Cal chuckled. “Not hardly. He needed to be knocked down a notch or two. The man had too much ego, not enough substance.”
“Then, yes.” She met his gaze with a refreshing frankness. “That was me.”
Cal sat back. “Glad to work with you, Danske.”
“Glad you're on our side,” Demi muttered, her lips twitching. “Hate to get you mad.”
“Relax.” Katya stared at the rivulets of water running down the outside of the window. “I only go after the ones who deserve it.”
They arrived at the Blue Martini forty-five minutes after Ursula disappeared from the hotel.
Blaise spoke with the big man standing guard at the door. The bouncer stared at Demi and Cal and shook his head, crossing his arms over his massive chest.
“Doesn't look like he approves of us,” Demi commented.
“This is a demon bar. They don't like non-demons to play in their sandbox.” Katya stepped forward, her brows dipping into a V. She spoke to the bouncer, motioned at Demi and Cal and slammed her fist into her palm.
“She's one pint-sized powerball,” Cal commented.
A stab of jealousy hit Demi. She actually felt the same way about Officer Danske. The woman knew no fear.
After a moment, the bouncer stepped aside and nodded toward the interior.
Blaise and Katya waved Demi and Cal into the interior of the nightclub. Disco lights shone from the ceiling, and dancers gyrated in cages on either side of a raised stage at the center of one wall.
Fake smoke wafted across the subtly lit dance floor crowded with demons.
An inebriated demon staggered toward Demi, stopped and leaned close enough to sniff and stare. “You're not a demon.”
“No, and neither am I.” Cal stepped between them. “Got a problem with that?”
The demon frowned. “I might. I thought only demons were allowed inside the Blue Martini.”
“Haven't you heard? They've adopted a new anti-discrimination policy.” Demi cocked an eyebrow and stared down her nose at the man. “Now, are you going to let me pass or am I going to have to turn you into a frog?”
He genuflected, twirling his hand. “As you wish, witch. But beware. There's a reason they don't let non-demons in here. Some aren't capable of controlling their violent reactions to humans and witches. And alcohol doesn't take the edge off.” He smiled, the shape of his lips more of a sneer.
“Maybe you should wait outside and let Blaise and Katya handle this place.” Cal tugged at her arm. “They're both demons.”
“I want my vacation, dammit.” She pulled free of his grip. “If it means dragging Ursula to a freakin' council meeting kicking and screaming, I'm gonna have my vacation.”
Demi wasn't as confident as Katya about her ability to fight demons, but she wanted time alone with Cal. Until they delivered Ursula to the council, she wasn't getting it. She pushed past the demon and marched across to the bar. Climbing onto a stool, she leaned forward, as close as she could get to the bartender. “Ursula Rusu. Seen her?” she demanded.
The man filled a glass with wine and handed it to a waitress before responding with a poker face. “I don't talk to witches.”
Cal shook his head, gathered a deep breath and lunged across the bar, grabbing the demon by the throat. “And you don't have any manners either?” He jerked his head toward Demi. “I'm fresh out of patience. Answer the lady.”
Every demon at the bar stopped moving and stared at Cal with his hand around the demon's throat.
Blaise chuckled behind him. “The human doesn't know what he's got himself into.”
“We don't take kindly to human intervention,” a waitress said, setting her tray on the counter. She waved her hand and Cal flew backward, slid across a tabletop and landed in the laps of two female demons who giggled and pressed kisses to his face.
Demi's heart stuttered. She wanted to drop back and check Cal to see if he was okay, but she kept her cool, though she raged inside. “That was my human you just tossed aside.”
The waitress lifted her tray and started loading it with drinks, unaffected by having just thrown a man. “Good, then get him out of here before I do the same to you.”
Demi drew into herself, calling on the goddesses to make her strong, to use the world around her to help her protect the man she loved and find the witness needed to put a dangerous vampire away for good.
The floor beneath the waitress shifted. The glasses full of wine and cocktails tilted and splashed over the front of her blouse. “Now you've done it!” She slammed the full tray on the counter.
When she started to lift her arms, the palm tree beside her smacked her face with its fronds as its roots swirled up the waitress's legs, tying her arms to her sides. “Hey!”
The palm slapped her face again as her hands were cinched to her sides.
Demi stood firm, refusing to let the overwhelming number of demons in the room intimidate her. “If anyone knows where Ursula Rusu is, speak now.”
The first demon who had bothered her laughed. “Or what? You'll tie us all up in vines?” He took a menacing step forward. “That will take a lot of vines and there are more of us than you. Take your human and leave while you can.”
“Look, nobody needs to get hurt.” Cal stepped up beside Demi, his gun drawn. “We'll leave just as soon as someone tells us where Ursula Rusu is, or who she left with. Her life depends on us finding her.”
“You had your chance, human.” The demon squeezed his hand and raised his arm.
Cal clutched at this throat, his face turning red, then he rose from the ground until his feet dangled in the air.
Her own throat constricting, Demi lunged for Cal. Another demon grabbed her from behind and pinned her to his chest. “You're killing him!” she yelled.
The demon laughed. “That's the idea.”
Cal aimed the gun at the laughing demon and pulled the trigger.
Demi flinched, expecting to see the demon fall to the floor. Instead the bullet flattened against an invisible wall and fell harmlessly to the ground.
Cal dropped his weapon and with both hands grabbing for his throat, his face began to turn an alarming shade of purple. Soon, his struggles grew weaker.
“Let go of him!” Demi drew on the strength of the goddesses and sent a rush of vines skittering across the floor toward the demon terrorizing Cal, but the vines ran against the invisible wall before they reached him.
“Enough, Felix.” Blaise stepped between Cal and the demon killing him. “You've proved your point. We have what we need.”
“You're with them?” Felix's lip curled. “First you're working with the human police, then you take up with a Halfling and now you're protecting a human?” Felix unclenched his fist. “Such a disappointment.”
Cal fell to the floor, gasping.
The demon holding Demi let go of her and she dropped to her knees beside Cal, her heart aching. “Are you all right?”
“I'm fine,” he said, his voice raw and hoarse.
“Let me help you up.” She grabbed his arm and tried to lift him to his feet.
“I said
I'm fine
.” He resisted her efforts to help and pushed her aside. Then he staggered to his feet. “You say we have what we need?” He directed his question to Blaise.
Blaise nodded. “Katya's outside trying to find us transportation.”
“Let's go.” Cal didn't touch her or take her hand, leaving Demi angry and worried. The demon had almost killed him. Cal retrieved his gun from the floor and shoved it into the shoulder holster beneath his jacket.
Katya met them at the door. “I got wheels. We'd better hurry before someone tips off Ursula and her man that we're looking for them.”
The wind had picked up speed and traffic had thinned. Rivers ran along the streets and it appeared as though cab drivers had given up and headed for higher ground. A huge tow truck stood outside the front entrance of the Blue Martini, engine running, water rushing around its wheels.
“This is it?” Demi asked. “There are four of us and a driver. Where do you propose for all of us to sit?”
Blaise opened the cab door. “Katya and Demi will ride in the cab. Cal and I will ride on the step.”
Katya shook her head before he finished speaking. “The hell you will. You ride up front and I'll hold on.”
“You're smaller. The wind would knock you off too easily.” Blaise opened the truck door. “Get in. We're wasting time.”
Demi wanted to laugh at the fierce frown Katya leveled on Blaise. For such a small woman, she had more attitude than a pit bull. Demi climbed into the truck, glad for the respite from the wind and pelting rain. But she didn't like that Cal would be hanging on to the outside after his near-death experience in the bar. Would he have the strength to hold on in the face of the driving rain and strong winds?
* * *
Cal climbed up the step and held onto the wide mirror, hating that he was the weakest of the team. After his encounter in the Blue Martini he wondered if he provided any value at all.
Katya got in behind Demi, frowning as she rolled down the window, letting the rain and wind blow into the cab. She leaned out and grabbed Cal's sleeve. “Hold on, mortal.”
He glanced at the petite blonde's hand on his arm. “Maybe you all should go on without me. I might slow you down.”
“We need all the help we can get to find Ursula and bring her in.” Blaise mounted the step and held onto the handle by the cab door. The driver shifted into gear and sent the truck plowing through the rising water.
“Where are we going?” Cal asked over the roar of the wind and the rumble of the truck engine.
“To Central Park.”
“Are you sure a walk in the park is what we need right now?” Cal asked.
Blaise grinned. “The bouncer seemed to think Ursula's lover had an apartment near Central Park.”
Cal held on, praying the ride wouldn't last too long. He didn't know if he had the strength to remain upright against the wind and the rain that was hitting him like a sandblaster. He leaned against the truck in hope of presenting the least amount of resistance to the storm's intensity. The tow truck dodged abandoned vehicles up to their engines in runoff. As they neared Central Park, they moved to higher ground.
“This is it!” the driver yelled as he pulled up in front of an apartment building overlooking the park. “I'm only waiting fifteen minutes. Then I'm out of here.”
The wind whipped leaves into Cal's face as he dropped to the ground. Lightning flashed and a loud crack sounded across the street in the park. A giant tree toppled over, hitting another before crashing onto the benches lining the sidewalk. Streetlights blinked and what sounded like a woman's scream carried to him on the wind.
“Did you hear that?” Katya yelled over the noise.
“Which way did it come from?” Demi leaned out of the cab, her face pale.
Cal reached up and swung her down into his arms, bracing against the force of the wind. “Are you okay?”
She huddled against him, staring across at the tree visible when the lightning strikes lit up the otherwise dark and murky sky.
Katya lifted her face to the rain. “I smell demons and vampires.”
Chapter Six
Blaise cupped her elbow to steady her. “Which way?”
She nodded toward Central Park. “In there.”
“It's too dangerous,” Demi yelled. “The lightning is intensifying and the trees are like lightning rods. Even if we could get in there, it would be impossible to find them.”
“I'm going in.” Cal kissed Demi. “I'd rather you stay here.”
“No way.” She shook her head, rain running down her face like tears. “I'm not letting you out of my sight.”
He smiled and chucked her beneath her chin. “It goes both ways. But if I'm looking out for you, I might miss the bad guys.”
“A chance we'll have to take.”
“Come on, the storm's not going to get better.” Katya hunched her shoulders against the driving rain and trudged through the runoff into the park, Blaise at her back, giving her the added oomph her little body needed.
Demi followed, Cal bringing up the rear. He snatched up splintered boards from one of the broken benches and handed them to Demi and Katya.
Smaller branches blew past them, hitting them in the face as they worked their way down a path, Katya leading the way with her super sense of smell.
Cal wondered if the four of them would be enough against the vampires Alexei would have sent to dispose of Ursula.
A flash of lightning exposed a small clearing ahead where a dozen shadows circled a couple huddled together in the rain.
When one would close in on them, he'd be thrown back and another would replace him. If they all rushed in at once, they'd easily overpower the pair, but they seemed to be enjoying playing with their prey.
“Let's get them.” Blaise forged ahead of Katya and plowed into the middle of the swarm.
Cal followed. He might be no match for demons, but vampires? He had this.
Blaise and Cal converged on the vampires at the same time, surprising them in their game of cat and mouse.
Brandishing his wooden stake, Cal jabbed it into the first vampire he came to. The vampire screamed and turned to dust, washed away by the rain. The second vampire flew at him, knocking him to the ground.
Demi whipped out a vine and hung him from the nearest tree branch.
Blaise held off three vampires, flinging them back with a wave of his hand. He couldn't rip their heads off with too many trying to kill him first.
Katya stabbed one in the heart and turned to kick another as he attacked from the rear.
Cal didn't have time to worry about the othersâhe had his hands full of one vampire after another. One caught his arms from behind, shaking his stake loose, while another came at him from the front. Cal rolled over, hitting the one in front with his buddy as he flipped him over his shoulder.