Hell to Pay (The Harry Russo Diaries Book 4) Read online

  “D-Darryl,” Susan said, her hands clutched at her chest. “Darryl Leroy Sutcliffe.”

  “Leroy? Seriously?” Tess looked up from her tablet. “Sounds like a real hick. No wonder he was such a loser.”

  I shot Tess a grin and turned back to the centre of the room. “Darryl Sutcliffe! Come on, Darryl. We’re waiting for you.”

  A few minutes passed, and nothing happened. Susan was a nervous wreck. The waiting was getting to her. I led her over to the table and sat her down in front of a stack of paper Dixie cups. “Here, why don’t you stack those up like I told you? It’ll give you something to do.” I watched as she began to build a pyramid of cups and then nodded encouragingly at her before moving back to the centre of the room. “Darryl Leroy Sutcliffe!”

  “Oh Darrrrryl,” Tess chimed in a singsong voice. “Darryl, you big piece of shit, come out, or are you too big of a coward to face us?”

  A whiff of cold air rushed past, lowering the temperature enough to raise goose bumps on my arms. Tess gasped and held up her tablet, scanning in front of her. Suddenly, one of the books we had left on the edge of the table slammed to the floor, causing us all to jump.

  “D-Darryl? Is that you?” Susan looked around anxiously.

  “I don’t see anything,” Tess complained, frowning at her tablet. She held it up, checking the area around Susan.

  “That’s because he’s not all here yet. He can’t manifest. He’s too weak.”

  SLAM! Another book hit the floor. There were several books left, scattered over the table. Poltergeists love to smash things, so we had made sure to leave a few items for Darryl to play with.

  Plunk! Plunk! Plunk! The Dixie cup tower Susan had been building toppled to the table, cups rolling across its surface and falling to the floor. Susan let out a scared little shriek.

  “Is that all you’ve got, Darryl?” I put as much contempt as I could in my voice. “What a big man you are, having a tantrum, knocking things down like a toddler.”

  “Yeah, he’s not a real man,” Tess replied. “I bet he didn’t have any staying power in bed either.” She laughed and held up her index finger, letting it curve slightly.

  An empty chair beside the table toppled over just as Tess started in surprise. She pointed to the screen of her tablet. “Holy shit, Harry. Look!” An amorphous blob of yellow and red appeared on the screen. The edges of the object seemed to flow and change, the colours shifting and darkening from yellow to red at the centre.

  I didn’t need the tablet to see the six foot, two hundred and eighty pounds of angry man.

  “You fucking little bitch! Who the hell do you think you are? I’ll fucking show you who’s got staying power.” Darryl swept out with his beefy arm, his less-than-corporeal hand passing through Tess.

  Tess sucked in a breath and jumped back as the screen of her tablet turned red. “Whoa! What the fuck?”

  “He’s here and he’s pissed.”

  “Darryl?” Susan looked around, fear etched on her face.

  “It’s okay, Susan. He can’t hurt you.”

  “Like hell I can’t! I’m going to fuck her up like she fucked with me. The worthless whore.” The remaining cups on the table rattled, and several rolled off the edge.

  “It’s time, Tess,” I said quietly. Tess nodded and casually walked over to the nearest doorway. Using the box of salt, she quickly finished the circle, moving from one door to the next, connecting the continuous line until the room was completely enclosed. I turned to Susan. “Talk to him, Susan. Tell him how you feel.”

  “I don’t fucking care how she feels. She’s nothing but a worthless slut.”

  “Talk to him, Susan,” I coaxed again, ignoring Darryl’s outburst.

  “D-Darryl? Darryl, you have to leave me alone.” Susan slowly rose from her chair, her hands clenched in fists at her sides. “You…you’re nothing but a bully. You were a bully in life and now you think you can bully me in death and…and I won’t have it.”

  “Whoa, good for you, Susan. You tell him.” Tess smiled encouragingly at her.

  While Tess and Susan continued to distract Darryl, I circled the room, chanting under my breath, setting the protective circle. When I reached the final doorway, I beckoned to Susan, taking her by the hand. “It’s time for you to leave,” I said, indicating she should step carefully over the salt. Once she was out of the room and into the living room, I finished my chant, sealing up the circle. Darryl was trapped.

  “You should probably go outside now, Susan. Isaac is there. He’ll keep you safe.”

  Susan stood for a moment, looking through the door at me. She bit her lip, obviously struggling with her fears.

  “Go on. You can trust me. You can trust Isaac. Not every man is an asshole like Darryl.”

  “You fucking bitch! You stay right there! Don’t you leave!” Darryl rushed towards the door, intending to follow Susan, but when he reached the doorway, he was repelled back towards the centre of the room.

  “Cool!” Tess said, sounding slightly awed. She had her tablet open again, pointed at the doorway. “He bounced off it like a ping-pong ball.”

  Darryl roared in frustration, throwing himself at the barrier again and again. Each time, he was pushed back, unable to leave the protective circle.

  “What have you done to me, you bitch?” He came to stand in front of me, fists clenched.

  “That’s witch to you, asshole. And now it’s time for you to leave. You’re not wanted here. Your time on this plane is over. You must cross to the other side.”

  Of course he didn’t listen to me and wasn’t going to make things easy. I listened to him bellow and spew his hatred for a few more minutes, sorely tempted to pull out my Taser and give him a few thousand volts, but that would only mean we had to start all over, so I managed to contain the urge.

  Finally, I’d had enough. It was clear Darryl wasn’t going to leave voluntarily, which would have been easier and less costly for me, energy-wise. I’d have to make him. Quietly I started to chant my banishing spell. It wasn’t really a spell. Like a lot of the incantations I use, it was more of a means to focus my will. The words weren’t important, only the intent mattered. Just as well, since I banished my first ghost at the age of five at a time when I was on a bit of Dr. Seuss jag, the spell itself was kind of embarrassing.

  “You’re not wanted here or there,

  You’re not wanted anywhere,

  On this plane you cannot stay,

  You should really fly away.

  I do not want you in my house,

  I do not want you in my car,

  I do not want you in my space,

  You really need to leave this place!”

  It wasn’t until the third time through that I felt my power kick in. Up until then, Darryl had continued to rant and roar, sending the occasional Dixie cup flying across the room. As my will rippled over him, however, he became more desperate, which seemed to focus his efforts, and in a burst of power, the cups and the books that had been lying on the floor suddenly rose in the air and began to swirl around us.

  “What the fuck, Harry?” Tess threw her arms up as a cup came close to whacking her in the head.

  “Tess!” I pulled her in close beside me as I tried to extend my shields to deflect the flying objects. “He’s going out with a bang,” I yelled at her, forgetting that she wouldn’t be able to hear most of the ruckus he was making. I gave her an apologetic shrug and turned my attention back to Darryl.

  “You can’t stay here, Darryl. It’s time to leave!”

  I began my chant again, focussing my will. Darryl’s spectral form had disappeared when he directed his energy at the vortex of flying objects. He wasn’t strong enough to do both. The books and cups swirled around us like a mini tornado, spinning faster and faster. The sound was almost deafening as Darryl’s shouts became more like the wail of a banshee.

  Finally, with a last push of my magic, I felt the shift in the power balance and I knew it was time. Darryl’s exit had a
rrived. There was no bright light or doorway, at least not that I could see, just a sense of a rift opening in the fabric of our plane of existence. Frankly, I don’t understand the mechanics of it, and I’ve never had the urge to explore what might be on the other side so that’s the best I can do to describe it.

  The whirling tornado stopped, the books and cups coming to a halt, hovering momentarily before crashing to the floor. Tess yelped in surprise. Darryl flicked in and out of view like the picture on an old TV set, his spectral state much more translucent and fuzzy than it had been before.

  “What’s happening?” he said, his voice trembling. “What is that?”

  “You need to leave now, Darryl,” I replied quietly. “You don’t belong here.”

  “I-I…yes, I need to go.” He began to fade and I relaxed as I felt his power slowly dissipate.

  Suddenly a chill came over the room and I was overwhelmed by a sense of what I can only describe as evil. There was a pull on my aura, like something was sampling my power, and I staggered, almost falling to my knees as I struggled to clamp down my shields.

  Tess grabbed my arm. “What the fuck’s happening, Harry?”

  “No!” Darryl shouted. “Who are you? Wait! Stop!”

  “Darryl? Darryl, what’s happening?” I stared at the ghost in confusion.

  Darryl’s spectral form fizzled and popped as he winked out of sight, but not before I saw his look of pure terror. There was a rush of air and then everything went still.

  “What the fuck, Harry?” Tess peered around cautiously. “Is he gone?”

  “He’s gone,” I said, stumbling over to a chair. I was drained. Never in all the dozens of banishments I’d performed had I ever felt like I did now. Something really weird had happened. Or at least something weirder than usual had happened.

  “Harry!” Isaac’s worried voice echoed through the house.

  “We’re in here, Isaac. We’re fine,” I called back, rising to my feet.

  Isaac came to the doorway and stopped, his brow wrinkled in concern. “I felt…” He paused as if trying to find the right words to describe it. “There was a presence.”

  “You sensed something?” I gaped at him in surprise. With a wave of my hand, I mumbled the words to release the protection of the circle, and Isaac crossed the threshold, Susan close on his heels.

  “Is he gone?” Susan looked around suspiciously.

  “Yes, he’s gone. Darryl won’t bother you anymore.”

  With a cry of relief, Susan’s knees buckled, and Isaac grabbed her elbow to keep her from falling. He carefully eased her over to a chair. “Have a seat, Ms. Cooper. You have endured much.”

  Susan gazed up in surprise at Isaac with a tentative smile. “T-thank you, Mr.…uh…”

  “Isaac. My name is simply Isaac.”

  “Yeah, he’s like Cher that way.” Tess grinned.

  “Yes, well…thank you, Isaac.” Susan bent and absently picked a book up off the floor. Flattening her hand across the cover, she set it gently on the table in front of her. “I can’t believe it’s finally over. It is over, isn’t it, Harry?”

  “Trust me. He’s never coming back.” I shared a look with Isaac and Tess. We needed to figure out what exactly happened, but now wasn’t the time nor place.

  Isaac glanced at his watch. “Harry, we really must be going, or we will be late.”

  I rolled my eyes, but gathered my things. Despite how the evening had gone so far, I couldn’t help feeling like I was moving from the frying pan and into the fire.

  Chapter Two

  “Ugh, it burns.” I grimaced and made a disgusted face.

  “We simply must work on refining your palate, my dear Harry.” Salvador raised an eyebrow patiently. I found it disconcerting that he seemed to be taking on more and more characteristics of a long-suffering parent the more time we spent together.

  We were sitting in the spacious, open lounge area of Salvador’s private penthouse. Despite Isaac’s worries, we had arrived in plenty of time. Enough time, in fact, for me to give Tess a tour of my closet here in the penthouse.

  A month ago, when the whole Mariposa deal started, I had learned that Salvador was keeping a suite reserved for me in his penthouse. Like the rest of the place, it was over-the-top luxurious, right down to its massive dressing room—the place was too big and too decked out to be called a closet. Of course, since Salvador seemed to have a penchant for treating me (and subsequently Nash) as his own personal dress-up dolls, the closet was loaded with high-end designer-label clothes. As expected, Tess was suitably impressed.

  “Ahhh, that’s nice stuff,” Tess purred. She took another sip of the twenty-one-year-old single malt scotch and grinned at me.

  “I’m glad you agree, Miss Fuentes, or may I call you Therese?” Salvador gave Tess an appraising glance.

  “Please, call me Tess.”

  “Tessss.” Salvador rolled the name off his tongue like he was trying it on for size. “Yes, I think that will do.” He nodded his approval.

  Tess turned her head and made a face at me, but thankfully held her tongue.

  “So, tell me, young Tess, what is it that you do?”

  I frowned at Salvador. What was he up to? I was sure he knew full well what Tess did. He probably had a dossier on everyone in my life over the last twenty-three years.

  Tess glared at me and I threw her a little shrug. “Well, mostly I work for my Uncle Rodrigo at his gym, teaching martial arts and self-defence classes.”

  “Yes, yes, but what is it you really want to do?” Salvador smiled slyly at her, leaning forward to give Tess his attention.

  “Shouldn’t we be going or something?” I said quickly, hoping to divert Salvador’s gaze. I knew it was a mistake to bring Tess up to the penthouse. The last thing she needed was to be on Salvador’s radar. It was bad enough he had taken an interest in me. Although now that I knew I was his daughter, it made more sense and was a little less creepy.

  “We have time if I say we have time, Angharad.” Salvador waved a dismissive hand at me, his eyes never leaving Tess. Damn, I hated when he used my full name, not that I hated my name or anything—although I did prefer Harry—it was just so parental when he did it.

  Tess shifted uncomfortably under Salvador’s stare. “Well, I…”

  “If you would allow me?” Salvador extended his hand to Tess. I shook my head at her, but she was already instinctively reaching out to place her hand in his. When their fingers touched, Tess froze, her eyes going blank as Salvador dipped his head to graze his lips across the inside of her wrist.

  I shared a concerned look across the room with Isaac, but there was nothing we could do but wait for Salvador to finish. Salvador was a Reader, a very rare talent that allowed him to read the potential for power in someone’s blood. He was, in fact, the most powerful vampire I had ever met. So powerful, he didn’t even need to take blood. He could sip your life force right off your skin. With the small sip of Tess’s essence he had taken, he would be able to know her abilities and see the possibilities for her future. It wasn’t really fortune-telling or scrying the future, but more a glimpse at the possible future.

  After a moment, Salvador nodded and released Tess’s hand. “Yes, that will do. That will do nicely,” he said more to himself than anyone else.

  Tess pulled her hand back slowly, confused.

  Salvador jumped to his feet with the grace of a cat. “You are absolutely right, my dear Harry, we should most certainly go.” He paused, giving me a once-over as I scrambled to stand. His eyes narrowed, and I could tell when the katana I had strapped across my back and hidden with a no-see-me spell snapped into view, the enchantment broken. I was really going to have to upgrade that spell. “And might I add that you are particularly lovely this evening.”

  “I’m glad you think so. Maybe you’ll be less inclined to need me to do anything that would require my new dress to get bloodstained?”

  Salvador laughed and held out his arm for me. “We shall see,
we shall see. And what of your wolf this evening? Will he be joining us?”

  “Nash is caught up dealing with a multiple homicide. Sounds like nasty business, an entire family murdered. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to get away.” The lucky bastard.

  “Ah, well then, I shall have you all to myself.” He threw a glance over his shoulder as he led me out to wait for his private elevator. “And, young Tess, you will join us front and centre as well.” It wasn’t a request.

  ***

  Luckily for Tess (and me) front and centre was really front and to the side. The audience chamber below Dante’s was packed to capacity, including the raised platform where Salvador customarily sat on a chair that was suspiciously throne-like in appearance. He quite often made me sit to his left as he listened to the petty gripes and complaints of his vampire vassals. Tomas, a fellow dhamphir and Salvador’s second, usually sat to his right, although come to think of it, recently Tomas had been MIA. Not that I was complaining. Tomas could be a real tool sometimes.

  Tonight the dais was full, as there were several matters affecting both the witch and werewolf communities that would be discussed. As a result, Tess and I were relocated to the floor to the left of the stage. A large semi-circular space had been cleared directly in front, with Salvador’s guards hemming the perimeter. The crowd was restless, eager even.

  Tess, who seemed to have recovered from her encounter with Salvador, practically vibrated with nervous energy. She looked around the large room excitedly until her eyes cast over the stage, and she suddenly froze.