Demon Lord 5: Silver Crown King (24 page)

Jo-jo said, “Yes sir, boss.  Very clear.”

“Crystal,” Jorge said.

I nodded and crossed to the front door.  About to go out, I stopped.  “Wait a second.  A dangerous snake was delivered and the property’s protective wards didn’t activate?”

“Uh, no,” Jorge said.

I went back and ducked low to inspect the box.  There was no card.  I lifted the box and turned it over.  A silver coin fell out onto the floor.  I picked it up.  There was an image on it, a fey queen with no face, as if it were lost in shadow.  I activated my
Dragon Sight
tattoo.  My skin felt like a thousand razors had just whisked across me.  I looked down.  No blood.  The pain was just the price paid for the magic I’d quickened.  Looking back at the coin, I now saw a stain of shadow on it.  A little side tag indicated a high level of shadow magic.

My inner dragon used my eyes to study the coin. 
Can I have that?

The coin had defeated the house wards, getting the snake through.  Finally, the Shadow Court was coming after me directly.  I smiled with pleasure, thinking:
Bring it you bastards
.

TWENTY-SIX

“Feasting flies revere the

dead, but it’s never mutual.”

                                                   —Caine Deathwalker

Leaving my personal security detail to their drinking, I left the mansion and followed the walkway to Izumi’s place next door.  Her door opened slightly as I got there, stopped by a stretch of chain.  One of Angie’s new wolves peered out with slate green eyes.  He was on the scrawny side, a hundred and sixty pounds, just under six feet.  His hair was shaggy brown.  He said, “Yeah?”

“Open the door,” I said.

He closed the door.  I waited to hear the jingle of chain links as he took it off.  Instead, I heard the sound of retreating footsteps.  Listening through the door, I heard arguing voices.  A moment later, the steps returned.  The chain clinked and the door opened wide.  Angie faced me in pink sweat clothes, her feet bare.  She had a bruised look around the eyes.  Signs of not sleeping made her look haggard.  This was not the sharp, courtroom bombshell of an attorney I knew.  I wondered how long it would take her to get back to being that person.

She said, “I’m surprised you didn’t kick in the door and just stroll inside.”

“Izumi would be mad, and if Josh is around, I’d be dealing with an angry liger.  And then there’s Kat.”

“They’re in the kitchen fixing food for everyone.  Your friends from Sacramento are nice.”

I stepped in and closed the door behind me.  “I came to see how you were doing.”

She plodded back to a red velvet couch that matched the wallpaper.  The floor was hardwood with area rugs.  A white polar bear rug stretched out by the fireplace.  On the wall, above the fireplace mantle, was a gold framed portrait of Izumi in her Japanese snow-woman mode, pretending to be demon, and nor fey.  I knew the truth now, but in the beginning, she’d fooled me with her fey glamour because I’d never had reason to use my
Dragon Sight
on her.  Angie flopped down like an angel with clipped wings.  I followed, sitting beside her as she crossed her legs under her.

“What do you want me to say?” she asked.  “That I was tortured and raped repeatedly in unspeakable ways because I was a coward, but I’m better now?”

“That would be a good start,” I said.  “It would show you’re aware of past realities, and are moving ahead in life to a better place.”

She looked at me, her eyes full of shadows.  “Fuck you.”

“Sure, I’ll let you,” I said, “if that’s what it takes to fix you, so be careful what you ask for.”

She broke the stare.  That disappointed me.  As the wolves’ new Alpha, she couldn’t be seen as a submissive, but that was her vibe.  That very attitude would eventually force one of the other wolves to challenge her for leadership.  The only reason it hadn’t happened yet was that most of her people were still learning what it meant to be wolves.

I sighed.  “Angie, you act like you’re not worth loving in a decent way.  You’re acting like a victim who asked for abuse.  I know that’s not who you are.  You need to realize it, too.”

“Or what?  You’ll beat it into me?”

“I’ll beat something into you.”

She forgot self-pity.  Her eyes flamed amber.  She slapped at my face with the back of her hand.  I caught her wrist, stopping her blow with dragon strength.  If I’d been merely human, she’d have swatted my block aside and caved in the side of my face with her wolf strength.  She struggled to pull free, then stopped.  “Let me go.”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll yell for help.”

“Is that how an Alpha wolf handles herself, and defends her pack?”  I reached out with my free hand and caressed the side of her face.

She flinched away.

I grabbed her shirt and jerked her up against me, pressing my lips against hers hungrily.

She went limp, letting me do what I wanted.

I let her go, stood up, and said, “Let me know when you’re fuckin’ ready to live again.”  I turned my back on her and walked away, rounding the corner into a large kitchen where a bunch of wolves in human form, Kat, and Josh all pretended to be very busy with their work.  A big, big man with blond hair, Josh was at the sink, rinsing off a pot of peeled potatoes.  I went up to him.

He slanted me a sharp look with tawny eyes.  “Tough love, huh?”

I said, “I don’t see everyone’s sympathy doing her any good.”  I knew with her wolf’s hearing, she’d hear our conversation.  “Besides, if I excuse her weakness, she’ll feel okay about excusing it herself, and her wolves will pay for that down the line.  I wouldn’t bother, but I do have feelings for her.” 
Feelings of possession and lust, but feelings nonetheless.
  “When a wolf is hurt, it’s supposed to lick its wounds, heal up, and get back to being a wolf.  I’m just trying to help her remember that.”

Kat let the fridge door swing shut.  She had an arm load of jars: mayo, mustard, ketchup, and pickles.  She set them on a dining room table around which the wolves were gathered.  One was slicing an onion.  Another opened plastic wrapped paper plates and cups.  Two more were smashing balls of ground meat into flat patties for hamburgers.  I think the wolves would have preferred eating the meat raw, but didn’t quite dare. 

Their careful eyes followed Kat around like she was highly dangerous.  They’d probably heard by now that she was Mistress of Sacramento.  A pretty woman in her early twenties with dark hair gathered at the nape of her neck, she didn’t look formidable, but they weren’t taking any chances, especially when she commanded a big man who smelled like jungle cat. 

If Leona were here, she’d be all over Josh like a cat on catnip.

Kat wore jeans slashed at both knee, dancing slippers, a teal blue tank top, and a narrow leather collar with a small, tinkling, silver bell in front.  Her nails sported aqua blue polish that matched her Siamese-cat eyes.  She turned my way and stormed over like she was spoiling for a fight.

Josh said one word.  “Kat.”

She stopped beside him, giving him a defiant glare, then switched it to me.  She looked through me like my soul was on full display, and said, “You asked me to come and deal with this, so let me.”

“Right, sorry, my mistake.  Won’t happen again,” I lied.

She didn’t look convinced.

“I think I’d better go.”  I turned and headed back the way I’d come.  Stepping back into the living room with its Valentine Day décor, I found Angie between me and the door.  I headed for the door.  She didn’t step out of my way, but put a hand against my heart.  I stopped.

“Caine?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”  She leaned in and kissed me lightly on the lips.

I took advantage of the opportunity to squeeze her ass.  “You’re welcome.”

She pulled away and stepped aside.

I went out the door without looking back.  A few minutes later, I was back inside my mansion, heading for the door to Fairy.  I found it open.  Sarah and the were-kitties were manhandling a four-tier cake across the threshold.  It looked like a wedding cake, but no bride and groom decorated the top.  The girls got it through. 

I followed to Fairy and watched them sweep away toward the keep with their burden.  Sarah looked back once with shadowed eyes.  If there was a message in that glance, I missed it completely. The were-kitties supporting the monster cake rotated as they walked so, one by one, they all got a good look at me.  Sexual heat sizzled in those glances. 

Can’t miss that message
. 
Note to self: book an orgy with them at one of the hot springs when all this is over. 

I detoured across the garden to a throne-like chair with cushions, and took a seat.  Relaxing my mind, clearing my thoughts, I looked through the overhanging leaves at a pure blue sky.  No clouds.  In this world, they’d only come when needed.

It is good to be king
.

Just when I was about to return to the grind of events, the Old Man showed up.  He gestured to a pool and the water rose up to become a liquid copy of my throne.  Lauphram sat down on the water, letting it—and his magic—support him.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“An up-date.  I’ve sensed a great deal of your magic being unleashed this morning.”

I ran through my preparation.  He sat there, deep in thought, listening, nodding at various points.  “Seems sufficient,” he said at last.  “Now, what are your plans for me?”

I smiled.  “I am so glad you asked.  I’m letting you and the dragons open the show.  The bridge will be our first contact with the enemy.  The dragons will come out of the sun for strafing runs.  Lightning attacks on the flank will demoralize the enemy while driving them into an advance that hopeful will divide their forces.  Once half their army is committed, you get to play troll under the bridge.”

The Old Man grinned at the image.  “I see.  That’s why you made a bridge over a new lake; to give me plenty of ammunition.”

“Your Atlantean water magic will turn every drop into a weapon.  The dragons make the first cull, you make the second, and then disengage.  The were-folk in the river and forest, and my shadow traps, will continue the grind.  Whatever manages to reach the keep can entertain the guests.  Then we have the coronation.”

“And the part of the enemy that winds up in the wrong valley?”

“I’m kinda torn about that,” I admitted.  “I can either eliminate that valley by zipping it closed, crushing them to paste, or I can bring up some magma to incinerate them.  I lean toward the first approach, less messy.”

“I approve.  Apparently, I’ve taught you well.”

“Don’t break your arm patting yourself on the back.”

“I’ll be careful,” Lauphram said.  “There’s only one potential problem area I see.”

“What’s that?”

“Not going to tell you.  You’ll get complacent and make more than the usual mistakes.”

I glared at him.  “Fucking thanks a lot.”

I sensed a shadow hand forming above my head.  He was fixing to smack me for my language.  Anywhere else, he could get away with it, but this was my land, an extension of me.  Here, he no longer eclipsed me in power.

A pillar of dirt fountained up beside the pool.  Even if he’d been standing, the column would still have dwarfed him.  The dirt shaped itself into a giant hand, palm facing him.  My intent and ability to retaliate was clear.

He looked at the earthen hand.  And looked at me.  I felt his shadow hand dissolve.  “You’re right,” he said.  “The game has gotten old, and you
are
a man.  Dragon.  Whatever.  Time to put away childish things.”

I willed the hand I’d formed to sink back into the ground.

His shadow hand reformed in an instant and smacked the top of my head.

The earth surrounding the pool became a crater.  The Old Man dropped six feet so only his head poked out of the hole.  The jarring couldn’t have been good for his tailbone. 

I smiled.  “Are you sure you don’t want to quit while you’re behind?”

“I could always call a storm.  Flash floods aren’t fun,” he said.

I nodded musing.  “True, and you’ll need the water—with a volcano under your ass.”

We stared at each other.  Silence set in, and dragged out with nothing being done by either of us.  Then the water of the pool lifted him out of the crater, putting him on its lip.  He nodded at his own thoughts.  “I had to be sure.”

I pushed off my chair and stood facing him.  “Sure of what?”

“The timing; that letting go
now
is best for you.  I’m satisfied.”

“Don’t expect a hug,” I said.

He nodded again, smiled, and walked away.

I watched his slow departure with a strange sense of having become unanchored in some way. 
Shit.  What just happened?

I looked back and saw that the pillar of water he’d made was still fully erect.  Something dark was on top of it.  I went closer to see what the Old Man had left behind.  With a thought, I touched the land, and the land raised the pool’s basin to where it had been.  This had the effect of raising the water pillar, too.  What sat on top was at eye level, a black crown.  No,
the
black crown.  The demon clan crown, made of obsidian inset with black diamonds. 

I reached out and plucked it off the water.  At first, the rim was too large for my head, but as I donned it, the crown contracted.  Perfect fit.

Fuck yeah!