Dancing With Raven (The Young Shakespeareans Series) (26 page)

Chase chuckled as he sheathed his katana. “Sorry about that. I had to make sure you were trustworthy. If you won’t give Tori up, you won’t give me up, either.”

Raven’s fingers came away from his throat, dotted with blood. His temper flared, and as he turned, he clocked Chase across the jaw with his fist. The young Nephilim staggered to one side and fell to the floor.

“
That’s
for scratching me and scaring my father nearly to death,” Raven said.

“You don’t have to be such a hothead.” Chase rubbed his jaw as he got to his feet.

“What makes you think the Leap Day child is Tori?” Ian asked.

“Mime told me a girl named Tori has a Shakespearean Institute dagger once owned by Gerald Austin. She’s the right age. Also, Raven’s protective attitude toward her gave it away.”

When Ian ran a trembling hand over his face, Chase winced. “I do apologize for the theatrics, Mr. Cassidy. Do you still want me to come with you?”

“Promise me there won’t be a repeat performance with anyone in my household.”

“You have my word.”

In the car, Raven flipped down the mirrored visor to examine the scratch on his throat. Once he washed off the blood, it wouldn’t look too bad, but he was annoyed nevertheless. Not only was he ticked off at Chase, but he was angry with himself for letting someone get the drop on him. Had he let his guard down because he felt sorry for Chase?
That sort of misplaced pity could get me killed one day.

As Ian traversed Hollywood on the way home, he tried to engage his newest passenger in conversation. “How have you been getting by on your own, lad?”

“I found places to crash…empty houses and things like that. Any time I needed a shower, I’d check in at a shelter or rent a cheap room. I took cash with me when I left Japan, and I can also access my account through ATMs. But I confess it’ll be nice to sleep in a clean bed without being worried about assassins creeping up on me.”

“You believe the directors wished to silence you?”

“They silenced my father, didn’t they? The stupid thing is, nobody would have believed me anyway. I can tell you don’t really believe me either.”

“It’s not that we don’t believe you, Chase, but we’re waiting for more information,” Ian said. “So far, Birmingham has presented himself as concerned for Tori’s welfare. So much so that his grandchildren are here to protect her too.”

“Felicia and Fletcher are probably not in on the plot,” Chase said. “And Birmingham
does
want the Leap Day child alive so he can use her blood.”

Something occurred to Raven then, and he couldn’t resist making an observation.

“I noticed last night you and that vampire Oliver seemed to know one another pretty well,” he said.

“We’re acquainted. After my father learned about Birmingham’s scheme, he and I talked about traveling to L.A. to make an alliance with the vampire community here. We were hoping a common enemy might make us strange bedfellows.”

“Did you make progress?” Ian asked.

Chase chuckled. “I had to gain their respect first in hand to hand combat with their best fighter. My victory left them impressed, but that’s really as far as I got. Raven saw for himself how much they don’t like Nephilim.”

“Maybe we can use that to our advantage,” Ian mused. “If it comes down to it, the vamps might enjoy stopping a few rogue directors.”

In all the plotting of moves and countermoves, Raven suddenly felt the focus on protecting Tori was getting blurred. “This is crazy!” he exclaimed. “We’ve got to get Tori out of L.A. That will thwart Birmingham’s plot completely.”

“I think you’ll find all the airports and transportation hubs are being watched,” Chase said. “Obviously, Birmingham doesn’t want me foiling his plans. There were demon thugs waiting for me when I flew into LAX, but I shook them off.”

“They can’t be watching every road out of the city. I can put Tori on the back of my bike and drive her into the mountains or out to the desert,” Raven said.

“Pay cash when you stop for gas or food so nobody can track you,” Chase said.

Ian nodded. “All right, that’s our contingency plan.”

“I’ll talk to her tomorrow at school and make the arrangements,” Raven said. “If we leave a day before Tori’s birthday and return the day after, Birmingham can’t use her in a blood sacrifice.”

“If that’s what he intends,” Ian said. “Don’t forget, he’s made no preparations to return to L.A., as far as I know.”

“In the meantime, I’ll introduce you to Oliver,” Chase said. “If you can convince them to join you, the vampires could help quell any possible demon riots.”

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, a heavy rolling garbage bin shot out into the street, right into Ian’s path. Although he managed to brake in time to avoid a collision, the bin crashed into a parked truck and blocked the road. On the sidewalk, a reed-thin demon jumped up and down in glee.

“Idiot poltergeist.” Raven opened his car door. “I’ll move the bin.”

Chase unbuckled his seat belt. “I’ll help.”

The demon yelled insults and curses as the two young men exited the car and rolled the bin to one side. Although Raven ignored the verbal abuse, he could not ignore the plastic trash can lid whizzing past his head. He reached inside his jacket for a throwing star and turned toward the poltergeist. “That’s enough out of you.
Macbeth
.”

With a howl, the demon came at a run—straight into the point of Raven’s throwing star. As the creature exploded into a cloud of dry dust, the wail was extinguished. Except it wasn’t. Oddly enough, the sound had multiplied and was coming from all directions. Bewildered, Raven stared at Chase, whose face mirrored his confusion.

“What’s happening?” Chase exclaimed.

Raven’s exaggerated shrug didn’t begin to address his puzzlement. He scooped up his throwing star just as Ian stepped from the car. “Lads, we’ve got to go!”

Demons of all kinds were streaming toward them, from in between houses and out of sewer drains. The creatures were even running along power lines. Chase and Raven dove into the car and Ian floored the gas pedal.

“Seat belts,” he said through gritted teeth.

A loud thump hit the roof, and Chase uttered something in Japanese that sounded like a curse. A hideous demon face appeared upside down on the front windshield, staring straight at Raven. When Ian slammed on the brakes, the creature lost its grip on the roof and tumbled forward off the hood and onto the pavement.

“Punch it!” Raven yelled.

His father gripped the steering wheel. “Hold on!”

The car’s acceleration pressed Raven back into his seat. Thereafter, Ian mowed down any demon in his path. When another shadow world denizen jumped on the roof, Chase rolled down his window and killed the creature with a swipe of his katana. As the car finally cleared the crowd of demons, Ian’s face was drawn and a sheen of moisture was visible on his brow. The car tires squealed as he turned onto the Hollywood freeway onramp. The immediate danger was behind them, but Raven began to vibrate with anxiety. “I had no idea that would happen. I almost got us killed just to slay a stupid poltergeist.”

“I can’t believe all those demons could hear you.” Chase’s voice sounded shaky. “You barely spoke above a whisper.”

“There are just too many shadow world creatures here to risk using the Scottish play. I’ve never witnessed anything quite like this.” Ian took a deep breath and eased back on the accelerator.

“Birmingham is off his rocker if he thinks flooding the world with demons is a good idea,” Raven said. “There aren’t enough Nephilim in existence to deal with them.”

“It seems we have little choice but to contact Oliver Fairchild,” Ian said. “We’ll need vampire help to stamp out this infestation.”

A shudder wracked Raven’s body as he remembered the demon glaring at him through the windshield.
I’m certain to have nightmares now.
As they sped along the freeway, he glanced back at the city. Long plumes of black smoke were rising toward the sky in several places, as if Los Angeles had been hit by a meteor shower. “How strange. There are fires in three—no, four different places.”

“Maybe it’s because of the Santa Ana winds. It’s been very dry of late,” Ian said.

“Santa Anas are also called devil winds,” Chase said. “I think the city is beginning to come apart.”

Back at Blackfriars, Mrs. Trumbull set out a Sunday breakfast buffet of scrambled eggs, crisp thick-cut bacon, porridge, scones, and sliced fresh fruit. Despite a relatively good night’s sleep, Felicia was on edge. She brought her laptop to the dining room table and read an online newspaper while she ate. Fletcher nibbled several pieces of bacon in a row like a rabbit, making little crunching noises with his teeth. Finally she glared at him. “What in blazes are you doing?”

“I’m bored and I want attention. Raven’s gone off somewhere with his father and there’s nobody to pick on.”

“I’m busy.”

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to read at the table?”

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to point out when someone is being rude? Besides which, I’m not reading for pleasure. I’m looking at local crime stories.”

He rested his chin in his hand. “Fascinating. When did you get so mesmerized by the lurid?”

“I want to see if crime has increased due to the heavy concentration of demons.”

“And?”

“Not only has it increased, but it’s become an epidemic. As they possess people, there’s been a surge in unexplained vandalism and mob violence.”

“Has anyone speculated why?”

“Excessive number of sun spots, the full moon, and general anxiety due to increased seismic activity.” She shrugged. “Next they’ll be blaming the water or bed bugs.”

“Maybe I’ll write a letter to the editor and tell them the truth. I’ll sign it with your name, of course.”

Her retort died on her lips when she heard the sound of people coming into the house through the garage.

“Oh, good, Raven’s back,” Fletcher said. “He’s much easier to tease than you are.”

Moments later, Ian and Raven appeared in the dining room doorway, along with an unexpected guest. Felicia’s eyes widened.

“Good morning,” Ian said. “I believe you’ve met Chase Oshiro? He’ll be staying with us for a little while.”

As Chase’s gaze rested on her, Felicia suddenly became aware she hadn’t bothered to comb her hair or wash her face. Furthermore, she was wearing a scanty pajama top decorated with pink ladybugs.
Why did he have to catch me looking like this?

“Raven, could you show Chase to one of the bedrooms upstairs? Then you two can come down for breakfast.” He glanced at the line of chafing dishes. “It looks as if Mrs. Trumbull made enough food to feed an army.”

As Raven ushered Chase toward the stairs, Ian picked up a plate and began to fill it at the buffet. Felicia bit her lip. “Mr. Cassidy, how long will Chase be here?”

“As long as he wishes.” He lowered his voice. “Until this crisis passes, he’s got nowhere else to go.”

Bloody Hell!
Thereafter, Ian said something about a demon horde in Hollywood, but Felicia wasn’t listening.
I won’t stay in the same house with a man who besmirches my grandfather’s reputation! No matter how much I want to break into films, it isn’t worth it. I’ll return to England until the end of term and decide whether to come back to L.A. then.
The time on her laptop read a little after nine o’clock, which put London time at early evening. If she were lucky, she would be able to reach her grandfather by phone.

She closed her laptop and stood. “Um, excuse me, please.”

Although Fletcher gave her a puzzled glance, she ignored it. She hastened to her room, and pulled out her cell. As her grandfather’s number rang, she held her breath. Fortunately, he picked up. “Felicia! How are you?”

“Grandpapa, I want to come home. This was a mistake.” Her words came out in a rush.

“Has someone been unkind to you?”

“No, it’s not that at all.” She cast about for an excuse that would sound plausible. “I-I’m just homesick. Could you have your secretary arrange for my ticket?”