Beg Me to Slay (12 page)

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Sure it does. It’s self-defense.” Gabe laid one of the towels out flat on the floor. “I’ve researched old texts for years. It’s not like you can Google a list of ways to kill different demons, and they’re not out there sharing their secrets either. Demons understand how to kill their own kind, but not others.”

He laid Lago on one end of the towel and then rolled him up in it like a demon taquito. “You’ve got to sever a Trollock’s wings to lift his immortality long enough to kill him.” He used the other towel to clean the mats. “They beat the crap out of him, but he’ll recover.”

“How do you kill a Hingo demon?”

“They’re tough to slay.” Gabe met her eyes. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”

Tegan almost laughed. Would anyone ever be ready to hear about killing a demon who wants to use him or her as a human suit?

She shook her head, fighting off the hysteria. “I guess I’m as ready as I’m going to get.”

Gabe nodded, resting his elbows on his knees. “Hingo demons are ageless, different from being immortal. You
can
kill them, but it’s tough. Under their human facade, they have thick, leathery skin, and puncture wounds only piss them off.”

“Beheading?” Another bout of hysterical laughter threatened to bubble up her throat at the surreal chat about beheadings. She swallowed it, for now.

“That’ll slow him down, but it won’t stop him. For a Hingo you need fire, but the oil in their skin is a natural fire retardant.”

She stared at him for a second and frowned. “Only fire can kill him, but he’s impervious to it? That sounds pretty immortal to me.”

“You have to open a wound first. Pierce his skin and then the fire can consume him, sending him back to hell.”

“Complicated. How many slayers died before you figured that out?”

“I don’t ask those questions.” Gabe took her hand. His gaze wandered over her face. His concerned expression made her wonder if she looked as sick as she felt. “Are you all right?”

Tegan shrugged. “Not really, but I’d rather have an idea what we’re up against.”

Gabe picked up the limp demon, glancing over at her. “Do you mind if I put him in your closet upstairs?”

“The closet?” She tried not to cringe.

“He’s going to need a few days in the dark to recover from his wounds.”

She nodded. “All right. I’ll clear out my shoes, and he can rest on the floor.”

He brought Lago up, laying him on the kitchen table while Tegan cleared the floor of her closet. Gabe carried the demon over and laid him gently on the floor. Watching how careful he was with the creature touched her. Under the no-nonsense, loner facade, there was a guy who had compassion.

Closing the closet door, Gabe sighed. “He went to the Eden Club.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

Gabe walked back to the table and pulled out a chair. “That’s because it’s a demon club.”

“Oh.” Tegan sat across from him trying to figure out how much prodding he could handle. Now that she understood that his fuse was shortened by the lack of sleep, she walked a tightrope. Tip too much either way and Gabe would shut down. “Do we need to pay them a visit?”

“Yes.” He nodded and then shook his head. “No.” He rocked the chair back on two legs. “First we need to lift the hex on my dreams. I’m not sharp enough to face the number of demons who hang out in the club.”

“Hex? You think someone’s giving you nightmares on purpose?” She frowned, trying to stay clear of Gabe’s short fuse. “Maybe we should try some sleeping pills or something. You’re not the first person who can’t sleep.”

“Oh, that’d be a big help.” Gabe groaned and sat at the table. “A sleeping pill will just trap me with the nightmare, no escape.” He sat the chair down on all four legs again. “Can I use your computer?”

“Yeah.” She went to the easy chair and waited for her laptop to boot up. “Fill me in. How can someone give you nightmares?”

He sat on the arm of the easy chair, his scent surrounded her, and she pulled it deep into her lungs, grounding herself while the world around her seemed in constant flux.

“I talked to Martie. My office was robbed. I have wards to keep demons out, but they hired some human kid to grab my comb, a picture of Laura, and the necklace she was wearing when they attacked her.”

“You kept that in your office?” She typed in her password and waited for the desktop to come alive.

“I had the necklace in a wall safe. I move a lot. People start noticing how beat up I am at night, and then I’m healed up the next day. Leads to questions.” His fingers slid through the back of her hair. “I thought it was safer in the office where I always have wards in place.”

She passed him the laptop. “Why take those things?”

“To work a hex on a person’s dreams, you need a piece of them and a piece of something that upsets them. I’m guessing the comb had hair in it, and Laura’s picture and necklace would have plenty of negative energy to generate nightmares.” His fingers flew across the keyboard while he spoke. “But demons can’t wield that kind of magic.”

She frowned. “Then how are they managing it?”

He turned the laptop around, showing her the website for a psychic shop. “They keep a witch in their pocket.”

“I thought Wiccans had a ‘harm no one’ rule.”

Gabe shook his head. “This one’s not Wiccan. She’s a white witch with a long family history of black magic.”

Tegan frowned, silencing the zillion questions that came to mind. If demons were real, why not witches, right? Maybe werewolves and vampires were real, too. She cringed inwardly. This was enough for now. She didn’t want to know what else was out there in the world. Not today.

“How can you tell all that from her website?” She stared at the white stucco building with a neon hand glowing in the window.

“I don’t think she’s the witch the demons are using, but I know her, and she can probably help us find the spell-caster we need.”

“Oh, I see.” Tegan stared at the website again with new interest. “She’s a friend of yours then?”

He shrugged and closed the laptop. “Something like that.” He stood up. “Let me change, and we can get to her place before she closes.”

She ground her teeth together, fighting a pang of…jealousy? She wasn’t sure. But she definitely wanted to know how Gabe knew the witch.

Chapter Thirteen

Gabe drove through a Jack in the Box for some caffeine and then got back on the freeway. He hadn’t seen Tina in a couple of years. He’d met her while working a PI case in San Diego. A husband had hired him to check up on his wife. It had seemed she was pulling plenty of cash from the ATM each week with no receipts for the expenses.

Since his client was an accountant with a passionate love for receipts, the lack of them had made him concerned enough to hire Gabe to look into it. He’d thought his wife might be hiding her money trail while seeing another man.

He loathed the cheating spouse cases. Too often he had to deliver bad news, and the times he delivered good news, it still ended badly when the other party discovered they’d been followed.

But bills had to be paid, and he took the cases when they walked through the door.

The wife had actually been one of Tina’s clients. Too embarrassed to tell her husband she was seeing a psychic, she’d paid for each reading in cash. After an evening of snapping photos outside the psychic’s, he’d stopped in a coffee shop nearby. In walked Tina to introduce herself.

“Hello. I’m the psychic whose client you’ve been taking pictures of,” she’d said.

“Who says I was photographing your client and not you?”

Tina had just raised her eyebrow. She was the real deal.

“Did you call this woman and tell her we were coming?” Tegan’s voice yanked him back to reality. “This is a long way to drive to find out she’s closed.”

“She never leaves her shop early.” He checked the time on his phone and set it back on the seat. “She’ll be there.”

“Are you surprising her with our visit on purpose?”

He glanced at Tegan. “It’s hard to surprise Tina. She used to tell me that she could feel when people were thinking about her. I’m pretty sure she knows I’m on my way.”

Tegan settled back in her seat, staring out the window.

He also went out with Tina a couple of times, but that was ancient history. No point in digging it up now.

When he pulled into the tiny asphalt parking lot, loose bits of gravel popped against the Mustang’s undercarriage, making him wince. He forgot how much his car hated this lot.

The neon palm glowed in the window. Tina was inside.

He got out of the car and went around to open Tegan’s door, but she’d climbed out before he got there.

“It’s just like the picture on the website.”

He nodded and took her hand. “Come on. Let’s see what she can tell us.”

A bell clanged when he opened the door. He followed Tegan into the dimly lit waiting area. The scent of sage and some kind of sandalwood incense assaulted his keen sense of smell.

“I’ll be right out,” a voice called from the back reading room. “Please have a seat.”

Tegan sat stiffly in a chair. He took the spot beside her and watched a candle burning in the center of the coffee table. The flame danced and flickered, enticing him closer. Gabe reached out, sliding his finger through the fire. Back and forth. Warmth and cold. Light and dark. Life and death.

Tegan’s hand slid up his back, her touch pulling him out of the trance that threatened to devour him.

“Are you okay?” Her voice was hushed.

He wasn’t sure how to answer. Something was definitely…off. It was more than exhaustion. His mind was foggy…susceptible. Weak. “I’m fine.”

He settled into the chair, withdrawing from the hypnotic flame. Far from fine.

…

Tegan tried to watch Gabe without
watching
him. As soon as they walked through the door, he’d seemed distant, universes away. Now, an elderly woman came down the hall toward them. She gave Tegan a polite smile but avoided direct eye contact before tottering out the door.

Gabe rubbed his hands down his face and tipped his head. A vertebra snapped, but he didn’t look any more alert.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. I—” Tina saw Gabe and her voice died away. “Gabriel?”

Tegan tried not to hate the tall blonde on sight, but hearing her call Gabe by his full name tipped the scales. It didn’t help that she had flawless, tanned skin, or that her blue eyes lit up when Gabe stood, making Tegan want to punch her.

She’d never been jealous in her entire life.

So far it sucked.

Tina crossed the room and wrapped her arms around him. “It’s so good to see you. How have you been?”

At least Gabe didn’t hug her back. He cleared his throat and put a little space between them. “Not great, actually.”

Tegan stuck her hand into the cloud of awkwardness. “Hi, I’m Tegan.”

Tina almost flinched. Her fifty-megawatt smile dimmed, then returned in an instant, and she shook Tegan’s hand in a firm grip. “Nice to meet you, Tegan.” Tina glanced at Gabe, then back to Tegan. “Did you hire Gabriel?”

“I did…but…uh.” While her brain stuttered, Gabe finally came to life.

“This isn’t a business thing.” His hand rested at the back of Tegan’s waist.

“Oh.” Tina’s smile looked forced. “Well, what brings you here? Do you need a reading or something?”

“I need to know if there’s another witch in town that could pull off a dream hex.”

Tina glanced at the front door and then gestured to the hallway. “Why don’t you two come into the reading room? We’ll have more privacy.”

Tegan followed them back to a candlelit room. Scents clustered together into something wistful, calming. Throw rugs detailing mythical beings covered the floor and the walls, deadening the sounds around them, and a thin trail of smoke snaked up toward the ceiling from an incense burner in the corner.

Tina sat in a velvet-upholstered antique chair with lion heads carved at the end of each armrest and gestured for them to sit in the chairs across from her. They were armless and much less throne-like. Stacks of tarot decks, velvet pouches of who-knows-what, and candles littered the shelf behind Tina’s chair.

Tegan knew nothing about witches, but if a room could feel magical, this was probably it.

Tina’s eyes were on Gabe. “What makes you think someone is working dream magic?”

“Because they broke into my office, and they didn’t steal the computers or weapons.” He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. “I’ve been having violent nightmares. Lots of them. But they’re always the same. Sound like magic to you?”

Tina shrugged. “Could be, I guess. Violence is a constant in your life, though. It could be affecting you more than you realize. It wouldn’t take magic for it to creep into your subconscious.”

Gabe rocked back, shaking his head. “I didn’t come here to be analyzed. Tell me who lives nearby that is capable of casting the spell, and we’ll be out of your hair.”

“I’m not analyzing, just making an observation. I
do
know you, remember?”

Tina wet her lips, and Tegan’s blood went cold. They were lovers. They had to have been.

Gabe stood up. “I remember. That’s why I came to you. But if you aren’t going to help me, then I don’t have time to waste catching up.”

Tina tipped her chin up, her gaze still on him without her getting out of her chair. “I haven’t seen you in two years. Why should I bend over backward to help you?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do.” Gabe walked out the door, leaving Tegan staring at Tina.

Tegan stood, keeping her voice down. “I don’t know your history together, but Gabe hasn’t slept in days. His work is dangerous…”

Tina rubbed her forehead. “I can give you a couple names.”

…

Once they were back in the Mustang, Gabe rolled down his window and stared at the names Tina had written down. Tegan’s glare burned the side of his face. Balling up the paper, he chucked it on the dash and turned toward her.

“She gave us bullshit names.”

“How can you tell?” Tegan glanced at the paper and back at him. “And how come you didn’t tell me you slept with her?”

“Because one of the witches on her list is dead.” He met her gaze. “And you didn’t ask.”

“That’s not an answer.” She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. “Maybe she gave you a dead witch because you didn’t call her for two years.”

Gabe shook his head. “It wasn’t like that. Neither of us wanted a relationship.”

“Not as far as you know.”

Gabe reached over to take her hand. “Seriously. Could you imagine a psychic trying to be with me when she can see what’s coming? There was no future. It was comfort during a rough time—nothing more.”

She looked at their joined hands. “And what exactly are we?”

He followed her gaze, and his heart lurched. Even sleep-deprived, he knew she meant more to him than a simple hookup. But what did she expect him to say? The closer he got to her, the more danger he put her in. His feelings weren’t worth shit if he couldn’t protect her from the demons heading their way.

He opened his mouth to reply, but something slapped his door. Gabe spun in his seat and caught Tina’s wrist before she fell down.

Her eyes were wide, chest heaving. “We have to get out of here now.”

Gabe jumped out and popped the seat so she could climb in the back. Once she was in, he slid behind the wheel and gunned the engine. The Mustang’s tires squealed, rocks pelting the car as they bolted into the street.

Adrenaline had him fully alert. He glanced in the rearview mirror. Tina panted in the backseat. “What’s going on?”

“They have Mara.” She leaned forward from the backseat. “That’s why I couldn’t help you in my shop. They’re watching me.”

Gabe frowned. “Who?”

“Demons.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “They took her a week ago, and her life depended on that dream spell.”

He gripped the wheel tighter. “You gave me the nightmares.”

“I had no choice.” A sob hiccupped out of her lips. “I’m sorry. They’ll kill her if I refuse. I couldn’t tell you in the shop. They have a presence there now.”

“Who is Mara?” Tegan dug a Kleenex out of her purse and passed it back.

“My half sister. She’s only eighteen.”

“Which demon has her?” Gabe kept his eyes on the road.

“The demons who come to me are minions. I have no idea who their leader is.”

Frustration gnawed at Gabe’s already-frayed nerves. “You can’t
see
him in your mind’s eye like you did me?”

“No.” She sniffled, wiping her nose. “Demons aren’t of this world. My gifts don’t work on their plane. You know that.”

He did when he could think straight.

Tegan shifted, turning toward the backseat. “If you cast the dream spell, you can stop it, right?”

“They’ll kill her if I remove the curse.”

Tegan sighed. “How would they be able to tell?”

“They’re watching me constantly. I had to cast a time-blurring spell to get outside.” Tina took a deep breath. “They’ll be able to report that you came to see me, and I didn’t tell you that I cast the spell. For about one minute, time in my shop froze. When time resumed we were already gone. Hopefully they won’t realize I left with you.”

“What about your car? Won’t they figure out you came with us?”

“I live next door. My car is still in my garage.”

Gabe pulled into a strip mall and parked. “Let me get this straight. You don’t know who is blackmailing you to curse me. We have no clue where they’re keeping your sister. And you can’t lift the curse because they’re watching you. Any other impossible problems to add to the list?”

His head was going to explode. He kept telling himself it was the sleep deprivation talking, but taking Tegan and running away to an ice cap in Greenland seemed like a perfect plan at the moment.

Tina slumped in the backseat. “I hope that’s it.”

Tina didn’t realize that the problems he’d just listed were only the tip of the shitstorm of demon armies and dragons blowing in. He wasn’t going to set her straight, either.

Tegan interrupted his wallowing. “If someone else removed the curse, would the demons be able to tell?”

Tina’s brow creased. “I don’t think so. They can’t usually sense magic, which is why they’re always watching me.” She sighed. “But I can’t think of any witches who would risk lifting the curse. It’s black magic. I wouldn’t have cast it, but my sister’s life is on the line.”

He glanced at Tegan. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking I can follow directions. If Tina can tell me how, I can remove the curse.”

They both stared at her as if she was nuts. Maybe she was, but she was also the only one inside the Mustang who was offering up solutions.

“Magic isn’t just a recipe.” Tina crossed her arms. “It’s in your bloodline. You can give someone ingredients and words to say, but only a witch can bring the magic to life.”

Gabe patted Tegan’s thigh. “We’ll figure something out.”

Seeing their placating glances stoked the fire of her temper. “It’s better than sitting around letting the demons call the shots, right? If it doesn’t work then we haven’t lost anything but another sleepless night for Gabe.”

Her name was in her father’s old journal, written in after she was attacked by a demon. Her father didn’t believe it was random, and she didn’t, either. Who was to say her bloodline wasn’t gifted in some kind of magic? Either way, she wouldn’t find out until she tried.

“I could write out the directions, but Gabe will have to help you with the ingredients.” Her opinion of Tina went up a notch. A teeny, tiny notch. “I’ve been gone too long already.”