Heart of the Demon

chapter Five



Finn pulled his motorcycle into the rear parking lot of the Devil’s Domain and cut the engine. He sat there a moment, watching people heading toward the back door. The big, beefy guy at the door double-checked the codes the attendees showed him on their cell phone screens. After a quick pat down for hidden weapons, he buzzed them in.

Everyone going through the door had varying natural weapons. They didn’t need guns or knives, though no doubt some carried them. Hell, he usually had a gun and short sword on him. Sometimes he preferred the easier and less messy way of dealing with a problem over being hands on. Tonight he figured security would be tight, so he had only his body as a weapon.

If it came down to it, that would be enough.

He hopped off the bike and got into line behind a couple of vampires. When his turn came, he pulled out his cell phone and brought up the message that held the bar code. The bouncer gave a brief nod. “Raise your arms to the sides,” he instructed. After giving Finn the same impersonal frisking he’d given the others, he let him into the building.

There was a small landing and then stairs leading down into a sublevel. Finn followed the vamps down, aware that there were more prets coming in behind him. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He hated having anyone behind him—he was more exposed to an attack if he couldn’t see it coming.

Once he got to the bottom of the steps he moved to one side and let the rest go ahead of him. Then he started off after them, passing a few closed doors on each side. There were double doors at the end of the hall, and he followed the others through into a surprisingly large room. Rows of chairs set up theater style were separated into three sections with aisles between. With a quick glance he figured the room seated about a hundred fifty to two hundred, and it was mostly full already.

A small portable stage area was at the front of the room with a podium and microphone in the center. Plenty of recessed lighting gave the room a bright, airy appearance. Finn looked around and figured the room was roughly half the size of the club upstairs.

And he’d never known of its existence. Interesting.

He directed his attention to the inhabitants of the room. He didn’t know what he’d expected, but he was surprised at the variety. Preternaturals of every shape and size represented their clans. There were werewolves hanging out in the front near the podium, and several vamps talked in groups at the back just a few feet from where Finn now stood. Elves, pixies, sprites, leprechauns, and even a few trolls interspersed with werelions, werebears, and wereleopards. There were even a few of the elusive and shy brownies in attendance.

There were lots of demons, which didn’t surprise him in the least. Most of them he knew, including Phoebus. “So,” the other demon said as he walked up to Finn, “I must admit I’m surprised to see you here.”

Finn gave a lopsided shrug. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he continued to stare out over the crowd. He didn’t want to give Phoebus the time of day. He also didn’t want to alienate someone he might need later on. However, just because Phoebus might come in handy later on didn’t mean Finn had to start being nice to him.

“Does Lucifer know you’re here?” Phoebus crossed his arms and tilted his head to one side, curiosity bright in his eyes.

“Nope.” Finn wasn’t lying. He hadn’t told his dad he’d gotten the actual invitation, so Lucifer didn’t know that Finn was attending a meeting or where the meeting was being held. Though if it turned out that the vampire who owned the building had given permission for this particular group to meet here, it in all likelihood meant that he was part of this mess. If he hadn’t given permission, then he didn’t have a good handle on what was going on within his own empire. Either scenario spelled trouble.

“I suppose I shouldn’t be so surprised to see you here,” Phoebus said, his voice so smarmy it made Finn want to punch him in the face. Which was his usual reaction any time he was around the guy. “You follow Lucifer’s direction only as far as you have to.” Phoebus gestured around the room. “This must seem like an answer to your prayers.”

“Oh?” Finn glanced at him. “Why is that?”

“Are you kidding?” Phoebus rested his hands on his hips. “Do you really think Lucifer will be able to hold on to power when people loyal to our leader arrive?”

Finn shifted his position to face Phoebus but was still able to keep an eye on the room at large. He couldn’t appear to have prior knowledge of the intricacies of the group and, really, he only knew the name of the vampire who led things. He didn’t know what he looked like, nor did he know who any of the members were. But since he suspected that most new members didn’t know as much as he did, as little as it was, to keep up the act he asked, “And exactly who is our leader?”

Phoebus folded his arms across his chest again and shook his head with a smile. “You’ll find out in a few minutes.”

If it was longer than that Phoebus might find that smug smile pounded off his face. It would be worth having to put up with this rogue nonsense for the chance to take care of unfinished business with the bastard.

Finn shot Phoebus a look and moved away, walking along the back wall toward the corner. He ignored the curious looks he got from some of those he passed by. As he neared a couple of vampires, one of them lifted his lip in a sneer and muttered, “F*cking demons. We should call a blood feud and exterminate ’em like the vermin they are.”

Finn didn’t need to use any preternatural abilities to hear the guy. He hadn’t exactly tried to be quiet with his comments. He’d obviously wanted Finn to hear him. So the guy wanted to rumble? Finn was willing to oblige.

“You know,” he said in a musing tone, giving both vamps a dismissive glance, “some might say the same thing of vampires. Not me, of course.” He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “I think carrion feeders have their own ignoble place in the circle of life.” When the two bloodsuckers scowled, he added in a nonchalant tone, “You should own your space, boys. Be proud of what you are.”

“Son of a…” The vamp who’d made the initial comment took a step forward. He was slender, but tall and wiry. And he was a vampire, which automatically made him strong. “I’ll make you eat those words, demon.”

“Really?” Finn was of the old school that said you never backed down from a fight, and if you didn’t start it you’d damn well better finish it. He cocked an eyebrow and glanced at the vamp’s shorter companion. “You and who? Him?” He chuckled and shook his head in disbelief.

Both vamps’ eyes went blood red. They moved closer to Finn, fangs out and ready for action.

Finn set his feet shoulder length apart, more than willing to take them on. He held the gaze of the mouthy vamp. “Take your best shot. I’ll wad you up and toss you aside like a piece of paper.”

“Take your seats, everyone.”

The voice came from the front of the room. Finn shot a glance toward the podium to see a slender, swarthy man standing behind it. Was that the guy? Caine had given Finn the name and a vague description, but not an actual photo.

The mouthy vamp glared at Finn. “This isn’t over, demon, not by a long shot.”

“I’d be disappointed if it were,” Finn murmured silkily. It was just as well their altercation had been curtailed. The last thing he needed to do was let his desire to bash some heads together get him kicked out of the group before he’d even gotten a chance to sit through one full meeting. He waited until the two vampires settled into seats, then he went to the end of the last row and stood next to a troll taking up two seats.

The large man looked up at him but didn’t move. Finn stood there, staring down at him, until finally the troll sighed and moved onto one seat. Finn gave him a brief lift of the chin in acknowledgment, then pulled the chair on the end of the row away from the troll to give them both some room. He sat down and looked at the man at the front who was now talking to Phoebus.

Both men stood to one side of the podium, speaking in obviously hushed voices. Finn scooted his chair a little farther away so that his back was to the wall, then he called upon his chameleon abilities and ramped up his hearing like that of a shapeshifter. Damn. There was too much ambient noise in the room for him to filter out a conversation taking place at the front of the room. And as tempted as he was to get up and move closer, he didn’t want to call attention to himself. So he stayed put.

About a minute later he was glad he had.

Gorgeous in a light green V-necked dress that bared her shapely arms and ended midthigh, Keira stopped just inside the doorway and looked around the room. As usual she wore high heels, this pair a bright yellow.

Shock at seeing her there, in this place, with these people, held him immobile for a second. Then, not wanting her to see him, at least not until he figured out how to feel about her being there and what to say about him being there, Finn slowly stood and moved casually behind one of the support columns in the large room. She must have seen someone she knew, because she smiled and lifted a hand in greeting, then walked down the center aisle and did her pardon mes down the row until she reached an empty seat next to the vampire Finn had seen her chase after at Devil’s Domain one night. The guy for whom she’d blown Finn off after they’d shared that sizzling dance.

He stared at her, confused as hell. For all her talk about wanting to be a better person…Damn it, he’d believed her. She’d seemed so sincere; she certainly seemed to be above someone who would join this band of misfits.

Better than him, hands down. Even if he was here under false pretenses, this could have been something he might have joined to see where it would take him. For shits and giggles, and to break up the incredible monotony of being an enforcer for Lucifer.

She glanced around again, and Finn shifted his position so she couldn’t see him. If he leaned backward he could get a look at her profile, and staying where he was he still had a good line of sight to the podium, where it appeared the Grand Poobah was about to speak. Finn folded his arms over his chest and leaned his shoulder against the column, settling in for what he hoped would be a short and sweet speech.



Keira opened her mouth to say something to Javier beyond her original greeting. Glancing his way, she realized she could save her breath. He was too busy flirting with the elf sitting on his other side.

“I can’t wait for Natchook to speak.” The young woman sitting to Keira’s right, some sort of catshifter from what Keira could tell, leaned over and spoke softly, keeping her gaze on the front of the room.

Keira frowned. “Natchook?” She was at a disadvantage—she had been from the beginning—in not knowing who any of the players were. If Caladh knew, he’d never told her.

“Our leader.” The catshifter looked at Keira, her surprised expression changing to one of understanding. “Oh, you’re new.” She pointed to the men standing next to the podium. “His name on this planet is Stefan Liuz, which is how most people refer to him, but I prefer to call him by the name he was known by in our original dimension—Natchook ot Renz.” She sighed and stared forward again. The sound was as girly as a teenaged Justin Bieber fan.

Keira followed her gaze, trying to figure out which man was the leader of this motley crew. The taller one had his back to her and she couldn’t tell which pret clan he belonged to. The one facing the group had a Latin look to him—dark hair, darker skin. Wiry build. She leaned over to the catshifter. “Which one is he?”

“The one facing us.” Another sigh. “He planned all of this before he even came here, did you know that? He tried to make things better for all of us in our home dimension, and when that failed he already had plan B in place.” The other woman stuck out her hand. “I’m Tracy, by the way.”

Keira introduced herself and shook Tracy’s hand. “How did Natchook try to make things better?” she asked with a glance at the man under discussion.

“He assassinated the leader of the Talisians.”

Shock robbed Keira of speech for a few seconds. She’d heard of this man. He was the vampire Tobias Caine had been tasked with finding and punishing for the murder of Kai Vardan, the leader of Talis.

What had Caladh gotten her into? Did he even know that Natchook or Liuz, or whatever his name was, was involved? This was about more than a pret trying to bring more prets through the rift.

Much, much more.

“He’s going to speak!” Tracy gave an excited clap of her hands, then clasped them together and sat forward on the edge of her seat.

Keira looked up front and, indeed, Stefan Liuz had stepped behind the podium. When he spoke, she was surprised at the soothing quality to his tones and his succinct style of speaking. She’d expected more verbosity.

But the affected importance she’d also expected was there in spades as he talked about his vision for preternaturals’ place in society. “Will we allow humans to move forward with their plans to force us to have microchips implanted so they can track us? I say no! We must fight for our rights. Fight to create our own destinies, not settle for the ones allowed us by humans. And the only way we can truly create our destiny is through supporting and actively creating chaos,” he said, punching his fist for emphasis. “It is our duty to subvert the hold on the preternatural community that every council around the world currently exerts. With anarchy we can establish our hold over humans around the world. Their governments will fall into chaos. Only through chaos can we truly be free.”

He paused while the group applauded. Keira clapped as well, not wanting others to think she wasn’t wholeheartedly in support of this nonsense. But really, this was batshit craziness.

She had the sudden sensation she was being watched, and she glanced around to see who was looking at her. No one seemed to be overtly staring her way. She gave a slight shake of her head and faced forward again. She was on edge and chalked it up to her imagination. Keira was finally where she needed to be, and because that was neck deep in trouble she was being paranoid. Though if anyone in this room found out she wasn’t legit, she’d be in deadly trouble.

Stefan went on to blah-blah some more. Frankly, she wasn’t all that interested in his rhetoric, so she only listened with half an ear. She was more interested in the people in attendance. As nonchalantly as she could, she looked around the room and saw varying degrees of attention from those around her. A few had the same rapt expression of fanaticism that Tracy did, while others looked like they were holding on until the meeting was over so they could head upstairs to the club.

Finally Stefan said, “We all have our parts to play. Each one of you is integral to our success.” He swept his arms open. “The future is ours!”

More applause broke out, then Stefan stepped away from the podium. Prets of all clans, Tracy included, rushed to the front to speak to him directly. He smiled and clasped shoulders and shook hands, all the while wearing the wide smile of a seasoned politician. Keira hung back and watched, thinking these people acted like they were in a cult. Or was it that they were locked in such desperation that it made them willing to follow a madman who gave promises of glory?

Javier stood next to her, one of the few that hadn’t run up to receive the touch of the charismatic leader. “So, bonita. What’d you think?”

Here we go. “I think it’s about time someone says what Stefan said tonight. I’ve been on this planet a long time, keeping my otherworldliness a secret for all but the last three years.” She looked at Javier. “It’s been a relief to finally be who I really am.” She shook her head. “It’s still hard being outnumbered by humans. We don’t have the same rights, and we should.”

A werewolf standing in the row in front of them turned around. “Damn straight.” Before he could say anything more, his attention was drawn to the other side of the room. He muttered an “Excuse me” and headed away from them.

“I’m glad you feel that way.” Javier smiled at her, flashing a bit of fang. He glanced to the front of the room, then looked back at her. “Stefan wants to meet you, but he doesn’t have time tonight. As soon as he finishes with them,” he indicated the group, looking like mindless drones, gathered around the leader, “he has another meeting.” He gave her a second fangy smile. “I’ll see you later, bonita.”

Keira walked slowly down the row until she reached the column at the end. As she started to skirt around it, she heard a man say, “Stefan says the device will be ready in time.”

“He always makes good on his promises,” a woman responded, her tone rife with satisfaction.

Keira paused. She needed to learn more about this, but she had doubts that they’d continue their conversation with a brand-new member, one they didn’t personally know. Taking a deep breath, she called on the Earth energy she had stored deep inside. Her skin began to tingle as if small electric currents ran beneath the surface. She waited until they ran in a steady stream before she stepped out from behind the column.

The two vampires continued on with their discussion as if she weren’t standing three feet away from them. As far as they could tell, she wasn’t.

By extending her empathic abilities, not only could she influence people’s emotions, which colored the way they perceived events that occurred, she was also able to influence their perception of the world around them. It was basic physics, though done through preternatural means, making light bounce off of her body to reflect her surroundings. She was, for lack of a better word, invisible. She rarely used this power because it utilized a lot of energy, which meant she couldn’t hold the illusion very long. But if she could glean some pertinent information it would be well worth the weak knees and exhaustion she’d later feel.

Because the motion of her clothing would make it harder for light to be reflected and thereby increase the likelihood some vague outline of her could be seen, Keira put her back to the wall and held still, taking in slow, silent breaths. A werewolf walked past her and paused, his head lifting as he sniffed the air. His brow furrowed and he looked around then shrugged and went on his way.

That was the other flaw to this ability. She might be able to conceal herself from others’ sight, but she couldn’t mask her scent.

“He said he’s waiting on a special gold filament that fits in the oscillation unit,” the male vamp said. “That jeweler guy over on Scottsdale Road is supposed to have it for him in a few days.”

“That’s cutting it a little close, don’t you think?” the female vamp asked. She kept her voice low. Keira watched as the woman glanced toward the front of the room where Stefan chatted with a few of his followers. When she looked back at her companion, a small frown furrowed her brows. “Why would he wait this long to actually finish the machine?” Worry entered her tone, making it not quite as satisfied as it had been a few seconds before.

The other vamp scowled. “Because of those delays a few months ago when the smaller rift device and schematics were stolen, remember? That pushed production of the larger machine back several weeks. Otherwise it would’ve been done days ago, in plenty of time.” He, too, looked toward the front.

Say something more about the jeweler, Keira silently urged.

“Let’s go upstairs,” he said and looked at his companion. “I could use someone to drink.”

The woman agreed and the pair walked away.

Damn it. Keira let out a long breath and eased back behind the column again. She relaxed her hold on her Earth energy. When the tingling in her skin ceased she leaned against the column, taking in deep breaths, and waited for her legs to stop trembling. As soon as she felt she could walk without crumbling to the floor, she headed toward the exit. She returned Javier’s wave and pushed open the door.

As she headed toward the stairs, she wished the two vampires had given more specific information about the jeweler, but at least she had a place to begin a covert investigation. After all, how many jewelers could there be on Scottsdale Road?



Finn circled the column, staying out of sight until Keira left the room. He’d glanced at her off and on through all Liuz’s bullshit, and to his surprise she’d seemed interested. Her expression had been nearly as rapt as all the other lemmings in the room.

He was disappointed, and a little angry. She was supposed to be doing better than him, moving away from her old life. So what in the hell was she doing with this crowd?

For his part, he thought everything Liuz had said was bullshit, and hated the idea that now that he was “in” he’d have to put up with all this crap until the next rift. Thankfully that was only three more weeks away, then his mission would be complete and he’d be his own master for the first time in two millennia. Failure was not an option.

After listening to Liuz tonight, and seeing how everyone in the room cradled his words like they were precious newborn babes, Finn didn’t disagree with dear old dad that having the demon-to-other-pret ratio swing even wider would be a bad thing. If vampire numbers grew and demons did not, it wouldn’t be long before Finn and his kind were eliminated.

This was as much about maintaining the status quo as anything else. It was also about self-preservation, pure and simple.

And if there was one thing he understood, it was self-preservation.