Dance with the Demon by Stacia Stark

8

Danica

Iwas so tired I was almost shaking when I left Selina’s an hour later. We’d started simple, and she’d had me raise and lower my shields over and over again. When I’d asked why we were doing something she’d specifically warned me not to do, she’d told me she was hoping I would learn exactly how exhausting it was to do something so unnatural.

“Your shields should rarely be lowered. You need to learn how to make them almost translucent. Your power should be able to flow through your shields when necessary.”

I’d shrugged and complied, raising and lowering my shields what felt like a thousand times. Finally, Selina had made me reach for my power while raising and lowering my shields. By the end of our lesson, I’d felt the tiniest spark of power while my shield was still up.

My phone vibrated in my back pocket, and I pulled it out as I got into my car. I kept the door open and turned the key in the hope that the air conditioning would get to work. A trickle of sweat ran down my back, beneath my t-shirt.

“Danica Amana,” a voice said.

I frowned. The voice was familiar. “Who is this?”

“Mariam. We met a few weeks ago when you were looking into the demon murders.”

Mariam. The light fae representative. “How can I help you?”

“You may be able to help us,” her tone was wry. “I saw the video.”

I was so tired that it took me a moment to understand what video she meant. When I did, I clenched my teeth. “You and the rest of the world.”

She laughed. It sounded like tinkling bells. Tinkling bells I wanted to punch.

“It seems that you are currently unemployed.”

There was no point lying. “Yup.” I popped the p and she chuckled. Glad my current circumstances were so amusing to her.

“We may have an opportunity for you.”

“An opportunity?”

“Yes. Can you meet with me to discuss it?”

“When?”

“Does now work?”

Typical fae. There was only one schedule, and it was their own.

I chewed on my lower lip. It was getting close to dinner time. I needed to question anyone who’d been around when Gary was attacked before their stores closed. But I also needed to earn enough to pay my rent.

“Give me an hour.”

I drove back to Gary’s store and went from door to door along the street, displaying the useless picture of the man in the cloak and generally making a nuisance of myself. No one could give me anything even remotely helpful. The bar on the corner had been hosting a private party, which had gotten loud. Any sounds Gary may have made, or any smashing of his store, had been lost to the bad pop music that night.

Pissed off, I scowled down at my phone. My mood turned darker. Instead of heading to the fae representative’s office, which was close to Samael’s tower in the center of Durham, Mariam had instructed me to go to Hope Valley, where many of the high fae lived.

It had added ten minutes to my trip each way, but I was more concerned with the neighborhood itself.

Before the portals opened, Hope Valley had already been one of the most prestigious areas in Durham. And many of the residents had been just fine while the world turned to shit, retreating behind their huge gates and into their panic rooms. I’d seen an interview of a human who lived in the area after the portals fell, and he’d been most befuddled by the fact that people had attempted to break down his door while fleeing from the werewolves who’d rampaged through the city.

When the fae arrived, many of the high fae decided they enjoyed the neighborhood. Something about the sprawling homes had obviously reminded them of their world. The light fae, in particular, tended toward the gaudier mansions, and they offered humans deals they couldn’t refuse when they wanted their homes.

Within a decade, almost all the humans had left the neighborhood. The holdouts had soon discovered that living in a fae neighborhood meant dealing with pixies stealing their food, goblins terrorizing their children, and the occasional banshee screaming bloody murder.

I didn’t mind the lesser fae. It was the high fae– and their deep sense of entitlement– that rubbed me the wrong way.

Dover Road backed on to what had once been a country club but was now a small forest. I slowed my car and crawled along the road, fascinated despite myself. Then I double-checked the address. Yup, I’d gotten it right.

My car couldn’t have looked more out of place in this neighborhood, and a light fae couple who were out for a walk sneered at me as I pulled into the drive and pressed the intercom.

“Name?”

“Danica Amana.”

The gate slid open, and I drove up the long drive, my mouth falling open. It looked like a hotel. The sand-colored house sprawled over what had to be twenty-five thousand square feet. Multiple columns supported the four-storied monstrosity, and a group of light fae guards waited for me outside the front door.

I parked and stepped out of my car, finally closing my mouth.

One of the guards stepped forward, his pale blue eyes intent as he took in my weapons.

“This way, Ms. Amana.”

The fae’s pointed ears told me he was high-fae, but he registered as low on the power scale. I followed him into the cool of the house and up one of the two staircases leading to the second floor.

We stopped outside the first door on the left, and he rapped his knuckles on the door.

“Come in.”

Mariam was sitting behind a commanding wooden desk. My gaze skipped the rest of the room and got stuck on the desk. The grain of the wood swirled in a way that made it almost look like marble.

The polished wooden floors gleamed, while the walls were done in crimson. The furniture was solid, clearly expensive, and mostly wood. For all their love of the ornate, the fae preferred to surround themselves with natural textures like stone and wood whenever possible.

Mariam smiled at me and gestured for me to take a seat. I wasn’t sure what kind of powers she had, but she’d always smelled of salt water to me. Her blonde hair had been pulled back in a simple braid, highlighting her impeccable face and sharp cheekbones. Her eyes were so blue they appeared almost violet.

“Nice place you’ve got here.”

If she heard the sarcasm in my voice, she didn’t respond to it.

“The seelie king occasionally uses this home when he visits. Thank you for meeting me here. I appreciate it. The subject we are about to discuss is… delicate.”

Delicate and clearly confidential. I was officially interested.

The fae male left, closing the door behind him. Mariam took a moment to examine me, and then finally let out a long breath.

“Over the past few weeks, we have had some incidents.”

“What kind of incidents?”

Mariam hesitated and it was clear that she wasn’t thrilled about disclosing these incidents.

“I can’t help you unless you tell me what happened.”

“First, I need your word that you are no longer associated with the Mage Council.”

I raised my eyebrow. “I thought you said you saw the video.”

She stared at me silently and I heaved a sigh. “I am no longer associated with the Mage Council. I’m officially fired.”

Mariam’s gaze dropped to my hip. The Mistilteinn Dagger was in my belt sheath, and I hadn’t bothered pulling my t-shirt over it. Mariam had just used my own lie-detector against me.

Sneaky. I could respect that. My opinion of her increased a notch.

“Okay,” she nodded. “Several light fae artifacts have gone missing recently.”

“What kind of artifacts?”

She went silent again. I waited her out. This was like pulling teeth.

“The kind of artifacts that should have been kept in the fae realms,” she said finally. “However, some of their owners are both overconfident and stubborn.”

“Lay it out for me.”

“Three weeks ago, the first artifact was stolen. It’s called the Belt of Thor.”

“What does it do?”

Mariam’s lips twitched like she was holding back a sneer. She clearly thought I should know all about the fae and their most valuable artifacts.

In my mind, I got to my feet, told her to go fuck herself, and walked out the door. Then I woke up in a week or two to find my electricity was shut off.

I kept my ass in the chair and gave Mariam squinty eyes.

She sighed. “The name of this artifact means ‘strength belt’ or ‘power belt’ in Old Norse. Some know it as the Girdle of Might.”

“So, what, it makes people exceptionally strong?”

“It was said that the Megingjörð Belt doubled the strength of Thor himself.”

“Yikes.” If it doubled the strength of a god, what would it do in the hands of a paranormal with a grudge? My mind presented me with the thought of someone like Veronica with the belt and I shuddered. The witch had been crazy and powerful enough.

I took out my phone and opened the notes app. “Where was it stolen from?”

“My office.”

I gaped at her. No wonder she was barely giving me any of the information I needed. Mariam had fucked up.

“My king had asked for it to be kept safe in this world, as he is currently having some… issues with his enemies.” She waved her hand in the air. “There have long been rumors that the belt can also increase the owner’s natural power along with strength. Those rumors are false, but symbols have their own power, and the seelie king found it more convenient to remove the symbol completely.”

“You tried it, didn’t you?” I gave her a wink and she merely sniffed and said nothing. The fae couldn’t lie, and she simply shrugged, leaning back in her chair.

“Ogma’s Amulet went missing next.”

“Ogma?”

Mariam’s expression said she found my knowledge of the gods wanting. I waited her out.

“Ogma is the Dagda’s brother. He’s also Lugh’s half-brother.”

I raised my eyebrows. Even I had heard of Lugh and the Dagda. Like the two main families in any soap opera, they cultivated infidelity, revenge, and plenty of drama. Only this soap opera involved incredible power.

Mariam nodded at whatever she saw on my face. “Ogma invented Ogham, which was used to create the old Irish alphabet.”

“Okay, so what does the amulet do?”

“It provides the owner with great knowledge. Knowledge that is confidential and priceless. However, only those with fae or demon blood may use it.”

I frowned at that. “Demon blood?” She clamped her lips shut and I almost rolled my eyes. “So it’s knowledge about the fae, huh?”

She stared at me. I heroically held back a smirk. “How did the amulet go missing?”

“The amulet’s power works in a unique way. While not quite sentient, it has often gone missing over the centuries, always finding its way to the one who needs its knowledge the most.”

“But it hasn’t shown up?”

“No. We would know if the amulet had been activated and used, as it then would have made its way back to us. Instead, it is still missing. We would not have worried, except that the other artifacts are missing as well.”

I entered the amulet into my phone.

“Anything else?”

“Hrunting is also missing.”

I gaped at her in stunned silence. When I could talk again, I stuttered out my words. “The sword that Unferth gave Beowulf? How much power are we talking here?”

She gave me a thin-lipped smile. “That sword was created by mortals. Hence why it proved ineffective. However, that sword will lead those with enough power to another much more important sword.”

“An important sword like the one Beowulf found in the cave? That sword was melted when he killed Grendel’s mother.”

“Was it?”

Wow. Okay. “Who was the sword stolen from?”

“A light fae named Aubrey. He’s somewhat of a weapon collector. The sword was stolen from his house.”

“So whoever has been stealing these artifacts already has a belt that can make them exceptionally strong, an amulet that can give them incredible knowledge, and a sword that can lead them to another sword known for killing monsters. Do I have that about right?”

Mariam raised one eyebrow. “Indeed.”

“Suspects?”

“There are few who know what these artifacts can do. But we have become… overconfident.”

I raised one eyebrow, and Mariam sighed again. “The artifacts were created several millennia ago. Some of them by the gods themselves. They were lost in various worlds, found, and lost again. They do not require power to wield them. They are their own power.”

So literally anyone could pick them up and use them in any way they chose– whether they were human, werewolf, fae, or demon.

“Okay. I need a list of anyone who knew about the artifacts and anyone who could’ve had access to them.”

Mariam nodded and reached for a piece of paper, handing it over. I scanned down the list of names and barely suppressed a sigh.

“Let’s start with the belt. Any video footage?”

Mariam looked offended at the suggestion. “It was in my personal office.”

“Anything else I need to know? Anyone who you came into contact with who made the hair on the back of your neck stand up?”

She shook her head and I put my phone down. “I require a five thousand dollar deposit which will pay for any incidentals, bribes, and travel necessary during the investigation.”

Mariam frowned at me. “I don’t think you realize just how important these artifacts are. In the hands of humans, werewolves, or other paranormals, they could wreak destruction across this world. Seelie artifacts can do everything from suppressing demon magic, to taking power from the world around them for the user to wield. If you can return them to us before they are used, I will pay you a hundred thousand dollars.”

Somehow, I managed to stop my mouth from dropping open. “Okay. I still need the deposit. And I need to talk to your receptionist.”

“She is waiting outside. You may interview her in here.”

Mariam got up and opened the door. I took the opportunity to take the seat behind her desk. When interviewing witnesses and suspects, always take the position of power.

Mariam disappeared and her assistant walked in, raising her eyebrow when she saw me behind the desk.

“Adelina?”

“Yes.” Her face was blank but her eyes radiated dislike. I’d met her once before with Vas. She’d attempted to block me from seeing Mariam, and I’d pulled out the big guns, threatening her with the demons. I wouldn’t like me either.

“Take me back to the day the belt went missing,” I said. “Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?”

She sat down, stretching her legs out in front of her. She wore a pale pink suit and a set of pearls. Her eyelashes were so long they gave me the willies.

Adelina cooperated, taking me through every minute of her day. Occasionally, she flipped through her daily planner or took out her phone to check a detail.

No, she hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary, and all the people who’d had a meeting with her boss that day had been trusted to the fae.

I let her go and leaned back in Mariam’s chair. With the way the fae were determined to keep their business to themselves, this was likely to be a long, complicated investigation. An investigation without the few resources I’d had with the Mage Council.

My hands fisted. Fuck those guys. I was going to solve this, get my money, and be set for at least the next few years if I lived frugally.

Mariam opened her door, her eyes narrowing as she took in my position in her seat. She walked toward me, handed me a check and hovered, clearly waiting for me to get out of her chair.

I stood. “I need to take a look around your office tomorrow. Is that going to be a problem?”

“No. I will tell everyone to cooperate.”

“Okay. I also need Aubrey’s information, along with anything you can tell me about where the amulet was last seen before it disappeared.”

“I will email the information through to you.”

“Thank you.”

I got in my car and drove home, where I had a nightmare that Odin was trying to kill me.