The demon took a menacing step toward her, and the corner of my mouth lifted with a wicked grin. It was angry that she’d struck Sam, but more than that, it found her bravado amusing. “I know exactly what you are, but unfortunately for you, you don’t know what I am.”
She tensed. Azi could sense the shift in her. She was still confident she’d be able to walk away, but there was caution now. She was a powerful witch, but there was something off about her energy. Something blocking the full force of it. “And what is that?”
“Please,” Sam said, pushing my body out of the way. Azi made a sound like a growl, but she ignored it. “We just need to talk to you, and this isn’t a safe place to do it. Trust me, there will be more of these things coming.”
The girl grimaced, and a cloud of gray rose from her shoulders. She scanned the area as though expecting to see the armies of hell converging on us. “More of them?”
“More of many things,” Azi supplied. It took in her fear, let it spread through me, and let out a contented sigh.
She glanced back at the building again, probably weighing her options. There was one of her and two of us. Her magic—what little Azi sensed—might even the odds, but she wasn’t quite as confident as she’d been.
With a sigh she said, “I know a place that should be safe—but don’t get any ideas. I don’t know what it is you want—or are—but you don’t wanna fuck with me.”
…
Savannah, who’d told us to call her Van, brought us to the Magic Bean, a small coffee house about twenty minutes from her apartment building. Sam couldn’t sense it like Azi could—like I could—but this was no ordinary coffee joint. There was power within these walls. Strong magic.
Don’t do anything to get us killed, please.
Sam wrapped both hands tighter around her coffee cup and glanced around nervously. Her eyes kept going back to the door. “I’m not sure you understand the meaning of the word safe.”
Van simply chuckled. “Trust me, this place is safe. Nothing would dare touch us here.”
Sam wasn’t convinced. She scanned the room, eyebrows high, and shook her head. “And why is that?”
“Powerful magic guards the building. Intentions to harm cannot enter.”
“So if one of those things tried to walk through the door, it would, what, get vaporized?”
“Nah. It’s nothing that dramatic. Those things could walk in the front door, but the second one tried anything violent in nature, it would be incapacitated.”
Sam looked suspicious and I couldn’t blame her. I could think of a million methods of incapacitation right off the top of my head. “Incapacitated, how?”
Van shrugged and took a pull from her cup. “Beats me. No one has ever been stupid enough to test it.”
Sam wanted to argue—her eyes were wide and she was tapping her pinkie against the edge of the table—but she sighed. “We’re looking for something called the Brim Stone.”
“Sorry.” Van looked from Sam to me and shrugged. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”
The demon tensed. I felt my fingers ball tightly and the unmistakable itch in my limbs as my body was about to pounce. She was lying.
Just fucking chill. Give Sam a chance.
I didn’t think it would listen, but slowly the tension eased from my body.
“Look,” Sam continued. She shot an uneasy glance my way before continuing. “You don’t know us from a hole in the wall—”
“Even though we came to save your life,” Azi added.
Van’s smile never wavered. “Did you? And how exactly, I have to wonder, did you know it was in danger in the first place?”
“The Brim Stone, the thing you’ve never heard of? We aren’t the only ones looking for it. There are some…people…who want it. Badly. They know you have it, and they’re coming for you.”
She picked up her cup, totally unconcerned by Sam’s revelation, and took a long pull. “And by people, I assume you mean demons.”
My back hit the chair, and Azi picked up the fork in front of me. The demon turned it over several times and, while contemplating several unique ways it could use the utensil to get the information we needed, it said, “You don’t seem surprised.”
Van snorted. She eyed the silverware in my hand with an air of caution, then set her cup on the table. “You mean by the whole demon thing? Oh, buddy, I’ve seen much worse.” She leaned forward, elbows planted on the table. “I’ve been through worse.”
Azi matched her and leaned forward as well. She was only partially lying. The girl had seen hard times. But demons? These had been her first. Still, Azi decided to go with it. “Then perhaps you haven’t met the right demon.”
A shrill whistle cut the air, and Sam dragged my body away from the table and shoved it back in the chair. “This isn’t a contest.” She refocused on Van. “And it’s not a game. These things will kill you—and they won’t make it quick.”
“They can try,” she said with a gleam of challenge in her eyes. “My own sister tried to cut me down to gain my magic. She failed. They will, too.”
While Azi admired her resolve—and given my history with Chase, the demon found it almost ironic that the person who had stolen its stone was a victim of attempted sororicide—I wanted to choke the bitch. We didn’t have time for this shit.