Must Love Hellhounds

Demons, unfortunately, could be charming, so that their lies dripped like honey. And the shapes they took were usually as gorgeous as sin.

“He’s holding out his hand to her. She’s not taking it, but she is following him down the stairs. The curtains are drawn at the front windows.”

“So that no one can see in,” Maggie said. “Or so that she can’t signal to anyone.”

“There’s James, standing near the doorway of a dining room. He’s decked out in black, wearing a shoulder holster.” Blake frowned. “There’s food. It’s a nice setup. GQ is smiling, pulling out a chair for her. What the hell is he doing?”

“Playing good cop, bad cop,” Maggie said. “In a few minutes, James will get pissed, start yelling, pull out the gun. The demon will be the voice of reason and put himself between Katherine and the weapon.”

And then there was the food, she thought. How hungry was Katherine by now? Even if she didn’t want to feel gratitude, she would be thankful for the chance to eat. It was human nature.

Blake frowned. “So he’s creating an express version of Stockholm syndrome? He’ll make her trust him, so she’ll give up the location faster?”

“I think so.” Katherine knew the Rules, and what the demon couldn’t do to her. She wouldn’t worry about him, but look for ways to get around James. “They’ll want to keep her afraid of James, but they’ll also give her a friend.” A handsome, sympathetic friend. “One who can convince her that as soon as she helps him, he’ll let her go.”

Blake was silent for a few minutes, then said, “You were spot on, Maggie.”

“The fight?”

“Yes. The demon is taking her back upstairs now.” He pounded his fist against his knee. “And she’s still not looking at him, though he’s speaking with her. Still not… Oh, but she’s taken a scone with her and heaped it with jam.”

Jam? Maggie glanced over, saw his wide grin. “What?”

He shook his head. “We’ve only to wait now, and we’ll know what it is he wants.”

As soon as the demon left her alone, Katherine used the jam to write “dragon blood” on the bathroom mirror.

Which, Maggie thought, was not as helpful as it might have been.

“Dragon blood?” Blake scrubbed his hands over his face. “How would she find that? There’s only been one on Earth, and it was killed thousands of years ago.”

By the sword that had tainted his uncle’s blood. And-

Maggie’s stomach sank. “Is that what happened to you? And Katherine? You were changed by the sword?”

“Not directly.”

Born different, not changed. “Someone else. Your parents or your grandparents were tainted by it.”

“No. But go back two centuries, and you’ll land on them. What are you thinking, Maggie?”

“The reason your uncle hired me was that a few demons found out he was different from other vampires, so he needed that extra protection from them. And that if your family has been different for two hundred years, there will be a pattern that shows up. No matter how hard he tries to hide it. If a demon looked at him first, then looked at his family…” Maybe Blake’s pattern wasn’t as easy to establish. But his sister-“Katherine’s cases-solved rate is incredibly high.”

“And they took blood from us both.” His grim tone matched the lines of tension beside his mouth and nose. “So that’s how they knew. But that still doesn’t tell us where she’ll find dragon blood now.”

Her stomach seemed to sink lower. Maybe Katherine didn’t have to find dragon blood. Maybe the demon thought she already had it. “Do you know about the grigori?”

“No.”

That was no surprise. Ames-Beaumont, she knew, had only learned of them recently, too. “Demons can’t have children. But before the war with the angels-when the dragon was killed on Earth-Lucifer made some demons drink dragon blood. They were changed by it, and they mated with humans. The offspring are the grigori.”

She watched his face, and saw the horrified realization that his family had been changed by dragon blood. His voice was low and furious. “Is he trying to experiment with her? To see if he can impregnate her?”

“If he is, there is one silver lining: it has to be of her free will.” As in everything else, the demons’ Rules had to be followed.

“And so he does the nice-guy routine before he tries to-” He bit the rest off. Anger and horror battled for equal play in his expression.

“Yes.” She focused on the road again. “But maybe we’re wrong. It just might be… Oh, Jesus.”

The SUV sped past them, heading the opposite way, but she was certain she hadn’t mistaken the driver. James. Her heart began pounding, but she fought the impulse to slam the brakes, to whip the vehicle around and follow him.

She pressed the button that lowered the rear passenger window. “Sir Pup. It’s the black Land Rover that just passed us. Do you have your locator?”

“Is it James?” The fury hadn’t left Blake’s voice.

“Yes.” A tracking device landed in her lap. “All right, Sir Pup. Just lead us to him. If you can do it where no one can see it, detain him. But don’t shape-shift.”

The hellhound gave a disappointed whine.