Imp Forsaken (Imp Book 5) (22 page)

Asta bit her lip, pausing before she responded. “He was devoured, his corpse left in a park near some children’s playground equipment. Thankfully, the Eldest One managed to catch and kill the abomination before he was able to do additional damage.”

“How did you know he was there, Asta?” he asked gently. “Who informed you of his death?”

She looked at him in surprise. “No one. I was told there was a demon there. A plague demon. I flew to the town—that’s how concerned I was. When I arrived, I found him.” Asta clenched her hands, her eyes filled with horror. “He… the extraction wasn’t a clean one. There were bits of him remaining in his corporeal form. That’s how I knew who he was.”

Gabriel winced. “You knew him? Were you friends?”

She hesitated then seemed to come to some sort of decision. “In Aaru, he was merely a passing acquaintance, but over the last decade he was often here among the humans. Vaol frequented the Seattle area, although he traveled to the east coast of the continent. I’m assigned to the mid-west but had been asked to cover the west coast in addition to my usual territory. That’s where I met him. I wouldn’t say we were friends, but we did see each other on occasion.”

“He was not authorized to be out of Aaru among the humans. Why was he here?”

Asta looked at him, her eyes filled with guilt. “I do not know, Ancient One. I don’t want to speculate on his motives, or slander the dead without adequate proof of misdeed.”

“Very noble, but his being here without permission is also a sin. A minor one, but, still, it should have warranted a report. Did you let your superior know of his infractions?”

Asta shook her head, crimson once again staining her golden cheeks. “I’m sorry. There is so much sin here along with an overload of tempting sensation. The small things begin to seem acceptable. That is no excuse for my lapse in judgment. I beg your forgiveness.”

Gabriel placed a hand on her hair, sending a soothing tendril of blue out to calm her distress. “Stronger, older angels than you have done far worse. All will be forgiven.”

She breathed a sigh and relaxed slightly. “I only have another year of service before I return to Aaru. I’m afraid I need the cleansing only my home can offer.”

Gabriel smiled once again. “We will welcome you back, Asta, and honor the work you’ve done here. In the meantime, I ask that you serve me as well as my brother by facilitating the transfer of some objects between the gates and Aaru.”

Her expression grew wary. “The gates? Whatever comes from Hel has no place in our sacred home.”

Should he trust her? If she was going to be a liaison for Tura, she should be aware of what was happening.

“I tell you this in the strictest confidence. A group of angels has found a way to create without unholy contact or violation of the treaty. Demon essence will be delivered through the gate to you, and you will deliver it to a contact in Aaru.” He watched her stunned expression turn thoughtful. “I’m sure you understand how sensitive this whole matter is. If it becomes general knowledge that creation is once again possible, all of Aaru will dissolve into riots.”

“Yes,” she breathed. “I will gladly serve you in this capacity, my Sovereign. And I will maintain the highest level of secrecy.”

“You’ll be meeting Tura or one of his staff in Parral at sundown—the same place as you found the deceased angel.” Sorrow flashed across her eyes, and Gabriel remembered one question that she’d not yet answered. “Who was it that informed you about the presence of a plague demon in Parral?”

Asta took a deep breath, releasing it as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Furlac. An angel of the third choir.”

19

D
ar went with me to meet Taullian. We were each allowed to bring one other to the meeting. I wasn’t surprised to see the elf lord with a sorcerer by his side. The gathering was at a clearing in the Western Red Forest, the buffer lands between the elven kingdom of Cyelle and the demon grasslands that surrounded the Maugan Swamp. Taullian had prepped the site with a large table—gently constructed to retain the look of wild growth. Two seats were at either end, and on top was a spread of food. It was a good strategy. Demons enjoyed food almost as much as they loved gifts.

Dar kept glancing over at me. He’d been doing this since he’d seen me this morning. The party had run into the wee hours without either Dar or Leethu, who had headed out to arrange the two meetings for me. Leethu wasn’t back yet, but Dar had shown up bleary-eyed in the morning, letting me know that Taullian wanted to meet right away. I hoped that was a good sign.

“You look good,” Dar whispered.

I knew it was more than a compliment on my attractive features. Somehow my human form had managed to fix itself overnight. All the blisters had disappeared to be replaced with smooth, tanned skin. The chewed up part of my arm with Ahriman’s mark was likewise unblemished, save for the dark smudge, like a smear of charcoal on my flesh. Even my burned hair had been replaced with thick, glossy, brown locks. I felt strong, a small store of energy within me, available as long as I didn’t try to hold on too tight. It churned through my spirit being, shining out through my eyes with an unholy light. I might have looked like a demon, but I didn’t feel quite like one. I felt… different.

“Lord Taullian.” I bowed as I spoke. “I appreciate the audience, especially on such short notice.”

The high lord sat and gestured for me to do the same. “Az. I am surprised you contacted me. Now that you have your freedom, there is no motivation for you to assist me.”

“Oh, but there is.” I leaned forward in my seat and picked up a spoon, twirling it between my fingers. “I’m still willing to assassinate your enemy for you, and fight on your behalf, but there is a price.”

He’d flinched when I reached forward, but quickly relaxed. A spoon was no weapon, and I was well aware I looked non-threatening in my human form.

“And that price is?”

“I want all the elf gates in the kingdoms under your control to be dismantled. Never again will you trap unsuspecting humans and keep them as slaves.”

He laughed. “You can’t be serious.”

“Second, there will be no more changeling swaps in any of the kingdoms under your control. No more human babies will be stolen from their parents and brought to Hel.”

“But how are we expected to replace the humans who die? They don’t live very long, you know, and we render all of them infertile upon puberty so there are no issues of loyalty.”

“And no longer will humans be subject to involuntary sterilization. All humans in the kingdoms under your control will be granted their freedom and be given a subset of a kingdom of no less than the value of eight million hecals. They will be considered citizens and given all rights and privileges as such.”

Taullian shook his head, a smile turning up the corner of his lips. “And for this you will make me a god? Grant me eternal life and all the riches of Hel? Really, Az, nothing you offer me could possibly make me consider such a preposterous request.”

With a feeling of déjà vu, I showed him the underside of my arm. He frowned, and his sorcerer leaned in close.

“What happened to your other tattoo? The one from the angel?” he asked.

“My Lord,” the sorcerer murmured. “That is a consort mark. She is Ahriman’s partner.”

Taullian’s eyebrows shot up, practically into his hairline, as he looked from me to his sorcerer. “Ahriman?”

“Yes, Ahriman,” I confirmed. “For one thousand years, we have pledged in contract to each other. I am his consort, and I speak with his authority.”

It was a huge exaggeration, but what Taullian didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. Dar, thankfully, kept a composed face. The consort clause did give me status, but my brother was fully aware of its limitations.

“If, and only if, I win and hold all six kingdoms, I’ll grant the humans the peninsula. Only the ones who wish to go will be free. Ones that want to stay will remain under the same restrictions they have now. This excludes any humans in the mage program—they are ours. The freed humans are on their own. They’ll not be considered elven citizens or afforded any rights by us. We keep the gates and all humans who come through them as well as changelings.”

“Humans that stay with the elves always have the option to leave without hindrance. Mages and sorcerers and all others in the training program are included. No sterilization. No traps ever again. No changelings.”

Taullian’s eyes narrowed. Out of the corner of my eye I saw his sorcerer watching the back and forth like a tennis match, his face hopeful.

“We have invested significant time and resources into these magic users. I won’t just give that away.”

I shrugged. “If the freed humans remained part of your kingdom, and were given citizen rights, you could tax their magical products and recoup your training costs. Dude, you can’t have things both ways. Either let them go and eat the training costs, or welcome them as part of your kingdom.”

I could hear his teeth grind from across the table. “My elves would never go for it. I’d have a revolution on my hands. It’s going to be hard enough getting them to swallow giving up their servants, let alone forcing them to treat them as equals.”

“Boohoo,” I mocked. “Such a hardship, considering another species to be an equal, worthy of respect. I’m sure your elves would much rather be under Feille’s thumb. He’s always been so friendly toward Cyelle. He’ll give them big welcoming hugs and everyone will live happily ever after.”

Every muscle in Taullian’s face tensed. He knew there would be mass executions, that once Feille fully shouldered the mantel of his kingdoms, he’d ensure their obedience through fear and death.

“Now, in a time of desperation, elves may agree to this, but once the crisis is over, they’ll rebel and demand their humans back.”

I took the spoon I’d been twirling, and with a burst of speed and energy, slammed it halfway through the table. The handle quivered, the wood surrounding it smoking slightly.

“Then man-up, grow a set, and be a king, for fuck sake. Set the rules and enforce them, you fairy.”

The sorcerer sucked in a breath, but he did nothing to stand between his king and the demon who’d just jammed a spoon through a table and insulted him. Perhaps he was scared, but I was thinking his loyalties might be divided, especially with the fate of his own people in the balance.

Silence stretched between us, and I wondered if I’d gone too far. Dar shifted slightly, coming into view on my right and motioning with his hand as if he were patting the ground. Wait. Let Taullian make the first move. I’d thrown the glove in his face; it was his turn to respond. It would do my position no good to break the silence and either backtrack or push too far forward.

“Any free human practicing magic is subject to a special tax, regardless of where they reside. The humans are on their own with the peninsula as theirs. No sterilization, but any human child born to those serving elves must be bought-out if the parents choose freedom. No on the gates.”

“How the fuck are they supposed to buy out their children?” I erupted. “They’re slaves. They don’t have any wages or possessions. No deal. Fuck you and fuck your little problem. Have fun when Feille has your head on a pike at the edge of the Western Red Forest.”

I stood up. The sorcerer’s eyes widened. Taullian scowled.

“Who will care for these human children while the parents work? Who is expected to pay for their food and shelter?”

“They’re
babies
,” I argued, thinking of Tlia-Myea. “I’ve seen elves make a huge fuss over a new changeling. Don’t feed me this bullshit about what a hardship it is to have a cute little baby, or toddler, running around. You guys eat that shit up.”

I stood still while the high lord glowered at me and the sorcerer turned rather red from holding his breath.

“All right. But no on the elf gates. Never. We need the humans, and this is our only way of getting them.”

“Elves have been in Hel for two and a half million years. The last four thousand you’ve been bringing over human slaves. You can’t tell me how indispensible they are. That’s just crap. You survived without them before and you will again.”

Taullian thumped a fist on the table. It was the most forceful move I’d seen from him so far. “No. The gates are off the table and so are changelings.”

I smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile. Taullian shivered, covering it up by taking a sip of wine from his goblet.

“Deal. Of course, I’ll find the gates one by one and destroy them myself. Not just the traps either. It’s going to be mighty hard to do a changeling swap when you’ve got no gates.”

The elf’s eyes nearly popped from his head. “Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t do such a thing. Only angels can close a gate.”

I shrugged. “I didn’t say close; I said destroy.”

Taullian gave me a skeptical look and turned to his sorcerer.

“Unlikely,” the man commented, eyeing me nervously.

“Humans disabled an angel gate with a fifty megaton bomb,” I mentioned casually. “Now, that’s a fuckload of energy, and I’m probably one of the only demons that could manage it. It’s one of my superpowers—storing a fuckload of energy and blowing shit up with it.”

Well, it had been one of my superpowers. Now all I could manage was cramming a spoon halfway through a table. But they didn’t have to know that.

“I thought you were broken?” Taullian sneered “You couldn’t fix yourself a few days ago, and now you expect me to believe you can blow up an elf gate?”

“Do I look broken to you?”

His gaze roamed over me. I could see he was undecided. Had I lied before, claiming permanent injury to convince the elves to lower their defenses so I could escape, or was I lying now?

Taullian again looked to his sorcerer for guidance. “Is it possible for a demon to do this?”

The human wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. “The ancient ones used to be able to create and dismantle gates, and they might still have that skill. In my knowledge, demons born since the banishment have never been able to, but it may be possible.”

Taullian narrowed his eyes at me. “Her. Do you think she could do it?”