Demon Games [4] (31 page)

‘Believe me, it is more than enough.’

One look at Moriel convinced Trey that she was right. Besides, he’d seen the devastation that she was capable of alone.

‘How did I get here?’

‘Lucien and I did not get word of your exploits until it was too late.’ She paused, glancing across at Hag with a look Trey found difficult to decipher. ‘But the tale of your victory at the Demon Games spread quickly throughout the Netherworld, and when we heard that a true-blood werewolf had defeated Abaddon the Destroyer in the final of the Games, we knew it could only be you. We hurried to Molok’s fiefdom but news of our approach had already reached the demon lord’s ears. He escaped to his citadel and has barricaded himself inside. My Arel are in the process of razing his precious stronghold to the ground as we speak. Lucien wants the demon lord to suffer for what he did to you and Alexa, and he will stop at nothing until the Hell-Kraken is in his hands.’

‘So you and Lucien got me out of the stadium?’ Trey shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t remember anything.’ He frowned, realizing just how true this was; he could remember entering the stadium, and the opening exchanges of the fight with Abaddon, but beyond that there was nothing.

‘No. Alexa and your aide, Shentob, did that.’

Again Trey tried to sit up, and again the pain flattened him back down on to the bed.

‘Shentob – where is he?’

‘Your little friend is a worthy aide to a champion. Following the fight, he moved you to safety, stitching and tending to your wounds as best he could – you have a fractured skull, and the damage to your knee will take a little while to heal. Then he went up into the stand and confronted Molok in front of his entourage. Shentob reminded the Hell-Kraken of the covenant the two of you made, and demanded that Alexa and you be released into his care. As aide to a champion he had every right to do so, and from what I gather, he stood tall in the face of the demon lord’s threats. Shentob knew that Molok had no choice: right is always right, and even in a place like the Netherworld there are certain conventions and rules that nobody can contravene. Molok could not touch a hair on Shentob’s head while he was still your aide, and he had to hand both you and Alexa into the demon’s safe keeping. By the time Lucien and I arrived, your friend had already got you back to the fighting school. That is where we found you.’

‘So where is he?’

‘He stayed behind. We gave him the chance to come back with you, but he decided that he would like to stay put. Lucien has charged him with the duty of pulling the fighting school down, and your friend seemed to relish the prospect of overseeing that particular task.’ Moriel paused for a moment. ‘Shentob asked me to tell you that he was so very proud of you – that he never stopped believing in you for one second, and that you will always have a bowl of your favourite stew waiting for you if ever you come back to the Netherworld to visit him.’ She frowned as Trey grinned at this private joke. ‘He sent your armour as a gift. He said that it is impossible for a demon to feel love, but what he feels for you is as close to that as can possibly be.’

Trey bit down on his lip and turned his head away to hide his emotions from the fearsome battle-angel.

The door opened and Alexa came in. She took one look at the bed and threw down the things she’d been holding to run to Trey’s side.

Hag shouted out from the back of the room, cursing the girl for being so careless, but Alexa ignored the old woman.

Moriel went over to pick up the dropped items and took them to the sorceress, leaving the two teenagers alone together.

Alexa’s eyes filled with tears as she took Trey’s hand in her own.

‘Hi,’Trey said.

‘Hi.’ Alexa blew out her cheeks, trying to keep her emotions in check.

‘You’re supposed to be happy that I’m out of my coma,’ Trey said seeing the tears on her face.

‘I am. You have
no
idea how happy I am.’ Alexa laughed and wiped at her face.

Trey looked at the girl by his side, and his heart seemed to clench inside him. Her hair was unkempt, her face smudged with dirt and tears, and yet in that moment he thought that she’d never looked more beautiful. He lifted her hand, which was still in his, and kissed it. Alexa stared at him, making Trey’s heart clench again, and he suddenly felt awkward and foolish.

‘You did it,’ she whispered.

Trey frowned.

‘You won our freedom.’

‘Yeah, I guess I did.’ He paused and then gave her a mischievous look. ‘Does that make me your hero, then?’

She laughed and shook her head. ‘Don’t push your luck, Trey Laporte.’

Trey joined in with her laughter, although doing so made him wince from the pain it set off in his face and abdomen. Alexa looked down at him, pushing a stray strand of hair away from her face. She leaned forward, kissing him lightly on the lips. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered.

‘Hey, dhampir!’ Hag shouted at Alexa from the back of the room. ‘Are you going to sit there all day making googly eyes at him, or are you going to help me make this blasted poultice?’

Alexa stood up, grinning down at Trey. ‘I’d better go and do as she says. Otherwise she’s likely to set her mandragore on both of us and, believe me, that thing makes Abaddon look like a pussycat.’

She turned and walked away. Trey watched her cross the room, already answering the old woman back and taking the things from the shelves that she was directed to. He closed his eyes. Despite the pain, he was happier than he’d been in a very long time. Within moments, he was fast asleep.

Two days later, when Lucien returned, Trey was sitting up in bed. He was on the mend, and had even taken a few tentative steps on his damaged leg, supported on either side by Alexa and Moriel. Alexa was asleep in the back room, having exhausted herself practising a fire-strike spell that Hag had taught her.

Trey was taken aback by Lucien’s appearance. The vampire was gaunt; his cheeks and eyes had sunk into a face that bore little resemblance to the handsome, striking creature Trey had said goodbye to when he’d left for Canada only a few weeks earlier. The fangs now adorning the vampire’s mouth took Trey by complete surprise, and he tried not to stare at them as his friend and guardian came over to his bedside.

‘It’s good to see you sitting up, Trey. You look remarkably better than you did when I last saw you.’ Lucien glanced across at Hag and nodded in her direction, but the old lady just flapped her hand dismissively and turned her back on him.

‘It’s good to see you too, Lucien,’ Trey said. He paused. ‘I wish I could say the same of you. What has happened to you?’

The vampire gave a sad smile. ‘I have not fed since coming to the Netherworld. I am able to do without the . . .
sustenance
I need for some time, but the result is, I’m afraid, all too obvious to those around me.’

Trey stared at those deadly-looking canines as Lucien spoke; it was impossible for him not to. Aware of the boy’s scrutiny, Lucien looked at the floor for a moment, and when he glanced back at his young ward he ran the tip of his tongue over the fangs and nodded at the youngster, as if granting him permission to ask the questions that he knew were flying around inside the boy’s head.

‘I thought you’d had those permanently removed.’

Lucien eyes shot in the direction of Hag again, before turning back to Trey. ‘So did I.’

‘Sorry. I don’t mean to—’

‘Something has happened to me. Hag has her own theories of how and why, but it is something that she doesn’t think she will be able to reverse. I have reverted to the thing I truly am. And I must learn to adapt all over again.’

‘Hey, I’ve seen worse looks since being here in the Netherworld,’ Trey said, trying to lighten the mood.

Lucien smiled and was about to reply when Alexa came in.

It was clear to Trey that Lucien’s appearance had deteriorated even in the two days since he and Alexa had last seen each other, because she faltered as she ran across the room towards him.

He stepped towards her, wrapped her in his arms and kissed the top of her head.

The two of them made their way over to Trey.

‘I owe you more than I can ever repay,’ Lucien said, looking down at the teenager.

‘Did you deal with Molok?’ Trey asked.

‘Yes.’

‘Permanently?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then we’re quits.’

Lucien smiled. ‘I hope you’re feeling well enough to leave this place. We must return to the human realm to deal with pressing matters that I believe will have a dreadful impact there. A terrible storm is brewing – a storm that Caliban has conjured up – and I fear that we will be the ones that have to fight its effects, if my brother is not to have his way and wreak havoc on humankind.’

‘Hey, I’m ready when you are. I’m just gagging to see the look on Tom’s face when he sees you with fangs again!’

Alexa laughed and let go of her father. ‘I’ll go and help Hag prepare the portal.’ She walked off, calling out the old woman’s name and leaving Trey and Lucien alone.

‘Those two seem to get on well together,’ Trey said.

The vampire’s eyes followed Alexa as she left, a strange look on his face. ‘Hag has taken Alexa under her wing. She has promised to come with us to the human realm and look out for her in whatever lies ahead.’

He turned back and frowned at his young ward. ‘You have already been through so much, Trey. Experienced and seen and done things that have been so very hard for one so young to endure. But they are nothing compared to what I believe is coming.’ He paused. ‘Are you ready for what lies ahead? Are you ready to fulfil your destiny?’

The teenager fingered the silver amulet that hung round his neck. He’d always believed Lucien was wrong when he said Trey was the werewolf that the amulet’s legend spoke of. Now he wasn’t so sure.

Trey smiled back at his guardian and nodded. ‘I’m ready if you are, Lucien,’ he said.

To be continued. . .

Fifteen-year-old werewolf Trey Laporte has no one left to turn to . . .

The place:

The Netherworld

The missing:

Philippa Tipsbury – kidnapped in the Netherworld

Alexa Charron – brave, impetuous, possibly mad, has gone to rescue her

Lucien Charron – the reformed vampire has gone AWOL. He needs to discover why his bloodlust is back

The threats:

Molok – power-crazed demon lord; collector of humans; bloodthirsty master of the Demon Games

Caliban – ruthless power-seeking vampire; Trey’s deadliest enemy

The mission:

Trey must leave behind the human realm and face his demons on their home turf – the stinking, terrifying Netherworld, where the last hereditary werewolf is the ultimate prey . . .

Bloodthirsty books by Steve Feasey

Changeling
Changeling: Dark Moon
Changeling: Blood Wolf
Changeling: Demon Games
Look out for the next spine-chilling
Changeling
adventure coming soon

For Tracey Berge,
a lover of books

First published 2000 by Macmillan Children’s Books

This electronic edition published 2010 by Macmillan Children’s Books
a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
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Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-0-330-53490-1 PDF
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Copyright © Steve Feasey 2010

The right of Steve Feasey to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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