Stuart, be sure to send the vacuum through when next I leave.
The home butler confirmed with a blip on the wall panel and a solid green light. Ethan had programmed it not to return voice reply unless necessary. It wasnt like he needed to talk to the artificial intelligence to make conversation. He used it merely as the maid he liked to have available at all hours of the day, yet didnt want a human stumbling around in his life discovering that he didnt need to sleep and eat. And hed bitten a maid once. Early nineteenth century? It was best not to drink from the help.
Tuesday returned, flipping her hair over a shoulder, and stretched out on the sofa. Wheres my stuff?
On the kitchen counter. You cant leave a trail of bread crumbs wherever you walk.
I dont need to. Were attached at the hip. If you should lose sight of me, youll find me soon enough. Bring me my bags.
Get them yourself. He settled onto the big leather chair with the wide wooden arms. The wood was worn from decades of use and connection to life. And more than a few frenzied bang sessions. Dazzle me with your witchy magic and this demon map you said you could conjure.
I dont dazzle on command. She wandered over to the counter and pulled out things from the bags.
Then how do I get you to dazzle me? Ethan asked. Is there a magic word?
Please seems to work most of the time.
He pressed his fingers to his forehead. He should have left the witch in the cage.
On the other hand, she couldnt hex him and he did need help with this case. He had absolutely no clue how to lure in the demon otherwise, so he would take her sassy mouth and... Well, hed kiss her again if need be. Heh. That kiss had set her off-kilter.
But the return kiss had surprised him. And then hed accepted it for the retaliation it had been. Now a kiss from those grape-stained lips would give him what he wanted from her. Another taste. A teasing test of his abilities to remain completely unaffected by her charms and attraction.
She had some. Somewhere in that scatter of spangles, sass and black eye shadow.
Black salt and ravens ash. She waggled between them two vials of a dark substance that shed purchased from the candle shop. This will do the trick.
She wandered over and pushed the narrow coffee table up against the sofa. The wide dark-stained plank flooring was the original from when the building had once been a millinery factory. Ethan liked it because hed known a man who had worked here in the 1920s. Hed taken immense pride in the cut of a womans hat, or even the specific froth of a silk flower adorning a sweeping brim. Hed also asked Ethan for vampirism after learning that the mercury used to cure the felt for his creations was driving him insane. Ethan had convinced him an insane vampire would be worse than a human prematurely dead from bleeding out.
In all his centuries, Ethan had never created another vampire. And he didnt intend to do so anytime soon. It was too much power to simply give away as if a holiday gift. And besides, he was blood-born, not a created vampire. His breed were superior to those who had been transformed in a back alley or at a lovers lusty request. And he wasnt about to tarnish the line. If he ever desired to procreate, he would have a child, who, depending on its mothers lineage and paranormal species, would very likely be born vampire. He preferred to mate with another vampire, but he wasnt rigid in that stance. Love was actually his key requirement to a happy, lasting relationship.
But love was fickle and...well, hed take it if it came his way, but he wasnt on a quest to track it down.
Ethan leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees and watched as Tuesday sprinkled black salt in a pattern before her on the floor. He was curious about witchcraft, and knew it was powerful. No man should mess with a witch. But he was feeling cocky with the protective bind against her. So long as it lasted until they found the demon.
Leaning over the scattered salt, which designed a pentagram inside a circle, Tuesday closed her eyes and spread her arms wide. She chanted words that Ethan would never try to decipher. Witch words. Dangerous words. Yet he could feel them forming sentences in his veins, warning that she could take him out if he dropped his guard.
With a snap of her fingers, the salt suddenly illuminated and jittered on the floor, moving, ordering and aligning. The tiny grains jumped and crackled. The scent of salt tinged the air. And when it settled and continued to glow, Tuesday sat back on her heels, hands propped on each thigh.
A map of Paris, she said with a gesture over the salt. What do you think?
Ethan leaned over to inspect the map. It included both the right and left bank, and the Seine and the main island. It even showed faint demarcations for the twenty arrondissements. Youve dazzled me, witch. Now where are all the demons? Or just the one in particular?
That requires more intense chanting. And an elemental callout. You stay there. Dont move, because I dont want the bond between us to tug me out of concentration. Deal?
I am a captive audience.
She looked at him a moment, and he couldnt decide if she thought she was peering into an idiots eyes or, in fact, seeing beyond his irises and into his very soul. Hed witnessed it when shed peered into Certainly Joness soul. Was it a skill they could only perform on other witches? Or need he worry, too?
What? he finally asked.
Theres something about you, Ethan Pierce. Something that keeps me from stabbing you through the heart with this athame. She twirled the knife shed bought from the store. The hilt looked to be carved from opal. That was why the bill had registered in the hundreds of euros. Im not sure what that is, though, so Im going to keep the blade close.
Whatever works for you. You couldnt harm me if you tried.
Probably not. But you are racking up the points against you for when the bond is lifted. Know that.
Im not afraid of a witch.
Her head tilted and her gaze narrowed as she said simply, You should be.
And Ethan realized she was right. But he wouldnt show his anxiety.
Casting her focus over the salt map, she moved up on her knees, spread out her arms and began to chant.
* * *
Tuesday felt the presence of every demon inhabiting the city prick at her skin. It wasnt pleasant, but it wasnt painful, either. Rather a sort of vehement and inner knowing. The elemental spell had been successful. She opened her eyes and looked over the map.
Ethan kneeled on the opposite side of the map and scanned the results as well. What are all the glowing red salt crystals?
Demons, she said.
Theres so many. Thousands.
Are you surprised?
No. But how is this going to help our search?
Hold your horses, big boy. The real magic comes next.
Tugging loose the ribbon ties at the bodice of her new shirt, Tuesday tossed the obsidian crystal over her shoulder and then pressed her fingers against the sigil between her breasts. She lowered her other hand over the map, moving methodically as she silently thought Gazariels name. The sigil warmed and she could feel the tendrils of it creep through her chest and toward her extremities. It noticed her.
And that was not a good thing.
Wanting to abruptly end the spell, she suddenly noted the violet glow at one edge of the map. There! Where is that?
And that was not a good thing.
Wanting to abruptly end the spell, she suddenly noted the violet glow at one edge of the map. There! Where is that?
Ethan turned his head to assess the map. Looks like the Bois de Boulogne. A big, forested park at the edge of the city. Is that purple spot The Beautiful One?
It is. And now Im cutting the connection before he catches on.
Wait!
Tuesday pulled her fingers from the sigil. The violet light snuffed out.
If you would have held on longer, I could have marked the exact location, Ethan protested. That would have made our job easier. Are you helping me or hindering me, witch?
What do you think Im doing? You think I enjoy being your captive? I want this over as quickly as possible. But I will not call the demon directly to me. He could manifest within me. And then what will you do?
That can happen?
Its likely. But remember what Edamite said. If hes smart hes not going to come near me. And he is.
Sorry. I, uh... I dont intend to place you in harms way. I just want to utilize your expertise.
And this, eh? She tapped the sigil.
Can I take a look at that?
She studied his curious gaze. He wasnt aware that a childlike wonder could overtake his normally serious expression. Nor could he be aware how much that relaxation of his outer shield attracted her. Because it made him everything he probably didnt want to besoft, kind, accepting.
Tuesday nodded her consent.
Ethan reached over and pressed two fingers to the sigil. It was an intimate touch and her skin warmed. Her breasts hugged his knuckles. He flicked his wondrous gaze onto hers.
I can feel your fear, he said. I dont want you to be afraid. I will protect you.
Tuesday wrapped her fingers about his wrist, holding him there at her breast. Theres nothing a vampire can do to protect me that I cant already do myself. Youre going to have to make a better plea for my continuing to work with you than that.
All right. How about this?
And with that, he slid over the salt map, smearing the left bank of Paris, and cupped the back of her head as he pulled her in for another sudden kiss.
His mouth warmed against hers and demanded she not ignore him. That she allow him to protect her. And at the same time, it teased her to submit in a way she generally didnt care to with a man. It was the surprise of their connection, their easy manner of locking lips, that excited her, and made her want to not break it.
On her knees, Tuesday scooched closer. He slipped one hand down her hair and clasped his fingers into it, easing her forward, into his arms. Into his interesting acceptance. Shed thought he didnt like witches. So why was he kissing her?
Did it matter? Not in this moment. She wanted to taste every sensual, hot bit of him. Inhale his cool, fresh-air scent, and every breath that he greedily gave and took from her. Moaning into his mouth, she grabbed at his shirt and straddled his legs with hers. They kneeled there on the scattered remains of the city map, a strange fusion of opposites who couldnt resist the pull to experience one another.
And when he put his hand again on the sigil, she moved his fingers to cup her breast. She hugged up against him, giving him permission to touch her, wanting to own the vampires desire... To control him as he sought to control her.
Ethan broke the kiss and pulled his hand abruptly from her skin. Uh...
Appearing befuddled, he probably wasnt sure why hed kissed her. And had manhandled her boob. So she wouldnt let him consider it too long. Because if she had to use normal skills instead of magic to control him, it was best to keep him unsure and wondering.
Feel like a walk in the park? she asked.
Sure. I um...
She stood and knotted the ties of her shirt into a bow. Then lets get to it before I shove you down and have some hex with you.
Shed let him ponder the use of that word for what she really wanted to do to him. The man had ignited something within her. And she had never been a witch to deny herself the pleasures life offered.