Blood Trinity (Belador #1)(13)

“I can hunt after daylight, so don’t take any chances. Do you even know where the other Cresyl is?”

“Not yet, but I will soon even if I have to rattle every Nightstalker in the city.” But hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. She’d try Grady first.

Even though he was a pain in the butt and made her work for every piece of intel she squeezed out of the old ghoul, he was one of the best informants when it came to anything supernatural.

Tzader looked around the street, taking stock of everything seen and unseen. “Your bike in the area?”

“Parked on the next block.” Her cell phone buzzed with a text message. She reached to pull the phone from the back pocket of her jeans.

He checked his watch. “I gotta go or I’ll be late. I’ll call you soon as I’m free, but worst case I’ll swing by your place after daylight.”

“Okay.” She lifted the phone into view as Tzader’s swiftly moving form disappeared in seconds. The text was from Kellman, one of two teenage male witches who lived on the streets because they had no family and no coven.

The message was simple: SOS … demon.

She took off running and punched up the GPS program Quinn had installed in her phone that would trace back a cell call to a location.

Please, please let the demon threat be the Cresyl’s mate. For once in her life, let her be lucky …

With fewer than ten demons seen in this region in a year, that was a good bet.

At the next intersection, she hung a left and pulled out her remote key, pressing it when she got within fifty feet of her motorcycle, a metallic gold Suzuki GSX-R. She adored her gixxer, which bolted down the highway like a bullet. The headlight flashed once, scaring away the vagrants huddled around the bike. She kinetically freed her full-face helmet from where it was hooked over the mirror on the handlebar and strapped it on as she straddled the bike, then fired up the engine.

Pulling away from the curb, she rolled on the throttle sharply. The front tire lifted off the ground for fifty feet.

In twelve minutes, she was cruising along Metropolitan Parkway. She turned onto the cross street indicated on her cell phone, drove a quarter mile and stopped in front of a brick building for a trucking firm that was closed on Sundays according to the schedule on the door. She listened for the boys above the low buzz of her engine.

Nothing.

But that being said, the air reeked of a distinct sulfur stench.

Strong. Vibrant. Deadly.

The smell of well-fed demons.

And inside were two scared kids….





TWO




Now that Evalle knew where the demon was hiding, she quickly parked. This wasn’t the best place to leave a GSX-R after dark, but no one could steal the bike. Someone from Quinn’s extensive network of contacts had warded the bike to prevent the engine from firing unless Evalle was sitting on the seat. It really paid to have friends with mad psychic skills.

The bike had to be within her energy field for the wheels to even turn. Go team.

She traded her helmet for the dark sunglasses and left on foot to hunt, picking her way toward the building. Silence followed in the wake of her soft steps, as if no threat lurked nearby.

She knew better.

The air stank of evil.

Her demon was here, and the dead quiet meant the Cresyl knew Evalle was here, too. Come get some … Shadows whispered, stirring the hairs on her arms as she sensed a presence she couldn’t find.

She stomped her boots, and blades shot out around the soles.

No underestimating her opponent this time.

The nasty sulfur stench grew stronger the closer she edged. A solid sign that she was on the right trail, but she hadn’t heard a sound from the boys.

Please don’t be demon Kibbles ’n Bits …

Surely she’d gotten here in time. She couldn’t stand the thought of something happening to the twins. The boys annoyed her at times, but they were like family to her.

No wonder they annoy me …

She paused at an electric gate, which ran between the brick building and a long warehouse and closed off a wide driveway to the rear loading dock area.

She sized up the ambush potential.

Definitely a trap.

But who or what was the demon trying to catch? Kardos and Kellman were homeless teens no one cared about. No one but her and the Nightstalker Grady, who helped her keep tabs on the pair.

Using her telekinetics, she unlocked and lifted the gate so she could enter. She simultaneously sent out pulses that would interfere with any and all electronic surveillance or alarms the company had. As the gate moved, metal gears squeaked in protest, making her cringe, as it not only alerted the demons about her presence but also telegraphed her location.

Damn, why couldn’t her telekinesis come with WD-40?

She froze for a second, waiting for them to pounce. After a few mad heartbeats, she started forward again.

When she reached the back lot, one security light above her head shed enough light for a human to easily navigate the enclosed area. Thirty-foot-long metal shipping containers were stacked along the far side.

Everything was too quiet.

Tzader’s warning dug into her thoughts, reminding her not to fight demons alone. You’re not immortal or impervious … One mental call for help would bring the closest Belador running to give her support.

She considered that idea for all of a nanosecond.