Dance with the Demon by Stacia Stark

9

Danica

Imessaged my sister as soon as I opened my eyes the next morning. Evie said Cil and Zip were doing okay. They were quiet, but their new friend and the toys and games at Samael’s had them sufficiently distracted.

I called the hospital. Still no change in Gary’s condition. I hung up, fed Lia, showered, and drove to Mariam’s office.

The fae representative’s building had been decorated in gold and whites, with the kind of thick, lush carpet that screamed wealth. Adelina and I ignored each other as I strode through the small waiting area and past her marble counter, heading toward Mariam’s office.

A group of pixies flitted by, their voices so high pitched I held back a wince as they gossiped amongst themselves.

Mariam was waiting in her office for me, and she nodded as I stepped inside.

“Good morning.”

“Hi. Where did you keep the amulet?”

She gave me a look, but I didn’t exactly have time to be polite. Today, I needed to go talk to the kids, follow up with Steve, and go to the stupid ball with Samael. I also needed to go through Gary’s schedule in the weeks leading up to his attack.

Mariam got to her feet. She wore a white dress that I would’ve spilled something on within five minutes, and her feet were clad in gold stilettos that perfectly matched the gold accents in the wallpaper.

She crossed the office, opening a cupboard next to the wall with the floor-to-ceiling windows. In the cupboard was a safe.

I cracked my shields down and stared at the fae.

“Where’s the ward?”

A muscle twitched next to her eye before she could hide it. She must be very upset if she’d let her glamor slip. “This safe wasn’t warded.”

“I’m sorry, I must’ve misheard you. You can’t have told me that you had no ward on the ancient fae artifact which was created by a god.”

She glowered at me and turned away. After a few moments of pacing back and forth, she threw up her hands. “I should’ve warded it,” she admitted. “But this is one of the most secure buildings in Durham. No one knew the amulet was here. And this office is monitored at all times.”

All signs were pointing towards her assistant being involved. The only problem? Fae couldn’t lie, and I’d made sure to ask her yes or no questions. Adelina hadn’t expected the amulet to go missing.

I turned to the safe. I could crack it in about fifteen minutes, and my safe-breaking skills were rusty as hell. If someone knew the amulet was here, they could’ve snuck in at any time.

Half an hour later, I stalked out of Mariam’s office. Then I paused, my gaze going to the pixies who were sitting on one of the tables in the seating area, their tiny legs hanging over the edge.

I crouched in front of them. “Hi.”

The pixie closest to me flapped incandescent wings, her magenta eyes taking me in. “You’re investigating the missing amulet.”

“I am. Can you guys tell me anything?”

They all shook their heads. A sudden thought occurred to me and I smiled at them. “Do you work here?”

They nodded. “I am the pixie queen’s assistant,” the first pixie said. “She has me bring her requests and petitions to Mariam, who takes them to our king.”

“So, you must be here a lot, right?”

She nodded and her friend let out a laugh that sounded like tiny bells ringing. “Most days. Our queen has many petitions for the king.”

“Have you noticed anyone going into Mariam’s office over the past few weeks?”

“Just Mariam and her guests. And the humans who use their tools.”

I went still. “The cleaners?”

“Yes.”

I ground my teeth and scanned the list of names Mariam had given me. They were divided into groups, and there were no humans amongst them.

“Are there many cleaners in this building?”

One of the other pixies, a tiny male dressed in green pants and a white shirt nodded, his wings fluttering as he rose into the air. “There are many humans here. They don’t like us.”

His dark frown said he didn’t like them either.

My curiosity was piqued. “How do you know they don’t like you?”

“They call us rude names. And one of them attempts to use their sucking machine to make us disappear.”

Sudden fury ripped through me. “The vacuum?”

He nodded. “We were nice to the humans when they first started working here. But they weren’t nice back.”

“I’m sorry they weren’t nice to you. Don’t judge us all based on those assholes. Thanks for talking to me. If I have any questions later, can I talk to you guys again?”

They all nodded, and I got to my feet. I stalked back into Mariam’s office, throwing open her door.

She jerked her head up and I scowled at her. “Cleaners, Mariam?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Human cleaners. Why would you need cleaners in a fae building anyway?”

“This facility— and my position— was designed to be a bridge between the fae and every other race in this world.”

I was sure that somewhere, that logic worked for the fae. Personally, I had no fucking idea how. They’d invited humans in here. Humans who would get an up-close look at the wealth and power the light fae held after coming through those portals. How exactly would that help create a relationship of respect?

“So you thought hiring human cleaners would… what? Make you more approachable?”

Mariam flushed. “I didn’t make that decision.”

“Okay. This time I need a list of everyone who had access to this office. Including the humans.”

She picked up the phone, murmured a few words to someone and hung up.

“Adelina will have it for you.”

“Thank you.”

I turned, walked out, took the list from Adelina’s outstretched hand, and scanned it.

The fae had hired Crystal Clear Cleaning. I Googled the company as I stepped into the escalator and headed back down to the lobby. How like the fae to completely forget that they had a team of humans accessing their buildings.

I got back into my car and headed to Samael’s tower.

Zip and Cil were snuggled up next to Evie on the sofa when I arrived. Evie was reading them a story and she glanced up at me, but I waved my hand, indicating that she should keep going.

“And they lived happily ever after,” she said a few minutes later. The kids looked up.

“How’s our dad?” Zip demanded.

I stepped further into the room. “He’s doing okay. He hasn’t woken up yet, though. I need to ask you guys a few questions.”

They nodded and I sat next to Zip on the couch. “Okay you guys, I need you to think back to everything that you and your dad did over the past week. Let’s start with the weekend. What do you do?”

They blinked at me and Evie jumped in. “You guys go to a lesser fae school, right?”

“Yes. I’m in the advanced math class,” Cil said. “Zip’s in the math class for babies.”

Zip’s mouth twisted and I leaned close. “I wasn’t any good at math either.”

He looked up at me. “You weren’t?”

“Nah. I liked to read.”

He grinned. “I like to read too.”

“Awesome. Okay so when you finished school on Friday, what did you do next?”

“Dad took us to the park. And then he had to work, so we went to Merrill’s.”

Merrill was a goblin who ran a store similar to Gary’s, only he specialized in locating weapons, herbs, and spells from other realms. The two store owners had a begrudging respect for each other, even though they were competitors, and had struck up an unlikely friendship.

Cil gave Zip wide eyes and I squinted at them.

“What?”

“We’re not meant to hang out at Merrill’s without dad,” he admitted. “We told dad we were visiting our friend Kir.”

Lying to their dad. They’d started young. “Why doesn’t your dad like you visiting Merrill alone?”

“He says he has dangerous stuff in his store. But Merrill makes sure we don’t play with anything that could hurt us.”

I made a mental note to talk to Merrill.

“Okay, so you guys went to Merrill’s. Then what happened?”

The boys shared a look. “Dad had to work most of the weekend,” Zip said.

“He’s always working,” Cil frowned. “But he took us to the park again on… Saturday? And then he had a business meeting on Sunday, so he said we had to go and entertain ourselves.”

I narrowed my eyes at them. “You went back to Merrill’s, didn’t you?”

They both nodded solemnly. “Merrill is fun,” Zip said. “He lets us play in his stock room. It’s huge.”

The boys took me through the rest of their week, but nothing stuck out to me. “Does your dad have a calendar or a notebook where he writes down his meetings?” I hadn’t seen one when I poked through his store.

“Yeah,” Zip said. “It’s usually in his pocket.”

In that case, I needed to get back to the hospital and see if it was found on Gary when he was taken in. Then I’d go home, throw on a dress, and get back in time for Samael’s ball.

The door to the balcony opened and the demon himself strode into the room. Samael looked distracted, clearly lost in thought until his eyes narrowed on me, taking in my ripped jeans, utility belt, and t-shirt.

“You don’t look ready for the ball.”

“Cinderella has been busy. What time does it start?”

“Seven.”

“Surely a hedonist like you wasn’t intending to be on time?”

He gave me a slow smile. “I have a dress for you.”

“Uh-uh. I have my own clothes.”

“You agreed to go as my date. My dates wear what I choose for them.”

“Do they?” I crossed my arms. “Do they really?”

Evie let out a choked laugh and I gave her a look. The boys were staring at us wide-eyed, clearly entertained. I ground my teeth. “I’ll see you guys later. Samael, we’ll talk about this elsewhere.”

“As you wish.” He held his arm out for me and I ignored that, stalking past him and into the elevator. I pressed the button for the lobby. He stepped inside and glanced at the buttons. The light behind the G disappeared and reappeared around the button for his penthouse. I scowled at him.

“Grant me this favor,” he crooned, and I shook my head as the doors opened and I was once again in his territory.

Of course, this entire fucking city was his territory.

“I don’t think so.” A thought occurred to me. “How about we make a bargain.”

His eyes turned feral. The demon did so enjoy his bargains. “What kind of bargain?”

“I wear your dress, and I only have to stay for two hours.”

He stepped closer, and every nerve in my body seemed to come to attention. “You wear my dress and accessories, and allow my team to help you get ready. You stay four hours.”

“Three hours and I’ll wear the dress and let them help me with my hair. If you have shoes, I’ll take them too. But that’s it.”

He raised his hand, and I barely breathed as he tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear. Satisfaction radiated from him, and I had a feeling I’d agreed to much more than he’d expected. Sneaky demon.

“Very well.” Two women walked through the doorway in the direction of his bedroom, and I shamelessly stepped behind Samael. He’d had this planned, and now I was stuck.

“Wait, wait, wait. It’s only five pm. I have things to do! I’ll get back here in an hour and you guys can pretty me up then.”

Samael seemed entirely too amused by my cowardice. “I don’t think so. As my date, you will need to look the part.”

The women were already approaching, both of them impeccably put together. The woman on the right was clearly unseelie fae, her pointed ears and dark hair displayed to her best advantage. She took one look at me and clapped her hands.

“In the shower please.” She shared a look with her partner. “We have work to do.”

* * *

Samael

I closed my file on the little witch and lifted my head, gazing out the window of my office and to the city below me. The more information that my people found about Danica, the more my suspicions proved correct.

If she was who and what I suspected, she could lead me to everything I’d ever wanted. But only if I managed her carefully. Without enough oversight, I risked losing everything.

Including the witchling herself.

I ground my teeth. For the past weeks, I’d allowed her absence at Monday dinners. After her fury when she realized I wouldn’t be removing my bond, I’d given her some time to cool off. However, my patience was drawing to an end.

A knock sounded at my door.

“Enter.”

Bael stepped in, a thick file in his hands. “Ag believes one of the grimoires may have surfaced in Myanmar. He’s leaving after you sign the pact with Finvarra.”

My every sense sharpened. I itched to go hunt for the grimoires myself, but my enemies watched me too closely.

Nine black books. The search had taken centuries, as had the forming of alliances across the realms. With the grimoires in my possession, and an army of paranormals at my disposal, I would finally be able to strike.

My vengeance was so close I could almost taste it.

Unfortunately, there was still one unknown. One tactical consideration that had to be accounted for with every step. Thanks to my suspicions about who and what Danica was, the playing field had changed.

Finding the grimoires and striking at my enemies quickly had just become more important than ever.

“How is Danica’s training?”

Bael studied my expression, keeping his own neutral. “She is learning from the witch. Selina.”

I nodded. “She’s powerful. That is acceptable. For now.”

“We need to talk about the traitors,” Bael smoothly changed the subject.

Two demons had betrayed me to the McCormick coven, and where there were two, there were more. Just a few years ago, I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but my enemies had a long reach, even from the underworld.

I waved my hand. “What do you know?”

“Sitri has examined Malgron and Botis’ electronics.”

I leaned back. Sitri had a unique ability to use his power to create backdoors into sophisticated systems and dissolve encryptions. Never had the power been seen in a demon before, but it had proven incredibly useful over the years, as human technology began to catch up to where it had been before the portals opened.

“And?”

“They were careful. They knew we would inspect their electronics if they were caught. We are now comparing timestamps when they were off shift. Any of our people who were supposed to be working, or who were rostered off during the same periods will be questioned.”

I gave a short nod. Questioning my people left a bad taste in my mouth. It was also terrible for morale. But I couldn’t risk my plans being disrupted.

Not now, when I was so close to taking back my throne.