Page 8 of Kiss of Light

“I don’t. I only put up with this one because he makes damn fine burgers. Let’s go, D.”

The wiccan watched them leave the shop. She tittered to herself as she collected up the blood drying on the glass counter. The demon had some surprises ahead. Mama Xiaoling was a fairly decent seer and she could have saved Tala some trouble if only she’d bothered to ask.

Denny stowed the shotgun in the boot and got behind the wheel.

“How did it go? Did you get what you need?”

“I did. As usual, it came at price. Luckily I could afford it.”

Tala held up her hand and Denny’s expression hardened.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, boss. She took a goddamnedfinger?”

“It’s fine. It’ll grow back. Let’s go. I need to get that plane to New Orleans.”

Tala unpeeled the tissue from her wound as they drove. The stump had scabbed over, and already she could feel the itching that meant it was starting to regrow.

It was hard to kill a demon. Oh, they could be hurt. Overpowered. Knocked unconscious. But actually killing one? There were only a few ways.

Incineration. Decapitation. Certain spells or magical objects. But for the most part, shaitun were immortal. Losing a body part wasn’t a game changer. It just wasn’t fun.

Regrowing tissue and bone was painful and tiring.

The next few hours would be a bitch.

Three

It was dark when she landed at Louis Armstrong airport. She retrieved her bag with relief. She always felt twitchy when she had to check her blades. She felt naked without them.

Her plan was simple. Find the bloodsucker and drag him home to Palissandra. Kicking and screaming if necessary.

She didn’t know much about Palissandra. It bordered the empire of Nush’aldaam, and the two territories normally maintained strict neutrality in each other’s affairs. This fucked-up fake contract threatened to undermine that.

The sooner she got Lemar back, the better. Then his father could protect him and she would be done with it.

He’d be safe from human mercenaries like Blake because they couldn’t pass through the Gates. Hell, they couldn’t even see them, let alone know where they were.

And the other immortals chasing him wouldn’t have the balls to enter Palissandra. That included the vamps she’d seen in the bar. They were clearly acting against the ruling family, and treason was punishable by death.

Even shaitun wouldn’t set foot in Palissandra if they didn’t have to. The Vetali were scary fuckers, especially the elders.

She’d be glad when this job was over.

The only problem she could foresee was getting to a Gate. There was one main one, but it was in Norway. And getting the vamp on a plane was a non-starter. There was no way the whole flight could be accomplished overnight, and Vetali couldn’t travel by day.

She considered stuffing him into a crate and flying him in cargo, but there was always the risk of an inspection. Or a hold up at Customs. No, the best option was driving.

The Gate in New York was the closest. It opened straight into Palissandra, which is why there were so many vamps in the city. But no way could she take him back there. It was crawling with hunters.

That left the only other Gate in the country. It was over twelve hundred miles away, but that was okay. They could travel by night, lay low during the day. And that particular Gate had the advantage of not being used very much, if at all.

Because it had a major problem with it.

A big, big problem.

But whatever. She’d cross that bridge when she came to it. The priority was getting there. One thing at a time, she told herself.

She texted Denny to let him know she’d landed. He had wanted to come with her, but she told him she needed eyes and ears back in New York in case any of the other hunters got wind of Lemar’s whereabouts. That was partially true.

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