Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Gypsy looked in the mirror and undid the messy bun she had half her hair up in. Fluffing it out, she was satisfied when the long dark curls fell around her in disarray. It reminded her of the movies she’d seen with Gypsies in them… their hair all long curls, and beautiful.

She’d even taken to dressing in the traditional Gypsy clothing when she’d started helping her grandpa out. At first it had been a game of dress up to her, almost cliché, but now it just felt wrong to wear anything else. She’d quickly decided it was just as strange as what a lot of the LA girls were wearing so why fight it.

Taking another look in the mirror, Gypsy contemplated freshening up the little bit of makeup she had on but finally decided against it. Nick probably wouldn’t notice anyway and she wasn’t the type to overdo the make-up thing. Natural was more her style.

She walked to the front door so she could unlock it for Nick but stilled when she saw the shop reflected back at her in the window. Looking over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t just seeing things, Gypsy felt a bone deep chill run down her spine.

Long ago, when she was still a little girl, her grandfather had set a single candle on the countertop of the shop and lit the wick. He told her to never blow it out… just to let it burn. Much to her surprise, the candle never waned and the flame never went out… even on windy days when the strong breeze came in when the door opened.

It was a warning candle, a bit of magic her grandfather explained that would let her know when true danger approached. In all the years she’d lived with her grandfather and worked in the shop, it never once changed color... until now. The flame of the warning candle had been calm and burning a comfortable shade of yellowish white.

However, the reflection in the window and Gypsy’s own eyes confirmed it was now burning blood red… not a good color.

Backing away from the door, Gypsy knelt down to grab the bag of sea salt she had hidden beneath one of the shelves next to the counter. She quickly poured a new line in front of the entrance, connecting it with the line that ran across the edges of the walls.

That was another obsession of her grandfather’s… sea salt. He once told her that if she ever thought she was in any kind of danger to close the circle at the door. It was a basic rule of Witchcraft 101, salt barriers and closing a circle with it was a strong deterrent. Gypsy never thought she’d be freaked out enough to use it… but then again, she never thought she’d see the warning candle turn red either.

Since taking over ownership of the Witches Brew last month, she’d grown used to all kinds of odd customers coming in. But within the last week she’d seen some strange people hanging around acting weird. They’d stand in the doorway or outside on the sidewalk facing the huge store windows. They never entered… just stared. She’d even seen the way their eyes moved as they counted the wards along the walls before moving on down the well-traveled city block.

Gypsy didn’t want to know why they were checking out the wards on the outside shop wall. Some of them had even gone as far as to press their faces against the glass and inspect the wards hanging from the ceiling on the inside. In her opinion… that was just creepy.

Her grandfather had assured her that demons were so few and far between that she would probably never even see one, but now she wasn’t so sure about that theory. Either she was just being overly paranoid… or this store was being stalked by demons or vampires. In the long run it didn’t matter which. As long as everything worked the way her grandfather said it would, she shouldn’t have too much to worry about.

Staying on her knees, she sat still for a few minutes as goose bumps rose along her arms. Looking over her shoulder at the warning candle, Gypsy frowned seeing it was still crimson. She’d hoped after connecting the salt barrier the warning candle would have returned to normal… letting her know she’d done the right thing. But nothing was happening, if anything the flame was burning redder.

Despite the underlying feeling of dread rising up in her stomach, she leaned forward and put her palms on the floor inside the salt barrier. Lowering the upper half of her body, she tilted her head so she could watch the thin stream of light shining under the door from the lamppost outside.

She ducked lower when a shadow blocked out part of the light that was seeping in the crack and flicked her gaze to the windows to make sure no one could see her crouched there.

Seeing what looked like rain drops hitting the window, Gypsy frowned noticing their color mimicked that of her candle… blood red. A gust of wind blew several more of the crimson droplets against the window making her hunker down even further. Then silence as the rain suddenly stopped… like someone had turned off a faucet.

The silence seemed to stretch into eternity and Gypsy was so engrossed with what was happening that she didn’t notice she was shaking. Very slowly she began to back away from the door on her hands and knees… afraid to make a sound.

Samuel stood outside the door of the quaint little shop and smirked when he felt the presence of a single human on the other side. He glanced up at the wards on the walls and around the door with a bit of respect.

The wards were nowhere near strong enough to keep him out, but the fact that this human had the foresight to attempt some kind of protection spoke volumes. He felt her fear spike, could almost smell it in the air and decided to give the little witch something to truly fear.

Lifting his hand in an almost dismissive wave, he watched gleefully as the wards caught fire and began to burn.

Gypsy’s eyes widened when she heard a ‘whoosh’ sound followed by the crackling of fire. Looking up toward the shop windows, she saw the wards her grandfather had spent so much time hanging outside begin to burn away and disintegrate one by one. She quickly scrambled further back into the recesses of the shop when a strong breeze blew in under the door and the line of salt started moving toward her.

The hissing sound of paper burning made her jerk her gaze up and she gasped when the wards inside the store began to turn to ash and fall on the floor. Whatever was on the other side of that door was walking through what little protection she had with no trouble at all.

Rising to her feet, she kept retreating as the salt spread across the room like it was being blown by a snow blower. Panic gripped her and she decided to make a run for the bomb shelter. She’d taken no more than a few steps when one of the heavier bookcases skidded across the floor and blocked her path.

The double doors of the shop suddenly flew open, making her swing around and watch as not one, but three men entered her shop.

The first one that entered was tall and pale in a black button up shirt and dark jeans. His eyes were dark compared to his fair complexion. He seemed unhurried as he walked toward the warning candle and pinched the flame between his fingers.

The candle killer must have been the leader because the next one had a skateboard tucked under his arm and was dressed like her eighth grade boyfriend. She dismissed him on that fact alone… he had been and still was a loser.

Gypsy wrinkled her nose at the third one who looked like he’d been sleeping in a cardboard box… stained clothes, scraggly beard, and all. Those two may not have been in charge, but that didn’t mean they were here to buy a Halloween costume.

She had to force herself not to give into the instinct to run like hell and hide when the scent of sulfur quickly overrode the sage incense she had burned in the store earlier. Her mind started reaching for all of the knowledge she’d learned from the supernatural books she’d read over the years but fear had a way of making one’s mind go blank.

The three men merely glanced in her direction before dismissing her completely. The beautiful one remained near the candle, but the other two spread out across the shop. Skater dude moved over to the shelves that held the crystal balls and made a show of picking one up and looking at it before tossing it over his shoulder. Gypsy couldn’t help but flinch when it shattered on the floor.

More crystal balls followed it along with a few of the pedestals they’d sat on. The homeless guy was going through the large baskets of bundled herbs and candles, throwing them carelessly everywhere.

Gypsy frowned… he reminded her of a dog digging for a bone.

Her gaze followed their movements, immediately noticing how they seemed to avoid the area protected by her grandfather’s barrier and was thankful for that. Problem was… everything else in the store was just for the hobbyist that frequented the shop for fun. The candle killer seemed to notice that fact a little too quickly when his thugs found the case holding the double bladed athame daggers.

They broke open the case and began blindly searching each piece… like they were looking for something specific. When they stopped and turned toward the tall, beautiful one empty handed, he in turn looked at her with angry red eyes. He took a few steps closer but remained outside of the barrier and the other two men followed behind him like flunkies.

Gypsy pressed herself against the shelf behind her when she saw black veins appear under their skin, running up their necks. The veins sprouted out like the roots of a plant up their cheeks, finally reaching their eyes. She almost whimpered when their eyes turned solid black. What made her stomach flip was that the veins continued to pulse in time with their heartbeat.

She swallowed nervously, having never seen anything like this before today and tried to remember everything her grandfather had taught her. Just basing their physical attributes on what she’d been told and read, these men were demons. Not the Hollywood demons you see on television, but the real, in your face deal… the kind of demons that every child was afraid to find in their closet or under their beds late at night.

Right now, she was praying that the barrier did what it was supposed to and keep them from reaching her.

Sweeping her eyes around the room, she felt her body go completely cold when she realized exactly which shelf she was pressing against. She wasn’t anywhere near the center of the circle… probably less than a foot from its edge. Unfortunately, she was too afraid to move toward the strongest measure of protection.

When her gaze finally met that of the demon leader, she reached up to touch the teardrop crystal that hung around her neck. It had been a gift from her grandfather the day she’d started working for him. He’d made a very big deal about it saying that she never, under any circumstances, take it off… and she hadn't.

According to him, the crystal was meant to keep her safe from falling under anyone’s compulsion spell while she was at the auctions or museum.

Though she’d never actually seen a demon before, her grandfather was convinced that many of the few left were present when those auctions took place. It also made her wonder if any of the people at the will reading were demons… some of them had been very adamant about buying the sword from her.

Bless his heart… Grandpa had been worried she’d end up enthralled and bid too high. Now Gypsy gripped the crystal tightly in her fist and hoped he wasn’t really crazy and that the necklace was more than a pretty trinket. But after seeing what she’d seen in the last few minutes, she was beginning to take better stock in what he’d been telling her all these years.

Samuel had followed the Blood Rain to this little shop tucked snuggly between two larger buildings. It was old… well established before the rest of this stone nightmare around it had been built up. The little witch now knew for sure what he was… he’d seen the light of recognition in her eyes. It made him wonder what she was attempting to protect with so many wards and the salt barrier surrounding the interior of the shop.

Was it the Fallen Blade she was protecting? Her reaction when he’d slammed the door open was enough to make his senses tingle… he did so love the smell and taste of fear. When he saw the warning candle burning red, he was once more impressed with the woman’s ingenuity. Warning candles were a bit of the old magic that he hadn’t seen for thousands of years.

However, the witch was obviously unaware of their full potential or he would have had just the tiniest bit of difficulty entering the quaint little shop. He couldn’t resist putting out the candle just to gauge her reaction. It was when the sheep that had decided to follow him began sifting through the toys on the shelves that she’d shown her first physical reaction… oh yes, she was frightened.

He had no intentions of hurting her… if she cooperated and gave him what he wanted. He’d seen the barrier she was standing inside of as soon as he entered and knew exactly how strong it was. It was a simple method of protection that would have ordinarily worked with lesser beings, but against someone like him, an ancient… it was useless.

Her stubbornness to stay behind her barrier would do nothing to stop them… he would get what he came for.

As for the two demons with him, they had shown up late to the party at the prison and they’d latched onto him because of his strength. He called them sheep as they were nothing without a leader. But what they didn’t know was he had every intention of disposing of them at the first opportunity. They foolishly believed he would share his power with them… a lesson they would learn the hard way. He shared power with no one beneath his notice.

Samuel saw movement out of the corner of his eyes and turned his head to look at the woman gripping a necklace around her neck.

He stepped closer to the lovely witch, gifting her with an alluring smile… it was time to make his intentions known. The tips of his shoes were about a foot from the edge of her barrier, consciously giving her a false sense of security. He would step no further so long as she did what he asked. If she didn’t, he would have a new toy to play with… either way he would win.

“You must think me an absolute oaf. Please, let me introduce myself,” Samuel began with a slight bow of his head. “My name is Samuel and I do apologize for the barbaric behavior of my associates.” His voice hardened as he locked eyes with her, “However, you are in possession of something of great importance to me… I am here for the Fallen Blade.”

Gypsy felt her heart stop beating then painfully stammer into a fast rhythm as his pupils enlarged. There was so much darkness in his gaze that she feared she would get lost in them if she wasn’t careful.

Her first thought was that maybe he was a vampire instead of a demon… not that a vampire would be any better. He didn’t have the same black markings as the other two and they were unquestionably demons. Plus, she somehow felt something pressing against her mind and the necklace around her neck began to burn slightly.

Movement near the door of the shop was seen out of the corner of her eyes but Gypsy didn’t dare look away from the dangerous enigma in front of her. The whole situation was like something out of a nightmare… she only hoped she woke up from it.

Samuel heard the noise outside and turned his head briefly to the side, “Are you expecting company?”

Gypsy inhaled deeply and nearly panicked when Samuel tilted his head. He knew there was a customer outside waiting to come in and she couldn’t allow someone else to unknowingly walk through that door.

“The store is closed,” she said loudly, inwardly hoping beyond hope that whoever it was would hear her and keep moving.

“Very good,” Samuel praised her. “It would be a shame if someone had to die due to your lack of cooperation. Now, back to my original request… where is the Fallen Blade?”

Gypsy was confused. She knew of Gabriel’s Blade but had never heard of a Fallen Blade… didn’t have the first clue on what to tell him.

She had a sinking feeling that he was referring to Gabriel’s Blade but didn’t feel the need to tell him anything regardless of whether she knew what he was talking about or not. She didn’t have any illusions about how this would turn out and tried to push the fear to the back of her mind… it wouldn’t help her to fall apart anyway.

“I haven’t a clue what you are talking about,” Gypsy said truthfully because she wasn’t for sure if he really wanted Gabriel’s blade. She released the death grip she had on her crystal necklace, now convinced it was working.

Samuel inhaled slowly… savoring the scent the nearness of the blade was exhuming. It was so close he could taste the power on his tongue and he craved more.

“It is here… I can smell its power.” He whispered and narrowed his dark gaze on the girl. He almost smirked at her and the confidence she held in her little barrier, convinced she was safe from his grasp behind it. ‘Cocky little thing,’ He thought to himself.

“You would be wise not to provoke me,” Samuel said out loud. “I have a very nasty habit of making things very… painful for those that choose to annoy me.”

Gypsy heard the threat loud and clear, his voice carried it with authority. However, the fact that he had yet to step across the barrier gave her a surge of courage… or was it adrenaline, she didn’t know.

She tilted her chin up defiantly, “I’ve never heard of a Fallen Blade, but if there is such a thing then you might want to try the shop down the street… way down. It’s called the Seven Gates of Hell. Just ask for a dude named Lucifer. He was a fallen angel after all… right?”

Samuel growled and took another step toward her, this one decidedly more threatening, only to stop an inch from the invisible barrier. “Do not toy with me human,” he rumbled. “Tell me where you have hidden the Fallen Blade and I may find it in the deepest pit of my soul to be generous by allowing you to live.”

“That doesn’t sound like much of a choice now does it?” Gypsy asked while still trying to tie down her fear. “Even if I did have something called the Fallen Blade, I don’t think I’d give it to someone like you.”

Samuel gave her an alarmingly charming smile, “Is that so?”

Gypsy suddenly found it very difficult to breathe as something pressed in on her.

***** Ren frowned. He’d been from one end of the city to the other and realized he was bored out of his wits. All the kills he’d found so far had been way too easy… he was in the mood for something with a little more oomph. He needed a challenge, something stronger than what he’d encountered so far tonight because the demons that were out tonight just weren’t doing it for him.

He’d just about given up and was thinking about returning to headquarters when he felt it. There was a strong energy coming from somewhere in the shopping district and he was determined to find out what was causing it. Homing in on the powerful flavor, he tracked it to a little novelty shop on the main strip.

As he approached it he saw the remnants of wards around the door and on the outside of the building. He cocked his head to the side when he saw that they’d been partly burned away and wondered why a demon so powerful would need to burn the wards before entering. A smirk found its way onto his face… this should prove interesting.

A feminine voice from inside the shop called out telling him it was closed. Well this just made Ren want to open the door and see what was going on.

Opening the door on silent hinges, he glanced around before stepping over the threshold. He was just in time to hear the only human in the room, a woman, telling the demon that she didn’t have a Fallen Blade. He couldn’t hold in the smirk at the witty comeback she had for it.

He blinked when he got a good look at the girl and took a deep breath. She was absolutely lovely and seemed to rival all the luscious gypsies he’d seen in old movies. Her long dark hair hung in spirals around her perfect face and the clothing she had on would have usually been described as a costume, but on her… it was perfect, right down to the jeweled sandals she wore.

The shop must have been trashed by the other two demons that were just standing next to Mr. Big Bad. Ren could tell the more powerful one would see creating such chaos as beneath him… and it was. Demons were usually just a bunch of mindless creatures with no true sense of self and would pack together around a stronger, smarter master.

He saw the demon begin to close in on the girl and decided it was time to introduce himself.

“Wouldn’t a Demon Blade suit you better?” Ren asked mockingly, gaining the attention of all three demons. “What would a demon need with a Fallen Blade anyway?”

Samuel whipped his head around to look at the wanna-be rock star standing nonchalantly in the doorway. He narrowed his eyes at the newcomer. He sensed power from this one but couldn’t quite figure out what it was. It was something he hadn’t felt in a long time… the man’s power seemed to move and change like the skin of a chameleon. If he looked hard enough he could actually see it moving beneath the surface of the human’s aura.

Gypsy stared at the man that just walked in and had to blink. He had to be insane talking to a demon like that, but then again… he didn’t have a clue. Looking at it from his perspective, he probably thought he’d walked in on some kind of shakedown. She needed to do something to get rid of these guys and fast. The good looking rocker was going to get hurt if she didn’t.

For the moment the demon’s eyes were not on her and her gaze darted back and forth trying to think of something… anything. At that moment, her eyes fell on the ‘Fire Alarm’ button on the far wall. Reaching blindly toward the bookshelf behind her, she grabbed one of the healing crystals and threw it hard and fast.

She almost cheered when the crystal hit the button right in the center turning on a flashing red light. It created a near strobe light effect and she almost winced, part of her expecting the loud blaring sound that came with hitting the button. Luckily, she’d disabled the sound system from it after her grandfather’s death. She smirked, hearing a different sound.

The sound of stones hitting the tile floor filled the shop and the three demons tilted their heads up toward the ceiling. Gypsy followed their gazes and looked up at the sprinkler system nozzles above them. Suddenly, white rock salt began to pour out from the system and rained down on all of them.

The two demons that had trashed her shop began screaming. Gypsy had to cover her ears to drown out the horrible sound and she stared in amazement as the octaves they reached caused everything made of glass that hadn’t been shattered already to explode. Gypsy covered her face with her arms to protect herself from the few slivers that flew at her.

Ren arched an eyebrow at the defensive measures the gypsy girl had taken and was impressed. He ordinarily would have thought it funny when the rock salt started raining instead of water, but his humor left him when he got a good look at the demon leader’s face. He felt a freezing cold settle in the pit of his stomach followed by a white hot anger.

He’d seen that face many times in Guy’s darkest thoughts and fisted his gloved hands. This was the same demon that had killed Carley. Many PIT members had said that she’d been a gentle woman in life and her afterlife was no different. She was now one of the few he could be around and not have his power go haywire. The muscles in his jaws flexed as he stared at her murderer.

“So, killed any little girls lately… or is that what I just interrupted?” Ice could have hung from Ren’s words and they wouldn’t have been colder.

Gypsy finally lowered her arms a bit and blinked still wondering what this lunatic thought he was doing picking a fight with demons. Couldn’t he see the two writhing in agony from their rock salt shower? Their skin had started blistering for heaven’s sake.

She swallowed seeing the huge yellow fleshy balloons that had appeared on their skin and noted the way their eyes had already been burned out by it. Their human disguises were beginning to fade… revealing the horror beneath.

“Little girls,” Samuel pretended to think about it while dusting the rock salt from his body. “I’m not really sure… there have been so many since I escaped the rift. My first day I probably killed a number of them… two young ladies that sold their wares… another trying to get her daughter inside after playing outside too long. Oh yes,” Samuel’s expression darkened into a sinister smirk, “We mustn’t forget the lovely young woman in the wheelchair.”

The newcomer’s expression darkened to the point that Gypsy was sure she’d have some freaky dreams about it later and the thought made her shiver. She couldn’t exactly explain it… but something about the rocker told her that you did not want to piss him off on a good day. She inhaled sharply when she blinked and he was suddenly standing in front of the two flunkies who were still doing a pretty good rendition from an exorcist movie brought on by the rock salt shower.

Gypsy covered her mouth in an attempt to keep silent when rocker dude shoved his hands in their chests, ripping out their hearts. The sound it made caused her to nearly become sick to her stomach. She fought the darkness closing in on her consciousness when the two demons dropped to the floor like wet sacks.

She tried not to look but some sense of morbid fascination took over and she couldn’t turn her eyes away. The worst part was some of the blisters had begun to burst just before their death.

Ren tossed the hearts on the floor and shook his hands to rid himself of the black blood. He kneeled down and wiped off the rest of the blood on their clothes before standing up and readjusting his jacket.

“Now then,” Ren said conversationally and turned his head toward the demon, “about this blade.”

Samuel gave a slight bow indicating his acknowledgment of the other man’s power. This one would definitely prove quite entertaining. A slow wicked smile spread over his lips as he brought his hand up to his chest. The air in front of it shimmered and he grasped it… pulling a long curving blade from out of nowhere.

“I am an ancient and do possess a Demon Blade and as you said… it suits me very well. I merely want the Fallen Blade so I will have a matched set.”

Ren’s gaze narrowed on the dangerous looking blade and saw the dark power surrounding it. He’d only heard of the Fallen Blade through myths and legends. It was written in one of the many books Storm had in the library in his island home… a bedtime story as far as Ren was concerned.

He’d been joking when he mentioned the Demon Blade… but then again, he hadn't expected the demon to pull one out of his ass like that either.

Gypsy felt her heart beating almost painfully when she saw Samuel pull a wicked looking sword out of thin air. Her head started pulsing with an oncoming migraine and she couldn’t stop shivering. She knew she had to do something to help Mr. Rocker but her brain refused to pull itself together.

Looking around her, she almost laughed when she saw the shop keys lying on the floor just a couple feet away from her. What good would keys do her now… all they did was open the vault and drawers?

‘That’s it!’ she screamed mentally and made a grab for the keys. Finding the one she needed, she turned to the steel cabinets behind her and shoved the key in the lock. Much to her chagrin, she was shivering so bad the keys were rattling.

Ren spared the girl a quick glance from behind the darkness of his shades when he saw her move… actually she dove for something on the floor. She was now trying to open one of the steel cabinets behind her but the rattling keys was distracting. If she kept it up, she was going to regain the demon’s attention and that didn’t sound like a good idea.

Ren started edging around the room, making sure to keep the demon’s full attention on him and away from the gypsy. The best bet he had now was to get the demon out of the building and into a deserted alley somewhere. He heard a quiet click and glanced at the woman again.

A smile barely kept itself from forming on his face when he saw that the woman had brought out a high powered rifle and was now aiming it at the demon’s back. She had guts… he’d give her that.

Gypsy had tried to be as quiet as possible, but she was shaking so bad she couldn’t get her fingers to work properly. After jiggling the keys around, she finally got the cabinet open and quickly reached in, feeling around for her grandfather’s rifle.

She’d never had a reason to use it and had decided to put it away. While her grandfather was alive, he’d always kept it handy… hooked to a bracket under the counter and out of sight. Ironically, she was glad she didn’t follow in his footsteps because if she had, it would have definitely been out of reach.

Finally pulling it from the cabinet, she silently cocked the weapon and took aim at Samuel’s broad back. If she was lucky and if her grandfather hadn’t been spouting a bunch of nonsense, the bullets inside would work on the paranormal as effectively as they would on humans. As for what brand of the paranormal… she’d just cross her fingers and hope her luck held out.

She didn’t check to make sure the rifle was loaded. Honestly, the thought never even crossed her mind. All she wanted was to get the demon out of her shop. Clicking off the safety, she braced herself and fired. She lost her breath when the weapon recoiled into her right shoulder. That was going to leave a mark.