Demon's Triad (29 page)

Ferrin turned and ran for the door, trying not to think about what would happen to Kali now that she’d decided to battle the demon. If Reglanus had wanted her dead, surely he would have killed her already. There were only two Daiesthai left in the world. He couldn’t afford to kill Kali until he was certain that Ferrin was bought and paid for. She might suffer, but she’d bought him some time and provided a much-needed distraction.

Ferrin flung open the door and ran down the steep metal steps, his bare feet freezing. The temperature had dropped significantly since the last time he’d been out of a climate-controlled room and he wished for some clothes as he raced around the first landing and hit another flight of stairs.

He could feel Aleeza and Dorand, could almost hear the sounds of a struggle somewhere below him. He would find them, free them and then they would all get the hell out of here. No matter how strong he felt when linked with their power, he didn’t want to take another shot at Reglanus until he’d had time to heal.

And to eat a fucking sandwich. Gods, he was hungry, so hungry that even the fear and anxiety rocketing through him couldn’t keep his stomach from growling. Running down the stairs was making him dizzy. Kali had given him water but no food.

He was so dizzy, in fact, that at first he assumed the sight at the bottom of the stairs was just a hunger-induced delusion.

“Ferrin, I’m so glad I’ve found you.” Aleeza stood over Dorand’s body, blood on her hands. Dorand lay frighteningly still at her feet, his face slack as if in sleep…or something worse. “Now we can become what we were destined to be.”

“Aleeza, step back away from him.” Ferrin moved closer, close enough to see that Aleeza’s skin was marked with scrapes and bruises, and her eyes clouded and unfocused. “Aleeza, can you hear me? Aleeza!”

She blinked once, and then shook her head. “Ferrin…run, it’s—”

151

Anna J. Evans & December Quinn

Her words ended with a moan as she sank to the concrete beside Dorand. Kali’s men attacked Ferrin from behind, and it wasn’t long before he knew exactly how Aleeza had come by her bruises.

152

Demon’s Triad

He woke with a cry, his muscles and limbs jerking in a vain attempt to fight the men who surrounded Aleeza. It was too late—he knew it was as soon as he saw her body twist and that strange light in her eyes—

He was alone. Gingerly, Dorand sat up, one hand instinctively going to his bleeding forehead as if to hold the blood back. The signs of the earlier fight were everywhere, from the broken two-by-fours the men had used to beat them to the blood spattering the garage floor, but he didn’t need the silence to tell him everyone was gone.

Everyone, including Ferrin and Aleeza.

Groaning, Dorand dragged himself to his feet. There was no time, no time to waste waiting to feel better. He had to go, to find them. Before it was too late if it wasn’t already. The dim light coming through the entrance to the parking area told him not much time had passed, but if they had taken Aleeza’s car they could get back to the Amiantos woods pretty quickly.

They had to be taking them to the woods. He even knew about where they would be, thanks to their predictable four-corners pattern from the earlier murders. East, south, west. Somewhere north of the center of the forest, they would be setting up the gruesome finale.

Every nerve ending screamed at him to hurry, but he tried to use his head. Thirst racked his body, and after losing blood he couldn’t afford to ignore it. He made his way along the dusty floor to a spigot on the wall. After waiting for the brown water to turn a more neutral color, he held his mouth under the cold stream until his throat stopped burning and his vision lost the fuzziness associated with dehydration.

How to get back home was the question. They’d come in Aleeza’s car, which might or might not still be outside. Downtown Savior City was rife with bums and coven rejects so even if the thugs hadn’t taken it, the thieves might have. Hitchhiking wasn’t an option. People with vehicles rarely dared enter this area. Not that it really mattered.

Even if there had been motorists thick on the streets, no one was going to pick up a hitchhiker half covered in blood, and if he tried to walk, it could be hours before he reached a phone where he could make a call to his Chieftan. And that was assuming he made it through the streets alive. In his condition, he was easy prey for people who would kill him for the clothes he wore or for organs to sell on the black market.

No. He had to find some mode of transportation. He made his way to a small booth near the entrance of the garage and rifled through the drawers, looking for keys. There were a few rusted heaps in the back of the garage. Surely one of them still had to be in working order.

“I’ll take you to find them. I know where they’ve gone.”

153

Anna J. Evans & December Quinn

Dorand spun around, instinctively bringing his hands into fists in front of him. It was a female voice, but he was never one to underestimate the “weaker” sex. The woman who stood a few feet away was naked, her golden skin torn, covered in blood and dirt. She waved a weary hand. “I’m not going to hurt you. I don’t think I could even if I tried.”

“Who are you?” As if he had to ask. Even beaten and bruised, the woman throbbed with dark magic. This had to be Kali, the woman they’d come here to find and destroy.

This was the witch who had fasted with the demon, who had killed Carantha, kidnapped Ferrin and delivered Aleeza into the hands of evil. Dorand’s throat tightened and he fought the urge to run at the woman, fists flying.

“I’m Kali, the one you came here to kill. I don’t blame you, but I think it would be in your best interests to let me live, at least until we find them. My car is on the next level down. I can drive—”

“You can’t think I would trust you to take me to the bathroom, much less drive me somewhere in a car.”

“So you drive.” She stumbled and grabbed the wall of the garage to keep herself upright. “I don’t care, and I don’t care if you trust me or not. But you have to believe me. I don’t want to hurt Ferrin or Aleeza, I just want my revenge. That demon bastard betrayed me, and I’ll see him sent back to hell or die trying.”

Dorand hesitated. The truth of her words hovered around her, but at the thought of being closed up in a car with the woman responsible for Carantha’s death—his fists clenched.

Kali’s eyes narrowed. “If you want to keep Ferrin and Aleeza from finishing what the demon started, you’ll drive me to the woods. I know exactly where they’re going, and if we hurry, we can still stop it.”

* * * * *

Ferrin struggled against the ropes binding him. The rough bark of the tree scraped his already aching back, but he didn’t care. Had the knot holding his left wrist slipped a little bit? Maybe this was working. He concentrated on that side, twisting his wrist, ignoring the pain as the prickly hemp cut into his skin.

Pain was good, anything to keep his focus from what lay before him.

The torch-lit clearing looked like a place from another world. Technically it
was
from another world—Reglanus had already cast the circle, so the clearing was set apart, a place between worlds and within all worlds. A place where the kind of ritual the demon had planned could work.

Raw power crawled over Ferrin’s skin, something else to ignore. He could not give in, especially not now, when Dorand might be dead and no one in the world was on their way to help the woman he loved. But gods, it would be so easy. Aleeza’s naked body gleamed in the firelight as she slept, tied to the low stone table with her arms 154

Demon’s Triad

above her head and her legs spread just enough for him to see the treasure hiding between.

The scent of her assaulted him, almost physically caressing his skin. He wanted her so badly. She was made for him, born for him. All he had to do as reach out and take her, and together they and their children could have everything he’d ever wanted, power, love, safety—

No! He couldn’t let his mind think those thoughts. No matter how badly he wanted it, no matter how hard and heavy his cock, he could not. To do so would be to destroy the balance of good and evil, force everyone else he loved to live in a world consumed by violence and pain. And he would be a fool to believe that pain wouldn’t touch him, Aleeza or their children. If they were fasted with demons, they would never be truly free, never safe. Reglanus had betrayed Kali, maybe even killed her. Surely he had learned his lesson, that the power Reglanus offered was nothing but a pretty lie.

He had learned that. Hadn’t he?

Aleeza stirred, her head turning toward him. Her back arched a little off the stone, as if she was trying to get comfortable. The movement made her breasts rise, made the light dance off her hard nipples. His cock jerked.

“Look at her, you can hardly control yourself,” said that girl—Raven, he thought her name was—Aleeza’s cousin if her word was to be believed. It made sense. If anyone could get close enough to gather the ingredients for a hex portal, it would be a trusted family member.

She smirked as she took a good, long look up and down his body. He wanted to look away but refused to do so. He had nothing to be ashamed of. She was the one who had sold her soul for the chance to get laid. She’d been Kali’s lover, and now she served Reglanus for the chance to claim a place as a bride of the Daeisthai coven. He’d tried to convince her that the demon’s promises weren’t worth a shit, but she hadn’t listened.

But then, what else was new?

“You’re going to fuck her—you won’t be able to help yourself. You know you want her.”

“More than anyone will ever want you,” he said. Raven’s hand shot out. She slapped him across the face—hard.

Damn. Baiting her was a very bad idea. The pain caused by a Gunera woman, no matter how vile, only served to increase his desire. Must remember to avoid angering her in future, at least until he could finally put an end to all of this.

“Liar.” Her angry face twisted into a smile. “
You
want me. I can tell.”

How should he respond? If he denied it she might hit him again. If he agreed she’d think she had power over him. That might serve his purpose eventually, but it was too soon to tell. So he said nothing, only stared at the fire flickering over her head.

“It’s a shame,” she continued. “If I’d been a little more powerful I could have broken the curse, and it would be me about to create a new world, a new magic. But no, it had to be Aleeza. Why she gets everything, I don’t know. Everyone acts like she’s 155

Anna J. Evans & December Quinn

some sort of hero or a fucking angel of mercy. She’s not. She lied and cheated and worked gray magic, and she’s not even in trouble for it. My coven leader was going to give her a full pardon.”

By the Gods, this girl was worse than Kali. “Don’t you think being chained to a rock as a demon sacrifice is punishment?”

Raven snorted. “She won’t be a sacrifice. She’ll be mother of the new race. The Daeisthai will worship her as a goddess for centuries, the dark Mother Mary. Hardly seems like a punishment.”

“Raven.” The cold, smooth voice of Reglanus echoed through the clearing. “Time to leave our guest to gather his energy. If we want the spell to work without the full moon of Samhain, we need to put the wheels in motion. Another hour and the moon leaves Saturn.”

Raven ran one finger down Ferrin’s chest and stomach, sliding it all the way to the tip of his cock. He gritted his teeth but could not help his body’s instinctive reaction.

Raven smiled a melancholy grin. “Such a shame. Aleeza’s a lucky woman.”

Ferrin renewed his attempts to free his left wrist as she sauntered away to consult with the demon. How she’d gotten here he didn’t know, but then he wasn’t sure how any of them had gotten here. His last clear memory was of Aleeza’s beautiful, confused face as she stood over Dorand’s still body.

Dorand. Was he really dead? Ferrin didn’t think so but he couldn’t be sure. He dared not try to call his brother’s energy here. To do so would warn Reglanus that Ferrin hadn’t given in to him. The only way to get through this was to make the demon think he wanted to submit and follow his Daiesthai instincts, lull him into a false sense of security so that he could grab Aleeza and make a run for it.

The breeze rustled through the trees outside the clearing but did not touch Ferrin’s skin. Reglanus’ circle was strong enough to keep out the very forces of nature. That did not bode well for rescue or escape.

Reglanus walked the circle again, his voice low, slithering through the sacred space.

Ferrin’s skin crawled. How the demon’s power called him, how he yearned to respond, to let his father-brother-mother-demon-ruler set him free, to impregnate the girl who waited for him. She was his, his birthright. Why couldn’t he?

The sparks of purity and hope in his heart ignited, struggling valiantly against the demon’s words, but Ferrin could feel himself sinking into darkness just the same. His chest expanded. His breathing deepened. Something in the air smelled like home, like sulphur and smoke. The blackness within him turned to flame, flames rising through his body and into his mind.

Reglanus looked like smoke himself, silvery and indistinct in the gathering darkness. The torches still burned, but their flames were smaller, somehow, suffocating as the gateway opened and the unnatural poured into the circle.

156

Demon’s Triad

Aleeza stirred, a tiny moan escaping her lips. She looked so beautiful tears came to his eyes. His dark queen waiting for him. Tonight their love would bring something long-gone back to life. Aleeza would give birth to a new world today, a new era.

Her eyes opened. For a second he saw panic there, but whatever Reglanus’ spell, it seemed to be working because the fear disappeared. Her lips curved into a sexy smile.

“Ferrin,” she said, and her voice was honey poured over his skin. “Why are you all the way over there?”

He cleared his throat. “Because…” Why? Why was he all the way over here? Think!