devil 02 - tween a devil and his hard place Read online

  I returned the sentiment.

  “What’s up, angel?”

  Myra focused clear blue eyes on me and frowned again. “You look tired.”

  I shrugged. “Saving the world, fighting off horny devils and running a successful demon vaporizing business. You know.”

  Myra gifted me with a small grin. “Just another day in the life of Astra Q Phelps.”

  I grinned back.

  Myra studied her coffee silently for a moment. She appeared to be weighing something in her mind before speaking. Finally she looked back up and, whether she’d made a decision or not, I couldn’t tell. What she said certainly didn’t seem worthy of deep consideration.

  “So where are you on this devil-demon war? Any progress?”

  I took another sip of my coffee and studied her. She kept her clear, blue gaze on me and waited. I shrugged. “You tell me. Prince Dialle declared war on the demons and his father has threatened war on the witches. Raoul is involved somehow but I can’t get him to open up to me about it. Oh and Emo knows something he’s not telling me.”

  Myra’s blue eyes narrowed at mention of Emo’s name but she didn’t say anything. Generally she finds every excuse to be mad at my friend and partner. But today she restrained herself. “Sounds like your usual path to success.”

  I nodded. It’s hard to argue with fact. Things always seemed to get worse before they got better for me.

  Or they got worse before they got worse.

  I never knew which it was until I was armpit-deep in shit wearing an absorbent paper suit. Then I could usually figure it out.

  “Can you tell me where the hostages are at least? If I could save them I’d feel like I was accomplishing something.”

  Myra shook her head. “We’re searching but we haven’t found them yet. My guess is the demons have somehow taken them into the Shadows. You know we have limited power there.”

  “Could they do that? I thought it took strong magic to bring humans into the Shadows. The demons don’t have that kind of magic.”

  My angel threw me a sharp look, her beautiful blue eyes narrowing slightly. “Exactly.”

  I frowned. The implication was clear. We were back to the witches again.

  We sipped in thoughtful silence for a bit and then Myra broached the subject I realized she’d probably come for. “Astra, I don’t think you should be involved in this situation anymore.”

  I almost choked on my coffee. I coughed and sputtered and then said in a strangled tone, “Why not?”

  Myra shrugged and buried her nose in her cup.

  I felt my temper rising. “You don’t think I can handle it do you? I’ve handled much worse, angel, I can handle this too.”

  Myra looked up at me and the damnable creature actually laughed.

  I stamped my foot in temper and slammed my cup down on the counter. “What’s so funny?”

  She laughed even harder, almost falling out of the chair she was sitting in. Finally she regained control of herself and, wiping her eyes, sat back in the chair and shook her golden head at me. “All these years I’ve been asking you to do stuff and you’ve been telling me you can’t do whatever I ask. Now I truly want you to give something up and you dig in your heels.” She chuckled again and shook her head. “If I’d only known, I could have saved myself so much grief.”

  I scowled at her. “Are you playing mind games with me, angel?”

  She toyed with her coffee cup and the smile slowly dissolved from her face. “No, Astra, I wish I were. It’s just not that easy this time.”

  Okay, now she was scaring me. I sat down at the small table across from her and grabbed one of her pale hands. “Tell me, Myra. What do you think will happen?”

  She looked up and her clear blue gaze was filled with worry. She placed a warm, soft hand over mine and patted it before pulling away. Angel or no, Myra had never been comfortable with emotional scenes.

  “Astra, my girl, you’ll just have to trust me on this one. I’ve known your family since long before you were born. I’ve been with you from the day you were born. I’m just looking out for your best interests. It’s my job. I think you should walk away from this one.”

  “My family? What do they have to do with this?”

  Myra waved a hand in dismissal of my question and said nothing.

  “Angel!” I said in my most intimidating voice.

  She, of course, just shook her head at me.

  I was at that party with the fairy pudding again and I was really getting sick of it. “Myra, I am damned tired of being the only one in the room who doesn’t know the secret ingredient to the fairy pudding and I’m going to do something really drastic if you don’t tell me what everybody else knows that I don’t.”

  Myra scrunched up her face and looked at me. “What does fairy pudding have to do with anything?”

  I blew my breath out on a frustrated sigh. “It’s a metaphor, angel. I’m tired of being in the dark and I want some answers.”

  She stared at me for a beat and then looked down at her coffee cup on the table.

  I waited.

  Finally she looked up at me and said, “Vodka.”

  That stopped me cold. “Huh?”

  “You wanted to know the secret ingredient in fairy pudding. It’s vodka.”

  I frowned, “Really? That’s it? Vodka? Amazing.”

  Then I reeled myself back in and slammed my hand on the table. Her cup jumped and spilled coffee all over her and the table.

  Myra glared at me. “That was very mature, Astra. Now you’ll just have to get me another cup.” Then she focused her gaze on the spilled coffee and it disappeared.

  I screamed in frustration but went to get her another cup. I added sugar to it though just to piss her off and handed it back to her.

  She took one sip and grimaced. “Very mature.”

  I grinned. I did feel better. “I’ll fix it if you tell me why you want me to drop this case.”

  Myra thought about this for a moment. Then, running a long, pink-tipped finger around the top of her coffee cup, she said, “We are afraid that DD Raoul is dabbling in black magic.”

  Well, that wiped the grin off of my face. My knees buckled and I dropped into the nearest chair. “That’s impossible.”

  Myra looked up at me, a sad light in her eyes. “Astra, I know he’s your friend…”

  “He’s not involved in this mess!” Even I was surprised at how shrill my voice sounded. I cleared my throat, took a deep breath and tried to reason with my angel. “Look, Myra, I don’t know where you got your information but it just can’t be right. I know DD Raoul like I know myself. He’s a good man.”

  Myra nodded. “I would agree, Astra but this information came from a trusted source and we need to check it out.”

  I stared at her for a few beats and then nodded. “Okay, then I’ll do the checking.”

  Myra sighed and shook her head. “I knew you would say that.”

  “I’ll take Emo with me. We’ll go tonight. Where will he be?”

  Myra’s head swung back and forth again. “He won’t be out there tonight. He holds his black mass on Sabbath eve, in the wildlife preserve outside of town.”

  I nodded again. “Okay, I’ll go looking for him then. And I guarantee I won’t find him there.”

  Myra’s blue eyes held a sad note as she began to shimmer away. “I hope you’re right, Astra.”

  It wasn’t until after she was gone that I realized she hadn’t given me the information I’d demanded. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!

  * * * * *

  I called Emo on the televisual. “Have you located the hostages yet?”

  His handsome, golden face still made me jump when I first saw it. I was starting to get used to his new royal persona but decades of familiarity with the old, red one were hard to put away. His beautifully shaped head on the televisual swung back and forth in the negative. “I haven’t spoken to everyone yet but nobody I’ve talked to knows anything. All anyone will tell me is
that the witches are involved somehow. And that there’s big magic being worked.”

  I bit my lip and disconnected. Bent frunkin’ gargoyle toes! All air traffic pathways seemed to point back to the coven and Raoul.

  My televisual beeped and, since I had it on automatic answer mode, my father’s face popped up on the screen.

  I smiled at him and felt myself calming at the sight of his beatific face just as I’d done since I was a very small child. “Blessed be, Father.”

  His smile was fond but his angelic blue eyes didn’t match. “Blessed be, Astra. You look well, if a bit tired.” He tilted his red-blond head in silent question.

  “You’re the second person today to tell me that. I must look like hell.”

  He frowned at me. He didn’t like it when I swore. Old habits die very hard apparently. But his natural good humor took over and he shook his head as if I were a particularly naughty but entertaining child. “Not quite that bad, daughter but you do look as if you carry too much of the world’s cares on your delicate shoulders.”

  I snorted in a very unladylike way. Only a father could view a demon-vaporizing, ball-busting daughter as delicate. “It’s not like I have much of a choice. Your boss keeps dragging me into things.”

  My father smiled. “He knows you’ll get done what needs to be done. But I’m afraid He doesn’t take into account your mortality.”

  I could see him settling into the sad posture that had colored much of his life since the falling. Everything in his life weighed on him. The pleasures, the pain, the obstacles, the successes. Somehow it all represented what he’d given up, what was now lost to him. And, though I knew he was proud of my sister and me, we were a painful reminder that he would never again be what he had once been.

  I shrugged, determined to change the subject. “So what’s up with you? Have you spoken to Mother lately?”

  His shoulders almost visibly drooped. Oops. Wrong change of subject.

  “Actually, that’s why I’m calling you, Astra. Myra came to me…”

  “Damnable angel!”

  His angelic face creased in a frown. “Please don’t use that language, Astra. Especially about your guardian.”

  I shrugged again and mentally bit my tongue. “Sorry.”

  His piercing blue gaze stayed fixed on me just long enough to make sure I was truly repentant and then he continued. “Myra is concerned for your well-being. She thinks this current situation may be a little too difficult for you. She’s asked me to help her dissuade you from continuing on.”

  I suddenly realized I had an advantage with my father that I didn’t hold with others. He wouldn’t lie to me. Ever. He couldn’t possibly fall that far. I smiled suddenly and I don’t think it was a nice smile, because my father gave a little jolt and watched me like a particularly scary bug on his arm.

  “Father, I want to ask you something and I know you won’t lie to me, unlike that da…” I cleared my throat and gave him a weak smile. “Sorry again. Unlike Myra.”

  “Myra cannot lie to you, daughter.”

  I flung a hand toward the televisual in a dismissive way. “Of course she can’t lie directly, Father but you and I both know she’s the queen of lying without lying.”

  He looked down rather than having to meet my eyes. A faint flush crawled up his neck to his cheeks. He truly loved Myra but he couldn’t possibly be blind to her faults. Though he gave it his best shot at all times. When he looked back up again he seemed to have his emotions back under control. “What would you ask of me, daughter?”

  I didn’t waste any time. “What secret does everyone know that they’re not telling me?”

  He frowned slightly as if perplexed. “Secret?”

  “Yes. Since I was dragged into this situation I’ve been awash in innuendo, implication and downright secretive behavior. It’s like there’s a big fat secret at the core of this mess and nobody wants to tell me what it is. I want you to tell me what it is, Father.”

  “Your mother.”

  “Huh?”

  “I spoke to your mother today. I’m worried about what she might be up to. And I’m afraid she’s going to cause you pain somehow.”

  I tilted my head at him and bit my lip. “Have you had a vision?”

  His blue eyes widened just the tiniest little bit, barely noticeable unless you were looking for it. And I had been. He sighed and his shoulders sagged just a bit more. “I spoke to Deirdre.”

  It appeared my aunt had been very busy for a dead woman. I nodded. “Go on.”

  “She says your mother’s sphere is opening and growing and it approaches yours. Deirdre fears your mother will pull you into something you cannot escape and she will pull you from the side of good.”

  I shrugged, trying to act unconcerned when I was actually very concerned. “She can’t pull me where I don’t wish to go, Father. I’ve grown a lot in strength since last she saw me.”

  He fixed me with a clear blue gaze. “Yes, you are much stronger, Astra but your powers come from her and she knows that. She has had centuries to perfect her strength—to grow it—you have only recently been enhancing your abilities.” He looked down and I could visualize his long, pale hands in his lap, being wrung for all they were worth. It was something he’d always done when he was upset. “I blame myself for that. I shouldn’t have stopped Deirdre teaching you when you were a child.”

  It was a thought I’d had countless times over the last couple of decades but I was reluctant to let him take the burden for it now. “Nonsense. You did what you felt you needed to do to protect me. Maybe I wasn’t quite ready for the power then. I am now and I can stand against Mother if need be. I don’t want you and Myra to worry about me.”

  I wished I felt as strong as I sounded. But, for whatever reason, it was important to me to soothe my father on that particular subject. He had long been a pawn in my mother’s intricate and selfish schemes. I would not let that pattern continue if I could stop it.

  I disconnected after promising him that I would be very careful and instructed the televisual to contact my sister.

  Darma’s pretty face swam into view almost immediately, as if she’d been waiting for the televisual’s summons. “Hello, Astra.”

  Darma was older than me by five years. She had served as both sister and mother to me throughout my childhood. Since our real mother had led a busy and secretive life, which apparently hadn’t been entirely compatible with her role as a mother, Darma’s inclination toward mothering had worked out fine for everybody but me. She’d always felt she was within her rights to tell me how to live my life. And she’d always been dead set against the way I make my living.

  Darma’s the sturdy, serious, dependable daughter. I’m the hotheaded, passionate and borderline psychotic spawn. I’m the dark side of a pairing between a devil and an angel. Darma is the cranky and all too serious but light side. She has no powers and, with her size nine feet resolutely planted on terra firma, she appears to have a severe allergy to all things unearthly and magical. I think she must have been adopted but my parents won’t admit it.

  However, at the moment, she bore a startling resemblance to my father as she tilted her red-blonde head at me and frowned slightly. “What have you gotten yourself into this time, Astra?”

  I took a mental deep breath and smiled at her. “It’s nice to see you too, Darma.”

  This only deepened the frown. But she said nothing more, apparently waiting for me to open my mouth and seal my own fate. Her judgment awaited.

  “I just wanted to say hello and see how you were, sister. We haven’t spoken in a while.”

  The frown turned into a scowl. “Mmm-hmm.”

  “And… I wanted to find out if you’d spoken to Mother lately.”

  The scowl deepened. “You aren’t cavorting with her and her playmates are you, Astra? That would be serious bad news.”

  I shook my head. “I haven’t spoken to Mother for three years. But everybody is suddenly telling me to stay away from her.” />
  Darma’s face relaxed just a titch. “Good advice. I’d take it if I were you.”

  But you aren’t me are you Darma? I couldn’t help the wayward thought.

  The scowl returned. “Who has been warning you against Mother?”

  I paused, reluctant to tell her about my visitation from Aunt Deirdre. I knew she wouldn’t take it well. “Father for one and my angel…”

  I thought that might be enough to satisfy her but, with her usual astuteness, Darma read the exclusion of information somewhere on my face.

  “And?”

  Damn! I was gonna have to work on my blank face.

  I sighed, not bothering to try to hide my reluctance from her. There was obviously no point. If I didn’t know for a fact that she had no powers I would think she could read my mind. “Aunt Deirdre visited me in a dream.”

  Darma jumped as if goosed and I felt compelled to go on in a fruitless effort to stanch the torrent of verbal abuse I was sure was coming my way. “She visited Father too.”

  That did give her pause. She glared at me through hostile blue eyes for a long beat and then, amazingly, she sighed and seemed to deflate a bit. “What did she say?”

  “I…she…we…” I stammered. I was so shocked by her lack of reaction that I found my brain and tongue wouldn’t function together.

  Aside from being earthbound and practical to a fault, my older sister was also not the most patient of creatures. “Spit it out, Astra. My holy savior! What is wrong with you today?”

  Her familiar crankiness ripped me out of my dazed state. “She’s worried that Mother will attempt to pull me into whatever dastardly deeds she’s currently involved in.”

  Darma nodded as if she were not surprised. I suddenly wondered if she was. “Darma have you spoken to Mother lately?”

  Her response was too careful. Too composed.

  “No I haven’t, Astra. The last time I saw her was totally by chance. I ran into her about a month ago, in a restaurant downtown at midday. She was with some filthy Satanist. We barely spoke.”

  I tilted my head at her. “A Satanist? Are you sure? Did he have the tattoos?”

  Darma seemed to realize she’d told me more than she wanted to and tried to shrug nonchalantly. But the shrug was a bit too jerky to be nonchalant. “Not that I could see.”