Bite Marks

He looked deep into my eyes. I fought to keep mine open against the sudden pain that pierced them.

Brude, you son of a bitch! Now that I know you’ve been the one torturing me, you gotta know how bad you’re going to bleed when I finally beat you!

I’d have piled on more ire, but Vayl was checking Cassandra for confirmation of what he’d seen moving behind my pupils. By the time he turned back to me his irises were already darkening to the black with red flecks that reflected his most disturbing emotions.

“Possessed by what?” he murmured, still talking to me like he thought I could respond.

Cassandra answered. “She says it’s one of Lucifer’s minions. A Domytr she encountered on your last assignment that goes by the name of Brude.”

“Why is she not talking?”

Our psychic considered me. “May I touch you?”

I tilted my head sideways, then nodded. She leaned forward and took my free hand. Just a brief clasp was enough to make her look like she’d eaten something rancid. “His strength increases when she is feeling some extreme emotion. Right now she’s deeply”—Cassandra smiled at me—“nervous. About how you’ll react to this.”

I wanted to snap off a witty comment. Hey, let’s all discuss Jaz like she’s not even here, why don’t we? But now my throat had closed so tight I’d begun to feel dizzy. A lot of good can be said for honesty.

But too big of a dose can kill you.

From a distance, like the wail of a train horn, I heard Cassandra tell Vayl, “She believes you’ll be furious when you find that Cole and I both accidentally discovered her secret before she could tell you. She’s worried that you’ll see her as weak now, or perhaps mentally unfit like Liliana and, in either case, undeserving of your affections. She wanted to handle this on her own, so that your new romance could have time to cement itself before it was rocked by such an event.” Cassandra went on, but her words disappeared in the hum my ears put out as they tried to cope with my narrowing vision. Brude, I swear to Jesus if you let me pass out I’ll make it a personal goal to pry every one of those tattoos off your skin with a screwdriver and a pair of pliers.

Vayl emptied his hands, just like that, dropping the cane on the floor as if it mattered less to him than a flyer you’d crumple up the moment after some poor schmuck handed it to you on the street. He came close and tipped up my chin, a gesture so familiar it nearly made me smile.

“Jasmine,” he whispered. “My pretera. ”

Geez, I didn’t much feel like a wildcat. But if he insisted—

“I am not your father, your mother, nor your grandmother. I am not one of your Helsingers, and definitely not Matt. Listen to me. Look into my eyes. I will not leave you. Not ever—”

“You can’t promise—”

I stopped. More out of surprise that I’d gotten my voice back than that Vayl had held up his hand to prevent my argument. His smile had vanished. “I can make any vow I like. I am your sverhamin , which means what I promise you, I follow through upon.”

“So… you’re not leaving me?”

“Ridiculous.”

“And you’re not pissed?”

“Of course.”

My shoulders dropped. Once I wouldn’t have cared. I’d have said, “F-you. I’m too busy to worry about your petty little problems.” But that was when I was one of the walking wounded and my own issues outweighed everyone else’s. Plus, it had been so long since anyone gave a crap how Vayl felt about anything. He really appreciated it when I paid attention. His kiss, light as a raindrop on my forehead, made me look up.

“Later for that,” he said. “Now is the time to give Brude the boot before he paralyzes more than your vocal cords.”

“Do you know how to do that?” Cassandra asked.

He shook his head. “Raoul might. And I think we should ask Pete as well.”

“NO!” I didn’t realize I’d shouted until I saw Cassandra back up. But I still couldn’t help the panic that kept me babbling. “For shit’s sake, you guys, the last thing I need is for you to call headquarters and inform them that their black sheep just put another blotch on her record. And Raoul… what if he decides I’m damaged goods? Not fit to do Eldhayr work around here anymore? Maybe he’ll reverse everything he’s done and just…”

Cassandra hugged Astral like she were a real, live kitty. “Surely Raoul wouldn’t kill you? He’s one of the good guys!”

“But they look at death differently, don’t they? It’s not such a bad thing to them, because they’re still fighting. They don’t have anybody left down here to hold them.” Vayl rested his chin on his knuckles. “All right, then. Do you have any ideas, Cassandra?” She shook her head. “No, but I have her.” She held up Bergman’s invention, reminding us of all the information they’d downloaded into her. Centuries’ worth. “I suspect it’ll take some time to unearth information on a creature so rare. But if anyone has ever discovered the Domytr’s weakness, it would be a Sister.”

I said, “Okay, and for a backup plan, what about that guy Ruvin?” I asked. “The seinji have a couple of famous demon fighters in their history. Maybe he knows something we—” Vayl’s shaking head stopped me. “He is laboring under the assumption that we are part of a Hollywood film company scouting production locations for our next blockbuster.”

“And that we brought along Gerard Butler, why, to carry our cameras?” Vayl’s brows lowered. “Cole’s fabrication seems to have stuck because Ruvin is, ah, easily deceived. I am reluctant to follow suit. The man has agreed to drive us around for the next couple of days, not to locate an exorcist.”