“But that elemental may have been strengthened. Or perhaps you survived only because it couldn’t do its worst work.”
She looked at Damien. “You don’t feel anything bad from it?”
He shook his head. “We don’t discard anything that might be helpful until we’re sure it’s not.”
“Okay, then.”
Jude crouched beside Damien. “You’re sure it’s in that building?”
“Most definitely. I can’t tell exactly where it’s coming from, though. But it’s definitely emanating from there.”
“Then let’s go. Carefully. I’ll surround the building just as soon as you’re close enough.”
Just before they descended the building, Damien drew Caro close. “Know this. I’ll keep you safe at any price. Trust your instincts about what to do. And don’t use any more power until we know who we’re facing. Just as I can sense the use of it, the bokor may, as well.”
She nodded and swallowed hard. This was it. An experience beyond her imaginings. She had at least been able to imagine the ritual he had suggested, but for this she had no known paradigm. This would be so totally and completely outside her realm of experience that it staggered her.
What had he meant by protecting her at any cost? Her heart squeezed and she grabbed his arm. “Damien? Don’t do anything foolish on my behalf. Please.”
He smiled and brushed a chilly kiss against her cold lips. “It’s certainly not my intention.”
That had to satisfy her, because he quite clearly wasn’t about to make promises of any kind except that he would keep her safe.
She didn’t like that mentality. Partners were supposed to look out for each other. A joint effort. She should have made that clear from the outset.
Well, she promised herself that she’d have his back no matter what. And clearly he felt he needed some backup or he would have insisted on doing this alone. Vampire or not, he still had plenty of male arrogance about him at times.
Then she noticed something. “Wait,” she whispered.
“What?”
“Don’t you feel it? Listen.”
“To what?” Damien asked, then said, “Oh.”
There were no sounds at all, as if they’d been caught in a soundproof bubble. A glance down at the street, despite the early hour, showed that no one was about.
“We’ve been cut off,” she murmured.
“Yes.” Damien closed his eyes. “The bokor knows we’re here.”
“Damn it,” Jude said.
“He’s drawing power.” Damien’s eyes snapped open, and now they were as dark as the depths of space. “It’s going to be a helluva fight. Caro...”
“Don’t even think it. I’m going with you. Only an idiot goes into a dangerous situation without backup, and you’re not an idiot.”
He gave her a crooked smile. “I would die for you.”
But would he live for her? she wondered. The question was painful. No time for that. “You’re not an idiot,” she repeated.
“No,” he said after a beat. “No, I’m not. But are you being unwisely stubborn?”
“I’ve never let my partner go into a situation without backup. I’m not going to start now.”
He offered no more argument. Instead, he stood quietly, as if feeling the world around them, but he did nothing to display his powers. Maybe he was using his vampire senses.
“There’s no one nearby,” he said eventually. “Except in that building.”
“That’s not one of the ones set for demolition, is it?” Caro asked.
“No,” Jude said. “But that doesn’t mean the bokor is simply acting to protect this one building. Friends or family could be involved. Or he or she could live in one of those buildings.”
Caro nodded. “I was just wondering if we knew of a direct link.”
“As of now, no.”
“All right,” Damien said. “I think it would be wise for us to get down from here out of sight of the bookshop. While we won’t exactly be a surprise, we can at least avoid providing additional information.”
“How about heading away a bit?” Jude suggested.
“Good idea,” Damien agreed. Turning, he held out his hand to Caro. She could have sworn she felt an almost electric zap as they touched. Then she was on his back again and had no idea where they were going.
When next they alighted, she looked around and realized they were no longer on the same street.
The sense of being in a bubble had vanished.
“It might look like we missed him. Her. It,” Damien said. He gave a quiet chuckle. “Maybe we bought a few minutes.”
Perhaps out of deference to Caro, they made their way down a fire escape. Though it creaked and clanged, no one even looked out a window. Maybe, Caro thought, this was a neighborhood where seeing things could be dangerous. It wouldn’t surprise her. As a cop she was intimately acquainted with how many people never saw or heard a thing, even when the ruckus should have wakened the dead.
Once they reached street level, they began walking at a human pace. Not that anyone would have seen if Damien had lifted Caro on his back and flown. The streets were amazingly empty, although that might be in part because of the bitter cold, and in part because this wasn’t a safe part of town. Still, her instincts rose into high gear.
“There’s something wrong,” she said. “Cold, night, whatever, there’s no part of this city where you don’t see groups of young men out until the wee hours.”
“Gangs?” Damien asked.
“Often, but not always. Something’s going on. Maybe somebody put out the word to keep inside.”
“Who would have the power to do that?”
“A bokor,” Jude and Caro answered simultaneously. But Caro continued. “Someone everyone is terrified of.”
“Then it seems we may have come to the right place.”
“I thought you already knew we had.”
He flashed a grin. “I do, but I’m just talking for the sake of talking.”
“Are you nervous?”
“A bit. Aren’t you?”
“I’d rather not think about it.” It was true. Nerves were to be ignored, not fed. They were useful only insofar as they kept you alert. Beyond that, they could become a hindrance.
They covered two blocks before she again saw the storefront. She kept waiting to feel the bubble again but didn’t. “We fooled them,” she said.
“For a little while,” Damien agreed. “Not much longer, though.”
Only a few steps later, she felt it like ice on her neck. “The elemental is here.”
“I feel it.”
“Get to the door,” Jude said. “Let me know when you’re sure it’s there with you and then I’ll get to work warding the area.”
“The bokor is already warding it,” Caro said uneasily. “Do you feel it, Damien? The bubble is coming back.”
He turned to Jude. “Can you sense it?”
“Only vaguely.”
“Surround the entire block, then, as soon as I tell you. Caro, where’s the elemental?”
“All around me,” she answered as ice began to seep into her. “It’s after me again.”
“Let’s hurry.”
Without further ado, Damien gripped her arm, lifted her and began heading for the shop door. “Stay close. Stay very close. My power will cloak you, as well.”
“What about mine?” she croaked.
“I feel the light of it. What it will do I don’t know. Use it carefully. Only you can direct it. But not yet, not unless you feel that thing getting too far into you.”
She had begun to shiver and wondered if it was already time. Then she remembered she needed to carry the thing into the store with her, so that Jude could create a circle around the entire area. She let the cold seep in even more, until her teeth chattered.