First Drop of Crimson

take long enough to heal that Raum won’t be suspicious, but should be healed enough that it won’t kill me when I’m human again.”

“But if I hit a major organ and you’re still not healed enough when you become human again, it might kill you. I think I should just shoot you in the leg or something.”

Nathanial waved his hand. “Look, we don’t have a lot of time. Your boyfriend is probably scouring the area looking for you, so if you want to keep him out of this, you need to aim for the gut and shoot me already. If I end up dying from the gunshot wound, it’s still a far better fate than what Raum has in mind.”

Denise took one step forward, centered her attention on Nathanial’s side around the navel level, and then pulled the trigger.

He stumbled back, holding his side, red leaking out from his fingers. “Motherfucker,” he panted.

“Sorry,” Denise said uselessly.

“It’s all right.” Nathanial’s voice was hoarse from pain. “Now, hide the demon-bone knife in the sand by your feet. Then all you need to do is slice off those tattoos on your forearms. Once the protective spell is altered, Raum’ll know it. He’ll come running, believe me.”

Denise tried to steady her nerves and then reminded herself that being wigged out would only help in this case. What prompted a transformation? Hunger, nerves, pain, stress, and horniness. She’d have four out of the five covered. It should be enough to prompt her to shift. Of course, Nathanial thought there was nothing Denise could imagine strong enough or horrifying enough to defeat the demon.

Well, Nathanial hadn’t been there that night on New Year’s Eve. She’d seen one of the creatures that had killed dozens of powerful vampires, ghouls, and her husband. It burst into the basement and mauled Cat’s mother. Only the spell that created such an abomination being broken seconds later, and a lot of vampire blood, had saved Justina.

Raum had no idea the kind of horror Denise had lurking in her nightmares, but she was about to show him.

“I’m ready,” she said, tossing her cell phone farther up on the sand, but burying the demon knife a few inches from her feet.

Then she took one of the silver knives she’d stolen from Oliver and sliced it down her forearm, careful to only remove the skin and not bite into the tendons. Or arteries. It burned and throbbed with a terrible fire, making her break into a sweat and bite back a whimper. Almost done. Almost…

“God damn that hurts,” she whispered when she was finished.

“Careful.” Nathanial’s voice was grimly amused. “Don’t curse God now. We need all the help we can get.”

Denise gave him a fleeting caricature of a smile but then swiped the blade down her other arm before she lost her nerve. It hurt just as much as the first one did, and was more difficult, with the blood slicking down the blade and her fingers shaking from pain. When she’d reached the last etching near her wrist, she was gasping, her fingernails starting to curve into those hideous claws that she now realized had always been those of the monster from her nightmares. The same one she intended to transform into shortly.

The knife fell from her fingers and Denise folded up her arms, holding them to her chest to stem the bleeding.

When she glanced back at Nathanial, someone stood in her line of vision.

“Why hello, Denise,” Raum purred.

Spade circled the skies over Monaco, focusing his vision on every vehicle that even remotely resembled an SUV. He’d flown over the whole bloody principality twice and yet still hadn’t found it.

What if Denise ditched the SUV and took another car? She had a gun, after all; it would be easy for her to force someone out of their vehicle. What if looking for the SUV was a waste of time that might cost Denise her life?

Crispin flew as well. Cat searched on the ground with Oliver, as neither of them was able to fly. It had been almost half an hour and there was no sign of Denise or Nathanial.

Could she have gotten out of Monaco that fast? Which direction would she have gone in? Dammit, why had she done this? That demon-dodging sod wasn’t worth it!

“Mencheres!” Spade suddenly said out loud. He aimed for the nearest rooftop, dialing on his mobile on the way down.

“Did you find her?” were his sire’s first words.

“No,” Spade said shortly. “But can’t you track her another way? A few months ago, your visions of the future weren’t coming to you anymore, but have they returned since then? Or can you use your power to see where Denise is now?”

It sounded like Mencheres sighed. “My visions haven’t returned. I see nothing anymore…and neither can I use my power to pinpoint Denise’s location. That, too, is gone from me.”

“Why the bloody hell haven’t you found a way to fix that!” Spade almost shouted into the mobile, fear making him irrational. “I’ve never once asked you to use your power for me before. Why now, when I need you the most, are you of no use to me?”

He hung up before Mencheres could reply, wanting to keep his line free in case Denise called. She still had the mobile he’d given her. It had been in the backseat along with the gun. Spade tried to calm the rising panic in him as he took to the skies again. Fate couldn’t be so cruel as to do this to him twice, could it?

Or perhaps Fate was exactly this cruel, letting him fall in love with another human, only to once again have death snatch her from him.

Raum faced Denise, his black eyes lit with red embers and his light brown hair blowing in the cold breeze coming off the water. He wore jeans and a T-shirt with “Got Brimstone?” emblazoned across the front of it. If she didn’t know what he was, Raum’s bizarrely normal appearance wouldn’t make her look at him twice. But she did know what he was, and the smell of sulfur enveloped her like an unwanted embrace.

“You dare call me here, so close to salt water? You think that makes you safe? I’m very, very disappointed in you,” Raum bit out, advancing a step toward her. “You took advantage of my kindness, broke our agreement —”

“Raum,” Denise interrupted. “Look behind you.”

The demon did a slow circle and then his laugh echoed out. He bounded over to Nathanial and seized him in a gleeful grip, swinging him around with the same sort of uninhibited exuberance that Spade had twirled her with just the other night.

“Nathanial, my long lost protégé, how happy I am to see you again!” Raum exclaimed. He even kissed Nathanial full on the mouth, with a loud smacking sound. “Ah, you taste so despairingly sweet. I intend to have such fun with you, you know that.”

Nathanial cried out at something the demon did. Denise couldn’t see what it was through Raum’s back, but whatever it had been, it was painful.

“You think that hurts?” Raum hissed, his tone changing from ringingly cheerful to something so low, Denise could barely hear him. “You have no idea what agony is, you deceitful little filth, but you will. Forever.”

No matter what happened later, right then, Denise was glad for everything she’d done in the past two hours. She couldn’t have lived with sending anyone to what Raum had planned for Nathanial. Yes, Nathanial had made the bargain with the demon, but dammit, he’d already paid enough for that during his time with Web. He’d been a stupid kid who made a terrible mistake, but he shouldn’t have to be eternally punished for it.

And if she lived through what she did next, she’d stop punishing herself, too. For letting Randy get killed, for the miscarriage…all of it. It’s time for both of us to be forgiven, Denise realized. More than time.

“Raum,” she said, raising her voice. “I want to get out of here, but first I want you to prove that you can give me my payment.”