Free Life Cycle by Zoe Winters Page A

back to the demon dimension Cain said,
“Take her straight to Anthony so he can get a picture of who she
saw. I’ll be there soon.” He’d been in too many time zones today,
but he was sure sunset would arrive soon in Cary Town. Either way,
Luc could hold her at the penthouse until the vampire king
rose.
    Luc led the old woman away, and Cain stopped off in
his tent and wrote down the crime scene address. When he returned,
about fifty demons waited with expectant looks. It was nearing
feeding time, and some of them lived in the human dimension, so
getting this many together had been a near miracle, courtesy of
Daria.
    He handed the paper to the succubus. “Go to this
address and make sure you go in invisible. We don’t need any
witnesses. The victim’s basement is filled with occult tools and
books, some of them highly sensitive. Clear out the basement and
bring it all to my tent. I’ll deal with it. It’s too dangerous for
the humans to find. I don’t want so much as a sage stick or jar of
salt left behind. If any humans discover it, wipe their memories
and relocate them, but don’t kill. We don’t need more
attention.”
    “Whatever you say, boss.” She turned to the
assembled demons. “Let’s move out.” The others followed her to the
dimensional portal.
    Cain moved with purpose to Tam’s tent, the ziplock
bag clutched in his hand, careful not to damage the parchment
inside. The tent was empty, but Jackson and Mace stood guard
anyway.
    “Where are they?” he snarled at Jackson as he fought
with the tent flap to get out.
    “Anna went to Cary Town for the meeting. I don’t
know where Tam is.”
    Cain felt the glow come to his eyes as the fire rose
up in them. “Do you understand the concept of what a guard does?
Nobody goes in or out without my say-so.” He had half a mind to put
them in the caves, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Jackson
was loyal. It wasn’t like him to defy orders. Cain took a deep
breath and closed his eyes, willing the glow to go out of them so
he could think straight.
    “Believe me, the last thing I want to do is cross
you, but she’s too strong. We can’t control her. She threatened us
with energy balls and curses. I could have rounded up more demons,
but then we would have ended up hurting her, and you said not to.
We figured it was better to let her wander and burn off some steam.
She can’t get out of the dimension.”
    Cain looked to the other demon, who only nodded to
confirm the story. “If she comes back before I find her, tell her
to stay put. I need her for something.”
    He wandered the desert for over an hour, moving at
full demon speed but coming up empty. She couldn’t have moved
faster or covered more ground in the time he’d been away. Had Tam
somehow gotten a demon to help her? Because she wasn’t in his
dimension. If she was out, The Cycler would find her and they were
all fucked.
    There was only one place he hadn’t checked, but
surely the caves were too foreboding for her to enter. It was
Cain’s own private sanctuary, and the idea that the witch may have
breached it made the fire glow in his eyes. Not only that, her
magic stuff was there—she’d be armed. Or more armed than usual.
    He put on another burst of speed to get to the caves,
stopping dead in his tracks when he got inside. The witch sat on
the ground in a meditative posture. Though the caves were dark, a
light glowed out of her. Her eyes were closed, her face peaceful
and turned upward. She looked like an angel. There was no sign that
she’d found her things, at least.
    Cain’s voice was a low growl when he spoke. “What do
you think you’re doing in here?”
    The light that glowed around her faded and she
jumped, her eyes opening wide as she scrambled back.
    He smiled. “Scared of me now?”
    She got to her feet and produced an energy ball too
fast for him to react and tossed it, narrowly grazing his ear.
“What do you think? I was deep in meditation. You startled me.