Demon Possession (37 page)

“Your lock isn’t electronic?”

“No.”

“Fuck.” Cale said bleakly.

“What’s the matter?” She asked.

“Ours is.”

Anya digested this information. The cel with al the demons and crew members was secured by an electronic lock, and hers was not. Could the pirates know of her ability? Had they taken this precaution because they knew she could breach a mechanized lock?

“Dammit,” Sebastian bit out. “Anya, I’l get you out of there.”

“Actual y,” a new voice corrected. “I’l get her out of there.” It was Ethanule.

A string of curses flew fromal threedemons lips.

“Energetic bunch you al are.” Ethanule said, ignoring their graphic threats.

Anya backed away from the door when she heard the sound of a key being inserted.

Click.

Ethanule was tal er than she thought he would be, as tal as Sebastian and his frame just as big. He wore a long dark coat over a deep-red sweater, black pants and thick black boots. The only trinkets he wore were the thick gold bands on his fingers.

Ethanule smiled at her appraisal of him and bowed. “You like?”

With disdain she replied, “Why have you locked us up?”

Tilting his head in confusion he said, “To keep you from leaving of course.”

Obviously. “Why would you want to do that?”

He shrugged, “To answer that I’l need you to come with me.”

Sebastian howled, “Let me out of here, you traitorous vermin. I wil rip your head from your body.”

To Anya Ethanule said, “Wel , now I wil definitely not be letting him out.” Abruptly he turned. “Fol ow me. My chambers wil provide some much-needed privacy.”

Anya took a step out of her cel . Two guards lined the wal facing the cel doors. Ethanule kept walking as if he expectedherto just fol ow.

She did.

“If you harm a hair on her head you wil regret it!” Sebastian grated.

From behind her she heard Cale add, “That’s not a threat mate, that’s a fact.”

When they reached one of the dim hal ways Ethanule commented to himself, “Fascinating. Loyalty in demons is hard to come by.” He gave her an admiring glance and walked on. “I apologize about the tranquilizer dart. I hadn’t wanted you to sleep quite so long and that particular dart was not meant for you, but … no harm done.”

“Thank you for your concern,” Anya said, mimicking Sonya’s sarcastic tone. “Why don’t you get to the point?”

“Just as impatient as your demons, aren’t you?” Ethanule stopped and opened a large door, gesturing for her to enter. When she didn’t he said, “Come on, I wil not harm you.”

“You’l understand if I don’t believe you.”

“Pirates honor.”

Anya entered the room, not because she trusted him, but because she knew he wasn’t real y giving her a choice. Two of his guards had fol owed close behind them.

The room was magnificent in its splendor. Red, orange, and green linen draped the entire room, floor to ceiling. The floor was not dirt and dust but a spread of lush burgundy carpet. Lanterns lined the wal s and hung from the ceiling, giving off a warm glow throughout the room.

There were three large chairs arranged around a smal table. One large desk sat against the wal opposite the door, a large heavy looking book lay atop it, the cover and spine shimmered with gold.

Next to the desk, now open and empty, was the package Cale had been carrying—the package that Sebastian was supposed to have been paid for.

Her rage flared.

She heard a soft click and turned to see that Ethanule had closed the door behind him, watching her intently. No guards had fol owed. Anya took an involuntary step back into her fighting stance. He only smiled, enraging her further.

“Brave little one.” He stepped forward and she lunged. She realized her mistake immediately but it was too late. He grabbed her wrist and twisted her around so that he was at her back and had managed to lock both her hands in place behind her. Cale had demonstrated a similar move many times, and she chastised herself for not seeing it coming.

Hadn’t even got in a hit.

Securing both her hands in one of his Ethanule raised a hand to her face. She flinched expecting him to strike her, but he only moved her hair aside, revealing one pointed ear. Her heart began to thunder.

“What?” she feigned nonchalance as she struggled against his hold. “Never seen pointed ears before?”

“I’ve seen ears like yours more often than you might think.”

Ceasing her struggles, “You have?” Interest rapidly replaced fear.Could he know of my people?

“Yes. I’l tel you about it if you like, though I much prefer conversations face to face. If I let you go wil you promise not to attack me again?”

She nodded, not sure if she real y meant it.

As soon as he released her Anya darted away from him. As if trying to project a nonthreatening persona, Ethanule took a seat in one of the nearby chairs.

Leaning back he crossed his arms over his chest, looking very relaxed. But the fact that he’d just subdued her without any effort kept her on guard. Anya moved to put one of the other large chairs between them. Not that it would stop him if he wanted to get to her, but it would give her time to react if she needed.

“Please have a seat. I’ve already given my word that I wil not hurt you.”

“My friends are locked up against their wil . Some of them are stil unconscious from the drug you pumped into them. The word of a pirate does not hold much weight with me at the moment.”

“Touché,” Is al he said,and resumed watching her.

For the moment, his energy was benign. There was also something more. A familiarity. Almost as if … “Tel me, where have you seen ears like mine?”

“Before we get to that, would you like a drink? Something to eat?” Choleric she waited for an answer. “You must be hungry after two days of restful sleep.”

Again she only stared. “Suit yourself.” When Ethanule stood she jumped back. He gave her a chafed look as he moved past her to stand behind the desk.

Placing a hand on the large book he said, “This book wil tel you everything you need to know, everything you want to know. Al you need to do, Analia, is open it.”

Anya stood motionless for a moment.He’d used her given name.

Reading her expression he added, “Yes, I know who you are.”

Did he know what she could do?

As if he’d read her thoughts he added, “I know more about you than you might think.”

“Like what?”

“You don’t remember your people, your home planet, what happened there.”

She looked at the book and then at the empty package on the floor. “Is that book what we came to deliver?” He nodded. “And it holds the answers that I seek?”

“Yes.”

The book was as thick as her fist by two. The cover was dark red leather framed by a decorative gold border that weaved over the front and back. It radiated an energy of magic, similar to the wards she’d felt on theMarada.

“But you seek these answers as wel ?” Anya surmised.

“I do.”

“Why then,do you need me? Why not just open the book and see for yourself.”

He gave her a knowing smile. “It’s been enchanted to open for only three people in the universe.”

Three?“And somehow I’m one of the three? Where are the others?”Were they like her?

“That’s what I hope to find out.”

To exploit them?

If what he claimed was true, then this book would hold the answers to her lost people. And if she opened it here-and-now, then this pirate wil have that information as wel . What if this knowledge was locked away for a reason? What if her people were in hiding because of people like Darius and this pirate? Moving in close, “How do I open it?”

“You must only touch the lock.”

Placing her hands on the book she ran them over the cover, the aura she felt was comforting.

“Tel me,” he said from behind her. “What do you know of a man named Darius?”

Anya grabbed the heavy book with both hands and heaved it off the desk, her aim was perfect—though the book was much heavier than she’d first imagined—with a loud crack to the skul Ethanule crumbled to the floor. In a delayed reaction her heart began to pound loudly in her chest.

Clutching the thick book in one arm she turned to the door. The doorknob squeaked lightly as she turned it,and the hal seemed darker after being in the brightly colored room. No guards were in sight. Perhaps they figured Ethanule could handle one smal girl. Inwardly she chuckled.

Easing the door closed behind her she transferred the weight of the book to her other arm and began retracing her steps. Distant echoes reverberated through the hal . Desperately glancing around,Anya couldn’t see very far. Her senses were more astute than her vision at the moment. She could feel that people were near but not in the same hal way as her. With the sounds of her feet crunching against gravel she kept moving.

Reassuring herself that she was going the right way she reached out to scan for Sebastian and the others, catching a glimpse of their energy she continued on through a second tunnel. Sebastian’s angry roars confirmed that she was on the right track.

He quieted as she reached the edge of the chamber, as though he sensed her as wel , no doubt that he did.

Two guards were stil against a wal , facing the center of the room. She wouldn’t be able to overtake them both. She would have to move quickly before they could catch her. Knowing that she would need both hands to disable the lock Anya laid the book against the wal of the corridor.

The control for the lock wasjustleft of the door, it looked like the kind that required a keycard. She should have searched Ethanule before she’d left him.

Too late now. Anya would have to—as Cale would say—pul a light bulb on it.

But for this to work she would need to be close to the lock, very close, touching would be ideal. Every object emitted its own energy signature and she was unfamiliar with the signatures here. That suggested an unpredictable outcome. With the light bulbs she’d been able to take her time, get a feel for each one, and stil … She could wind up blowing up her friends.

Shaking herself she focused on her task. Get past the guards, disable the lock.

Sucking in her chest she shot forward into the chamber, the guards saw her immediately and yel ed their surprise. They didn’t waste time in coming after her but she was ahead of them by a few feet, it was al she needed.

Reaching out for the lock she focused her energy on it, trying to get inside it with everything she had.

A large arm wrapped around her torso, pinning her arms to her side.

“No!” She’d almost been there.

“Anya!” Sebastian roared.

As the guard ripped her body back she screamed, “Bastian!” She struggled relentlessly but the guards grip was like a vice, so tight she could hardly breathe. Sebastian roared again, this time his timbre had sounded more ferocious. The sound of flesh ramming into metal rang out from behind the door.

He was trying to break it down. She didn’t want him to hurt himself but she herself was in pain, so when she cried his name again—meaning to calm him

—it was like throwing fuel on a flame.

The guard, she sensed, was confused by the turn of events and unsure of what to do. The door to Sebastian’s cel was visibly bowing with each merciless ram. The guard was riveted, his heart hammering against her back.Dust and rocksbegan to crumblefrom the wal s at the onslaught, and the guard tightened his grip once more, making her gasp and thrash.

She needed to get the door open before Sebastian real y hurt himself. His energy had spiked to a kil ing rage and would not be calmed unless, “Take your hands off me!” She warned the guard.

“Shut up!” He replied pul ing out a gun from a holster at his back, aiming it at the door.

“No! Bastian!” Again she sounded panicked and Sebastian misunderstood and his wild rage worsened. The bone crunching sound of him beating himself against the door was agonizing.

Fighting against the guards iron grip Anya did the only thing she could think of in her panicked state, she began to focus on the lock once more. Trying to focus on its energy alone, while al of the intensity around her was heightened to a fever pitch, was proving nearly impossible. Every source of energy within two-hundred feet bombarded her senses.

When Sebastian threw himself at the door once more it was fol owed by a muffled sound of pain. The sound cut her deep in her chest, driving her into an uncontrol able urgency to stop this. With reckless abandon she fixed her attention on every single energy source, al owing it al to flood into her at once. It washed over her like little sparks of light floating in and out of her every cel . Like sizzling bubbles invading her mind and massaging the very essence of her being.

It felt … good, as though something else inside her was taking over. An instinct that had been buried deep. She relinquished control, heat washed over her, a welcome heat.

“What the …” The guard released her and backed away stil clutching his weapon. The second guard backed up as wel .

In her mind the energy began to solidify, becoming like thick wires stringing directly into her. She gripped them and held them tight. The power was massive, unlimited, and al hers.

The heat was becoming too much.

Anya hunched over and closed her eyes. She was forgetting why she’d started this. A ringing in her ears flooded her hearing, but Sebastian’s roar pul ed her back from surrendering completely to the overpowering instinct thatthreatened toovercome her.

The snaking wires had buried themselves deep inside her, intertwined with her essence, and she had to mental y rip them away. The act brought pain.

With each wire she managed to remove she vaguely comprehended a corresponding popping sound. In one swift pul , she pried them al out at once.

The dim lights in the room surged bright before erupting in loud pops veiling the room in darkness. Distant pops sounded down the hal way as the chain of light exploded one after the other.

There was a soft click and the door to the cel was unlocked and nearly torn off the hinges by Sebastian. The demons poured out, ready for a fight but the guards had fled. Aidan and the other crew members, stil groggy, fol owed behind.