The Demon Within (13 page)

Caly’s lips twitched, and she shifted to look behind Kelly toward the walkway. “I believe that’s coming yet.”

Kelly blinked then shook her head. “I don’t know how you do that.”

“Part bloodhound.” Caly joked and watched Jarred alight from the car carrying two sacks. Coffee and donuts. Yum.

Caly turned and watched David struggle to his feet.

“You could give me a hand, you know,” he huffed under his breath and aimed a glare at both women.

“Sugar, I think you can remember how to work those things that connect your feet to your body.” Kelly looped her arm through Caly’s and dragged her off toward the kitchen. The men trailed after them.

“Aren’t you going to ask why we came?” Kelly tossed out the question in a casual manner, her focus on the food being passed around the table.

“Let me guess. You are to be my cook, David my servant, and Jarred my butler?”

A jelly-covered smirk cross Jarred’s face as he systematically devoured the last of his donut. “I told you she wouldn’t fall for it.” He wiped at the cherry smudge, and turned to search the cupboards and fridge without another word. She’d stocked the bare minimum, up from the normally stark kitchen, in preparation for their visit, knowing that even if they didn’t move in with her, they’d spend every waking moment there anyway.

“Girl, we worry about you. It’s not safe for you to stay here by yourself.” Kelly flicked David a barely discernible look from the corner of her eye.

Caly knew that look. Trouble. “What happened?”

“Maybe you should sit and have your coffee first.” David slid the cardboard cup across the table. Caly dutifully cradled the cup, the heat invading her chilled fingers. She inhaled the steam deep into her lungs, not sure she could handle more bad news. The fragrance of roasted black coffee had her eyes closing in bliss. Her last bit of denial before the world intruded.

“Here.” The smell of chocolate reached her first. One eye cracked open to see David dangle a Swiss stir stick inches from her face, a knowing smirk on his lips.

Swiping the swizzle, she didn’t care why they were here or even hear his teasing, not until she finished her coffee. As she sipped her delicious brew, she watched the ever organized Jarred jot down a list of supplies he found lacking.

“You’ll never guess who came to visit.” Kelly’s words were muffled around the donut she devoured. Her second.

It didn’t take a genius to reach an answer. “Juliet.” The name soured the coffee and the last swallow left a bitter taste coating the back of her throat.

“The bitch came to visit you, too, didn’t she? I bet she gave the same prepared speech she gave us on how sorry she was about our loss.” Kelly rose, ready to beat the snot out of the debutant.

Caly appreciated the sentiment, but spoke to halt her friend’s headlong dash to disaster. “She knows what she’s doing. She knows the consequences of consorting with that type of man and doesn’t care. You beating the crap out of her won’t change her mind; it’ll only redirect her ire onto you.”

“I don’t care. She needs to be taught a lesson. She can’t mess with other people’s lives and not expect them to react.”

“And when her demon friends go after David because of you?” It was a low blow, but it halted Kelly at the door. “She’ll search out your weakness and attack. All she knows is her friends get her what she wants. She doesn’t know they’re demons, and I want to keep it that way. The last thing we need is for her to start plotting.”

Kelly steadied herself by gripping the doorway, her knuckles white, her back poker straight. Attitude marked her every move as she turned to face the group. “We can take whatever she can dish out.”

“We couldn’t at the temple.” The reminder wasn’t gentle, but Kelly didn’t understand subtlety when her friends were threatened. The words were so very similar to what her late night visitor quoted to her that she winced.

Caly hated to bring it up, but it needed to be said. “They’re planning something big. I’m afraid we’ll be in over our heads if we don’t prepare ourselves.”

“You mean the plan to resurrect the Fallen.” Kelly moved back to David’s side and snuggled close.

When he wrapped her in his arms, Caly looked down at her empty cup, a twinge of jealousy burrowing in her chest. To have someone to support her like that, no second guesses, no doubts. She rubbed her temple, pushing the envy away. “I don’t think it was a fluke. The walls were covered with glyphs, instructions on how to conduct a blood ritual. My best guess is that they were searching for someone, but I have no clue who or why.”

“So what’s our next move?”

Frustration made Caly antsy. With no outlet, she stood and paced. Either that or go stir crazy. “I’d hoped to avoid this step, but we have no choice.” Caly stopped and raised her chin.

Jarred beat her to the punch. “You’re going through with your plan to reach your demon contact.”

“If I can contact my djinn, my doppelganger, I know I can find out what’s happening.”

“But isn’t seeing your own doppelganger an omen of death?” David rubbed his chin as he studied her.

“Not always.” Caly bit her lip against volunteering more information. The more she said, the less likely she’d be able to slip out of the house without them trailing her into trouble.

Kelly didn’t wait to hear more. “It’s too dangerous.”

With a shrug, Caly met her gaze. No matter how she worked the situation, she couldn’t find a way around it. “Not going would be worse.”

“Tell me about this djinn.” Disapproval and judgment lined Jarred’s face, but he also understood necessity.

Meeting up with her djinn again gave Caly mixed feelings. At the first terrifying meeting with her double, Caly feared that if she stared too long into those dark eyes, she’d never find her way back from the abyss. Now, all these years later, the thought of seeing her again made her feel like a helpless child.

“Most people have heard of guardian angels. In order to keep the balance between good and evil, a djinn is born as well. Only djinn aren’t the benevolent creatures that parents tell their children about in fairytales. No magic lamp or benign genie popping out to grant wishes. They are weaker demons and tend to be a bit overzealous when it comes to terms of their survival.”

“Like an angel and devil sitting on your shoulders.” Kelly shook her head. “You can’t trust—”

“She’s not evil.” The protest sprang instantly to her lips, a sore subject she and Oscar had argued over so many times. Jarred raised a brow at her vehement denial, and she looked away when awareness sharpened in his gaze. “In order for a djinn to survive, they must remain close to their human counterpart until they grow into their powers.”

“And how would you find this demon?” Kelly crossed her arms, not giving her an inch. The pointed question carried a little too much suspicion for Caly to brush it off without them taking notice. Her friend knew her too well.

“It’s like déjà vu. I can sense her when we’re close.” That was as much as she was willing to share with them of her djinn. She fought daily to keep her humanity and not give into the demonic urges. She’d be damned if she’d allow her friends to learn about it now when their lives hung in the balance, and they needed her most.

“What’s to prevent this demon from killing you outright?”

The muffled words came from Jarred. Even with his head stuck in the back of a cupboard as he tallied the supplies, he still paid careful attention to everything around him.

“If I die, she dies. The only danger is if we came too close. Since we both know the consequences, we can avoid—”

“Explain the danger.” Kelly tilted her head and stared without blinking, the perfect lie detector, trying to ferret out what wasn’t being said.

Caly knew that expression, and the trouble that came with it. “When a person meets with their djinn, it’s like two magnets. You’ve met your other half, the best friend you didn’t know you were missing. You start thinking alike, talking alike. After a time, the line between the demon and human blur. They merge. All the power. The lure of never being alone again.

“But, the human body is only meant to support one life. One soul. Some go insane. Others die.” she turned and tossed away her coffee cup. “Few manage to survive a separation.”

Fear surged to life as Caly met the concerned gazes of her friends. “This is beyond our normal battles. The temple depicted the destruction of a whole civilization to find this special person. Something we did resurrected the forgotten angels. Now that they are awake, they won’t stop.”

“Then I’ll go with you.” Kelly smiled, but her narrowed gaze was focused on the way David eyed the donut bag. When he reached for a second helping, Kelly slapped his hand. “Hey.”

Caly smiled a little at their antics, part of her relieved they didn’t dig any further.

“I need you and David to find if there are other groups out there like us. Oscar kept us isolated. Any information he had died with him. They need to be warned.” The demon statue was correct in one thing: they were human, too fragile to risk.

“If they’re online, I’ll find them.” David forgot about the donut bag, his ears all but perking up at the name of his second love. Technology.

“I doubt you’ll find anything advertised.”

Excitement lightened David’s eyes. He rose and distractedly swiped at the crumbs as they fell from his pants, patting his pockets for a pen. “If they have a computer hooked up to the internet, I can use that to get in.”

“Won’t that take too long?” Kelly sounded skeptical. She picked up the donut bag and frowned when she found it empty. With a sigh, she handed David a pen.

“If there are others out there, they must monitor the news and websites like we do. I can write code to track them.” David answered with only half his attention as he hurriedly scribbled his notes on the donut bag he snagged from Kelly’s hands.

When no one agreed, he lifted his head and spread his arms. “I am open to other suggestions if you have anything better.”

Caly looked to Kelly and Jarred. Kelly only shrugged.

“Works for me.” Jarred closed his notebook and straightened from his slouched position in front of the cupboard. “I need to pick up supplies.”

Kelly’s triumphant smile almost sent Caly back a step. “This will be home base. We can get everything set up by nightfall.”

“I’m not sure that’s wise.” Memories of her late night visitor came to mind — again drat his demon hide. She wasn’t sure what worried her more. That her friends would learn about him, or that he wouldn’t return if they stayed. “If I run into trouble, this is the first place they’ll hit.”

“And we’ll be ready.” Kelly’s unrepentant, persistent attitude scared the bejesus out of her.

“Four against an army?”

Kelly shook her head so emphatically, her short hair whipped out and looked like it stood on end. “Donald, the weapons specialist at the warehouse, mentioned leaving the group. It seems he can’t stand Henry either. When we said we were heading over here, he and a few of his buddies asked to tag along. We estimated there are around fourteen with all of us.” Kelly sobered some. “Not an army, but we’re the best of the best. If trouble comes, we can stand strong.”

Both Jarred and David nodded. Caly did the only thing she could. She conceded defeat, for now, and went to her room to prepare. She couldn’t breathe as her lies coated the air, their trust resting heavily against her. She wasn’t sure when the situation had gotten so out of hand or how she’d ended up with an elite group of fighters under her control.

She tried to remember that it was what Oscar wanted, but it wasn’t anything she ever dreamed for herself. She didn’t know if she was strong enough to survive the knowledge that one bad decision could cost the lives of her friends.

Maybe that was why Oscar remained so gruff and detached from everyone. That and the guy was one tough bastard to get along with anyway. She didn’t think she could be like him. She didn’t want to live his sterile life. Not anymore. She wouldn’t survive. As it was, she was hanging on by a string. She needed that cure.

Weapons lined the bed, ready to be tucked away on her body for easy access. She had to be careful. Too many weapons might set off alarm bells for the demons. She could hide a few, but not as many as she’d like and a lot less than what was comfortable.

The last thing she needed was to be caught. She doubted her djinn would turn her away, but she had no way of knowing. It had been years since she last saw her double. They hadn’t exactly parted on the friendliest of terms.

She rubbed the scars on her wrist where Oscar had bound them, still able feel the heavy metal bracelets he’d welded to her arms like a shackles.

Despite the obstacles, they’d escaped the torture. The separation left her feeling a shell of her former self. She hoped the djinn felt the same way and was willing to help.

The plan to leave the house without a tail was tenuous at best. Her ability to blend into the background would allow her an advantage. She just had to wait for nightfall and avoid Kelly at all cost.

By dusk, her house was overrun with people. The old farmhouse was built for a large family but twenty people pushed the walls to their limits and more showed up by the hour. Kelly had underestimated the numbers. Not only did current members appeared but old ones who’d left when Oscar had passed.