A Demon's Work Is Never Done: Latter Day Demons, Book 2 (17 page)

"Send mindspeech to Opal," Kory rose from his seat while smoke poured from his nostrils. "I need to get to Tibby. I'll come in with him and his crew for added protection. You know to skip out of here if things get dangerous, don't you? Baby, tell me you'll be safe."

He lifted my face in his hands and kissed my forehead.

"Yes. Go. I'll be fine." I was determined to be fine, one way or another, although my fear of the crowd had been ramped up exponentially, once I realized they were under the influence of drakus seed.

Opal
, I sent,
we have big problems. I think most of the crowd has been given drakus seed
, I reported.

Chapter 10

Opal

Lexsi's troubles only added to our own. Zaria, Kell and I faced not three but seven Ra'Ak.

Yes, in the future, these would be whittled down, but not now. Not where and when we were. I suspected at that moment that Morgett Blackmantle was involved in criminal activities on more planets than I could begin to name. I was beginning to worry that growing drakus seed wasn't his only objective.

Seven Ra'Ak had been sent to corral one High Demon. It would require four, at the very least, to attempt to take Kory down.

Zaria, who stood next to Kory's replica, stared at what looked to be seven men. As I suspected, Charlene and Hannah weren't there.

Neither, as it turned out, was Jamie, although the Ra'Ak had created a credible likeness of him.

Yes, they were powerful. Very, very powerful.

They had no idea what had come to meet them, however. Zaria, Kell and I had already seen through their humanoid disguises—Kell by scent, Zaria because she could see straight into their minds and I because I had the ability to
Look
to see what they were.

Granger hadn't a clue and chafed in his manacles next to Kell.

The Ra'Ak secreted a poison in their natural form so powerful it could kill a vampire. Would these turn to their giant serpent forms in an attempt to take what they believed to be a High Demon?

A small fact niggled at my mind.
Unless you belonged to the hierarchy of the gods, only one race was immune to Ra'Ak poison. That race was the High Demons
. I breathed slowly, to calm my heart. This had implications.

It meant something.

I needed more time to sort out exactly what it meant, and I was forced to deal with the crisis in front of me, first.

"Who sent you?" I demanded of the one who stood at the forefront, with the duplicate of Jamie Rome standing beside him. This was nothing more than a golem, made of who knew what, that the Ra'Ak had employed power to animate.

"You know who sent me," the lead Ra'Ak growled. "He dies if you fail to cooperate." He jerked his head toward golem Jamie.

Opal
, Lexsi's voice interrupted. She sounded hysterical.
They've sent a High Demon to fight Tibby. Kory says he recognizes him—Geldivik Croth, from the Croth family.

Tell Kory to do what he has to
, I snapped back.
I know Tibby wants this fight, but he's overmatched and he ought to realize that.

I think he's already planning to do that—Kory, that is.

Don't panic
, I sent as I stared down the Ra'Ak in human form.
We have our hands full, too
.

There are more of them, siding with the bunch in Peru
, Zaria informed me.

Can you see where Jamie is?

I can. He's in the crowd at the arena, and like most of those people there, he's high on drakus seed. We don't get to him soon, he'll die with the others
.

Can the day get any worse?
I wanted to curse aloud, but that would give us away.

If I get rid of these, the others will know
, Zaria went on.
They're watching through their eyes
.

Any suggestions, then?

I have something
.

Go ahead. I have nothing from where I'm standing
.

All right. They'll try to kill us the moment Granger's in their hands, but I have a short-term solution for that, too
.

Sure. It can't be any worse than what I'd like to do, which is shoot all of them with my ranos pistol
.

Save that for later
. I watched as a corner of Zaria's mouth twitched into an almost-smile.

"Very well, we will send Granger forward first, followed by the High Demon," I announced.

"Once they are with us, we will leave this one on the ground for you to pick up, like the garbage he is," the lead Ra'Ak laughed.

"If you insist," I agreed.

"Go." Kell shoved Granger forward. Granger's steps were measured, although he wanted to run to get away from us, I could tell. When he was halfway to the waiting Ra'Ak, Zaria released her copy of Kory. He strode forward, blowing smoke, just as one would expect a High Demon to do who'd been forced into a hostage situation.

One of the Ra'Ak at the back took a step forward, a hungry expression on his face.

They haven't fed
, Zaria confirmed my fears.

"Stay the fuck back," Kory's copy breathed a cloud of smoke at the one who'd shown his impatience.

Zaria had done an amazing job at copying Kory, right down to his speech and mannerisms.

Three Ra'Ak fell on Kory's duplicate the moment he was in range; Granger shrieked unnaturally high and began to run as Ra'Ak, in their normal, serpent form, boiled about Kory's duplicate.

The golem posing as Jamie was trampled in the dust beneath thick, fifty-foot snakes as four of them lunged in our direction.

I found myself hanging over the destruction inside Kell's mist, watching as duplicates of all of us screamed and died in the attack.

Now we find Jamie
, Zaria's voice was grim as she folded space while we were still caught in Kell's mist.

* * *

Peru

Laurel

"Oooh, that went perfectly," I clapped to show my appreciation at the images displayed on the large screen in the hacienda's media room. Morgett, whom I'd only seen once before, smiled at my pleasure. He'd arranged the whole thing and it had unfolded flawlessly.

"We have to find Granger," I pouted. He'd taken off running into the desert at the sight of the giant serpents.

"No worries, my dear, he will be located. We will have our vampire back quite soon," Berke soothed.

"Did you see all the blood?" I felt like clapping my hands again. The three they'd sent to meet Morgett's troops hadn't had a chance. It pleased me greatly to watch them die alongside Kory Wilson.

* * *

Lexsi

Farin ended up sitting beside me. Like me, she was concerned about all the blank, intent stares of those about us.

Tibby was in the ring, but serving in the trainer's capacity for Kory, who now had gloves laced and taped onto his hands.

From the other corner, assisted by Lover Boy Landon's crew, stood Geldivik Croth. Had the enemy reached that far—to convince Drith and Croth to ally with them in this endeavor?

I knew the history from the future, and what had happened to Drith and Croth then. In this time, their houses were still strong and thriving.

Had Kory been a part of that—in the future? Had he fought alongside others in the High Demon army, to defeat the alliance between Drith, Croth and Ra'ak?

How did Deris, Daris and Morgett Blackmantle figure into all this? What roles had they yet to play?

I wanted to shiver again, but worried that it would upset Farin more than she already was. The crowd—at least seventy percent of it, was high on drakus seed.

How good would Kory be against Geldivik Croth?

If my mother or grandmother were here, they wouldn't settle for anything less than Geldivik's death—that's how badly his family had betrayed Kifirin and the High Demon race. Geldivik was betraying all, now, in a pact to bring drakus seed to the Alliance and, as the evidence about me was mounting, to Earth as well.

Farin's fingers twisted together as she sat beside me, moving restlessly in her seat as Kory and Geldivik prepared to fight one another.

Did Geldivik know Kory? Did he know Kory's weaknesses when he fought? My heart began thumping in my chest. If they went to Thifilathi (and it could easily go that far quickly), they'd fight to the death.

Should I interfere? I could turn to mist and then—no. Kory wouldn't want that. It was a desperate measure and I should save it. Hide it from prying eyes and recording cameras. My mist was a weapon of last resort, although I fully intended to employ it if Kory's life were in danger.

I prayed to any listening that Kory would survive.

* * *

Opal

I didn't bother taking time to ask why Granger was still with us; he stood in a corner of Tibby's suite while Kell growled if he breathed too loudly.

I, on the other hand, watched as Zaria began to glow before putting her hands on an unconscious Jamie.

She'd transported us to the fight arena, picked Jamie out of his seat easier than a child plucked a daisy and rushed him to Tibby's penthouse suite.

He was already unconscious when we found him, his breathing shallow and his heartbeats irregular.

The drakus seed he'd been forced to swallow was killing him.

Zaria had a talent for healing, and I'd never been more grateful for something in my life. In the arena near the lowest level of the casino, Kory and an enemy High Demon prepared to fight.

I hoped Lexsi would know not to interfere unless there were no other options. Yes, I understood that cameras would be filming the debacle.

Unless—I sent out a call. Someone had to realize what this could do if images were displayed of this fight across Earth.

So many people would be watching.

For saving my brother
, came a familiar voice.

My shoulders sagged in relief as I watched Zaria's hands move swiftly over Jamie's body, neutralizing the drug that coursed through his veins.

* * *

Lexsi

Those gloves won't last five seconds if they turn Thifilathi
, I sent to Anita. She was close to the ring, hoping to keep the unwary away if the Croth difik turned first and burst into flame.

You'd know
, Anita replied.
If both turn up the heat, anybody near ringside will be roasted, toasted and crispy.

Have any of them succumbed to the drakus seed?

Two are dead
, she confirmed.
One's on the floor after he collapsed. Those around him are so high, they haven't noticed
.

Fuck
.

Look, we'll need to get the living out of here. The dead won't matter as much
, she reminded me.

Yeah. I get that. Do you want me to come now?

Stay where you are and keep Farin from freaking. I'll get Tibby and his crew out in the first batch. You get Farin and anybody else left at ringside that you can haul.

Got it. Farin's already having a meltdown.

Keep her calm. Tibby's more worried about her than he is about himself.

Nice to see that in a man, huh?

I could tell by the tone of her voice that she'd been thinking it. I refused to ask where Watson was; he obviously wasn't there, worrying about Anita. Surely, he and the other werewolves could scent the changes caused by drakus seed consumption in the seething press of bodies.

If they had mindspeech, I could have asked them, but my thoughts were redirected when the announcer stepped into the ring.

Was he under the influence, too, or was he obsessed or delusional? He acted as if nothing were wrong as the fighters were introduced—as Tiburon
Snark Demonio
Diaz, and Lyle
Lover Boy
Landon.

I held my breath as Geldivik Croth threw the first punch.

* * *

Opal

"He'll be fine, he's sleeping, now." Zaria employed her formidable witch's talent to float Jamie to a bed. "Is there a safe place to keep good old Granger, there, so he'll be out of sight and mostly out of mind?"

"Who was that who went screaming off into the desert?" I folded arms over my chest and blinked once at Zaria.

"Those Ra'Ak knew where Charlene and Hannah were. I merely substituted Hannah for Granger."

I blinked again before dropping my arms and shaking my head at Zaria. "Half the time you blow me away with what you can do. The rest of the time, you scare me to death with what you can do."

"Glad to be of service. Let's get Granger settled somewhere and we'll see about helping that bunch in the arena downstairs."

"You think you can help them?" I whispered.

"Not all of them. A few. Maybe a third. The ones who aren't too far gone already. I'm not prepared to change much if anything, today. We'll heal what we can and leave it at that. It's time the President and his cronies woke up to the dangers presented by what's taken over Peru."

"Yeah. What about?" I began.

"The innocent will be protected."

If anyone would know who that could be, it was Zaria. "Then I trust your choices," I said.

"Yeah. Life sucks at times, doesn't it?"

"It sure as hell does."

* * *

Lexsi

The fight went on for two minutes, tops, before Geldivik became his smaller Thifilathi and burst into flames. By that time, the crowd was so far under the influence of drakus seed there was barely a murmur running through it.