Pool of Crimson

chapter 14



“What’re we doing here?” I screamed in Danny’s ear as the music from the speakers across the dance floor thumped in my chest.

I hate dance clubs.

Danny pulled me along behind him through the crowd with determination, pushing smaller, less burly people out of our way. They didn’t dare give him the dirty looks they gave me.

“I have a quick meeting, and then we can leave,” he screamed back into my ear with an apologetic smile. “Just hang out here by the bar. I shouldn’t be too long,” he said. He leaned in and brushed my lips with his in a quick, heat-filled kiss. As his lips touched mine, a flutter rippled through my stomach. He pulled away with a quick reassuring squeeze of my hand. I couldn’t help but worry. I needed to lay low and Crimson was too public, too dark, and one of the business cards that had been on the Marlboro Man’s desk.

The entire place was brimming with power, hot, cold, and everything in between. The dance floor was littered with vampires and werewolves. There was no way I was under the radar here. My concern must have shown on my face. Danny reached over and stroked a gentle line across my cheek.

“Don’t worry,” he said with a smile. “Crimson’s neutral territory. Nothing can happen here.”

Something can happen anywhere, and neutral for him wasn’t neutral for me.

“I don’t like this,” I snapped. I scanned the crowd over his shoulder and then mine.

“Don’t worry so much. You’re safe here. We’re all safe here.”

His assurances didn’t rid me of my anxiety.

“I won’t be long,” he said as he let go of my hand and disappeared into the crowd. I lost him in the hoard of people for a split second until a side door opened on the other end of the dance floor. The open door flooded the room with harsh fluorescent lights for a brief moment, illuminating Danny in the open door. Then, he was gone.

I started to move, at least to get out of easy reach. There were plenty of dark corners to hide in, and I headed toward the first one I saw. I told myself I was safe in the shadows, less exposed, especially with walls on either side of me. My skin crawled with the idea that all eyes were on me. Vampires stalked around me on all sides. The piercing, painful chill of their power made my skin tingle as their magic scratched and scraped against me. I knew one of those signatures well as it caressed me and glided against my skin like a cold rush of water. Patrick was out there somewhere in the crowd. His chill tingled across my skin. It was familiar and oddly comforting.

“Please just pass me by,” I whispered to myself into the darkness. “Please.” His power pulsed like a cold caress against my face, as if it recognized me.

His power couldn’t do that ... could it?

I couldn’t see anyone or anything any further than three heads directly in front of me but I could feel him approach me, feel his power lick my skin as if he could taste me.

“Shit!” I swore loud enough for the people around me to finally notice me.

His dark hair emerged first from the sea of people, followed by his dark eyes, reflecting what little light was actually in the dance club. I leaned up against the wall and casually placed the foot with my knife in my boot flat against the wall.

He stood motionless before me in the shadows, the light from the DJ booth flashed across his face and jet-black hair in rainbow waves of yellow, red, and blue. His face and eyes were empty, like blank slates in the darkness.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, caged fury tightening his voice.

“I’m touched by your concern,” I replied sarcastically. He wasn’t going to tell me what to do. Not if I had a say in it. The last time I checked, I was the only one who had a say.

“Daniel should know better,” he snarled. He looked around the crowd, scanning for ... something or someone.

“How do you know who I’m here with?” I asked sharply, offended by the accusation in his tone. His eyes narrowed on me and in the blink of an eye he was close enough to touch, to kiss, or to kill.

“I know where you are at all times,” he said, leaning in to me and taking a deep breath. His nose skimmed my neck lightly, setting every nerve ending in my body ablaze with need. I slid my hand down my calf, independent of thought. My fingers wrapped tightly around the handle of the knife hidden in my boot. The familiar feel of the handle in my hand calmed my pounding heart.

“I can smell him on you. I don’t like it,” he growled.

God, that’s hot.

“I’m afraid you have no say,” I forced out. I stood still, so still that I could feel the pulse of power shift around people in the club. I could feel the beat of the techno music pulse in my blood, and I could feel the Earth move on its axis. It was as if the world stood still with me, waiting to breathe.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he said, a satisfied smile in his voice.

I pulled my knife quicker than I’d ever pulled it before, forcing the tip of it underneath his chin.

“I would go that far,” I said in almost a whisper, pushing the tip of my bowie knife just a bit deeper until the skin underneath his chin indented from the pressure.

“I never knew how alluring a dangerous woman could be,” he said as he pulled his head back and away from the knife, exposing his throat to me. He placed a hand on either side of me on the wall. I wasn’t sure whether I was supposed to be afraid or turned on. The problem was I felt both.

My pulse picked up at the thought of him touching me. I knew that I should just finish it. I should just shove the knife up and be done with the whole thing and finally be rid of him and this unnatural desire that pulled me to him. Something deep in my being stopped me. I smelled the pungent scent of burning flesh as the silver of my blade burned his skin. He didn’t move. He never took his eyes from mine.

“As much as I’m enjoying this, the situation ... has changed.”

“Changed? How?” I asked, my voice unsteady. Fear and anxiety reverberated tension through my body like shockwaves.

“Ethan wants you and I don’t know why. You may question my intentions but never my motives. I want you,” he said with clarity. “I want you for myself. I won’t let him have you.” Anger filled his expression. “Ever.” The push of power caressed my skin, sending chills up my spine and warmth coursing between my thighs.

A soft crackle of power behind him pushed against me. It was close and getting closer. I cast my eyes instinctually over his shoulder. The vampire approached silently, with sunken shoulders and down-turned eyes. She stood without a word, waiting. She was a little on the chunky side with flabby arms that were exposed through the fishnet sleeves of her shirt. She wore matching fishnet hose and combat boots under a fluffy pink tool skirt. I wanted to tell her that that look went out with 1995 but I kept my mouth shut.

I studied her. Under all the makeup, she couldn’t have been more than 25 when she’d died. She appeared older, like the world had ridden her hard and put her out wet.

She cleared her throat to get Patrick’s attention when he didn’t acknowledge her right away.

Patrick put his hand lightly on my wrist and pushed the knife down and away from his chin. Patrick’s skin re-knit itself and healed before my eyes. He was more powerful than I thought if he could do that ... with silver wounds. The silver should have scarred him permanently and hurt like hell.

Shit!

He adjusted his clothing, then stiffened, bringing himself to his full height with his unmarred chin high and a blank expression making his face unreadable. His eyes never left mine as he spoke to the woman behind him.

“Yes,” he stated simply, scorn making his tone harsh.

“My Liege is asking for you,” she said, giving me the once- over. She snarled at me, curling her lips and exposing fang.

“Thank you,” Patrick said curtly in dismissal.

She rolled her eyes, then turned back into the crowd. When I met his gaze, Patrick’s eyes were serious. “Leave now. Don’t wait. Just go and don’t look back,” he said in a tone that sounded like he rarely had his orders challenged.

“Why would I listen to you?” I asked in a saucy tone, challenging him just to challenge him. I didn’t want to be in Crimson any more than he wanted me there. He didn’t, however, have the right to tell me what to do.

“If Ethan sees you, I won’t be able to protect you. He knows you were in the office. He knows we fought,” he said as he ran his eyes down my body as if he remembered how I felt pressed against him. His eyes met mine, and his voice was softer. “Trust me. Just go. I’m going to have to brush up against Danny as it is to cover your scent on my body. That’s torture enough.”

The problem was I didn’t want to trust him. I didn’t want to think that he would have my best interests in mind. I needed to kill him and get him out from under my skin but his touch stopped me cold.

“I don’t need you to protect me,” I growled softly, my voice filled with angry protestation.

“No, you don’t, but I need you alive,” he replied.

I had no response to that. He’d surprised me. Before I could form a witty response, he was gone. Light flooded the dance floor again as he opened the same door Danny had disappeared through a lifetime ago. He was gone, and I was left alone on the club floor waiting.

Waiting for what?

To get my throat ripped out or to be locked in a cage for whatever kinky bullshit the Marlboro Man has in store for me. NO THANKS! Time to leave.

I pushed my way through the club until I could smell fresh air and walked out the door. I pulled my phone from my pocket and punched in Jade’s number.

“Hey,” she greeted.

“What’re ya doin’?” I asked quickly as the bouncer opened the door of a waiting taxi out front.

“Nothin’, why? I thought you had a date?”

I could hear the volume of her television go down. I think she was watching Cops.

“Date got cancelled,” I bit out as the door to the taxi shut. “Grandview, please. 1 and Hollywood,” I said to the Somali guy behind the wheel.

“Oh yeah? Cancelled, or did you leave?” I could hear the laughter in her voice.

“I left, but that doesn’t matter. Did you want to see what we can find out about our friends?”

“Sure. You want me to come over?”

“No.” Once Danny discovered I was gone, he’d show up at my house and want answers. I didn’t have those answers. Jade’s place was safe, and no one knew who she was. “I’ll come to you if you don’t mind?”

“No, come on up,” she said with excitement. “How long will it take you?”

“Don’t know, maybe half an hour,” I said, looking at the time.

Twenty-seven minutes later, after the cab dropped me off at my house and I jumped into my car, I stood outside of Jade’s Dublin condo. She had a gigantic four-story townhouse built to look like Georgian-style houses. My well-used Pontiac looked like the poor cousin in her driveway compared to the BMW’s, Porche’s, and the Lamborghini parked in a drive down the street.

Who the hell parks a Lamborghini on the street?

I knocked on the door and waited a few silent moments. The complex was as silent as a cemetery at midnight. Jade opened the door quickly and seemed a bit out of breath.

“Were you just cleaning?” I asked with a smile, shaking my head. The smell of Windex wafted through the open door, filling my nostrils with the pungent chemical scent. Of course she’d cleaned.

“No,” she scoffed just before her eyes softened. “All right, maybe.”

I walked by her and stopped.

I was out of my league. The place was incredible; vaulted ceilings with crown molding, a crystal chandelier that sparkled with light, texturized walls, and reproductions of paintings in gilded frames that hung in museums around the world. Photographs were arranged from ceiling to floor in a gallery style, covering an entire wall. The gourmet kitchen on the second floor had granite countertops, white cabinets in the French Provincial style, and brand new stainless steel appliances with a subzero refrigerator.

The living room was filled with soft, light brown leather sofas and a gigantic 65” LED LCD television on the wall. She walked me into the office, which looked like a control tower. There were six large 32-inch flat screen monitors mounted to the wall and a few servers linked up to her system. Another leather sofa lined the far wall in her office behind the glass top desk. Books were strewn everywhere; open, closed, and stacked in piles.

“Jesus,” I said as I took it all in.

“I know,” she said, as if she was embarrassed. “It’s a little ostentatious, isn’t it?”

“No,” I said trying to back pedal. “I just didn’t expect this,” I said, motioning to ... everything.

“Does it matter?”

“No, hell, it might help,” I said with a smile as I threw my bag on the sofa and shrugged my jacket off. “So, what’ve ya got?” I asked as I sat on the floor next to her pile of books.

She sat down next to me, folding her legs into a yogi style. She slid a stack of books toward her. “This Ahriman is powerful. Dark. He’s one of the bigger evils in Persian mythology and kinda hard to find. He’s an obscure entity,” she said, flipping through the pages, finally stopping when she found a pink ribbon with white polka dots lodged between the pages. The polka dots didn’t seem to go with the picture of the demon that snarled at me from the page.

I choked back a laugh. “All right, so what does the Marlboro Man want with this demon?”

She set the book in her lap and stared at me as if I were suddenly speaking Greek.

“Marlboro Man?”

“Head vamp.” I pulled the book from her lap. “He looks like the guy from the ads that used to be on the billboards when we were kids, just older.”

“Okay,” she said, laughing.

“Anyway ...” I said, trying to get us back on track.

“Anyway, this Ahriman thing is not nice. He was one of a set of twins. The other twin was Ohrmazd. They were born to Zurvan. Zurvan declared that his first born would rule the Earth. Ahriman decided he was the guy and clawed his way from the womb to be first,” she said with a grimace.

“Nice guy.”

“Yeah, well, Zurvan, the creator in ancient Persian lore, declared that Ahriman would rule the Earth but after a while he would have to relinquish his rule to the other twin, Ohrmazd. Zurvan felt bad that Ahriman kinda cheated. So to be fair or for the betterment of mankind, it’s not really clear, Zurvan would balance darkness and light by having both rule in their turn. I believe the legend says, bringing the world ‘goodness and light’ which says to me that this Ahriman guy, is the dark part of this equation.” She turned the page and kept reading. “Under Ahriman’s rule, the Earth fell into darkness and evil. He created a bunch of nasty creatures, deadly animals, diseases, poisons, death, and all the things that kill humans in the dark. He created what we basically consider deadly sins. He supposedly also created a dragon and god knows what else. Basically, Ahriman created evil here on Earth according to Persian lore.”

“My question,” I said, getting up and walking around the room, pacing back and forth like a caged cat. I think better when I’m moving around. “Why him? What do the vampires want with that demon in particular? How are they going to summon him?” I looked up to the monitors on the wall. She had CNN on one of them. One of the newscasters stared back at me with a confused but troubled expression on his face.

He has no idea.

“Well,” Jade said, pulling a notebook and a few more books from the couch behind her. “I can answer that last part. It’s easy,” she said with a slight hesitation as she glanced up at me. “Well, not easy so much, but I know the answer.” She seemed almost ashamed for taking the topic too lightly. “They’ll need a blood circle around a pentagram large enough to hold the demon.” She returned to her books. Her finger glided down the top page of the notebook. The page was filled with bullet points in her large loopy writing.

“Done,” I said with stark realization as I caught her gaze. “It’s etched into the basement floor of the mansion.” She stared at me like I’d sprouted a second head or a third arm or something. “I saw it when I broke in a few days ago.” She still looked skeptical. “I was looking for information,” I said defensively.

“They’ll need blood.”

“How much blood?” I had a bad feeling. The blood I’d seen on the floor had been minimal and old. When a ritual required blood, it usually meant someone had to die to make the magic powerful enough to work.

“A lot,” she said with a wince. “And it has to be fresh.”

I groaned out loud. Even I heard the anguish in it. “Jade, are you trying to tell me in a roundabout way that they’ll need a sacrifice?”

“Yes,” she said in a soft and distant voice. “They’ll need to complete the blood circle with the sacrifice.”

“Well, at least we know they’ll have to keep the person alive until it’s time to summon Ahriman.” It was the only bright side I could find in what was turning out to be a no win situation. “Okay, what else?”

“They’ll need the correct incantation to summon that particular demon. Otherwise, who knows what they’ll get.” Concern flooded her expression, and she had dark circles under her bright green eyes, making her look tired. I surveyed the mess of her office and knew that she’d spent at least one sleepless night going through demonology. Those dark circles were my fault. She seemed older and less effervescent, like I’d stolen the best part of her when I’d brought her into my world.

“They probably already have that, too,” I said, sadness heavy on my conscience. “That’s probably what the vampire I killed in the alley last week with the tattoo was passing off to Smarmy. Marlboro Man was talking about a delivery from the Ahriman group. That has to be it.”

“Not good,” Jade said, leaning back against the front of the sofa. “Now all they need to do is wait for the new moon.” Something ticked off in my brain.

New moon ... new moon. Why is that so familiar?

“Why the new moon?” I pushed my hair out of my face. I couldn’t wrap my mind around the new moon. Whatever was pricking at the back of my brain was just out of reach. I kept thinking about Patrick. Patrick wasn’t the answer.

“The new moon is the beginning of the moon cycle. It makes it easier to open the gates between this world and the next.” Jade tossed the notebook on the floor with a heavy huff of frustration.

“All right,” I said as I started pacing across the floor. Just keep moving and it will come to you. New Moon ... “Let’s say they raise this demon ... then what?” I asked as I finally turned on her.

“What do you mean?” She sat up straighter, as if I’d finally said something interesting.

“They clearly need to be able to control it once it’s summoned or the thing will go on a killing spree by the description you gave me, right?” Excitement rang in my voice. I’d hit on something. I could feel it.

“That seems like a logical leap to me, so how. . .” she said almost to herself, then the smallest smug smile spread across her lips and lit her eyes.

“What?”

“The amulet.”

“What about it?” I asked as I started pacing again.

“That could be the thing they were going to use to control the demon.” Confidence rang in her voice, making her almost giddy.

“How?” I stopped pacing and really looked at her. I didn’t need conclusions or guesses. I needed a real lead. Marlboro Man already had too much of what he needed to raise the demon. If the amulet I had in my possession was the key to stopping him, I had to be sure.

“Well,” she said as she pulled her hair back from her face and into a loose ponytail with a few quick flicks of her wrists. Even then her hair was perfect. “Its properties are gauged for protection but someone with enough power, a witch or warlock for instance, could use that to control the demon, too.”

“Could a vampire use it to control the demon?”

“I don’t know,” she said, thinking about it. “I don’t know if they have power or magic.” She watched me with a question in her eyes.

“They do.” I remembered Patrick’s cool press of winter.

“Then I would say ‘yes’. A vampire could use it to control the demon.”

“That brings me back to the question of why they need the demon.”

“I don’t know that answer.” Her eyes narrowed on me, and the skin around her eyes crinkled in concern. “Do they know you have the amulet?”

“I don’t know, but I’m going to assume the answer to that is a definite ‘yes’. That’s the only way any of this other shit makes sense,” I said, throwing my hands up in disgust. The Marlboro Man wanted me dead. Then he wanted me alive. None of it made sense.

Jade was quiet for a long moment as she seemed to consider everything. The problem was that she was coming up with the same conclusion I was, a whole lotta nothing.

New moon?

“Damn it!” I shouted as it finally hit me.

“What?” Jade jumped at my outburst.

“New moon. On the calendar in Marlboro Man’s office. The square with new moon was circled with a T. Dean crossed out.”

“I haven’t heard anything about a Dean,” she said as she relaxed back against the sofa.

My conversation with Danny flashed through my mind. The realization gave me a sinking feeling.

“I have,” I said softly as I met her eyes. “The werewolf Alpha’s name is Dean. They’re going to use the demon to kill the werewolf Alpha.”

“So what do we do now?”

“I don’t know. All I know is that I’m tired of running and the Marlboro Man can’t summon anything or lock me in a box if he’s dead,” I said with the conviction of knowing that I could kill him. I might end up dead, too, but I sure as hell would take him with me.

“What are you going to do?” Jade asked, the first quiver of fear in her voice.

“I’m going hunting.”