A Demon Does It Better (27 page)

Lili shook her head. “Amy only said a large black bird took her. She’s at an age where she can’t give strong answers.”

“Something else you shouldn’t discount—kids sometimes can be more articulate than adults. Perhaps it was a large bird.” Rissa frowned as she took in their surroundings. “It’s very barbaric,” she said in a whisper.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Turtifo appeared so quickly, both witches squeaked.

Lili quickly regained her composure and glared at the ogre. “We have business here.” She really hated having to explain herself!

“This ain’t no amusement park where you give guided tours,” he growled while his gaze swarmed over Rissa, lingering on her breasts. She curled her upper lip but didn’t pull her jacket over her silk tee.

Lili gave her points for guts.

“Why don’t you go back to your
duties
,” she suggested with a decided frostiness in her voice. “We won’t be down here long.”

He narrowed his already beady eyes at her. “What are you doing down here?”

“None of your concern.” She brushed past him, holding her breath so she wouldn’t inhale the nasty stench of his skin and clothing. She wondered when he’d last bathed, if ever. She smothered her smile when she heard the sound of an electronic shock and Turtifo’s angry yelp.

“Ah, ah, ah, mustn’t touch,” Rissa said lightly.

He shot them both a glare fit to kill and stumbled off.

“He should be the one in a cell,” Rissa muttered as she followed Lili.

“No kidding.” Lili opened to the door to the room she used, and they walked inside. “Should I call Amy right away?”

“No, let me set things up.” The Guide dug into the leather bag she carried and pulled out pillar candles in soft shades of blue and green. Lili didn’t recognize some of the scents but just inhaling them felt comforting.

After Rissa set out the candles, she touched each wick with her fingertips, watching as they flared to life.

Lili helped her move the table and chairs so she could chalk a circle, leaving one end open for now.

“Do you think she’s ready to leave?” Rissa asked her. “When a spirit has been in one place for too long, it’s difficult for them to do that.”

“No matter what, she’s still a frightened little girl. She needs to go to a place where she’ll be safer. I think she’s willing to go.”

“Have you talked to Amy about this?”

“I have. She’s a little confused, but I know she doesn’t want to be here any longer.”

Rissa nodded. She examined the rings that adorned several of her fingers and turned them around.

“This will be handled differently, since I’m not Guiding her over but rather trying to bring her mother here to help her leave,” she said. “I’ll be honest; I haven’t done this before, but I don’t know why it can’t happen. All we have to do is find her mother in the ether.”

“I trust you,” Lili said simply. She thought of something and headed for the door. “We need someone else here. I’ll just be a moment.”

“Dr. Carter! This isn’t a party,” Rissa warned.

“I need to bring in someone who also cares for Amy.” She wasted no time heading for Jared’s cell and unlocking the door. She found him on his mattress with Amy sitting cross-legged across from him.

Do
you
really
think
a
kiss
can
make
someone
better, the way it did Sleeping Beauty?
She asked Jared.

He looked past her at Lili who stood in the doorway. His dark eyes warmed.

“Absolutely.”

“Amy,” Lili said softly, so as not to startle the ghost. “Would you like to come with me?” She held out her hand, even though Amy wouldn’t be able to touch her. She looked at Jared. “And you too.”

You
found
a
Guide?
He mouthed.

She nodded.

Jared followed them out. “Did you tell the Guide about me?” he asked in a low voice.

“No, but I don’t think it will be a problem.”

Lili learned she was right when Rissa didn’t bat at an eye at Jared’s less-than-clean appearance. She merely smiled at him and at Amy, who stood close to the demon, hanging tightly to her teddy bear with one hand.

“Hello, Amy.” Rissa crouched down to the little spirit’s height and spoke softly to her in a voice that was soothing and musical to the ear. “My name is Rissa, and I’m a friend of Lili and Jared. I heard that you’re looking for your mommy.”

Yes
. Amy watched her wide-eyed.

“What if I can help you find her?”

You
know
where
my
mommy
is?
The wraith was wide-eyed with excitement.

“Not exactly, but I think with your help I might be able to figure out where she is so you can be with her,” Rissa said gently. She sat back, cross-legged. She smiled when Amy plopped down and did the same.

Lili took a nearby chair while Jared stood behind her, his hand resting lightly on her shoulder. She watched as Rissa held out her hands and Amy placed hers in the Guide’s palms. There was no sign of discomfort from the extreme cold a ghost generated when touching warm flesh, and her insubstantial flesh actually rested in Rissa’s hands.

“I want you to close your eyes and picture your mother,” Rissa whispered. “Think of her the way she was the last time you saw her. Then I want you to say her name.”

Her
name
is
Mommy. Will my mommy know it’s me? I ask her to come get me all the time, but she doesn’t.

She nodded. “She’ll know.”

Amy closed her eyes tightly.
Mommy, I’m lost. Can you come get me? I like Miss Lili and Mr. Jared, and they’re really nice to me, but I miss you and our farm. Can I come home now?

Lili swallowed the sob that started to travel up her throat. “No child should have to go through this,” she said softly.

“She’s not in pain,” Jared murmured in a soothing tone.

Rissa shot them a warning look. Lili looked guilty and mimed zipping her lips closed.

Lili felt the calming warmth of Jared’s presence as they watched the Guide weave her magick around Amy. Rissa’s lips moved silently. Lili couldn’t figure out what she said, but she could feel the power fill the room like a cascading wave.

Then she saw it. She reached up and covered Jared’s hand with her own, gripping his fingers tightly as she saw an indistinct form seep into the room then slowly take shape.

The figure was silver-haired, plump, and matronly looking with eyes so sad they tore at Lili’s heart. Then she saw the tiny girl across from Rissa and her sorrow disappeared.

Amy?

The tiny wraith opened her eyes and jumped to her feet.
Mama?

Just that fast, the years fell away from the spirit and she looked as she must have the day Amy was taken. Her smile split her face as she held out her arms.

The mother looked at Rissa as she held on to her child. Tears ran down her face.
Thank
you.

“You’re free, Amy,” Rissa announced. “Be happy with your mother.” She waved her hand, and the two disappeared.

Lili hexed up a handkerchief to catch her tears. She stood up. “Thank you,” she choked.

Even Rissa’s eyes shone with tears. “You’re very welcome, Dr. Carter. I think their love for each other and need to be together gave my power a boost.” She snuffed her candles and soon had everything back in her bag. She glanced at Jared then at Lili. “I know my way out.” She held up a hand. “And don’t worry about the gorillas out there. I tend to be very forgettable.”

“I can’t believe that.” Jared smiled at her. “You’re more than just a Guide, aren’t you?”

She wrinkled her nose in an impish manner. “It depends on you who talk to.” She closed the door after her.

“I’ll miss her,” Jared admitted, watching Lili move the table and chairs back in place.

“You could have helped,” she told him.

“Yes, but you do it with a flick of the finger.” He took a chair and lifted an inquiring eyebrow until she conjured up two cups of coffee. “Thanks.”

Instead of sitting across from him, Lili took the chair next to him. She warmed her hands with the cup as she stared into the dark contents.

“I told Dr. Mortimer that I felt you should be released,” she said in a low voice.

Jared froze. “Why would you do that?”

Like him she studied her coffee cup. “Because there is no way you have any mental instability in you.” She looked up when she felt the table tremble. “Jared!”

If he were a mundane, Lili would have known he was having a seizure, but this wasn’t like any seizure she’d seen in mundanes or preternaturals.

Black foam rimmed his mouth, and he fell from the chair, flailing around. Lili winced at the sound of a gong ringing outside the room. She fell to her knees carefully as she wrapped a protection spell around him so he couldn’t hurt himself.

And regretted the door wasn’t secured when Turtifo and Coing barged in.

“What the fuck have you done now?” the former snarled, reaching down and grabbing Jared’s shoulders in a rough hold while Coing took his legs.

“Don’t touch him!” she ordered.

“No way Dr. M. won’t find out about this,” Turtifo told her as they carried Jared out. “You’re in big trouble now.”

“I need to treat him!” She followed them out.

“No treatment. He just needs to sleep it off.” Turtifo grinned at her, revealing his blackened teeth. “And you need to get out of here.”

Lili deliberately waited until she heard the clang of Jared’s cell door, then waited another fifteen minutes before she left the room. She could hear the two ogres laughing heartily in their private break room.

“Probably downloading porn,” she muttered, reaching Jared’s cell door.

She looked through the bars and saw Jared sprawled on the mattress with her protective spell gone. His skin was gray, his eyes wild.

When she touched the lock to deactivate it, she was shocked so badly, she was thrown backward and fell on her ass.

She stared at the lock that sparked black.

Jared was not only locked in. She was locked out.

“I’ll turn them into slimy toads,” Lili fumed, pacing the small confines of her office. “Or go further and send them back as amoeba. Algae to be skimmed off a pond. Hedgehogs. No, forget that, I like hedgehogs.”

“Wow, what has your witchy dander up?” Deisphe braved the hex of a tantrum and dropped gracefully into a chair. She ignored the suffocating power in the air.

“The ogres finally did it,” Cleo announced from her spot on the couch. “They set a trap on Jared’s door so Lili was zapped when she tried to open it. I bet Dr. Musty had something to do with it.” She stretched her mouth in a wide yawn, revealing finely honed fangs.

Lili held up her hands to show her badly blistered palms.

“Oh no!” Deisphe was out of her chair immediately and grasped her hands to examine the burns. “Why didn’t you heal these?” she demanded with a hint of a growl, while her eyes glittered a dark gold.

“I can’t,” she said tightly, closing her eyes. “Magick won’t work on them.”

“Stay here.” She was out of the office and returned before Lili had time to blink. Deisphe gently pushed her back into her chair and set a small tray on the desk. After setting Lili’s injured hands palm up on a towel, she picked up a tube and started slathering the ingredients on the scorched skin.

Lili hissed as the cream hit the raw spots.

“This will help ensure there will be no scarring or infection since, as you know, some curses can do that,” the Were assured her. “Not strictly magick and meant for burns.” After she carefully slathered the cream on, she wrapped the witch’s hands with gauze. “No instant healing, but they should feel better in about an hour or so. We use it on injuries that magick doesn’t heal. And this is for being a good girl.” She unwrapped a Tootsie Pop and edged it between Lili’s lips.

Lili didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She settled for doing both.

“No, don’t,” Deisphe purred, putting her arms around her shoulders.

“I don’t care that Dr. Mortimer will fire me for disobeying his orders,” she sobbed. “It’s that Jared is now even more of a prisoner down there. They’ll tell Dr. Mortimer what I did.”

“No, they won’t.” There was a grim set to her mouth.

“They can’t.” Cleo chimed in.

Lili looked at the two cats in her office. “No, you can’t kill them.”