Dark Descent (Codex Blair Book 3) Read online

  3

  I sat on the couch in my living room while Mal stood near the fireplace, both of us cradling alcoholic drinks. I sipped at my mixture of vodka and lemon-lime soda, savouring the feeling of peace that it gave me. I didn't know what we were going to do or what the attack had even meant.

  Were we back in the game? There was nothing that pointed to this being more than a normal hunt, except for the sinking feeling in my gut that this was not going to be easy.

  "What are you thinking?" I asked, darting a glance at him.

  "I'm thinking we have a major problem."

  "Why? It's a succubus. Cool. I've never dealt with that before, you demons have been peachy so far, but it's not an insurmountable problem."

  "Unless it is. It's very out of character for one to attack in the middle of a public scene like that. It makes sense that you wouldn't be aware of any deaths at the hand of one of them, they're very adept at keeping their kills clean. They fly under the radar, eating in the privacy of their victim’s homes, and the bodies they leave either look like a natural death or your average human murder. Nothing for you to be concerned about, or even hear about." He walked over to stand by the coffee table, his features tense with concentration. "For one to come out in public and feed...no, it isn't normal."

  I sighed.

  So, it wasn't going to be easy, but I had already been betting on that.

  "What do you know about them?" I asked. I would gather the data that I needed and make any necessary decisions afterwards.

  He shrugged. "A fairly low ranking demon for the most part, they're born out of a pairing of Fallen and human, as all demons are. Most demons don't take a specialty, but succubi are often the result of a human that had a high sex drive. One who fell to the sin of lust frequently." He began to pace. "They mind their own business for the most part, tempting a soul here and there. They don't mingle with common demons, or even the others who specialise. They even refer to other succubi and incubi as 'Kin'." He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "It's as if they think they're some other species altogether. They're not so special."

  I lifted an eyebrow as I watched him pace, taking in everything that he was saying and remaining silent for the moment. It was very interesting to learn, especially to observe his thought process towards demons. He had no affection for them in his voice, he spoke of them as if they were something unrelated altogether. If demons were the product of a Fallen and a human pairing, then he had to be the progenitor of at least some of them. You would think that he would care more about a species that had been born from his actions, but he didn't seem to. And the way he spoke of succubi was entirely dismissive. He clearly didn't think well of them.

  I took another sip of my drink, then placed it on the coffee table.

  "Let's go outside. I want a smoke," I said, grabbed my pack of cigarettes off the coffee table and walked to the door. I passed a hand along the oak, murmuring the spell to break the wards on the door, and let myself out. I waited until Mal had walked out as well and shut the door. There was no need to put the spells back up, we wouldn't be walking away from the porch, but it was a habit to always be the one who shut the door.

  "So, we've got a succubus on the loose who isn't acting as it should be. That sounds fun," I said, pulling a cigarette out and lifting it to my lips. I lit it and inhaled deeply, pulling the smoke into my lungs and letting the rush of nicotine dull my senses. I didn't need to be on red alert tonight, and the nicotine helped to keep the rage at bay. Not that I expected it to come out just now, Mal didn't seem to want to provoke me, but it was always nice to get ahead of it.

  "Fun is the last thing it will be. Hunting a succubus is no easy task, Blair," he said, looking at me with a warning in his eyes. "I don't think you should take this one. Let me handle it."

  I laughed, loud and boisterous, at the notion of Mal handling a threat to the community. "Don't be ridiculous. Of course, I'm going to take this one. I take every single case that comes in front of me, I'm not going to sit back and watch something wreak havoc in my town and not do a damned thing about it. You know better than to ask me that."

  Of course, he hadn't actually asked me, he'd told me that I shouldn't do it.

  "What's so hard about hunting a succubus anyway?"

  "As you've already seen, they are all but impossible to pin down a description for. They can appear differently to different people, taking on the form most attractive to the person viewing them. It's much more difficult to do to multiple people, but if the succubus was in the middle of a feed, it would have had ample power to do so. A similar talent, they can shape shift, actually taking on the form instead of simply providing the illusion. Pair those two together and you have a monster on the loose that you can't find no matter how hard you try, even if it is standing right in front of you."

  "I found the vampires without knowing what they looked like. I found Deacon without knowing what he looked like," I pointed out.

  "The vampires found you, not the other way around, don't try to spin that in your favour. And you were looking for a ritual site with Deacon, it isn't the same at all. A succubus won't be tied to a location for you to find..." His voice trailed off and his expression turned thoughtful.

  "You're saying succubi don't have homes?" I asked, a little surprised.

  "Well. I suppose...Not a house or a flat like you might be thinking, but it might have a domain for you to track it to."

  "A domain?" I asked with a frown.

  "Yes, a demon's domain. It's...like the dreamscape you and I first spoke in, and the one of the Scottish moor you pulled me into when you needed my help at the vampires' house. But it isn't a dream, it's a constant location, it parallels reality as you know it. It's very difficult to explain."

  "It's a bubble world. Huh." I lifted my eyebrows, lips tugging down slightly for a moment. "Learn something new every day."

  He grinned. "A bubble world, yeah I suppose that's a good enough explanation for it."

  I smiled and took another drag of my cigarette. "So, I'm not backing down, and you're a total ninny about it apparently. I guess that means you can help."

  Mal looked at me, surprise in his eyes. The last time he had offered his help to me I had told him to get lost, although in much nicer words. I'd been in a vampire's dungeon, though we had been on the moor surrounded by the beauty of Scotland and my pain had been mostly forgotten. He had wanted to help me deal with the vampires that were terrorising London at the time, and I hadn't been willing to let him do that.

  I'd been afraid that something would happen to him.

  Silly, right? The man's Fallen, an angel who took the big dive. What could hurt him? I'm not the best at making crack decisions under pressure, if that's any excuse, and it didn't help that the vampires were threatening to hurt anyone I'd ever cared about. My almost friendship with Mal was complicated, but that didn't mean that I didn't care if something happened to him. I hadn't been willing to risk it.

  And now? What was so different now?

  I chewed at the inside of my lip for a moment as I thought about it, taking another drag on my cigarette. Was it the past few months I'd spent working with him, seeing the power that he had and understanding it on a level that felt real? Could it be the fact that we were messing around with a demon this time, and it would be insane to think that he wouldn't be any help for it? His knowledge would be invaluable, I doubted Fred knew as much as Mal did about this.

  I blinked at the thought of Fred. He was an imp, and Mal was Fallen...what was the relation there? I had to ask about it at some later time, it wasn't as important as what we were dealing with just then.

  I looked back at Mal, who still had that shocked look on his face. "Don't look so surprised," I said.

  "I didn't know you were capable of asking for help," he said, stifling a grin. "But I will be more than happy to offer my services."

  "Hush, you," I said, winking at him as I inhaled more nicotine. "I am a woman of many talents, and asking for help happens to
be one of them. Sometimes. When it's necessary. If I have to. I asked you for help that one time, remember?"

  "Mm, and then promptly covered it up and pretended I didn't exist for more than a year, yes I do recall. A talent, if you don’t mind my saying. You may want to spend some time honing."

  I sent him a glare, but at that moment my pocket buzzed.

  My eyebrows knit together in a moment of confusion, I reached down and pulled my phone from my pocket. It was a tiny little thing, very basic and with none of the bells or whistles kids these days obsesses about. I fried technology more often than I didn't, so it was handy to have something that I could replace easily.

  "Sheach." I barked my name into the phone as I placed it against my ear.

  "Hey, where are you? I thought we were catching a late dinner." Shawn's voice greeted my ear with a pleasant if slightly concerned tone.

  I winced, closing my eyes for a moment and pinching the bridge of my nose.

  Idiot. I'd forgotten all about that in the rush of the evening.

  "I'm sorry, Shawn. Something came up tonight, I won't be able to make it out."

  "Ah, I've lost your affections to some monster, haven't I?"

  I could hear the laughter in his voice, and I relaxed visibly. I always worried that he was going to hate me any time I had to cancel, especially because I had a bad habit of cancelling after the event was already in full swing. But he never seemed to hold it against me.

  We had a perfect relationship, although it wasn't much of one as far as other people would be concerned.

  We were friends who just so happened to hook up now and then. I genuinely enjoyed his company, but we both knew that we didn't have a claim on the other one. Even if I sometimes tensed up and thought that he would forget that, it always worked out.

  "Something like that," I said, smiling. "I'll call you later, OK?"

  "Sure."

  We hung up, and I caught Mal lifting an eyebrow while he made a face at the ground.

  "What?" I asked, amused.

  "Nothing, nothing at all. I didn't say anything."

  "Uh huh. Sure," I said, rolling my eyes and pulling on my cigarette again. The nicotine was doing a lot to relax me, and I was grateful for it. I finished it off and ground it out on the concrete step. Straightening back up, I opened the door.

  "We should go back inside. We have a lot to figure out."

  4

  I walked up to Emily's door, anxious and a little scared. I was nervous; I didn't know what she would say when I told her about the succubus' attack. This was in her wheelhouse, but if her God hadn't told her that she needed to be a part of it than there was a good chance she would tell me to scram.

  Well...OK, so she wouldn't say it like that. Emily was the kindest person I had ever met, and I knew that she would be gentle if she let me down.

  I hoped that her God had already told her about the attack, but I didn't know how that worked. Did she get a letter in the mail, a vision? Did she just get a feeling that someone, somewhere needed her? I shook my head, letting the thoughts go. Either she would know about it or she wouldn't, and it wasn't up to me as to which it would be.

  I knocked on the door, biting my lip then shoving my hands in my pockets. I managed not to shift my weight from side to side, though just barely.

  A minute or two later the door opened, Emily standing on the other side. She wore a T-Shirt and jeans, the fabric of the shirt clinging to her in a way that seemed almost innocent in its suggestive nature. I felt my cheeks flush at the thought; it was embarrassing, I shouldn't have entertained it. I'd only seen her in her business suits and armor before, it was new to me to see her so...casual.

  I liked it.

  "Blair," Emily said, her green eyes fixing on mine. There was apprehension in those eyes, and I knew then that she already knew about the attack.

  I felt a sigh of relief escape me at the same time as the brand began to burn what felt like a hole into my skin; it didn't like being around Emily. "There's been an attack," I told her, even though we both knew that she knew. "I need you."

  "I know," she said. "The Lord has made me aware. I am sorry that you have been pulled into this again."

  I shrugged. "It's my life. I'm sorry that it's yours, though. You deserve better."

  She blinked, surprised. "There is no better life than serving the Lord."

  "I wish I had your conviction," I said, for the thousandth time lamenting the fact that I couldn't just believe in things the way she did.

  "Someday, you will," she said, placing a hand on my shoulder and squeezing gently.

  I smiled. No chance.

  "Come inside, we can talk about what we're going to do." She stood back, beckoning me into her house.

  I walked inside, aware of the moment my foot crossed the threshold and the bubble of energy that was her home enveloped me and my magic. I never asked her if she knew what inviting me in meant, but she never hesitated and she always invited me in. Always, with those specific words so that there was no misunderstanding the meaning, she never just stood aside or waited for me to enter the house like most people would when old friends come by. It seemed like she knew about it, and if that was the case, I had to wonder how she trusted me so much. She knew the destruction I was capable of, and yet she let me into her house without hesitation.

  I doubted anyone else would be so kind. Finn had only an inkling of the power I held and he already had a healthy fear of it.

  She led me to the sitting room where we always sat, two cups of steaming tea already sitting on the coffee table. I looked at her incredulously, my mouth gaping open slightly.

  "How...?"

  "I had an idea that you might be coming by," she said with a wink, sitting down, and picking up one of the cups.

  I sat in the chair across from her, taking my cup and sipping the hot tea. It is impossible to overstate the power of a nice, warm cup of tea. It would always make me feel at home, a feeling I had only begun to experience in the past two years, and so it was a feeling I treasured more than the average person might.

  "So, what do you know?" I asked.

  A pearly white tooth captured the bronze skin of her lips as she looked down at her tea cup, thinking. "Not enough, I'm sure. I know that there's a demon in London—more than one, of course, but one that's causing problems. I cannot go after every demon that shows up, unfortunately. The Lord would never let me rest if that was the case."

  "Why doesn't he send you after every demon?" I asked with a curious expression on my face. That didn't make much sense to me.

  "Because that is not my purpose. He has his army to fight the demons, you should know that at least."

  I tilted my head to the side, shaking it ever so slightly.

  "The angels, Blair," she said, laughing. "The angels fight demons in every form they take, at every moment. My purpose is to defend humanity when it is necessary. To take arms for those who are unable to defend themselves."

  I nodded, sipping at the tea. That made sense, I guessed. To be honest, everything about what Emily did confused me on a level I wasn't quite ready to admit to; I didn't want her to think I was stupid: I’m not stupid; but I just couldn't wrap my head around the idea of a God sending someone out to fight this thing or that thing at random. Part of my disbelief came from the fact that I didn't believe in her God, or any God for that matter. I believed in what I could see, which was what made Emily so damn confusing. Because I could see that she had power, I could see that she knew things a normal person wouldn't know, but I couldn't see how she knew those things or where her power came from. She had her explanation, but I didn't have mine.

  "Well, anyway, you've got the gist of it. I went to a club last night, Serenity, I've told you about it. It's where everything that goes bump in the night meets up to have a fun time." I paused when she made a face, lifting one of my eyebrows as I waited to see if she was going to say anything. When she didn't, I continued. "While I was there, a succubus attacked a man in the middle
of the crowd. Now, my...sources say that this is highly unusual for a succubus to do: they only feed in private. I think that means that there's something wrong with this one. Why else would something go completely off message like that?" I didn't tell her where I had found my information, because I knew there was no way in hell she was going to approve of me spending time with Mal. Even if he wasn't a demon, even if he was one of her precious angels, he was the wrong type.

  She wouldn't approve.

  Emily nodded her head, the tight red curls that made up her cloud of hair bobbing along. "I see. Your source is right, this is highly unusual activity."

  My eyes widened. "How do you know that?"

  If she weren't such an elegant woman, I think she would have rolled her eyes at me.

  "You think I don't know everything there is to know about the different types of demons out there in the world? I would not be a good servant of the Lord if I did not know what I was fighting." She smiled as she spoke, as if she found it funny that I had second guessed her.

  That did make sense though; paladins had to know their lore too.

  "OK, OK, you have a point there. So, now that I've got two people confirming that this is super out of the ordinary, what are we going to do?"

  She frowned. "A succubus is a hard thing to track. There are the obvious opportunities for discovery, in dens of iniquity, but there is the possibility that this one will not go where we expect it too." She sighed. "I think our best bet would be to start there, though, no matter how distasteful it would be to go to such a place."

  I thought my eyes might pop out of my head, I was so shocked by the idea of Emily being in a...how had she put it? A den of iniquity. What would that even be? A club? A strip club? Oh Gods...

  My mind flashed up an image of Emily in a dress, smiling at the bartender of Serenity while she asked for a drink. I shook my head slightly to rid myself of the tempting image, knowing that it was wrong of me. Emily couldn't ever set foot in Serenity, the people there would eat her alive. Or she would eat them alive more likely, and then Geoff would never forgive me for bringing her there.