Page 27 of Demon Heart: The Complete Series

X avier returned two hours later, brandishing a red leather box and an unreadable expression.

“What’s that?” I queried.

“Fairy charms,” he answered, striding into my kitchen.

I must have physically paled at the revelation—more so than the demon lake stuff and his spidery nature. “You brought fairy magic into my flat?”

He put the box on the table. “Yes.”

“Get it out!”

“You don’t have to worry, Roman. I know how to handle it.”

“It’s dangerous.”

“So am I.”

Man, that sounded so damn hot. “Remove it. Now.”

“It will help. I’ve used fairy charms many times. Leave them with me.” He showed me the pink and blue glass flowers inside the box, explaining what they did.

“There is a three-strike rule to the pink charms,” he said.

“And then they stop working?”

“Yes. Do you have a rucksack or anything similar?”

Now I craved a gulp of vodka. “They really won’t blow my home up?”

“Not unless a complete fool decides to play with them.”

“Are you insinuating something?”

He smirked briefly. “Never.” Then he took my arm as I went to find him a bag. “Roman…”

I glanced down at his gentle grip, then into his eyes, mesmerized by their irresistible icy blue. Did a shade like that really exist in nature?

“When I say I’m sorry for what I did to you, I truly mean it.” Voice so soft, aura so warm. “I overreacted.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“But I do.”

“Seriously? A scary demon like you worries about witches?”

“One witch, yes. I want…”

“What?”

“This will sound silly.”

My tension seemed to be melting under his voice, his touch. “I’m good with silly.”

“I want us to be friends.” He released my arm, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Even if I am leaving.”

Maybe don’t go… “You’re forgiven by the skin of your teeth.” I cocked my head to the side, focusing on his mouth. “How many teeth do you have?”

He quirked his left brow. “Enough to eat you with.”

A tightening response down south. “Right. Let’s move on.”

“Are we good?”

“We are,” I reassured him. “We’re friends until you sod off. I’ll get that bag.”

An insecure demon? Cute. Really cute.

Or not.

The sooner he left London, the better off we’d all be.

We arrived a mile outside of Anerley, our taxi refusing to drive any closer. Walking the rest of the way through the dead streets, we arrived at our location.

“Ready?” Xavier asked.

“Yeah.”

Vaulting over several walls and fences, we got to a path cutting through the overgrown wall of trees and bushes between us and the abandoned sports center.

“Up there,” Xavier said.

I knew about this place by its reputation. Rife with toxic rivers before the end of The Rift, no one lived in Anerley. Over time, a vast swath of trees and bushes had taken over, spreading for miles.

Too many ghosts in those trees.

Too many creepy urban legends.

On any other night, I wouldn’t come near here.

Up ahead, at the end of the path, sat a burned-out car, a barbed wire fence beyond it.

“Stop here,” Xavier said, jutting out an arm to halt me.

I bumped into it, the muscled limb a solid barrier. “What’s wrong?”

He grabbed me, dragging me into trees.

“There’s someone up ahead,” he clarified.

We crouched at the same time.

“I see him,” I whispered.

A figure in silver moving around the car, hammer in hand. The guy paused by the wreck to look down the path.

“Want me to get the drop on him?” I asked, voice low.

A quick move through the trees, light of foot, and wham! Fucker goes down. Easy. I could do this with my eyes closed.

“Allow me,” the demon responded.

“I’ll be right back,” I said, ignoring him.

My assassin mode kicked in, my body taking on a shift of its own, going from regular witch to the more agile Shadow. I stalked through the trees, bordering on silence, my focus refined, reflexes on point. A panther stalking a silver-clad prick.

I stopped at the edge of the trees, successful in not alerting the guy to my presence. He leaned on the car, fishing a pack of cigarettes from his silver jacket pocket, lit up and took a drag so casually. So unafraid.

I moved silently to the car.

He didn’t notice, too busy enjoying his smoke.

Before he could blink again, I knocked his lemon-stinking arse out.

Snapping his neck would’ve been preferable, to avoid him getting back up and joining his people in the inevitable fight to come.

Cut down the numbers, lessen the risk. Exactly how I liked it.

But death would antagonize the enemy. We had to play this carefully, getting to the slaughter after the video stuff was dealt with.

Or if they tried to kidnap Xavier.

Killing came easy to me, part of my job, part of my life. Only, things weren’t so black-and-white lately, those questions of morality always close by.

Because of my grief.

Because of my grief.

What about my doubts over King Basile and my queen’s sanity?

Stop this!

I rolled the unconscious man under the car.

“Incredible,” Xavier said, approaching.

“I’ve been trained well.”

“In what?”

Whoops. Even that was a bit too much information. “Never you mind.”

“I can hazard a guess.”

“Please don’t.”

“I would have taken him down.”

“I’m more than capable.”

“Now is not the time to show off.”

His nose was asking for a kiss of the fist. “Saves you wasting your charm’s magic on one lemony guy.”

He didn’t answer but wrinkled his nose at the car.

“Save it for the Lemon Drop fest inside,” I said.

His eyes gleamed with rage. “A festival of lemons would be hell.”

“Depends on the context.”

The ruins sat beyond the car and the fence, as cold and quiet as the night air around us. We kept behind the car, searching for further signs of life.

At his insistence, Xavier took point, leading me through a hole in the fence.

The plan was to play ball somewhat, get inside the mouth of the beast, so to speak.

Xavier couldn’t shift into full spider form while carrying the fairy charms under his coat, but he could do the part-shift thing and use his webs.

Not that they would do much good against Lemon Drop.

The sports center was a maze of crumbling ruins, its roof a thick canopy of evergreen leaves. Graffiti marked the walls, the ground damp, muddy in places. Vines and weeds tangled in the bricks, thick and dominant. The wind whistled through the corridors, rustling through the trees.

What a lovely place to hang out in.

Not.

A woman dressed in silver appeared in a doorway, leaning to the side to look around us. “Where’s Martin?”

“Martin is sleeping,” Xavier answered.

“Better not be dead.”

“At least for the time being,” he responded.

“Where is he?” she demanded.

“Under that old car.”

“Why?”

“Why was he out there?”

She huffed. “On patrol.”

“Ready to attack us?”

Her pale cheeks flushed red, every physical tick pointing to a lie. “No. He always patrols to keep an eye on things.”

“Save your indignation,” Xavier said. “We have business to deal with.”

She cocked her head. “You look pretty well, considering.”

Considering you stink of lemons? I refrained from cutting in.

She looked the demon up and down, her anger turning to confusion. “Come in.”

“Thank you.” He swept past her, her eyes tracking him.

As I passed, she muttered to herself, “How is he doing that?”

Surprise!

She disappeared, off to help her sleeping friend.

Two more silver people were waiting at the end of another ruined corridor, flanking a metal doorway with their hammers. The only doorway with an actual door attached to it.

Xavier strode confidently toward them, not flinching once.

Those fairy charms were powerful things.

The men closed ranks, blocking him. “Wait.”

“Fine,” the demon responded nonchalantly.

I stood by his side, scoping out the surroundings for a quick exit. Most of the windows and doors were blocked by overgrowth.

Hmmm. Hopefully Xavier had an exit strategy.

Three knocks on the other side of the steel door and the men stepped aside, allowing us through.

A big room with a roof and proper windows greeted us. Another steel door sat opposite this one, a single lightbulb casting bright light across the clean floor.

The place stank of lemons, but Xavier stood firm.

How long before his first strike?

Hunters formed a perimeter around the room. I counted twenty of them, excluding the four we’d already encountered.

Knocking that guy Martin out really seemed pointless now.

Keith stood in the center of the room beside a demon. He stared at me, but the woman stole my attention, her white eyes brighter than the light.

Fair, freckled skin, auburn curls cascading down her back, and wearing a long brown coat lined with fur, and stylish black boots.

The demon greeted us with outstretched arms. “Welcome.”

“Tanith,” Xavier responded, moving into a position to block me if need be.

Protecting me, demon?

Keith wasn’t so warm in his greeting, his glare like hot coals aiming to burn my soul.

“Lee,” he said. “Or whatever your name is.”

At least he didn’t know that yet.

“Now, now, Keith,” Tanith cut in. “Let’s not cause a fuss.”

What did she call this if not a bloody fuss?

“This is a special moment, a reunion.” She approached Xavier, gesturing for a hug.

He didn’t give her one. “A reunion I didn’t ask for.”

I expected the smile to be wiped off her face.

It didn’t happen.

“I suppose real reunions have refreshments, happiness. I might have known you would bring nothing but indifference.”

“I’m not indifferent, Tanith,” Xavier countered. “I’m irritated. Why are you doing this?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” she replied, winking at me.

I kept any retaliation on the inside.

“You know the levels of chaos breaking the ice would bring to both realms,” Xavier said.

Tanith shrugged.

“Is that it? Petulance?”

Another shrug.

“What happened to my friend of old?”

“She vanished along with Ismael. Because of you.”

Xavier took a small step forward. “I had to stop him.”

“If you say so.”

Xavier shook his head. “Why are we here, Tanith?”

She closed her eyes. “For second chances.”

“That cannot happen.” Xavier’s tone was pure ice.