-As I've promised earlier, I'm trying to bring it here a little bit back to life! So here is another chapter and I would love if you let me know what do you think about it. Enjoy reading and I'm looking forward to your reviews! Camelia-

"I don't like it," Zed said, establishing her arms over her chest. They were sitting on an empty parking lot, disguising his plan. And hell it was a bad plan! "No way," she continued, dead in her eyes. "I'm not going to let you be the bait."

"I agree with her," Jim said slowly, thinking about it from all possible angles, "You're too important for putting you in risk."

"Oh, I'm touched," Constantine answered, little bit sarcastically, as Zed knew that anger is starting to build inside of him. "But that's not going to solve our problem."

"Fine," Zed stood up again, casting her hands. She knew that soon Constantine would do something stupid if she hadn't done something to shock him (of better to say, even stupider than what he could possibly expected). He had just that impatient look on his face she knew so well by now. Plus the fact he was angry and Corrigan seemed to be absolutely cool... she had no false expectations about what would happen soon in the future. And right now, she wasn't in mood for calming arguing men down, which meant she had to proceed. "I volunteer."

A quick "What?" come from both side at the same time. Jim and John changed glances, but then they both looked at her. In both eyes she saw a lot of emotions, but wasn't sure what they meant.

"No, you're not," Constantine rejected her idea without doubts, letting his eyes fall back to asphalt, where he had drawn a plan of some building she didn't know with a white chalk. "Ok, we are doing it this way. I'm..."

"Why not?" Zed asked, his comment making her angry. He was always like that – whatever she suggested, he brushed it off table without even considering it. But it wasn't that case all the time, as she remembered a few first cases with him. That time he was willing to make bait from her. Something had to change recently and she wasn't sure if she was happy about it. "It's the best way how to make the demon move and..."

"No," he cut her speech, looking at her with very serious eyes. "You're not going to be the bait. I'm not allowing you to do that."

"And you are who? My mother?" she replied, caustically. Then changed her voice again into something that sounded little bit as a plea: "It's our best chance!"

"No," he repeated stubbornly, not letting her eyes go from his serious gaze.

"Still hasn't told me why," she answered as serious as he. Staring into each other's eyes seemed endless when suddenly, Constantine looked away. He looked... almost uncomfortable. As if he didn't want to answer her question.

And it was it when realization hit her. She meant something to him. Something so strong he didn't want to risk losing her.

She bit her lip as she also realized why he wasn't willing to answer her. Everything was about Jim – it was bad, she knew. But she couldn't tell him now and he knew that too. They needed him and couldn't afford risking he would say he's not going to help them. After all, it had never been his fight and without Zed... Who knew if he was still here with them?

She couldn't let him know she had no more romantic feelings for him. Not know, not before Chas, René and all of them are safe – at least as much as a demon hunter could possibly be.

"Ok, so... We don't have much option with the few we know."

"And we know what exactly?" Jim asked. "Maybe if you tell us everything, it would be easier to come with some... ideas."

Zed wasn't saying anything, but it was clear to him that at this, she wasn't on his side.

"Ok, fine," he reluctantly started, having no real choice. "So... We know that this demon want my soul, but not only that. It wants to make me suffer first. It promised me to attack all people I care about so nobody will be left to stay by my side."

No questions came from anybody as Zed and Jim sat in silence, listening to him with worries and not really sure how to respond at what he was saying.

"Somehow it managed to kill my old acquaintance without even sweating, and she was one of the best. Then it left me note where to meet, just to give me a choice in which life will I save. So what do you, smart heads, concluded?"

"What she meant for you?" Zed asked, clearly something on her mind, but not willing to say it aloud, no until she will be sure it's possible, not just some of her prediction.

The blond looked little bit uneasy. "She was-"

"And truth, John."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, as he answered: "She used to be something like my older sister since I was twelve to, sixteen, approximately."

Zed couldn't suppress surprise. "Wait, I think it was Anne-Marie who showed you this kind of world."

"It was," he agreed. "I had no idea about it when I left her. She met me a few years later in a town with strange murders, which all happened at sleep, asking me what I was doing there. When I told her about my job, she cursed and told me she didn't want me to know because she was afraid I would find some of the 'magic' tempting."

"And you did, right?"

John Constantine grinned his usual way before he answered: "I'm no saint. I think you've already got it, love."

She didn't bother with answering. Instead, she started to think aloud. "So, we have a demon which isn't like others – this one wants you to suffer. But why? Why to risk so much just to make you desperate?"

Jim seemed to get where she was pointing as a fire of understanding spread in his eyes. "Love?"

"We're talking about demon," Zed smiled slightly at his crazy idea. But maybe it wasn't as impassible as it sounded. Like he said – he was no saint and, she had to admit, he was sexy. At least, she would find him attractive even if she was a demon. But on the other hand – what demon would be able to love enough to don't kill him for his moods? "No, but hate may be."

Constantine looked from one to one other and then he said: "You two think that it is some demon I pissed off?"

She shot him a cold glance as he started to laugh. "It's really likely, if we include your ability to piss everyone off. "

"Even if you were right, it's not going to make things easier. I've killed hundreds of demons by now."

"There's also a point in that," Corrigan grunted in not very happy reaction. A lot of demons would have a motif to killed Constantine. Sometimes he wonder how it's even possible he is still walking on this planet, if you add all "normal people" he probably made angry in his life.

"No, there have to be something we missed," Zed murmured, not sure if she was talking to herself or to them. "It smack with emotions. It could make you suffer with torturing you physically. Why to choose this way? Flayed a woman body... It's not some kind of easy killing. Why? If it wants to torture you psychically... why to choose it this hard way? It could simple killed her with a knife of something like that. It have to be clear even to a demon that flaying her and making her a grave from red roses is going to catch media' attention and more attention means more people to know about it, which made the possibility of attracting demon hunters higher? It all seemed like if it was overwhelmed by emotions."

"True," Corrigan stepped into her monologue. "If it would be a normal murder – like, from a human, you know? We would certainly think it was committed by somebody with a strong emotional connection to the victim."

"Whoa, timeout for a moment, Sherlock and Watson," Constantine attempted to stop them. "Let's just say for a moment that you two are right. So we have a demon which wants a revenge for something I have done to it and to 'all of his brothers and sisters' as it said to me. But that doesn't solve anything once again. We still don't have anything to bounce at."

"Maybe we did," Zed said looking from one to the other and vice versa. "If it was so stupid action, the demon had to come to a conclusion it worth the risk. So it had to be some important message for you."

"It was," Constantine reacted, frowning. "It was the first warning of what it's going to do. It let me the letter on roof of that building. The bloody-shining words, remember?"

Zed tried to ignore his grumpy attitude, instead she said, not sure if she was trying to convince herself or them. "There has to be a lead. Something we could use."

"There is none!" He snapped suddenly not able to control all the emotions in him, but then realized what he had just done and continued in a calmer voice. This lose-lose situation wasn't their mistake, in the end. "I don't like it, but there is no other choice than to try to provoke it, so that it would make a mistake."

Zed sighed, knowing he was right. They have too little information to try to come up with some kind of real plan. But if Constantine would be trapped, they wouldn't have any possibilities how to end this. Plus, she was sure the demon wasn't willing to kill him. It would not come if he was the bait. It wanted to break him, to make him killed himself... He didn't tell them, but she knew him long enough to know that even though he tried look like he don't care about people around him dying, he actually did. And it was his most vulnerable spot.

"I have to be the bait, then," she said once again getting strict no as an answer. She laugh but more in desperation than actually being happy. "Believe me, I don't like that more than you, but if it had to be somebody to whom you have strong feeling and you have to choose between me and Jim, I think it's kind of easy, don't you think?"

He took a deep breath to say something, but she knew he knew she was right. If the demon wanted to kill people he cared about, then it shouldn't be able to resist the tempting of killing the person he loved.

On the other hand, he absolutely hated the idea of putting her in so serious danger just to save himself. He would not probably be able to move on if she would be gone. But right now it was the only thing they could do besides waiting who would be next target.

"Ok, fine, have it your way," he sighed, feeling heavy rock settle on his heart. She smiled sadly, knowing exactly what was on his mind, and tried to give him at least some courage and calmness, but it wasn't helping at all.

He had a feeling this is going to end badly.