A Demon Made Me Do It (21 page)

“
Well, if you feel you are
up for the challenge, there are some followers of Thammuz in a cave
by Wellington Hot Springs. You will hear their song, which will
carry for several miles. It sounds like a cluster of
owls.”

“
Perfect.”

“
You cannot kill them with
your hands or your Powers. You must slit their throats. Make sure
you have your dagger.”

“
Always,” I say, patting my
boot.

“
And, Lucky…”

“
Yeah…?”

“
I know you’re upset with
Liora right now. If you do anything to harm her or her life in any
way there will be severe consequences. Understood?”

I roll my eyes. Does she
ever bother to tell Liora not to mess with
me
or harm
my
life?
Noooooo…

“
Tatiana, I wouldn’t
dream
of it.”

******

When I reach the River of Kings, I
dismount Diablo and take a quick look around for Bones. I hate how
we left things between us last night. I want to talk with him and
make sure we’re still cool.

Or do I?

After all,
I’m
the one who said I
needed some time and space to figure things out. But really, what
is there to decide? I want him. I want him more than just as a
friend or a companion. I want him to be mine…all
mine.
He may want me, but
he also wants others. Many others. It’s who he is. This will never
change.

And how awful this makes me feel will
also never change unless I can go back to the way I was
before…before the split and without Liora’s human emotions
infecting my judgment.

Question is, can I live with that? Can
I stay friends with Bones, even though seeing him go off to seduce
Sapie women drives a knife through my heart? Can I continue to
pretend forever that I’m fine with it? Can I live with the sadness
I feel whenever I see the cocky smile he gets before heading out to
make his conquests, or see his eyes aglow from his satisfying
missions?

Can I ever forget the image of
watching him make love to all those women?

If I was normal…if I was still a pure
demion, I’d be better able to shut these unwanted emotions off.
Maybe then I could deal with this situation with a clear head. But
as things are now, I can’t. Since Liora went human, all my hard
work toward mastering the fine art of apathy has gone right out the
window.

And it really pisses me
off.

And then there’s Kieron.
Sure, I’ve met plenty of other demions before, but there’s
something about him…I don’t know what it is. Sure he’s
gorgeous…he’s a demion. That’s not it. Last night, after he helped
me with the Altrumina…sitting there in the park beside him…I don’t
know, it’s like I felt safe. Whole. Right….if only for a moment.
Being with him felt easy.
Good
.

But then tonight, waking up in his
arms…knowing he’d been with Liora…that something was going on
between them. The sick feeling hit me almost as hard as it does
when Bones leaves me for his Sapies.

And now I don’t know
what
to think, or do. I
wish I could make these feelings disappear! Maybe I can talk with
Tatiana…maybe there’s something she can do to fix me. Maybe she can
create some sort of concoction that can make me how I’m supposed to
be… No more sadness, anger, jealousy, loneliness, insecurities,
confusion…
nothing
.
Nothing but pure instinct.

Sigh
. Talk about wishful thinking. Despite Tatiana’s great powers,
even
she
can’t
influence my curse. She’s already tried.

I slowly make my way across the
bridge, pausing briefly to gaze at the churning inferno below. The
hypnotizing dance of the flames mildly soothes me, and helps me
remember who I am.

I am a demion. I am proud,
beautiful, and powerful. And I am
not
about to let some stupid males
make me feel weak and question my greatness. If they don’t want
me…only
me
…then
it’s
their
loss.

Right?

My chin held high, I stride
confidently toward the Bar, ready to face anything. Then it hits
me, and I stop suddenly in my tracks.
Liora…Kieron…

I already knew that my
mixed up feelings about Bones were caused by Liora’s influence.
It’s her human side that corrupts me. But, it isn’t just my
feelings about Bones that are messed up. Even when I meet other
demions I’ve never had any urge to pursue them because of how much
Liora hates all things demon. At least, I
think
that’s why.

So why is Kieron different?
Why was she with him? Why was he with her? And if
she
didn’t feel something
for him, would
I
be feeling this way?

I need answers. Now.

A demion named Daisy sits by the door
painting her fingernails blood-red. Just as pretty and just as
deadly as Ivy, one controlled touch from Daisy can instantly turn
any living creature—human or demon—into stone, ash, or fire,
depending on her mood.

“’
Sup, crazy Daisy?” I
cautiously air-kiss both her cheeks.

“
Lucky, love. Long time no
see. You look
amaze
as always.”

“
Thanks, you too. Love the
pink hair. But I’m surprised to see you working…Where’s
Ivy?”

She shrugs and gently blows on her
fingertips. “Dunno. Didn’t show up tonight so they called me in.
Cody’s not here either, so maybe they’re off having one of their
world-famous blowouts…”

“
Hmm. Hope everything’s
cool,” I say, secretly relieved to be spared Ivy’s gossip for one
night.

The smoky room is crowded, but I spot
both of them right away: Bones at the bar drinking by himself,
looking sulky; Kieron in his usual corner with his back to
me.

I decide to approach Bones
first. If nothing else it’ll be good for Kieron to see he isn’t the
only hottie in town. Make him realize I’m not the
only
one with some
competition.

“
Hey,” I say, sliding into
the seat beside Bones. “How goes it?”

He stares straight ahead with a blank
expression on his face and chugs from his glass. Then he sets it
down and turns to me. His eyes are cold…like a stranger.

“
I don’t know. You tell
me.” Even his voice sounds different. Hard. Detached.

“
Good…things are good.” I
glance around nervously. I didn’t expect him to be this mad.
Actually, mad would be better. Mad would imply he still
cares.

I peek over at Kieron. He’s not
looking my way, and now I hope he doesn’t. If Bones decides to make
a scene, I certainly don’t want Kieron witnessing my humiliation.
Again.

“
So, it’s okay for you to
talk to me now?” Bones asks in a flat tone.

“
Bones, yes,
of course
it is.” I
signal Gyan, Cody’s fill-in, to bring me a drink.

“
I thought you needed space
from me. If you want to be left alone so much why are you here
talking to me?”

“
Bones, you’re still my
friend. That hasn’t changed…for me at least. And I hope not for
you. I just need to figure some things out. It doesn’t mean I don’t
care about you. Don’t be mad.”

He finishes his drink and sets down
his glass. “I’m not mad. But I gotta go. I’ll catch you later.” And
with those cold words he grabs his brown leather jacket off the
back of his chair and disappears.

I take a few sips of my
drink and stew at his attitude. What gives Bones the right to act
like this? I only told him I need some time to figure out the crazy
thoughts and feelings in my head. And I need to figure them out so
I can be his friend even though I like him
too
much. It’s not like I called him
a disgusting, whorish, mangy mutt or something.

“
This seat taken?” a voice
whispers in my ear, causing my heart to jump a beat. I hadn’t even
noticed him come up on me.

“
No.” I wave my hand
absently, trying to appear calm. Bones’ ambivalent departure had
made my stomach clench. But after what I told him, what did I
really expect him to say?

It’s better this way. It has to
be.

Kieron sits down and orders us more
drinks. We sit in silence, neither of us looking at the other until
we are both finished. After I take my last sip, he stands up and
places his hands on the back of my seat.

“
Shall we?” he asks,
pulling out my chair as I rise.

“
What is this, 1850?” I
mutter.

Once we get outside, I shoot Kieron a
quick glance. “Try and keep up.” The instant the words leave my
mouth, I streak into the depths of Dryndara’s forest as fast as I
can.

Although all demions and
demons have extraordinary speed as well as strength, I’m one of the
fastest. Because of my Brand, there are few who can keep up with me
when I
really
let
myself loose.

So I’m quite surprised to see Kieron
keeping pace with me almost stride for stride. Without thinking, I
head to my secret, safe place. I’ve never brought anyone here
before, not even Bones. I don’t know why I’m letting Kieron follow
me here now.

Before long, I reach the top of the
cliff. The Sirens are singing tonight, filling the air with their
hypnotizing melodies. I glance down at the lightning-peaked
volcanoes and the rivers of fire below, before turning to give
Kieron a furious glare.

“
Okay. You need to tell me
exactly
who
you
are and what the
hell
is going on.”

Chapter 12.
Lucky

Kieron wanders to the edge of the
cliff and sits down on a patch of grass. He looks up at me with
what I’m sure he thinks is an irresistibly charming
smile.

“
You seem upset,” he
says.

“
Well, no shit, Sherlock.
You win a cupcake for being so damn observant.”

“
Why are you mad?” The
corners of his mouth hint at a smile.

“
Are you
serious
? I don’t exactly
appreciate waking up with a gun pointed at
me
, let alone at
her
. At least I can defend myself,
but she can’t. And for
some
reason you were right there letting it happen. I
want to know what you were doing with her and how
she wound up in that situation. And why you seem
to be the one responsible for it.”

Kieron leans his body back so casually
he may as well be sunning himself at the damned beach. I don’t know
if he’s intentionally trying to be sexy, or if it just comes
naturally to him. Either way, it’s pissing me off.

“
I was trying to figure it
out…I needed to see how it works,” he says.

“
How
what
works?”

“
You two, you and Liora.
I…I’ve never seen anything like it before. I thought the stories
couldn’t really be true, but you really
are
two separate identities, aren’t
you?”

I move closer to him, my hands on my
hips. “Yeah…so?”

“
So
it’s…
fascinating
.
I mean, you’re like me…a demion, but for some reason you have
completely split up your traits—human on one side, demon on the
other. A human by day, a demon, or I guess I should say, demion, by
night.”

“
And another cupcake for
the brilliant Captain Obvious.”

“
But why…I mean, how did it
happen? Were you Created this way?”

“
I’d rather not discuss
that right now. It’s wonderful that you find us so interesting, but
that doesn’t explain why you were with Liora today and why you
almost got us killed.”

“
Is...is she here now?
Liora? Does she know what’s going on? Can she hear us?”

I’m quiet for a moment. “No. She’s
sleeping.”

“
Does she know anything?
About you and your life? Or is she completely in the
dark?”

My eyes flash with
anger.
I’m
the one
asking questions around here, not him. Especially if his questions
are going to be about
her.
“I don’t know what she does or doesn’t know, and I
don’t really care. If you’re so interested, talk to
her.”

He drops his head slightly. “I guess I
just thought it would be easier to talk with you
about…this.”

“
Well, I can’t really
answer any questions about her. Sometimes I see what she’s doing,
but most of the time it’s so mundane there’s no point in even
paying attention. She’s woken up a few times, but since she hates
all things demon, she keeps her distance as much as possible. I
sleep when she is awake and vice-versa.”