Double Down on Demons (Pandora's Pride Book 1) Read online

  Abra rearranged a wayward strand of white hair. “And how is hunting his killer doing as he asked? You’d only be living in the past rather than living your own life as he requested.”

  “When he said those things to me, he was imagining death on the mountain. An avalanche or a feral werewolf.” I looked at Purvis. “No offense.” He made a dismissive gesture and I continued. “He wasn’t picturing a brutal murder that also took the lives of three innocent people.”

  “What makes you think the demon was there for your father and not for one of those three humans?” Abra asked.

  I touched the poker chip around my neck. “This. It’s from Salt. The K’uei demon that killed him was wearing it. Ingemar said it means the demon owed a debt. I think killing my dad was meant to be repayment.”

  “You don’t think perhaps it’s merely a coincidence?” Emil asked.

  “Nope. Don’t believe in coincidences.”

  “I, for one, don’t wish to accept her terms,” Doran said. “I think you should only take what we offer and leave the past in the past.”

  “If the mage wants vengeance, who are we to stand in her way?” Natasha asked.

  “Does the vote need to be unanimous?” I asked.

  “Yes,” they said in unison.

  “Then I guess you need a few minutes to discuss.” I turned my back to them. “I can wait.”

  “I do believe it’s your ears we’re concerned with and not your eyes,” Emil said, sounding slightly amused.

  I held my hands over my ears and yelled, “Better?”

  After about sixty seconds, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and let my arms fall to my sides.

  Abra seemed almost relieved. “Very well, Miss Wendell. It seems the Pride has decided to take a chance on you.”

  “Great. Test me now.”

  Doran’s brow creased. “It’s late. Perhaps a restful night first…”

  “It’s not that late,” I said. “We only had dinner at seven.”

  Doran tugged on his collar. “It isn’t a one-page multiple choice test. It’s a series of assessments.”

  “All the more reason to get started sooner rather than later.” The faster I helped them snag their monster, the faster they’d help me snag mine. Everybody’s a winner.

  Doran’s gaze lingered on Abra. “One simple test tonight and that’s it,” the witch said. “The rest will be tomorrow.”

  “Perfect. Pick something I can do on a full stomach,” I said. “Unless you want to have a clean-up crew on standby.”

  “The team is ready and waiting,” Natasha said.

  Abra pressed her hands on the table and stood. “I’ll escort Miss Wendell. Thank you for meeting on short notice.” She glanced at Natasha. “It seems I may have interrupted some of your plans.”

  Natasha’s full lips melted into a sultry smile. “She’ll wait. She knows I’m worth it.”

  Abra escorted me to another floor of the building and opened the door to a room labeled ‘Training Room A.’ I crossed the threshold and was surprised to see the trio from Salt standing on a mat in the center of the room. They seemed equally surprised to see me.

  “What’s she doing here?” Leto asked. He sounded more confused than annoyed.

  “Miss Wendell is being tested,” Abra said.

  “I’m sure there’s a healer that can help her with that,” Liam said. “They’re experienced in all the casino-related diseases.”

  “Hardy har,” I said. “You’re hilarious.” A fourth figure emerged from the shadows behind them. He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of light grey sweatpants. Under normal circumstances, his broad chest would’ve grabbed my attention, but it was the beautiful set of ebony wings that rendered me almost speechless.

  “Put down the weights and join us, Saxon,” Abra said.

  I hadn’t even noticed he was holding weights. “Your wings. They’re like nothing I’ve ever seen.” I resisted the urge to reach out and touch them.

  “He gets that a lot,” Liam said. “Almost makes me wish I could grow a pair.”

  Leto grinned. “By the gods, there are so many jokes I want to make right now.”

  Abra pressed her lips together. “Where are Rhea and Prunella? They’re supposed to be assisting you.”

  “They were. We wore them out,” Leto said. “You can’t expect regulars to keep up with us.”

  Abra wasn’t amused. “I didn’t ask for your assessment. I asked where they are.”

  “The showers,” Liam said. “Saxon was sorry he couldn’t join them. He tried but they refused. Again.” Liam flashed a mischievous grin.

  Saxon moved forward to join the group. “I told them they could go. I thought we were only killing time until your announcement.”

  Abra lightly touched my shoulder. “And this is our announcement. Saxon Hanley meet Calandra Wendell.”

  “Callie,” I said. “Nice to meet you.” He was distractedly handsome with dark blond hair and mismatched eyes of blue and green. His skin glowed with warm golden undertones the way Natasha’s glowed with cool silver.

  “Tate, I’d like you to run through a few spells with Callie,” Abra said. “See how quickly she can master them.”

  “What about me?” Liam asked.

  “We already know you can’t master them,” Tate said.

  Liam scowled. “At least I can go furry. Oh, wait. So can you when you ignore the razor for a day.”

  “You’re a werewolf?” I asked. Odd. Liam didn’t strike me as a werewolf.

  Liam smiled and two fangs slid down over his bottom lip. “Sort of.”

  I blinked in confusion.

  “Stop showing off for the new girl,” Tate said. The young witch looked at me. “Don’t worry. If you work here, you’ll sign a paper anyway that says you agree not to get horizontal with any colleagues. That’ll keep him at bay.”

  I was more interested in Liam’s species. “You’re a hybrid?” I didn’t think hybrids were possible, certainly not a cross between sworn enemies like a vampire and a werewolf.

  “A question for another time,” Abra said. “It’s late. You should begin.”

  Tate glanced at the older witch. “What do you want me to start with?”

  “Something simple. A protective spell.” Abra turned to leave the room.

  “You’re not staying?” I asked. I assumed she’d want to witness the results.

  “I don’t need to stay to know,” Abra said vaguely.

  Once she exited the room, I turned to the others. “Is she psychic too?”

  Tate pointed to the far wall. “Nope. Just has her own personal viewing station. Well, it’s for the inner circle. They sit in there and make comments they don’t want us to hear.”

  The wall appeared stark white and entirely blank. Not even a mirror. Magic, presumably.

  “Personally, I don’t think they ever watch us,” Liam said. “I think it’s meant to keep us in line.”

  Tate’s hands flew to her hips. “Oh, so the time you pulled your pants down to show us your new scar and got in trouble, they didn’t see you?”

  “It’s a good scar,” Liam said. “How could I not flaunt it?”

  “You don’t heal like a vampire?” I asked.

  “Saxon’s our healing wonder,” Liam said, inclining his head toward the wings of hotness. “No surprise with a vampire and angel pedigree.”

  Saxon was part vampire and part angel? “What about you, Tate?”

  “One hundred percent witch,” she said. “Abra is my grandmother.”

  Leto raised his hand. “All wolf, baby.”

  “Let me guess,” I said. “Purvis is your grandfather.”

  “Uncle,” Leto said with a sheepish grin.

  “So you’re either hybrids or related to management,” I said, nodding. “Interesting.”

  “Are you all mage?” Tate asked.

  “My mother was human.”

  Her smile put me at ease. “See? Hybrid. You’ll fit right in.”

/>   I wasn’t convinced that I was the kind of hybrid qualified to be here, but I wasn’t going to argue. I had a plan and I was sticking to it.

  “There’s something I’ve been wondering,” Liam said. His gaze traveled down from my head. “Is that colorful streak in your hair reflected anywhere else?”

  “Downward, dog.” Tate elbowed him in the stomach and he doubled over with a yowl of pain. “Why don’t you boys get out of the way and let the women do the real work?”

  “That’s what I like to hear,” Liam said as he rubbed his sore stomach. “Women doing all the work while I sit back and relax.”

  Tate gave him a hard shove and he stumbled to the side of the room, laughing. Leto and Saxon joined him.

  “Do you mind if we watch?” Leto asked.

  Tate held up a finger at Liam. “Not a word, Liam. Not one saucy word.”

  Liam pretended to zip his lips and chuck the imaginary key over his shoulder.

  Tate and I remained in the middle of the sterile room. I felt like we were about to perform surgery on an invisible patient. The air grew heavy with expectation.

  “I’m going to start with a protective spell,” Tate said. “And I want you to copy me as quickly as you can.”

  “Can I do one of my own?” My father and I had used protective spells plenty of times over the years.

  Tate glanced at the blank wall as though the answer would be written there. “I think Abra wants to see if you can copy me, not the other way around.”

  “You call her Abra even though she’s your grandmother?”

  “Definitely. It’s important for professionalism.”

  “Because you’re so professional with your teddy bear and your permanent broccoli ban,” Liam called from the sidelines.

  Tate’s irritation spread from her eyes to her mouth, which now twitched with what was likely the desire to hex him. “Mr. Cuddles is none of your concern.” She looked at me, embarrassed. “I don’t sleep with him or anything.”

  “Sure you do,” Liam said. “You suck your thumb too. I always tell you that the way to break one habit is to replace it with another.”

  She rolled her eyes and I balked. “Is he suggesting what I think he is?” I asked.

  “He suggests a lot of things that he shouldn’t,” Tate said. “Don’t worry. He gets his comeuppance on a regular basis.”

  “In that case, he must enjoy his comeuppance,” I said. “Because it doesn’t seem to stop him.”

  Tate turned away from him. “If we ignore him, he’ll stop.”

  I pulled the magic from my core and let it roll through my body and along my arm until I released it. The spell streaked toward Liam and I watched with satisfaction as a zipper formed across his mouth and slid closed.

  “Or you could use magic to shut him up,” I said, dusting off my hands.

  Tate turned around to see what I’d done and burst into laughter. “Oh, you really shouldn’t have, but I’m so glad you did.”

  I rolled my head from side to side to stretch my neck. “Okay, I’m ready.”

  She splayed her hands and said, “Protego.” An invisible barrier formed around her. Although I couldn’t see it, I felt its presence and knew that if I poked a finger forward, it would bounce backward.

  I copied her without a hiccup and she immediately moved on to the next spell, despite Leto’s offer to test the strength of the barrier.

  “This time I’d like you to pull magic from one of the elements. I’m going to use air, but feel free to use whichever one you’re most comfortable with.” Tate proceeded to create a mini-tornado that twirled around the perimeter of the mat and dissipated once it made a complete rectangle.

  I copied her to a T, even including the mini-tornado’s stutter when it accidentally brushed against the side of the mat.

  “One more for now,” Tate said. Saxon tossed her two small vials and she caught them without banging them together. “I have ingredients for a potion in these vials. I want you to see if you can figure out what it is and use it.”

  I shoved one vial in my pocket and opened the lid on the other one. I recognized the scent of clover and dandelion. I replaced the lid and opened the other vial for a sniff. Comfrey.

  “It’s some kind of healing potion,” I said.

  “Good.” Tate withdrew a dagger from her boot and sliced her palm open. Blood dripped to the mat. “Heal me.”

  My mind raced. I was treating a cut, so I needed more comfrey than clover and dandelion, but I had to get the balance just right or I risked burning her. I tipped a quarter of the contents of the first vial into the second and recited an incantation.

  “Hold out your hand,” I ordered. Tate uncurled her fingers and I poured a coin-sized amount on the wound. The angry line across her pale skin turned pink before fading to ivory.

  Tate stared at me with a blank expression. “Huh.”

  “What is it?”

  “I wasn’t expecting…Where did you learn to do magic?”

  “My dad taught me.” Was it so unusual for a mage to perform spells? And if she thought I couldn’t manage it, why would she slice open her own hand? I guess she knew she could heal herself with the potion if necessary.

  “I thought only witches could…” Tate shook her head, causing her ponytail to swing from side to side. “It doesn’t matter. You did well, Callie.”

  Abra appeared in the doorway. “Come back to the conference room for a moment before you leave. Return to the lobby at nine a.m. sharp tomorrow. Two of our agents will escort you back to Salt.”

  Tate’s face brightened. “Guess you passed the first test.”

  Relief flooded my body and I longed to sag to the floor, but I held my ground. I couldn’t show any weakness, not when there was so much at stake.

  “I can fly her over to the rooftop entrance,” Saxon said.

  “You’re far too busy to play taxi,” Abra scolded him. “You owe me that report on Miami.”

  “Is an escort really necessary?” I asked. “It’s not that far.”

  The look exchanged by Abra and Saxon caused an involuntary shiver down my spine. “We never walk the city alone,” the witch said. “Not if there are other options.”

  “Not even me,” Liam piped up, my spell now broken.

  I didn’t understand. If the Pride was this elite demon-fighting organization, then why did they need to protect themselves as vigilantly as a common resident? “Why?”

  “We are targets, Miss Wendell,” Abra said. “And as long as monsters roam this earth, we will remain targets because we are the only thing that stands between them and complete world domination.”

  “That includes the extinction of the human race,” Saxon added.

  “Well, when you put it that way…”

  “Having second thoughts about returning?” Abra asked. “I wouldn’t blame you, you know. You’re only human.”

  “Half,” I said.

  “Yes, of course.” She offered her hand. “Thank you for indulging. We appreciate your leap of faith during these trying times.”

  I wasn’t sure that I’d call it a leap of faith, but I shook her hand nonetheless. “See you tomorrow.”

  Chapter Six

  The next morning I left my room at Salt and took the elevator to the main casino floor, ready for the rest of my assessment in shorts, a T-shirt, and sneakers. Oren lingered by the slot machines in a crisp dark blue suit with his hair neatly combed.

  “Good morning, sunshine,” I said. “You’re up early.”

  “I didn’t see you come in last night. I was concerned for your welfare.”

  “Didn’t you check the security footage?” Not that he would’ve seen me unless he thought to check the cameras on the roof.

  Oren opened his mouth—probably to admit that he had checked—and then seemed to realize that the admission made him look like the stalker he was. “Would you care to have breakfast with me?”

  “Sorry. I’m not a fan of Bloody Marys.” I started to walk away.


  “You have plans early today, Miss Wendell.”

  I turned to the security guard by the elevator bank entrance. “Is he always this aggressive with the lady guests?”

  The large man chuckled. “His luck is worse than our guests at the roulette tables.”

  Oren scowled at the guard.

  “What’s your name?” I asked. “You were here yesterday, weren’t you?”

  “Yep. Heard all about your dance party with the Abaasy,” the guard said. “The name’s Roth.”

  “Callie. Great to meet you. Got a family, Roth?”

  Oren shifted his weight, seeming to grow more frustrated by the second.

  “Wouldn’t do this job if I didn’t have mouths to feed. Too many unsavory types hanging around.” He shot a meaningful look at the vampire.

  “Where would you go?” I asked, genuinely curious.

  “Somewhere with wide open spaces,” he said. “Maybe Montana.”

  “What about your kids? Would they like it?”

  “I’m sure of it. My daughter Adrienne loves horses. She takes lessons here, but it’s not the same.”

  I lifted Oren’s wrist and glanced at the expensive watch. “Oh wow. Look at the time. I need to go so I’m not late.” I dropped Oren’s wrist and darted toward the exit. “See you around, Roth.”

  I arrived at Pandora’s Pride headquarters on foot. Emil greeted me at the concealed entrance with a coffee and a bagel.

  “For me?” I asked.

  “In case you were too nervous to eat before you left.”

  I laughed. “I can always eat. That’s my real power.”

  “You’ll have time to digest. Abra wants you to see the healer first for a physical exam.”

  I followed Emil to the elevator bank and he hit the button for me. “Turn right off the elevator and it’s the first door on the left. The healer’s name is Harmony.”

  I went to the healer’s office and gave my name to the assistant. While I waited, I sucked down as much coffee as I could and crammed the bagel into my mouth. Finally my name was called and I ventured down the corridor past the reception desk.