Demon Master (Demonsense series Book 2) (66 page)

"Emotion maybe? Intensity of emotion?"

"Perhaps. It would make for an interesting experiment to determine in more detail how this mechanism works."

"Later, Gelsenim. Right now I need to rehearse some offensive and defensive spells with you. I want to be fresh for tonight."

"This seems a wise plan, my host. I do not wish you to come to any harm. I have plans for you, for us."

Bree felt a chill at the demon's words. If they survived the night, she had a very interesting, and perilous set of experiments and dilemmas waiting for her.

"I
can't believe this is happening," Bree said, voice rising in feigned panic. "The fucking check engine light has been on all week, but with everything that's been happening, I haven't had a chance to get in to my mechanic."

"Calm down, it's okay, I'll come and get you," Leander answered over the phone Bree had clutched in a sweaty grip.
 

"You don't understand, I'm almost all the way up to Everett! I wanted to get a gun from my friend Howard. God damn it, I should have tried to get one legally, like you told me to. But I couldn't decide, and then you called about Varga, and there wasn't time..."

"Just tell me where you are. I was already on my way, so it shouldn't take that long, traffic willing." Leander's voice held a definite hint of strain.
 

Bree gave him the address of a gas station she'd looked up online. "The gas station guy is still trying to work on it. I'll call you if by some miracle he gets it running and I'll meet you there, at the park."

"I'll get there as fast as I can." Leander ended the call, and Bree couldn't tell if he'd believed her. If he were with the Keltoi, he'd have reason to suspect she might want to ditch him. Well, it was the best she could do. If the Saturday night traffic was bad enough, going all the way up to Everett could delay Leander as much as forty-five minutes, maybe an hour, especially if he wasted some time trying to figure out if he was at the right place. And then he'd have to drive all the way back to Volunteer Park, and traffic heading into Seattle was certain to be heavy. If she was very lucky, he'd be delayed long enough to keep him out of the whole thing. It all depended on how long Varga and Franchesca spent at the ball, and how long the duel took.

Of course, at best, she'd taken only one Keltoi out of the situation. If Leander had warned Varga, Varga would have had plenty of time to come up with a plan if he decided he wanted to try to take Daniel instead of duel with him.
 

"It is done, my host," Gelsenim said from where he stood beside her, arms crossed, leaning against the wall by her front door. "You have done all you could to delay Leander."

"I know." She pulled her brown leather jacket off the hook in the hallway and put it on. Between that and her black jeans, she hoped to be hard to see. "Do you want to just go back inside me or ride in the car?"

"Definitely ride in the car," Gelsenim replied, straightening up. "I have never ridden in a car in this form. In fact, I would like to learn how to drive. If you are injured, that would allow me to get you to help."

"Well then, I hope you can learn by watching because I'm not letting you drive there."

"If I concentrate on your sensations, how it feels to you to drive, I believe I will be able to replicate your motions if needed."

Bree pushed aside how creeped out that made her. She'd been working really hard on thinking of Gelsenim as a person, at forgetting he was actually always in her head, or her body, or whatever. She pulled her keys out of her pocket and said, "Let's go, Gelsenim."

Bree had a good view of both Franchesca and Varga through the lenses of her binoculars. She was perched on a rise with her back to the round brick water tower at Volunteer park, in among the trees and bushes at its base. The choice of viewing spot had been a calculated risk. She'd had to make an educated guess about where Daniel would most likely position himself in order to place herself outside his Reader perceptive range, which Bree knew to be about a hundred yards. She had gambled that Daniel would be across the park, closer to the most likely dueling spot, which she had scouted by looking at online pictures and maps of the park.
 

 
Varga was shaking the hand of a stout bald man, Franchesca hanging off his arm. Bree looked for traces of Daniel in Varga's face, given they were cousins. Maybe there was something in the slant of the cheekbones, the shape of the eyes. She wondered how much harder the prospect of killing Varga was for Daniel given that they were related, albeit only distantly. She was quite sure that would make it harder if it were her.
 

The huge glass windows of the Art Deco building of the Asian Art museum where the ball was being held spilled warm light out onto the steps out front. Long golden banners with stylized black cranes on them were dramatically illuminated on either side of the entrance, and were gently rippling in the slight breeze. Varga and Franchesca had moved to one side, close to one of the reclining camel statues, as they continued to greet and talk to other guests from the event. It was getting close to ten. The bulk of the event attendees had already left by the time Varga and Franchesca came out.
 

Bree would have been tired if she weren't so keyed up. She was nearly as nervous about Daniel finding her as she was about catching the attention of Varga and Franchesca. There was still no sign of Leander, even though he’d texted that he was here. She’d been hoping the duel would’ve been over by now, had gambled on the charity dinner and ball letting out earlier given the pending curfew. That way, Leander would have been kept out of it if he was serving as Varga’s back up. Maybe he was planning on following Varga and finding her that way. Or he was placing himself where he could best serve Marton.
 

Well, that was all out of her hands now. Bree lowered the binoculars and swept her gaze all around her. It was a mostly cloudy night, a thin crescent of moon revealed periodically as the cloud cover was slowly pushed east. The glow of downtown Seattle lit the nighttime sky behind her, but it was quite dark under the trees. Still no sign of movement besides the departing guests.

Volunteer Park stood on a hill east of downtown, a collection of wide, grassy meadows surrounded by stands of trees. An elegant turn of the century glass conservatory was just visible from where she was lurking, at the north end of the park. She thought it likely Daniel was in the trees just short of the conservatory.

Finally, Varga and Franchesca started heading towards the cars. Bree raised her binoculars again. The deep teal blue of Franchesca's gown was visible under the lights, and her hair was up in some kind of elaborate bun. She looked gorgeous, Bree thought sourly. Varga was dressed in a tux.
 

She turned her sights towards the conservatory, swept the binoculars back and forth along the sidewalk in front of where the cars were parked. There, finally, movement in the trees near the conservatory. Bree tried to pull her energy in even closer to her body, though she was pretty sure she'd retracted it as far as humanly possible. She'd waited until she thought Daniel would be done sweeping the park and was holed up in the thicker trees near the conservatory before sneaking up to her post. Thus far, it appeared he hadn't spotted her.

Daniel walked toward Varga and Franchesca, moving confidently, not hurrying. Bree scanned back toward Varga and Franchesca and spotted the moment Franchesca saw Daniel. Her back stiffened, and she raised her chin at a haughty angle. Marton looked at Franchesca, then followed her gaze to Daniel. Bree couldn't see any reaction at all from Varga. Both he and Franchesca were in profile, and it made it harder for her to read their expressions.
 

Daniel came up to them and started talking. Franchesca spoke first in response, but Daniel didn't look at her. His eyes were glued to Varga, who was shaking his head. Daniel spoke again, and pointed off behind him, in the direction of the spot Bree had guessed he would set the duel. Franchesca said something to Daniel again, and his glance flicked toward her, then back to Varga. He spoke again and Varga gave a little nod. All three of them headed towards the conservatory.

Bree waited, almost breathless with the tension that had spiked when she first spotted Daniel. She didn't want to lose sight of him and the others but had to take care to stay out of the range of Daniel's Reader sense. She hoped to follow slow enough to arrive after the duel started so Daniel's attention would be taken up with the duel, but not so late that she couldn't offer any help if needed.
 

She forced herself to wait for several minutes after they had disappeared under the trees, then moved to follow. Her worries multiplied until they became an incomprehensible blur of anguish. What if Daniel was already dead by the time she got to there? What if Daniel perceived her and she distracted him in some fatal fashion? What if the whole park was swimming with Keltoi? She was tempted to call Gelsenim, longed for the boost in confidence he would give her, but she resisted the impulse. It was too soon.

She headed into the trees at the edge of the meadow behind the big donut-shaped sculpture that faced out over the beautiful nighttime view of downtown. Her eyes strained for any sign of movement ahead, and listened for any sound ahead or behind. She couldn't hear anything. Not that she expected to hear the duel. There would be a sound stop spell up to avoid attracting the attention of any normals. Her nerves started to seriously fray. What if she stumbled straight onto Leander, or some group of Keltoi Varga had put in place in advance?
 

But none of that happened. As she finally got all the way around the west side of the meadow and was coming up on what she thought was the dueling spot, Bree allowed the merest trickle of Reader sense to advance ahead. She imagined a thread-thin tendril ghosting forward, alert to the smallest sign of magical energy. And she found it. She moved forward even more cautiously, hoping to get close enough to see but not be seen. She had to strain to keep her Reader sense narrowed to a tiny filament of awareness.
 

There was a sudden surge in energy, and it raced into her awareness like a small, razor-sharp zap of electricity. It was starting. She started to sprint, then slowed down again. She had to keep her head. As she moved forward into a thicker stand of trees and shrubs, she felt a sudden urge to stop and turn around. It was so late, and she was so incredibly tired. It was past time to head home and get to bed.

She shook her head, hard. She'd been expecting this kind of ward, designed to turn normals away from the dueling site. She forced her way forward, and after a few yards, the sensation vanished. There was a gap in the trees ahead, and now she could see movement. She crept closer, in under the low slung branches of a cedar tree, which hung almost all the way to the ground, creating a little cave. She winced as she brushed against a branch, causing it to rustle. She froze, then inched closer to the gap and peered through the tree branches. And there they were, there was Daniel, still alive. She wasn't too late.
 

Marton Varga was across from him, staggering as he gestured toward the ground, then flung his arm up in a sharp motion. The ground beneath Daniel heaved up, throwing him off balance. It settled back with a low concussion Bree could feel in her feet. She looked around quickly for Franchesca, and for signs of anyone else. Franchesca was across from her and to her right, looking on avidly. She seemed to be glancing back and forth between Daniel and Varga equally. Bree wanted to open her Demonsense, cast it out to see if Franchesca was possessed, but she didn't dare, Franchesca might feel it.
 

Varga advanced on Daniel, but Daniel had regained his balance, and he flicked the fingers of his left hand against the palm of his right, if he were dislodging a bothersome bug. Varga flew up into the air and onto his back, ten feet away. The warding circle around them wavered, then broke, and suddenly Bree could hear.

"I told you he would be difficult to put down, but you wouldn't believe me," Franchesca was saying snidely. Bree couldn't tell who she was saying it to, because neither man replied. Varga swept a hand from his shoulder and out toward Daniel, who made a warding gesture, palm out. Daniel was pushed back several steps as he absorbed the force of Marton's spell. Bree had never seen so much telekinetic energy thrown around before, and it was all happening so fast.

Daniel was in a defensive posture long enough to allow Varga to regain his feet and cast again. He made a snapping motion with his hand, as if he were cracking a whip, and Bree heard a grunt of pain escape Daniel. It took her a moment in the dim light to see the dark line of blood across Daniel's right palm. Somehow, Varga had managed to hurt Daniel, to cut his skin, at a distance, strongly enough to get past Daniel's defenses.
 

Before she could register shock at the level of skill that implied, Daniel was casting back. Varga grimaced and put a hand to his throat, as if his breath was cut off. Daniel pressed forward several steps, clenching his bleeding hand into a fist, a look of intense concentration on his face. Bree had a minute then to wonder why Daniel hadn't just bound Varga. Maybe he had tried before she got there, maybe Varga had a way to defend against it. And clearly, Varga hadn't managed to bind Daniel either.
 

She abruptly remembered that she was supposed to be sparing most of her attention for Franchesca, and for scanning for other Keltoi. Franchesca was merely standing there, lips parted, eyes locked on Daniel now. Bree sent her Reader sense carefully out, scanning first the immediate vicinity, then casting a wider net. She kept sneaking glances at Daniel as she did so, hoping he wouldn't sense her working. He didn't appear to. She was just about to give it up, satisfied that no one was nearby, when she felt just a hint of energy, away to the south.
 

She narrowed her focus in that direction, and she had it. Someone was approaching. Someone powered.