Let Them Eat Cake Read online

  “Can it be killed or captured?” Maria asked.

  Good girl, Justin mentally applauded, as he turned to look at her. Her head was cocked at an angle, an intent expression on her face that shouted determination and the need to protect. Justin closed his eyes for a moment, reminding himself that she was expected to do just that. She was Sentinel.

  Luke dashed their hopes in the next few sentences as he sighed and seemed to weigh his words. “This is where it gets a little weird. I haven’t found anything yet that will kill her. I’ve shot at the Emp with lead, silver, gold and hollow-point bullets filled with holy water. I’ve tried to behead her and I’ve used a flamethrower, thinking she’d burn. The creature burns, hurts, then runs away and heals. To add an even freakier aspect to our dilemma…the Empousai can be driven away temporarily with insulting words. Negative comments directed toward her looks will make her run away shrieking like a banshee, and for some odd reason she is especially vulnerable to insults about her feet.”

  “You have got to be kidding?” Justin said in amazement.

  Luke turned to Justin and shook his head in the negative. “Unfortunately, dealing with Emp reality gets worse. As far as I know they don’t have individual names, but I started calling this creature Mormo, which means Terrible One in Greek. I needed someone to swear at. Often the smell of decaying garbage will precede them—they are filthy creatures. The closer you get to them, the less you are able to track this scent. Somehow, she will thrall you and the smell is blocked.”

  Luke looked out over the crowd. They were silent, listening with studied concern to his lecture. He really hoped they listened this time. Too often he would make this speech, and the immortals would hear and then dismiss his warning as something that couldn’t happen to them. They were powerful, able to get themselves out of any situation. Why should this monster be any different for their kind? He could only hope they understood what they’d be dealing with and would heed his warnings.

  “The description of the body Maria found is typical. These female demons enervate and then seduce their victims, suck out the blood and bone marrow and eat almost everything else.”

  He shook his head in disgust and continued. “Again, the only defense I know of is to scream insults at Mormo before she has a chance to touch you or anyone else. If the Emp has paralyzed someone, she won’t leave her prey behind. Taking her victim, the Emp will use her demonic ability to disappear into dimensional boltholes and you’ll lose any chance for retrieval. I’m up for any new ideas on how to destroy the damn thing. The Emp will stay in this area until we’ve made it uncomfortable for her by finding and screaming obscenities…or somehow wounding the beast. Then she’ll disappear and turn up in another region. The body count will get pretty high, as Mormo needs to feed every couple of days. If injured, she’ll kill more often.”

  Damn, this next part would be difficult for him to say, but they needed to know.

  “I hate to say this, but I ran into her a few days ago not far from here. I burned her with a blowtorch and she was severely wounded. There have to be more deaths in this vicinity than we know about. Is anyone aware of missing paranormals in the area?” Luke looked out over the crowd.

  He sighed when, in the front row, a woman stood. She was dressed in latex from head to toe, the red plastic material clinging to every curve and leaving nothing to the imagination.

  She had short, spiked red hair and a melodic voice. “My name is Tawny,” she started. “I am a vampire, and I have a friend named Michael whom I haven’t seen for a few days. I have a key to his home, and when I couldn’t get an answer on his cell phone, I went over to his house this evening. He wasn’t there, and nothing appeared unusual until I checked in his bedroom. It was a mess. There was blood all over his bed, and little bits of flesh. I thought he might have gotten carried away with someone he brought home with him. Now I think someone else should take a look at his place,” she finished, with a look of sadness on her face.

  Luke nodded his head in agreement. “I will go with you after the meeting. Perhaps the coroner, Marcus, will accompany me. I have seen enough of her handiwork that I should be able to tell if we are dealing with another Empousai victim. The only advice I have to offer the rest of you is to be careful to stay in groups when you are out and about, as she doesn’t ever attack unless you’re alone. If you do run into her, start screaming about how ugly her feet are. Please get in touch with Maria’s human servants if you think someone else is missing. They will contact the rest of us.”

  “Shit!” Justin muttered.

  Luke turned to look at him. “Exactly.”

  As far as plans went, this one lacked any real action on her part, Maria reflected later. Brian and Matt volunteered to lead a group of techno-savvy paranormals in a Web search for any references to the Empousai. Luke admitted he’d never thought about seeing if there were any ideas to be found using a search engine. And several of the older immortals said they would look through their personal libraries for any reference to the creature.

  The attending fae representatives pledged to contact all of their resources. And everyone promised to get the word out to go nowhere alone. That might protect the paranormals, Maria thought. But it does shit for the humans in the area.

  Unfortunately, if they managed to find the bitch they didn’t know how to kill her, and it left little for her to do but worry.

  Luke said the body count could be in the hundreds before they managed to drive her away. That just wasn’t acceptable to her. It wasn’t acceptable to any of them. She rubbed her forehead. It was just before midnight and the music in the club screamed with cataclysmic vigor. Matt and Brian had already gone home to get started on working their Web magic. Luke went to check out Michael’s home. After he’d finished at the missing vampire’s, he would find a place to stay.

  All the others disappeared into the night.

  Except Justin. He stayed at the club while she finished some paperwork she knew she wouldn’t be able to get to during the rest of the week. She understood part of him wanted to go with Luke, but she was glad he stayed with her. She watched him pace and then sighed as he stepped behind her. Sitting at her desk, she dropped her head forward as he put his hands on her shoulders and massaged the tension from her muscles.

  “Tough night,” he murmured. “Besides the obvious, something is bothering you. What keeps going through your head, Maria?”

  She turned to smile up at him. “I can’t believe you can read me so well. My mind keeps playing over what Luke said at the end. That daylight doesn’t bother the Emp…whatever. He said they prefer to change shape during the day and find young men to seduce with their illusions, and then drain their energy before killing them, often just after sunset. I can’t protect this city in the daylight hours, Justin. And I keep running this loop through my mind of her getting one of my friends in bed and then showing her true form when they’re having sex, getting an extra jolt of energy from their helpless terror.”

  She put her head down on her arms on the desk and moaned as he worked the shoulder knots into submission. Mumbling around her arms she whined, “He said the Emp likes to feed off men, but will occasionally take a woman if she is hungry enough and one is readily available—or if they’ve been denied other prey. And if the man or woman happens to be paranormal, it’s even better. Whoever she chooses will be paralyzed, including their vocal cords. They won’t be able to call out for help. I won’t be able to hear them call for me. But the victim will still experience the full range of fright and pain preceding their death. How can I protect these people if I can’t hear them scream?”

  “We can only take this one day at a time, Maria. We’re in this together. Maybe those who can walk in the daylight will take shifts patrolling the streets? I don’t know what the answer is, but we’ll find it. Are you finished with your paperwork?” he asked, patient concern obvious in his tone.

  “Yeah. I’m done here.” She sat up and stretched. “Why don’t we go home, and you can
take my mind off freaking weird women who can’t handle their feet being criticized and my growing concern over how high the body count is going to climb before this is finished?” she said.

  “Ummm. Sounds like a plan. I’d like to take you to my place and spread all this incredible hair out on my pillow and make you shriek in passion. But I have a feeling you’d prefer we go back to your home in case someone needs you during the rest of the night.”

  She glanced back at him and smiled. It was incredible that she felt such a connection with this man in so short a time. Already she listened for his step, his deep rich drawl soothed and excited her, and if he wasn’t in the same room with her she ached from missing him. She felt a little ridiculous—all clingy and dependant. Something she’d never been. She could barely manage to have him out of her sight. This was not good. But she refused to dwell on the coming pain of separation. They could have years together. Even a few short decades.

  “You’re right. I would like to stay home. Did you bring a car?” she asked.

  “Yes, I have my car. Did you, well…fly to the club or drive?”

  Maria laughed. “The boys brought me in their car. They left a little while ago, knowing I’d leave with you.”

  “Damn straight.”

  She allowed Justin to pull her to her feet and guide her to the door, thoughts of stripping out of the outfit she wore in a teasing dance uppermost in her mind. She hadn’t changed her clothes and she could feel Justin’s eyes on her as she bent to pick up the black bag under her desk before they left.

  She stretched into the movement. Taunting him with the view of her ass, she knew the thong hid very little of her assets. Justin had already switched back into his jeans and T-shirt. She knew he didn’t want to take a chance on being seen outside Sins with half his ass hanging out. She missed the blatantly sexual costume but still appreciated the sight of the man in tight jeans.

  On the way to the car, Maria’s cell phone rang. “This is Maria,” she said. “Shit, I’ll be there in just a few minutes. Try not to confront him.” Disconnecting the call, she looked at Justin. “I’ve got a problem to take care of,” she sighed. “A rogue werewolf is calling in a few of his friends to help terrorize a female.” She started to open her mouth to suggest she meet him at her apartment.

  “I’m going with you,” he stated emphatically. “I want to get a better handle on your life.”

  Noticing the flex of his jaw muscles and the hard look in his eyes, she decided she didn’t have time to argue. Maybe he was right. He needed to see just what being Sentinel meant if she was going to work with him. And if she wanted to share more than phenomenal sex and the occasional paranormal meltdown, she’d better see how he responded to the reality of her life.

  “Fine,” she said. “But I get to drive.”

  His eyebrows rose at her pronouncement but he handed over the keys to his black SUV without a comment.

  Maria filled Justin in on the ride over. “The mother of the girl is the one who called me. The family who lives in the house we’re going to are all Were, and the rogue is an old boyfriend of the daughter’s, but they weren’t mated. It seems this werewolf has decided he wants a harem and the girl is objecting to being a part of it. When she said no, he started hitting her. He threatened to call in a couple friends and said if she didn’t want him, they’d all have her and she’d change her mind about being his toy. There is a younger brother in the house as well, but the father is out of town on business.”

  “So we don’t know how many friends the rouge Were has invited over?”

  “Or if they’ll arrive before we do or while we are trying to deal with him.”

  They pulled up to a sprawling green ranch house on the outskirts of town about twenty minutes later. Seeing several cars parked in the driveway, Maria swore as she stepped out of the car and turned toward him. He watched in amazement as she opened the backpack she’d been carrying when they left the club and started pulling out weapons, strapping them on. “Looks like company has arrived. Do you have a gun?” she questioned, as she fastened a thigh holster on her leg over the top of her right boot and slid it down into the leather so it was partially hidden.

  “Yes,” he replied, as he watched her adjust a long, wicked-looking knife in a sheath slung across her chest.

  “Silver bullets or lead?” Maria took out a couple of silver shurikens, Asian throwing stars, and looked down at herself. He could see how, dressed as a Gothic slut, she didn’t have a lot of options for her weapons. He watched the expression on her face as she contemplated sticking a star over each boob under the barely-there bodice, and he winced at the thought of the razor-sharp points cutting into her skin.

  “Lead,” he replied, raising his eyebrows. “Give me those. I’ll stick them in my back pocket and try to stay close to you. I know how to use the stars but they’re not my weapon of choice.” Maria nodded and handed the stars to Justin.

  “There are a couple of boxes of silver ammunition in the backpack. See if any of the gauges are right for your gun. Lead will hurt but not stop a Were. Silver will kill them if it is a shot to the heart or head, and a thigh or gut shot will drop them with the probability of slow, painful recuperation. I’ll try to contain the rogues, as we have holding cells and a court of sorts if we need them. But I’ll tell you right now…I normally don’t get the chance to take a Were to trial if they’ve freaked out.” She watched as he found silver bullets to fit his gun and made the change, impressed at his forethought when he slipped extra bullets into a spare clip and stuck them in a front pocket.

  Justin added a knife to an ankle scabbard. He knew this night would be a test of sorts—Maria would be watching to see if he could handle himself. The discussion on how to best control a rogue werewolf seemed a little surreal.

  “Stay to my left side and slightly behind as we go in the door. I don’t plan on being polite and knocking. I have no idea of the layout of the home, so be prepared for anything.” She touched the hood of the last car as she headed up the short driveway to the front porch.

  Her features were grim as she commented, “Still very warm. Must have arrived a few minutes before us.”

  The windows were all covered in heavy drapes pulled shut, with no light shining through, so there wouldn’t be an opportunity to see what lurked beyond the door. Justin’s muscles tensed, ready to spring as Maria turned the handle on the off chance it would be unlocked. Well…surprise, surprise. The new arrivals must have been in too much of a hurry to lock the door behind them. Lucky for us, he thought. Kicking the door in would have made more than enough noise to alert the rogues to their presence. Then again, considering how Maria had just flicked her fingers to open her bedroom door last night, maybe there wouldn’t have been any noise after all.

  Maria glanced back once and seemed satisfied when she saw his stance and preparedness. She knew he was combat trained. He thought if the idiots had been human, she wouldn’t hesitate, knowing the fight would be a walk in the park for him. But the unknown of involving him in battle for the first time with a paranormal would give her pause. He didn’t blame her—he still had a few questions himself.

  On-the-job training sucked.

  Maria faced forward and pushed open the door to enter the house. She was greeted with the sight of a short hallway and silence. Not a good sign, she thought to herself. Somebody make some noise. Opening her vampire senses, the useful feature allowing her to recognize when anything with blood pumping through its veins invaded her space, she concentrated on the house. To the right she sensed two heartbeats behind a closed door, and at the back of the house she counted four others. She would have bet anything she’d find the mother and son in this room, but she raised her hand to Justin, two fingers held up, and pointed at the door.

  She breathed a little easier when she heard some noise from the back. She could only hope movement meant she’d arrived in time to save the girl. In a quick motion, she stood to one side while she turned the knob and swung the door inward
. Yep. Mother and son out cold but breathing in slow, steady cadences. A fast glance around the room showed overturned chairs and broken curios, obviously torn apart in an earlier fight.

  “They’re alive,” she whispered to Justin. “The others are in back. Let’s go get the girl before we take care of these two.” At his nod she hurried down the hall. She could hear someone crying, begging to be left alone, and a shouted obscenity followed by what sounded like a fist hitting flesh. She ran in the direction of the remaining heartbeats, Justin right behind her.

  As she ran, she called to Brian in her mind. “Going to need some help, Bri. Rogue with victims injured and possible casualties. If anything’s left when I get finished with them. Call the doc and bring him out just in case with a security squad, will ya? Werewolf home, Jensons.”

  “Got it, be careful.”

  She snorted. Her innate predatory nature kicked in. More than ready for a fight with something she knew she could control, she reached the room at the end of the hall. Careful my ass, she thought. She wanted to hit something.

  Chapter Seven

  The scene in the family room looked better than he’d expected. The girl appeared battered and bruised, and tears streamed from her eyes, but she’d heal. The three men, and he used that term loosely, were intent on tormenting their new plaything. They’d stripped off her top and stood around her in a loose circle, one of them groping the young girl while the others made suggestions of what to do next. The growing finger bruises across her chest, a black eye and a bleeding lip attested to their rough treatment. But she still wore her pants. They’d arrived before the men could rape her.

  Justin didn’t have time to breathe before Maria took one leap, a good six feet across the room, and pulled the girl protectively behind her. She gave the little blonde a shove in Justin’s direction and shot up a clenched fist to smack the man who’d been holding the girl—right in the nose. Justin winced at the sound of breaking cartilage.