Born in Fire (Demon Days, Vampire Nights World Book 1)(14)

“What other guy?”

Confused, the man turned his girth in order to check the back seat, and then looked out the passenger window. “Oh. Wasn’t there someone laying in the grass?”

“No?” I made a show of looking out the window. “Where? Just where I was sitting?”

“That’s…” His brow furrowed. “That is so weird. I could have sworn you had someone laying next to you when I pulled up. I thought maybe he was drunk or sleeping or something. Ha! But yeah, he’s gone. Wow. That’s a trip.”

“I hope it wasn’t a ghost.” I rubbed my arms and gave a dramatic shiver.

“Yuck.” I pulled my tank top up again. I had a sneaking suspicion I’d flashed Margaret without knowing it.

The car pulled away. “That’s crazy. I really thought I saw someone. Like, a solid form, too. I specifically remember thinking—”

The ride consisted of various ghost stories and his growing certainty that he had, in fact, seen a ghost.

At the office, I took the body out of the trunk, set it on the street behind the car, really hoping the guy didn’t randomly back up, and picked up my duffel. I stepped to the side and waved. “Thanks again. Hope you don’t see any more ghosts.”

He waved, laughed, shook his head, and took off.

I grabbed the body quick-like and hurried to the side, but there was a flash of taillights in my peripheral vision. He’d seen me in his rearview, and now, instead of a ghost, he’d always wonder what he’d transported in his trunk.

I threw the body over my shoulder and stepped into the safety of the magical division. “And that’s how you get a dead body across town without calling the removal service,” I said with pride.

The removal service was pricy and took forever. This was definitely the faster, cheaper option if it could be pulled off.

As I started toward the dead mark drop-off area, my good mood drained away. The time for procrastination was coming to an end. I needed to decide if I’d go to the Dungeon. Sure, there was a big payoff at the end, but it might be a trap. Once I went through the vampires’ doors, I’d be at their mercy.





Chapter Four

A couple hours later, I sat on the porch in front of the run-down house I rented. I was just high enough to see over the wall of the St. Roch cemetery across the street, but the real viewing pleasure was through the gate directly in front of me. Being a little off the beaten track and in a tough neighborhood, my neighbors and I didn’t see as many tourists stopping through. We did, however, see a lot of thrill-seekers and wannabe witches.

I loved when, like now, the sun drifted toward the horizon and the shadows elongated, eating up the light. In this confusing time between day and night, I got to watch the magical people, or humans trying to be magical, creep between the gravestones with their supplies. They’d draw circles or pentagrams on the ground, among other things, and mutter spells on the breeze. Occasionally, I witnessed a great possession by a voodoo priestess or priest, and ate popcorn as they slithered along the ground, or spoke in unfamiliar tongues. I loved New Orleans. All manner of magic was expressed here—the traditional and the not so much. The hobbyist and the believer. I saw it all come through, and usually enjoyed it.

The exception, of course, was when idiots tried to summon demons. It happened every so often, and usually the culprit had no idea what they were messing with.

Once I had watched a coven of witches correctly call a level-one demon.

The thing had been loosely trapped, and it was working on breaking free when they finally sent it back. With such little power, it wouldn’t have done much damage, but it surely would’ve ripped through one or two of the casters before it weakened and disintegrated.

I’d had a long day before witnessing their idiocy, but that sort of deed shouldn’t go unpunished—so I’d ducked across the street and hidden among the gravestones. When the witches were ready to leave, I jumped out at them with a snarl and a knife.

“How could you summon my kind and send it back! ” I’d yelled, thumping and thrashing at them in turn. “I am the master of this domain. You are insignificant humans. Rawr! ”

I only said the word “rawr.” I couldn’t summon the energy to actually growl.

They didn’t notice the lack of effort. Half of them even dropped their witch kits, as I call them, with their sage and their chalk and candles, and ran like hell.

Demons don’t laugh like humans do—they give a dry cackle more than anything—but I couldn’t contain belly chuckles as they sped out of the graveyard. It had almost made the effort worth it.

I softly chuckled to myself, remembering, and leaned further into my chair. Tonight all was quiet. Peaceful.

My thoughts drifted to the elder vampire, and the note he’d left in Captain Lox’s office. Tall, muscular, powerful—he moved like the world was a stage and he was the diva, arrogant as all hell and coated with a thick layer of ego. I bet it was bugging the hell out of him that he didn’t know what I was.

Or maybe he did.

Elder vampires had been around a long time. They’d survived some pretty troubled eras and seen all manner of things. It was quite possible this vampire would be resourceful enough to piece together the clues of my heritage. I was a secluded sort of person, with a strong overhang of mystery, but being that I needed money, I wasn’t a recluse.