Women of the Otherworld 10.5 - Counterfeit Magic (14 page)

I was starting down the hall when the stairs creaked behind me. Before I could turn, something cold went around my neck. I grabbed it and spun, lashing out with a knockback spell that sent my attacker slamming into the wall.

“Lucas?”

“Your defensive reaction has improved. Apparently, sneaking up to deliver a gift is no longer such a wise idea.”

“Gift?”
I looked down at my hand. What I’d grabbed was a necklace with an engraved red stone for a pendant.

“A carnelian amulet of
Hamiah
,” he said. “I know you’ve been looking for one.”

I stared at it and my first thought was:
It’s an apology. He thinks he can buy me off with baubles.
But then I looked up at him, and he smiled, and I knew whatever I’d heard on the phone had been an illusion. Counterfeit magic to convince me my husband had been unfaithful.

I lifted onto my tiptoes and kissed him. He kissed me back with no hesitation, no surprise,
no
sign that I’d have any reason
not
to welcome him home.

“Oh my God!”

Savannah’s voice made us jump apart. She strode down the hall, gaze fixed on Lucas’s shirt. I followed it to see a crimson stain spreading across it. He looked down and touched it.

“You’re hurt,” I said.
“How—?”

He cut me off by pressing his stained fingers to my lips.
Sweet and fruity.

“Strawberry jam?”
I said.

“Spread, actually.
Another gift.
Your knockback must have broken the jar in my pocket.”

“Strawberry spread?” Savannah said. “Why would you—?” She stopped and lifted her hands. “Dumb question and I don’t want to hear the answer.”

“Nor was I going to provide it. So—”

A muffled sound from the bedroom cut him off.

“Shit,” Savannah said. “Binding spell broke.”

She hurried in to recast it. Before I could explain, Lucas strode to the bedroom door. He looked at what appeared to be Adam, bound, gagged and sitting on our bed.

“Ah,” Lucas said.
“Seems I interrupted something.
My apologies.”

Savannah laughed. “Only you would walk in on this and apologize. It’s not what it looks like.”

“It’s not demonic possession?”

She laughed again. “And only you would jump to that conclusion.”

“Yes, it’s possession,” I said. “Someone sent him here to seduce me—”

Savannah made choking noises.

“It didn’t work,” I said.

“Well, duh. I just mean…
eww
. Adam is not going to live this one down.”

“I’m sure he won’t. But before we bring him back, we need to find out who sent the demon.”

“Someone who’s not very bright,” Savannah said. “Sending anyone to seduce you would be a waste of time. But Adam?” She shook her head.
“Time to get some answers.”

Contract Negotiations

Savannah walked over and yanked the gag off the demon. “Okay, who’s the dumb-ass who sent you to possess Adam and seduce Paige?”

The demon pressed his lips together and glowered at us.

“I asked you a question,” Savannah said.

“Let’s forget
who
for now,” I said. “
Why
did someone want you to seduce me?”

Again, he didn’t answer. Savannah lifted her hands to hit him with a spell,
then
quickly lowered them, as if she’d remembered it was Adam’s body she was about to blast. He’d suffer the consequences when he returned.

“We should begin the exorcism,” Lucas said. “Clearly, he isn’t going to reveal his employer’s identity.”

“Employer?” the demon said.

“My apologies.
A poor choice of words, as you are
not receiving financial compensation. Whoever holds the chit against you, I mean.
Whomever you fear if you break this obligation.”

“I fear no one. And I answer to no one.”

As Lucas kept baiting him, I looked at the stain on his shirt. He’d come home early to surprise me. There was no way he’d even been in Los Angeles when I’d called Ava.

I cast a privacy spell so I could speak to him without being overheard. “How did you get back so fast? I talked to you less than an hour ago.”

I’m sure he wondered why I was interrupting to ask this, but I had a feeling the answers might help us get some from the demon.

He cast his own privacy spell. “My father was in L.A. for meetings with the Nasts so,” he gave a faint smile, “I borrowed the keys to his jet. I was almost here when you called.”

That explained the hollow sound—he’d been on a plane. It also explained the young woman talking in the background—the flight attendant.

Ava hadn’t sent those messages hoping I’d catch her in bed with Lucas. She’d known that wasn’t happening. She’d sent them so I’d catch her in bed with someone who could impersonate Lucas.

I turned to the demon. “It was Ava Cookson, wasn’t it? She wanted me to think Lucas had cheated, then you’d come over to console me.”

“She thought she could convince you that Lucas had screwed around?” Savannah snorted. “She’s even dumber than she looked.”

I felt Lucas’s gaze on me. He knew I’d fallen for it. Shame washed over me and I looked away.

“I don’t doubt Ava’s involved,” Lucas said. “But not as the mastermind. She’s simply a pawn. Like him.”
A dismissive wave at the demon.

The demon’s eyes blazed yellow. “I’m nobody’s pawn.”

“No? Then if you don’t fear repercussions, tell me who summoned you.”

“You’re supposed to be a genius,” the demon said. “You figure it out.”

That’s what he wanted.
Us to figure it out.
Otherwise, he could have left Adam’s body the minute Savannah bound it. He wanted to negotiate, but the contract that bound him forbade him from revealing who’d made it.

“We know that Ava’s brother did die,” I said. “That was a matter of public record. And we know he was at the
Gallantes
’ fight club, although I doubt they killed him.”

“They didn’t,” Lucas said. “As you suspected, he was killed by his human debtors. I verified that today and believe Ava knew it all along. However, her case did have potential supernatural overtones. It was an excuse to hire me, and put the plan in action.”

“So the plan was just to make Paige think Lucas had been unfaithful,” Savannah said. “Drive her into the arms of her sexy guy friend.
But why?”

“Ava was chosen for a reason, wasn’t she?” I said to the demon. “Presumably, it would have been easier to convince me Lucas cheated if it was with someone older and smarter. But whoever hired the demon chose Ava because he wanted us investigating the
Gallantes
’ fight club. He wanted us there the night a fighter died.”

“Seems the little woman is a better detective than you,” the demon said to Lucas.

“No,” I said. “I’m just better at thinking out loud.”

“Clearly, your assumption is correct, then,” Lucas said. “Someone wanted Adam to seduce you
and
wanted us investigating the
Gallantes
. I fail to see how the first part ties into the second, but if the
Warners
are orchestrating the deaths to put the
Gallantes
out of business, then they would be the obvious suspects.”

“Or someone who owes the
Warners
a whole lot of money,” Savannah said. “Who might do this for them in return for his
debt.
”

“Possibly,” Lucas said. “However—”

“Remember that message I sent you?” Savannah said to me. “I know who owes the
Warners
.
Someone with the clout to call a demon.
Someone who’d love to see Lucas suffer as a bonus.
Someone who’s nasty as hell, but not quite bright enough to pull this off.”

“Carlos,” Lucas said.

Savannah nodded. She turned to the demon. “Blink twice for no.
Once for yes.”

He blinked once.

* * * *

We had to strike a deal with the demon to get him to fill in the blanks. Ten years ago, I’d have been horrified at the suggestion. But Lucas wasn’t the only one who’d learned to be flexible. Demons could be bargained with, if you knew what you were doing. Lucas did.

The agreement was simple. He’d tell us the details and in return, we agreed to stand as his defense and character witnesses, should Carlos accuse him of breaking his bargain. We’d support his claim that Carlos had sent him on an impossible mission. Sounded silly, but demons are like any other contract worker. If they break a deal, no one’s going to call them back.

Once we agreed, the demon told his story. Carlos owed the
Warners
for debts rung up at their fight clubs. They came to him with an offer—put the
Gallantes
out of business and they’d forget the debt. I’m sure they figured he’d use his Cabal clout to do that, but he couldn’t when the
Gallantes
’ club was in Nast territory. So he hired someone to inject fighters with poison during a pre-game backslap from a supporter.

It would have worked eventually, but Carlos was impatient. Besides, he had another, more irritating thorn in his side to worry about: Lucas. Then, while he was in L.A. on business, he had a one-night stand with a half-demon who told him about her own experience with the
Gallantes
. With that, Carlos saw the solution to both problems. Hire Ava to get us on the case and pretend to seduce Lucas.

Yes,
pretend
to seduce him. Carlos knew his half-brother wouldn’t actually cheat on me. The point was simply to send me into Adam’s arms. Lucas would be crushed and would blame himself, thinking his involvement in the Cabal had driven me away. To keep me, he’d leave the Cabal. Carlos was sure of it.

After the demon finished his story, we returned Adam to his body. I decided to let Savannah explain what had happened. It was a little too embarrassing, coming from me. Lucas and I went downstairs and he insisted on tending to my burned arm. As he bandaged it, I fingered the amulet now around my neck.

“Thank you,” I said after a few minutes.
“For this.”

He nodded and finished binding my arm before he said, “Did you really think I’d been unfaithful?”

“No, but the proof seemed to be there and I… I guess I didn’t want to be one of those women who sees the signs and pretends she doesn’t. Anyway, Carlos’s plan didn’t work. That demon didn’t get anywhere with me.”

“Of course not.”

I know he didn’t mean those words—spoken with such certainty—to sting. But they did. Even Carlos—never known for his brains—was astute enough to realize Lucas wouldn’t cheat. Yet he believed he could convince me he had, and he’d been right.

I thought about Ethan
Gallante
and remembered what he’d told his blackmailer, “You can bring me all the evidence you want; my answer will remain the same. I trust my brother.” I thought I’d have said the same thing about my husband. But I’d let my problems with the Cabal wear down my confidence and my trust, and the shame of that burned.

“I’m sorry,” I said as Lucas sat beside me on the couch.

“Don’t be. If you thought there was a possibility, then we have a problem. I’ve known that for a while.”