When the irritated and extremely exhausted Grant Nelson left Moira and Rafe in their hotel room after confirming that they would be at the police station at eight the next morning, Moira turned to Rafe. “If he thinks I’m going to hole up in some stupid hotel while those witches who killed Nadine set up another victim, he’s delusional.”
“I expected you’d come to that conclusion,” Rafe said.
She frowned. “You agree, right?”
“One hundred percent. But we need a plan.”
“We read Jackson’s notes; we know most of the players. I understand generally how these rituals operate.” She wished she knew more about them. Her mother had never called on a succubus, though Moira had heard of the rituals. Would her limited knowledge be enough? She wished she had more time.
She crossed to the window and looked out at the lights in the parking lot below. She didn’t like being this high up-she’d requested a ground-floor room, but there were none available. They were on the fourth floor. She supposed if she had to jump she might survive, but she didn’t want to test the theory.
They were in a hotel, not a motel, and it was damn expensive. Moira would never have stayed here in a million years, but when Nelson gave them the ultimatum of hotel or jail, Rafe said they were planning on staying at the Palomar. It was sleek and contemporary, and Moira felt that she didn’t belong. She was used to sleeping in rooms that rented by the hour, places where she could dump salt across every opening and no one would say anything. She didn’t fit in this high-class environment, but surprisingly, Rafe seemed comfortable and at ease.
Moira couldn’t explain Nadine’s bizarre behavior, but she wasn’t wholly surprised. The demon had had complete control over Nadine, but Nadine was awake during the entire possession. Demons don’t eat or sleep; they feed on human souls. What could that do to a human being for a week?
Rafe had given Nadine last rites and anointed her with oil to prevent her spirit from wandering the earth lost and vengeful, but neither he nor Moira knew if it would work, or where her soul might be trapped.
Moira’s cell phone rang. “It’s Jackson. Finally,” she said and answered it, putting it on speaker so Rafe could hear.
“Hey, Jackson, Rafe and I are both here.”
“I have some information that might help,” he said. “I found the chalice that Wendy’s coven is using.”
“You have it?”
“A photograph. I’d rather discuss this in person; it’s rather complex and we need a plan.”
Jackson cut her off. “I sent Caroline out of the area to stay with her grandmother. You need my help. Let me show you everything I’ve found and we can figure out what to do. But I think we can get rid of this thing tonight.”
“Halleluia,” Moira said. “We’re at the Palomar. How fast can you get here?”
“Thirty minutes.”
She glanced at the clock. It was just after ten p.m. It had already been a long day, and promised to be even longer.
“Hurry,” she said and hung up.
“I’m confused on one point,” Rafe said.
“Only one?”
“Wendy’s coven uses a succubus. How would they know how to trap one of the Seven when even Fiona couldn’t do it?”
Good point. Moira considered. “Fiona thought she knew how to trap the Seven one at a time. She had Lily on the altar, was going to give her body to Envy until we stopped her. Nicole Donovan was there-she must have learned the ritual. Shared it with her psycho sister Wendy.”
“But the demon left Nadine’s body when you were chasing her, so it wasn’t trapped. Why did it allow itself to be contained at all? After facing down Envy two weeks ago, I don’t think any of those bastards are going to willingly be controlled by a mortal.”
Moira frowned and turned from the window. “I don’t know-but since a succubus is all about sex and stealing the souls of men, maybe the demon Lust is playing the game because it amuses her. Or-” She hesitated.
“Or what?”
“In my vision she said she had to find another vessel.”
“You mean, that vision that threw you against the alley wall.” He stepped over so he could touch her face. She knew she must look like death warmed over after the attack in the alley and Nadine head-butting her. Her hand still stung, though Rafe had bandaged it-and kissed it-for her.
She swallowed nervously, the proximity to Rafe clouding her thoughts, and said, “She may have been drawn out and contained in another vessel.”
“Spontaneously?”
“I don’t know! Demons are like yo-yos. They can sometimes be pulled back to the point where they entered the earth. Like they’re attached to an invisible umbilical cord that leads right back to whichever Hell’s gateway they walked through.”
“If that’s the case, why can’t we draw all of them back to the cliffs in Santa Louisa and send them back from there?”
She considered. “We may have to do just that. But Anthony is certain that if the Seven are brought together we won’t be able to defeat them. There’s so much we don’t know!”
“I hope Dr. Lieber has the answers we need,” Rafe said quietly. “We should seal the room.”
“He’s still there.”
“Who?”
She nodded toward the parking lot before closing the curtains. “Grant Nelson. He’s sitting in his car looking at this window.” She accepted the bag of salt that Rafe handed her. “I’d hate to imagine what housekeeping will think when they come in tomorrow morning.” She smiled wistfully at the thought. She’d accepted that she wasn’t like most people-she was strange and peculiar. Usually she didn’t care what anyone thought because she’d always been alone, cut off from normal people, if not physically, then emotionally. Yet now, thanks to Rafe, she felt almost like part of society … almost. Would this invisible barrier ever disappear?
She focused on the task at hand. “You put up the crucifixes; don’t forget the vents.”
“You okay, Moira?” Rafe asked, concern in his tone.
“Just peachy.”
They worked in silence for several tense minutes. Moira fidgeted, uncomfortable and tired and hating this feeling that she didn’t fit.
“Did Nadine see you?” Rafe asked quietly.
“See me? She said she couldn’t see, but it was obvious that she-”
“No, before the demon disappeared. Before the thunder.”
Moira paused. “I think she saw me as I was crossing the street.”
“What if the demon didn’t want a confrontation with you?”
“Me? Why the hell not? I didn’t stop Envy from attacking you, me, Father-” She coughed as emotion thickened her voice.
“But it could have a plan, and we weakened Envy enough for Anthony to draw it into the trap. If it thought you could do it damage-” He cut himself off.
“What? Spill it, Rafe. What are you thinking?”
“Rico wanted your blood for something. Aren’t you curious why?”
“No,” she lied.
Rafe just stared at her, obviously not believing her.
“One thing at a time, Rafe! I don’t want to put my thoughts back there and think what might be wrong with me-”
“Why would you think anything’s wrong with you?”
“My
