Two Parts Demon (7 page)

The glowing interior cast a weird glow on their skin as they walked into the building and stepped into a throne room, occupied by Yomra himself.

The deep-blue demon got to his feet. “Beneficia! I am delighted to see you, though you are not the demon I had guessed you would be.”

“I am consistently full of surprises.” She inclined her antlered head.

“You are indeed. Who are your companions?”

“They are mine. Their identities are no concern of yours.”

His serpentine tongue lashed out. “You have invited them into my house.”

“They are mine, bound to me.” Benny smiled. “They are here to take my parents home.”

“Ah, yes. My great grandson and his creature.”

Benny stiffened. “That creature is my mother.”

“
Was
your mother. She has not been that being for some time.” Yomra walked toward her, and she remained in position while he caressed her face with his claws.

He murmured, “Who would have thought that Kyria’s spawn would have resulted in this? I should have let her breed more.”

He lifted her face to his, and his tongue flicked against her cheek. “You taste of power, little one.”

She didn’t respond, but she could feel the agents tense. She sent them a calming wave through the binding. Yomra was merely being a demon.

When he put his lips above hers, she said. “My parents?”

He leaned back, his eyes narrowed. “Why in such a hurry, child?”

“Because they do not belong here.”

“He belongs to me, and she does as well, through his blood.”

“If I am here, they do not belong here.” She remained calm.

He smiled. “I will offer you and your companions dinner while we wait for your parents to be brought to us. Come this way.”

He led the way through an archway that appeared as he approached the stone wall. They followed, and the skull-decorated dining hall opened up in front of them.

The polished table was large enough to seat twenty, which amused Benny because demons were not that social.

“Sit at my right hand while I summon your parents.”

He lifted his hand, and a ball of power zinged from his palm through the wall.

Benny sat, and she gestured for Tremble to sit at her right hand. Smith and Argyle filed in and sat down. Benny settled Freddy’s bag in her lap.

“Your men seem singularly quiet for demons.” Yomra looked the agents over.

Benny smiled. “I only met them recently. They are acclimating to the demon energy.”

His attention was back on her. “And yet, you got them to bind themselves to you? Well done, child.”

The food appeared in the centre of the table. Plates appeared seconds later.

Benny sent a feeling of fullness to her agents. If they ate, it would be harder to pull them free of the zone. The car ride to the park had been full of briefings, but she wanted to remind them. Myths about humans in hell were based on them entering the demon zone and consuming items generated from its power. It was akin to swallowing a battery; if you survived, you had to wait until the effects of the acid wore off.

A doorway opened, and her parents staggered through it. Harcourt and Lenora Ganger looked a little worse for wear, but they were whole.

Benny inclined her head to her father. “Dad, Mom, I am glad to see you both alive.”

Yomra chuckled. “You had so little trust in me? I am shocked.”

“Benny, you shouldn’t have come.” Her mother shook her head.

“I had to, Mom. You two deserve to live your lives free and clear.”

Her father was looking at her companions. “I see you have bound some men to your cause.”

Tremble inclined his head. “We volunteered. She would not be safe alone.”

Smith smiled. “We would not let her take the risk without us.”

Argyle chuckled. “We went into it with open hearts and a single cause.”

Yomra’s voice was dry. “How sweet. Well, this is the closest thing to a family gathering I have ever had. What is the normal protocol?”

Harcourt Ganger raised his emerald-green head and glared at his great grandfather. “You thank us for coming and send us home.”

Yomra laughed loud and long. “Oh, no. Now that I have you all here and see the obvious strength in your daughter, I believe keeping you here is the correct response.”

The chairs snapped out cuffs and each and all of her great-great grandfather’s guests were bound to their chairs by wrist and ankle.

The chairs elevated slightly, and Benny and her family were whisked away to a large room where there were no doors, no windows and no way out.

Benny’s heart was pounding as the chair freed her. She ran to her parents and hugged them both. Her father squeezed her and then held her back with his hands on her shoulders. “A demon king, huh?”

She chuckled. “Did you expect anything else?”

Freddy barked, and Benny’s mother picked her out of the bag, laughing as her face was licked frantically.

The tiny three-pound dog greeted both of the Gangers with enthusiasm.

Benny’s father smiled slowly. “You brought Freddy here?”

Benny grinned back. “I brought Freddy here.”

Freddy wiggled back to Benny, and Benny put her back in the purse. It was nice to have a friend who was portable now and then.

Harcourt looked at her entourage. “So, you have made it official.”

Lenora laughed. “It is a binding spell. Well done, Benny.”

“Thank you.”

Her mother went from one man to another, hugging them in welcome. “Welcome to the family, boys.”

Benny grinned when her father went over and shook the hands of her collection of demons.

Her mother whispered, “What is the plan, Benny?”

“Well, when you two were taken, I made a few calls and I chatted with Minny. She is going to start hauling us out of here in the next ten minutes.”

Argyle scowled. “We have only been in the zone for three hours.”

Lenora shook her head. “Time moves differently here. One hour is three in the normal world. You have been here for nine hours.”

“Right. We need blood from Yomra on the way out.” Benny rubbed her nose.

Lenora raised her brows in surprise. “Really?”

“Minny figured out a way to keep this from happening again. I think we should take advantage of all her hard work, don’t you?”

Harcourt chuckled. “If she worked something out, we would be foolish not to. Her pedigree is nearly as convoluted as yours, Benny.”

Benny grinned and turned to the agents. One by one, she kissed them and infused them with her strength. She had enough power with her to transport them all out of the demon zone, but she needed that blood to keep this from happening again.

Lenora held onto her husband and asked Benny, “What is the sign?”

“We are waiting for music and fire.”

Her father gave her a serious look. “Do you have a plan for getting out of here?”

“Of course. You will know it when you see it.”

It was easier to stand with Tremble holding her than by herself. His body heat sank into her, and his fey blood sparked the air with the scent of fresh leaves.

Benny stood with her eyes closed, waiting. The first note rang out, and she started to move.

“It’s happening. We need to get ourselves to the street as quickly as we can.”

She reached into the pocket of the bag and withdrew the scrap from the gown of the goddess of death. Benny stepped away from Argyle and wiped the wall in a wide arc. She tapped the fabric to the stone, and it shattered. She put the scrap back in her bag and lifted Freddy into her arms.

“Let’s go. He will have felt that.”

Their group surged out the door and headed for the dining hall. The path to the front door was clear, and the first words of Minerva’s song were reaching them.

Yomra charged through the wall toward them, claws out. “You shall not leave.”

Freddy growled, and Benny launched her through the air. Freddy went to full hellhound mode, three feet high and all teeth, wreathed with hellfire. She went for his leg and grabbed it, pulling him to the ground.

Argyle and Tremble held his arms down while Benny grabbed for the vial in her cleavage. Smith ushered her parents past them and toward the front doors.

It left her free to do what she needed to do.

Yomra was fighting hard, so she grabbed the knife on her thigh and cut the blue skin at the elbow. His blood was sluggish, but she got a few drops into the vial before his skin closed. She sealed the vial and reached for another.

“Hold him.” she stabbed into his side and collected more blood. “Damn, he heals fast.”

Yomra was muttering at her in the demon language, and he hissed when she went in for a third strike. “This is going to have to be enough.”

The third vial went into her clothing, and she looked her ancestor in the eyes. “Thank you for your help. I just need you to sleep now.”

She held her hand over his nose and mouth, applying a sleep spell that should work on demons. It wouldn’t hold him long, but it should give them the time they needed.

She kept her finger on his pulse, but it was his erection flagging that proved he was unconscious. She got to her feet and sheathed her knife. “Let’s go.”

Argyle smiled. “That was different.”

Freddy resumed her more portable form, and Benny scooped her up. “Well done, Freddy.”

Freddy yapped excitedly and wiggled in the bag.

Benny, Argyle and Tremble ran for the door. The other three were waiting at the door, and Minerva’s song was getting stronger. A heavy rhythmic thudding was also getting closer. There were shouts of confusion and fear, which were not in keeping with the demon zone.

Harcourt opened the door, and he cracked one of the guards in the jaw while kicking the other. Benny had never seen her father in action, and she could see what Lenora saw in him.

The thundering grew louder, and down the street, a wave of horses could be seen, flanked by fire.

Tremble gasped. “Where did those come from?”

Benny blinked. “They live at our place.”

The first of the horses skidded to a halt in front of her. It nudged her in the chest, and she didn’t waste time. She gripped the withers of its mane and pulled herself up and onto its back. Everyone else was doing the same, and when they were all mounted, the fire gathered them up and kept them from being pursued by demons.

They galloped through the main street, past the shocked demons occasionally visible through the flickering flames.

Yomra’s blood was still scalding hot in the vials. Benny shifted, but she didn’t move them. The last thing she wanted was to drop the blood that she had risked her life to get.

The pale horse under her had a familiar feel. She moved easily with it as it rounded corners and sped on the straightaways. The walk that had taken hours was accomplished in a matter of minutes with flames guarding their backs.

The gate loomed in front of them, and the horses poured on the speed. She could hear Yomra’s howl behind them, and she held her breath as they passed through the gateway, with fire sealing it shut.

Minerva was sitting at a picnic table, sweating with a gargoyle next to her fanning her with his wings.

“Benny, did you get it?”

Benny dismounted and pulled the vial out of her bra. “I got three of them just in case.”

“Excellent. Here is the salve.” Minerva put it on the table and unlatched the top. She frowned and looked around. She pointed at a tree. “You, I need a stir stick.”

A twig snapped off and came flying toward her. She caught it and set it aside. Minerva withdrew an empty vial, and she jerked her head at Benny. “Okay, spill.”

Benny pulled the onyx and obsidian dagger, slicing her forearm. She filled the small vial and handed both it and Yomra’s to Minerva.

Her friend stirred the two bloods into the salve, and then, she handed it to Benny. “Strip and put it everywhere.”

Benny looked at the agents, and they grinned. With care, she set Freddy down on the ground and put the vials in the bag next to her. She used a spell to remove her clothing before smearing the goop all over her.

The tingle of being surrounded by magic was a little weird, but Benny kept going until she had covered everything, including the soles of her feet.

Minerva held her hands out. “From the beginning of this blood to the last vessel and all beyond her, this cuts the ties and leaves the power. None may call upon the binding of bloodline, forward or back.”

Benny began to tingle, and she was lifted through the air. To her surprise, she could see the same happening to her father.

Fire burst into being around her, a hot violet that didn’t touch her. She was slowly lowered to the ground as the fire flickered and burned out. Her father was sitting on the grass a few feet away.

He looked over at her. “I am free.” He laughed and reached for her mom, pulling her down to the grass and covering her face with kisses. “I am finally free.”

Benny leaned up on her elbows and giggled. Even naked and covered with salve, she felt good.

Minerva grinned. “You can get dressed now. The fire burned off the salve and your attachment to Yomra.”

Argyle was holding his hand out to her, and she smiled when he removed his shirt, draping it around her and doing up the buttons. “I think you have engaged in enough magic for one night.”

She smiled and leaned against him. “I would say it was enough for a lifetime, but that is exhaustion talking.”

The pale horse shivered and stamped its feet.

Tremble cleared his throat. “The horses say they will take us home. I am guessing they mean the manor.”

Benny nodded. “Home sounds really good right now.”

She moved away from Argyle and walked to Minerva. She hugged her. “Thank you so much for today.”

“That is what friends are for. You can ask anytime. Well, any time after Wednesday. I still have that negotiation to take part in.”

Benny squeezed her. “We need to go for coffee soon.”

Minerva started to shiver, and soon, she was laughing. “Coffee would be great. I will call you after Wednesday.”

“Please.” Benny gave her a final squeeze before letting her go.