“You couldn’t confirm the other seventeen?”
“No. The bodies were chewed to bits by rats.”
“Rats?”
“Yeah. Like hundreds of rats, according to the coroner’s reports.”
“Fuck.” I slap my hand against my forehead. “Do you remember where that big white house was in the woods?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“There’s another old house on the same street. All brick with a white Jeep parked out front. Come here and we’ll go over everything.”
“Thank you.” The call ends and I throw my head back.
“Who was that?”
“Melinda, the hunter who got her leg slashed by a demon in the woods.”
“And you invited her here?” Lucas asks incredulously. “You think that’s a good idea?”
“Oh, I know it’s a terrible idea. It’s not a trap or anything, at least I don’t think so. I’m already breaking witch law by having you here. Why not throw in witch hunters into the mix?”
“Callie,” Lucas starts but I stop him.
“She said this demon is hiding in abandoned buildings and some of the bodies found were consumed by rats. Sound familiar?”
Chapter 23
Shielding the sun from my eyes with my hand, I watch a gray Jeep Wrangler bump down my gravel driveway. Melinda is alone and on crutches. She waves as she gets out, hobbling toward the house.
“Thank you for meeting with me,” she says as I help her up the stairs and into the house. She’s not lying about wanting to come here to talk about a case. The warding wouldn’t have let her pass if she had ill-intent to be here.
“Of course. What do you need? A vanquishing potion?”
“I wish, but I have a feeling this is going to take more than that.”
I open the front door and let her in first. All of my familiars are sitting on the stops, growling at Melinda.
“Guys, be nice.”
“It’s okay. It’s smart of them not to trust me or anyone they don’t know.” Melinda rests her crutches against the wall and takes off her shoes. Leaving the crutches, she limps into the living room and almost screams when she sees Lucas. “What? H-how? I thought he was a vampire!”
“I am.” Lucas draws his fangs and zooms to us, towering over Melinda.
“Put your fangs away and sit down,” I scold. “She’s not even armed.”
“I am. I have a gun in my backpack. And three knives. And vesta powder.”
“See?” Lucas retracts his fangs.
“It’s habit.” Melinda tries to hold her ground and not look scared, but anyone with half a brain would be terrified of Lucas. He could kill you before you even knew what was happening.
“Let’s all sit down, okay?” I hold out hand and Lucas lets out a growl but comes with me and sits on the couch.
“How are you out during the day?” Melinda takes her backpack off and puts it on the coffee table, not taking her eyes off Lucas.
“Magic,” he says simply.
Melinda shifts her eyes to me and nods. “That’s, um…”
“Incredible?” Lucas supplies for her, knowing that was not at all the word she was going to use.
“Sure.”
“Tell me about this demon,” I say, and she takes files out of her backpack. They’re stolen police reports, and she lays them out on the coffee table.
“We don’t know much, just that it seems to be hiding, waiting for victims to come to it rather than seeking them out and hunting.”
“Are these all hunters?” Lucas picks up three of the files and flips through them.
“No, but three hunters have been killed trying to take the demon out.”
“How were they killed? The same way as the nons—sorry, as the victims?”
Melinda sorts through her files until she gets to the hunter’s reports. “One had his stomach chewed open—” she grimaces “—by rats. While he was alive. The other was from blunt force trauma to the head and the last was filed as having a heart attack, much like the other victims. I know anyone can drop dead from a heart attack with no warning, but it was unlikely everyone did.”
“Maybe the demon feeds from the fourth chakra. It would cause heart attacks. And the others were killed before they could kill the demon.”
“It’s a good theory, and one we thought of too.”
Lucas closes a file and tosses it back on the coffee table. “Why are you here?”
“Because we need help. I don’t want to watch anyone else die, and we have no idea what we’re up against.”
If it’s the same thing that was in the building next to the bar, then we don’t either.
“It’s more than that.” Lucas leans in and catches Melinda’s eye. He has her spellbound in an instant. “Tell me the truth. Why are you here?”
“Easton is going after the demon tonight. I don’t want my brother to die.”
Lucas breaks his hold. “Fucking knew it.”
Melinda shakes her head. “I’m sorry, Callie. I would have told you but…but I know you guys have had your differences and I’m scared.” Her face falls. “He’s the only family I have left, and you know how stubborn he is. He won’t listen to me and it’s not like I can go along and help.”
“If you’re dealing with what I think you are, then you’re all as good as dead.” And if it’s the same thing from before…maybe…just maybe the man with the blue eyes will be there again. I don’t care how small of a chance it is that I’ll see him again, but I’m taking it. “Do you know where Easton was going tonight?” I look at Lucas. “We fought it off before, and it requires a lot of strength and magic.”
“Yeah.” She digs another paper out of her bag. “We think it’s here. The hunter who was tracking it hasn’t been heard from. I’m sure he’s…um…”
“Dead and being eaten bit by bit by rats?” Lucas fills in and I elbow him. “I know where this is,” I say, looking at the address Melinda has scribbled on a piece of paper. “It’s near the lake.”
“Callie, can we talk in the kitchen?” Lucas is already standing, reaching for my hand. “You think this is a good idea?” he asks as soon as we’re out of the living room.
“It sounds like the same thing we fought off.”
“Exactly. We barely made it out of there alive. If I hadn’t shown up—”
“But you did, and this time I’ll have you with me.”
“Why not let them deal with it?” He motions toward Melinda.
“Because they’ll die. This is what I do, Lucas,” I remind him. “I have the power to stop these things.” I know he doesn’t really get why I continue to put myself at risk, but who else can fight demons? “And maybe it’s crazy to think it’s my destiny or whatever, but I can’t just keep on living my life like everything is okay, well, far from okay given the shit that’s going on, but you know what I mean. Innocent people will die. And that thing…not even Evander had heard of anything like that. One was bad enough. If there are more…”
“It could be bad for business,” he finally relents. “I won’t make money if people are dying.”
“Good attitude.” I stand on my toes and hook my hands on his shoulders. His hesitation for me to hunt demons comes from a place of concern and worry. Demon hunting is dangerous, there’s no way around it. Lower-level demons usually aren’t an issue for me, but then again, an unsuspecting woman can pepper-spray me in the face which resulted in me being kidnapped.
“We’ll go in there with firepower and will be much more prepared than the last time.”
He plants his hands firmly on my hips and bends his head down to mine.
“There’s something I didn’t tell you,” I start, thinking of the feather and the man with blue eyes.
“Yeah?”
My mouth opens but I can’t bring myself to say it. I know how crazy it sounds, and if Lucas knew part of the reason I want to take on a demon that almost killed me was to maybe see some guy who looked at me like I wasn’t supposed to see him,
he’d refuse to let me go. Not that it would matter in the end since I’d ultimately do what I want, but we have enough relationship drama right now.
We don’t need to be fighting on top of everything else.
“I had the feeling those dog-rat hellhound things were guarding something, and I think whatever it is guarding is biding it’s time for a reason. Maybe it’s weak and has to grow strong before it can attack. It makes sense if you think about it. Why glamour the building? If it needs to feed off human energy, having people either be lured in or wander in on their own is kind of necessary.”