Good Intentions 3: Personal Demons (17 page)

“Last we’ve heard,” said Kate. “So you know, we don’t have assigned seats or anything. We wanted to offer plenty of space for different groups, as we’ve done before.”

“And good lines of sight on each other, too,” Hector observed.

“Well, yes. If we don’t offer that, everyone will jockey for the best spots. Speaking of those concerns: Molly, Onyx, are you good with telling your story for the group? As much as you told me, at least? I’m not sure how we can avoid it.”

“Yeah, I figured,” said Molly. “How many people know already?”

“My own circle, as you probably expected. I told Jin, too, so his circle knows. We’re hoping you’d be willing to shed a little more light on all this.”

As she went on, Alex found his attention drawn back to Kate’s companion. With Kate and his friends on good terms, he didn’t feel like he needed to watch them like hawks—which was exactly what the younger woman seemed to be doing to him. Lacking for a better way to address the awkward situation, Alex decided to go for broke. He took a single step backward, away from the others, and gave a friendly smile again. “Hi. I’m Alex.”

Her narrowed eyes and the tilt of her head wordlessly said it all:
Seriously?

Alex shrugged. “Normally I’d take the hint and leave you alone, but you’re staring, so…” He offered his hand. “Obviously I’m the ‘plus one’ for Molly and Onyx here. Are you part of Kate’s circle?”

“You’re not a Practitioner,” she said.

“No.” He let his hand drop.

“What are you carrying?”

Alex blinked. “Carrying?”

“Whatever it is, you’re hiding it better than the other thugs hide their weapons. But I can tell from your walk that you’re armed.”

He nodded slowly. If nothing else, he’d just learned the spell concealing his weapons didn’t adjust his own body language. “I’ve got a .45 and a sword.”

Her skepticism deepened into a scowl. “A
sword
? And who the hell carries a .45 anymore?”

“I’m old-fashioned.”

“Are you even old enough to drink?”

“Not legally, but I’m
so close
,” Alex replied. Half a snort of laughter escaped her, but she held onto her unfriendly façade. He grinned at this glimmer of hope and kept trying. “Seriously, what’s your name?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“Because aside from Hector, pretty much everyone else is ignoring me altogether.”

“Are you used to being the center of attention?”

“Not particularly, but ignoring you seems rude. It’s just your name,” he reiterated, holding up his hands. “I’m not asking for a phone number. Won’t ask again either, if I’m being out of line or something.”

“Good.” She gave him plenty of time to respond to that, but he didn’t. “Sierra. I’m with Kate’s circle like you’re with Molly and Onyx, only this isn’t my first time out.”

“Cool. Thanks.” He glanced at his companions again. Everything still seemed friendly and calm for them. “Are there rules I should know for being the ‘plus one’ at a thing like this? Molly and Onyx figured I’d just stick with them.”

“That’s their call,” said Sierra, who still hadn’t lowered her guard—or her skepticism. “Most of the time, Practitioners have their mundanes stay out of the way. Usually that means sticking to the back of the room. But it’s up to whoever brought you.”

“Gotcha.”

“You’re really hiding a sword?”

“It’s not a big sword.”

“Lots of ways to interpret that,” she observed.

“I can only think of two, but I’m fine with either of them. It’s up to you.”

“Is this how you handle danger? You put up a humorous façade?”

“This doesn’t feel dangerous. Everyone’s being nice to each other so far. A scene like this just reminds me that my life is completely ridiculous.”

“You’re the one carrying a sword,” said Sierra. “What else do you do?”

“Filing. Mostly lots of filing. I play piano, too. I’m also a pretty good goatherd.”

Her head tilted downward as her skepticism deepened. Then in answer to some unseen and unheard cue, Sierra looked away to meet Kate’s eyes. “Would you excuse us?” Kate said to the others. “We need to bring in our last guests.” With that, the two women left.

The witches rejoined Alex. “Everything alright?” he asked.

“More or less,” said Molly. “It’s like we expected. They’re gonna want us to explain what went down last September. We’ll stick to the script as best we can.”

“What about you?” asked Onyx. “Are you doing okay?”

“I think so.” He shrugged as he saw raised eyebrows from both of them. “Remind me why I’m here again?”

“Because we needed a friend,” said Molly. “And because you’re a multi-lingual monster-slaying weapons master.”

“Thank you.”

“That girl made you feel like a total noob, didn’t she?”

“Pretty much.”

“Isn’t that the plan, though? I mean at least for you?” asked Onyx.

“Well, she totally knew I’m armed even if she couldn’t see through the spells you put on my stuff,” Alex told her.

“Meh. Everyone here is armed with magic.” Onyx shrugged. “It’s kind of silly to say you can’t have a weapon. Giving up our wands and such wouldn’t make much of a difference for us. If we’re all armed, why shouldn’t you be?”

“It’s why they don’t pat anyone down,” agreed Molly. “Not like it’d do any good.”

“Guess I’ll take your word for that,” Alex mumbled—right before Kate and Sierra returned with a group of people dressed for a gun store fashion show.

Six men and three women arrived to represent the Light. They wore variations on the sort of dark, padded coats Alex often saw on sale at motorcycle shops, but he doubted these were crash jackets. He saw dark ball caps and sunglasses, black or navy blue cargo pants, and combat boots all around. Only two members of the group dressed differently. Their appearance immediately raised his alarm far more than the others could have even if they’d carried in assault rifles.

  The sharp-dressed pair walked at the rear of the group as if they were tagalongs for this posse like Alex was for the witches. The dark-haired woman wore a form-fitting dress with a long slit up the sides to show off her legs. The man beside her was dressed in a dark suit and blue silk shirt, without a single dirty blond hair out of place on his head. While the others looked rugged and even a little burly, this pair struck an eye-catching, confident, sensuous image.

Alex knew better than to take this degree of physical beauty lightly.

If Kate sensed anything wrong, it didn’t show. She brought the group in with the same easy courtesy she’d shown the witches. Sierra seemed a bit edgier, following behind the pair of sharp-dressed stunners with the same wariness she’d shown Alex. He caught her eyes for only a glance as the group passed by. He made eye contact with the blond man, too. It wasn’t intentional. He wanted to keep track of the guy, not draw him over, which of course was exactly what happened.

The stranger smoothly broke off from his companions to approach him, throwing a glance and a cordial nod to Molly and Onyx. “Good evening, ladies,” he said, and then his head tilted curiously. “You must be Alex.”

More alarm bells. This didn’t feel right at all. The witches seemed as guarded and surprised as Alex. Sierra stayed near, her eyebrows rising as she listened in. “Have we met?” Alex asked.

“No,” said the stranger after a thoughtful pause. “No, but we have common associates.”

“Samuel?” came a woman’s voice. The other too-pretty newcomer joined them while the casual-tactical showcase settled in around one of the round tables. She seemed objectively gorgeous, yet even with his heightened desires, Alex looked at her with a grave sense of dread rather than attraction. “Something interesting?” she asked.

The other stranger’s lips twitched with a grin. His icy blue eyes never looked away. “Yes. Evelyn, this is Alex.”

“Oh. Hello.” Her face brightened. It wasn’t reassuring.

“As it turns out, the hosts are holding to their rule of only one escort for every contingent of guests,” explained Samuel. “I suppose I’ll have to step out. Evelyn, have fun.”

“I’ll do my best,” she said, turning away once more.

“I’m sorry I can’t stay to talk, Alex. It’s too bad. I thought by now your
other
girlfriends would have told you about me. Perhaps Rachel there can start things off.” Samuel gave a wink before leaving. “Nice to see you again, Rachel.” With that, he turned and strode past a scowling, bewildered Sierra, who silently followed him out.

Wait, what?
Alex thought. He suddenly found his girlfriend beside him, watching the stranger leave with wide eyes and a firmly set jaw. “Rachel?” he hissed.

“Motherfucking piss buckets,” the angel muttered through gritted teeth.

“The hell’s going on?” asked Molly.

At the open ballroom doors, Sierra’s stride and posture shifted as soon as Samuel rounded the exit. She quickly followed, disappearing from view. “He’s gone,” explained Onyx. “Soon as he turned the corner.”

“Of course he is,” said Rachel. “Asshat showoff.”

“Rachel,” Molly whispered, “have you been here the whole time?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, only you three can see me. And Commander FuckWaffle out there, I guess,” the angel added.

“He had wings,” Onyx continued. Alex had seen no such thing. Probably no one did except for Onyx, and possibly Rachel. “His aura was too dark to read, and he had wings. Black
angel’s
wings.”

Polite calls went out for people to find seats. Groups of Practitioners broke up their schmoozing circles. Alex kept his voice low as he pressed, “Rachel, who the fuck was that?”

“He’s a problem. He’s a serious, major fucking problem.” Rachel, too, looked back to the others in the room, her eyes darting here and there. “And his name isn’t Samuel. It’s Sammael. Son of a
bitch
.”

“Woah, really?” Onyx blinked. “Holy shit.”

“Not so holy anymore,” grumbled Rachel.

“Wait, you know who that is?” Alex asked the witch.

“I recognize the name, at least.”

“What’s his deal, then?” Alex looked from one woman to another. “The other one is a succubus, isn’t she? Evelyn? Is Sammael one, too? What do you call the male types? An incubus?”

“I don’t know what kind of demon she is, but Sammael is so much fuckin’ worse than an inkie,” said Rachel. “This is bad news. I’ll be back as soon as I can, but I’ve gotta deal with this shit
now
.”

“We didn’t even know you were here in the first place,” Molly pointed out.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. Be careful and stick together. I’ll come back as soon as I spread the news. This has to take priority.”

“What about the others?” asked Alex.

“They’re on my mind, too. Lorelei knows these shitheads better than I do, though. Gotta trust her to handle herself.” She put her hand on his arm with an apologetic look. “I came to have your back. Watch yourself. There aren’t any other angels in here.” Then she ran for the door, fading out of sight before her third step.

Molly stepped around to pull the other two into a huddle. “Do we warn everyone about the demon chick or not?”

“I’m not sure anyone will believe us,” said Onyx. “That chick is hiding her freak flag really well. I don’t even see it. And the other one is gone.”

“Okay, you said you recognized the name, right?” asked Alex. “Who is that?”

“Depending on your sources, that’s the guy who put on a snake suit and gave Eve the apple,” said Onyx. “Or he’s the Angel of Death. Or both. Or neither.” She gave a nervous, apologetic shrug. “It kinda depends on how deep you read into things and what you trust, but that name turns up in religious sources and books on demonology. Either way, if Rachel’s worried, he’s a problem.”

“Oh, for fuck’s—” Alex cut himself off. “Great, now I’m talking like Rachel. What do you two think? It’s still your party here.”

The witches shared an uneasy glance. “If we can’t warn anyone about this, maybe we should just bail?” Onyx suggested, though she didn’t seem thrilled at the idea.

“If we bail, we don’t know what’s happening,” Molly noted. “It could look suspicious, too. We’ll wind up on the outside of all this. For all we know, that bitch came to turn everyone against us.”

“Yeah. We can’t walk away,” Onyx agreed. “We gotta play it cool. If you’re still game, that is,” she said to Alex. “We’re not pushing you into this.”

His jaw set against his discomfort. “No, I’m good. Let’s do it.”

They made the decision right in time for Sierra’s return. “What the hell was that about?” Sierra asked, jerking her thumb back to the exit.

“That was an example of why I don’t like being the center of attention,” said Alex.

“Hey Sierra,” said Onyx. “What’s with giving Alex the stink-eye and the suspicion?” The other woman blinked in surprise. Onyx nodded. “Yeah, turns out I was listening.”

“I’m giving everyone stink-eye and suspicion,” answered Sierra. “It’s my job.” She gestured to Alex. “His problem is he engaged.”