Dangerous Games (Riley Jenson Guardian #4)(35)

“And a werewolf is part of what I am, but that doesn’t stop you from trying to circumnavigate the fact.”
He didn’t answer, just looked back at the house. When you didn’t want to answer a question, ignore it. That was Quinn’s usual mode of operation, and it was getting more and more annoying.
And yet, I had to admit it was contradictory to want to know about his past, and yet not know about his dark times. I surely couldn’t have one without the other. Not if I truly wanted to understand this vampire.
“And Jan?” Jin said, as I returned my attention to the house. “When will she be recovered enough to move?”
“Perhaps tomorrow,” a fresh voice said. It took me a moment to realize it was Marcus, the whip-happy blond from the club. “We applied Jin’s salve, and the healing is progressing satisfactorily.”
“Then tomorrow night. We shall meet and see how suitable she is.” He paused. “Jin, bring an appropriate partner.”
“A testing may not be a wise move with O’Conor and the Directorate on our tail,” Maisie commented.
“It cannot be helped,” Kingsley said, voice a lash of anger. “Unless you wish to contribute your own flesh again so soon?”
Maisie’s shudder ran down the mental lines, becoming my own, even though I had no idea what Kingsley actually meant—and no desire to find out. “I’m only looking out for your safety, John.”
“I know. But I need a full blooding. If you raise another demon before then and kill Quinn, it should not be a problem.”
“I have only so much blood in my body, John. I cannot—”
“You can, and will. I need six more victims to sustain my existence on this earth. After that, we are less vulnerable.”
I glanced at Quinn. “Did you know this?” 
He nodded.
“Then why have you not gone after them?”
“Because I am a vampire above everything else, and vampires have restrictions.” He motioned toward the house. “If they do not move from their lair, I cannot kill them.”
“Maisie moves.”
“Maisie was my one and only connection to the others. I could not kill her until I had found all the tendrils of this evil.”
“Then why won’t you take Maisie out of the picture now that we’ve found all the players?”
“Because, as I’ve said, it would warn the others and perhaps send them undercover again.”
Inside the house, Maisie said, “We cannot risk raising too much magic at the moment.”
“The house is secure enough. As is the altar.”
“Yes.” But there was doubt in Maisie’s voice.
“Just got word from Jack,” Rhoan said into my ear. “If Maisie’s the one raising demons, get rid of her as soon as you can.”
“He doesn’t want to talk to her?” I had a job to do, I knew that, just as I knew taking Maisie out would save others from suffering. But I couldn’t help the reluctance to take that final step and kill on command.
Quinn gave me an odd look, then glanced at my ear and smiled grimly. Obviously, he’d forgotten I’d been permanently bugged.
“He says it’s too much of a risk if she’s the blood sorceress.” Rhoan paused. “We can swap if you like. I’ll take her out, and you take over monitoring.”
“No, it’s okay.” It wasn’t, but I wasn’t about to let Rhoan step into dangerous situations just because I had issues. Hell, it wasn’t as if I hadn’t killed before, and Maisie was every bit as bad as the men whose lives I’d taken in the past.
But it was just one more step. One more slash at my futile determination not to walk that path.
I blew out a breath and looked at Quinn. “Any idea how to take out a sorceress?”
“I do not think this a wise course just yet.”
“She’s already raised one lot of demons to hunt you down, and she’s been ordered to raise another. There’s no saying she won’t also send them after me or Rhoan or Jack. And unlike you, our life forces can’t just conveniently fade. Nor do any of us have a clue on how to deal with a demon.”
“I’m not saying we can’t kill her, just saying it would be better if we delay until we find the gate through which she is bringing the demons.”
I blinked. “A gate? Demons have a gate?”
His all-too-brief smile had my hormones sitting up and taking notice. Not that they ever needed much encouragement. “Spirits and demons can’t tear their way into our world willy-nilly, you know.”
“Well, that’s good to hear.” I guess. “But what about souls, ghosts, and the like?”
“Souls are the essence of people who live and die in this world. They do not hang around, but move quickly into the next life. Ghosts are souls who are pinned to this plane of existence for some reason.”
Some of that I actually knew, but it was nice to have confirmation that there wasn’t some permanently opened gate into the netherworld through which these apparitions could come through and taunt me. Especially given the recent developments in my clairvoyant talents. Ghosts and souls popping in for a quick chat at all hours of the night was not something I particularly wanted.
“So what does a demon gate look like?”
“It’s not actually a gate, as such. It’ll be a specially cleansed area that contains a magic circle and most probably a pentagram. In this case, an upside-down one.”
I rubbed my head. This stuff was certainly a lust killer—as he had probably intended. After all, he might want me, but he’d never been one to give in to desire when on a hunt. “So a magic circle contains the demons?”“No. It’s a sacred and purified space where magic—in this case a summoning—can be safely performed. It serves as a boundary for the power and is the doorway from this world to the spirits.”
“And the pentagram?”
“An upside-down pentagram is said to be the sign of evil.”
“Said to be?”
He shrugged. “A pentagram facing north can cause great problems, as north is associated with darkness and the unknown from pagan times.”
“How do you know all this crap?”
His smile was almost bitter. “I am a very old vampire, and sometimes easily bored.”
“Uh-huh.” I had a feeling the thing I’d met in the alleyway—the thing who’d called himself a high priest of the Aedh—might also have a whole lot to do with his knowledge.
“So where might we find this circle?”
“Somewhere she feels safe. Somewhere secure.”
“Her house?”
“Possibly. But I cannot enter that place to check.”
“I can.” And I had a somewhat legitimate excuse for being there if caught—Jin. “We can use our telepathic link. I’ll describe what I’m seeing, and you can tell me how to destroy it.”
He glanced at the house, then at me. “The minute we destroy the circle, she’ll feel it.”
“So?”
“She might get a tad angry.”
I grinned. “I handle ‘tad angry’ with ease, vamp boy.”
He didn’t say anything, just looked at me, and my grin slowly faded. “Look, let’s just do this, before someone else dies.”
He took a moment to nod, then glanced at the house again. “Rhoan has this house tapped?”
“Yes.” I didn’t mention he couldn’t actually hear a whole lot. I had a feeling if I did, Quinn wouldn’t be going anywhere.
“Has he infrared of the rooms?”
“Not yet,” Rhoan said into my ear. “Maybe in an hour or so, once Jack’s team finishes hacking their security.”
I repeated his words, and Quinn nodded. “Somewhere in that house, probably at a subterranean level, there will be some sort of tunnel leading into a deep chamber. We need to find it.”
“Why?”
“Because that is where his power rests. That is where he sacrifices and feeds. To destroy him, we must first destroy the altar.”
“I’d imagine that would piss him off more than a little bit.”
“Yes, it will.” There was something in his eyes—a darkness that was part memory, part ferocity—that sent a shiver down my spine. “And that is when you will understand the true meaning of the god of darkness.” 
“A lesson I have no desire to undertake.”
“A wise decision.”
That was me—wise all the way. Not.
“You got a car nearby?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll follow you to Jin’s, if you like.”
He nodded and pressed a hand to my back, gently guiding me toward the rear of the yard. Warmth shivered across my skin, and moon-spun desires sprung to fierce life. “I don’t suppose—”
“No,” he said, “not here. Not now.”
I scowled at him. “You’re just no fun.”
“If the moon heat is so bad, you should not be here.”
Yeah, well, there was that. “It’s just an itch that needs to be scratched. Nothing urgent.” Not yet.
He didn’t say anything, but then, he didn’t need to. He might not be able to actually smell my desire, but he was a vampire and an empath. He’d feel the heat of it in my emotions. Would hear the elevated rate of my heart.
I headed back to my car then followed his—a divine black Porsche Coupe—across to Jin’s. I couldn’t get parking anywhere close and was forced to park in the next street then lope back. Quinn, lucky bastard that he was, somehow managed to grab a prime parking spot five doors down from Jin’s.