Demon Night

outline of Sammael’s form against the tree.
    “Ethan,” she said. “When we go back out, let me go in front of you.”
    A smile flashed over his mouth, and he turned down the hallway taking them to the rear of the house. “No chance in hell, Charlie.”
    “Just listen,” she said, her heart beating wildly. “You made sure I was protected by striking that bargain. Let me use it to protect you a little. If he has to go around me—”
    “Then I have to worry about hurting you as I defend myself. It’s best that you’re behind me.” He stopped in front of a a heavy wood door. Both the dead bolt and the knob locked from the hallway; they had been supplemented with a chain and a padlock that popped open with a touch of Ethan’s Gift.
    Charlie frowned. “Why can’t I hear her inside?”
    “Spell’s up. So either they’ve got her tied down so as she can’t disturb the symbols, or she’s determining when they visit her.”
    “Probably the second,” Charlie said, holstering her guns. Ethan brought his wrist to her lips again, and yes, there was Jane, hard and bright and sweet, the chime of glass against steel.
    This time, they fell—but Ethan controlled it, rolling immediately to the side, using his body to cover hers.
    A moment later, his heavy weight lifted, and Charlie opened her eyes to Jane’s stunned expression. She was sitting at an equipment-crowded desk, her computer open, with a rack of blood-filled vials beside it.
    Charlie blinked. “You’re using a microscope in your underwear ? You are such a nerd.”
    “Jesus. Charlie? How did you—” Jane stood, grabbed the robe hanging from the back of her chair. “How—?” She tore her fingers through her hair. “You’re really here?”
    Charlie accepted Ethan’s hand, got to her feet. “Really. But we’ve got to go right away. Get dressed.”
    Jane quickly began gathering up items from the desk, and Charlie went to her side, stopped her. “We’ve got to go now ,” she said, meeting Jane’s eyes. “Ethan can take all of this, if you give him permission.”
    Jane looked over Charlie’s shoulder, nodded. “Yes. Okay. All of the samples in the little refrigerator, too.” She pulled Charlie in for a quick hug, then ran off to the other side of the room.
    Charlie frowned down at the now-empty desk. “What were you working on?”
    Jane came out of the closet with a shirt and jeans. “Same thing I was at Legion, only the senator wanted proof vampire blood wasn’t human.”
    “Did you find any?” Ethan asked quietly.
    “No. Wouldn’t have with this equipment—and I told them it’s a match down to the DNA level, anyway. The only difference is the healing behavior.” Jane zipped her jeans, then shoved her feet into a pair of already-tied tennis shoes. “They were talking about getting more lab equipment—”
    “More lab equipment?” Charlie shook her head with a short laugh of disbelief. “So Mark brought you here as, what? His personal scientist?”
    “Oh, no. Well, partially. Maybe that’s just his dad.” Jane straightened up, and rolled her eyes. “Mark brought me here to save me. Because I’m sleeping with the devil.”
    “I knew Mark was a good guy,” Charlie muttered under her breath, and caught Ethan’s grin before he turned toward the door.
    “We ready, then?” he said as he swiped the blood from the symbols and glanced out into the hallway.
    “Yes.” Jane ran her hands down the sides of her jeans. “Is Dylan still here?”
    “Yes.” Charlie took Jane’s hand, held her gun ready in the other, and started out after Ethan. “What do you mean, ‘still’? How did you know he was outside?”
    “He spent the last two weeks outside my window, keeping me company.” Jane almost tripped on the first stair, and Charlie slowed her pace. “ Trying to keep me company, at least, since we couldn’t say anything.”
    Charlie checked her immediate response. Any negative comment about Sammael would probably spark Jane’s temper, so she simply laid out the facts. “Last night, he shot Drifter and almost killed him. So I shot Sammael. He stabbed me, then threatened my life. It was all so that he could get you out of here—although he knew he could have just given us an anonymous tip and we’d come to your rescue. And now that you’re out, he’ll probably try to kill Drifter as soon as he can.”
    They reached the main floor, and Jane’s expression was tense when she disentangled their hands. “I don’t