Demon Night

wondering what it felt like. Drifter was right; it creeps.”
    Lilith gave an exaggerated shudder, and Castleford nodded. “Yes.”
    Charlie took the box from him, tore off the sealing tape. Cold steam curled from inside—a coolant in the packaging, Charlie realized, and then a startled laugh escaped her. Nestled atop the gray cushioning foam was a tiny porcelain unicorn.
    “Definitely from Jane,” she said, and lifted out the first vial. Jane had even labeled it: Samuels, Dylan. Demon.
    “Don’t expect too much, Charlie,” Ethan said softly. “Even if he’s not behind the shield, Sammael has good psychic blocks.”
    He was correct; a moment later, Michael shook his head.
    “I will continue trying, however,” he said. “If you will give me one of those vials.”
    Charlie nodded, then quickly lifted out another to check the label. A yellow sticky was wrapped around it. The packaging pulled it loose, and Ethan picked it up from the floor.
    His lips twitched before he read, “‘Yippee kai yay, motherfucker’?”
    “Oh.” Charlie’s cheeks flared as she held out the vial to Michael. “It’s just a thing from a movie. From when we were kids. For Jane, it’s kind of like—I don’t know—a victory dance or something.”
    The vial vanished from her fingers, and Michael said, “Then you are certain this is Sammael’s blood?”
    “Probably, but”—she removed the stopper from another vial—“I should recognize the smell. I was stuck in a car with it for hours.”
    Oh, God. The scent struck her, incredible, irresistible. She drew it closer, breathed in deep, and she suddenly couldn’t think.
    “Charlie?” Ethan said softly.
    The thirst roared through her. She heard Ethan swear, and Jake’s quick intake of breath. A drop gathered on the bottom of the stopper. She could see her reflection in it, distorted, bulbous. Closer now…too close.
    She brought it to her lips, sucked it off—and dropped the vial in shock.
    “Son of a bitch.” Ethan caught it before it smashed against the floor, then turned to her. “You all right?”
    She stared at him. Swallowed the extra saliva in her mouth—and the lingering flavor of the blood. “I tasted it.”
    His brows snapped together. “You what?”
    A victory dance . “I tasted it,” Charlie repeated, more strongly this time. And Jane had known when she’d sent it; she must have gotten it out of Sammael. “It’s living, just like licking Jake’s blood from the door. No wonder they got those vampires to stay at Legion—they offered them this .”
    “No,” Lilith said, shaking her head. “We’ve tested this before, looking for alternative food sources. The vampires said the demon blood had no flavor.”
    “I have attempted it, as well,” Michael said. “Vampires could not feed from it any longer than they could animal blood.”
    Charlie frowned, then tried another drop, and had to catch her breath against the torrent of sensation and sound. Deep, rich. “It’s there,” she gasped. “And it’s so beautiful…but not . Frightening and dark.”
    She projected it, and Michael’s brows lifted. “That is demon,” he said.
    “Jake,” Ethan said slowly. “You take a vial to Mackenzie, see if he tastes it.”
    Jake grabbed one and ran out; Lilith watched him go, then looked at Michael. “Why would it be different?”
    Castleford had been quiet, frowning thoughtfully as he cleaned his eyeglasses on his shirt. Now, he put them on, and said, “They were dead. All of the demon blood we used, we could only get by first slaying the demon. Sammael still lives.”
    Jake returned, his eyes wide, the vial empty. “I couldn’t keep him from drinking all of it.”
    Lilith sat back a little, her lips parted. She blinked, then looked down at her hellhound, and blinked again. “Well, fuck me,” she said. “Lucifer’s demons don’t know about this. How long have Belial’s known?”
    No one could answer that—and Charlie was thinking of Sammael, and his long-winded explanation in the SUV. “They’re still researching the vampire blood, though,” she said, trying to work her way through it. “They’re promising the vampires a food source like this, but they already have it. Why worry about the rest?”
    Ethan sighed, scrubbed his hand through his hair. “I sure don’t know. Maybe it’s the same concern we talked about last night—not enough of it. But that doesn’t sound right, does it?”
    Charlie had no idea; as far as she could tell,