A Demon Does It Better (20 page)

Cleo laughed boisterously as she waved a paw in a wide circle. “Did you know they deliver and all you have to do is give them your credit card number? And for an extra fee, they’ll even magick express it?” She purred. “So that’s what I did. I gave them your Visa.” She started waving both paws in the air. “They’re even willing to set up an auto-delivery, so I said yes.” The cat cackled with glee.

Jared looked down at the clattering sound on the floor. He watched in amazement as the many bottles rolled into the kitchen and tossed themselves into the recycling container.

“You’re the one who’ll have to suffer the hangover in the morning,” Lili snarled, standing over the intoxicated cat. “And it won’t be pretty. Remember 1936? You were sick for days.” She threw up her hands. “I should make you sleep outside.”

Jared turned away to hide the grin that was stretching his mouth to the limit.

“And here I thought I’d seen it all,” he muttered, struggling not to laugh and quickly losing the battle.

“Don’t even think about it,” she warned him. “You’ll only encourage her.”

“I’m only a puss in a gilded cage,” Cleo warbled, rolling from one side to the other.

Jared shook his head and walked into the kitchen. He dropped onto one of the chairs and buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking with the laughter he could no longer hold back. The sound sounded foreign and rusty to his ears. When was the last time he’d laughed in true amusement?

“It’s not funny!” Lili stormed in, her magick flying around her in erratic flutters. “Cleo can be out of control when she’s sober, but you have no idea how bad she is when she’s drunk on catnip wine. One time she even snuck into a zoo and tried to seduce a lion!”

He shook his head, unable to form any coherent words. His mouth worked. “My stomach hurts,” he finally gasped. He lifted his head when he felt the beginning of the pull that would return him to the hospital. He knew his time was ending before he was ready to leave her.

Jared stood up and turned to Lili.

“I have to go,” he said simply.

“Oh.” She managed a brief smile, her rant abruptly forgotten. She gulped. “I—” She held out her hand, looking to say more but unsure what it should be.

“I know,” he said with sincerity, even as he felt the painful tug growing stronger and knew he’d be gone very soon. “There’s just one more thing.”

“If you want to take Cleo with you, I’ll just warn you she snores,” she joked.

“No, this.” He pulled her into his arms before he could think twice and lowered his mouth to hers.

Nothing that happened that night had been in his imagination. She was as responsive as she’d been before. She made him forget the murk in his life, and she claimed him as he had claimed her.

Soft sounds traveled up Lili’s throat as her hands rested on his shoulders, her nails digging into the soft fabric of his shirt.

He rubbed his mouth against hers, tempting her lips to part.

“So good,” he whispered, sliding his tongue past her lips and once again tasting bliss. “You make me feel as if my life isn’t such a waste after all.” He groaned and deepened his kiss, drawing her even closer against him. He wanted nothing more than to rip her clothes from her and lay her down on the table. No woman compared to Lili—the way she fit so perfectly against him, the way her breast fit so neatly in his palm, her nipple springing up at his touch.

He tightened his hold on her, fighting the wrenching awareness on his spirit. The insistence he had to go, whether he wanted to or not.

He wanted to stay with her!

“No!” He growled, pulling away. He stared at her with stark eyes, raw with emotional pain. A second later, the shadows wrapped around him and he was gone, leaving only a bare hint of sulfur behind.

Lili grabbed hold of the table as her knees turned to pudding.

She refused to believe Jared could leave her that quickly and looked around the room, even as she knew she was alone. She blindly groped for a chair and dropped into it.

“You’re in trouble now,” she whispered to herself then winced as Cleo continued singing, further off-key than before. Her body still tingled from his embrace and her mouth hungered for more.

Jared had her experiencing so much that she’d never felt with any other man.

She knew he wasn’t the insane creature Dr. Mortimer and his own kind said he was. Now she just had to find a way to prove it so that Jared could be released from the hospital.

She smiled, reliving the kiss, when reality thumped her on the head as Cleo’s crazy idea of music kept falling from her mouth.

“Bubble of silence, come to me. Give me some blessed peace, that’s the key.” She flicked her fingers toward the family room and waited for the slightly audible pop that told her the bubble was in place. A tiny silver key dropped onto the table in front of her. Lili picked it up and turned it over in her fingers. The lock keeping the bubble in place would remain intact until she used the key to release her drunken kitty. She slowly rose to her feet and walked past the cat rolling around on the carpet and singing at the top of her lungs. Luckily, Lili now couldn’t hear a thing.

“Good night, you cat from Hades,” she told Cleo in Greek.

Lili returned to her bed, burrowing her face in the pillow Jared had used, reveling in his musky scent mixed with her own. She didn’t think she’d sleep all that easily. Not when images of their lovemaking still danced in her mind.

After tossing and turning in bed, she thought of releasing Cleo from the bubble just to have company. She even went so far as to go to the family room to check on her feline. One look at the cat spread out on her back, looking as if she was snoring loudly, made her mind up for her.

“Don’t come crying to me when you have the ultimate hangover from Hades,” she muttered, making her way back to her bed and curling up with Jared’s pillow again.

***

Lili woke with a smile on her lips, thanks to erotic dreams that brought back her time with Jared. But she also felt a bit unsettled and worried about Jared still locked away at the hospital’s asylum. She decided to take her troubled mind to the shore at dawn. Her cotton skirt whipped around her ankles as she walked barefoot on the wet sand. She lifted her face, inhaling the tangy air and listening to the sound of waves crashing against the rocks plus the hoarse barking sounds from the sea lions. They all made an appropriate background music for her somber mood.

When she found the spot that felt right to her, she knelt on the sand and looked out over the gray-green ocean waves and hint of fog hovering over the water. She closed her eyes and drew in the salt air.

“Listen to my plea, Panacea,” she beseeched the Greek goddess of healing. “Show me how to soothe minds of the troubled ones and take away the blackness that surrounds their lives.” She fingered her moonstone pendant, feeling the warmth of the stone pulsing against her skin. “Hecate, keep my gift strong so that I can protect the weak from those who choose to deliberately hurt them,” she begged the goddess of witchcraft. “Help me find my friend and those who were taken, as she was. I know you haven’t abandoned Sera, and I refuse to believe she has left this world for good. Wherever she is, please keep her safe and help me find a way to return her to her friends.” She held tightly to her moonstone pendant, allowing the warmth of the stone to leach into her bones.

All the witches from the class of 1313 at the Witches Academy wore moonstone pendants, and, later on, they added to their bling with gold ankle bracelets bearing a gold broomstick charm, each one topped with the gemstone that spoke most powerfully to the individual student. For Lili, it was the deep blue sapphire that winked against her skin.

Lili stayed on the beach for some time, ignoring the biting wind pelting her face. She thought of the village she grew up in, the warmth of the Mediterranean sun that used to bathe her skin, the many plants her mother gathered for her herbal remedies, and how collecting them turned into lessons for the girl as soon as she could walk. Her smile at the memories dimmed when they changed to mental pictures of that last day. The vision of what had happened to her mother the night when she was killed was a dark image she kept in a tiny compartment of her mind. It would never be forgotten—because there was no way she could—but she knew her mother wouldn’t want her dwelling on her senseless death, either.

She told herself that the salty liquid streaming down her cheeks was from the sea spray and not tears.

“Lili?”

She started at the sound of the familiar male voice, one she shouldn’t have heard again so soon. She opened her eyes and looked to her right. Jared didn’t look the way he did only hours ago. He stood by her, dirty, with a bruise purpling on his jaw.

“How are you here?” Her voice came out raspy as she got to her feet and reached out, touching his face, allowing her power to heal the bruise. A second later, the mark was gone. “You must have used all of your power last night.” She stroked his cheek, feeling a weakness that hadn’t been there before. “You need to rest.”

Jared smiled and shrugged. “I don’t know. I had this strong feeling that you needed me, and the shadows took over from there. It was like that first time I showed up at your house.” He touched her face with his fingertips, pulling them away, and staring at the dampness on his skin. “Don’t cry for us, love. We’ve all been demented for so long, we don’t know anything else. Heal the ones above and leave us to our punishment.”

It was then she realized that he somehow heard her plea to Panacea.

“You all deserve to be healed, Jared, not tormented like wild animals,” she whispered. “I don’t care that Dr. Mortimer feels you’re too dangerous and that he says I can’t treat you. I intend to get back down there for you.”

His smile warmed her. “My stubborn little witch. No one can stop you, can they?” He brushed his fingers over her hair, allowing a curl to wrap itself around his forefinger. “You want to find out what happened to your friend, and you want to help us in the asylum. Don’t take on too much, Lili. I don’t want anything to happen to you. You’re too precious to me.” His cobalt eyes showed his worry.

“My friend Maggie made sure I’m very protected when I’m at the hospital,” she assured him.

He nodded his understanding. “Hence the runes and sigils woven into your clothing.”

“The Hellion Guards know everything there is to know about protection charms. Maggie has resources I don’t have access to. Even she didn’t want me to do this.”

“I agree with her,” he stated. His lips twisted in a brief smile. “But if you weren’t the stubborn witch you are, I wouldn’t have met you.”

“It was easy to convince her I was a better choice than a Hellion Guard. After all, I have past history here. It was much easier for me to get accepted into the hospital, and besides, Sera is my friend.” She refused to think of her in the past tense. “I need to know what happened to her. Maybe I can even find her and bring her back from wherever she is.”

He thought for a moment. “If you can get them to make any sense, talk to Panabell or Pepta. I’m sure Sera would have treated them too. And there’s always Amy. No one would notice her. She might know something, even if she doesn’t think she does. She’s always hanging around down there.”

Lili felt guilt at the reminder of the little spirit who needed to find her mother. Even with so much going on, she had no excuse for not doing the right thing for the ghostling who desperately needed her mother. She knew she couldn’t ask Amy about Sera. The tiny wraith was confused enough.

She looked down and noticed dark gray tendrils of shadows snaking their way around Jared’s legs. “You have to go,” she said sadly, wishing she could reach out and protect him against the gloom’s hold on him. She claimed him last night, damn it! She wanted to insist he was hers, not theirs. The desire to drive him to a restaurant, where they could sit and have breakfast, laugh, and talk, raged strong within her. She hated the idea of his being pulled back to the hospital again, where he’d only suffer again.

He winced as the darkness grew tight enough on his legs to cause pain. “I’m being warned that someone’s coming to my cell.” He leaned toward her and brushed his lips across her forehead. He whispered something in his language that didn’t sound as harsh on her ears as it had been before.

“What did you say?” She stared into his face, feeling the pain as he started to melt into the gloom that surrounded him.

He smiled and shook his head even as he winked out of sight.
See
ya, Doc.

Lili was alone again. The cold damp air enveloped her, chilling her skin. She slowly walked back up the beach toward the parking lot.

Cleo, wearing extra-dark sunglasses, was spread out on the hood.

“You better not have left any claw marks on my baby.” Lili reached inside her SUV and pulled out her coffee tumbler. The liquid was still hot and bracing on her tongue.

“Talk to the paw.” She held up an appendage, offering the witch a wicked smile as long, razor-sharp claws shot out. She lowered it to the metal and etched her name with that painful nails-on-a-chalkboard screech. Lili snarled and covered her ears with her hands. The witch shot an array of sparks toward Cleo that had her jumping up in the air as the scratches disappeared.

“I hate you,” the cat sneered when she landed all feet down. “There was no reason to drag me out here just because you needed to get in touch with your inner witch. I could have stayed home deliberately shedding all over your bed.”