The conference room was bigger than I expected, but not in the same way the crazy-interdimensional-airport-hangar-size storage room was big. It was just a regular big room with an old, scratched-up oblong conference table and a dozen pastel rolling chairs that looked a lot like the ones my grandparents had in their dining room. A white smartboard hung on one wood-paneled wall. A metal cabinet stood in the corner. I opened the door and peeked inside; notepads, pencils, markers, paperclips, and other basic office supplies lined the shelves. I closed the cabinet and wiggled my fingers at the camera in the corner. I considered sitting at the head of the table, but I didn't feel quite bold enough to make a symbolic power play, so I chose the seat next to that. It rocked back with a piercing screech. I moved one chair over. That one had a threadbare patch on the cushion where the orange foam stuffing poked through, but it allowed me to fidget in silence.
While I waited, I picked at a splinter on the tabletop and considered the somewhat overwhelming effect Nick seemed to have on me. Sitting there, away from him, I could conjure up an image of his broody Irish face and appreciate the fact that he was strikingly handsome. The accent did only good things for his image. He had a lot of muscles in all the right proportions. But I'd met handsome guys before. Mandrake was no slouch. Women practically threw themselves over the coffee counter at him. Sometimes men, too. But I didn't lose my damn mind every time he looked at me. Sometimes, maybe, but not every time.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and typed, supernatural creatures with power over women.
The first several results discussed the reasons why most fearsome beasts from mythology were female. "Girl's got to do what a girl's got to do to survive," I mumbled.
On page two, I came across an entry for incubus.
Succubi (female) and incubi (male) are demonic entities that seduce humans, convincing them to give themselves over to sexual debauchery of all kinds.
The door banged open, and Nick strolled in carrying a laptop computer and a stack of files. His gaze met mine.
My panties practically caught fire.
Dang.
I jammed my phone back into my pocket and folded my hands on the table, trying not to look as freaked out as I felt. Nick turned his blue eyes on me, and I thought it wouldn't take much convincing on his part to get me to give myself over to sexual debauchery of all kinds.
And by "not much," I meant practically none.
"I'm going to go fast." He set his laptop on the table across from me, sat down, and opened it. "Try to keep up. Ask questions. Ignorance will get you killed."
"What gets you killed?" I asked.
He froze for a split second before carrying on. "Not much. At least, nothing I've encountered thus far." When he pressed a button, a map appeared on the smartboard. Red dots centered around the downtown area in a messy sort of spiral.
The door burst open and Mx. Landry came storming in, shaking their bony finger in Nick's direction. "You are forbidden to do this. You're going to get us all—"
"This is Agent Nowicki's capture," he said. "I'm merely briefing her."
"Bullhockey. You think I don't know what's going on? You hired me to—"
"I'm breaking no law," Nick said calmly.
"You're walking a fine line," Mx. Landry spat back.
"Do we not walk that line daily, my friend?"
Mx. Landry glared at me long enough to make me squirm in my seat. Good thing I moved out of the squeaky chair. Finally, they threw their hands up. "You do what you're going to do. That's what you always do, anyway."
"Your objection is noted," Nick said.
"Oh, good. Noted. Not heeded but heard. I guess that counts for something." They shook their head in obvious disgust. "Benji's here. She's got the pishtaco in custody."
Nick turned his attention to his computer screen. "Good. Put him in holding and call it out. Make sure Benji gets her body receipt."
"I know how it works," they said.
Nick took a long, slow breath and turned his blue gaze on them. His voice was low and steady. "I know the rules. I'll not endanger what we have here. I do not wish to have animosity between us."
Mx. Landry huffed. Their gaze shot in my direction for a split second and back to Nick, but whatever they were going to say got chewed up and swallowed. "Do you want Benji in here before she leaves?"
"For a moment, please," Nick said.
They left, and he raked his fingers through his hair. "Okay. Here's what we know. As I told you before, Sathanas is the Lord Demon of Wrath. Your basic demon is a simple capture. Most of them can be summoned, and most of them can be held within a warded space. Easy. You step inside the warded space and summon the demon. They appear, you step out. They can't hurt you. They can't leave. They're captured and your work is done."
I was supposed to ask questions, but the sheer number of questions so overwhelmed me, I didn't know where to begin. Nick apparently took my silence for understanding.
"When you get into the higher realms of demonic entity, warding becomes a shaky bet and the requirements for summoning are greater than we would be willing to pay. The Organization frowns on virgin sacrifice and so forth."
Little stars burst in my vision. I blinked them away and tried my very hardest to act like this was obvious information.
"As the title suggests, Sathanas is motivated by wrath. He is wrath incarnate. His actions are never without cause. If he's in town, there's a reason. Someone here is his target. That whomever it is has eluded him thus far says a great deal about that person's ability to survive because Sathanas is single-minded in his pursuit. He will not rest until vengeance has been exacted."
The door opened and Lara Croft, Tomb Raider, walked in. Benji stood six feet tall. Her boobs were bigger than my head and her waist was smaller around than my thigh. She wore a stretch black tee-shirt tucked into black cargo pants and motorcycle boots that stopped just below her knees. Twin guns were holstered on her shapely hips. Her hair hung in a single dark brown plait over her left shoulder. She had lips so full and perfect even I sort of wanted to kiss them.
With Benji in the room, I felt as attractive as a potato.
Nick gestured her in, and she took a seat two chairs down from me. "Benji, Olivia Nowicki is a new agent."
"'Sup?" Benji asked me.
"Hi," I said like a total dork.
"Moose was hurt last night. He'll live, but he's out of the game for a while. Nowicki is taking point on Sathanas," Nick said.
Benji's smile was wide and dazzling. "Her? He'll eat her for dinner."
"She almost had him last night. It was a close thing."
I didn't feel like that was an entirely accurate account of what happened, but who was I to argue with the boss?
"I'm riding shotgun with her," he added.
Benji shook her head. "That's illegal, Nick, and you know it."
"I'm just helping," Nick said.
"Uh-huh. I'll make sure to tell them that when they question me."
Moving on without further comments regarding the legality of his actions, he said, "I was just giving Nowicki the four-one-one." He pointed at the map. "Red dots are confirmed reports. We know Sathanas was in that spot between the time we bonded him out and now. Blue dots are suspected locations."
"What's the green space?" I asked.
"Hallowed ground," Benji said. "Demon-proof spaces. Where you want to be if the boogyman is out to get you."
"So, whoever Sathanas is after, they're in one of those spaces, and that's why they're still alive," I guessed.
Nick pushed his hair back from his face. "Maybe. We don't know who he's after or what they're capable of. If it's a human, you're right, they're probably hiding in a mausoleum or something. If it's a jumper, they might be in an entirely different dimension."
"If it's another demon, a celestial may have stepped in to stash him Heavenside," Benji added before I could ask what a jumper is.
"Right," I said, as if that made any sense at all. "Do you have a file, like the one Mx. Landry gave me for the nukekubi?"
Nick slid a folder across the table, and I flipped the cover open. The charges against Sathanas included reckless possession, destruction of property, and murder; third degree, casualty of possession.
"Do demons usually follow the rules?" I asked. It seemed against their nature, according to my understanding.
Benji twisted her braid around her hand. "Everybody follows the rules. If they didn't, the world would burn, and the humans would die, and no one would have food. You should keep that in mind, Nick."
Ignoring the last part of Benji's answer, Nick added, "Not to mention, the demons remain under angelic command. They are rebellious, but they know their place."
"So why don't the angels take care of this?" I asked.
Benji chuckled. "Yes, Nick. Why is that?"
Nick stared at me with his sparkling blue eyes.
My fingertips and toes tingled. "Just asking."
"The angelic guard originally apprehended Sathanas," Nick said.
"Nick posted bail," Benji added.
I was following the basic thread. "And then he missed his court date, so now it's up to us to bring him in."
Nick nodded. "Moose was doing a good job. He started tracking him and as he circled in closer and closer to this spot," he pointed at an area of green on the map, "Moose was right on his tail."
I remembered him running off. "The explosion on Second and West."
"By then, we had Sathanas's MO pegged. He found him and they battled."
"Sathanas won."
Benji rolled her eyes. She tugged the collar of her tee aside and showed a tattooed crucifix just below her clavicle. "Avoiding possession isn't that hard. I've been giving Moose too much credit."
"He had a tattoo. He had an unfortunate run in with a skip a few days ago. During the apprehension, the skin on that part of his body was damaged," Nick said.
I pictured the skeleton guy ripping Moose's shoulder open and shuddered. "Is the silver bowling ball thing the only way to catch him?"
"No, but it's the most foolproof," Nick said.
"If you can cuff his meat suit, you'd trap him in there," Benji said.
"He'd liquify their innards," Nick said.
"But he'd be held."
"Our goal is to save humans, not get them killed."
She cocked her head. "I thought our goal was to catch FTAs. If you don't catch him, more than one human will die."
Nick settled his gaze on me. "We will use the sphaera captivitatis."
I'd been doing so good when he was looking at other stuff. I'd asked valid questions and everything. Once he focused on me again, my thoughts got all warm and fuzzy around the edges. "Okay," I said.
Benji stood and stretched. "Well, kids, this has been fun, but I've still got three other skips to catch and sunset's coming. You need me for anything else right now, Nick?"
"No. Thank you for your service."
She chuckled. "Thank you for your fat envelopes full of cash. They put the sunshine in my step."
It was the first thing the freakishly gorgeous woman said that I could relate to.
They spent a few minutes talking about a barbaroga who seemed to be lurking near a juvenile detention facility outside of Chicago. Apparently, apprehensions that involved crossing state lines were trickier, but Mx. Landry had, of course, arranged all the necessary paperwork. After Benji left, I asked about the legality of my own papers.
"They'll stand up against any kind of scrutiny," Nick said, which didn't seem exactly the same as saying yup, you're one-hundred percent legal.
"Maybe you should tell me the rules. I just about peed my pants when the cops got called to the mattress store."
"You're licensed to apprehend anyone identified as an FTA by The Organization. If it's in The Organization's system, they'll have it in the regular system as well, though the description of the charges may be changed or redacted. You can enter any property without a warrant if you have reasonable cause to believe they might be there. If anyone asks, you announced your arrival by calling out, 'bail bond enforcement' when you entered. Don't actually do that. It will get you killed ten out of ten times."
I wiped the sweat off my nose with the back of my hand. "Got it."
"Local cops will usually go along with you if you tell them you're a bounty hunter. If they give you trouble, or if you need to cover evidence of the supernatural, call Mx. Landry and they'll take care of it."
"Just like that, huh?" I asked.
"More often than not," he said.
"You don't seem to operate in a realm of absolutes," I said.
His eyebrow twitched upward. "Only the Sith deal in absolutes." In a flash, my mind conjured up an entire Jedi fantasy.
Focus!
I stood up and moved around the table to look closer at the map. "So, you have no idea who Sathanas is after?"
"None. The locations of his attacks seem fairly random, except for the fact that they're drawing nearer and nearer together." He pointed at a one-block green area. "Solid chance his target is holed up in this cemetery."
A tiny green blip was across the street from the cemetery. "What's this?"
"A holy woman lives there. She's blessed and warded her house."
"Could the victim be with her?" I asked.
"We checked. She hasn't had contact with the outside world in months. Grows her own food in the backyard. Gets a few basic deliveries now and then. Doesn't seem to have many needs beyond that." He inched closer, and his left arm brushed my right side.
I swear, electricity zipped into my arm, up to my shoulder, around my heart, and straight down to my uterus. Biting hard on my lip to stifle a whimper, I staggered a step away. "I assume Moose searched the cemetery?"
"He did. Twice. And every other bit of hallowed ground inside the perimeter as well."
I suggested we go to the site of the explosion and look for clues. "That's the most recent location we're certain he was at." Well, that wasn't exactly true. "Except for here but coming here had nothing to do with his other mission. He just wanted to scare us off."
"It was out of character for him to do that. He must have known he couldn't chase us off with threats."
He could have chased me off with threats, easily, but I didn't say that. I said, "We'll figure that out later. Let's go see what's to see."
He nodded. "You'll have to drive. Have Mx. Landry suit you up. Tell them I said we're taking the Lexus." On his way past me, he slapped me on the back and I nearly fainted.
What could possibly go wrong alone in a car at night with him?