Hot Magic (30 page)

 
“W
here the hell is Bascule?” Julie grumbled and slammed down her phone on the end table next to the sofa. Heidi, Harry’s secretary in London, hadn’t seen him and didn’t know how to contact him. She’d hinted that Julie should let Bas know that she was available for lunch anytime if Julie found him. Good grief! What was wrong with that woman? Harry was in danger, and Heidi wanted a date? “Hell, hell and hell again!”
 

“Mom!” Tasha wasn’t used to hearing her swear.

“Tash, I’m a demon now. You have to expect these kinds of words are going to start to slip out with increasing frequency. Before you know it, I’ll be using the F word as often as John Travolta in
Pulp Fiction
. I’ll probably forget to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you,’ and I’ll never apologize for anything again, even if I think nasty thoughts about a certain hormone-crazed secretary in London.” Inexplicably, Julie sniffed back tears. “Being a demon means never having to say you’re sorry.”

Tasha exchanged a worried look with Luc. “When she starts misquoting movies, especially
Love Story
, something is seriously wrong.” Tasha walked to her mother, grabbed her shoulders and shook her. “Get a grip, Mom. You’ve always been a demon. Finding out about it isn’t going to change you—unless you let it.”

Out of the mouths of babes. Well, out of the mouth of a nineteen year-old, at any rate. Wise as the words sounded, and as much as Julie wished them to be true, she was afraid that sometimes finding out your heritage did change you. Or at least changed the way other people viewed you. But Julie just smiled, closed off the tears and gave her daughter a quick hug.
 

“You’re right. Sorry.” She pulled herself together and turned to Luc. “Any ideas where Bas might be?”

Luc shook his head. “No, but I’m good at research. I’ll find him. First, I must contact Marguerite. She may have tried to reach me while I was in Gehenna and she’ll be worried.”

Oh, cripes. “I think your sister knows you’re okay,” Julie said.

“How could she know that?” Luc frowned.

There was no way to break this news gently. “She placed the second tie of the curse on Harrison. She was in his head when we found you in Gehenna. She saw you, in a manner of speaking.”

Luc stood. “She shouldn’t have done this,” he finally said, which Julie considered to be a massive understatement. “I must talk with her.”

“I think Bas is our first priority.” They had to get Harry out of Gehenna, fast. She had a really bad feeling about Julie Deluxe, and not just because she’d managed to do things with her hair that Julie could only dream about. “Heidi told me that the Triad Council is in emergency session. A Balance has never been trapped in Gehenna before.”

“He chose to go to Gehenna of his own free will. I don’t know if he can be considered trapped,” Luc pointed out.

“He went to save me. Of course he doesn’t want to stay there.” Julie frowned at Luc.

“He entered the Gates of his own volition.” Luc seemed stuck on that point.

“Can’t he be treated like an ambassador from a foreign country?”

Luc looked intrigued. “Now, that’s an interesting concept. As Balance, one could certainly argue that his presence in Gehenna has a diplomatic purpose since Tasha and I are Triad members who were taken against our will. I believe the Council keeps several demon lawyers on retainer. They could certainly present this argument to Abigor.”

“The Council retains demon lawyers?” She absolutely refused to make a bad joke about lawyers. “How do they differ from regular lawyers?”

“They don’t,” Tasha and Luc deadpanned together, stealing her punch line.

Julie laughed for the first time since finding out she’d left Harry in Gehenna. Luc shot Tasha a worried look. He’d probably picked up on the note of hysteria.

“Mom’s sense of humor gets weirder the more stressed she is. Think of it as her nervous tic. You’ll get used to it.”

 
“Ah,” he said, as if the nervous tic thing explained it all. “It is important we get to the Council and have them send the demon lawyers to Gehenna immediately. The longer the Balance remains, the greater danger he is in.”

“Is Julie Deluxe dangerous?” Julie had described what she’d seen to Luc and Tash.
 

“The female demon will attempt to trick the Balance into the one contract which cannot be broken.”

“And that would be?” Tasha asked.

“If Harrison verbally agrees to stay in Gehenna, for any reason, he is bound there. Nothing can get him out.”

Julie shivered at the words. She remembered Bas calling the same warning out to her as Joe dragged her into the Devil’s Brew. But this was Harry they were talking about. Harry would never agree to stay in Gehenna. He was clearheaded and logical.

Unbidden, a memory of Julie Deluxe flashed into her head. Darn it all, her father was good. Julie knew Harry had feelings for her, and she knew Julie Deluxe would play on them.

“I need to think,” Julie said. “Just give me a few minutes to sort this out.” Tasha and Luc exchanged glances again, reminding Julie she really needed to find out if they were related. Tasha nodded.

Worried over Harry and not knowing what to do next to find Bas, Julie walked into the silence of the kitchen. The room felt warm and welcoming. She ran her finger across the smooth wood of her kitchen table. Forever had passed since she’d been in here, cooking a Sunday dinner, looking forward to a visit from Tasha.
 

Of course, the very last time she’d been here, Harry had been with her. Harry, who might be stuck in Gehenna forever, just because he’d wanted to help her.
 

She had to do something. Guilt and grief built inside her, driving her out of the comfort of her kitchen and into her backyard. The sharp October morning brushed against her, dark and cool, tinged with power. She felt like she could reach out and grasp the energy, mold it, use it.
 

Her fingers closed against her palm, nothing but air trapped inside them.

No lights shone from Harry’s house next door. No golden owl eyes peered at her from the black canopy of the trees. Where was Bascule? More powerful than any of the non-humans she’d met, with the possible exception of the demons, she knew he would help her. He loved Harry.
 

She didn’t know where he’d gone, but if she could let him know Harry was in trouble, he would help. Standing in the middle of her yard, she placed her hands on her hips and turned a slow circle, considering how best to summon him. Lightning flashed repeatedly in the sky and the distant rumble of thunder broke the silent hush of early morning.
 

She didn’t have his phone number or his email. Transporting to him wasn’t an option since she didn’t know where he was, and she hadn’t learned yet how to transport when not in a state of panic. Out of options, Julie arched back her neck and pushed out a mental call so powerful she fell to her knees. “Bascule. I need you.”

She put a hand to her throat, dismayed. That was a mental call. She didn’t just scream at the top of her lungs. Did she?
 

Dorie’s bedroom light flashed on and a silhouette appeared in her window. Several other lights splashed into backyards farther down the block. A minute later, the distant wail of a police siren answered the question definitively. With a groan, Julie rested her forehead in the damp grass.

According to the news, the world was full of people who were afraid to get involved, who would turn their backs on scenes of murder or rape. Here in Ann Arbor, she screamed one little scream in her own backyard, and someone called the police. Thank you, Neighborhood Watch. Nothing got by Cindy Lui, block captain.

Julie stood and bent to brush off her damp knees. Then she went back into the house to put coffee on. This could be a very long morning.

T
he Demon-Who-Wasn’t-Julie kept up a monologue that was soothing, beguiling, and that had several times rung a reluctant chuckle out of Harrison. He sat on the floor, back against the wall, his legs stretched out in front of him, ankles crossed.
 

She sat across the room from him. Dressed in a pair of jeans and a tucked-in top, she shouldn’t appear particularly alluring. She did, however. She was also bloody amusing. He knew she wasn’t Julie, but the longer he spent here, the stronger the illusion became.
 

The longer he spent here, the more he also began to contemplate the dividing line between reality and illusion. Could one move easily back and forth over it, or once crossed, was the way back closed forever? And if one were trapped in an illusion, would one know?
 

Despite his effort to distract himself, only Marguerite’s constant prodding and her pointed references to his idiocy kept him from stepping forward and shutting the mouth of the Demon-Who-Wasn’t-Julie with his own.
 

“This is what happens when you don’t have a woman for awhile, Balance. It unbalances you. You’re letting a minor demon get under your skin.” Marguerite’s words poked him.

 
“This demon is not minor,” he mused aloud, watching a frown furrow the brow of the Demon-Who-Wasn’t-Julie. “In fact, she has an enormous amount of power. I wonder why I haven’t heard of her before.”

“Perhaps you have. You could be looking at Abigor, for all we know.”

“This is a female.” He knew that, beyond a doubt.
 

 
“Are you speaking with the Walker in your head?” The Demon-Who-Wasn’t-Julie stopped whatever she’d been saying to ask.
 

“Yes,” Harrison responded.

She smiled, obviously pleased Harrison finally answered her. “I can poof her out of your head if you’d like.”

“How can you do that?”

She waved her hands in the air. “It will take a little while, but it’s not all that complicated. Will you stay here while I work on it?”

“Why are you pretending to be Julie?” He ignored her question.

The demon looked down at her body and pressed a finger into the flesh of her thigh. “I could be whoever you want. I could be a little thinner if you like.” She looked up hopefully.

“Answer me, demon.” His tone was mild, but he put the weight of command behind his words.

“She can’t do that, Balance. I wouldn’t like it.” Abigor suddenly stood in the room with them. He was tall, as tall as Harrison, but more slender. He looked like Julie through the cheekbones and mouth, but his eyes, ice-shard blue, held none of her warmth and humor. The Demon-Who-Wasn’t-Julie pushed against the white wall, trying to make herself smaller.

“What game are you playing, Abigor?” Harrison rose to his feet.

Abigor ignored Harrison, his gaze focused on the shivering demon. “I am not pleased with you. You have not completed your task.”

“Give me more time. He’s weakening. I know he is.” The Demon-Who-Wasn’t-Julie threw Harrison a desperate look.

Part of her illusion or real?

Abigor folded his arms across his black shirt. He said nothing, but the Demon-Who-Wasn’t-Julie disappeared as silently as she had appeared. He sighed and turned to Harrison. “My daughter is obviously not the temptation I thought she would be.”

“That wasn’t your daughter.” The hair at the nape of Harrison’s neck stood straight up. The power in the room crackled against his skin.

“Of course, you’re right.” Abigor stood completely at ease, his legs spread slightly, his arms still crossed. The stark contrast between his black attire and the white room hurt Harrison’s eyes. “My daughter is a very special creature.”

Julie wasn’t a “creature.” Harrison, however, said nothing.

“Immortals don’t reproduce,” Abigor continued, in a musing tone of voice. “We don’t die, so there’s no need to continue the species, so to speak. I never expected to have a child.”

Again Harrison said nothing, waiting for Abigor to get to the point.

“He would never have allowed such a thing, you know, unless there is purpose to her birth. I’ve thought much about what that might be.”
 

He referred to the Great Architect, the One Over All—God. Harrison took a deep breath. “He allows us free will, Abigor. That takes us along many undetermined paths.”

Abigor stared at Harrison long and hard. “Free will? You think so? I wonder.” Then he shrugged. “She is spoken of in the prophecy,” he said abruptly.

“A demon prophecy?” Harrison hadn’t known demons had prophets.
 

“Yes. Your Wanderer has also foretold her coming.”

The fact that Abigor was familiar with the Book of Wisdom made Harrison uncomfortable, especially since he’d never gotten around to rereading the book, despite Bascule’s urging.

“Do you know what the Book of Wisdom says about my daughter?” Abigor smiled slightly.

“No.” Harrison bit the word out.

“It says that she has power beyond imagining. I have been watching her, waiting for her time. She has followed the path of the prophecy so far.”

Damn, what path was he talking about? Bascule could have stated more strongly the need for him to reread the blasted book. “How do you know the prophecy refers to Julie? If I recall, prophecies are usually obscure enough to be open to many interpretations.”