Minor Magics: The Demon Code Read online

  Minor Magics: The Demon Code

  Book Eight of the Xoe Meyers Series

  Sara C. Roethle

  Vulture’s Eye Publications

  Copyright © 2019 by Sara C. Roethle

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter One

  Note from the author: For those following along, The Demon Code was supposed to be the start of a new series, but last minute I ended up making it book eight in the original series to avoid confusion.

  “Hey Dorrie!” I called out, wondering what was taking so long. I put my sneaker-clad feet up on my messy desk and let out a sigh.

  “Coming, Boss!” Dorrie called back from the adjoining room leading into my small, dimly lit office. Real estate in the underground was hard to come by, so we made do with what we could find.

  A moment later she came barreling toward my desk with a stack of manilla folders pressed against her chest. Her glittery white skin was mostly covered by jeans and an icy blue sweater, though there was no hiding her long, translucent hair. Fortunately, she didn’t need to. There were far stranger things in the demon underground than Dorrie.

  She plunked the folders down onto my desk, grinning at me all the while.

  I narrowed my gaze. “You look like the cat that ate the canary.”

  Her grin faltered. “I look like a cat?”

  I shook my head, smiling. “Never mind, it’s a human phrase. Sometimes I forget you haven’t spent much time in the human realm.”

  I sighed, leaning back against my swiveling chair. I hadn’t spent much time in the human realm lately either, even though I’d been raised there by my mortal mother. I hadn’t even found out my dad was a fire demon until I was sixteen, when I’d randomly started blowing up appliances with my mind.

  Dorrie snapped her sparkly fingers in front of my face. “Earth to Xoe. I have exciting news and you’re ruining my delivery.”

  I blinked up at her.

  “You have an appointment in thirty minutes,” she said, her grin resumed.

  I shook my head, tossing my long, white-blonde hair over my shoulder. “We’re a detective agency, Dorrie. I have appointments all the time.”

  “Not with demons we know,” she eluded, practically jumping up and down with excitement.

  I pursed my lips, still wondering what she was talking about, then a knock sounded near the open door.

  “Sorry, I’m a little early,” a man’s voice explained.

  I whipped my gaze upward, taking in the tall, dark-haired man standing in the doorway, dressed in a casual flannel and jeans. His deep gray eyes were exactly as I remembered them, accentuated by his evenly tanned skin and handsome face. His crooked smile made my heart skip a beat. I hadn’t seen it since the day we’d broken up, ten months ago.

  I felt my expression shutting down as he stepped into the room. I had reason to be guarded. He’d gotten into a lot of trouble with his brother, Sam, and had left me high and dry in the process.

  I stared at him. “What do you want, Chase?”

  He had the grace to look abashed.

  Dorrie watched the scene intently, like her favorite soap opera had just come on.

  I glared at her. “Would you excuse us, Dorrie?”

  She pouted. “Aw shucks, Cupcake, you’re no fun.”

  I gestured toward the door, and finally she skulked out, shutting it behind her.

  Chase took one of the seats across from my desk. “I see Dorrie hasn’t changed at all.”

  I shook my head, fighting the anger welling up inside me. He’d abandoned Dorrie too. Besides me, he’d been her only friend. As an artificial demon construct, she wasn’t allowed to leave the demon underground with me to meet humans, and other demons tended to steer clear of her.

  I shuffled through the folders on my desk, needing something to do lest I used my powers to light Chase on fire. “What do you want?” I asked again, not meeting his waiting gaze.

  He sighed. “I suppose we’ll skip the niceties, then. Sam is dead, Xoe, and the Demon Council is trying to blame me for his murder.”

  My hands froze, letting the few papers I’d picked up flutter back down to my desk. I finally met his eyes. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  He shook his head. “He went missing three weeks ago,” his voice hitched. He took a deep, shaky breath, then continued, “Then a few days back, his body was found in a dumpster. It was reported to the Council. They found me, reported his death, then took me in for questioning.”

  I shook my head in disbelief. I’d never liked Sam, in fact I’d nearly killed him a few times myself, but he was Chase’s brother. Chase had seen some good in him, which meant he probably didn’t deserve to die.

  I stood, walked around the desk, then took the empty chair beside him, putting my hand over his where it rested on his lap. “I’m so sorry, Chase. That must have been an awful experience.”

  He nodded, turning his gaze down to my hand on top of his. “I know he and I haven’t always been on the best of terms, but—” he hesitated, “he was the only family I had left.”

  I took a deep breath. At one time, Dorrie and I had considered Chase family, and he’d felt the same way about us. He was one of my last remaining links to my dad, who’d been murdered right before my eyes five years ago. Our breakup had crushed something inside me, something I was a long way off from recovering.

  “Why are you here, Chase?” I asked softly.

  He turned his gray eyes up to mine. “They think I killed him, Xoe, my own brother. He was stabbed to death, and they linked the wounds to a knife from my apartment. Then when they searched the place, they found remnants of his blood.”

  I shook my head. “How is that even possible?”

  He shrugged. “I have no clue. He’s been to my place a million times, and he never bled in there. The knife was just a kitchen knife. It was never missing as far as I can recall.”

  “How did they track the knife?” I asked.

  “A Sanguis Demon,” he explained. “They can smell where blood has been even after an object has been soaked in bleach.”

  I nodded. I knew a little bit about demon law enforcement. Sanguis Demons were rare, but whenever one popped up, they were almost immediately recruited to the force. I let out a long breath as the gravity of the situation soaked in. “If you’re convicted, they’ll kill you.”

  He nodded. We both knew the Demon Council did not mess around. Death was the penalty more often than not. They had a soft spot for me since my dad had been an upper ranking demon, but that affiliation would only get me so far, and it definitely wouldn’t negate murder charges.

  “All I can think is that I’m being framed. I didn’t kill my brother, he just disappeared.” He turned toward me, a pleading expression creasing his brow. “You knew Sam, Xoe. He was always involved in nefarious activities. Anyone coul
d have wanted to kill him.”

  Everyone wanted to kill him, I thought to myself, removing my hand from his. Sam had unintentionally placed my father in the position that ended his life, and had nearly ended mine. I had no doubt he’d done even worse to many others.

  Chase watched the obvious shift in my expression. “I know you didn’t like him, but you’re the only person I could think to ask for help.”

  I shook my head. “What exactly are you asking me to do, Chase?”

  He reached out and took my hand, squeezing it. “I’d like to hire you to find my brother’s real killer. My trial takes place two weeks from tomorrow. If we don’t find the killer by then, I’m dead.”

  I counted to ten in my head, fighting the whirlwind of emotions tearing through me. “Okay,” I answered finally. “Consider Minor Magics Detective Agency on the case.”

  His shoulders slumped in relief. He let go of my hand, then shifted in his seat to remove his wallet from his back pocket. He unfolded it and removed a white business card, handing it to me. “This is where I can be reached when you’re ready to start on the case . . . which will hopefully be soon.”

  He stood.

  I turned the card over in my hand. The front was just a phone number, then on the back was a hastily scrawled address. “You know,” I began hesitantly, “usually only criminals need a business card with only a phone number on it.”

  The corner of his lip curled. “Nothing overly nefarious, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  I shook my head. “I better not regret helping you.”

  He smiled down at me. “I promise I won’t drag you down with me, no matter what happens.” With that, he turned and made his way to the door. With his hand on the knob, he looked over his shoulder at me. “It’s good to see you again, Xoe.”

  I smirked, still fiddling with the business card in my hands. “I wish I could say the same.”

  He chuckled. “I see you’ve changed even less than Dorrie has.” He opened the door and let himself out, shutting it gently behind him.

  I flipped the business card over again in my hand, peering down at it as I mulled things over. Chase and I might have had our differences, but there was no way I was going to let him get framed for murder. I set the card on my desk as I stood, then hurried across the space to the adjoining bathroom before Dorrie could find me and bombard me with questions.

  Entering the bathroom, I flipped on the lights and locked the door behind me, then peered into the mirror above the small, dingy sink. My bright green eyes, just like my dad’s, gazed back at me. I wished I could ask my dad what I should do. He’d always seemed to have all the answers, and the demon connections to implement the solutions. I was just a twenty-two year old half-demon, trying to run a detective agency with little real experience. I’d been in over my head since I started, and now I had a murder case on my hands. It was sink or swim time, except the waters were infested with demons instead of sharks. We might not all have sharp teeth, but we tended to be far more deadly.

  Chapter Two

  Dorrie was leaning against my desk with her arms crossed as I emerged from the bathroom.

  I held up a hand before she could speak. “Please don’t start. We’re going to help him, then we’re going to continue on without him in our lives.”

  “We’ll talk about that later, Poptart.” She pushed away from the desk with hands like glittery porcelain. “Devin called. He says he wants you at the next pack meeting.”

  My shoulders slumped. Here I was without any real clients, spending all my time doing favors for old friends. At one time, I’d been the leader of the small werewolf pack in Shelby, Oregon. Devin, an actual werewolf, had taken over the job for me when I opened Minor Magics. Really, I should have never had the job to begin with. I’d only taken on the responsibility to keep my friends safe, but now I couldn’t seem to get away from it.

  “He knows I can’t just come up there any time I please. The Demon Code states we can only go for six hours once a week, and I already had plans for this week.”

  Dorrie rolled her eyes. “Yes, plans with a werewolf. Lucy will be at the meeting. I’m sure she’ll understand.”

  I paced across the room, retrieved Chase’s card from the desk, then turned to Dorrie. “What day is the meeting?”

  She straightened her back, seemingly satisfied with her powers of persuasion. “It was supposed to be Friday, but they moved it to tonight.”

  Of course they did. I removed my cell phone from my jacket pocket to check the time, 5:00 pm. The meetings usually happened at six.

  Scowling, I returned my phone to my pocket, then gestured for Dorrie to follow me. “Let’s lock up and get some dinner before I have to go. If I’m back soon enough, we’ll start work on Chase’s case tonight.”

  She followed me across the room, shutting and locking the office door behind us. She had a small receptionist area in the waiting room, across from four chairs lined against the far wall. I was lucky to even fill one of the chairs on any given day.

  We headed out the main door, which Dorrie locked behind us. Waiting on her, I glanced around the sparsely populated street, burying my hands in my jacket pockets against the chilly air. Most people would need a heavier coat in the winter weather, but as a fire demon, I tended to run hot.

  Finished with the door, Dorrie joined my side as we headed back toward our shared house, left to me by my father. Dorrie had become sort of a roommate, though we had a more familial dynamic. She’d originally come from the Dream Realm, a place only I and a few other demons could reach. I’d accidentally stolen her away from there when I was a teenager, and she’d been with me ever since. She wasn’t allowed to live on her own in the demon underground, and was only allowed to live at all because the Demon Council had owed me a favor.

  My sneakers hissed across the old fashioned cobblestone street as Dorrie’s boots clomped beside me. I barely noticed the surrounding buildings, though I’d gawked in awe upon my first visit to the underground. Most were made from impossibly smooth looking stone in a myriad of colors. Some buildings were tall, some short, but they were all designed with artful curves and angles that would never be seen in the human world.

  It took us about ten minutes to reach home, just as the winter sky was beginning to grow dark. It would be winter in Shelby, Oregon too. There were various demon cities, all with different climates. Think of them like underground pockets mirroring the weather of the places above them. I wasn’t sure why the weather was the same, since we had artificial skies, and were actually situated on slightly different planes of reality, but that was the way it was.

  I took a moment to look up at my house, more normal looking than the other buildings around. It always seemed so empty when we got home, even though it had been nearly a year since Chase moved out, and many more years than that since my dad died. Still, I couldn’t help reminiscing about the short time I’d had with all four of us living there. It was the closest I’d felt to home since my human mom found out I was a demon, thus driving a wedge between us.

  I waited while Dorrie unlocked the door, then headed into the dark entry room, shucking my jacket. I had a brief moment where I sensed someone else in the room, then Dorrie was there, shoving an unknown person against the wall. Whoever it was had been lying in wait.

  I quickly slammed the door shut and flipped on the lights.

  A girl about my size, tall and gangly, with hair cut into a short brown bob framing dark eyes, struggled against Dorrie’s impossibly strong grip.

  I crossed my arms and waited, glad Dorrie had been there. I knew the girl could have sliced into my flesh with invisible daggers if she’d managed to jump me. She was another half-demon, like me. She was also my cousin.

  I waited for her to cease her struggles. “What do you want, Nix?” She’d probably been trying to cut Dorrie up, but had little luck against Dorrie’s hard skin.

  Nix sneered. “Tell your pet to let me down and I’ll explain.”

  Dorrie look
ed over her shoulder at me and I nodded. Now that I was aware of Nix, I could launch a fireball at her before she could reach me . . . though I’d risk singing the wallpaper.

  Dorrie let her down, then stepped away.

  Nix huddled against the wall, wrapping the baggy green flannel she wore as an over-shirt tightly around her thin frame.

  “What do you want?” I demanded.

  She scowled. “I came here to hire you, not to kill you.”

  I raised an eyebrow at her. “And that requires breaking into my house? I have an office, you know.”

  She snorted. “I see you’re still the same old Xoe, thinking about no one but yourself. I’ve been on the run since you brought the Demon Council down on my father’s operation.”

  My face felt hot with a brief flash of anger. Once upon a time, Nix’s father, Art, who was also my uncle, had run an operation kidnapping other supernaturals to drain them of their powers. I’d infiltrated his operation to save my friends. Long story short, Art ended up dead, and everyone else involved had been hunted down by the Demon Council, though they obviously hadn’t caught Nix.

  I counted to ten in my head, stilling my anger. A few years ago I wouldn’t have been able to control it, and something, or someone would have ended up on fire. Fortunately for Nix, I’d grown a lot since then.

  Once I’d calmed myself, I replied. “How did you get back underground? I know you can’t travel.”

  She scowled. Few demons had the power to travel between realms. It had always been a sore spot with Nix and her side of the family that my dad and I could. She probably reveled in the fact that the Demon Code now limited that power.