Witchling Read online

Page 31

 

  I made tracks, backpedaling out of the way. As I watched, Menolly reared back, mouth open. Her fangs glistened like deadly needles. Enthralled by the bloodlust, she tossed the demon to the ground and fell on him, biting deep into his neck. The Psycho Babbler struggled, but she held him down, and I could hear the sucking noise as she gorged herself on his blood.

  Queasy, I stared at her in morbid fascination. I'd never seen Menolly feed before—at least not like this. I'd seen her take blood from strangers, but she always left them alive and relatively unharmed when I was with her. This time, her intent wasn't to feed but to kill. I knew vampires were strong, but I hadn't realized she was this strong. And even though it was a him-or-us situation, the sight of her thrall bothered me, but I pushed aside my distaste. There was no room for mercy here, nor compassion. The Psycho Babbler would have killed all of us if he had the chance.

  Besides, I was having my own problems. I began to shake as cramps raced through my body. Calling down the lightning had its drawbacks, especially when I summoned so much in such a short amount of time. As I leaned against the doorframe, Morio raced in. He took in the situation and crossed to my side.

  "Are you okay?" he asked. .

  I nodded, cringing as the demon gurgled and collapsed.

  Menolly leaned over him in a preternatural stance, bent almost double, on her tiptoes. Blood trickled down her chin… dark blood, almost black, but blood nonetheless. A wild look filled her eyes, and she held out her hand, warning us to keep away.

  "Don't come near me yet," she said, her voice hoarse. "I'll be back in a moment. " She eased out of the room, retreating to the kitchen.

  "Is she all right?" Morio whispered.

  "She's still in the grips of her bloodlust," I said, wincing as a spasm hit my back. "Cripes, this hurts. Anyway, Menolly will be back when she's regained control. Meanwhile, we might as well have a look at the Psycho Babbler. " I stretched, arching my back as I tried to work out the kinks.

  "Ready?" Morio asked.

  I nodded, and with Morio guarding my back, slowly approached the prone figure, kicking it gently to see if any life remained.

  "I think he's dead. " Morio knelt beside the creature. He gingerly flipped the Babbler's head to the side. Two fang marks still dribbled a few drops of black blood, but it looked like Menolly had finished him off by breaking his neck. And since he hadn't drunk any of her blood, he wouldn't be coming back. Two down. Bad Ass Luke to go.

  "Well, that takes care of one of our remaining problems," I said, dropping onto the bench in the foyer. "Let's get Tom in here and plan how to smuggle him down to the Wayfarer. Luke's still out there, and he's far worse than either the harpy or the Psycho Babbler. My father was almost killed by him, and Luke got away from the entire division unscathed. "

  A noise startled me, and I jumped, but it was only Menolly, peeking around the corner. "He's dead?" she asked, her voice somber.

  "Yes, he is. Are you okay?" She looked even more pale than usual, and I wondered just what drinking demon blood might do to a vampire.

  With a shrug, she said, "I suppose. Nasty-tasting creature. I'm rather queasy, actually. I think I'll go get rid of this crap. " And with that, she headed back to the basement. I wanted to go after her, but she needed to be alone. Nobody wanted to be seen when they were tossing their cookies, vampire or not.

  "Morio, go bring everybody inside. I'll look for Maggie and Iris. "

  "Iris is safe. She ran out to the car when you told her to get out of the way. " He kicked the demon again, just to be sure. The Psycho Babbler didn't move. "Back in a few," he said, heading for the door.

  Hoping that nobody would show up to gather the body—meaning Bad Ass Luke—I cautiously approached the kitchen. The secret compartment leading to the basement was open, and I slowly descended the steps. When I entered Menolly's bedroom, I heard retching sounds from the blood room. Great, I thought as my stomach churned. Now I was a bad doughnut away from losing it myself. Even thinking about the taste of demon blood made me queasy, and for some strange reason, I was glad that it disagreed with her. Not that I wanted her to be sick, but…

  "Mooph, mooph…"

  The sound came from the other side of Menolly's bed, near the wall. I hurried over. There, snug in her box and wide awake, Maggie was playing with a Rubik's Cube. She hadn't solved it, but she was having fun sucking on the corner. She reached for me, and I bundled her into my arms.

  "Hey, sweet thing. Did Iris bring you down here?"

  "I thought we'd be safe here, when the demon came in. " Iris was standing on the bottom stair. She was the only one outside the three of us who knew the secret entrance to Menolly's room, and she was sworn to silence.

  "Good thinking," I said. "I'm so grateful neither of you was hurt. What happened?" Before she could speak, I held up one hand. "Wait, you can tell all of us together. Let's go. Menolly will be along in a few minutes. "

  Making sure the entrance to Menolly's lair was closed, we returned to the living room. Delilah and Chase were sitting on the sofa, Wisteria still bound and gagged on the floor between them. Morio was keeping watch out the windows. Tom sat in the rocking chair, looking confused and a little tired.

  As I nestled on the floor in front of Delilah with Maggie in my arms, I gingerly stretched my neck. If I'd been an FBH, I'd probably be sporting at least one broken bone, if not a broken neck. As it was, I was going to need a good masseuse as soon as possible. I leaned back against Delilah's legs, and she began to rub my shoulders. Maggie moophed again and snuggled deeper into my arms. Nobody said anything at first, then everybody started' talking at once.

  "Whoa—hold on there, people. One at a time, please. I have the beginnings of a headache, and I hurt like hell from where the Psycho Babbler body-slammed me. " I handed Maggie to Delilah as I eased my way to my feet.

  Menolly entered the room at that moment, catching my gaze with her own. We didn't speak, but an unspoken understanding passed between us. When things calmed down, we'd have a long talk about the Psycho Babbler's death. Until then, I motioned for her to sit down.

  Menolly glanced at Wisteria. "What's she doing here? And why is she tied up?"

  I shook my head. "Wait a bit," I said. We needed to discuss what we'd learned, but it occurred to me that doing so in front of Wisteria would be a stupid—and potentially deadly—mistake. We had to store her somewhere while we talked, but I didn't want to leave her where Bad Ass Luke or any of his other cronies might find her.

  "We have to do something with Wisteria," I said, pointing at the floraed. Her eyes glowered, and I had the feeling that she'd take the first opportunity that came her way to wipe every one of us out of existence.

  "I still say we should just kill her," Morio said impassively. "She's a danger to both our mission and to us. We can't chance her getting free. "

  While I knew he was right, it was hard for me to face yet more death and destruction. I glanced at Menolly, who stared at the floraed with a puzzled look on her face.

  Delilah frowned. She gave him a firm shake of the head. "We can't do that, as logical as it sounds. The best thing to do is turn her over to OIA and let them deal with her. They might be able to dredge up some useful information that will lead them to more spies. "

  "Spy? That's what this is about?" Menolly asked. She turned on Wisteria. "You've been a spy this whole time you've been at the bar? Jocko trusted you! If you had anything to do with his death—" Her fangs came out as she hissed. "I warn you, even if you don't have warm blood running through your veins, I can as easily kill you as I can kill a fly. "

  "Hold on!" My headache was full-blown now, and all I wanted to do was crawl under the covers. "Menolly, she had a hand in Jocko's death, yes, but I don't think she knew the demons were planning it. She's more useful to us alive than she is dead. But we need to find a place to stash her while we talk. "

  "That's easy enough," my delicate, porc
elain sister said, and promptly backhanded the floraed with a blow strong enough to knock her out. "There. Problem solved. Dump her in the parlor for a few minutes while we talk if you're still worried about her presence. "

  Delilah raised one eyebrow, handing Maggie to Chase, but she said nothing as she and Morio carried the limp figure of the floraed into the other room. I followed, wishing we had somebody to stand guard, but since we didn't, I closed the curtains and left the door cracked.

  As we headed back to the living room, Delilah pulled me aside. "Menolly's sure high-strung today. What happened?"

  "She killed the Psycho Babbler when he was attacking me. Maybe drinking demon blood agitates the temper?"

  As we settled down in the living room, I thought about it. What would drinking the blood of a demon do to a vampire, other than give her an upset stomach? Menolly fed on the miscreants of society. Did their blood affect her in negative ways? It was something I'd never before considered, and I made a note to ask later when we were done with this whole fiasco.

  Morio and I ran through what had happened at Tom's cabin, introducing him gently to Menolly. She gave him a quiet nod, as Iris scurried over to his side.

  "Would you like some tea?" she asked him, ever the nurturer.

  He gave her a faint smile and nodded. "Thank you. I'd like that. "

  "Iris, first tell us what happened, then you can make tea for all of us if you would. " I winked at her, and she flashed me a broad smile of her own. It was nice to have someone around who liked to mother her friends. It had been so many years since our own mother had died. As young as she might look, Iris was far older than we were.

  She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, folding her hands together in her lap as if she were about to begin a recitation. "I was feeding the last of Maggie's breakfast to her when I heard a noise in the living room. I peeked in and saw the demon, and before he could smell me, I grabbed Maggie and her box and—" Pausing, she glanced at Chase and Morio. "And hid out where you found me. I heard you fighting with him and came out to help. "

  The Talon-haltija had very good hearing; they could pinpoint a mouse at a hundred yards. I wasn't surprised that she'd heard me, even through a secret passage. Grateful she hadn't given away Menolly's hiding place, I cleared my throat.

  "As far as we know, the Psycho Babbler was alone," I said. "Which may mean that Bad Ass Luke is probably hiding down at the Wayfarer. I wonder if he's got any way of knowing that his buddy just bit the dust. "

  "You think they might be telepathically linked?" Chase asked.

  I shrugged. "I have no idea. Nobody from OIA has dealt with demons for a long time except our father and the rest of his regiment, and he was the only survivor. Demonkin have a variety of powers, and they delight in using them to the detriment of everybody else. I just wish we'd paid more attention to Father's story about his fight with Luke. Maybe there was something in there that would help us now. "

  I glanced at my sisters. "Can you remember anything that might come in handy?" With luck, they'd paid more attention than I had.

  Menolly squinted, leaning back in her chair. "Just that he almost lost his life. " She sucked on her lip. "Hey, do you remember that he said that the demon had a sword that could slice with a blade of fire?"

  Blade of fire? What? And then I remembered. Father had said something about Bad Ass Luke and his fiery sword.

  "You're right. Father said that Bad Ass Luke cut down ten guards with a single stroke—all ancient Sidhe who had outlived battles that had felled countless of their kin. And Luke had managed to kill them all with his sword. A brilliant blade of fire attached to a carved bone hilt. "

  "Crap. " Delilah's shoulders drooped. "I'd forgotten all about that. The only thing I remember is that Father said every time he went to make a move, it seemed like Luke was one step ahead of him. " She looked up at me. "That doesn't sound good, does it?"

  "Not really," I muttered. A blade of fire? The ability to predict the moves of your enemies? Each by itself was daunting, but together, the two abilities scared me out of my wits. I coughed, trying to find something hopeful to say about the situation, but all I could muster was, "Maybe we should rethink this? Maybe Shadow Wing is just looking for a vacation spot for his crew?"

  "I wish," Morio said. "Any chance you can get through to OIA from here? Tell them about the Psycho Babbler?"

  Chase looked at me. "You have a Whispering Mirror, don't you?"

  I gestured toward the stairs. "In my study. Come on. Let's get this over with. Somebody better stay downstairs and watch Wisteria and Tom, though. " I glanced at our guest, who had fallen asleep in the rocking chair. His head rested against the back of the chair as he gently snored.

  Morio raised his hand. "Iris and I will stay here and keep watch. Go now. We shouldn't linger around here for much longer. " He took up guard at the window, and Iris retreated to the kitchen to make sure the back door was locked and warded. Talon-haltija were creatures of many talents, and Iris was at the top of her class. For a house sprite, she packed one hell of a magical punch.

  I led the way with Delilah, Chase, and Menolly following. Chase looked around, a curious light in his eye. I had to give him kudos. Since he'd discovered the delights of Delilah, he hadn't tried to flirt with me. He had more class than I would have given him credit for a few days ago.