I pulled the shoe out of Neil's clutching hands and regretfully forced my sad little toes back into it. "Neil, you'll have to excuse Danny. He's thinking about how many hookers he could buy with twelve hundred dollars." Neil laughed, but I saw the thought go through Daniel's head and I couldn't help but punch him in the arm. "a.s.shole."

Danny's frown broke and a chuckle rumbled from his throat. "Well, Dev only bought one. Someone needs to give that guy a lesson in frugality. Hey, if I'm getting hit for thinking things, I might as well say it."

Daniel got out of the car with a smile on his face. I was so glad calling me names could lighten his mood. I slammed the door, cursing when I realized the gra.s.s in front of us was wet. My heels were going to make it feel like I was walking through quicksand.

Daniel checked the clip in his gun and settled it in his holster. Before I could protest, he scooped me into his arms. "You should have worn boots. It's this or you'll slow us down." He bent down and kissed me swiftly before I could stop him. "I'm sorry, Z. Be patient with me."

"Hey, friends don't kiss," I said disapprovingly, even as I relaxed in those strong arms. He could carry me all day and never notice the weight. It felt so good to be in his arms.

Daniel started across the lawn. "They do in Europe. I'm trying to be more continental."

I snorted but held on. Danny was the least continental person I knew. He had that slow Texas drawl I found comforting. When he was alive, he liked beer and burgers. He was not a man of sophisticated tastes. He set me on my feet when we reached the steps but took my hand.

"I don't want you to break an ankle," he said before leaning close to my ear. "And just for the record, if I had twelve hundred dollars to blow, I would totally buy you flooring, hand-sc.r.a.ped hardwood in Brazilian cherry."

"That's romantic," Neil huffed behind us.

But it was. I really wanted that stupid flooring. I hated my carpet. If I knew Danny, he would have installed it, too. When he wasn't playing D & D or working on mysterious jobs for the Council, he was usually at my place fixing something. I bought my house for a song, but it would have been a money pit without Daniel's free labor.

"Ah, you're here." The voice came from the steps above us.

I looked up and put a name to the voice I had only heard over the phone so far. Father Francis had been the one to set up this mysterious meeting. He'd called this morning and insisted we be here at the church at midnight. He said he'd been contacted by people who could solve my little problem. He'd tried to convince me to come alone, but I didn't do alone. Alone was stupid. Alone would get my a.s.s killed.

"And you've brought company." The good father stared down, shaking his head.

The trouble with clients is they often try to get the upper hand. The motto "the customer is always right" might work at Macy's, but I'm not selling handbags. I'm an artisan, and far too often, I suffer for my art. I get shot. Sometimes I get shot by things that aren't guns, and I'll take a freaking bullet over an arrow any day of the week. The client is paying for a service they know nothing about, so while I am willing to listen to a client whine and complain, I will not allow a client to dictate how I run my business.

The first line of my mission statement, to put it in terms the good father can relate to, goes something like this-thou shalt not go into the night alone.

I knew what was out there, and sometimes the sweetest face turned into something with a bunch of teeth really fast. The good news was I had a vampire and a werewolf on my side, and like an American Express card, I didn't leave home without them.

"This is my crew, Father. We're a team, and if you don't like it, I'm sure you can find someone else." I was really hoping he wouldn't just refuse us entry.

The father shook his head and sighed. "No, I'm afraid they're very insistent. It must be you, but I don't think they will be happy about the men. Come in."

I started up the steps with Daniel at my side. He didn't look happy, like some supercool vampire sense was tingling, but he remained silent. Neil took the steps two at a time and got to the door before we did. Neil's senses were even sharper than Daniel's, so he was our reconnaissance man. Father Francis held the heavy wooden door open but stared at Neil suspiciously as Neil did his thing. He let the air around him wash over his senses.

It was the first time a client had ever wanted me to meet them at church, and I hoped this wasn't a prelude to some "save my soul" lecture. Over the last several months, I'd met with many people who had promised me they could help me with my particular problem. Every lead turned out to be a dud. Most of them presented solutions I'd already thought of but discarded for practical reasons. A few of them wanted something from me and promised way more than they could possibly deliver, and one had been a dumba.s.s vampire looking for a mate. That particular meeting didn't end well. It had been a frustrating couple of months as I was ready to do the job, but I couldn't find the right tools.

I have stolen from many a dangerous place. I've broken into houses sealed with magic and locks and protected by some really scary things. I've been shot at, stabbed, attacked by more animals than I can count, and felt the awful effects of magic. But I was scared of this job. I also knew I couldn't back down.

Ever since I watched Lucas Halfer drag my friend to h.e.l.l, I'd been sure of one thing. I was going to get her back. I was going to do what I did best. I was going to steal.

"If you would please follow me," the father said, his dark eyes imploring. "They are very impatient."

Neil held up his hand. He wouldn't be hurried.

"What is it?" Daniel asked, taking in a deep breath to see if he could figure it out.

"There's one human, that's you," Neil said to the priest. "I can smell the remnants of many humans, candle wax, incense, and someone used a steam cleaner a couple of hours ago to cover up...ewww, vomit."

The father took a step back, his eyes wide. "The Peters boy apparently has the stomach flu. They shouldn't have brought him to ma.s.s."

But Neil was continuing his litany. The harder he tried, the more his eyes took on a distinctly wolf-like stare. "You had macaroni and cheese for dinner, probably microwaved, and then some cognac, but that was the good stuff. Oh, and the faintest whiff of troll. Bet you didn't know you had that in your congregation."

"What is it?" the father asked, looking at Neil like he was something deadly. Neil might look like a sweet little club kid, but I'd seen him rip apart an enemy and eat the remains. He especially liked the second part.

"He is no concern of yours, Father," I said with an emphasis on the "he" part. I don't like my friends being treated like freaks even when they act like freaks. Besides, it just showed how little the father knew when he was terrified of Neil but had paid no real attention to Daniel.

Of course, the father was probably under the mistaken impression that vampires couldn't enter a holy place. It was one of those myths vampires had started themselves to put humans at ease. It gave the false impression that one could identify a vampire because they followed certain rules. As Daniel pushed his way into the vestibule, I felt bad for the little priest. Vamps rarely followed any rule they hadn't made themselves.

"That's weird." Danny sounded slightly disturbed, which sent a chill through me. If something spooked Daniel, it was usually bad-really bad.

"Yeah, you're getting that, too?" Neil stood beside Daniel, both staring into the building.

"What?" I asked, trying to keep a professional demeanor. What I was really wondering was "when do we start running?" A thousand things ran through my head. When you live the kind of life I do, you can call up some real nightmares when you try hard enough.

"Nothing." Daniel crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm getting absolutely nothing."

"Not nothing, exactly," Neil qualified. "More like an absence of something."

"And the definition of nothing is?" Daniel replied with a sarcastic zing.

"We really must go." The priest's hands fluttered restlessly, gesturing down the hall and then clutching at one another. "They will grow angry."

"You're afraid of nothing?" I ignored the priest. Danny and Neil were still trying to figure out what was at the end of that hallway.

"I know something's there, but it's like there's a hole in the church." Neil pointed down the hallway. "About a hundred yards that way, my senses stop and pick up again a few feet later."

"It's weird. I think we should go, Z," Daniel said. "Let's take you home and Neil and I will come back and figure out what we're getting ourselves into."

I just stared because that was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard.

Daniel sighed because he knew when I looked at him like that, I wasn't going anywhere. "Just stay close to me."

"If you will please come this way." The father walked, taking short, jittery steps. I felt kind of bad for the little guy. Even over the phone he'd seemed uncomfortable. I wondered what these people had on him to force him to act as a go-between when he so obviously didn't want to. He didn't seem like the type to be involved in anything unsavory, and I didn't say that because he was a priest. I've met some bada.s.s priests who could chop the head off a demon without dropping their rosaries. And then there were those nuns...

The father stopped in the middle of the vestibule, right beside the holy water. He absently took some and made the sign of the cross. "You wouldn't be armed, would you? This is a house of the Lord. There are no weapons allowed in the church. I must insist on it." He looked nervously at the three of us as though he expected a fight.

Why fight when a lie will work?

"Nope." I was comfortable that my Ruger was hidden under Neil's blazer. I had two extra clips in the pockets, but I doubted the padre was going to pat me down.

"I'm a pacifist," Daniel replied with a predatory smile. He was carrying at least two guns and probably a few knives, but he didn't really need them. Daniel was a weapon.

Neil, the only one of us who never carried a weapon, simply smiled.

Father Francis nodded as though he didn't really believe us, but he wasn't going to press further. He held his small hand out, gesturing toward the sanctuary. It was a typical Catholic church. The sanctuary was dominated by a statue of Christ on his cross looking down on worshippers. Down the long row of pews, standing in the middle of the aisle in front of the altar, was a couple. From a distance, they looked nice enough. It was a man and a woman, both in their early twenties. They were both blond and had bland good looks. She was in a slim skirt and pink sweater while he wore slacks and a b.u.t.ton down. They could have been parishioners checking out the church.

I glanced back at the father, who was sweating though the church was cool. His hands shook as he pointed to the couple. "There they are. Please do whatever they say. Please."

And then the father ran.

Chapter Four.

Neil and I watched the priest run down the hall, but Daniel never took his eyes off the figures in the sanctuary.

"Where is he going?" Neil asked.

"I think he's going anywhere they're not." I turned and looked into the sanctuary, wondering what the h.e.l.l had the little priest so spooked.

Daniel sighed, seemingly resigned to whatever was going to happen. "Are you sure you want to do this? You're sure she's worth it? Sarah did shoot you."

I remembered. It hurt like h.e.l.l, but nothing hurt more than the look on her face as the demon sank his claws into her body and pulled her to h.e.l.l. It might have been different if I thought she was comfortably dead, but that's not the way demon contracts work. There's no parole and no end to time served. Death would have been acceptable, but what Sarah had to endure, I couldn't live with.

"I'm sure." I didn't see or sense whatever had the boys in a tizzy, and I decided to let ignorance be bliss. Or rather bravado. With my trusty handgun snug against my body, I strode down the aisle toward the nice suburban couple who scared the s.h.i.t out of my bada.s.s boys.

Daniel cursed behind me, but he and Neil caught up easily. Daniel would prefer I follow behind him, but I just wasn't that girl.

"h.e.l.lo," I said as the female made a move to meet me.

She stepped into a shaft of light, and I had to stop. Had I thought she seemed bland from a distance? She was lovely. Blonde, with alabaster skin that practically glowed, she was delicate and fragile and everything feminine. She smiled gently, and I had a sudden urge to please her, to do whatever she requested so I could keep that smile on her face.

"What the h.e.l.l are you?" My question came out harsher than I'd intended. I didn't like the way she made me feel. If I hadn't had so much experience with magic, I probably would have wondered if I was maybe more bi-curious than I imagined, but I knew what this was. This was a very strong, well-placed glamour. It wasn't crazy and out of control like Dev could get, so I didn't beg for her love or anything, but it was there. She obviously wanted me able to think, but she definitely wanted me willing.

A glorious smile crossed her face, lighting up the room. "I'm so pleased to meet you. I am Felicity Day, and this is my brother, Oliver."

I forced my eyes away from the shining beauty and glanced at Oliver Day. He obviously didn't give a s.h.i.t whether I was willing or not. He scowled as though he disapproved of the entire meeting. I had zero desire to please him, so I knew he wasn't working any mojo on me.

"If you don't turn down the glamour, I'm going to pick up my wife and leave here, and there won't be anything you can do about it." Daniel put a hand on my shoulder as though he would pull me away at any moment.

Oliver snorted behind his sister and looked at Daniel with arrogant disdain. He seemed to want to dispute Daniel's a.s.sertion. His sister turned in a flash. For a moment, it seemed like they were having an argument the rest of us couldn't hear. Oliver finally nodded shortly, his face a grumpy mask. Felicity turned back to us with an apologetic smile.

"Please forgive my brother." Her voice was light, almost musical. "He will be more amenable from this point on or he can keep silent. It's his choice. Now, Mr. Donovan, you're angry about a glamour? I don't understand."

"He's talking about the magic you're working," I explained. Her face was so open, I found myself believing her. "I don't know what plane you're from, so you might not understand the terminology, but here we call it a glamour. It makes you more beautiful, more attractive on every level. It doesn't work on Daniel. I'm not sure about Neil, but it's definitely having an effect on me. I would appreciate it if you would turn it off. I can't take a job if my head isn't clear. And it makes my husband nervous."

I looked over at Neil, who was watching Felicity like an eager-to-please puppy. Yep, the glamour had to go.

She laughed, an enchanting sound. "I apologize. I didn't realize I was doing it. I'll try to tone this down."

The need to please dimmed, and she was merely beautiful. Daniel relaxed slightly behind me.

"Thank you," I said, enjoying the return of my complete free will. "I would appreciate it if you don't use any more magic."

"What's she's saying is if we get another whiff of witchcraft, we walk," Daniel said irritably.

Oliver took a step forward, but Felicity merely nodded, stepping in front of her brother.

"No witchcraft, got it. Is he always so testy?" she asked me with a conspiratorial grin. It was the kind of thing one girlfriend said to another, and I was suddenly aware of how much I missed Sarah. There was so much I hadn't told anyone because she was gone.

"He's a nightcrawler, sister," Oliver stated flatly. "What did you expect, manners?"

"The correct term is vampire, Oliver." Felicity didn't bother to look at her brother. "He is also a king, a very rare creature, so some amount of respect is due."

"No, I'm not," Daniel replied quickly.

He didn't like to be called by that particular name. Like many parts of Daniel's vampiric status, I'd had to learn this tidbit from other sources. Apparently, once every couple of thousand years, a superstrong, ber-vamp rises, and some sort of h.e.l.l breaks loose. Daniel had been holding that lucky ticket when he punched out. Honestly, I didn't think it could possibly be that great a thing since the last king was no longer in the building and hadn't been for a long while. I'd promised myself that the next time Marcus Vorenus was in town, I was going to ask him what happened to the last vampire king. I was betting it didn't end with "and they all lived happily ever after."

Felicity considered Danny with soft, almost sympathetic eyes. "Whether you choose to wear the crown or not, it changes not one whit of your nature. You are what you are, and your destiny will play itself out."

Oliver scoffed. "The king of a dung heap is still full of s.h.i.t."

And Daniel being Daniel actually laughed at that. I did not.

"And he is possibly the only one who can get into where we need him to go," Felicity said, finally showing some temper. Even with her brows slightly furrowed, she was stunning. "If you cannot keep the contempt from your voice, please be gone. I will take care of matters on this plane. I'm sure you can find something to contemplate at home."

Oliver scowled but held his tongue.

I'd had enough of the introductory chatter. I was anxious to get to the meat of the matter. "The priest said you could handle my little problem. My question is how do you even know about my little problem?"

I'd been extraordinarily careful in my investigations. I put everything in hypotheticals, and even then they weren't hypotheticals that anyone could trace back to the reality of the situation. I hadn't walked around asking for a guide to h.e.l.l. The last thing I needed was someone talking about the crazy chick who was planning a heist on the h.e.l.l plane. I wasn't interested in warning Halfer of my half-baked plans. As it was, my plan was probably doomed to fail spectacularly even without the mark finding out I was coming.

"I'm very well informed," she stated simply.

"I doubt that."

She chuckled a little. "Correct me if I am wrong. You lost a very close friend to a demon contract a little over seven months ago. A witch named Sarah Tucker. Her contract was written as a legacy. She was the daughter of a witch who was heavily into dark magic. To strengthen their coven, Sarah and her sister, Lily, were given as offerings to the h.e.l.l Lord Brixalnax. The Tucker sisters were conceived with the help of demon kind, making them extremely strong in certain forms of magic. The contract was due to be active on the girls' twenty-fifth birthdays, but Sarah made a contract of her own to try to save her sister. She was contracted by Brixalnax to ensure you failed in completing your own contract. But the demon wasn't really interested in you. He needed you to get around the Vampire Council and force the king to be his willing a.s.sa.s.sin. When you very cleverly managed to find a way to fulfill your obligation, the demon took your friend. Now you wish to get her back. Please feel free to fill in any details I might have missed."

Fine. She knew a little bit. Maybe she knew way more about certain parts of the episode than I did since the information about Sarah being part demon was news to me. It didn't put me at ease. It just made me wonder. How did Felicity know everything? And why the h.e.l.l did she need me? "You have your facts correct. Sarah Tucker is my friend. She was a member of my crew and that makes me responsible for her. I want to break into h.e.l.l and bust Sarah out."

"By the way, we were very pleased you didn't end up on Halfer's leash, Mr. Donovan," the blonde said. "It would have gone poorly for all of us. He had certain plans for you that would have been counterproductive. It was good that your companion was so quick-witted. It is this cleverness that I wish to use. I think you'll find that my brother and I are also facing a dilemma. But if we put our particular talents together, I believe you'll discover we can all get what we want."

"And what is your particular dilemma?" This had to be interesting.

Even Oliver managed to look a little sad as Felicity began her tale. "Our brother, my twin, Felix, was also taken by Halfer. He went missing over six months ago, and it has taken a while to discover exactly what happened. You must understand that Felix is very special."

My eyebrows rose because "special" made me think not politically correct things.

Felicity sighed. "It's not that. He's a kind soul. He loves the world around him, and that is possibly his downfall."