Corruption Read online

  “What are you doing?” Andy demanded. “Stay inside, we don’t know where the shooter is!”

  “I have to heal, you imbecile,” Lorelei growled. She rolled to her knees, and a violent tremor racked her body. She choked as bile poured out her mouth and splattered the carpet.

  “Ew,” Peasblossom said.

  Lorelei emptied the rest of her stomach, then shuffled back to get away from the rancid puddle she’d created, still bent over with her forehead only inches from the floor. “I am a demon, I cannot heal in a church!” She gritted her teeth and lurched to her feet before taking a few shaky steps. Then she froze, staring at the dead twins where they lay beside the altar.

  I watched her face, searching for some sign of satisfaction, of pleasure. Anything to indicate she’d played a part in Corban and Christophe’s fate. Lorelei’s eyes glowed a brighter red, like burning coals stoked by a stiff breeze. Then pain washed over her features and she doubled over, feebly swiping at the Velcro, trying to get the vest off.

  “Let me help you,” I said, going to her side. I pulled the Velcro free, loosening the vest. Warm blood touched my fingertips as I helped her get it off. “Andy’s right, you can’t go out there. Let me—”

  Lorelei ran for the front door.

  Andy growled and ran after her, easily surpassing her as pain made her slow and clumsy. He stood before the door, one hand held out to Lorelei. He still held his gun, but it was at his side. “Stay inside or—”

  Lorelei thrust out a hand, and a force wave of telekinetic energy slammed into Andy’s body. He hit the door, hard, and his momentum along with the sheer force of Lorelei’s blast sent him flying over the threshold and out onto the cement. The demon followed him before anyone could stop her.

  “Andy!” I grabbed my phone and dropped it on the floor. “Peasblossom, call 4944!”

  “Got it!” She leapt out of my coat collar and landed on the phone, already swiping at the screen.

  I threw open the door. Andy crouched beside the Under Renovation sign, gun ready, but not raised in a way that would alert a pedestrian, should one wander by. The heel of his left hand bled from where I guessed he’d hit the ground after the demon’s attack, and the knees of his suit pants were torn, but he seemed all right.

  He saw me and stood. “Whoever the shooter was, I think they’re gone.” He shot Lorelei an irritated glare. “Feel free to stand around and see if he shoots you again.”

  Lorelei sat on the opposite side of the stairs, covering her right shoulder beneath her collar bone. “I’ll be fine now that you’re not trying to push me inside a holy place. I may not be my once unsurpassed glory, but I’m not human.”

  She said human the way humans said “cockroach,” but the strain in her voice suggested she was more hurt than she wanted to let on. She’d heal before infection could set in, so she was probably concentrating on healing muscle and any organs that may have been nicked.

  “Peasblossom is calling an ambulance,” I told him. “They’ll be here soon.”

  “Average response time for an ambulance in Cleveland is twelve minutes,” Andy said. “Did you tell them there’s a shooter?”

  “Peasblossom is calling them now, and we’re not calling a human ambulance. Our response times are better.”

  “Do they fly?”

  “No, but they’re loaded down with good luck charms. Green lights all the way, no pedestrians trying to beat them across the street.”

  “Can’t you heal her?” he asked.

  “I said I’m healing myself,” Lorelei snapped.

  “Otherworld ambulances don’t just see to the injured,” I added, ignoring Lorelei. “They’ll search the area for the shooter, make sure no one else was injured.”

  “Good.” Andy gestured at his vest. “Was this you?”

  “No, that was Thomas. I can’t conjure bulletproof vests.” I tilted my head. “Though I’d love to learn.”

  “He was moving funny, was he hurt?”

  “I’ll check, but I don’t think so. Laurie’s been training him for a year, a lot of that would have been an introduction to weapons. He would have learned blessings and channeling first. I’m guessing he hasn’t had a lot of practice with conjuring. It takes a lot out of you.”

  “Go check on him, we’ll wait for the ambulance.”

  I rushed into the building and the thick aroma that haunted Catholic churches. Father Salvatore and Thomas sat in the pew closest to the side door. As I approached, Father Salvatore looked up.

  “Is Laurie all right?” he asked.

  “She’s fine,” I assured him. “She seems to be healing herself, and I’ve called for an ambulance.” I hesitated, then added, “A special ambulance.” Father Salvatore nodded, though I thought I saw a hint of confusion in his eyes. I pointed at Thomas. “How is he?”

  “Well enough to answer your question myself.” Thomas raised his head, revealing a face more pale than it had been. Despite his obvious exhaustion, his eyes were bright, and he seemed pleased with himself. He waved a hand through the air, and our bulletproof vests vanished.

  “That spell was exceptionally well done,” I congratulated him.

  “It wasn’t a spell,” Thomas corrected me. “It was a manifestation of God’s will. I am only a conduit, I don’t take credit for his work the way witches do.”

  My smile turned brittle. “The ambulance will send a team out to make sure the shooter is really gone, but we need to take precautions,” I told Father Salvatore. “Laurie isn’t safe here. And if she was the target, then her house isn’t safe either.”

  “Where will you take her?” Thomas demanded.

  “I have somewhere she’ll be safe, but it’s better if I don’t tell you. The fewer people who know, the better.”

  “You can’t take her away and not tell us where you’re taking her,” Thomas objected. He stood and swayed unsteadily. “She needs protecting. I’m her friend. And if you’ll excuse me for saying so, I’m much more qualified to protect her against demons than you are.”

  I wrenched my polite smile higher. “We don’t know that demons have anything to do with Corban and Christophe’s murders, or the shooting. We need to analyze the bullet and hope it leads us to the gun. So unless you have some means of performing such an analysis…?”

  Thomas’ jaw tightened, but he didn’t say anything. Father Salvatore rose and clasped his shoulder. “It’s all right. Go, keep Laurie safe. If you’ll give me your cell phone, I’ll put my number in. You can call if you need us.”

  “I will,” I promised. I handed him my phone, then stared at the bodies while he typed in his number. “I’ll have the ambulance take care of Corban and Christophe as well,” I added quietly. “The Ministry will make their funeral arrangements after the investigation is concluded.”

  Father Salvatore followed my gaze as he returned my phone. “Thank you.”

  I left Thomas in the older priest’s care and exited the church through the front door. It wasn’t more than a minute later that an ambulance pulled up to the church, red lights flashing. The doors opened and two figures climbed out with a stretcher. One of them, a well-built male, had a head of curly blond hair, and eyes so blue I could see the color from thirty feet away. There was a mischievous tilt to his mouth, and an unquestionable aura of sensuality that made everything else fade into the background. Incubus, I’d have bet my broomstick on it. He’d have been distracting if it wasn’t for the woman next to him.

  “Kylie!” I called out.

  The half-ghoul turned. At five foot four, she was only an inch taller than me, but where I had long black hair and dark brown eyes, Kylie was a pale blonde beauty with grey eyes that reminded me of thick London fog. She didn’t smile when she saw me.

  “The patient is over there,” I said, pointing to Lorelei.

  The demon sneered at the EMTs. “I am fine.”

  Kylie and her male partner moved with determined efficiency to the stairs and knelt beside Lorelei. “You don’t look fine,” Kyl
ie said grimly.

  I did a double take and stared at Lorelei’s shoulder as she lowered her hand. It wasn’t bleeding as it had been, so Lorelei must have healed some of the damage, but there was still a hole where the bullet had entered her body, and her skin was slick with blood.

  “That should be healed,” I said. “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know! Maybe being dragged into a church wasn’t the best—” She hissed as the incubus lifted her into his arms and carried her toward the waiting ambulance. “Ouch! Watch what you’re doing, you oaf!”

  The incubus grinned at her. “You may call me Jacob.”

  “Did Peasblossom mention the shooter?” Andy asked Kylie.

  “A patrol flew over,” she answered, leading us to the ambulance where Jacob was loading Lorelei inside on a gurney. “Without knowing who and what shot at her, it’s impossible to say for certain, but there’s no immediate threat we could see.”

  “I do not require an ambulance,” Lorelei insisted.

  I leaned around the open door of the vehicle as the incubus gripped the sides of Lorelei’s clothing and tore the camisole and blouse apart as if they were tissue paper. Blood covered the demon’s skin over such a large area that for a second it looked like she was still wearing the red camisole.

  She glared at Jacob and smacked his hand away as he touched the wound. “I can heal myself.”

  “Oh, but wouldn’t it go so much faster if we got that pesky bullet out of there?” the incubus said, giving Lorelei a wink. He reached for a roll of gauze and a bottle of disinfectant.

  Lorelei lay down and glared at the ceiling of the ambulance. “Fine. But be quick about it.”

  The incubus frowned, pausing with the gauze hovering over her stomach. “An incubus is never—”

  “Jacob, this is not the time for innuendo,” Kylie chided him.

  “Good luck with that,” I told her. “I’ve never known an incubus that could let a double entendre go.”

  “It is one of our strengths,” Jacob agreed. “Double entendres, that is, not letting them go. And of course we have other strengths.”

  Kylie didn’t smile as she turned to me. “Once we get the bullet out and treat the wound, she should heal it pretty quickly. She won’t need a hospital, so is there anywhere specific you want us to take her?”

  Andy came to stand beside me. “If she’s not in any danger, we can drive her.” He glanced at me. “Any ideas where we could take her to keep her safe while we figure this out?”

  “We’re close to the Brewsters.” Peasblossom landed on my shoulder, holding on to a lock of my hair to steady herself as she squinted at Lorelei on the gurney. “Are you going to throw up again?”

  Jacob blinked. “She’s throwing up?” He frowned and felt Lorelei’s forehead. “She shouldn’t be getting an infection.”

  Lorelei jerked away from him. “I’m not infected, you idiot. I was inside a church, that’s always nauseating.”

  “Sweating, were you?” He smirked.

  Lorelei grunted. “Are you the pot or the kettle?”

  “Who are the Brewsters?” Andy interrupted.

  I smiled. “The Brewsters are sisters, Josephine and Jean. And Peasblossom is right. They would be the perfect hostesses for our current needs.” I turned back to Kylie. “After you patch Lorelei up, I need you to call in a hearse. A big one.”

  “Two big ones,” Peasblossom corrected me.

  Kylie’s gaze sharpened, and for a second I thought I saw a milky white glaze slide over her irises like a second eyelid. “Bodies?”

  I snapped my mouth shut as an awkward silence swarmed the air between me and Kylie. I hadn’t known her long, and it was all too easy for me to forget what she was. And what she would be. As a half-ghoul, she was mostly human, and she would only become a full-fledged ghoul after she died. But half-ghouls still occasionally craved rotting meat. In my opinion, it was courting disaster for Kylie to continue testing her self-control working as an autopsy technician—and apparently, an EMT—but it wasn’t my life. Or my choice.

  “Yes,” I continued, chasing away the silence. “Someone interrupted an exorcism and killed the paladins. The two dead men are minotaurs. Twins.”

  Kylie’s lips parted, and even Jacob paused in the middle of bandaging Lorelei’s shoulder.

  “Minotaurs?” Kylie echoed.

  I nodded. “They were shot. I’m trying to find out who did it.”

  “Call if you need me,” Kylie said.

  “I will, thank you.”

  Lorelei winced as she sat up, but smacked Jacob’s hand away when he tried to help her. He gave her another big smile as she exited the ambulance without so much as a thank you. The fact that she was wearing only a bra and a bloody and shredded camisole-blouse combo didn’t seem to phase her.

  I rolled my eyes and summoned what Peasblossom referred to as my “Cinderella spells.” Lorelei jolted to a stop as the blood vanished from the clothing, and the camisole and blouse stitched themselves back together.

  “Prude,” she muttered.

  I sighed. “It will be so difficult finding someone who’d want to shoot you.”

  Jacob laughed outright, the deep belly laugh of someone who never repressed happiness. As I turned toward my car, I thought I caught Kylie’s mouth quirking up at the corner too.

  I gave Andy the Brewsters’ address and Lorelei and I began a fight over whether she would ride with me or Andy. I won, but the trip rolled downhill from there. And thanks to Andy’s precautions about taking a meandering route in case we were being followed, the drive took longer than I’d expected. By the time the Brewsters’ old two story house came into view, I was ready to hogtie Lorelei, throw her in the trunk, and call her safe.

  “I should have ridden with Andy,” Peasblossom complained. “Her taste in music is awful!”

  “That’s because her taste in music revolved around waiting for me to adjust to a station and then turning it,” I managed through clenched teeth.

  “If you’d let me ride with the handsome one, I wouldn’t have been any bother at all.” Lorelei leaned over, crowding my personal space so she could breathe on my neck when she spoke. “What’s the matter, afraid I’ll woo him away from you?”

  Before I could answer, the handsome man in question tapped on my window. I took the keys out of the ignition, only then realizing that Andy was staring from me to Lorelei with a crease between his eyebrows. My face flushed as I realized Lorelei was hanging on me. I hadn’t even felt her put a hand on my thigh.

  “Get off me,” I snapped.

  She winked at Andy as she slid her hand off my leg, making the movement more sensual than it should have been. I growled and tried not to fall out of the car.

  “Did you call them to tell them we were coming?”

  The doubt in Andy’s voice made me glance toward the house. Admittedly, the snapshot of domestic serenity didn’t seem like the place to hide a demon. The home dated back to the 1920’s, but the Brewsters had taken good care of it. The shutters were in good repair and freshly painted, the porch was solid and swept often, and the flower beds lining the front were meticulously maintained, filling the air with the scent of lavender and hyacinth.

  This angle hid the graveyard at the back of the property.

  I didn’t want Andy to think I was rude, showing up at someone’s house without warning or permission. But I also didn’t want to tell him it was best not to show up announced at the Brewster sisters’ house because the sisters were…fond of practical jokes. The last time I’d told them I was coming, I’d opened the door and had a bucket of water poured over me while the sisters danced around crying out “She’s melting! Melting!”

  A laugh a minute, those two.

  “No, I didn’t call them, but I’m sure it’s fine. This isn’t the first time the sisters have helped out.”

  The front door opened, and I turned in time to see Josephine appear in the doorway, holding a plate of cookies. She was a thin woman in her sixties, w
ith curly greying brown hair that was always neatly pinned on top of her head. She wore a plain black dress under a worn peach-colored sweater and a string of pearls around her neck. As we approached the house, she pushed her gold wire-rimmed glasses up her nose with one hand and held out the cookies with the other.

  “Shade, how lovely to see you. You should have called, I would have…made cake.”

  “Hello, Josephine. I’d like you to meet my friends, Lorelei and Agent Andrew Bradford of the FBI. I’m so sorry to drop by like this, but I’m afraid I have an enormous favor to ask you.”

  “What’s that, dear?” Jean asked, popping her head around the door frame.

  I narrowed my eyes, wondering why she hadn’t come all the way outside. What do you have behind your back?

  Jean wore her hair up like her sister, but hers was darker than Josephine’s, still more brown than grey. She wore a dark blue cotton dress with lace up the front in a vee with blue ribbon criss-crossing between the lace. They both dressed like antique dolls, which was oddly fitting for the sisters who were both warm and welcoming and somewhat scary.

  “My friend here needs a place to stay for a bit. We think she might be in some danger, and we don’t want to send her home until we know it’s safe.”

  “Oh, of course, dear, she’s most welcome. Will you be staying as well?”

  “If I may. I would take her to my house, but Dresden is so far.”

  Before Josephine could answer, Jean glanced back into the house. “Oh! Oh, Josephine, there he is! Hurry!”

  Before I could say another word, both sisters fled into the house. Andy looked at me and I sighed.

  “We should go see what they’re doing.”

  He gave me a wary look, but followed me inside. I watched Andy as we entered a room of polished wood, floral couches, and glass doorknobs. His nose twitched and I wondered which scent had caught his attention more—the warm aroma of freshly baked cookies, or the sharp pinch of gun oil.

  “I don’t want to stay here,” Lorelei hissed, stomping along behind us. “These daft old birds—”