17

CHAPTER 15

As soon as we stepped out of the line, one of my hands was over my mouth and the other on Oldavai's chest as a request to wait. He wanted me to save my magic strength and I refused the sex route he wanted. So, he demonstrated his displeasure by using magnetic line travel. There was barely a second before the welcoming committee appeared from around the corner of the house.

I tried to greet the woman in front of me who had two swords pointed at us, but only succeeded in a jumble of sounds as the acid decided to ratchet up my throat. Her throaty laughter followed me as I slammed my palm on my chest. Nothing was forthcoming so I swallowed down a few air bubbles and finally straightened up.

"I hear magnetic line travel is a bitch," she said.

I gave a tight-lipped smile, still in some discomfort, "Agatha."

She nodded her head, "How is the infamous Dove with her flavor of the month?"

I frowned and grated out in annoyance, "Please!"

"Oh no, demon hunter, you've come into your own. What are you doing here?"

"I've come to help. Ila told me what was going on."

Agatha raised an eyebrow, her irritation coming through in her words, "Ila? The woman who doesn't want us at our best. Did she ask you to stop us?"

"She just wants her hunters alive."

Agatha scoffed.

Oldavai bent down and kissed the top of my hair, "Things to do, my sweet pain. Watch your back." And then he was gone.

Agatha's swords dipped in her astonishment, "I didn't see the waver of magnetic line travel. Where'd he go?!"

I replied calmly, "He's an incubus, fastest demons out there. Probably just tired of the flashy showdown."

Behind me came the expected male voice almost on top of mine, "He probably went to find an easier fuck than you, Agatha."

Agatha's reply was fast and sharp, "You're just hurt that he didn't stick around for your lame ass, Jonah."

Jonah chuckled, "If half of what I hear is true, then you bettcha."

I placed my hands over my ears in mock affront, "Oh my Gods!"

Agatha laughed out loud and sheathed her swords.

Jonah laughed with her, "What? Don't want to hear about your demon boyfriend fucking other people? Or maybe it's because you know I'd be just the right amount of male deliciousness for him, and he wouldn't come traipsing back to you once he's had a taste."

My face lit in a genuine smile for the man behind me, "Jonah, he can screw whoever he wants, but if you want him then you're asking for trouble," I sing-songed the last word.

Jonah came around from my left and curled his finger in a come here gesture as he went to sit on the cement stairs leading up to the front door. He displayed no weapons. I looked him up and down as I followed his lead, "You did it."

He gave me a once over, "It was horrible, but I survived."

I sat down next to him and watched him give Agatha some sort of hand communication. Without another word she gave a brief wave to us and walked away.

I looked back at the man sitting next to me. The two of them were brother and sister, Jonah the older, Agatha the youngest, of quadruplets. Their features were black hair, blue eyes, lithe bodies, and all parkour extraordinaires. Even I couldn't keep up with them, and I tried in my early days. "Why hasn't Agatha done it?"

"Because I told her not to and I'm the brother who is older than her by seven minutes."

My rolled my eyes at his consistent lording over how much older he was than his siblings, "But really? Why?"

"Because she was there when our sister died from a demon attack," he said, matter of fact. It was something he always refused to show emotion about.

"I can completely understand that, but the nightmares are different for everyone. You don't know what you'll see."

"Yeah, Miguel told me, but I'm not ready to watch her go through it again and possibly not come back."

"Miguel! Carlos' Miguel?" I asked, surprised.

Jonah motioned his head behind him towards the front door and gave me a pointed stare, "He told us you and Oldavai would eventually show. I don't think he likes you."

I shrugged, "Miguel doesn't like anyone."

Jonah gave a half smile, "He likes Carlos a little."

I did a breathy laugh, "Well, yeah. A little."

Jonah leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees, "So what really brings you here?"

I gazed up into the sky, watching the rain clouds move in, "Ila really asked me to come and help."

"What can you do?"

I looked over to him, "Oldavai taught me some tricks that he used on Carlos. Shortens the effects."

Now it was Jonah's turn to be surprised, "Carlos let Oldavai near him!"

I gave a sly smile, "Carlos asked Oldavai to shove his sword in him."

"No shit! And?!"

"Well, of course he did! No demon would pass that up. I advised Oldavai in the strongest terms possible that there was no way he was weaseling out of helping Carlos. Carlos had no say in the matter."

"And was Oldavai listening to you or the AO?" Jonah asked wearily.

"The AO council has no idea, and we want to keep it that way. As for Oldavai, he just likes to keep me happy."

Jonah narrowed his eyes, "So you really are dating another demon."

I grimaced, "I wouldn't call it dating, but maybe I've been protesting too much." I stood up, wanting to distract him from the topic, "Come on. Let's see how much I can help." He followed me and we stepped to the red painted door. "How many and how long have they been here."

"Five. Three started a few days ago and another has been sick for over a week. The last, I don't think he's gonna make it." As he opened the door he glided in front of me, "Let me go in first."

I was hit with the smell of sweat, staleness, and hot food when I entered the house. My gaze caught with Miguel's who was sitting at a table pushed to the right of the room against a wall that separated stairs leading up. It was a small floor plan and to the left of me were six cots, farther in front was the partitioned off kitchen. Shauna came out and placed a casserole dish on a second table within the tiled dining area. A squeal sounded and a smile lit her face when she saw me, which was the complete opposite of Miguel and the second man sitting with him, rubbing his fingers over a black cowboy hat placed on the table.

She came towards me with open arms and I hesitantly returned her enveloping hug. I noticed her long black hair in a disarrayed braid settled between her shoulder blades and her warm complexion slightly wan. She immediately started talking in her slight Hindi accent. She made a comment about the sparse golden glitter still trying to hold on in my hair. She told me what everyone was doing while here. I found out the black man near Miguel was Bruce from Texas. She told me about the meals she'd been preparing for the sick, curry was a bad choice. As she continued with how many people had been in and out of the safe house, I watched Jonah shake his head and walk past me. He served himself from the one pot dish and sat down heavily on a metal fold out chair. Shauna never stopped talking as she walked over and started dishing up three additional bowls. How many died, how long she'd been there, the worst she'd seen, who came to help, who was coming back tonight...

She placed two bowls down in front of the other men. Bruce had a small smile on his lips and softly placed his hand on her arm. "Shauna girl, take a breath. Go get some grub and then go to sleep upstairs," he intoned gently in a Western accent.

I watched Miguel quickly shovel food in between his lips and couldn't help the snicker from breathing out of my own. He looked at me and frowned. I knew he was keeping his mouth full so he wouldn't berate Shauna for her non-stop talking.

"I know what you're doing," I laughed.

"Then you know I won't be so nice to you." He sat up and pushed his shoulders back causing his chest to strain against his tight black cargo shirt.

I gave him a smarmy smile, "I wouldn't dream it, Miguel."

He bobbed his fork at me, "Then get to work."

Bruce spoke up, "Everyone has to work here a week or more before they get their sword shoved in their guts." My eyes widened and it was then that I realized Shauna never actually said my name.

Miguel choked on his bite of food and Shauna made an exclamation from where she sat next to Jonah.

She started to rise immediately, "Are you alright Miguel?"

Miguel waved her down and cleared his throat, "Bruce, you're looking at Dove. I'm not sure why you ignored the fact that she has no main weapon on her."

Bruce's laugh boomed out, "This little girl is Dove!"

I scowled.

Miguel's water glass stopped in front of his mouth as he looked at me above its rim with a piercing gaze, "In the flesh."

Miguel was right about one thing. I needed to get to work. I turned from their ongoing conversation and surveyed the hunters to my left. Three woman, two men, one empty bed. There was young man handcuffed to the metal frame. His wrists rubbed raw and breathing fast and shallow. The three women were all moaning in pain, two curled up on their sides, the other tied down with scratches all over her arms. The fifth was soaked in sweat, tossing, and speaking in a language I couldn't decipher.

Miguel's voice startled me from my focus, "It's quiet now, but if they start screaming, we'll have to gag them."

I grabbed a wet cloth in a bowl on an end table next to the feverish man. I wiped his forehead and face while I slowly opened the gate to my abilities. Immediately I was bombarded by all five patients. I gave a quick shout and my ass hit the floor before I even realized I was falling. The figurative door in my mind instinctively slammed shut before they overtook me.

Jonah was standing, "What was that?!"

"Nothing," I raised myself to my feet and walked over to the folded chairs leaning against the wall. I opened one up and sat facing the beds. Miguel walked over to me and squatted down. His arm draped along the back of the metal frame behind my back didn't make me feel like I was getting a warm hug.

His voice was whisper soft, "Carlos trusts you and I can't figure out why after everything he's told me. Said if I sense a demon with you it's Oldavai. He was very specific about what I can and cannot do. If I kill either of you, I need a damn good reason or he'll kill me. I don't trust you, but I do trust Carlos. You can see the quandary."

I looked over at him and spoke loudly, "Jonah, if Oldavai comes by please bring him to me. Miguel, please get out of my face."

"Just so we understand one another, pequena ave, if they all start to die, I'm going to be a little suspicious." He stood up and placed his hand briefly on my shoulder as he turned. "Jonah, a word outside."

I ignored them and opened myself up again, doing exactly what Oldavai taught me initially. I grabbed and deflected their emotions trying to get a feel for the flow and when I could stop and focus on one person. My sight zeroed in on a nail I could see above eye level and finally I was able to shut away the different strengths of emotion one by one. My inner magic merged with the feverish man on my left.

Jonah was right, it was horrible. I already knew this though, only my experience had been over a year ago and I'd been trying to close a warrant on Oldavai simultaneously. The overdosing on my magic, being handcuffed with runes, and the trauma of my encounter with the incubus were all combined into one glorious memory. I couldn't separate the three.

The man I focused on had anxiety flooding his mind. I could do this. Just like holding a hand and leading it down the trail while it dissipated with each step. When the emotion had completely disappeared, it had walked its path. Those who were sick had to fight the emotions and nightmares, the result of their magic forcing itself directly into their veins. As I picked and prodded through his feelings and visions I felt the power just underneath, like a river over-flooding its banks.

The voices inside my mind came back as soon as I was conscious of that flow.

'Take it.'

'They will kill you.'

'It belongs to you.'

I grunted and kept my gaze fixed on the nail. No way. I was not going to engage in debate. It was time to completely immerse myself in my reason for being here. I forced the words to meaningless sound and grabbed the first emotion I could. It wasn't easy, not that I thought it would be, but I understood why Oldavai wouldn't do this on a continuous basis.

I jumped from patient to patient because the paths were all jumbled together to my senses. Sometimes I'd get caught in them, just as Oldavai warned, and just as I already encountered at the start of my day. I pulled and pushed them along, doing everything I could to propel them from one moment of delusion into the next. What I realized was that they had to open the spaces within themselves to make room for the magic. Sometimes I felt their pain as they ripped them open and other times it was like pieces of a puzzle seamlessly fitting together.

Voices started to register again. This time it wasn't the insidious, greedy ones hissing in my head.

"Has she stopped and sat at their bed sides?"

"No."

"Has she moved at all?"

"No," a familiar female voice again. "She doesn't hear us and I'm afraid to touch her."

I felt a touch on my knee.

"Has she said anything?" I knew this voice.

"Sometimes, but it's too low to hear," a male voice.

"How long has she been like this?"

"It'll be two days when morning hits. Shauna even put a mirror to her lips to see if she was breathing. It's like her body completely shut down." I didn't know this one.

A gentle touch on my lips.

"Since the moment we arrived then. Have any of the hunters woke up?"

"Two. Their fevers broke and they're sleeping now. Who are you?"

"Oh, that's got to be Oldavai, didn't you know?" Shauna. I knew her.

"She's succeeding."

A screech and the sound of a chair knocking over, "The incubus demon!"

A new voice shot out full of anger, "What's she doing?!"

I wavered from the pool I was wading in and outreached towards the...not anger... jealousy. It was the strongest now and I knew I had to go to it. The strongest ones needed my attention. The strongest ones were where they could get stuck forever and I would pull them out of the sucking mud of their delusions.

"Both of you get out of the room. If you haven't figured it out by now, no strong emotions."

The calm, commanding voice was familiar, so familiar that it had me reaching for it. It was the respite I was searching for before I had to go back to work. I felt the wet coolness of a cloth over my forehead, on my mouth.

The voice whispered in my ear, "That's it. Come to me. I have something sweet for you."

I felt the edge of a glass against my chapped lips and leaned into it, desperate for water.

"Not too fast," came the calm voice.

I licked my lips and waited for a beat before leaning forward towards the glass again.

A breath caressed my ear, "Sweetness, sorry I was delayed. I should have realized that you would jump into the wrecks of their lives without stopping. You're so stubborn. Did you know it's been raining for two days."

The water continued to spill into my mouth gradually.

"You should have seen the couples I found to reignite their sex life." His lips pressed even closer to my ear, "Not a single incubus contact in the lot. None they were aware of at least. No Incubus Encounter meetings happening from this excursion."

I inhaled deeply through my nose and strained out of a rusty throat, "I hope it lasts for them."

I felt him smile up against the side of my face. "As do I. There is a room upstairs for you."

I pulled away and looked at the demon with my own slight smile on my face, "It hurts to smile."

He chuckled, "That's what happens when you trance out. It's quicker, but not the healthiest way to go about what you are doing. You're lucky someone had the sense to wet your lips with a washcloth." He straightened and I perused the Asian in front of me. "Come on."

I heard the front door open and watched Miguel step through. He leaned against the wall with arms crossed and a closed off expression. I turned my attention back to Oldavai, "I think you're shorter than me today."

He held out his hand and smiled, "Sweetest Filipino couple. Married over 50 years. You'd like them."

"What were you? Their long-lost grandson come to teach them some new sex moves," came Miguel's snide reply.

Oldavai's face grew tighter, but his eyes never left mine, "How are you enjoying that bargain you made with Gan, Miguel?"

Miguel made a noise of disgust, "Demons and their damn bargains."

I grabbed Oldavai's hand and allowed him to help my stiff body stand.

The incubus continued, "He's following the terms. You're just upset that you can't wrangle more out of him."

Miguel crowded into our space as I leaned against Oldavai while I tried to stretch and shake my body awake. "Back up Miguel," I said tiredly.

"What about you Dove? Are you wringing out every little bit you can out of your bargain with Oldavai? Are you getting your fill of him? I can guess what he gets from you." He gave me a knowing look.

Oldavia pushed him away hard at the same time I stepped back. "What are you talking about? Oldavai and I don't have a bargain. It was a warrant that went a little sideways."

Oldavai clicked his tongue, "That's one way of describing our relationship, but what Miguel's talking about is another underground movement I've yet to tell you about. Hunters bargaining with demons. It's why Carlos and Bronti are working together and why Michael, stupidly I will add, believed that Ratha would discuss terms with him. Miguel here bargained with my brother, Gan."

I looked from one to the other, "What is bargain bound?"

Oldavai explained, "A warrant is only supposed to have the option of binding after a bargain is made under the table, if you will, terms agreed, and incantation created for the temporary binding. Only then would Ila and Shorn issue it officially."

"Are you serious!? What the Fu...?!" I trailed off my swear word. Better late than never. Although I hadn't even been trying lately to tame my foul mouth. I blamed Oldavai. And then I had a stray thought, "Why the hell didn't I know about this when I was sent after Taurin?!"

Oldavai shrugged with an 'I don't know' expression.

Miguel's forehead wrinkles deepened as he looked at me, "You really don't know?! I swore you had to know with all those demons hanging around you."

Shauna and another female walked in at that moment and the men looked first at them and then me.

"Oh my gods, this is too weird. I can't think about this right now. Try not to kill one another."

I walked to the stairs and placed my hand on the banister; the smell of molasses seeped over me just as Gan shifted out from a shadow compacted in a corner. I waved to him half-heartedly.

"Dove, so glad to see you conscious."

"We must have missed each other when I came in. Although thanks for poking me in the ribs last night." I studied his shaved head except for the long black braid coming out from the top. "Still sporting the ancient Chinese look I see."

"I like it."

I nodded, "That's important." I slowly made my way up the steps uninterested in conversation. Oldavai was by my side before I got above the third one.

CHAPTER 16

"Is she asleep?"

The voice wove around the room pulling me from my dream. I kept my eyes closed, half wishing they would go away and half thankful that Gan was talking so freely around me.

"Not entirely. I don't think she ever sleeps entirely anymore," came the reply.

"Why would you bind yourself to Dove? If Ezra's got his talons in her as I hear, that's bad news. How many years is the binding?"

Oldavai gave a soft chuckle. "She wasn't playing downstairs. She had no knowledge that bargaining binding is possible. It's just as she said, events gone a little sideways."