Heart of the Demon

chapter Fourteen



I want you to do another job for me.” Stefan Liuz lounged on the small sofa in the private room at Devil’s Domain. His dark gaze centered on Keira, he tapped two fingers against the arm of the sofa as he waited for her response.

“Another job?” She pressed back against the opposite end of the sofa, trying to keep distance between her and the vampire. She’d allowed herself to relax over the past week, convinced Liuz was done using her after that last job. She should have known better.

“Yes.” His eyes took on an excited glitter. “Another grift, of course, to use your considerable skills. Only this time I’m going with you.”

“You?” Keira pressed her lips together and tapped into her empathic abilities. She didn’t like the thought of him going anywhere with her, let alone hanging out while she pulled off a job. “Um—”

“I’ll pose as your fiancé while we shop for engagement rings. You must admit you and I make a much more believable pair than you and Evnissyen.” He smiled, looking pleased with his plan. “What do you think?”

She made her smile widen. “I think it’s great.” With the way he was looking at her, like a dirty old man offering candy to a kid, she knew where this was heading. Her dread grew. Maybe she could talk him out of it, or at least postpone it until two days from now when it wouldn’t matter anymore. “But the rift is in two days,” she said. “Can’t this wait? People are jumpy enough as it is.”

“Are you afraid?” He leaned forward and stretched his arm along the back of the small couch. His hand dangled inches from her shoulder.

She didn’t see why she shouldn’t admit to a certain amount of trepidation. “Are you saying that with tensions running as high as they are I shouldn’t be?” she countered.

He gave a careless shrug. “Really, what can they do to us?”

“Remember villagers with pitchforks and fire?” she muttered. “They can do plenty, I’m thinking.”

Stefan chortled and shook his head. “Humans are like toothless dogs, Keira. They’re all bark and no bite.”

“What about other preternaturals? The council?”

He made a scornful noise. “After tomorrow neither humans nor the council will be in charge. They’ll have to follow our rules, not the other way around.”

She bit back a sigh. He was so full of blarney she hardly knew where to begin. With a frown, she said, “I thought there weren’t going to be any rules. That’s what anarchy is all about, isn’t it? Or have I misunderstood completely?”

His eyes narrowed. His suspiciousness smoldered between them like a steaming pile of crap.

She hastened to add, “I’m not trying to be a smartass, Stefan. I just don’t understand how humans, let alone council members, are going to be required to follow rules in an anarchistic society.”

“Later they’ll have to follow our rules,” he murmured, his narrowed gaze focused on her face. “Unfortunately anarchies rarely last long, but every democracy needs a good overthrowing from time to time.” He paused, moved his hand to her shoulder. Through the silken material of her dress, he stroked his fingers along her collarbone. “Let’s talk about something else for now.”

She forced herself to plaster a soft smile on her face and not shrink from his touch. She found him to be repulsive and utterly without morals. In her life before the rift she would have had no issue with being in cahoots with someone like him. Now, though, she could barely stand to be in the same room.

Let alone allow him to touch her. And she was very much afraid he had a lot more touching he wanted to be doing. Knowing that as a vampire he’d be able to sniff out her emotional state, literally, she turned her empathic ability inward to mask her true feelings. She wasn’t quite sure how or why it worked. At one point she’d thought maybe it was a coping mechanism she and others like her had in order to be able to deal with being bombarded with emotions all day long. Whenever she began to feel overwhelmed she could calm herself, much like throwing a warm, comforting blanket over her psyche.

Knowing she couldn’t alienate him this close to her goal, Keira reached up and placed her hand over his where it rested against her collarbone. As a grifter she’d often had to fake interest in another person, but none of her marks had been as loathsome as this one.

She tipped her chin down and peeked up at him like a coquette. “What would you be wanting to talk about, then?” she asked, making sure to pour on the Irish.

“You. And me.” He turned his hand to grip her fingers and brought them down to rest on his knee.

She studied his hand. It was on the small side with slim fingers tipped by fingernails that badly needed a trim. She couldn’t help but compare Stefan’s hands to Finn’s broad hands with their long, square-tipped fingers. Stefan definitely came out the loser in the match.

“You must know I’m attracted to you,” he went on. “I’d like us to get better acquainted.” His grin was one that no doubt had won women over before, but Keira could barely stomach it. By all the gods in all the universes, why was this little cockroach so interested in her?

She wrapped herself with a cloak of affability and interest. “Oh, I’d like that, too.” She gave him a wide smile.

He slowly leaned toward her and lifted one hand to cup her chin. Keira forced herself to hold still, though her skin began to itch where he touched her. He brought his face close to her ear. “I need a strong woman like you by my side, Keira. A woman who understands me, who can assist me.” His warm breath stirred the hair by her ear, tickling her. She remained still. “You have amazing skills, skills I can use.” He drew back slightly and stared down into her eyes. He moved his hand, stroking his fingers down her cheek. “Soft,” he whispered. “So soft.”

His lips pressed against her temple before he drew back again. She closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at the man. She was fairly certain she was holding on to her cloak well enough to fool him. She wasn’t so certain her distaste wouldn’t show in her eyes.

When he took her hand in his, she opened her eyes. He brought it to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her open palm. She fought back a shudder of revulsion and instead pushed out with her abilities, sending forth a sense of contentment and sexual interest. He moved his mouth to her inner wrist, and she focused on keeping her heart rate as steady as possible. Though any change in tempo he most likely would interpret as due to sexual interest.

He’d be dead wrong. She dearly wanted to pull her hand out of his grip but didn’t want to upset his contented mood. She’d seen how quickly a vampire could go from satisfied to furious before, and she didn’t want to be on the receiving end of any nastiness. But when he kissed her wrist again and then nicked it with his fangs, she gasped and jerked her hand away.

He was unrepentant and seemingly not offended by her action. He ran his tongue across his teeth and gave a low groan of approval. “Yes, you taste as good as I knew you would.” He stood and drew her to her feet. With heels on, she actually stood a couple of inches taller than him, meaning she had to bend her head to stare into his eyes. That he clearly didn’t like. “From now on,” he ordered, “wear shorter heels.”

“More rules?” She couldn’t resist the jab even as she told herself she should make nice with Stefan. By getting closer to him she could gather more intel. Finn must be rubbing off on her, and she couldn’t afford to take a page out of his book. Time was running out.

“I don’t like my women to be taller than I am,” he said. “We could always have your feet cut off, I suppose. That would solve the problem, wouldn’t it?” When she stared at him, unable to hide her horror at his words, he gave an airy laugh. “Oh, for God’s sake, Keira. Lighten up. I’m only joking.”

“Right.” She walked over to the door and picked up her purse from where she’d set it on the floor. She knew enough about him, about the lengths he would go to, that she didn’t doubt he’d cut off her feet if it suited him. She looked at him and forced another smile. “Where should I meet you tomorrow, and what time?”

“I’ll be in touch.”

She nodded and let herself out of the room. Making sure she kept her emotions masked, she headed out of the club. Not knowing who might be watching, she resisted the urge to scrub her hands across her mouth. She wanted to get the taste and feel of him off her lips. It wasn’t until she was halfway home that she relaxed. Not only was Stefan crazy for thinking he could succeed at his rift madness, he was also crazy if he thought he was going to get anywhere near her without clothes on. He would not be dipping his wick with her, no sir.

The last man she’d been with was Finn, and he was like a Lay’s potato chip. You couldn’t have him just once and be satisfied. But while the physical attraction had been what had initially drawn her to him, the more she got to know him, the more she liked. The more she loved. He didn’t take himself too seriously, for one thing. He actually seemed to get a kick out of it when she teased him. He had a real sense of right and wrong, and when it was warranted didn’t have much trouble crossing that line. She admired someone who could make hard choices and live with the consequences.

However, what she’d been seeing since he joined the rogue group made her worry that he would cross the line and stay there. Hunting down loose cannons in the demon community was one thing. Killing a member of the council was something else entirely. He’d changed since meeting up with Stefan. Or maybe it was that she’d never really known the real him. He seemed harder. More ruthless.

She didn’t think she could be with someone as ruthless as Stefan, or as self-centered as she used to be. She couldn’t begin to guess how he was going to react when he found out she was instrumental in bringing Stefan down and putting the kibosh on his plans. It all depended on how far into the dark side Finn had gone. And whether she could bring him back so they might have a future together.

She’d once upon a time thought Finn was a good guy trapped in the bad-boy image of a demon. Evidenced by the callous way he’d dispatched Tobias Caine, she wasn’t so sure now. He didn’t seem to like the fact that she was getting closer to Stefan, reacting almost like a jealous boyfriend. But he hadn’t been too concerned when he had sex with her and then didn’t communicate for two days.

She sighed. Damn it to hell. Men were more trouble than they were worth sometimes.



The next morning she met Stefan at a small coffee shop doors down from the jewelry store they were planning to hit. As she sat there sipping her coffee, in walked Finn, looking dark and dangerous in his black leather jacket and matching scowl. He didn’t bother going to the counter to order anything. Instead he came over to the table where she and Stefan sat and pulled out a chair. “So, what did you want to powwow about?” he asked as he plopped into the seat.

The wood creaked under his weight. Keira half expected it to crumple beneath him, but somehow it held fast. The look he shot her spoke volumes. She hadn’t wanted the chair to collapse, not really. But it would’ve been funny just the same.

Finn leaned forward. In a low voice he said, “You don’t need all three of us to scam a jewelry store.” He glanced around and added, “And it’d be nice, next time, if we could do something different.”

“It’s funny you should suggest that.” Stefan wrapped his hands around his mug. Lifting it to his lips, he blew on the liquid a few seconds before taking a sip. As he lowered the cup to the table, he said, “Actually, I’ve changed my mind about doing a grift with you. Instead, I want the two of you to go over there and bring me a hundred grand.”

Following his gaze Keira looked out the window while Finn twisted in his seat. They both looked back at him. In disbelief she said, “You want us to rob a bank?”

“I don’t expect you to go in there with guns drawn,” Stefan drawled. “You can use that finesse you’re so famous for and con the manager out of the money.” He stared at Finn. “You’re there as backup. Like before, you’ll distract or deflect if needed.”

“We need time to plan,” Keira protested. She leaned forward and placed her hand over his. She gently pushed some of her glamour onto him, imparting a sense of attraction and a desire to please while burying the truth of how she really felt. She gave him a soft smile. “Stefan, you can’t expect me to go in there and ask the manager to hand over a hundred thousand dollars. It’s not that simple.”

“Make it that simple.” His eyes went Manson scary for a second before a smile softened the madness. “You can do this, Keira. You have the skills.” He turned his hand over and clasped her fingers. “I know you won’t disappoint me. More of our brothers and sisters will arrive tomorrow, all over the world. They’ll see newspaper and TV ads advising them of what steps they should take. We have to make sure we have adequate funds to take care of their initial needs.”

“Shouldn’t we do an electronic transfer then, rather than cart out physical money?” Finn traced a random pattern on the tabletop, his gaze fixed on Stefan.

Keira sensed anger radiating from him, and more jealousy. At least she knew he had feelings for her other than lust.

Stefan’s mouth tightened. “We have our local needs as well, situations where cash is the preferred method of payment.”

In other words bribes, Keira thought. Either that or Stefan wanted more money for himself. She wouldn’t put it past him to use the grand revolution to fatten his own coffers. Rarely had leaders of revolution thrown over a government solely for the good of the people. Their overriding motivation was usually something a lot closer to home.

He stood and looked down at her. “I’ll leave you two now so you can formulate a plan of action. You only have until the bank closes today to get this done.” He glanced at Finn. “I’ll be in the first room on the right in the private area at Devil’s Domain. Bring the money to me there.” His gaze went back to Keira. He bent and placed a lingering kiss on her cheek.

She watched him walk out of the coffee shop, trying with little success to ignore the furious vibe coming off Finn and the equal desire to wipe her face clean of Stefan’s touch, the latter without success. “I’m going to the ladies’ room,” she said and stood up. “I’ll be right back.”



Finn sat back in his chair and fixed his gaze on the hallway Keira had just walked down before going into the women’s restroom. What the hell was she doing, touching Liuz? Letting him touch her? Did she actually like the slimy little bastard?

Finn wanted to punch someone. Since he couldn’t punch Liuz, he might have to go find a demon who was breaking the rules and pound his head. But first he’d find out from Keira if she was serious about Liuz. Because if she was, he’d subtract himself from the equation. Or, better yet, wait until after the rift machine was disabled and subtract Liuz from the equation. Permanently.

He’d never been one who enjoyed math, but this was one problem he could solve. Three minus one equaled two. If Finn calculated correctly, he and Keira would be the two left standing.

Deciding he’d get something to drink while he waited for Keira and wondering why it took women so damn long to pee, he went up to the counter and stared at the menu board. There were dozens of tea-based drinks and even more coffees. Finally he looked at the young barista and said, “Give me a Coke.”

“Regular or diet?” she asked.

He grimaced. He didn’t drink that diet crap. “Regular.”

“What size?”

Oh, for God’s sake. When had ordering a drink gotten to be such a pain in the ass? He had a feeling he wouldn’t be here very long, because Keira wasn’t going to like the conversation he planned to have with her and would probably walk out. Since he couldn’t carry a drink with him on his bike, he said, “Give me a small.”

He paid for the soda and as he turned away from the counter, Keira approached the table. She took her seat and wrapped her hands around her probably lukewarm coffee. He set his soda on the table. “You want me to get you a fresher one?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No, this is fine.” She took a sip. “I like it cold.”

“Okay.” Finn sat down and stretched his legs out beneath the table. “So, you’re fine with all of this?”

She frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

He shifted in his seat, looping his arm over the back of his chair. “I thought you had gotten out of this kind of life. I thought you’d changed.”

A muscle twitched in her jaw. He’d scored a hit. She took a sip of coffee and didn’t meet his eyes. “Sometimes we can’t have what we want.”

“Really?” He leaned forward and braced his elbows on the table. “All you have to do is say no, Keira. Say no and walk away.”

“Didn’t they give you the same warning I got? There’s no saying no, there’s no walking away.” She lifted her eyes to his. “I’m in this now. My choice.”

“But why?” Dissatisfied with her explanation, and remembering that she had never really answered this question when he’d asked it before, he asked again, “Why in the hell did you get involved with this group?”

“Finn, look,” Keira said with a shake of her head, “we’ve been over this before. I have my reasons, and I’m sorry but they’re none of your business.”

“Is it Liuz?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” Another frown furled her brows.

“Do you have feelings for him?” Finn asked. When she didn’t respond right away, he decided to be more direct. “Do you want him, Keira? Is that it? You want to be with him, have sex with him.”

Something flared in her eyes, but had gone too fast for him to decipher. Annoyance wafted off her with a slight aroma of burned toast. “If I do, again, it’s none of your business. It’s not like we agreed to be exclusive.”

“Didn’t we?” Finn narrowed his eyes. “I seem to recall some talk of caring about each other. But, hey, maybe it’s that you want Stefan more than me. Is that it? You want him?” Before she could respond, he said, “You know what? It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t. Because he can’t have you.” For all his intensity, he kept his voice low so that the people around them couldn’t overhear their conversation, but he had to get this out. “You belong with me, even if you don’t want to admit it.”

“Finn—”

“You have no idea how dangerous he is, Keira.” He had to be careful how he phrased this. She couldn’t know how it was he knew exactly how dangerous Stefan Liuz was. “I know you know how crazy it makes me when he touches you. And not only because I’m jealous.” There. He’d admitted it. “But also because the closer you get to him, the deeper into his world you’ll get. I only want to protect you.”

“Finn.” She paused and stared out the window. Her tongue swept out to moisten her bottom lip, and she met his eyes. “I do care about you, and I’m glad you feel the same way about me. I want to explain, but I can’t. As there are times when you can’t tell me everything, this is one of those times for me. I hope you understand.” She reached out and placed her hand over his where it rested on the table. “Please be careful. It’s obvious Stefan is interested in me, and if he thinks you’re in his way, he might try to eliminate the obstacle.” Her eyes went dark with worry. “I don’t want anything to happen to you because of me. I couldn’t live with myself.”

He turned his hand over and lightly clasped hers, feeling the coolness of her skin against his. “Nothing’s gonna happen to me.”

“I hope not.” She stared at their hands a moment and then drew away. “We need to do what Stefan wants. Let’s just go to the bank and get this done.” Without waiting for his response, she walked toward the door.

Finn heaved a sigh and hauled himself to his feet. Damn it. She was so intent on following Liuz she might get them both killed. He caught up to her a few steps outside the coffee shop and took her arm. “What’s the plan?”

“I don’t suppose you have an account at this bank?” she asked with a hopeful look.

“Nope.” Finn stood with her at the crosswalk, waiting for the signal to change. “How do we do this?”

“Stefan is right,” she said, either not seeing or ignoring his grimace. “You need to be prepared to act as a distraction, but I think I’ll be able to, ah, sweet talk the manager into giving me the money.”

The pedestrian sign flicked to WALK, and they crossed the street. As they headed down the sidewalk toward the bank, Finn said, “I can’t hang out inside the bank. Somebody’s bound to notice.”

She shot him a dry look. “No kidding.” They reached the front of the bank and stopped. Keira put her hand on Finn’s arm. “Let me go in first. In a few minutes, you come in and get a good look around—quickly and unobtrusively—and then tell someone you want to open an account. If I come out with a bagful of money, you can always abort the account opening and tell them you changed your mind.”

“Like that’s not suspicious.”

“People do it all the time,” she said with a wave of her hand.

“And if you don’t come out with a bagful of money?”

She met his gaze. “Then get the hell out of there, boyo.” She took a deep breath. “Are you ready?”

“No, but I suppose that doesn’t matter. What Stefan wants, Stefan gets,” he singsonged.

“Men,” she muttered. “Even ones thousands of years old can still act like whiney little babes.” She sighed and entered the bank.

Finn waited several minutes, as instructed, then went through the door. Once inside, he stopped at the center counter and reached for a deposit slip. He took a pen from a plastic container and started to fill out the slip while glancing around the bank. There were no security guards on duty that he could see. However, cameras were in several locations, and as far as he could see there weren’t any blind spots.

After a few moments, he approached the desk of a loan officer. “Excuse me,” he said.

A pretty young woman looked up from her computer screen and smiled. “Yes, sir?”

He returned the smile. “I’d like to open an account.”

She stood and came around the desk. “I think Ida in new accounts can help you out there. Here, I’ll take you over to her.” Her last few words came out breathy, and her face grew pink as she kept glancing at him from the corner of her eye.

It wasn’t that big a bank, he figured he could have found the new accounts desk all by himself, but he obligingly followed along behind her. She stopped by another desk. The woman behind this desk, gaze fixed on her computer monitor while she tapped away at the keyboard, wasn’t as young or as pretty.

“This gentleman would like to open a new account,” the loan officer said.

“Have a seat,” Ida responded in a deep, harsh voice. She didn’t look up or smile.

Finn knew he’d have his work cut out for him trying to charm this one.

She coughed and typed a few more words onto the keyboard.

He could smell the cigarette smoke oozing from her skin and clothes even without using his preternatural olfactory abilities.

“I’ll pull up the application.” She finally looked up at him from over the frames of her glasses. “Please, have a seat.”

He sat. From here he could see Keira inside the bank manager’s office. She was seated across the desk from him, her hand outstretched, covering his. The guy had a besotted look on his face and Finn had the fleeting thought that they were lucky the manager was a man. Though with her empathic abilities, Keira would be able to affect a female the same way.

As he watched, she stood and moved around to the manager’s side of the desk. She moved her palm to his cheek and held it there, talking to him the whole while. Finn couldn’t make out what she was saying, not even by employing the use of shapeshifter hearing, but whatever it was, it produced results. The manager gave a nod and stood. He walked over to a credenza and opened a drawer. When he turned around, he held a canvas money pouch in his hand. He smiled at Keira and murmured something to her. She smiled back and sat down in the guest chair. When she saw Finn, she tilted her head ever so slightly, giving him the signal that all was well. So far.

Ida started asking him questions for the application, things like his name and address. He looked at her and answered, giving her truthful information because he figured it would be easy enough for authorities to figure out who he was by pulling surveillance video.

“Opening this account does require that I see some form of picture ID,” Ida said.

About that time Keira walked out of the manager’s office, a wide smile on her face and the canvas pouch in her hand. The pouch was ridiculously small to be able to hold so much cash. He knew each bundle of hundred-dollar bills equaled five thousand dollars and was only about half an inch thick. The bag was only about five or six inches wide. Still, one would expect a hundred thousand dollars to be bigger.

She shook hands with the manager and walked out of the bank.

Finn looked at Ida and adopted a chagrined expression while he patted his pockets. “I don’t believe this.” He gave a low chuckle and shrugged his shoulders. “I must have left my wallet at home.” He flipped his wrist to check his watch and said, “I won’t be able to return before you close, so would you just delete that? I’ll come back another time.”

Her sigh came out on a gust of aggravation. “Of course, Mr. Evnissyen. Come back any time.”

Finn smiled and left the bank. Keira was waiting for him by her car.

“I’d almost forgotten how much fun this is,” she said. Her eyes danced with blue sparks of excitement. “I mean, the sleight of hand at jewelry stores is one thing, but this, really laying it on and grifting money out of people, it’s something else entirely.” She laughed and looped her arm through his, hugging it to her side.

Her enthusiasm had totally chased away the curmudgeon mode she’d been in before. While he liked to see her happy, her reaction was just what he’d been afraid of. Grifting, for her, was like a drug—one job was too many, and a dozen wasn’t enough. He needed to see what kind of space her head was in, see if maybe he could talk some sense into her. Though she’d been right earlier when she’d said there was no walking away. If he was successful in encouraging her to leave the group, he’d damned well make sure it was safe for her to do so.

“Hey!” She leaned against her car and stroked a finger down his chest. “Why don’t we go to my place and celebrate?”

This was the Keira he was used to, a woman confident in her appeal and not afraid to show her passion. “Sure,” he said. If he was at her place, he’d have her alone and they could have a private chat. Among other things. He nodded toward the money bag she held. “Aren’t we supposed to get that to Stefan?”

“And we will.” She went up on tiptoes and pressed her lips to the corner of his mouth. “Just not right away.”

He put his arms around her waist and tugged her closer. “What kind of celebration did you have in mind?”

She winked at him. “You’ll find out when you get there, boyo.” She planted her mouth on his, giving him a kiss that stole his breath and started a fire burning low in his belly. When she drew away, both of them breathed heavily. She smiled and whispered, “Don’t take too long.” She hopped into her car and drove away, still with that huge smile on her face.

Finn strode to his bike and pulled out into traffic. He’d thought perhaps she’d been distancing herself from him, but maybe he’d been wrong.

Of course, he didn’t know exactly how she planned to celebrate her achievement. It was hard to tell with her. She might want to break out cake and ice cream. Maybe some champagne.

In which case his hopes would be dashed and he’d be wrong again.