The Devil You Need (12 page)

Astra!

I jerked, blinked and rolled away from Dialle with a groan.
My whole body was sore. I felt as if I’d gone a few rounds with a demon.
Actually I’d battled two demons—Dialle’s and mine.

Dialle murmured my name and grabbed for me as I sat up and
shoved hair off my face. I looked around the room, yawning. It was a frunkin’
mess. For a moment the voice in my head was silent, giving me hope it had only
been a terrible dream.

Damn it, Astra.

No such luck.

I sighed.
What’s wrong, Darma?

Finally. I’ve been calling you for ten minutes.

Excuse me for taking the time to sleep. What was I
thinking?

It’s frunkin’ noon!

I grinned. My sister never used to swear before she started
working with me. I was happy to have been instrumental in removing some of the
up from her uppity.
What do you want, Darma?

I thought you might be interested in the fact that royals
have invaded the castle. Emo and Slayer are pinned down on the landing above
the dungeon and Father and I are fighting them off on the main floor. Since
they most likely came for you and your boy-toy I’m thinking you should probably
be out here helping defeat them. Emo has already lowered the shield.

My heartbeat picked up and I jumped out of bed, looking
around for my clothes. Then I remembered Dialle had magicked them away. Shit.
I’ll
be there in a minute.
I did a quick check of my power levels. My battery
was pretty much on empty. I glanced toward Dialle, still asleep on the bed, and
wondered briefly if he could recharge me.

I immediately dismissed that idea. I’d have to wake him up
to get a charge and then he’d want to go with me. I thought I had enough to
shift into my room upstairs. Once there I could dress and grab some weapons. I
might not be able to fight with magic but I could still kick ass with my knives
and swords.

I pictured my room in my mind and started to shimmer away.
At the last minute a hard hand clamped around my wrist and, before I could stop
him, Dialle piggybacked on my shift.

The silence of my space-shift gave way to the sounds of
fighting on the fourth floor where my bedroom was located. As soon as my feet
touched the floor I reached for Dialle, intending to send him back to the
dungeon.

He danced away from my touch, grinning. “Oh no you don’t.
I’m coming with you.”

I frowned at him but realized I probably didn’t have the
power to send him back anyway. “You’re in no condition to fight.”

He looked down at himself and frowned slightly. A pair of
tight, black-leather pants appeared over his lower half, molding his
scrumptious form lovingly. A sheer, white pirate shirt covered his upper half.
The shirt had billowy sleeves and was open to mid-chest. Yummy. He put his hand
out and a sword appeared in it. “Where’s Gerch?”

I blinked. “Oh, yeah. He’s probably not speaking to me right
now.”

Dialle chuckled. “Isn’t that pretty much business as usual?”

I headed for the giant, mahogany wardrobe on the side wall
of my bedroom. “Maybe he’s just a bit madder than usual. I sort of promised him
he could come protect me while I settled things with you.”

I turned as silence throbbed between us. Dialle’s expression
was neutral, but his eyes roiled with color. I realized too late how my comment
must have sounded. “Dialle… I—”

“No, Astra. He was right to be concerned. I
did
almost kill you.” Still, he frowned. I knew it couldn’t be easy to realize his
own captain of the guard had switched loyalties.

Unable to fix the damage I’d done with my careless words, I
focused on dressing in a sweater and soft, slim pants, then dragged on a pair
of short, soft black boots. I pulled my hair into a low pony so it would be
harder to grab and headed for my weapons stores. The panel on the wall was set
to open only with my biological imprint. I placed my palm over the reader and
the wall slid silently open. I selected a thin-bladed sword and several knives,
strapping on a platinum belt of crosses for good measure.

By the time I was ready to leave my room the hallways beyond
the door were thick with the sound of battle.

Dialle moved to the door and opened it, peering out as I
came up beside him.

“Whom exactly are we fighting?” I asked.

He sighed. “These are Fallen’s men.”

I cast my mind back several months to the time Dialle had
informed his court that I’d killed the evil Barbie, Rayanne. I remembered the
tall, exceedingly lean royal who’d shown his displeasure with Dialle so
publically, and had been shot down for his trouble. I wouldn’t soon forget the
cold hostility the man had favored me with that day. He’d shown it many times
since then. “You think he’s making a play for the crown?”

“Yes. I’m guessing, after last night, the court has begun to
heal again. He probably realizes his window of opportunity is closing.”

I nodded, dragging my sword from its scabbard. “I’d like to
close it on his fingers.”

Dialle smiled down at me. Rather than stepping away from the
door, though, he reached out and touched my lips with a warm finger. “It will
be a pleasure fighting at your side again, my queen.”

I sucked the finger into my mouth, enjoying the way his dark
eyes widened in surprise and pleasure. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We
need to win this battle first, then we need to retake the Royal Court and
figure out if you can rule with a broken queen.”

He moved the finger to my chin and lifted, dropping a tender
kiss on my upturned lips. “Your power is weak but at least it’s back. Besides,
I think a broken king deserves a broken queen. We appear to be a perfect fit.”

Feeling more than a little guilty that I hadn’t told him
about my problem, I reached around and patted his fine ass, giving it a
squeeze. “I can’t disagree with that.”

“Then let’s go kick some royal ass, my love.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth.”

* * * * *

Dialle slipped through the door and I followed, holding a
knife in each hand. I recognized several of Gerch’s men fighting with swords
and chains. The stone walls and floor already ran with blood and gore. A shout
went up when we were spotted and several warrior-level devils surged toward us,
wearing unfamiliar uniforms. Dialle and I went back-to-back and engaged them,
easily besting the lower-level grunts and looking for more.

A little farther up the hall we ran into a more formidable
enemy. Two royals with four gargoyles on tethers were cutting a bloody swath
through Gerch and a dozen of his guards. Though they carried some kind of
shields to deflect the power arrows shooting from the fingers of the royals,
the combination of dark energy and the brutal efficiency of the ‘goyles were
proving more than Gerch and his men could handle. Several uniform-clad corpses
already cluttered the battle area.

Dialle looked at me and I nodded. He grabbed my hand and we
shifted, coming back to the physical plane behind the royals. The first royal
turned as we landed and Dialle engaged him in swordplay. I reached for the
chain holding one of the ‘goyles as the second royal turned and flipped it
around the royal’s neck before he could lunge toward me. I glanced past him at
Gerch. “Draw ‘em off, Gerch!”

Gerch nodded and gave a shout. He and his men turned around
and ran. The snarling ‘goyles jerked forward, the only thought in their beady
brains to follow their prey. The royal was jerked off his feet and dragged
along with them, the ‘goyles ripping chunks out of him as he bounced along
behind them.

I leapt on the closest ‘goyle’s back and slashed its throat
as it reared up to dislodge me. The thing went down with a crash, its thick
limbs flailing. Dialle’s royal was jerked backward as his two pets surged
toward Gerch and his men, and Dialle skewered him with a sword as he fell,
following the attack with a power arrow to the brain.

I leapt on the next ‘goyle as Gerch’s men surrounded the
third and dispatched it handily. I crossed my knives at its throat and started
to slice, but the last ‘goyle decided it was tired of chewing on the downed
royals and came after more lively meat. It lunged at me with a roar, the
massive, gore-coated fangs snapping mere inches from my face.

The thing stopped in midair with a yelp. I looked past it to
Dialle, who was holding its chain in one hand. He jerked the thing around and
slammed it into the wall. It left a bloody trail on the stone and landed in a
boneless pile on the floor.

Gerch walked over and sliced its head off with a bloody
sword. The big soldier dragged his sword over one of the dead royals’ clothing
to clean it before looking up. His dark eyes swept over me, his wide red face
devoid of expression, and then swept toward Dialle. He smiled. “You’re looking
better, sire.”

Dialle lowered his sword and closed the distance between
them, quickly embracing his captain of the guards and long-time friend. Gerch’s
beady eyes slid to me, widening in surprise, before he briefly returned
Dialle’s embrace. “I’ve missed you, old friend.”

Gerch stepped back, his gaze sliding away with
embarrassment. “We need to get you out of here, sire. The factions aligned
against you are building.”

“What are we dealing with, Gerch?”

He glanced at me and then turned back to Dialle, addressing
his response to him.

Okay, so he was really pissed at me. That was all right, I
told myself. I’d done the right thing. He’d just have to deal with it.

“Fallen and Rigeur combined forces and stormed the castle.
The court started mending itself late last night and the mood among the rebels
turned decidedly sour. I sent fifty men here to warn the angels and guard the
dungeons. I stayed behind and watched. As soon as I realized they were coming
after you I brought the rest of your men.”

Dialle looked around at the carnage. “How long has the
fighting been going on?”

“A couple of hours. We tried to keep them outside but they
breeched the main floors fairly quickly. They’ve pushed us steadily downward.”

I frowned, not liking the sound of that. “What about the
angels? Even in force the royals shouldn’t have been able to breech them so
easily.”

Gerch finally slid his gaze my way. “They brought dark
angels with them.”

“Frunk me.” I looked at Dialle. Of course, it made sense.
Anything the dark ones could do to unbalance power in the court would benefit
them. The royals probably had no idea why the powerful ones would want to ally
with them. “They’re making a play for the court.”

Dialle nodded. “Fallen’s a fool.” He turned to Gerch. “Our
only hope is to convince Fallen and Rigeur that they’re being used. If we can
pull the court together and provide a unified front we might have a chance
against the dark ones.”

Gerch nodded. “Back to the court then?”

“Yes.” Dialle held out his hand. “Astra, with me.”

I shook my head. If we were going up against the dark ones I
needed more juice. “I have to recharge.”

“Recharge what?”

Gerch threw me a disgusted look. “You haven’t told him?”

Guilty heat suffused my face. “I’ve been a little busy,
devil.”

He shook his head and bowed. “I’ll give you a minute.” Gerch
took his men to guard the stairs leading to the dungeon, leaving me to explain
the unexplainable to Dialle.

“What’s going on, Astra?”

“We don’t really have the time—”

“Tell me.”

I didn’t like the look on his face. It reminded me that he
was still fragile. He could revert to the state I’d found him in last night at
the smallest provocation.

And this was no small provocation. It was my loss of power
that had set him on the road to madness.

“I’m not exactly healed.”

“You have power again.”

“Yes. But it’s kind of borrowed.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned down at me.
“That doesn’t make any sense. You can’t borrow magic.”

“Apparently I can. When Crisanne magic-raped me, she took my
power but it left behind a vacuum. When I went up to the cumulous castle they
ran some tests and we discovered the vacuum retained some memory of my magic.”

“What does that mean exactly?”

“It means my body remembers how to hold magic and will
temporarily hold onto borrowed energy but…”

“But?”

I expelled a sigh. “But I can no longer make energy, only
store it. I have to get it from others.”

He stared at me for a long moment, his dark eyes swirling
with color. I read fear in his handsome features, along with anger. “So you’re
telling me that I’m destined to succumb to madness after all.”

“No.” I grabbed his arm and he jerked away. “We’re still
trying to fix the problem.”

Dialle shook his head, turning away. “I’m going to attempt
to reason with my court. I’m not sure how I’m going to talk them into giving
the court back to a broken king, but I have to try.”

I started after him. “I’m coming with you.”

“No!” He turned to me, angry colors swirling in his eyes. He
briefly closed them, obviously fighting deep emotion. When he spoke again, his
voice was soft and husky with regret. “Astra, as much as I wish it, I realize
now that you cannot be my queen. I…” His voice broke and he had to swallow
hard. “I can’t descend to that kind of madness again, Astra. I know in my heart
I will not return if I do. And if I reach those depths again I know I’ll kill
you. I can’t live with that. I’m sorry.”

Tears blurred my vision as he turned and walked away from
me. I sagged against the wall as dizziness assailed me. I tried to straighten,
tried to retain some semblance of dignity under his crushing declaration, but I
just couldn’t. “Dialle.” His name emerged from my lips as a sob. “Please don’t
go.”

He didn’t stop. He didn’t even slow. He turned the corner
and he was just…gone.