Devil's Paw (Imp Book 4) (35 page)

*****

I’d lost track of time in our dark cell. I wondered if Wyatt was looking for me, if Gregory had come for my four–nine–five reports and found me missing. There must be some kind of barrier around this place that limited my communications with him. Any attempts to summon him resulted in nothing. I’m sure it was the same on his end. I suspected that might be the issue with my Iblis sword too, but it hadn’t come to me on the mountain when I was fighting Raim either.

But Wyatt …he had to be looking by now. With my link to Gregory blocked, he would be the most skilled at finding me. Didn’t those rental cars have some kind of tracking GPS in them? I envisioned him jumping on a plane and swooping in on a speedboat to rescue me, guns a–blazing. Then I worried. Hopefully he’d bring Gregory with him. Wyatt sometimes became overconfident when it came to his ability to take down supernatural creatures. I’d definitely want him to have angelic back–up for this one.

None of our captors came for us, which was a mixed blessing. The only sounds besides ours were the drip of water in a corner of the room, and the scurry of some elusive animal. My eyes had adjusted enough to see a slim crack of light coming through what must have been a doorjamb. That was it. No windows; nothing but solid cement reinforced by rebar in a grid on the walls. I wasn’t sure how deep the rings holding us to the floor went, but it was beyond my capability to bend or pull them up. I kept trying, but without food or water, my physical body was beginning to feel weak. I’d taken to licking the water from the walls, but there was nothing I could do about the lack of food. Stab, beside me, looked worse. He seldom sat up anymore. I worried that even if I managed to free us, he’d never be able to walk out of here — not unless I somehow managed to free him from the collar that limited his abilities to that of a human.

There was a gap in my collar. It had taken me nearly a day, but I’d found it and begun pulling tiny bits of energy free. It wasn’t much. I’d probably only have one solid shot before it was gone. Over time, I might be able to manage to free a decent amount, but if they didn’t feed us soon, we wouldn’t have much time.

I was propped up against one of the walls, in that twilight zone between wake and sleep when the door swung open on silent hinges. Light filled the room, blinding my eyes that had become used to the darkness.

I recognized the mage that walked through the door even though he didn’t have the pointy hat and flaming eyes of the drawing. I didn’t recognize the man that hovered behind him in the doorway, holding a rifle. Stab lay unmoving, the rise and fall of his chest the only indication that he was still alive. I carefully crouched, awaiting the perfect moment to make my move.

“Guess we’ll take this one,” the mage said, waving a hand toward Stab. “I doubt he’ll last much longer.”

Rifle man continued to guard the door as the mage carefully approached Stab. Realizing they’d come for him, the demon scrabbled toward me on all fours, his eyes wide with terror.

“Don’t let them take me,” he begged.

I’d thought about using the energy I’d squirreled away to kill the mage, but then I’d have none left. Instead, I used a portion to dissolve the attachment of my chains to the floor and tried to look beaten down and weak as the mage approached Stab. The demon continued to scoot toward me as far as his chains allowed, which left him about three feet from me at their full extension. The mage reached out a staff toward his neck, and with a flash of light, the collar connected to the staff. It reminded me of the poles and loops humans use to lasso crocodiles and bring them in.

“Got him,” the mage announced.

Rifle man slung the weapon over his shoulder and walked over, unhooking Stab’s chains from the rings on the floor while the mage half dragged him, keeping him at a safe distance. Nobody looked at me. Nobody noticed me until I lunged at the mage and wrapped the chains connecting my arms around his thick neck. He dropped the staff and frantically clawed at his neck.

I jerked the mage around so he was between me and rifle man, and Stab was safely behind us. In an enviously smooth motion, the guard had his gun aimed and ready.

“Can you walk? Get up and stay behind me.”

I heard Stab shuffle behind me, felt his hands as he steadied himself on my body. At the same time I heard a whisper from the mage, and yanked the chain tight against his windpipe.

“If you even start to cast a spell, I’ll pop your head off,” I growled.

In reality, I was stuck. I had no idea how the fuck we were going to get out of here. Would the mage be a valuable enough hostage that we could make it to the edge of the forest? I had a bad feeling the answer was “no”. And even if he were, attempting to negotiate the halls of whatever building we were in while trying to keep my human shield between me and multiple armed attackers was going to be impossible. Add in the fact that Stab could barely stand and was dragging a five–foot staff, and my little escape plan was doomed. Still, I had to try.

Stab clung to me, and I edged around, sidestepping my way to the door while I kept one eye on the rifle and the other on the open doorway. I figured if we could get out into the hallway, Stab could shut the door, locking the dude with the gun inside and we’d have one less problem to worry about. Rifle man must have been thinking along the same lines. As Stab peered out the doorway to make sure all was clear, he rushed me. I jumped backwards, knocking the other demon into the hall and dragging the mage by his neck, managing to get out in time and slam the door, but not before the guard unloaded a few rounds. He was either a good shot or very lucky because both bullets tore through my right shoulder.

I grimaced, slightly pulling myself back from the injury to better concentrate. I couldn’t risk using any of the energy I’d collected to fix myself. There were potentially far worse things ahead of me than two bleeding holes in my shoulder.

“Are you okay?” I asked over my shoulder, hearing Stab struggle to get up off the floor.

“You go on without me. I’m just going to slow you down, and I’m not going to make it much longer anyway. If I don’t get some food and water soon, or if I can’t manage to fix myself, this form will die.”

“Pull back,” I urged, turning my head to look at him. “Consolidate yourself within the form if it dies and you’ll survive. You can exist within any matter, doesn’t have to be alive. I’ll carry you out if I have to, just hang on.”

He stared at me as if I’d gone insane.

“Go on without me.”

I shook my head and transferred my chains to my left hand, sacrificing valuable energy breaking the cuffs that linked them to my right and stooping to pick up the stick attacked to Stab’s collar. I had no idea how to unhook it, but at least I could urge him on and yank him out of the way if needed. Of course that meant I had to extend my spirit self back down into the shoulder that was now throbbing in agony.

“I’m not leaving here without you. Come on. If we make it to the beach, we can swim for it. I’ve got an Orca that I Own. You can ride on my back.

He looked skeptical. I didn’t blame him. I hardly had any energy left that was accessible. I might be able to manage a full–body conversion, but then I’d be completely drained.

“I know an angel that can help get these collars removed,” I told Stab, urging him forward. “If only we can get off the island and back to the mainland.”

“But the angel brought us here,” he protested, limping down the hall beside me.

“Another angel. A real badass angel. He’ll wipe the floor with these guys. He’ll shred them to bits and send me their body parts as tributes. He’s ancient and powerful, and he’s gonna be pissed as all fuck when he finds out what’s going on here.”

Again, I got the skeptical, “this imp is insane” look from Stab.

About twenty feet from the door, our hallway ended in a “T”. I held the pair back and leaned out into the intersection, my shoulder screaming at the extension.

“I don’t know whether to go left or right,” I whispered. In reply I heard a muffled scream. I spun around, dropping the stick and pulling the mage in front of me as a shield. Stab was huddled on the floor, struggling under a sorcerer’s net, and before me was the caster, eyes narrowed as he contemplated his next move. I was so fucked. I wasn’t leaving here without Stab. I’d promised him, and I wouldn’t break my vow.

“Let him go or I’m killing your mage,” I announced, again tightening the chain around the man’s neck.

“Or maybe not.” A hand touched my un–injured shoulder and I felt the compulsion slam into me and bounce off.

Compulsion was the least of my worries. The remaining bit of energy I’d managed to pull away from the restraint rebounded into the rest, and I was left with nothing. Stab was powerless and in a net, I had no energy to use, nothing to fight an angel. The compulsion hadn’t worked though, and one less bad guy was good enough for me. I yanked on the chain with all my might and heard a satisfying crunch as I snapped the mage’s neck.

The sorcerer screamed in anger, and the angel grabbed me, smashing my head against the hallway wall. The grey cement block whirled around my head, and I collapsed to the floor as everything went black.

~31~

I
woke to find myself back in the dark cell, my chains once again firmly connected to the floor. In addition to the collar on my neck, I now had one around each wrist and ankle. I’d need to find a weakness in five different restraints in order to pull any of my energy free. I could do it, but I doubted I had the time to amass any useful amount.

“Are you okay?” a weak voice asked to my left.

Stab. He was still alive, although, by the sound of his voice, he didn’t have much more than a day or so left.

“Yeah. My head is killing me and I’ve got two gunshot wounds in my shoulder, but other than that, I’m just peachy.”

I felt bad the moment I’d said it. He was worse, far worse, than me.

“That sorcerer was livid when you snapped his mage’s neck. He wanted to kill you right then and there, but the angel wouldn’t let him.”

“Wish I could have done more. I’m sorry Stab. I tried to get us out of here.”

I heard the rustle of him moving closer. “I know. I appreciate it. You’re the only demon who’s ever done anything for me.”

That didn’t make me feel any better. It only made me sad.

“The sorcerer doesn’t have any more mages, just an apprentice. You killed the one, and he was shouting about how the other one was found dead a few days ago. He was shredded to bits, and his hand was missing.”

I smirked, hoping that was the one Gregory had killed, the one whose hand he had sent to me up in Juneau. The only bright spot in this whole nightmare was the thought that he wouldn’t rest until he’d tracked down and punished my killers. They’d never get away with it, and if they thought they could avoid that particular angel’s wrath, they were sadly mistaken.

My mind churned, thinking of any possible way I could get us out of here. If I’d had use of my huge store of energy, I could easily take on the humans. Heck I could probably defeat the angel and the sorcerer too.

“How long have you been here, Stab?” I asked as I continued to look for gaps in the restraints that would be big enough to pull even the smallest bit of energy through.

“Two weeks, I think. Not exactly a great vacation, huh?”

He wasn’t going to make it. He’d either die, or they’d come for him, and there was nothing I could do about it. I redoubled my efforts to search for cracks in the collars.

“I’m the Iblis. We’ll get out and you can be part of my household. That means you can come and go through the gates with some minor behavior restrictions. You can visit me at my house in Maryland. We’ll relax by the pool, grab some beer and hot wings, then go blow shit up downtown.”

He sighed, the sound a hollow rattle. “I’ll hold you to that, you know.”

“I vow it on all the souls I Own.”

We sat, the only sound the rustle of Stab’s body against the floor as he shifted, trying to find a more comfortable position. My heart ached.

After a few hours, the door opened. This time I saw the sorcerer shadowed against the bright light, two guards by his side. He walked into the room, and the two guards took point at each side of the door. As the sorcerer approached Stab, I saw the angel waiting outside, his arms crossed before his chest.

“Touch him and you’ll meet the same fate as your mage,” I threatened.

The sorcerer jumped back, his eyes darting to me with a mix of anger and fear. The angel laughed.

“Not likely. Don’t worry, we’re going to take you too, just to make sure you’ve not slipped your shackles again.”

The sorcerer employed the same stick–as–a–leash technique as the mage had, and a guard stepped forward to release Stab’s chains while the other guard continued to keep his rifle trained on my head. Stab was handed off to the guard, clearly too weak to be much of a threat, and it was my turn to be connected to a pole. The sorcerer practically hyperventilated while the guard holding Stab released my chains one handed. The angel spun about, leading the way, followed by the sorcerer pulling me along, then the guard with Stab. The guard with the rifle was our caboose.

My mind considered and disregarded options. I was truly trapped, but I wasn’t going down without a fight. I might be a dead imp walking, but I was going to ensure a few of these fuckers went to their deaths before I did. Pulling back, I made the sorcerer yank me along as we navigated the labyrinth of hallways. About three minutes into our walk, I lunged forward, taking him off guard. The pole slipped from his hands and I grabbed it, giving the sorcerer a solid whack across his head and turning to do the same to the guard holding Stab. My shoulder screamed, and I felt fluid leak from the bullet holes. Adrenaline and desperation does wonderful things to a human body, and I managed to keep a solid grip on the stick.

“Run,” I told the demon, hitting the rifle held by the rear guard just as he shot. The bullets slammed into the wall, and I reversed, hitting him as hard as I could on my backswing.

Stab staggered down the hall the way we’d come, dragging his pole behind him, while I spun about. I’d need to face the angel, and without the use of my energy I’d surely lose. Hopefully I’d give Stab enough time to either escape, or hide in the facility. The angel was blocking the hallway before me, his arms again across his chest, his lips turned up in an amused smile.