The position of Dragon Lord of the Arcane Court didn't usually require me to do more than settle a few disputes and manhandle an occasional demon. I liked my job. Wretch and I would hassle demons for fun, and we got paid for it.
This was different. So many bodies mutilated and left in the open. Nitha’s return, albeit briefly, stirring things up in the demon community. Her absence had been a clear signal to the rowdy younger demons that there was a payment if you didn’t obey the laws. Her defiance sparked rebellion. I was concerned the newest human mutilations were the result.
Upstairs, a large wooden table filled my living room. A slab from an ancient yew tree, it was six feet in diameter and, while polished, could still give you splinters if you weren't careful. I oiled it weekly loving the smell and feel of the wood.
A large couch and love seat pair flanked the table facing the back wall with the huge flat screen television. Wretch had a camera mounted at the top so I was on his surveillance feed. I learned how to flick panties over the camera the first week it was up. That pissed him off.
A small kitchenette offered me the ability to cook small meals. The courtyard separated the huge living space from the other half of the floor, my bedroom and the balcony beyond. I slept in human form. Scales on silk sheets didn't have the same feel as skin.
Tinted glass on the floor to ceiling windows prevented prying eyes from seeing in during the day. At night, I kept the lights off . My eyesight was better in the dark giving me an advantage if anyone appeared on my balcony.
This room felt like a library. I had two walls of bookshelves, some of the books hundreds of years old. Small collectibles fit in between the books. I used them to hide valuables. Banks would wonder if I kept an active bank account for centuries.
Real old skulls, spelled candles, and herb jars held healing tinctures and ones that killed you. Only I knew which was which. Even Wretch kept his hands off the things in here.
A multi-wicked candle sat on the table nearest the windows. Matches sat next to it. The smell of pine filled the area. A small pot held fresh peppermint. I took a leaf grinding it between my teeth. Mixed with the latte in my mouth the flavor soothed me.
My cell phone sat on the table flashing with messages I didn’t want to check. I shifted into dragon form stretching my wings to their full extent. They touched each of the walls, and I arched my back in a stretch. It felt good, shaking out the tension I headed for a quick shower shifting to get the smell of death off my skin before checking my messages.
Wretch called to say Angie found the woman from nearby after we left and both of her lungs were missing. Damn. They had been there when we left. We had been watched.
With the other body parts, our killer was, in Angie words. “Just three or four more murders from building a complete human body.”
Nitha had to be behind this, she knew it would consume us. Yet, I couldn't stop and focus on her. The risk of exposure was too great with the tourists coming into town over the next few days. The local media had to be sitting on this to prevent panic. There was no way they didn’t know.
Exposure was the only thing all of the paranormal races agreed on, and it was threatened. Humans far outnumbered us and even with magic, they had deadlier weapons. I sat down to research demon possession and control of human puppets. I couldn’t find a reference for animating parts. Each time it said the body must be alive when it’s possessed for the demon to control it.
Pulled from the books by Grace’s arriving for our evening hours, the smell of coffee filled my awareness. Downstairs long enough to fix a cup while grabbing a quick desert, I began to read again. One section stood out to me but I needed Wretch.
He growled into my ear. “I brought a woman home. You can call back later.”
If I went away every time he had a woman with him we’d never accomplish anything. “Demons can’t possess tissues or parts that have been removed from humans. If we are looking at an attempt to build something Nitha or Narran can possess, they have knowledge I can’t find in our books.”
“Shit. Just a second.” I heard him tell his guest to let herself out. His bedroom had a door to the alleyway. He’d had it added.
“If they’re currently controlling a living human being to give them the power and lessen the disgust level for the dismemberments, that spell is on page one.” Scanning page repeatedly, I felt there was something I missed.
“The Patsy Spell. I know it well.”
“Could I be over thinking this and Narran is doing this for kicks?”
“That sounds more plausible than animating removed body parts.” His bedroom door slammed.
“Is Narran as psychotic as Nitha?” I knew the answer before he replied.
“No. He learned from her though.”
“I want to kill them all.” After ten years off, I’d learned to appreciate calm and quiet.
“The Court agrees with you.”
I looked up from the book. “They do?”
“Haven’t checked your email?”
“Not today.” Have I mentioned how much I hate technology?
“They sent orders we are to kill anyone involved.”
I had a good job. I loved it. “I’m going to keep researching until we open. Maybe you can catch your friend.”
“She’s gone. I’ll rest here and then meet you later. I think we need to open the warehouse office again.” I heard him jump back on the bed. He liked his springs squeaky.
“I’ll move there tonight.” I needed to stretch my wings after hunching over these books.
“Adam?”
“I got it covered.”
We hung up and the sounds of a vigorous dinner crowd reached me as I finished researching. I filled three boxes with books and weapons for the warehouse.
A pot of fresh coffee sat on the table by the courtyard window in the kitchen. The first sip tasted wonderful. I closed my eyes to feel it run down my throat and waken my belly. I didn’t eat enough today, and the growl was loud enough to be heard.
The local paper laid open on the table with a headline about mysterious deaths in the French Quarter. The paper listed the names of two victims and that their bodies hadn’t been claimed. At least they didn't know about the other thirteen.
Inside was a story of a group of thugs dressed in Halloween costumes chasing a poor naked tourist down the road. It seems my streaking ass wasn’t caught on camera, but a couple of people caught the demons chasing me with fangs hanging out. Wretch would hang this page on his wall.
In the bar, Grace and George stood behind the counter and every table was full. My place was the only exclusive paranormal bar in the French Quarter, and our light dinner and hors d’oeuvres garnered a following. The customers had their eyes focused on a fight in the street outside.
“How long have they been at it?” I leaned back against the bar making sure all of the demons present saw me.
“Ten minutes or so They look drunk. His eyes have been out of focus the whole time.” Grace pointed to the smaller of the two men.
“Demon spelled. Looks like someone rigged the fight in favor of the small guy.”
“So, all is normal this evening.” She expected trouble every night. It was safer that way.
“Does look that way.”
“Men.” Grace clicked her tongue getting back to work. Her gaze passed over George and myself.
We were smart enough to smile politely.
The two humans stopped fighting. The spelled man looked dazed, and it was clear the magic had worn off. A disappointed looking group off to the side settled their bets. They rigged the fight. It was unfair, but harmless in the realm of demon magic. The ambush fight this morning would have bothered me more if it looked isolated. Seemed we were going to have a long week ahead.
Grace cleaned up the counter and pulled me aside. “One of Adam’s men came by when I opened back up. They suspect Nitha as well, but can’t put the connections together yet.”
“From the glow on your face I’m guessing it was the new big bad?”
She even smelled excited. “Shut. Up.” She was pink now.
“He's a wolf. You’re a cat. How does that work?” I regretted saying it immediately.
“He knows I have claws and can use them.” She winked.
I now had a visual I needed to get out of my head. “Anything about her motives?”
“Her main targets appear to be Laythe, you, Adam and Wretch. They think the harvesting of human organs is part of an elaborate spell Narran is going to use. The scummy demon kids are here helping daddy.” Her nose wrinkled as she spoke.
“As opposed to non-scummy demons?” I asked with a smile.
“They all smell like garbage, death, and sulfur. There are seven of them in here right now, and I want to spray them with deodorizer.” She kept natural orange spray under the counter. She would spray your face if you talked to her with horrendous breath.
“Those two tables are okay. They are Laythe's friends and would never betray her. She told all of them she’s one betrayal away from turning psychotic like her sister.”
He pupils momentarily dilated. “It runs in families.”
“She made sure they all know that.” Her families mental disabilities were a trick she’d played many times before.
“I like her style.”
I laughed. “Me too.”
“There was a small threat you want to know about.” She pulled out a hand drawn picture that looked like a stick figure of a bird.
“It looks awful.”
“It’s you. Or, it’s supposed to be. It looks like a wet kitten with wings.”
“You wound me.” I grabbed my chest in faux pain.
“Your ego is stronger than your dragon skin. I thought we were safe here.”
“We are, and anyone who drew that picture was either drunk or spelled.” It was awful.
Grace never fought demons before, and I didn't plan to let any threat to me walk into the club. Laythe’s money was good, and if we were lucky, some demon in London would kill Nitha for us. I doubted it but I could hope.
Grace knew Wretch, Adam, and I worked for the Court, and if we needed information from a random demon or shifter, they would be invited to the club for a chat with her.
One housecat shifter coughed up a hairball and a confession when she shifted into her jaguar form and knocked him against a wall. The shifter community included large predatory cats from the Amazon and American desert along with a small local family of housecat shifters.
Grace explained they’re the feline shifter community’s dwarf strain. It made sense given the genetic diversity of the feline shifters. They could breed with each other because their shifter gene was recessive, and only one parents’ shifting ability was passed onto the children.
Werewolves were a completely different species. They only bred within their own packs and with the alpha’s permission. Adam referred to it as “inflicting damage on the alpha by making him listen to whiny puppy love.”
A line formed at the bar and she got up to help George.
I went to my room for my phone and found Wretch on my couch watching the local news. “Are we famous yet?”
“Your ass is. I think the local news lady likes your backside.”
She did look familiar. “I think she's seen it up close.”
“You hear?”
“I’m wanted?” It wouldn’t be the first time. This year.
“Your posters don't do you justice. This is Nitha’s work. She tried it in the late 1800’s. Unfortunately, her favorite sketch artist died unexpectedly. Now, it looks like a child is doing the drawing.”
“If we know it’s me. So do others.” Putting the community in danger could cost me my job.
“Whose lives depend on their silence.”
“When did Nitha have kids?” The thought of anyone having sex with her made me so nauseous, I tried to keep my face from cringing when I asked the question. It didn’t work.
“Right after her magic was taken. They’re all Narran's, and they have all of her magic skills. She gave birth to weapons. Narran used magic to speed up their growth processes. The first few bodies that showed up at Angie's door this week were her kids work.”
“How many did she have?”
“No more than three. And, I believe, Narran is the only father.”
“A demon female had her husband’s children and only her husband’s children. That’s new.”
Wretch was puritan compared to the rest of the demon community. A point he made to me frequently. He muted the TV.
“Grace knows her scent. If the boys are still in town, if they’re the ones behind the human killing, she’ll know if they walk in downstairs. The less we can have her involved in this the better.”
“Agreed. We move to the warehouse tonight. Even the demons in town will talk about this. They have to be nervous. Nitha scares the best of them. Laythe is the only demon to stand up to her.” Wretch tried and she’d almost killed him.
“I guess our ten years of peace and quiet are over. It was a nice break. I’ll be glad when we can get back to stupid demon card tricks and me running naked down the street again.” I did enjoy the night breeze.
“I knew you liked it.” Wretch teased. “The Court contacted me this morning and officially ended your vacation. Your work bank accounts have been reactivated and the local contacts were informed to expect you back at any time.”
Wretch grabbed books from the shelves opening them on the table. Research ignited a spark in both of us as we dug through demon history. His ostracizing from demon kind meant he had to learn about himself from books. He knew more about their history and magic than any other living demon.