Arcane Solutions (13 page)

The dog dropped his prize and sat on it, offering up a big tongue-lolling grin.

“Uh, demon?” I prompted, and then gaped as Illy leaped to his paws, spinning around. The husky went from goofy and cuddly to a teeth-baring, hackles-raised danger on four paws. It was an impressive sight.

“
We're ready.” Damian’s tone was calm and mild.

“
I see that. Wow, Illy, I didn't know you had it in you.” I looked from him to the warlock. “Uh, what are we doing?”

“
Sending it back. You'll need to drop the shield, Cordi.”

The demon was now surveying us, one red-skinned, clawed hand palm up. Fire sparked and grew above it. Panic began creeping in.
“What about that?”

“
Just jump out of the way.” Damian was way too calm about the situation for my taste.

“
Okay.” Maybe frying me would distract the ugly beast long enough for the warlock to cast whatever spell he was planning.

Cordi
. It was a sharp mental poke. Dropping the shield, I dove to the left and rolled, pushing hastily to my hands and knees. The demon hesitated. Damian's voice rose as Illusion began growling.

The fireball went streaking toward his head. I threw a hand up, forcing the oxygen away directly in front of him and Illy. Out the fire went. Blue and green lightning crackled from Damian's hands, lancing out to weave a net around the demon. It roared and Illy began barking.

The net slowly shrank with each bark, the trapped demon becoming insubstantial and finally, it exploded into gritty black ash. Damian sank to his knees, the lightning fizzling and fading. “Whew. Tough one.”

“
You're incredibly awesome. Have I told you that lately?” Checking to make sure my heart was still inside my chest, I made it to my feet and had to wait for my legs to stop shaking.

Uttering a weak laugh, the warlock leaned on his familiar and rose.
“Thanks.”

Familiar. I’d like one of that persuasion. Granted, even Illy probably couldn’t stop Damian from feeling fear, but he could do something to diminish the aftermath. Me, I had to settle for those increasingly ineffective deep breaths to dilute the metallic flavor of it in my mouth.

But this particular flavor of fear was familiar. I’d tasted it before, just a hint of it.

I’d tasted it in the impressions I’d gained from handling Zoe’s necklace.

Seventeen

Nothing
. Dropping the necklace with a sigh, I leaned back and propped my boots on the desk. After feeding everyone lunch, returning to the office was my obvious course of action since Jo and David weren’t finished with the scrap.

Didn’t want to miss the elf’s arrival.

Both Kate and Mr. Whitehaven were still out to lunch. I took a few minutes to enjoy imagining Thorandryll’s fuming over my quitting the case. Maybe he was fuming about the lack of success in kissing me again too.

We enjoy beauty
was shaky ground as an excuse for macking on me. Oddly enough, I trusted Logan's warning to be careful, even though the elf fascinated me.

Elves are a beautiful, charismatic people. Since I'd never been in close proximity to any before, I decided my first brushes were the cause of the hazy-mindedness that struck whenever I looked Thorandryll in the eye.

Or he could be using glamour. Sensing subtle magic wasn't in my repertoire. Dismissing that idea, I scowled at the ceiling while moving on to Nick and his attitude. I had no clue where he was. Probably lunch as well. “Whoops.”

Or maybe out hunting for me. I’d forgotten to turn my cell phone back on. Digging it out of my purse and hitting the button, the voice mail app informed me of a dozen messages the second it finished booting up.

They were all from Nick. It was probably logical that he'd assume I was okay with being designated his girlfriend. He was sexy, protective, and funny. Normally, I'd jump all over the opportunity to be the girlfriend of such a hot guy. Was my lack of jumping really because he was a shifter?

The thought was just as sobering the second time around. Also unproductive. Right. Time to concentrate on work.

Why had the vampire been at the construction site? They did have some powers, but more in line with my own abilities, and not magic. If he couldn't use the grimoire, why would he want it?

But that taste of fear…that was Zoe-related. The first location spell had indicated the Barrows, while the second hadn’t pinpointed her anywhere. I checked the shimmer in my mental folder. She was still alive, still human.

Recalling Mr. Mitchell’s coldness during the client meeting, and his follow-up call, I wondered how convenient it would be for him if the girl disappeared.

Okay, that might be taking things a bit far. Surely he wouldn’t have Zoe kidnapped just to rid himself of an annoyance. Disliking his stepdaughter didn’t necessarily put him in the villain category.

Plenty of people didn’t care for teenagers.

It was a dead-end line of thought, so I called voice mail to listen to the messages. The first one was
“Good morning, see you at the office.” Nick sounded a little concerned in the second one, wondering why I wasn’t at work yet. He said nothing about returning my call.

Just as the third one began (
Where the hell are you?
), a noise out in the reception area caught my attention. Setting the phone down, I left my seat to check out the sound. Maybe Thorandryll had finally shown up.
Yippee
.

The man standing in front of the doors was short, muscular, and had strange-looking eyes.
“You are Discordia Jones?”

“
Yeah. How may I help you?” What was it about his eyes? Taking two steps, I had a better look, and mine must have gone wide, because he chuckled. It was an evil sound, like the scrape of blood-rusted metal over rock.

His eyes were solid black. Watching a smile crawl into place, I shivered when he said,
“Yum.”

“
My boss will be back in--”

“
I’ll be finished before then.” He moved incredibly fast, and I barely managed to dodge his grasp by dropping to the floor. There wasn’t time to get up before he bent down and slapped me. The heavy blow rocked my head to one side.

He blocked my attempt to kick him between the legs, and took a second to laugh at the effort. I called on my TK. Three chairs broke as he landed across them.

He was up instantly, smile gone. The snarling expression that replaced it wasn’t comforting. I tried to recreate the shield that had popped up earlier as he charged toward me, but found myself choking.

One hand wrapped around my neck, he hefted me into the air, taking two swift strides and slamming me against the wall. Everything but my legs went briefly numb, feet kicking uselessly in reaction. Both of my hands found his wrist, nails digging in to rip at skin.

“Pitiful. I expected more of a fight.”

If I could just get some air, I was more than willing to try harder at giving him one. But the pain around my throat was escalating, and my vision was going dark.

“Cordi!” Nick’s shout brought a wave of relief. Abruptly free, I sprawled to the floor as the man turned to face the shifter, and then he and Nick were trading fast, powerful blows. They knocked each other around the reception area, doing a thorough demolition job on the rest of the furniture.

The boss was going to be pissed. He’d spent a mint, hiring an expensive interior designer from San Antonio to make everything soothing for clients.

Each drag of air felt like fire burning down into my lungs. My eyes squeezed shut, but tears poured free anyway. A yelp from Nick made them shoot open, in time to see the man throw him face first through the two-inch thick glass of the doors.

The shifter landed in the parking lot on his back, an avalanche of glass falling with him. Blood was suddenly everywhere, and I crawled forward, wheezing out his name.

It drew the other’s attention back to me. When his black eyes focused on mine, pure survival instinct set in. I flung both hands out, and he flew backwards, through the broken doors, landing almost in the street.

Nick was rolling over. Sparing a glance for me, he went after the man, who was already on his feet.

Before they collided, Percy popped out of thin air. The parrot dived and dropped something. It hit the man in the face, breaking and splashing a faintly glowing liquid over him. He exploded into a cloud of black smoke and ash.

The parrot screeched, circling the cloud.
“Bad demon! No attacking Cordi!”

Damn if I didn’t love that bird.

Nick was standing still, watching the dissipating cloud. Somehow managing to get my feet under me, I limped out into the parking lot. My voice was a croak. “You okay?”

He turned, showing a blood-streaked face embedded with bits of glass. Some slid free while we stared at each other, to make tiny sounds hitting the asphalt. His eyes were dark gold.
“Nick?”

“
What the hell was that? Did Percy say it was a demon?” He grabbed hold of my left arm. “Are you all right?”

“
Battered but breathing.” It really hurt to talk. Kate’s low-slung, silver Italian sports car roared into the parking lot, brakes squealing as she spotted us. Her familiar landed on my shoulder. Rubbing his head against my cheek, he said, “Percy loves Cordi.”

I ruffled his feathers with my free hand.
“Love you too, bird brain.”

Sirens wailed. People were staring from the entrances of other businesses on the street. Kate was on her cell phone as she left her car, hurrying toward us. More glass slipped from his skin, apparently escaping Nick’s notice.
“I thought this place was warded.”

“
It is. Was.” Percy crooned something about ‘
petite déesse
’ in my ear.

“
Don’t just stand there, Maxwell. Get her inside,” Kate ordered as she reached us. “Now.”

I was happy to have her take charge, wanting nothing more than to lie down and get busy healing. My face and throat were on fire, while my back felt like it had had an up close and personal encounter with a truck. One with a big brush guard installed, or maybe a semi.

“Percy, get off of her. She’s injured.” The parrot hopped from my shoulder to hers without protest. Nick quickly obeyed, hustling me inside the destroyed reception area. He cleared debris off the couch with a sweep of his arm.

“
Here, Cordi. I’ll get some ice or something.”

“
Okay.” God, it hurt to talk. He scowled around the room, and disappeared from view. I closed my eyes, listening to Kate make another call, whispering in an agitated tone, and then she began dealing with the cops.

The shifter was back, his fingertips skating over my abused flesh. His touch was so light I barely felt it.
“You’re burned.”

Opening my eyes, I watched him wrap a baggie of ice in a dishtowel. He arranged it on my throat, and bent to kiss my forehead. His face was covered in drying blood, but all of the glass damage looked to have healed. Cold leaked through, feeling wonderful.
“I’ll go get another one for your cheek.”

He was back with another makeshift cold pack in less than a minute, and gently pressed it to my cheek. A cop came over.
“I need to ask some questions.”

Nick didn’t even look at him.
“Ask.”

“
What happened here?”

The shifter described what he knew, but protested my answering any questions. I tried anyway, but my throat didn’t cooperate, and the cop waved away my croaked attempts. Mentioning demon ended the questioning. He offered to call for an ambulance, but Kate intervened. I decided beginning to heal my throat was a good idea.

Nick dug out some of the decorative pillows to prop me up, so I had a great view of Whitehaven’s luxury SUV rolling over the curb and sidewalk to avoid the cop cars. The man himself appeared, smooth strides not hinting at any urgency as he walked toward the building.

He paused outside the broken doors, glass crunching under his shoes. He glanced briefly at us before he scanned the reception area. His gaze settled on my face.

“Wasn’t my fault,” I managed to rasp out, and Whitehaven smiled. Stepping inside, he picked a path through the mess, and stopped beside the couch.

“
They were merely possessions, easily replaced. Unlike people. How do you feel, Discordia?”

“
Awful.” A touch of my hand made Nick lift the cold pack away. Whitehaven’s smile disappeared. He bent low, studying my face. When he glanced at the shifter, Nick moved the other from my neck.

“
He had her up against the wall, choking her, when I got here.”

“
You did well, Nicholas.” The boss patted his shoulder. “Let me assist Kate, and then we’ll do more for Discordia.”

Both cold packs were replaced, the shifter’s eyes once again dark brown. He smoothed my hair back, and moved to sit on the edge of the couch.
“You have a hand print burned on your cheek. Am I putting too much pressure on it?”

“
No.” Lying there, watching him watch me, I realized that he’d saved my life. Of course, that’s why he’d been hired: to pull my fat out of the fire when I got in over my head. Knowing that didn’t keep a warm, tender feeling from spreading, along with confusion about why he hadn’t returned my call the night before.

He took my hand when I lifted it, and pressed a kiss to the back.
“If this ever happens again, your job is to haul ass while I keep them busy. Got that?”

“
Yeah.”

Nick grinned.
“You have no intention of following orders, do you?”

“
No.” I only ran if everyone was running, or if I was on my own.

He shook his head, and looked over his shoulder.
“I think they’re finishing up.”

***

Kate smeared salve over my back. “The bruises are forming Rorschach blots. I see a bird.”

“
Ha. Ha.” I dabbed some of the salve on my cheek. “It didn’t burn when he hit me. Just hurt.”

“
Demons are strange creatures.” The witch let my shirt down. “There. Put some on your neck, Jones. Ronnie’s here, and I want to see what she has to say about the ward failure.”

Being unable to talk without pain hadn’t been much fun, so my throat was almost healed. Scooping more salve from the jar, I covered the faint yellow brown band still visible.
“How’d you know what was happening?”

She smiled, opening the restroom door.
“A little bird told me.”

“
Percy?”

“
He demanded a banishing potion and said he was going to save Cordi.” Kate shrugged. “I had one in my bag, and followed as quickly as possible.”

“
But how did he know?” Wiping the excess off my fingers, I followed her into the hallway.

“
He has his ways of keeping track of those he’s fond of.” She went toward the reception area. Deciding that I owed the parrot some major treats for a while, I headed for my office.

My cell phone rang as I settled into the chair.
“Hello?”

“
Hi. It’s Logan.” He sounded relieved, though I couldn’t figure out why. “How are you doing today?”