Heart of the Demon

chapter Twelve



Later that evening Finn switched off the motorcycle and heeled the kickstand down. He sat on his bike a moment, studying the exterior of the “club” his father had sent him to. Seemed there was a demon named Julius Ferko who’d decided to bring some fire-and-brimstone-style terror to his human neighbors, and Lucifer wanted it stopped. There was only a little over a week to go until the next rift occurred and tensions among humans were running high.

Julius was one of the Sheddai, demons who could cause rising dread and paranoia in their victims and then feed off those emotions. Julius, though, topped it off with the fear that the devil was after them, which added exponentially to his victims’ misery. He was suspected of being the cause of an attempted suicide at one house and an attempted murder at another. Finn would find out exactly what Julius had done and use his own judgment as to what needed to happen from here.

He heaved a sigh and got off his bike. Graffiti littered the outside east wall, and the sign above the door was missing some bulbs, so the name read OOBIE HAT H.

Why in the hell did these guys always have to hang out at strip joints? Just once he’d like to have a conversation at a high-end steak place where he could get a good meal to go along with his trouble.

He went inside, wincing a little at the loudness of the music blaring from speakers mounted above the performance area, and headed straight to the bar. The bartender, a human, looked up. “What can I get you?” he asked.

“Information,” Finn responded in a low voice. “And a beer. Whatever’s on tap.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and retrieved a photo of Julius. As he showed it to the bartender he glanced around the establishment. The main room was roughly two thousand square feet, give or take. Three women performed pole dances, one at either end of the raised platform and one hot babe in the center stage that jutted out about six feet into the room and was very well lit.

The music at this joint was better than the last one he’d been at. It was upbeat and modern as opposed to cheesy and sad. The audience, if it could be called that, consisted entirely of men, a mixture of preternaturals and humans. Finn focused his attention back on the bartender. “I’m looking for this guy. You seen him lately?”

Curiosity filled the bartender’s eyes. He absently wiped a glass and gave a nod. “He’s here all the time. What’d he do?” He put the glass at the beer dispenser and pulled the tap.

“He here now?” Finn asked without answering the guy’s question.

“He was just a few minutes ago.” The man gazed out over the tables and Finn did the same. Men were seated generally by themselves, sometimes in pairs. One large group was particularly raucous, right in the middle of the room at the center stage. The bartender finally pointed to one man at the far side of the room. “That’s him. The bald guy getting the lap dance from Treat.” He wiped the outside of the glass with the rag and handed the foamy beer to Finn.

“Thanks.” Finn slipped his phone into his pocket and accepted the beer. After paying for the drink, he strode toward the table the bartender had pointed out, stopping a few feet away to watch for several seconds. The lovely Treat—and Finn appreciated why she had that name—had Julius worked up for sure. She shimmied, shook, and rubbed her body all over him, leaving a smear of glitter on his chest and thighs, and everything in between. As Finn began to sense Julius’s ardor beginning to peak, he drawled, “Well, hell. Julius! Fancy seeing you here.”

Julius jerked with a startled “Hey!” and sent Treat tumbling off his lap.

Finn reached out to steady her and set her on her feet. Digging into the back pocket of his jeans, he tugged out his wallet and retrieved two twenties. “Go take a break, honey,” he said, handing the bills to her. “You look like you can use it after this guy.”

Her lips twitched but she was too much of a professional to actually laugh and agree with him. “Thanks,” she murmured as she took the money from between his fingers.

Finn watched her sashay off. He flipped a chair around and straddled it, resting his forearms on the back. He took a sip of his beer and stared at a very nervous Sheddai. “Now, then. Julius. Why don’t you tell me what you’ve been up to?”

“Nothing. I haven’t been up to anything.” He glanced around the room. “I don’t know what you heard that made you look me up, but I haven’t done anything. Honest.”

Finn took the opportunity to study him more in depth. It was time to push the guy even more off balance. “You know, Julius,” he drawled, “it’s a good thing you don’t have to impress people with your looks in order to influence their emotions. With that shiny head and that paunch of yours, I bet the only way you get a woman to pay attention to you is if you pay her. Like sweet little Treat there.” He let a slow smile curl up his lips. “Am I right?”

Julius sputtered, drawing himself straighter, his bearing one of affronted dignity. “I don’t have to p…” He scowled. “I get plenty of action from women.”

Finn gave an unconcerned shrug. “Well, that’s neither here nor there, is it? I shouldn’t have brought it up. What I’d really like to talk about is what’s been going on in your neighborhood.”

Julius went still except for a trickle of sweat that slid down his face in front of his left ear. “I don’t know.” His gaze flitted around the room as if he were looking for an avenue of escape. Or rescue.

A quick glance told Finn that everyone else was either genuinely not concerned about what was going on in this corner, or they deliberately had looked away in order to not get involved. “Come on, Julius. You know what I’m talking about. Mrs. Peterson two doors down? Lovely little old lady, in her right mind and of sound health who, without warning, tried to hang herself from the second-story landing. Or what about Myra Davis right next door, who tried to hack off her husband’s head while he slept?”

“I…I had nothing to do with that.” Another drop of sweat followed the first in a shiny trail down Julius’s face.

“You’re not nervous, are you, Julius?” Finn raised his brows. “It’s actually quite cool in here.”

Julius stood, knocking his chair over.

“Sit down,” Finn said. “We haven’t finished our conversation.”

“It’s finished as far as I’m concerned.” The Sheddai demon took a couple of steps back, his hands fisted at his sides. “You…you can’t just hunt me down and accuse me of…things. Whatever you think happened to my neighbors, you can’t hang any of it on me.”

“Funny you should put it that way.” Finn put his palms on his thighs, ready to push to his feet if necessary. “Julius, don’t make me tell you to sit down again. And do not make me chase you. You know I’ll catch you, and the mild annoyance I’m feeling right now will be downright ugly when I do.” He paused. “You won’t like me when I’m angry.”

Julius blanched, whether it was because he realized he was ill equipped to defy an enforcer, or because he had visions of Finn going all Hulk on his ass. Whichever it was, he righted his chair and sat back down.

“Good. Now, then, where were we?” Finn leaned his arms on the back of his seat again. He focused his gaze on Julius. Sweat broke out on the paunchy demon’s forehead. Finn said, “Oh, that’s right. We were talking about Mrs. Peterson and Mrs. Davis.”

Julius stayed stubbornly silent for all of two seconds. “Oh, fine,” he burst out, desperation raw in his strained voice. “I couldn’t help myself. With the economy in the slump it is, there are so many people who are depressed and anxious. It’s a veritable feast out there for those of us who feed on the misery of others.” His expression turned placating. “I’ll admit I was a little gluttonous. But I got really hungry, that’s all.” A pleading light entered his pale eyes. He made wide gestures with his hands. “I know we’re not supposed to feed where we live. I won’t do it again, I swear.”

Finn pursed his lips. Julius had nearly caused the death of one human, but at this point the police had decided it had been a suicide attempt, and the family didn’t seem to be fighting that conclusion. The Davises had been having marital trouble for some time now. Hell, the wife had admitted she’d often fantasized about Bobbittizing her husband. She’d obviously mistaken one head for the other, but she’d been docile enough when the police had taken her away. Maybe some time under psychiatric care would actually help her. And her husband could use the time apart to be grateful he still had his penis.

“You realize, don’t you, that I’d be well within my rights to end you, right here. Right now.” Finn held the other demon’s gaze. “But I’m going to let you off with a warning, Julius. No more screwups like this. Or I’ll be back, and I won’t be so lenient next time.”

Julius gave a nod. His brows furrowed. “Why do you care?” He leaned forward. In a whisper he confided, “I’ve seen you at the meetings. What do you care if humans get more upset than they already are? After the next Influx it won’t matter. We’ll be the ones in charge for a change. So again, why do you care?”

“I care because my employer cares,” Finn responded in a hard voice. It wasn’t the complete truth, not anymore. In dealing with the fanaticism that seemed to trail Liuz, Finn suspected that humans would have a hell of a time if prets took over. Whatever was dished out to humans would be heaped upon demons, especially by vampires. The blood feuds of old would look like nursery school parties by comparison.

He had a moment of feeling a bit off his game as he realized he hadn’t seen Julius at either of the meetings he’d attended. He knew why, too. He’d been too damned distracted keeping an eye on Keira.

Keira, who’d given him the best sex of his life the day before. Keira, who he had yet to call. To be honest, he needed some distance to try to sort out what he was feeling. To do his best to keep things in their proper perspective, and this last little bit of conversation with Julius was proof enough of that. Hell. So why hadn’t he called? He’d told her to believe it when he said he cared. And he loved being with her. She made him want to be better, and when he was with her he could more clearly see the life he wanted. But he couldn’t be sure she had the same depth of feelings for him.

He pushed all that back and responded to Julius. “I still have a job to do. An employer to keep happy. After the next rift…Well, we’ll have to wait and see about that, won’t we?” He stood and pushed his chair up to the table. “In the meantime, you’d better walk the straight and narrow, my friend. Or there’s gonna be the devil to pay.”

He stared at Julius a moment longer and then left the club. Getting back on his bike, he sat for a few seconds and rotated his tight shoulders. It hadn’t been all that long ago that, emotionally, he’d been where Julius was. Did what he wanted, when he wanted, and didn’t care about anyone but himself. He’d been spoiled. Childlike in his self-centeredness like many of the demons he’d handled. With Keira in the mix, though, he got how important his mission was.

So for now, he would keep sane by reminding himself that it would all be over in a little over a week. And if all went according to plan, he’d be a free man. Free from his servitude with Lucifer. And free to explore a life with Keira without having to worry about her safety.