Page 57 of Dead Air
MacIlwraith pretended to be wounded. “Once a demon, always a demon, is it?” he asked but clicked his teeth when Cenn nodded. “That’s not what you started as and mark my words: magick will find a way to manifest when powerful beings—such as yourself—mate with humans. If an offspring isn’t created, that magick will change the human. It could changebothparties.I see it changing me and Nelson every day, but so far, in only good ways.”
“You don’t know that it’ll be the same for us and I’d notice if Niall changed.”
“I’m not so sure…” MacIlwraith smiled and waved when Nelson whistled to get his attention. “I have to get going but I don’t want you to take that…demonstration as a threat or a warning. We don’t have to be enemies and I intend to look out for Niall. Not as a favor to you, but because I consider him a friend now and because he’s agoodpersonwho never should have been pulled into this business with Dùbhghlas.”
“That we can agree on,” Cenn said, bowing his head. “I suppose it’s good he has friends he can talk to about this and something to leave the mountain for.”
With that, Cenn and MacIlwraith parted ways on surprisingly peaceful terms. They would stay out of each other’s supernatural business and Cenn was somewhat open to assisting if Niall was somehow involved andmade him. Cenn would make absolutely certain there would never be any need for them to involve Niall and that he’d be far too busy for one of their capers.
Niall returned with his box of supplies and wanted to know all about Cenn’s “heart to heart” with the demigod.
“It wasn’t exactly a heart to heart, more of a subtle warning. MacIlwraith is a lot smarter than the warlock gives him credit for. Mostly because he isn’t in a hurry to let go of his mortal life. He’s too comfortable and happy playing the professor and part-time detective with Nelson, not that I blame him.”
“Sounds like you’re on the bright side now,” Niall said but Cenn promised he wasn’t.
Despite Cenn’s repeated denials, Niall was still optimistic and was pleased at how well things had ended between them. He was also looking forward to getting to know the twins, Everly, and Fletcher better and they had told him about a bookstore where Niall could find books on anything related to magick, the occult, and mythology.
With Niall in such a good mood, it was easy to lure him into bed and whip him into a filthy frenzy. Cenn flicked Niall’s throatand did the thing with his smoke tentacles again, leaving him completely spent. Once he was sleeping soundly, Cenn snuck out of the cabin and went to settle the score with Willoughby.
He appeared outside Willoughby’s family home in Dallas, Oregon. His parents had left him the house and five pristine acres but Willoughby lived alone, his career and his life in shambles. Cenn waited until the light came on in the study to sneak into the shadow behind the door and listened as Willoughby screamed at his attorney about the latest lawsuit.
“I don’t care what the little slut says!” Willoughby crumpled the filing into a ball and hurled it across the room. “I pay you to make problems like him go away,” he said, then ended the call.
His problems weren’t going away, though. This latest lawsuit was just one of many and the accusations were piling up. Willoughby had been exposed by an intern two years earlier and the floodgates had opened. All his political prospects had evaporated and Willoughby couldn’t get anyone except the press to answer his calls. That was exactly what he deserved but Cenn was going to make sure Willoughby never hurt anyone like Niall again.
“I can come back from this. I always do,” Willoughby said and poured himself another drink from the decanter on his desk.
“Not this time,” Cenn said as he stepped out of the shadows as Niall’s lumberdaddy, startling Willoughby and causing him to knock his drink off the desk.
“Who are you?” he asked, fumbling as he opened a drawer to his right and pulled out a pistol, eventually aiming it at Cenn. “Don’t come any closer!”
“Tsk tsk, Andy! What would voters think? You helped close the boyfriend loophole to keep guns out of abusers’ hands,” Cenn said as he stepped into the light. “Put the gun down,” he commanded, forcing his will upon Willoughby and making the hand holding the pistol lower and place it on the desk.
“Who are you?”Willoughby began to cry as Cenn came around the desk and perched on the edge next to him. “What do you want from me?”
Cenn’s smile was wide and his eyes lit up with malicious delight as he canted toward Willoughby. “I want you to kill yourself,” he said cheerfully and it took a moment for Willoughby to process what Cenn had said.
“No! I won’t!” He shook his head wildly and tried to stand but Cenn grabbed his shoulder and shoved him back into the seat.
“You will because I’m going tomake you,” Cenn growled as he leaned toward Willoughby and revealed his real face for just a moment, forcing a terrified shriek from him.
“Please!” Willoughby covered his face, sobbing. “Why are you doing this to me?” he begged when Cenn slapped his hands away and grabbed the back of his hair.
“Because I am Niall’s revenge.”
Willoughby wet himself. “Niall? You—? He—?” Fear and denial exploded in his brain and Willoughby struggled to find an excuse or a way to rationalize what he had done. “I’ll do anything he wants! I’ll apologize, I’ll pay him!” he said, then let out a yelp when Cenn slapped him.
“Hewants nothing from you. He has spared you and given you his grace but did you learn?” Cenn asked loudly, making Willoughby jump and cover his face again.
“I’m sorry! I have a problem, I—!” he started and screamed again when a piece of paper flew from the printer behind him and landed on the desktop. The pen jumped from his shirt pocket and into his hand before the cap shot off, hitting one of the diplomas behind Willoughby.
“Youdohave a problem,” Cenn agreed. “I want you to write that down.”
Willoughby nodded jerkily. “Okay. I can do that,” he said and hunkered over the page, prepared to write.
“Hold on! I’d like you to copy what I say. Can you do that, Andy?”
“I think so.” Tears rolled down his cheeks, landing in little round puddles on the paper.
