The drive was murder on my patience, but I forced myself to drive the speed limit. If I had learned one thing over the years, it was that collateral damage was a hard thing to have on your conscience. The streets were mostly empty around the bar, and parking was easy to find at this time of night. Camille and Delilah pulled in right after I got there, and we all headed into the bar.
Derrick had done a good job of emptying the place.
“I gave out coupons for half off their next purchase to get them to leave without grumbling.” He wiped his hands on a bar towel. The werebadger had been the most loyal employee I had had, and he had proved himself time and again as both competent and helpful. His T-shirt stretched over his wide shoulders and tight stomach, and he cut a good-looking figure, which—I hated to admit—was an added draw to bring women into the bar.
“Are they here yet?”
“No, but I got a call from Smoky shortly after your call. They’re on the way. Roman is having the demons transported in an unmarked armored truck. He said to tell you, he thinks you’re going to have trouble fitting one of them down the stairs.”
“That’s because it’s a freaking giant scorpion.” Camille frowned. “You widened the staircase, though. They have to have them bound, so maybe you can somehow navigate it through the door well. Or maybe Smoky can carry it downstairs through the Ionyc Seas.” She shivered. “Though I hate to think what might happen if it got loose out there. I don’t know exactly what it could do to him, but . . .”
But the danger was a very real possibility. “We’ll wait and see what he says. Meanwhile, will you two go down and prep the safe room? Take out anything the creatures might destroy. Derrick, can you help them?”
He nodded, escorting them to the door leading to the basement. “Tavah and Johann are downstairs, guarding the portal. They can help out, too.”
The basement of my bar contained a portal that led directly to Y’Elestrial, in Otherworld. I had kept a constant guard on it since the day I took over as bartender, and when I actually took over as owner of the Wayfarer, I had increased security. After the fire that had devastated the bar, I had beefed it up even more. At night, I used exclusively vampires to guard. During the day, I had moved our bouncer Pieder—a giant—to guard duty, along with a Fae warrior. Pieder was the brawn, but definitely not the brains. But his size made him an excellent deterrent.
A moment later, the front door opened and Morio strode through. “We have them out in the truck.” He glanced around. “You emptied the place?”
“Yeah, Derrick, Camille, and Delilah are downstairs clearing out the safe room. What’s the situation with the Shelakig? Will we be able to get it downstairs? That’s not a very wide opening. Camille was thinking that Smoky might have to take it down through the Ionyc Seas.”
Morio snorted. “The Shelakig is no longer a concern. The Varcont is out in the truck, but the Shelakig—its body is stuffed in the back. The thing went crazy and we had no choice but to kill it. They are dangerous, unpredictable creatures, and I’m surprised Shadow Wing even bothers using them because there’s no way they can be seen as tractable.”
My stomach lurched. “You killed one of them?”
“Wouldn’t have helped us in any case. The creature doesn’t speak English or Calouk or any form of language we can think about. We couldn’t communicate with it, and the Varcont wasn’t helping us any.” Morio shrugged. “The thing came at me, and Smoky and Shade managed to catch it before it connected, or I’d be in the hospital with Chase right now. After seeing the sheer size and strength of that thing, I think it’s a miracle he managed to survive the attack.”
At that point, Smoky and Shade entered, carrying the Varcont. He looked like any old vampire, except he exuded a flaming energy that hit me in the gut just by standing near him. His eyes were brilliant crimson, and his fangs—horribly long compared to most vampires’—were showing as he hissed at me. But he was bound in silver chains. Those would burn him doubly so, given he was both vampire and a major demon. I caught my breath as he fixed his gaze on me. There was something mesmerizing about him. It drew me in, and I found myself moving toward him.
The next moment, Roman appeared and I snapped out of it when he barked my name. Shaking my head, I blinked and looked at him.
“What just happened?”
“Apparently the Varcont is a Greater vampire.”