Demon's Vengeance The Complete - Jocelynn Drake Page 0,74
future in the waves of magic.
“The future?”
Possible futures, it corrected, with a hint of amusement. And there is one that I have seen with you that interests me.
“And what is that?” I asked, though there was a part of me that didn’t want to know.
The one where you defeat Lilith.
My blood ran cold at the demon’s words and my eyes dropped back down to the book before me. I could defeat the Queen of the Underworld. But to do that, I was going to need the help of the demons. What the hell had I gotten myself into?
CHAPTER 6
Morning came too damn early. I groaned and rolled over onto my stomach, trying to escape the sunlight pouring through my open curtains. I forgot to shut them before falling into bed last night. No, this morning. The sun was already tinged with sunlight when I stumbled across the threshold.
Gideon and I spent hours digging through the archives of the library for books on Death Magic. There hadn’t been a lot there, but what we found was not reassuring. The books made no mention of the creatures that first used magic, but it had been linked to several groups over time. Of course, all those groups had been wiped off the face of the earth by time and war, so we couldn’t point fingers in their directions for our killer. Gideon had also been right in that the magic was only good for raising the dead, though most of the time the dead returned zombie-like rather than having any real resemblance to their former selves. I wasn’t sure if Death Magic could be used to free Lilith from the Underworld, but it was the only logical reason I could come up with for someone playing with it.
All in all, my trip to the Dresden Tower proved to be a waste of time when it came to the investigation. But in Simon’s rooms? Now in the bright light of day, every instinct screamed that I should have locked down the demon and destroyed the symbol etched into the floor. And when I was done, I should have gone straight to Asylum and destroyed the symbol there.
Did I?
No.
I was playing in something just as dangerous as the Death Magic killer.
But what if I could use it to protect Trixie and the baby? What if I could use it to stop the Towers and protect the world? Wasn’t something like that worth the risk?
Closing my eyes, I started to drift off again when a persistent ringing forced my eyes open again. It was my cell phone, which explained why I had woken up in the first place. Some asshole was calling at this ungodly hour.
“What?” I barked after fumbling to answer the call. My fingers weren’t working yet. I needed more sleep.
“Gee, you’re a cheerful guy in the morning,” Serah said.
Twisting around and propping myself up on my side, I looked at the alarm clock on my cluttered nightstand and groaned. “It’s eight in the morning. I’ve been asleep only two hours. What the hell do you want?”
“The cops found another body.”
“Fuck,” I whispered, flopping onto my back. I was definitely awake now. Rubbing my eyes with my left hand, I tried to order my thoughts, moving them away from demons, Trixie, and even the psychopath with his army of the undead vampires. I needed to catch this bitch before Low Town fell apart. “How long ago?”
“The victim was found about an hour ago in an alley behind a Dumpster. Her husband reported her missing last night.” Serah paused. I could hear her breathing and she sounded tired. I wasn’t the only one losing sleep. “I talked the cops into letting us see the scene before the coroner takes the body, but we have to get down there now.”
Which meant that I needed to move my ass now. “Yeah, I’m moving. Where?”
“Actually, it’s not far from your apartment. I’ll swing by and pick you up. Be there in ten.” Serah ended the call before I could reply, officially starting the clock.
With a sigh, I swung my feet to the floor and sat up. I was still in clothes I’d worn to work the previous day. The only thing I’d managed to do when I came to bed was kick off my shoes and drop my wand on the nightstand. I felt grimy as hell and would have killed for a shower, but there wasn’t time. Pulling the shirt I was wearing off over my head,