Death Wish

“Why that little,” Ren thundered and reached for the wheel to unlock it but Nick quickly knocked his hand away.

“Oh come on, I doubt she’s dangerous,” Nick offered trying to get Ren to calm down. “In case you haven’t noticed, she’s scared half out of her wits right now, not planning to take over the world. Besides, there’s only one way out of that bomb shelter and we‘re standing right here in front of it. Trust me… she’s just a girl and not a threat.”

“Screw off!” Ren snapped in exasperation. “If she’s so damned innocent, then why is she dressed like a boy and trying to break into her grandpa’s shop in the middle of the night. Oh, and let’s not forget the fact that she went straight for a hidden vault that until yesterday held a slew of very powerful artifacts that any demon would give their Demon Blade to get their hands on? Riddle me that Robin,” he finished cockily.

Nick smirked and slowly shook his head, “Oh no… I’m Batman.”

“Whatever… Robin,” Ren said as he laid his palm against the door and closed his eyes to concentrate.

He frowned when Nick's thoughts, which weren’t very nice, suddenly sounded through his mind loud and clear. Ren couldn’t help it and began to silently rant at the mind reading power that had failed him just a moment ago when it would have come in handy. Where ever that mindreading demon was… it needed to stand the hell still.

Gypsy sighed at Lacey’s stubborn streak and turned around to face her cousin. She didn’t bother with telling her that both men knew how to unlock the door she’d just slammed in their faces. If she kept antagonizing Ren, then she’d find out soon enough… Gypsy was sure of that.

“What in the world…” Gypsy began only to snap her mouth shut when Lacey suddenly reached out and touched her lips with the tips of her fingers and made a shushing sound.

“Where’s our crystal,” Lacey barely whispered before she began walking around the room looking at the vast quantity of crystals Gypsy had on personal display.

Gypsy smiled realizing what Lacey was looking for and approached her computer desk, reaching for the bright ruby quartz crystal sitting there. As children, they’d often used the privacy crystal to tell each other the secrets that they didn’t want anyone else hearing… especially the grownups.

The crystal itself had been their secret and given to them by their grandfather to share. As they grew up, the crystal was set aside because there’d been no use for it. Gypsy didn’t know why the crystal continued to stay with her instead of moving on as crystals tended to do… maybe now she’d get her answer.

Ren kept his hand pressed to the door trying to listen through the thick steel. His eyes narrowed when Gypsy's voice was suddenly cut off mid-sentence.

Nick was standing beside him with his ear pressed to the cold steel. He was having a little bit of trouble but could still hear the same things Ren did.

Ren frowned when he heard Lacey ask Gypsy about a crystal just before the room fell into silence except for the sound of their footsteps.

“What’s a crystal got to do with anything?” Nick asked.

Ren shot him a look that basically told him to keep silent before closing his eyes and concentrating again.

Gypsy and Lacey sat down on the sofa facing one another with Gypsy holding the crystal out in her hand. Lacey placed her hand in Gypsy's, trapping the crystal between their palms before releasing a heavy sigh.

“Tell me everything I’ve missed since I’ve been gone,” Lacey said softly.

Ren was getting frustrated, straining to listen in while attempting to widen his succubus range. Only fragments of their conversation were filtering through now, like a bad radio reception and he suddenly realized he was being blocked by some kind of magic. The air surrounding him gained a bit of power and his frown deepened just before he sneered at the door.

Nick leaned back from the door in confusion, “I can’t hear a damn thing now.”

“It appears that Gypsy has something in there that can shield a personal conversation,” Ren said and his lips thinned in agitation. “They’re using magic to keep us from hearing them.”

Nick huffed at the big bad Ren being outdone so easily, “You mean to tell me that you, with all of your power can’t break through it?”

Ren’s jaw flexed as he pulled on the power of the crystal and stretched the shield to where he was inside its barrier. “I didn’t say that. It’ll take more than a little girl’s silly game and parlor trick to keep me out.” He leaned a little closer to the door and looked over at Nick with a mischievous smirk, “Wanna hear what they’re saying?”

“What, you think I’m stupid… of course I do,” Nick answered with a sly grin of his own. He was in no way above eavesdropping when it suited him. As a matter of fact, he was usually a pro at it.

Ren motioned him over and placed a hand on the jaguar’s shoulder, squeezing a little too tightly just for fun.

Nick cringed at the hard grip but ignored it as his eyebrows shot up into his hairline when he suddenly heard the women’s voices just as clearly as though he were in the same room with them.

“Nice,” he whispered grudgingly.

Gypsy sat cross-legged on the sofa while she told Lacey everything that had happened, starting with Grandpa’s death. It hadn’t taken as long as she thought it would to tell the story and she actually leaned forward a bit when she began to tell Lacey about Nick, Ren, and all the mess with Samuel. She blushed when she admitted the fact that she’d had a slight crush on Nick for years.

Outside the door, Nick took a deep satisfied breath hearing Gypsy's confession and glanced toward Ren to see how he was taking it. It was a little disappointing to find the other man unfazed.

“Shut up,” Ren frowned wishing Nick would stop thinking so loud at him.

Nick wanted to laugh so bad but held it in also wanting to hear what was going on inside the room.

By the time Gypsy was finished catching her up, Lacey was rubbing her temple with her free hand and her face was in a heavy frown like she had a bad headache.

“All of that and you’re still alive? And here grandpa thought that he’d given me the dangerous job. Is there anything else I should know about?” Lacey asked crossing her fingers there wasn’t more to tell.

Gypsy thought about it for a moment and then slowly shook her head, “No, I think that pretty much covers all of the important stuff.”

“It’s a wonder The Witch’s Brew is still standing,” Lacey whispered and tightened her grip on her cousin’s hand before bringing it up between them. “And you tried to shoot a demon with a wooden bullet,” she shook her head in amazement and sympathy. Brave and dumb seemed to be something they both had in common. “I’m so glad that this Michael person had the power to heal you. I’d have died if I’d come home only to find both you and Grandpa… gone.”

“I’m fine and you’re home now. You are staying… right?” Gypsy asked letting the hope shine in her eyes.

Lacey started to say no but paused, biting her bottom lip as she tried to wrap her mind around something her cousin had said. Raising her chin, she locked her gaze with Gypsy’s wondering if she’d just found the safety net she’d been searching for. If it kept the demons from finding her for a little while longer, then she wasn't going to complain.

“Wait a sec… were you serious when you said that demons can’t come into this building without your permission?” she asked knowing when something sounded too good to be true… it usually was.

“It’s true,” Gypsy confirmed with enthusiasm. “We even tested the spell just to make sure that it worked, and well… it works brilliantly.” She tried to keep herself from grinning as she remembered Nick and Ren being sucked out of the store.

“Now that is the sweetest thing I’ve heard in hmmm… about a year,” Lacey said truthfully and felt some of the tenseness drain out of her shoulders and back. Maybe if she stayed, she could buy a little more time before facing the grim reaper. “And you say this was one of the spells that has been in the safe all this time?”

She silently wondered if it had come from the same spell book that she knew held the spell to counteract the power of the demon mark she was now wearing. The way she understood it… by casting a distortion spell over top of her demon mark, it would be near impossible to track her. It wouldn’t remove the mark but it was the next best thing.

She needed to find out where they’d taken that book. Her next step would be to locate the most powerful witch’s coven in the city and convince them to help her perform the spell. Problem was… someone had moved the damn book.

Gypsy tilted her head to the side in concern when the relief in Lacey's eyes faded back to worry. “Lacey, where have you been for the last year? What happened to keep you from coming home?”

When Lacey didn’t answer right away, Gypsy lowered her gaze to where their hands were still locked together around the crystal. “You have to know that Grandpa was worried sick when you vanished. He tried to hide it from me, but you stayed away for so long that he was finally convinced you were never coming back… that something terrible had happened to you.”

Lacey made a slight face knowing Grandpa was the last person responsible for the mess she was in. This one was all on her.

They had always kept Gypsy out of the loop but now that Grandpa was gone, there didn’t seem to be anything stopping her from telling at least part of it. Besides, when her past caught up with her, then at least Gypsy would know what really happened to her and maybe even place a grave marker next to Grandpa in memory.

She felt herself calm as she made up her mind to let her cousin in on the family’s extracurricular activities.

“Grandpa always sent you to the auctions and safe places to get the artifacts he wanted for his collection or needed to appease his clientele. That was your job and you were very good at it.” She smiled fondly at her cousin before adding, “But me… I was good at something completely different.”

“What are you getting at?” Gypsy asked with a frown. She had a suspicious feeling that she wasn’t going to like whatever it was Lacey was about to tell her.

Lacey shrugged as if it wasn’t that big of a deal, “Grandpa sent you after the things that were available and easy to get a hold of… just make a few deals in secret, with the help of a highly sought after trade or huge wad of cash. He sent me after the things that were not so… easy to obtain.”