The big question I had, was if I could hardly do those three things at a time, how the hell was I supposed to cast a spell on top of it? Even without the pressures of battle, it would be hard for me to add more to what I was doing, even just casting the tracking spells on a shifter corpse.

  It would be even worse in battle. Adding a physical shield spell, an attack spell, and perhaps a draining defensive spell, to prevent magical feedback from burning me out if they reversed my attack, it was absurd. I could hardly do three things at once, much less six in the heat of battle where my life was on the line.

  Well, no one told me it would be easy, I guess I’d get used to it, but it was time I didn’t have now, so I’d have to improvise, and make do with less.

  I was also getting very attached to my patron demoness and vampire servant, I wasn’t sure if that was bad or not. I was already set to show up in club Malina when I died, so doing something stupid, like falling for her, couldn’t make things worse, could it? Not that I was there yet, but it would be very easy to fall.

  Lilliana was another story, she was completely devoted to me, and willing to fuck, fetch water, kill, or chat at my whim. I even thought she might love me already, despite it only being what, a day? It was almost like she’d transferred her love that she had for the Moore that made the pact with her, to the entire family line. Like it wasn’t really me, but the position that she loved, I was a Moore warlock.

  It sounded crazy, but then how else could she deal with a long line of men that acted and looked alike, without going crazy with grief when each one died.

  Still, I needed to be careful not to classify them and get mentally lazy. They were both women, and more complex than that, even if my insights were all true, they weren’t just that. I sure as hell didn’t understand women any more than the next guy. Still, I needed to try to figure them out right? It’s what we did, usually badly, but there it was.

  It had also occurred to me that up until yesterday, I was a total loner. So it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if I fell for either of these amazing creatures, or both. They were the first beings I’d ever met who wouldn’t either eventually kick me out, or try to kick my ass. Plus, shallow or not, they’ve had lots of hot sex with me, that’s got to have an influence. A big influence.

  The car pulled into a lot and Lilliana pulled us into a parking spot.

  Lilliana asked, “Ready?”

  I doubled my concentration for a second on my shields, infernal power draw, and magical sensing, as I imagined mage snipers on a nearby roof looking to take out the latest Moore warlock.

  I took a deep breath, “As I’ll get, let’s do this.”

  It was almost disappointing when we got out of the car, and the three of us entered the club without a shot fired. I’d been ready for them, and the bastards left me hanging. Yes, we were at a club, assumingly owned by the shifters. A young attractive woman, who reminded me of a feline held up her hand to stop us.

  “Just a second, I’ll go get the alpha,” and then she slinked away with a sexy walk that was hypnotizing.

  I wasn’t sure why I thought she was a cat shifter, but maybe it was my magical detection ability?

  Darren came out a minute later. I was disappointed the cat shifter didn’t come back out, but that was probably for the best. I wasn’t sure how Darren would react to me ogling one of his shifter pack.

  He waved, “Come on, I’ll lead you down. I was starting to wonder if you were coming.”

  I shrugged, “Had a few things to take care of first.”

  I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell him I’d had to learn how to find a rogue, but he probably knew anyway. He didn’t call me on it though, and let the fiction survive.

  He led us through the club which looked crappy in the bright lights. I imagined it looked a lot better with dim lighting, spot lights, and lots of dancing people, but right now it looked like an abandoned television studio or something. Black walls, spot lights, open floor. The only thing to break up the monotony was the two bars against either wall, and a few tables.

  We went through the door into the back, and then down the stairs where it was completely different. The walls were painted a bright white, and there was white tile on the floor, almost like a hospital hallway. We were led past a number of rooms and then into a room that was rather cold. There were a couple of metal tables, and various medical tools.

  Holy shit, the pack had their own morgue. I supposed that made sense, but it was still a surprise. But then, of course they wouldn’t use a human morgue. I guessed the mages and vampires probably had one as well?

  He reached the wall of stainless steel small square doors, and pulled one open. He rolled the body out, and lowered the sheet. I felt bile rise up at the empty look in the eyes, and the torn out throat. The head was twisted wrong as well.

  Rather than try the spell and fail everything at once, I dropped the connection to Malina. I could do this on internal power and fill back up so to speak after. I didn’t think I’d have trouble detecting magic around me, and holding my personal shield while I did the spell.

  Though I was wondering about the benefit, all I felt was Darren, and the cat upstairs. There was no one else here.

  The tracking spell was actual two separate ones. Each demon, or even mage, or warlock, had a distinct magical signature, like fingerprints. When a vampire drinks blood to appease his inner demonic animal, that demon leaves his signature behind. It takes a few days to fade.

  The first spell, would lock onto that signature in the corpse. The second spell was more along the lines of a divination spell than tracking. Just like the two spells to locate people that made pacts, this spell would locate where the demon was with that signature. Of course, the demon could move, so the spell had to be constantly maintained until the target was tracked down.

  Good news though, when I dropped it due to lack of concentration, which I would inevitably do, it was easy to recast. Once I knew the signature, I could cast it again without the corpse present. It was something only a warlock could do. Mages couldn’t. A warlock’s magic was attuned to deal with the infernal. Oh, the mages could find other magical signatures, just not demonic ones.

  I didn’t waste any more time, and casted the first spell. Combat spells were short, a few arcane words associated to an act of will and focus. This spell wasn’t a combat spell, it was rather long, and harder to memorize than I’d thought it would be. On the good side, it didn’t require I draw designs in a circle or on the body, or any of that shit.

  Apparently that was only for major works of magic, like an initial pact to find a patron. Since that was already done for me, I probably wouldn’t be using containment circles very often. For lesser demons certainly, but I wasn’t sure how often that would come up.

  Almost a minute later I was rather proud of myself, as I sensed the demon’s signature. It was something that, because of the magic, I’d never be able to forget, and be able to recall at will. Still, I played it off like it was no big deal, despite wanting to grin like an idiot that I’d gotten it right.

  “I got what I needed, did you want me to bring you the body of the rogue?”

  Darren shook his head, “That won’t be necessary, my mate and I will be coming with you, if you don’t mind? I do trust you, the Moore line has always been trustworthy in the beginning, but I would like to see justice done for my pack.”

  I drew a blank, “Your mate?”

  Darren smiled, “Yes, Sharon, you just met her upstairs.”

  I swallowed my comment and nodded. I was also very happy I hadn’t been caught ogling earlier. Who said dogs and cats can’t get along anyway? I remembered that ass shake and decided he was a lucky man, but then, so was I.

  I half smiled, suppressing a grin at the thought, “More the merrier.”

  Chapter 17

  I’d have to apologize to Lilliana later, she was very stiff up front with Sharon sharing the front seat. As for the three of us in the back, Malina was draped over me again, although now it was to be a bodily shield against a first strike, though she looked perfectly relaxed.

  The shifters were allies of sorts, but I had forgotten the treaty wasn’t active yet, so if he decided I’d look better if I was a head shorter, he wouldn’t be violating it yet.

  I was fairly sure he wouldn’t try to kill me, but measured against an eternity in hell with the pact being violated, it did have me a little nervous. I was risking more than just my life. Still, I was pretty sure, mostly. After all, he did want peace with the vampires, and I was the only way to solidify that for him.

  Miracle of miracles, I was able to cast my locating spell, and not lose my personal shield or detect magic once during the drive. Apparently fear and necessity helped keep the mind sharp. I was even able to add a fourth effect for short times, and recharge through Malina, but even in my current situation I couldn’t hold it for long. Happily, I didn’t need to.

  Sharon asked, “So where are we going?”

  “He’s in one of the downtown hotels, not sure which one yet.”

  Darren asked, “It’s a male?”

  I shrugged and smiled, “The demon is, what he’s possessing is still up in the air.”

  We drove around downtown for a bit, past all the hotels until I figured out the right one.

  “Marriott, he’s on the first floor somewhere.”

  Lilliana found us a place to park, and we got out and crossed the street. When we got inside the hotel, I froze.

  “Fuck me,” I whispered, nothing is ever easy.

  Lilliana and Malina said in eerie concert, “Later, what’s wrong,” and then smiled at each other.

  I shook my head, “My vampire meter just went off the scale, the rogue is not alone. There’s about sixty vampires a hundred feet that way,” and I pointed off down the hall.

  Darren growled, “That means the rogue is a part of Dion’s coven. He won’t be happy with that, and neither am I.”

  I frowned as I thought it through, “Maybe whoever it is, has held back their darker impulses, until they believed there would be no more Moore warlocks and thought they could get away with it?”

  Sharon agreed in a silky voice, “Probably, but what now? I doubt they’ll appreciate us crashing a vampire ball.”

  Darren growled, but nodded after a few moments, “I’m afraid we can’t accompany you. We’ll wait here for you to bring word.”

  The most powerful shifter couple in the city walked over to the bar and disappeared inside.

  Oh good, I get to invade a vampire ball without the help of two shifters, what a relief! Not.

  “Lil, Lina, Opinions?” I asked.

  Lilliana sighed, “Now he asks. I’d have said wait until he’s alone, but I don’t think there is enough time for that. The ball will go on for some time, many hours, and your twenty-four will be up before then.”

  Malina shrugged, “I agree, cast a personal physical shield now and drop the locator spell, you should be able to identify the demon through your intrinsic detection magic now that you’re close.”

  I nodded and did as she said. I wasn’t sure how long it would last if sixty some odd vampires decided to play a game of kick the warlock. I’d have to guess not that long, even if I could pull from Malina consistently the whole time, physical protection is a huge drain.

  I’d know, Lilliana helped me test the spell.

  I walked down the hall confidently as if I had no worries at all, in other words, the completely opposite way that I actually felt. We stopped at the large ballroom sized double doors, and I knocked.

  A vampire opened the door and stuck his head out, and he didn’t look friendly.

  “This is a private party.”

  I smiled, “Is Dion here? Tell him Moore would like to see him.”

  The vampire’s eyes narrowed as he looked me up and down doubtfully, “Just a moment.”

  A few seconds later two vampires came out, neither of them Dion. One was a large man with narrowed eyes who looked at me angrily. The second was a rather attractive woman with light blonde curly hair and curious blue eyes. Okay, attractive was a total understatement, she was almost as hot as Lilliana… almost.

  The man said forcefully, “I am Dion’s second, Neil, and this is Christabel. Why would you disturb us this night, leave, now. He may see you tomorrow.”

  Christabel glanced curiously at Neil, as if his words surprised her. Of course, they probably were surprising, since Neil was the rogue that had been killing shifters.

  “Well,” I said in an offhand manner, “I’m here to identify the rogue. It comes as no surprise you wouldn’t want that. Would you Neil?”

  I didn’t even see him move, I don’t know if he hit me, or pushed me, but suddenly I flew back and got embedded in the wall behind me. I was shielded from physical harm, but not physics. I also felt a huge drain on my magic. I focused on him and started to chant the banishing spell, I was only a word or two in when I was pulled out of the wall, and then thrown down the hallway.

  I was still chanting though, as I landed thirty feet away and slid at least another thirty feet. He was coming for me fast, and my shield was definitely weak. I was also a little dizzy, holding three other things together plus casting, and lost my connection to Malina.

  I didn’t have time to wonder what the fuck Malina and Lilliana were doing, but I was sure I would be wondering later if I survived.

  He picked me up by the throat and started squeezing, the shield drained my magic alarmingly fast to keep my throat from being crushed. Still, I was able to finish the chant, and had no trouble with my focus as I stared the asshole right in the eyes as I thought about him going to hell.

  He dropped me as he screamed in a horrific way, I landed on my feet and looked around at all the humans. Oops, well it wasn’t my fault this psycho attacked me in public. His scream died out and I couldn’t feel the demon’s signature anymore. I could also tell, that when I banished the demon, it took Neil’s soul along for the ride. Sucks for him. Asshole.

  The body was still alive though, a vegetable without its soul, and once again completely human.

  I glanced down the hall, both of my protectors had been busy. Lilliana was holding back Christabel, who I guess, had no reason to believe my ridiculous accusation from her point of view. Malina was guarding the doorway, and I could see the red glow in her eyes. Apparently she was too busy scaring the shit out of sixty vampires all at the same time to keep them in there.

  She was so bad ass, I actually got a chubby. She knew it too, and sent a smile my way.

  I cleared my throat, and cast a basic memory spell Sal had showed me. It would erase a few minutes’ time from the human’s memories. Just like that and no one was staring at me anymore.

  Of course, I was only halfway back down the hall when a human woman cried out about the comatose man on the floor, and called an ambulance. That was okay though, they’d never figure out he’d lost his soul.

  I looked at Christabel who was still struggling with Lilliana to get at me, “Cut it out. He was the rogue. Go get Dion like I asked earlier, and let him decide if I’m full of shit or not. Admit it, even you thought that asshole was acting out of character. Don’t go the same way for someone that doesn’t deserve it.”

  I hadn’t been idle, my protection spell was fully charged, and so was I. For now, the adrenaline was helping me with keeping up all the different things. Shield, detection, shield spell, and my connection to Malina.

  Christabel stopped struggling and looked me in the eye, “He was truly the rogue? I don’t understand why he would do such a thing.”

  “He was,” I said sincerely, and explained my theory about opportunity since there weren’t supposed to be any more of the Moore line. I felt kind of bad, she was broken up about it. Still, the jackass had it coming.

  Malina walked over with Dion, who’d restored order at the doors. He didn’t look very happy either.

  Dion said, “Christa, go inside, calm the others please,” he turned to me, “It seems you have a treaty, though I cannot thank you for it. I understand the logic of the possible reason you gave, but it doesn’t explain his betrayal, he almost brought us to war.”

  That… was probably his point, but I didn’t say it.

  He nodded in respect, “When you have decided on a price for the pact contact me. Now please leave, I must calm my coven, and they are all angry about losing Neil. He was very well liked.”

  Oh, fucking great. Now I had a bunch of pissed off vampires, all probably wishing I was dead.

  I nodded back and said goodnight, and the three of us got out of there. There was no need to track down Darren either, he watched in satisfaction as the EMTs worked on Neil’s unresponsive body, and gave me a nod before him and his wife went back in the bar. I guessed they were calling for their own ride, I was rather relieved they wouldn’t be sharing mine again.

  I collapsed into the backseat as soon as the doors were shut, and we were on the way home.

  Lilliana said, “That was close, but you did very well master.”

  I frowned, “What did I say to you about that.”

  Lilliana blushed, “To call you Shawn when we’re not fucking. Sorry Shawn, your uncle did not extend me that privilege, it may take me time to get used to it.”

  Malina swung her body around, straddled my lap, and then leaned in for a long kiss.

  “You did do well,” she said sultrily, and then she pouted and moved off of me, “I want you, but I suppose we should wait. You’d never hold your spells if I did.”

  That was frustrating, I was so hard from her touch, and her kiss, but it would be so much better when we got back to the house, a little anticipation. At least, that’s what I told myself. I was just considering that the wards on the car were rather sturdy, and maybe I could talk her into…

  The ground exploded underneath the car, and the car flipped into the air, flew about twenty feet, and landed on the roof which continued to slide down the street. I was shaken up, had been thrown around, but thanks to my shields, I was fine.

  “What the hell was that?”