Lucifer’s Daughter(21)

I felt the stirrings of anxiety. Charon had never come to my place before, and the fact he did so with a message from my dad did not bode well.

“Thanks for dinner, Auric,” I said. I turned and pasted a smile on my face I knew didn"t reach my eyes. “Maybe we could do it again sometime.” I whirled back around and started walking to the front door of my building, Charon close by my side, when I sensed a presence on my other side. I looked up into Auric"s slightly smiling face.

“I"m not leaving, Muriel, until I know you"re safe,” he said pulling the macho protector routine again.

Ah, wasn"t he just the cutest? But still. “I"m safe with Charon, and I can take care of myself.”

Auric just ignored me–which made me fume and smile in equal parts--and held open the door for Charon and me to walk in. Had I not been so frazzled, I would have noticed the door was unlocked and probably sensed the creature that lay in wait, but Auric had my hormones in a frenzy. Before I knew it, the creature managed to tangle its claws in my hair and yank me sideways. I heard Auric bellow something, but being somewhat busy trying not to be scalped, I had no idea what he said.

Anyone who"s had their hair pulled knows the pain, and when I"m in pain, I get mad. Really mad. I stomped my boot down on the foot of the foe who held me, while my elbow jabbed back, hard, into the creature"s ribs. This had the effect of loosening the hold in my hair, allowing me to twist away. I pivoted around with my hands raised, and I spit out the words of a spell that suddenly flooded my mind. The words of power I used--which came to me only when I needed them--flowed from my mouth, an almost visible and potent magic that struck the demon who had dared accost me on my home turf. It didn"t have time to scream or even writhe, it simply ceased to be.

I stared at the sifting black dust in shock. Since when could I annihilate a demon? In the past, when in need, I"d been able to banish demons or place a stasis hold on them until bigger help arrived. This complete destruction of one floored me. Another reason I needed to speak to my father.

Danger taken care of, I schooled my features so as to not let my companions know how strange this act had been, even for me. I patted my hair, and turned with a bright smile to them. “Where were we? Ah, yes, I was trying to explain to Auric that I could take care of myself.” To my intense pleasure, he gave me a grudging smile of acknowledgement, but he still refused to budge.



“I never doubted you could take care of yourself; I"d just feel better if you didn"t have to do it alone.”

I closed my mouth; what could I say? That had to be the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me. In a gesture of trust to my abilities, he let me go up the stairs first, with Charon between us.

Auric brought up the rear, and a perverse part of me hoped he was checking out my ass. I gave my booty an extra wiggle, just in case.

When we got to my apartment, Auric took the key from my hand and went in first. I could feel Charon beside me, shaking in silent mirth. He"d known me too long. I nudged him and whispered. “I think it"s cute, so can it. I"ve never had anyone want to protect me before.”

“I know,” whispered back Charon. “It"s just...does he know who you are and what you can do?”

“He knows who I am; as for what I can do, hell, I don"t even know myself sometimes.”

“All clear,” Auric called from inside.

Charon and I entered my small apartment, even smaller now that Auric loomed in it. I was suddenly glad I"d tidied up the place today before going to work. I"d hate for him to think I couldn"t cook and sucked as a housekeeper, even if it happened to be the truth. I had other skills.

“Can I offer you guys something to drink?” I asked. I didn"t wait for an answer as I took off my coat and threw it on a chair before walking into my tiny kitchen. I opened the fridge and grabbed a couple of cold beers–recent events called for alcoholic sustenance. In the drawer with the bottle opener, I eyed an array of emergency tools–I kept them stashed all over the place as a „just in case." I palmed my silver needles–deadly and decorative–and used them to fix my hair up into a loose bun on top of my head. Contrary to popular films, long hair flinging about in a fight was never a good idea.

I carried the beers out to the boys, who swigged them with thanks. Downing a good portion of my own, I wandered into my bedroom to arm myself with a few more toys. Opening the hidden compartment in my headboard, I pulled out my braided unicorn hair whip, and placed it on the nightstand. It burned demons and other nasties better than holy water. It also reassured me that while I might be a lot of things, demon wasn"t one of them--the whip didn"t hurt me. I also added a few more daggers about my person. I might have magic, but only an idiot went out armed with only one weapon.