Hekate's Chalice Read online

  “So who are we going to see?” Nikki asked.

  “A wizard, Lazlo Westermore. Ever heard of him? We want number thirty-five.”

  “You know we don’t hang out with those guys. They still bang on about imp familiars and keep trying to enslave us. It gets annoying.”

  JB’s eyes were hard, and he gave a grim smile.

  “Zhanna gave me an update. Where’s Gemma now?”

  “Trailing Gelon. I wonder if that’s his true name? If it is, it shows how little he cares about being caught.”

  “That’s not good. Hey, where’s number thirty-five? The last house we passed was thirty-four.”

  JB looked at the number on the door. Thirty-six. “Oh, that’s clever.”

  They turned around and retraced their steps. This time, they felt the spell; a mixture of repulsion that urged them to hurry passed, and a generous dollop of invisibility so they didn’t notice the house. They stopped and studied the building. The paintwork was fresh, and inside the yard, not a single leaf could be seen. The dwelling was as well-kept as every other residence in Buttercup Lane. Nothing out of the ordinary at all.

  “It’s a ward. Can’t you sense it?” JB asked.

  Nikki stretched out her arm. “Ouch!” She blew on her fingers. “Nasty!”

  “Come on, it’s time to release the beast.”

  Nikki winked at him. “Like old times, eh?”

  JB grinned back. Taking Nikki’s hand, he powered up a shield and they opened the gate onto the neat and tidy path leading up to the front door. A sharp prickling on the back of their necks warned them they were passing through the warding spell.

  Once inside the ward, the exterior of the property was dilapidated with faded paintwork, and rusty window and door frames. “Nothing says I’m different from my neighbors like letting your home turn into a rundown junk pile,” Nikki commented as they studied the overgrown front yard. “I guess he figures keeping a ward in place is less effort than looking after his property.”

  Lazlo Westermore, a dapper little man with a long droopy salt and pepper mustache, a receding hairline, and bright walnut brown eyes, opened the door as they approached. “Jean-Baptiste Jr., to what do I owe the honor of your presence in my humble abode?”

  JB detected the faintest of tremors in the wizard’s voice and grinned, though it was more of a grimace. He didn’t answer but pushed past the wizard and into the hallway.

  Nikki marched right behind and gave the wizard a full view of her sharpened teeth.

  Lazlo followed them into a small living room, where a table overflowed with books and papers and the remnants of a week’s takeaway boxes. The windows appeared to be welded shut, and the air was stale and musty. The wizard cleared his throat. “How’s your father these days? Not so good I hear.”

  JB pivoted and grabbed Lazlo by his sweater, lifted him off his feet, and thrust his face close to the wizard. “I don’t want my father’s name to pass your lips. I may only be a quarter fire daemon, but I’m more than you’ll ever be able to handle.” He released Lazlo and shoved him into the nearest chair. “For starters, we know a daemon visited you earlier today. What did he want?”

  “Who? What daemon? It’s against the law to deal with daemons.”

  Nikki moved to stand behind the chair. “Don’t be coy, Lazlo. We’re here to help you.” She stroked the thinning hair on the top of his head, twining a few strands around one of her long taloned fingers.

  Lazlo shuddered.

  “Do you think my grandfather would mind paying a quick visit?” JB glanced at Nikki.

  “I’m sure he can spare a few moments. You are family.”

  JB pulled out his phone, “Lucky I’ve got him on speed dial.”

  Lazlo paled, and his eyes widened as he watched JB press a few buttons. “Okay, okay. Please, don’t call Ascepius. I’ll tell you everything.”

  JB put the phone away. “I’m listening.”

  The wizard took a deep breath. “Chas Fachio approached me, asking if I could steal the Lielit coven’s precious chalice.”

  “Why?”

  “Do you know who Chas Fachio is? You don’t ask the leader of the city’s most powerful crime gang why he wants something. As it happened, I wasn’t able to break Hekate’s wards, so I hired a daemon.”

  “And where’s the daemon, and the chalice now?”

  “How should I know? Fachio’s orders were to steal the chalice. He wasn’t interested in what happened to it afterward. Told me to do what I wanted with it, but I wasn’t going to keep it, ‘cos you can bet sooner or later Hekate would track it down. I’m assuming Gelon returned home and took it with him. It’s probably decorating his mantelpiece. Anyway, I paid him and he left.”

  “Who’s this Gelon’s master?”

  “I have no idea. I don’t possess enough power to force a daemon to tell me that kind of stuff.”

  JB leaned forward. Tiny golden flames danced in his glowing red pupils. “Who. Is. His. Master?” He flicked his left wrist, and a slim silver dagger slipped from his jacket sleeve down into his hand.

  “Wow, it’s been a while since I have seen that blade,” Nikki said. “Brings back memories.”

  “Yes, a couple of months ago, my father finally saw fit to return my mother’s gift.”

  JB Sr. had been so mad when his son had taken the knife to high school for protection against a gang that was targeting him, he’d confiscated it, and sworn his son couldn’t be trusted with such a powerful weapon, even if his mother had trained him in its use. Fighting normals with a supernatural blade could have gotten him a very long period of incarceration.

  JB gripped the handle, concentrated, and sent a pulse of energy down into the blade. Sigils beneath the surface flickered and glowed with energy.

  Lazlo stared, transfixed by the blade and tried to retreat as far from the tip as possible.

  JB placed his right hand on Lazlo’s chest and felt the rapid thump of the wizard’s heartbeat. He pressed the point of the blade into the skin over the wizard’s heart and sent another pulse of power.

  Lazlo’s eyes bulged as his body arched, his heart somersaulted and felt as if it were about to explode out of his chest. “Pythios,” he gasped. “Gelon’s master is Pythios.”

  “There,” JB patted him on the cheek, “that wasn’t so hard, was it? Okay, one more question.” He pressed Lazlo back into the chair. “Did Chas Fachio order Perry White to run down my father?”

  “I swear I told you everything I know.” Sweat ran down his face, and his gaze remained fixed on the razor sharp knife-edge still perilously close to his skin.

  “Do you believe he’s telling the truth?” JB glanced up at Nikki.

  “One more jolt should wring it out of him if he’s lying. Don’t you think, little wizard?” She tapped her fingernails on Lazlo’s forehead.

  “Please, please.” He begged. “I have a weak heart, and I know nothing about your father’s accident, but it has nothing to do with me.” His lips quivered and his arms and legs twitched as he shook with fear. “Please don’t do that thing again.”

  JB stared into his eyes, “If I discover you’ve lied I will come after you, and believe me, it doesn’t matter where you hide, I will find you.” He tucked the knife up into his sleeve.

  The wizard sagged in relief.

  “Come on, Nikki, let’s go catch us a daemon.”

  Chapter Ten: Thursday, 8.30pm.

  JB had barely put a foot inside the office door when Jason approached him.

  “Where’s Gemma?” Jason’s face was two inches from JB’s. “She’s not answering my calls.” He glared at Nikki standing in the hallway.

  “Let me in and I’ll tell you what I know.” JB kept his voice low and patient as he walked into the office. Jason’s behavior was understandable, they were all wound up about the situation, but fighting each other wouldn’t help Gemma.

  Zhanna had changed her outfit, a sure sign her anxiety levels had increased and were now in skateboard mode with bag
gy jeans, sweatshirt, sneakers, and sun-bleached dreads. She hovered nearby, her wings fluttering at a mile a minute.

  JB ran his hands through his hair. Jason should still be watching Perry White, but he’d let that slide seeing as how it would have been concern over his sister that brought him back here. “Okay. Here’s what I’ve got. In case everyone’s not up to speed, the daemon’s name is Gelon, and he murdered Bathsheba before he took the chalice and fled. Gemma saw him leave after I’d gone in the building–he must have been going down in one elevator, while I went up in the other–and followed him. Have we heard from her yet?”

  “Why didn’t you stop her?” Jason demanded, tense with worry for his twin.

  “She was under strict instructions to stay where she was, but she didn’t listen.”

  “Typical Gem. Always impulsive; racing off and throwing herself into things without thinking.” Jason backed off. “But the authorities have the plate number, right? Zhanna, anything over the police scanners yet?”

  JB glowered at Zhanna. “So now we’re listening to police communications, are we?”

  “Don’t be cross, JB. It’s only ‘cos we want to know if they locate Gelon, and we figure Gemma will be nearby. But the only thing we caught was a report of two abandoned cars somewhere near the airport.” Her wings fluttered so fast JB felt a distinct breeze, and the papers on the desk lifted an inch into the air. “But they’ve not mentioned any license numbers yet, so we don’t know if either of them is yours.”

  “Can we sit down? Please?” He looked at Jason. “And make a plan.”

  “Coffee, Jason, JB?” Nikki asked.

  “You’re an angel,” JB responded, and they sat while Nikki pressed buttons and carried fresh coffee over to the table. She went back and brought a glass of sugar water for Zhanna in a tumbler almost as tall as the faerie, complete with a Mickey Mouse straw for her to use. They needed her to stay awake.

  “Listen, Jason, I didn’t tell the police that Gemma had followed Gelon because they won’t do anything. And they won’t waste police time and money on looking for a car that might turn up at any minute.”

  “I still say we should tell them she followed that, that … monster. He’s already killed, one woman. Gem could be in all kinds of trouble.” Jason blinked away the sudden excess water in his eyes and sniffed.

  “We know they’re looking for his car,” Zhanna perched on Jason’s shoulder, and patted his cheek. “And if she didn’t lose him, then she’ll be nearby.”

  “And if he shook her off, she’ll come back here,” added Nikki.

  “Plus, they’re calling in the super squad, so the less we have to do with that bunch, the better.” JB glanced at Nikki, who shuddered.

  Although most supernatural species played their part in contributing to society, daemons were still unwelcome—their predatory nature preventing anything other than a one-sided relationship with all other races. Hybrid offspring, in particular, those from daemon and human relationships, often ended up sacrificed to science for experiments or in mental asylums where religiously inclined psychiatrists attempted to exorcise their daemonic aspects.

  “I’ve also contacted my grandfather.”

  Nikki’s eyebrows shot up. “Is that wise? I thought you were using his name purely as a threat before.”

  “What’s his grandfather got to do with this?” Jason demanded.

  “He’s a really really high-ranking daemon.”

  Zhanna let out a piercing squeak, her wings flashed faster sending out bright gold sparks, and she dug her nails into Jason’s ear.

  “Let go,” he squealed and attempted to pry her tiny fingers from his earlobe without hurting her.

  “Zhanna! Calm down.” JB ordered. “You’re not helping. You’re here on the orders of the Faerie Queen. Even daemons don’t want that kind of trouble.”

  Zhanna relaxed her hold on Jason’s ear. “Sorry, I was frightened.” She touched his skin with her wand, “There, better?”

  Jason ignored her. “This is the plan? Your old grandfather is going to totter in here and save the day? Please explain, in detail, how will he manage that?”

  “Jason, stop it! If anyone can find out where Gemma is, it’s JB.” Nikki’s sharp words brought Jason up short. “We understand why you’re worried, she’s your twin sister, but we care for her too,” she added more softly, and glanced at JB.

  Jason had the grace to look contrite.

  “What did her last message say? Everyone check your phones,” Nikki ordered.

  “Oh, I got a call,” JB said. “Sorry, it came when I was talking with the police. I’ll put it on speaker.” He avoided looking at Jason, put his mobile on the table, and everyone leaned forward to listen.

  “Hi, JB. I’ve got him in my sights.” Gemma spoke fast. “We’re near the airport.”

  Her words were muffled by heavy traffic and the roar of an airplane as it passed over the freeway.

  “He’s pulling over. I’m going to pass him and-”

  A loud crashing noise ended the message, and the phone went dead.

  “Nikki, check the nearest hospital, and if she’s not been admitted there, call every hospital. She might be at any one of them,” JB ordered.

  “Zhanna, check the police scanner again. It sounds like those two dumped cars might be Gelon’s and Gemma’s. I mean mine. Hack into aerial surveillance if you can.”

  “If I can?” She snorted in derision, buzzed over to her laptop, and her wand blurred across the keyboard.

  “I’m sorry, Jason. I should have checked my calls earlier, but I swear we’ll get your sister back no matter what it takes.” JB’s heart flip-flopped at the thought of Gemma lying injured somewhere in the hands of a daemon or worse. He squashed the image of her lying dead at the wheel of his car.

  “No admissions of anyone resembling Gemma’s description at the nearest hospital to the airport,” Zhanna piped in, “but I got something else. Gemma sent me a pic of the daemon’s plate number before she followed him, and it’s registered to Perry White, indicating he and his sister’s involvement with this daemon is deeper than we thought.”

  JB’s phone rang before he could respond. He listened, uttered a few sympathetic noises, then hung up. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, Jason was staring at him. “It’s not about Gemma,” he said.

  “Not sure if that’s good or bad,” Jason answered.

  “Zhanna! Come here,” he ordered.

  Zhanna flew slowly over, hovered in front of JB, and stared indignantly at him. “I don’t like the tone of your voice. What is it?”

  “That was your Most Gracious Royal Monarch.” Something dangerous in JB’s voice caught Nikki and Jason’s attention. “What have you been up to?”

  “Me? I’ve done nothing but follow your orders.” She drifted down to the table, put her hands on her hips, and tossed her dreads over her shoulder.

  “Then why is the Faerie Queen accusing you of hosting a human-faerie dating website?”

  “Working in this dreary office of yours is a bad enough sentence. Why would I want to do something like that and jeopardize my situation?”

  “I have no idea, but I’ll sure find out once Gem’s back here in one piece. In the meantime, get back to work.” JB sighed with frustration. As if he didn’t have enough on his plate without faerie shenanigans—the trouble the wee creatures could cause was way out of proportion to their size. But any thoughts he might have had fled as he heard the newly familiar soft popping sound announcing his grandfather’s arrival.

  Ascepius, smoke rising from the cigar in his hand, and immaculate in a white linen suit and Panama hat looking as if he’d stepped off a yacht in the Bahamas, surveyed the scene.

  The shimmering portal pffed shut behind him.

  Jason’s mouth dropped open in horror, Nikki’s eyes were glued to him, and Zhanna disappeared in a burst of sparks.

  “So, this is where you work?” Ascepius exhaled a cloud of blue smoke, as his gaze sw
ept around the room.

  “Yes, and thank you for coming, grandfather–”

  “Please, call me Ascepius. And is that Faerie I smell?” He lifted his head and sniffed appreciatively. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had the pleasure. Where is the delicate creature?”

  The daemon radiated heat, and Jason unzipped his sweater and dabbed at the sweat forming on his forehead.

  Nikki noticed and hid a smile. Thanks to their genes, neither she nor JB were bothered by the sudden increase in temperature.

  “Ascepius, I need your help.”

  The daemon smiled. “Of course, why else would you call? And in what capacity may I assist you?”

  “We need to find this daemon.” He scrolled through his phone and pulled up the photo of Gelon and Bathsheba leaving her apartment. “He goes by the name Gelon. We know he’s killed this woman, and we’ve got good reason to believe he’s kidnapped Jason’s sister, Gemma.” He nodded in Jason’s direction.

  Jason’s skin had a flushed rosy glow, he’d taken off his sweater, and began coughing as he rolled up his shirt sleeves.

  “They both work for me. And we’ve been informed his master is called Pythios. Have you heard of him?”

  Ascepius’s smile wasn’t comforting. “Yes, Pythios is an acquaintance, and FYI, as you, JB, are family, your servants also fall under my protection.” He blew another stream of smoke after his first. “Come.” he moved across the room, or rather seemed to blink from one place to another, reappearing next to JB. With a flick of his fingers, he popped open a portal behind him. “Time for you to meet your relatives.” He gripped JB’s arm and hauled him through the eerily shifting glistening gateway.

  Chapter Eleven: Time Unknown

  The bruising burn on the arm gripped by his grandfather paled in insignificance as a sensation akin to nails scraping on a blackboard raked his skin, inside and out. Thin slivers of red light stabbed his eyes, and he shut them tight. He opened his mouth to scream, but it was over and the sight that met his eyes stunned him into silence.