The Lost Soul Trilogy (Primani Book 5) (53 page)

Sean’s eyebrows went straight up at that, and he struggled to keep a straight face. With as much gravity as he could manage, he assured my dad I was in good hands. “I can promise you she will be safer with me than with anyone else. I’ll be good to her.”

Janet and the girls were wiping tears from their eyes and blowing their noses. Janet was awestruck by Sean’s proposal and kept saying it was the sweetest thing she’d ever heard. The girls clustered around Sean and Dec like little blond butterflies. Dec’s face was kind as he teased them, but he caught my eye and motioned to the door. Sean gave me that look and I knew we had to go for now. Something bad was definitely up.

“Janet, Dad, we’re going to run for a bit. We promised one of Sean’s cousins that we’d come for a visit this morning. We’ll see you later though.”

Although they protested us leaving early, they bought my excuse and sent us away with our gifts and congratulations.

As soon as we got into the car, the two guys immediately switched into soldier-mode. I was aware of the change, but didn’t want to leave my bubble of complete joy. The twin stones sparkled in the sunlight, and I tilted my hand this way and that to catch the light.

Sean’s tone was regretful when he interrupted me, “Babe? I hate to do this to you, but we’re going to need your help. Can we get you to focus for now?” He reached over and squeezed my hand.

With a huge overburdened sigh, I said, “I know, I know. I can’t marry you if I’m dead!”

Dec drove as fast as possible on the way to the farmhouse. The roads were cleared so he wasn’t worried about sliding into a ditch. Apparently Dagin was sending a team in retaliation for Dec and James taking out some of his crew a few days ago. Killian had picked up chatter during his search for
Sgaine Dutre
and sent a message to Dec and Sean. Since Sean’s mind had been completely focused on me, it evidently went straight to telepathic voice mail. Good thing Dec was paying attention…

Facing a team of thugs ought to be a piece of cake for the three of us, but Sean was worried about the numbers. If there were too many demons, we’d get overwhelmed. He didn’t like the odds. His face was grim as he walked me through our options. The more we planned, the more pissed it made me. It was freakin’ Christmas for God’s sake! I just got engaged! There had to be some kind of waiting period for demon attacks around major life events. I was going to bring this up the next time I saw Alex. Growling under my breath, I mentally catalogued my weapons.

“Sean, don’t worry about me. My runes will protect me from demons, remember? They can’t touch me.”

He frowned and pointed out that I was missing half the rune on my hand now. My heart sank. I had thought I’d be protected. Why would Killian strip my protection? Did he even realize what he’d done? Maybe the rune still worked to protect me, but didn’t connect me to Killian’s powers? I mentioned the theory and both guys considered it.

Dec said, “That might be true, but I don’t want to make that assumption. Stay away from them. Kill them before they can touch you and don’t underestimate them. Demons can come out of thin air and get you from behind. Keep Domino at your back. Don’t rely on walls either. They can come through them.”

Gee, that’s a cheery thought. I was getting less happy by the minute. By the time we pulled into the driveway, I was ready to blow up the first demon that showed its ugly face. Before going inside, I took a minute to see if I could sense anyone on the property. Nothing popped up on my psychic radar. It was clear for now. We had about 40 minutes to get ready. We knew the routine and split up as soon as we hit the front door. In our bedroom, Sean methodically changed into his commando gear and loaded his guns. Without a word, he added extra magazines to his pockets and slipped on his knives. He had the Primani blade sheathed on one side and a wicked-looking military blade on the other. He nodded with approval when I came out dressed like him. I had my mic attached too and slipped in the earpiece. Domino paced by the window with her nose in the air sniffing for anything odd. I bent down and hugged her against me.

“I love you, girl. Be careful, I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Sean ruffled her fur and patted her rump affectionately. “Okay, Princess, you take good care of your momma. Mica is your only priority. Do you hear me?”

She pricked up her ears and rolled her eyes.
Isn’t she always?

With that order, we met Dec in the living room. We split up to check the doors and windows. Yep, all unlocked; no sense in locking them. The humans would break them to get inside if we did. We wanted it to be easy for them today. Cell phones were turned to silent mode and we tested our headsets. Everything worked. We were as ready as we’d ever be. It was time to get into position. With one last glance at us, Dec vanished.

I knelt and scooped up Domino tensing as Sean wrapped his arms around us both. Instantly, the three of us were in the trees at the edge of the property. In anticipation of an attack like this, we’d built several natural-looking blinds, like hunters used, on the corners of the property.  This one looked like a brushy pile of overgrown blackberry canes; the second one looked like a pile of firewood, and the other like a tangle of grapevines choking a sycamore tree. I was pretty impressed with the job we’d done. You couldn’t see them in the summer or winter. Domino and I squeezed inside, and I adjusted the slits I used for my rifle. After checking that I had everything I’d need, Sean patted Domino one more time and pulled me against him for a hard kiss.

“Listen to me now. If you get
any
face time with these freaks, tell us on your mic. Do not, and I mean this, do not think you can handle these demons on your own. If they spot you, you’re a target they’ll take out.” He shook my shoulders gently. “Do you understand me? Don’t get cocky!”

“Don’t worry. I’m okay. You let me know what’s happening though. I freak out if it’s too quiet. I need to hear you. Promise me?”

“Promise. Okay, I have to go. Keep your gun down and don’t fire unless you’re sure you can hit them.” With that, he left.

I whispered for Dec and he hummed softly in my earpiece. Reassured, I hummed the next line. It was an old Irish folk song he’d taught me on one of our endless stakeouts. I closed my eyes and searched for incoming.  My main job was to search for targets and use remote viewing to see what they were doing inside the house. The guys would pick them off one at a time.

“Show time! I’m picking up four humans coming in from the east side.” That was Sean’s area.

“Two more pulling into the driveway. Wow, that’s bold.” That’s my area. I could see the driveway and the road in front of the house.

The sound of shattering glass startled me and I hissed into the mic, “Freakin’ demon just broke my mirror! It was an antique! Someone kill him before he breaks anything else.” Carefully watching the house, I said, “Three demons just popped into the second floor, going room to room. They’re dressed like people. The one in our room’s wearing a Devils jersey, the biggest one’s got a black leather jacket on, and the third idiot’s wearing a ski mask.”  I snorted and added, “Moron.”

Sean whispered, “I’ve got eyes on the four. They’re fanning out and going around to the back door. Probably split up and take the back porch and basement. I’m ready. Mica, where are they now?”

“Two at the back porch and one out of view now. He’s going to the basement. The third is hovering at the corner of the porch on my side.”

“I’m gone,” Sean said.

As I watched, he reappeared behind the two near the back door, and with two quick thrusts of his knives, they crumbled silently into the snow. Without blinking, he grabbed their collars and vanished. I wondered where he dumped their bodies. In another second, Sean was back and surprised the thug in the basement. He’d been foolish enough to consider the unlocked door an invitation rather than a trap. He was partway into the room when Sean rematerialized behind him. Without hesitation, he slid the blade into his kidney and vanished with him.

“Dec, you’ve got the other two. One’s in the kitchen tearing apart the pantry. Get him before he destroys everything.”

“Gone.”

He caught the guy by surprise too. Wrapping his hand over the guy’s face, he twisted his neck until it snapped. No blood, no mess. I liked the way he was thinking. After all, I usually ended up with the bleach.

“Watch out! Company in the hallway…uh, two demons.”

Dec whirled around just as they rounded the corner and came within eye shot. Using the element of surprise, Dec raised his hand and blew up the Devils fan. His partner had a split second to react and fired a shot at Dec. The fireball went wide and set the curtains on fire. Damn it!

“Sean! The house is on fire!”

“What? Where?”

“The kitchen’s on fire!” I looked down at the dog and growled in frustration. She growled back in sympathy. “Ski Mask is running to the kitchen.”

Dec and the demon in the leather jacket were close enough to smell each other now and Dec palmed his Primani blade. Crouched to spring, he passed the knife from hand to hand and taunted the demon.

Leather Jacket grinned confidently and pulled out his own blade. It was black and glittered dully in the firelight. Come and get me, he seemed to say.  Moving closer to him, Dec smiled wickedly and the demon backed away. The demon was still wearing his human façade, but it was crumbling with the stress of fighting. Part of his face had melted away to show the black scales underneath. His eyes were yellow and narrowed in concentration as he feinted to the left. With lethal precision, Dec lunged and buried the knife in his abdomen. Shoving it upwards, he snarled in the demon’s face and yanked the knife out. With a gasp of pain, the demon collapsed and dissolved into ash.

Sean rematerialized behind him and managed to rip the curtain down into the sink and turn on the water. Smoke filled the room reducing the images to shadows. This wasn’t good.

Where was that third demon?

Methodically, I searched every room but he wasn’t there. Domino growled softly in warning. I dragged my eyes back to the yard in front of me.

“We’ve got a runner! He’s going for the car. I’ve got him.” I slid the barrel of my rifle out of a slit and watched him through the sight. In a blind panic, he scrambled for the car, his shotgun bouncing against his back. 

Sorry, dude. No witnesses allowed.

I rested my finger on the trigger and exhaled slowly.

You’ve got to go.

He fell over like he’d been hit by a baseball bat. Pulling the rifle back into its hiding place, I quickly looked around for company. No one popped up in the yard so I closed my eyes again and searched that way. We were still short one demon and one human. I’d counted them and two weren’t accounted for.

“Nice shot,” Sean said in my ear. He clapped his hand over my mouth to keep me from yelping.

“Jesus! You scared the hell out of me! I could’ve killed you!” I nudged his thigh with the tip of the knife I’d been holding.

Smirking, he said agreeably, “You could’ve tried. Where’s the other human?”

“I lost him. I can’t see him anymore.”

“I’ll go look around. Stay here for now and keep watching. There may be more on the way.” He stopped just long enough to kiss me again before vanishing.

“I thought he’d never leave,” a sarcastic voice said outside the blind. “You might as well come out, girl. We’ve got you covered and we could always just shoot you from here.”

Domino growled and alerted. Well, well, our missing trespassers. Obviously, they had no idea how much I wanted to kill a demon right now or they’d be bothering someone else. After making sure my mic was on, I palmed my knife in my left hand and gripped my Sig in my right.

“Oh, I’m so scared!” I muttered snidely into the mic. “Idiots.”

Brazenly throwing open the door, I leveled the Sig at the human and shot him in the chest before he could twitch. His gun fell out of his lifeless fingers and hit the ground. His body followed. The demon lunged for me at the same time Domino threw herself in front of me. She bit his leg and he howled in agony. Smoke curled from the bite marks and Domino spit demon skin into the snow.

“Do you have a name, demon? I’d like to know who I’m about to vaporize.”

Instead of answering me, he laughed softly. It was an evil sound that made my skin crawl. I looked closer at his face, watching in horror as it shifted and morphed into someone eerily familiar to me. It was the eyes…they weren’t reptilian or yellow.

They were ocean blue as they pinned me in place.

No, no, no. It could not be.

He smiled easily and I backed up a step. The smile was the same.

No. It wasn’t possible. Not here, not now.

Then he started to talk, his voice making my heart pound. It was his, but not his. “Oh, come on, darlin’, aren’t you glad to see me again?”

The silky tones froze me in place and I started to panic. I couldn’t fight him! I wasn’t strong enough before; I wasn’t any stronger now.

He said, “I’m happy to see you. I’ve missed our time together.”

Domino still growled and snarled but was confused by his appearance. He’d morphed completely into an exact copy of Sean. He smiled down at the dog and she hesitated. Lowering her tail, she glanced at me, unsure. He took advantage of her distraction and kicked her hard in the ribs. She cried out in pain and landed several feet away in the snow. With a whimper, she lay still.