Chapter 5

Chapter 5

“I was so worried about you,” Lacey murmured into Vincent’s shirt trying unsuccessfully to hold back the grateful tears from seeing him in one piece. The nightmares she’d had of him being buried alive somewhere or worse lost their power over her as she clung to him… her friend that had died so many times. Her heart had stopped that night and the memory still had the power to make her shudder.

She balled the material of his shirt up in her fist, “Masters… that damn bastard’s hand went all of the way through you. How did you get away?”

Hearing the slight tremor in her voice, Vincent dismissed the enraged man behind her and gave up his antagonizing hug so that he could palm her upper arms. He gently pushed her back and gazed down at her wet cheeks. Damn it… he’d told her to never worry about him… much less cry.

He hardened his voice, “You’re forgetting love… I enjoy it. All of it. Dying is nothing more than a game to me.” Her stupid tears had the power to hurt him worse than a hand through his heart. “So save your infernal tears for something that’s worth it,” he snapped knowing that was the fastest way to dry her eyes… piss her off .

Lacey glared up at Vincent. He’d just done that on purpose. “Whatever dumb ass, just tell me what the hell happened,” she sai d playing his standoffish game.

“That’s better,” Vincent smirked at her temper. It was actually endearing. “By the time I revived, I was back at Masters’ estate surrounded by a lot of pissed off demons who were having a blast as they took turns killing me with wounds that would quickly heal so that they could have the pleasure of doing it again and again. Monotonous bastards.”

Lacey sucked in a sharp breath and her eyes widened as she stared up at him. Her imagination went into overdrive as a myriad of random ways the demons could kill him trailed across her vision like a horror movie.

Seeing her eyes shine with new tears Vincent quickly added, “They weren’t the only ones having fun at the party and they didn’t even beat my record of deaths within a forty-eight hour period because they wouldn’t shut up long enough.”

“It was my fault. I’m sorry… so sorry. I should’ve taken your body with me somehow,” Lacey said wishing she could turn back time. “You sacrificed yourself to save me again, and I… I just left you lying there. Some partner I turned out to be.”

“You were doing exactly what I told you to do,” Vincent corrected bluntly.

He reached out and patted her on the top of her head like a good little puppy just because he knew she hated it. When she angrily knocked his arm away he was again satisfied that she wasn't going to break down in front of him. He’d crossed over enough of his own lines during the past year for her and didn’t think he could handle seeing her cry right now without giving his true feelings away.

“But you must have gotten away from them or you wouldn’t be in LA… right?” Lacey asked searching his eyes. “You can leave them now and stay here with me… where it’s safe.”

“Wishful thinking dove,” Vincent tilted his head toward the front of the shop to draw her attention to his obsessed black eyed fans that were even now watching every move he made. “My escort is waiting on me to bring them your answer.”

Lacey barely spared an annoyed glance toward the two men just beyond the glass before shrugging fearlessly. “They can’t come in The Witch’s Brew. Demons are not allowed in here without mine or my cousin’s permission, so they can stand out there and rot for all I care.”

“If only it were that easy,” Vincent said shaking his head at his fearless little partner. It really was a shame that he’d rubbed off on her so much. Self-preservation was actually a good thing to have… if getting killed was the last thing you would ever do.

Deciding to pull her back out of fairytale land, Vincent narrowed his eyes showing her his displeasure, “Since it seems that you have forgotten one important detail, I’ll remind you the true reality of the situation. The demons in our little ring have a fetish for mortal weapons and with the underground trading, have gotten themselves quite a spiffy collection. They don’t need to come in to get me or you. They can just shoot us through the bloody window seeing as how both of them are armed.”

Lacey slowly glanced back toward the window wondering why they hadn’t raised their guns and shot at her yet. Maybe they were behaving since the street behind them was full of traffic and there were so many shoppers walking from store to store. Yeah… way too many witnesses.

She recognized both demons because they had been with Masters the night she’d used the cube on them so she could escape. Vincent was right about their fetish for guns… they had even stolen state of the art weaponry for the monsters. The main reason the demons used guns instead of ripping people apart was so that they blended in with other murdering humans instead of outing their race.

“Well they can’t shoot what they can’t see,” she pointed out and grabbed Vincent’s hand trying to pull him toward the back room with her. She frowned and glared up at him when he refused to budge.

Vincent jerked her forward before she could back up against the steaming volcano that was standing right behind her… the little idiot.

“If they wanted, they could blow this shop to hell and back and we both know it,” He said calmly. He had made a game out of getting himself killed but she needed to start using her head before she lost it. The thought irritated him and it showed in his voice, “Stop and think before I wind up having to bury you too.”

“Damn it,” Lacey jerked her hand away from his with a frustrated sound. She was going to have to break him from throwing that up in her face every time he didn’t approve of her actions. “Why do you surround yourself with monsters when you are nothing like them?” she hissed already knowing the answer and it was a stupid reason as far as she was concerned. “They can die just as quickly as we can. You proved that when you took Masters’ head off.”

“Don’t worry about me love,” Vincent instructed knowing she would not be able to run or hide from this. “I’m here to help you and you need to pay attention. The new demon that stepped in to take Masters’ place wants to make a deal with you.”

“A deal… do they really think I’m stupid enough to make that mistake again?” Lacey made a face. “Not happening.”

“Hear me out,” Vincent said running his hand through his bangs to push them out of his eyes. “Tonight at the auction, they will offer up the claim they have on your soul and give you your freedom in exchange for the soul orb that your grandfather stole so long ago. You do have access to it… don’t you?”

Ren's frown deepened as he remembered holding the strange soul orb in his palm and seeing the swirl of the entity trapped inside. He hadn’t felt any power coming from the soul… only massive power coming from the orb itself. Whatever was inside of it was very well protected and confined for a good reason no doubt. The fact that the demons wanted it d idn’t sit well with him at all.

Lacey gazed up at Vincent with an unhappy frown as it dawned on her that he was forfeiting himself to save her ass again. “This was your idea… wasn’t it? Because you know that once a deal is struck with the demons, they will abide by it and leave me alone.”

“Don’t paint me as a hero just yet love,” Vincent said still damning himself for breaking the one rule he had about letting people get under his skin. “I only suggested it because they were torturing the hell out of me and I wanted them to bloody well stop.”

Lacey balled up her fist and hit him hard in the chest not caring if it hurt her more than it did him. Seriously… he could be such a jerk, always pretending he didn’t feel the pain of dying when she had seen the agonized look on his face too many times to believe that nonsense.

“Are you trying to make me cry?” she accused.

Vincent’s shoulders sagged realizing he probably shouldn’t have admitted that little fact. She should be angry at him for putting her in danger in the first place instead of worrying about his pain tolerance. It didn’t matter how much it hurt if the pain didn’t mean a damn thing.

He should have known better than to give into his loneliness even for a minute… dragging her into this mess like a selfish bastard just because he was bored. It was amazing that he’d protected her this long but if she would just listen to him than he could finally cut her loose from it all.

“Look, I don’t know what this soul orb is, but the fact that they want it bad enough to not only let you live but to give you a clean break to boot… well, the soul orb probably isn’t a bleedin’ nice thing,” he admitted then gave her a stubborn look. “But if it will keep you from sinking six feet under, then I say give the damn trinket to them.”

She growled at him wondering if he would ever stop using her mortality against her. At the moment, she didn’t give a damn about the legendary demon that her grandfather had said was trapped within the soul orb like a genie in a bottle. Since her grandfather had never figured out how to open it, and he had tried, then it was no more than a pretty little paperweight to her.

Swinging around to go hunt down Ren, she nearly jumped out of her skin finding him less than a foot behind her. Something about the death glare he was giving Vincent made her put a tad more distance between her and her friend. She slid out from between them and leaned back against the counter. Great, Ren looked like he wanted to kill and Vincent always claimed to have a death wish… they should get along just fine.

Lacey took a deep breath to steady her nerves and squared her shoulders. “Since you seem to have a dislike for thieves, then I assume you didn’t steal the soul orb but simply moved it to a safer place like Gypsy assured me… right?”

“Right,” Ren agreed without missing a beat. He wanted her to come to him for help because the man on the other side of her would surely be the death of her. Though, watching the way Vincent handled the little hot head had actually given him a few pointers on how to deal with her himself.

He restrained from rubbing his temple. Using Zachary's power on her had him all messed up in the head and it was confusing the hell out of him. He felt like he was the one that had known her for the last year… made love to her… protected her… died for her. At least he still had enough sense to blame all of the bad things on the other man.

“Then you shouldn’t have a problem retrieving it for me… correct?” Lacey asked testing his honesty.

Knowing it would save her life, Ren had every intention of using the soul orb for the trade. Instead of announcing that fact in front of Vincent the demon informant, he replied evasively, “I’ll have to talk to a certain God about it… but I might be able to arrange it.” He smirked inwardly when Vincent raised an eyebrow at the God remark. “But the demons have to agree to you having your own escort to the auction because you won’t be going alone.”

Lacey felt hope bloom in her chest suddenly remembering what Ren had said about sucking in the powers of everyone around him and being able to utilize it. She could only imagine how powerful he would become if he walked into a room full of demons and other paranormals. Brilliant idea… the demons wouldn’t know what hit them until it was all over and they would have no choice but to agree to add Vincent’s name to the list of the free.

Ren stared down at her when she slowly gifted him with the most amazing smile he’d ever seen. It was at that moment that he knew he was in big trouble.

Now that she had her confidence up, Lacey stepped closer to Vincent and stared up at him defiantly. “Then you tell those bastards this. I will agree to their deal on one condition. The deal has to include not only mine… but your soul and freedom as well.”

”Do you have a death wish?” Ren asked suddenly wanting to shake some sense into that pretty head of hers.

“I agree with your new friend,” Vincent said earning him a shocked look from Ren. “I wouldn’t rock that boat love… not when you’re the one sitting in it. We are going to be surrounded by demons tonight at the auction because there are many things up for grabs… not just you.”

Vincent took a deep breath before continuing, “This isn’t like the small auctions they held this past year… think on a much grander scale and then replace the balding billionaires with beautiful demons and you’re getting close to the real picture.”

“Beautiful demons,” Lacey cocked an eyebrow as Masters withered face flashed in her mind.

He shook his head at her naivety. “Nine times out of ten, the most beautiful demon in the room will be the most powerful one. It would be wise to remember that since only the most powerful are invited tonight.”

Ren didn’t bother suppressing the urge to rub his temple this time. Whoever was in charge of this ring needed their head examined. “Amateurs,” he growled keeping his voice low.

Lacey blinked, “I agree with Ren… what in the hell are they thinking?”

“That they can buy, sell, and trade like the greedy bastards they’ve always been,” Vincent shrugged actually hoping a huge fight broke out tonight and the all mighty lord of the ring lost his head. It wouldn’t bother him a bit at this point. The fact that Lacey's slot was close to the beginning of the night was helpful and that’s another reason he didn’t want her walking in there and screwing things up by not playing by the rules.

“They’re checking weapons at the door, but that really won’t help the humans that are going to be there. As you well know, most demon weapons are a part of them and can’t be checked like a gun. It’s going to be a bleedin' dangerous gathering and I wouldn’t go in there with the intention of making any demands.”

Lacey simply stared back at him with a challenging gleam in her eyes.

Vincent just shook his head and glanced out the window at the demons noticing that one of them was now watching the street while the other kept a well trained eye on him in the store. “LA is not what I remember it to be. For once… even the demons have to watch their backs.”

“If you’re new in town, then you don’t know the half of it,” Ren offered the information hoping to dissuade lover boy from sticking around after the auction.

Vincent looked at Ren wondering what was up with the dark sunglasses. “Oh, I’m not completely clueless. From what I’ve heard so far, word on the wire says that some dolt opened up hell’s gate somewhere around here and that’s why so many items are up for grabs tonight. Everyone wants power of some kind… whether it’s to defend themselves or to take over the world.”

Ren saw Vincent smirk at his own joke but he didn’t think it was very funny. “Yes, it’s a very dangerous place right now unless you just happen to be immune to dying,” he said hoping to wipe that smirk right off of Vincent’s face. “But then… that’s why you’re more comfortable around the demons… right? You fit in better with them.”

Lacey's eyes widened when Vincent shifted his narrowed gaze to her accusingly. Fine, if Ren wanted to get her in trouble for spreading rumors, then she might as well do the crime.

“I didn’t tell him anything about you. He did this freaky mind thing on me a little while ago,” she glanced up at Ren and added, “Against my will.”

Looking back at Vincent, Lacey shrugged apologetically, “It took him all of a minute to know every sordid detail of my life over the past year… your problem with not being able to stay dead and probably every conversation we’ve ever had just happened to be a part of that.”

She felt heat spread across her cheeks knowing Ren had seen so much more than mere conversations.

Seeing the sudden color in Lacey's cheeks made Vincent think a little harder on what she’d just said… it took a lot of kink to make her blush like that. When it dawned on him what had set off that blush he saw red.

“That’s a might bit heavy handed, don’t you think,” Vincent’s voice and eyes darkened considerably knowing that little trick was something only a demon could do. “Maybe I’m not the only one who belongs with the demons.”

“I’m not the one yanking little girls out of museums and introducing them to the local gang of demons. Someone has to protect her from the monsters you got her involved with,” Ren corrected taking a threatening step forward.

Lacey quickly slid back between them putting a palm on each ones chest. Little girl her ass. If Ren wasn't so freakin’ big he wouldn’t get away with saying that. “Look, if they kill me tonight at the auction, then you two can have at each other. Until then, can we please stay on topic here?”

Vincent continued glaring at the other man. He didn’t have to prove anything to Lacey. She was already aware of the fact that he didn’t mind getting killed just to get his message across to someone. The message he wanted to convey at the moment was that Lacey was too good to be shacking up with a heavy handed demon. Besides, the last thing she needed right now was to hang around someone who would have more power over her than the bloody demon mark she was trying to get rid of.

“Fine,” Vincent took a step back knowing Lacey would see him as the gentleman for doing so.

Lacey smiled thankfully at Vincent for his cooperation then looked up at Ren noticing he hadn’t taken a step back but at least he had stopped advancing. She blew her bangs out of her eyes and leaned back against the counter.

“Is there anything else you can tell me that will give me a heads up tonight?” she asked Vincent.

“I’ll tell you everything I know,” Vincent said honestly. “The actual event starts at twilight and will not end until dawn, so most of it won’t happen until you’re safely out of there. The demon population has jumped astronomically, so weapons of the paranormal origin are in high demand right now. As a matter of fact, it has already been decided that the ring is setting up shop right here in LA.”

“What, are you saying that they’ll give me my freedom only to set up shop right around the corner so they can harass me?” Lacey mocked suddenly wondering if it was even worth giving up the soul orb for fake freedom.

Vincent cocked an eyebrow, “Don’t get the big head, it’s not because of you. They plan on staying here where business is extremely lucrative right now. That’s also one of the reasons I doubt they will accept me as part of your deal. Besides, my ability is bleedin' useful to ‘em now and LA has a lot of… interesting acquisitions. So let’s just stick to the deal they have offered and cross our fingers that everything goes smoothly tonight.”

“I second that vote,” Ren said in a hard voice earning him a quick glare from Lacey.

“No one asked you,” she said sullenly, not looking at either of them.

“You don’t have to,” Ren stated wanting her to understand and stop fighting him. “I promised to help you get out of this mess and like it or not, that puts me in charge.”

“I’d accept all the help I could get right now,” Vincent said softly when Lacey started to argue with Ren's statement. “Anyway, times up. I’ve got to report back to them. What do you want me to tell them?”

“She’ll be there,” Ren responded, “and she will be accompanied by several powerful escorts to avoid any… unfortunate incidents.”

Lacey looked up at Ren with wide eyes, mouthing the word ‘several’ at him.

Ren nodded once to assure her that there wasn’t a mistake in what he’d said. “Just in case you haven’t caught on yet… we are at war and it looks like tonight we might actually get a good look at the enemy.”

Vincent decided to give Lacey another reason to take Ren up on the offered protection. “Everyone coming tonight will without a doubt be bringing a small army for protection considering the fact that most of them are enemies with each other. As an extra precaution, the demons who have to walk through the front door must make a carefully worded ‘demon stamped’ deal not to cause any harm while inside the building before they are even allowed to enter.”

Ren inwardly smirked knowing PIT would not be walking in through the front door. He removed his sunglasses giving Vincent a hard stare and a warning. “Inform them that if any of the demons renege on their end of the deal… I can promise that it will be the last mistake they ever make.”

Vincent stared evenly back into Ren’s mercury colored eyes and felt a small satisfied smile spread across his lips. Leaning a little closer he whispered, “I wonder what it would be like to be killed by you.”

Ren scowled at the demented man but could also see the look on Lacey's face. It wasn't anger nor was it fear… she felt pity for this disturbed man and that was far worse.

Vincent wasn’t sure what flavor of demon Lacey's self-appointed protector was, but silver eyes belonged to the Fallen when they used their powers… and that could only be a good thing. Plus, Ren’s intimidation factor made Vincent curious. If this man was half as powerful as he was trying to make him believe, then Lacey was lucky to have him watching out for her.

He started to turn to leave but paused remembering something else he’d meant to warn her about. “I won’t be able to help you much tonight since the bastards are now watching every move I make, so be careful. The boss we have now happens to make Masters look like a sweetheart.”

Lacey frowned, suddenly having a flashback of the shadowy figure reaching for her like a phantom. “I wonder if that was Masters’ replacement that came at me through the bathroom mirror a little while ago.”

“What?” Vincent demanded, his soft expression melting into irritation. “They said they would leave you alone until the auction. Damn it, I knew I should have actually made that a part of the deal.”

Ren grabbed Lacey's upper arm to regain her attention. “That was nothing more than an illusion to let you know that the son of a bitch knows where you are,” he informed her now that he’d seen exactly what had come at her from the mirror for himself.

When she pulled away from him, Ren quickly returned his frustrated gaze to Vincent, narrowing his eyes on the man’s concept of self-preservation. He growled to himself knowing damn well that there was more than one person here that needed saving.

“You’re just going to dig yourself a deeper hole if you keep making deals with these demons,” he warned the psycho in an even tone.

“Don’t go adding me to your list of humans that need to be saved hero. I mean what are they really going to do to me… kill me again?” Vincent laughed dryly as if he couldn’t care less. “Besides, the deal I made this morning was meant to save her life.”

“You’re an idiot,” Lacey fumed and crossed her arms over her chest.

She hated the way Vincent acted like him dying was no big deal because he always revived. She’d seen him die a couple times now and knew for a fact that he felt the pain of every wound like any other normal human would. She tried to make eye contact with him but Vincent turned away from her prying gaze and headed for the door.

An elderly woman approached the entrance of the shop and Ren watched as Vincent smiled politely at her then stood aside to let her in first before stepping out and closing the door behind him.

“Are you sure that you want to trust that guy?” Ren asked taking in the way Vincent showed such good manners to the elderly then converse with the two demons outside without missing a beat. It either proved that the man had been around the block long enough to be able to separate the darkness from the light no matter the situation… or it proved he really was psycho.

“Of course I trust him,” Lacey answered without hesitation. “And I was serious about making him a part of the demon’s deal. Vincent doesn’t need to be mixed up with that ring any more than I do.”

“I agree,” A voice said from the doorway of the back room.