Hadley Werewolves, page 18
“Do you mean the fact the demon knows telekinesis? That anything not nailed down is fair game to be thrown or ripped apart? Are those the fun parts?” he joked.
“There’s much more to its power,” she said. In the courtyard, the sunlight illuminated the playground where the young witchlings played. The courtyard also housed several small sheds for tools to maintain the property. Nevena continued toward the main building. “Did she tell you about how everything started? Now that’s valuable intel.”
“I didn’t want to tell them about that, Nevena,” Charly said with a sigh.
She chuckled. “Why keep all the grisly details to yourself? In the past, the blood witches weren’t all nobles protecting the world. Many centuries ago, a coven made a fatal mistake—they dabbled into contacting demons for divination.” She snorted and rolled her eyes. “They probably thought to themselves, if such power flows through our veins, we should be conquerors who can do anything. They were fools. During a ritual they opened themselves and became possessed with demons that fed off their blood magic. That’s how every single blood demon entered our world. There’s only fifteen in the written record, but that’s more than enough in my opinion. Just seeing possessed sisters rip the limbs off anyone who got in their way tells me just one is too many.”
Trenton blanched. “Damn. Sounds gruesome. Just another example of how power corrupts.”
His words weren’t accusatory, but underneath it she wasn’t blind. The werewolves hated the witches. There wasn’t much good her kind had done other than keep the violence from spilling into the human world.
It was time to continue that job.
Before they’d gotten out of the van, Ben had loaded up with weapons. Nevena merely stood to the side, peeking into his trunk of goodies. He’d handed Trenton a shotgun while Drew got two .45s. Rather nice pieces, her trained eye told her.
“Do you need something?” Drew asked over his shoulder.
“I have my own weapons, thanks.” She’d used guns before, but she preferred her own spells. Especially since she didn’t have a permit to carry anything. Once in a while, she passed out—like she had in front of Drew—and she didn’t want to have to answer questions from cops or medics.
“I don’t see why we can’t blow this place to kingdom come,” Ben grumbled.
“There are still three missing witchlings who might be alive inside. Stop talking like that,” Charly snapped.
At the rate Ben was going, the blood demon would probably kill his ass first. Nevena shook her head, focusing on getting them where they needed to go. They passed a tool shed that contained the few guns the coven often carried. No one had broken the lock on the wide door. She was relieved to see everything was intact.
The group reached the heavy, wooden doors to the main house, Ophelia’s home. Nevena quickly navigated the steps to the alcove before the door. The silence pulled her in. It was such a difference compared to several days ago when there had been witches coming and going from the compound, witchlings darting underfoot.
A chilly breeze slid down the back of her legs once she crossed the threshold. Alarm clutched her chest. “Oh, shit,” she whispered. “It can get out now.”
“Is the seal broken?” Charly asked with a whisper.
“Yes,” Nevena said.
“So is it gone?” Drew asked. “I don’t hear anything moving.”
Nevena shrugged.
“I say we leave a team here at the entrance to guard and another one goes in to see if the demon stayed,” Trenton said.
She hid the smile that threatened to touch her lips. The werewolves appeared all too eager to go inside. They’d only seen what havoc those trying to stop the demon could cause. Seeing it face-to-face would change their minds. “Agreed.”
“So how will we know if you find it?” Drew asked.
“If we return save and sound, we found it. Otherwise, we’re dead.”
* * *
Nevena joined Drew and Ben in the house. They advanced with caution. The only sound was their footsteps on the wood floor.
“So what are we looking for?” Ben asked.
“You’ll feel her before you see her,” Nevena said. “Especially when she throws some shit at you.” She touched the tip of her talon on her index finger. It was always ready for her when the time came to cast a spell.
Ophelia’s house, where the head of the crow coven elder resided, was a beautiful mansion that served multiple purposes. Not only was it their weekly meeting place, but they ate communal meals here. The coven was a boastful one, Nevena had found. Her last home in Cairo didn’t have beautiful mahogany floors or antique furniture. This coven lived beyond their means on the money they earned through multiple channels. Investments from their human men were but one of them.
A waste, if you asked her.
The foyer was vast as they walked down it before coming to a grand staircase and two hallways, one to the west and one to the east.
“Which way?” Drew asked.
“The last place I saw the demon was the auditorium when I was looking for missing children,” Nevena said. “But I don’t think it’s there anymore.”
“How can you tell?” Drew asked.
“Intuition.” She’d helped other enforcers bring down possessed sisters to return the demons back to their prisons. Nine times out of ten the demons destroyed anything in their paths as they searched for another strong sister to feed upon.
Suddenly, the jewelry box downstairs cried out its siren call. With each step, it tugged at her. A familiar sensation since she first arrived at the compound. Ophelia gave her a brief lesson the minute she walked through the doors. “You’ll feel the demons’ pull soon, Nevena, but you’re stronger than most. I expect you to be the last person to go willingly down the steps. I suppose, though, in time, we all succumb to the call. Some just have more will to fight than others. A vessel for them is only as strong as the witch itself.”
At the time, Ophelia’s words bothered her. Almost as if Ophelia knew her time was coming or that there would be a time when the three blood demons would become too powerful for the witches to keep them hidden away, and it would be up to Nevena to act.
“Let’s check out the east wing, first.” She guided Ben and Drew down the hallway past open doors to the dining room and the kitchen. A few lights illuminated nooks and corners.
Ben held his gun steady, scanning doorways before passing them. A creak came from behind them and they froze. When nothing stirred, they moved on into the house. The cries from the basement pressed against Nevena, but she pressed right back.
Come.
Touch me.
I want to taste your insides.
It was as if a damn choir was moaning down there. So why were they singing so loudly this time? She closed her eyes, trying to imagine what steps she’d take if she wanted to spring a trap on a rescue party. But things were far too quiet. Had the demon escaped to head to the Sandoval mansion?
The trio continued down the corridor, looking through one sitting room into another. A check through the bedrooms didn’t yield anything either. When they came to the doorway that led to the basement, Nevena didn’t even pause to consider investigating down there.
“How come we’re not checking that area?” Drew pointed to the door they passed.
“That’s where the blood demon box is stored,” Nevena replied. “Only those powerful enough to come back out venture down there.”
“What do you mean by that?” Ben asked. “I smell blood down there.”
Her spine stiffened, thinking of yesterday when she peered down the steps and saw a leg without the rest of the body attached. She reset her gaze on Ben and replied, “You don’t want to know.”
“I guess the only thing that matters is what will happen when I blow that bitch away,” Ben remarked.
“Let’s hope you get close enough,” Drew replied.
“The blood demons can’t be killed. They can only be captured.” That was one of the first lessons she learned. She’d yet to see one sent back to where they’d come from.
“Or trapped you mean?” Drew added.
“Precisely,” she said.
Ben shook his gun. “Well, then what good are these things?”
“They are better than nothing,” Nevena simply said. “If you weaken the host body, it’s not as strong.”
They returned to the entrance to find the others standing guard with Vanessa. As to why she decided to come here, Nevena didn’t know.
“Find anything?” Charly asked her.
“Nothing—which isn’t good. I’m going to check the dormitory for the missing witchlings.”
The others followed her, but Vanessa didn’t move from her spot.
“What are you doing?” Trenton asked.
“I’m staying here until you get back. Just in case the demon is waiting for us to leave,” she said with folded arms.
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” Trenton asked. “You’re rather defenseless right now.”
The older witch grinned. “If my time has come, won’t you be happy to see me go?”
Charly flashed her mother a dark look. “This isn’t the time to do this. Just come with us and shut up.”
Nobody moved for a moment. Then Vanessa finally followed them.
“Gotta love family bonds,” Ben said with a grin. He lugged his shotgun over his shoulder, apparently thrilled at the family strife.
Silence trailed after them as they crossed the courtyard. The sun, far lower in the sky, continued to beat down on them, but the chill from knowing the demon was out there somewhere made the warmth easy to ignore.
Not far from Ophelia’s house, they reached the dormitory. The three-story brick building wasn’t as opulent as the head witch’s home. Ophelia had expensive tastes that didn’t extend to the other younger witches. The dorm consisted of institutional windows and a dark brown door that needed paint. There was nothing memorable about it. Where the main house had gardens and balconies, the dorm had a dusty lawn around it. Such was the way of the crow coven.
They walked into the lobby to find more of the morgue-like quiet like in the main house. Usually Nevena ran into a nosy, older witch with ratty gray hair who sat behind a desk and interrogated everyone as they came and went. From a security perspective, she understood: all too often the witches had the company of men or other business associates. Keeping their secrets from the outside world was of the utmost importance. And yet, she hated the invasion of privacy. After the ostracism she felt because of her affliction, she had little she could call her own.
“I don’t think the demon is here,” Nevena said. “But the witchlings might be here.”
“You never know.” Charly turned to Nevena. “You want to do the honors since I can’t?”
She nodded and pricked a scar along her elbow. The pain was minimal and the blood flowed nicely so that she could form a tiny pool in her cupped hand. With her index finger, she drew a quick glyph for a seek spell, a simple one even the witchlings knew. Now all she needed was the spark of life and that came when she exhaled into the blood. The pulsing liquid dripped upward to splatter on the ceiling above them. Time to go upstairs.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing that,” Trenton said.
“You’ve seen someone do this before?” Nevena asked.
Trenton snuck a glance at Charly. “You could say that.”
Their journey through the hallways to the stairwell was a silent one. They walked in a single line, and everyone remained cautious. All this quiet was starting to get to her—until two girls came bounding at them after they passed a set of empty rooms. They were a blur from one moment to the next.
“Charly!” one of them cried. The other girl, who had to be no more than ten, clutched the blonde woman as if she were her mother.
No one was overjoyed to see Nevena.
“Is there anyone else?” Charly asked them.
The girl holding on to Charly whispered, “We couldn’t find Monica. She was right behind us, so we aren’t sure if she made it or not.”
Monica was an older girl, almost of age to begin teaching the witchlings. She could usually be found in the archives playing with her charm bracelets. Not many witches ventured outside of the compound, but Monica often wandered off to look for treasures. There were a few more rooms along this hallway to check. Hopefully, Monica hid in one of them.
“Stay here with the kids. I’ll scout ahead.” Nevena headed off alone, but she wasn’t surprised to sense the presence of others behind her. The werewolves, other than Charly, Vanessa, and Trenton, trailed after her. Room after room turned up nothing. Until they came to a door cracked open. Blood was smeared down the middle. Nevena’s heart froze in her chest.
Why did it come here?
“The blood doesn’t smell fresh,” Ben whispered.
“Yeah.” Drew used his foot to ease open the door. “I don’t hear anyone breathing inside.”
Drew took point with Nevena entering the room after him. She sucked in a breath. Since the last time she’d been in this room, the place had been trashed. What little furniture was in there had been smashed. The blood along the floor trailed to the middle of the room where a pile of gleaming body organs lay.
From that spot, the thick crimson fluid oozed elsewhere.
“What the fuck … did this?” Ben hissed.
“Death incarnate.” She spotted a familiar necklace on the floor and her gut rolled. “This belongs to Monica. I have a feeling all this blood is hers, too.”
The blood was everywhere.
The cold of horror shot into her lungs and made each breath sting. She could never get used to the aftermath of an attack.
Their eyes shifted to the walls. Along every side, someone had used blood to draw glyphs on the walls. Many she didn’t recognize.
Yet it was the words on the farthest wall that gripped her with terror:
* * *
COME FIND ME, цвете. I’M HUNGRY.
* * *
“Come find me…what does that next word mean?” Drew asked.
“It’s Bulgarian,” she managed to whisper. “It means ‘flower.’”
His gaze snapped to her face. “Whose room is this?”
Nevena dropped the necklace, and the bits of metal clinked on the wood floor. “It’s mine.”
Chapter 5
They could either search the neighborhood for the demon or they could return to the coven’s hideout to regroup. To Drew, neither of these was the most desired plan of action but they didn’t have much other choice.
The day so far felt like a blur that blended together with the carnage from Hadley. Whatever had torn apart that poor young woman was far deadlier than any of those infected werewolves. What kind of creature ripped apart others as if their bones were no stronger than twigs?
His fists clenched and unclenched as he took in the sky. Twilight was coming, and with it the night. There was no way they could let it escape. Too many innocent people would die. He glanced at the others standing around the compound’s gate. Nothing came in or out. Not a good sign for their hunt.
The two witchlings they found in the building huddled under Charly’s arms in the van. Someone needed to get those girls to safety. He didn’t like having them so close to this place.
“I’ll take them back to the others,” Vanessa volunteered. “They look hungry and scared.” After chatting with Trenton and Charly on the matter, they agreed to send Charly’s mother back to the compound. A few minutes later, the van left with Vanessa and the girls, and now they were back where they started.
“I don’t like staying out here like this,” Nevena said from Drew’s side. Her scent and rapid breaths reflected her unease. “It will be dark soon and tracking the demon out here will be dangerous.”
“We can’t just leave though,” Charly said. “I don’t like going back to rest with this thing on the loose.” She advanced on Nevena. “What about a tracking spell?”
The dark-haired woman smiled. “If a tracking spell worked that well, I would’ve used one already in the compound to find that bitch. Ophelia’s blood isn’t the same anymore. It doesn’t answer when you call it.”
Charly paced a bit, maybe trying to come up with options. Drew couldn’t think of any. This whole situation was confusing—until an idea came to mind. “You said Ophelia’s blood is different, but is her body the same? Is she still wearing clothing she died in?”
“Yeah. Why?” Now he had her attention.
“Why don’t we track her by scent? Maybe with a blouse.” He gestured to Trenton and himself. “We might be able to follow her trail.”
“I’ll go get something suitable,” Charly offered.
Ten minutes later, Charly returned with a hat and a coat. “She wore this hat all the time so there should be a good scent.”
The hat was velvet, a rather nice material. Drew inhaled and chewed on the scents. A blend of shampoos and vanilla perfume. The wolf within him stirred, eager to hunt. He took another inhale and pulled it in deep. The trail pulled him to the left. It floated along the ground.
“Do you smell it?” Trenton asked.
“A bit. I need to shift though.”
Trenton took the hat from him. “I agree. The scent is too faint.”
Drew searched for trees or a brush to shift behind. Not finding much of any, he shrugged off his shirt. Nevena folded her arms and watched with interest.
Charly turned her back on him. “I haven’t gotten used to the naked thing.”
With a chuckle, he noticed Nevena hadn’t turned away. She looked at him, her yellow eyes filled with amusement as she took in his naked chest and watched as he wriggled out of his pants. Did she like what she saw?
“You got a peek,” she said. “I don’t see why I shouldn’t get the same.”
“I saw a lot less than you will.” He hooked his fingers in his boxers, almost daring her with his eyes to look away. She didn’t.
