped inside a body that now existed in limbo, never decaying. Their souls hadn’t moved on after death, but had been bound to their body as long as the body existed. Vampires needed neither air nor food, but they did need blood. If they didn’t feed often enough, they would go into a weak, comatose state, and they could only be revived when blood was poured into their mouth.

Vampires could die, in what was called the ‘final death’…meaning their existence in the body was finished. Their souls were set free at that point. But it only happened if they were burned to death by fire or sun, exploded, staked through the heart, chopped to bits, or anything in which their heart—which did not beat—was destroyed.

Nobody knew how the original vampires were created, but it was conjectured that some sorcerer long, long ago was attempting to create immortality using blood magic. Somehow, she created a magical virus, spread by draining the blood through a bite. Why people could be bit and not become a vampire was also unknown, but theories abounded that it was the amount of blood taken at any one time—drain the victim almost dry, but force them to drink their sire’s blood, and they would die and be reborn as a vamp.

I nodded to Lazenti, motioning for him to take a seat. “Would you like a drink? Something to eat?”

He glanced over at the side table at the tray of pastries and the coffee pot, which Sophia had replenished. “Thank you, yes. The maple bars look good. I haven’t had one of those in years.”

Sophia brought him one on a saucer, along with a napkin. “Here you go, Mr.….”

“Just Lazenti,” he said, smiling. “Thank you.” He smiled, turning on his glamour. What he didn’t seem to know is that oracles were immune to charm. Zeus had something to do with that, to prevent anyone trying to influence their powers.

Sophia smiled, nodding her head, then took her seat.

“Okay, we’re in a safe place. You were going to tell us—” I paused as Sophia’s phone beeped. She jumped up. “What is it?”

“Penelope is here,” she said. “I’m going to let her in.” She disappeared out the door.

“Penelope is my best friend,” I said to Lazenti. “She’s part Fae, and also a witch. She should be able to tell if you are under a curse. Given you had a reaction when Letty told you to leave her alone—you said you got lost and were foggy headed—it occurred to me that by pressing her for information, it might have triggered some sort of curse on you.”

Lazenti’s smile faded. “You might be right. All right, I’ll submit to her testing.”

Sophia returned with Penn, who was wearing a black dress with unicorns around the hem. She had on chunky heeled black pumps, and her tattoos were out in full force. While the dress had a low neck, she had draped a red scarf around her neck that covered the skin. I had the feeling it also covered a silver necklace.

“Penelope, meet Lazenti. Lazenti, this is Penelope.”

Lazenti arched his eyebrows, giving Penn the once over. He gave her a sultry smile. “My pleasure, Ms. Penelope.”

She stared at him, unimpressed. Penn could turn into the ice queen at a moment’s notice and now, she immediately erected a barrier so strong I could almost see it.

“How do you do, Mr. Lazenti.” She turned to me. “All right, you want to know if he’s had a curse placed on him recently?”

“How far back can you check?” I asked.

“That depends on the curse—if it was weak, traces might fade in an hour or two. Stronger magic can leave residual effects in the aura for weeks or even longer.” She set her green velvet carpet bag purse on the table and opened it. In silence, as we watched, she withdrew a small wand about six inches long that was made of smoky quartz and copper, along with a small vial of powder.

Then, she turned to Lazenti. “I need you to tell me the symptoms that lead you to think you’ve been cursed.”

“I actually suspect the person I was talking to?—”

“Letty,” I said. “He was talking to Letty and she lashed out and told him to leave her alone. Very out of character from what Angela said.”

Lazenti cleared his throat. “Yes, she lashed out. Her words almost knocked me back, like something had pushed me. Afterward, when I left the restaurant, I got lost. I couldn’t remember why I’d been there and wasn’t even sure where I was, or where I needed to go. Everything went very fuzzy.”

“Hmm,” Penn said. “All right. Please sit still and close your eyes. I’ll be touching your head but I promise not to hurt you?—”

“I trust you,” he said, giving her a long look.

“You shouldn’t…not without a promise,” she said, staring him down directly.

Lazenti froze, then burst out laughing. “You can hold your own. I respect that. All right, I accept your promise that you won’t hurt me.”

Penn paused for a second, taken aback, then she laughed as well. “A vampire with a sense of humor. That’s hard to find,” she said. “I promise I won’t harm you, as long as you behave yourself. All right, sit back, close your eyes, and no hands .”

I glanced at Dante, trying to keep my composure. Penn was a spitfire, as well as a powerful witch. Unfortunately, she had the business sense of a worm, which accounted for her financial woes. She helped too many people and they took advantage of her. Once she moved in, I hoped to help remedy that habit.

“What about the rest of us?” I asked. “Will we interfere by being here?”

Penn shook her head. “No, I can focus the spell. That’s why I need to touch his head. But please, turn off your electronics and keep quiet.”

We all turned off our phones and quieted down.

As Penn began the spell, she waved her hands around Lazenti, not touching him at first. He shivered, but remained still. As she examined his aura, she began to chant.

“Wood and stone, water and rain,

Fire and sun, gale and wind.

From the depths of the earth,

To the stars out in space,

From the astral and ether,

All powers interlace.

Magic spin and magic rise,

Work through me, open my eyes.”

As she spoke, her words formed into strands of magic, sparkling energy that I could see if I squinted right. The strands grew stronger, braiding together to form a web around Lazenti. The web was a glittering purple, growing stronger as I watched.

Penn slowly lowered her hands to Lazenti’s head, gently resting on either side. Even though he remained unmoving, he looked uncomfortable. She inhaled deeply, then let out a slow steady stream of breath onto her hands. She lowered her forehead to rest on her hands, then abruptly pulled back.

“I’m going to use my wand now. I need to dig this out of your aura, now .” She reached for the powder, tapping some out in her hand. She blew it onto his head, then picked up her wand and pointed the end at his crown chakra.

“I call to you, Hecate of the Crossroads.

I call to you, Guardian of the Night.

I call to you, Goddess of Magic.

I call to you, Mother of Moonlight.

Banish this spell. Banish this cord.

Banish this hex. Banish this curse.

With all the powers of three times three,

Banish this leech, so mote it be.”

Penn put down the wand, then raised her hands and clapped them over the top of Lazenti’s head. Instead of a simple clap, a large thunderclap echoed through the room, shaking the walls. The next moment, there was a whooshing sound and the purple web disintegrated and vanished. The air felt lighter the moment it disappeared.

“Give me one more moment,” Penn said. She began to wave her hands around Lazenti’s head again. A gold and red web appeared instead of purple. She examined it, then stood back. “You can open your eyes. We’re done.”

She put away her wand and the vial of powder, then started to sit down. Lazenti immediately offered her the chair next to him.

“Please, sit here,” he said.

She gave him a quick look, then graciously accepted. “Thank you. All right, I have information for you.”

“What did you find?” I asked.

“Well, first, Lazenti, you were cursed. Or rather, hexed. There’s a difference. The hex wasn’t directly focused—meaning that anybody who disturbed it would have been hit by it. You happened to be the one. There are some hexes that are set to trigger when someone gets too close to finding out secrets that are supposed to be kept quiet. If you were pressuring Letty to find out information, then someone had to have planted the hex in her aura. This is a complex spell that would require a high level witch to create.”

“So, you think that Brim Fire is to blame? Lazenti was trying to gain information about her involvement with them,” Orik asked.

Penn shook her head. “I think they might be. The energy behind that curse is demonic.” She shivered, rubbing her arms. “I’ve never felt anything quite so powerful. But that’s not the extent of it. I’ve got some bad news.”

Lazenti glanced at her. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, that hex has been tracking you. It was more than a hex. Whoever cast it has been following your movements since it was triggered. I don’t know why, but think of it like a magical GPS being implanted into your energy field.”

Lazenti paled, his cocky arrogance vanishing. “Oh, crap. To what extent? Do you think it only followed my movements—” He stopped abruptly.

Penn shook her head. “We can speak clearly now that it’s gone. Ever since you talked to Letty, the hex has been listening in on you. Magical surveillance. I don’t know how far it could reach, but I’m pretty sure it could listen in on your conversations.”

“Which means it heard you when we talked last night,” I said, paling. “Were they also listening in on Letty?”

“Right on all counts,” Penn said. “Whoever is behind it, they know where you live, they know what you’ve been doing, and what you’ve said.”

Lazenti looked like he was going to throw up, although as far as I knew, vampires didn’t vomit. Nor did they get sick with any typical illnesses. They could be hurt, but they healed fast.

“I can’t go home,” he said. “Do they know that the hex is gone?”

Penn nodded. “Yeah, they do. The moment I broke it, they knew. I was able to hide myself as I worked on you, but it took a tremendous amount of force.” She looked at me. “Do you have any protein and sugar? I expended a great deal of energy working that spell.”

“Of course,” I said, starting to stand, but Carson was already on his feet.

“I’ll get it for you,” he said.

“Thanks,” she said, shooting him a smile.

“So, what now? You said there might be demonic energy behind this?”

Penn nodded. “I know so. I know demon energy when I feel it. And whoever is behind this, it incredibly powerful. It almost overwhelmed my own magic. It was bad, Kyann. Whoever it was…I dread to think of how much power they have. And why would they put that curse on Letty?”

“I think that they may have suspected her. They probably put a tracking spell on her, and when they found out she was an imposter, they sent a demon after her.” I asked. “Lazenti, what did you find out about them while you were trying to infiltrate them?”

“Brim Fire is made up of a group of fanatics determined to open our world to the UnderRealms. They work with powerful demons,” he said, frowning. “But if my higher ups find out I’ve compromised the mission…they have a way of getting rid of troublemakers. Even troublemakers who aren’t out to make trouble.” He shifted in his seat, tugging on his collar. “I have no idea what to do at this point.”

It was then that I noticed that Penn was staring at me.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

She worried her lip. “The energy that I felt? Kyann, it reminds me of you .”

“Me? How so?”

“I think…that whatever demon is behind the hex, comes from the same clan that your father belonged to. But whoever it is, they’re full blooded and they’re nasty.” She swallowed hard, accepting the cheese cubes and cookies that Carson brought her. “Thanks, Carson.”

“Not a problem.” He handed the plate to her, and I noticed that his fingers brushed hers. I glanced at his face, and it pinged that he had a crush on her and he probably didn’t even know it.

I leaned back, frowning. “So…we’re facing some big demonic energy?”

She nodded. “And something else…while I was exploring the energy, I caught sight of Letty—and I saw someone, huge and shadowy, send her flying out the window. A demon killed her, probably after they realized she wasn’t who she was pretending to be. By then, they knew about Lazenti, as well. They’ve probably been watching you on the boards, dude.”

I stared at Lazenti, trying to wrap my head around what was happening. “Is there any way to find out exactly who killed her?”

“No, you’ll never pin it on anyone. Whoever it was, he vanished from the room before anybody made it to her office. And because of Lazenti, they now know that Shadow Blade is on the case. Lazenti’s in danger, and so is everybody else.” She turned to him. “You can’t go home.”

“Crap,” I said. “What the hell should we do?”

“Whatever we decide to do, we’d better prepare now,” Dante said. “Demons work fast and they’re ruthless.” He paused at my stricken look. “Not you, but you’ve got to admit, you can get really ragey when you’re crossed.”

“Yeah, I can,” I said. “All right, we need to think about this.” I glanced at Lazenti. “Do you have a place you can hide out for the meantime?—”

“No,” he said. “I suppose I could go back in my coffin for awhile, but if this creature knows where I am, they might know the location of my secret lair. Why did I ever agree to talk to you?”

“It might have been worse if you hadn’t,” I said. “Meanwhile…” I glanced at Dante, who rolled his eyes.

“Okay, you can stay at my house but I’m wearing silver around my throat and I’m going to place garlic outside my bedroom door. No offense.”

Lazenti gave him a long look. “No offense taken. All right, I’ll give you my word of honor, and if you know vampire code, that means something. I won’t hurt you or any of your guests or your pets. Thanks. Can the windows be blacked out during the day?”

“Yeah, I have blackout curtains.” Dante let out a long sigh. “We have way too much to figure out, but for now, let’s call it a night.”

“I can stay and do research,” Carson said.

“So can I,” said Sophia.

“Good. But keep your eyes open. I need to read all the information you found for me, especially now that Penn thinks it’s someone from my clan causing the problems.” I looked over at Dante. “Need any help?”

He shook his head. “No, I can handle this. Come on, dude. Let’s go.”

I turned to Lazenti. “I’m rescinding the invitation for you to be here, unless either Dante, Orik, or I’m here with you. Do you hear me?”

He nodded. “Loud and clear.”

As we filed out, Carson and Sophia staying to make what sense out of the situation that they could, it occurred to me that we were entering new territory, and I had no idea where it would lead.