Keeley Thomson (Book 4): Demon Trap (24 page)

"Keeley. You brought treats for us again?"

The words were kind sounding and she didn't wait to introduce Becky, making sure to pass the credit to her for what she'd done. After all, that made Keeley look good by association and made her seem generous, for sharing the limelight. It even made Becky like her more, so it was a win all the way around.

"Becky, this is Chief Benson. Notice the last name there? This is Eve's dad."

"Oh? Right, we met before, at Maria's Church. I didn't know you were a policeman." She seemed a little awkward then, but it passed after the man took a sugar cookie with mounds of frosting on the top in the shape of a tree, and ate a bite.

"These are really good. Thank you both. Happy holidays." He managed a cheery enough voice for it to seem right and ate more of the cookie.

That let them escape to the fire station, where she didn't know the people there, but they still seemed happy enough to see the junk food. After that, she had nothing in particular to do that was Becky appropriate.

Well, there was dinner...

After that they watched Christmas specials and listened to music, until nearly ten, when they got ready for Church.

The rest of the evening was nice, but mainly just them meeting everyone and sitting in the back, trying to follow along and not seem out of place. The rest of them had come, except Darla and Gary. Eve sat next to her and Becky though, instead of with her dad and his new wife, Karen. Hally was tucked in next to them and Maria was too, even though her whole family was there. Sherry hadn't made it, being gone still when they'd left.

The only real down note was that Gladys wasn't there either. Hopefully that meant she'd gone off with some friends. There was no chance to talk to anyone about that though after the events were over. They all just sort of left, though she managed to give everyone a hug, once they were outside.

She kept Becky with her though, which got the girl glared at a little by Hally. She noticed it, but didn't say anything until they were headed back to her place later.

"So, Hally... does she like you?"

"Yeah. She's sweet. I like her too."

"Oh." The other girl was in the passenger's seat but didn't let it rest there. "I kind of meant, you know, the other kind of like."

"I got that. Yes, I think so. She has a boyfriend though. That's not a problem for you is it? I promise that I like guys enough that I won't insist you do me when we get back."

The girl coughed and sputtered enough that she devolved into laugher at her own antics.

"Sorry, I didn't even think that!" She kept laughing though and finally shook her head. "That, it really isn't my business, is it? I just feel like there's a lot I don't know about people most of the time. It's like everyone is secretly this great person with a full life and what do I have? A job at Taco Bell?"

Keeley watched the road, trying to stay ready, just in case. She didn't let that come out in her voice though.

"Oh, I don't know, you have good friends. A job is nothing to sneer at either. Your own car. What else do you need really? International adventure? Because that could be arranged if you want." She made it seem like a joke, but it wouldn't be that hard to arrange, to tell the truth.

"I know. First world problems, right? Ohhh... Poor me, my hot pocket is still cold in the middle, and my hundred dollar shoes aren't trendy enough." She laughed at herself this time, shaking her head enough for Keeley to be able to see it. "But, the rest of you are so pretty, and you
do
things. I would have never thought about taking cookies to anyone, especially the police. I'd be at home alone right now if it wasn't for you rescuing me."

There was a moment of silence, one that started to stretch into being uncomfortable, just as Keeley turned into the driveway of her house, parking next to Bertha.

"Hey, mom's finally home." She was probably asleep, but there was someone else there, sitting in her living room, by the feeling of it. Finias. There was no way for her to get rid of Becky either. Not and seem remotely sane. Instead of trying that she just walked in, ready to fight if it turned out to be another trap. If someone could fake being Zack, Finias was probably no harder, at least on a superficial level.

He just sat on the sofa, waiting for them it seemed. He looked like Dan Carmichael at the moment, so was good looking, and seemed about thirty-five, more or less. The suit he wore was too nice and looked very fresh and his smile lit up just a bit when he saw Becky.

"Sorry to be here so late, but I wanted to remind you that we have that thing tomorrow with Zack. I thought we might chat about that first?"

Becky wasn't
just
her friend, but also smart enough to realize that this conversation wasn't meant for her. The only problem was that she also didn't know if she could leave her friend alone with the strange man in her living room. There could be a problem, but the girl didn't know what to do about it at all.

Keeley just gestured at the man in front of them.

"Becky Hoader, this is Dan Carmichael. My biological father." She grinned. "That sounds kind of hostile, but we get along pretty well, we only met a few months ago though, so you get the idea, he wants to bond with me now. Why don't you go and get some sleep and I'll do the whole estranged parent holiday thing?" It was all even true, so it sounded that way. Becky yawned but shook her head a bit.

"I can stay up, if you..." There was not good way of saying that she wouldn't bail if Keeley needed her there, even though it was what she meant. Anything she mentioned would be insulting to the man though, but leaving her friend to an uncomfortable parental session wasn't exactly what she wanted to do either.

"No problem here Becky. He probably just wants to get me to agree not to get drunk at the family party or something."

Looking over her shoulder at the man, who really was out of place there, the other girl walked out, toward Keeley's bedroom. There was no sense of magic, so hopefully no one had booby trapped it with snares or something like that either. That would be so hard to explain.

After a few seconds Finias gestured for her to sit near him and took her hand, speaking into her mind directly. It sounded like normal words, but he didn't bother to move his lips at all.

"Zack... How much do you know about that?" There was a flow of slightly confused emotions.

"Not much. Just what we talked about. Is there more that I should know? Like him being a Greater Demon?"

He didn't think anything for a bit and then nodded.

"A lot, the actual situation is more than I can really explain right now. I just wanted to make certain you had a plan in place, in case Xenses shows up tomorrow. If he attacks you directly, or challenges you openly, the rest of us won't be allowed to intervene. In normal circumstances that wouldn't be the case, but there is a loophole, if he takes it." There was no explanation of what that was, since she was supposed to figure that kind of thing out herself.

She had the information, somewhere in that vast and slightly scattered information that she held around her like an umbrella over her head.

"I have some things ready, but I don't know if they'll be enough. The fact is that I have to live that way now all the time, as ready as I can manage. He'll be back, I'm sure. I don't know if it will be tomorrow. That's the problem. If I knew when it was coming, I could set a trap. I pretty much need to work that out anyway?"

She had an idea, using Zack as the bait. She didn't let that slip out though, since Finias might not love to hear all about it. She needed time for that one to work though.

Maybe more than they really had.

"Zack... He can't know about what he really is. No one can. It would be better to just kill him ourselves and make it quick than to let him be known."

She nodded, not thinking anything about that at all. That earned her a smile, since she was hiding the information from the Mind Taker himself, while holding his hand.

If she could manage that, not a lot of people would be able to easily pry the data from her, would they?

Without speaking, he rose and left, using the door and then taking the inroads once outside. That meant she got to her room in time to find Becky in a pink nightshirt that had a pony on the front climbing into bed. She looked a bit scared for a second and Keeley wondered if she thought it was time for the sexy porn music to start, but her thoughts revealed that she just didn't know if they were sharing the bed or if she was supposed to sleep on the floor.

Keeley smiled.

"I'll get the lights in a bit. Just let me change first..."

The other girl, mercifully, was a deep sleeper, which meant that half an hour later Keeley could get up and arrange the presents, then start making the rolls for breakfast. It was mainly just something for her to do, but she managed to keep busy enough until the others got up, at about ten in the morning. Sherry looked nearly panicked, but Keeley, being a great daughter, had realized that Bertha had needed to be packed up and had done that earlier, letting her sleep in a bit.

"Oh! That's so sweet of you. This is a last minute thing, but I'm supposed to meet Clara and Glen to get a mid-afternoon party set up." She didn't even look toward the tree on her way out. Keeley quelled the slight sense of disappointment and smiled at her back as Becky watched from the doorway, clearly feeling awkward.

Keeley winked at her.

"Orange rolls and eggs, then we can open some presents."

The other girl made a face then, and sighed.

"I didn't know that I'd be here, so I didn't get you anything."

It was a delicate situation, since things like that needed to be balanced, more or less. Otherwise people would feel weird about stuff.

"I only have one for you. Most of this is for everyone else."

They ate and listened to music for a while then opened the packages that were for them, both of them being filled with clothing. It wasn't a giant haul, but it worked well enough and looked nice. They stayed together for most of the day, chatting about nothing all that important, but at about six, Keeley actually had to go, since there was a thing. One that was in a different state. She didn't want to leave the girl behind, but taking her to a party with mages, Vampires and Greater Demons didn't seem like a great plan, to tell the truth.

The hard part was letting her know that without hurting her feelings.

"So, I have to go soon." There was no great way to do it and the truth was right out. She lied then, hoping it wouldn't be too uncomfortable for anyone." I have that thing with Dan? You're welcome to come. I don't think you should though, not this time. Everyone will think we're dating. I'm game if you are though." She smiled and batted her eyelashes a bit, then held the girls hand. "What do you say,
sweetiekins
?" The girl laughed and shook her hand free.

"Hah, I can tell when I'm being sent away. Seriously, this was fun Keeley. Way better than what I would have had, anyway. Thanks." She got up and collected her things, seeming pretty happy about it and waved on the way out the door. "If there's a New Year's Eve party, make sure and invite me to that too?"

She nodded.

"First on the list, as far as I know. We should do that."

It was actually a great idea.

Keeley had searched through the memories that she had from Zack to find his place before, so she was there on his doorstep shortly after Becky drove off. She had presents for him, and a few for the others that would be there. Lenore and Troy, his roommate. It was the other man that answered the door, looking clean and smelling a little too much of some trendy cologne or other. Not that bad, but with all the Vampires in the room, and the few shifters that were already there, it was probably going to be a bit strong. She'd have to warn him about that, if they got a chance later.

He looked at her and smiled, recognizing her but not really understanding that she wasn't just some hot girl his friend knew.

"Kelly, wasn't it?" He held out his hands to help with the packages at least, even if he couldn't remember her name.

Sighing she handed them over with a headshake.

"Seriously Troy? And here I thought we had a connection and everything.
Keeley
. Remember it, or next year I won't get you a present."

"Sorry. Oh, hey, this one actually has my name on it. Keeley, marry me."

She nodded.

"Alright, but I'm only sixteen, so I have to ask my mother for permission."

The smooth guy took that news in stride and stepped out of the way easily so that she could enter the room. It was a bit dingy and had the look of people that didn't have a lot of money on hand for decorating. That wasn't really the case though now. Zack just didn't
know
he had it yet, she didn't think. That would change soon. Really it was surprising that no one had gotten him new furniture and carpeting yet. People had to be panicking more than a bit, trying to find things to trade with him.

"Look everyone, Keeley's here. We're getting married, but I'm sure she's good with open relationships, so don't let that stop any of you other ladies from flirting with me." The words were, she realized, pure genius.

He'd just informed the whole room that he was valuable to other women. It was clearly a joke, since she was too young to get hitched, but several of the others turned to look at her and then him with renewed interest.

She touched his arm a little possessively, doing her part to sell the whole thing.

"That's true." She didn't explain which part of it, but Zack rescued her, laughing.

"Keeley, here, you should meet everyone." There was a knock on the door then, so Troy had to dump the presents and let Darla in. Finias was with her, but that didn't stop the slightly Hispanic looking guy from flirting with her too. That seemed to be his thing.

Then there were those introductions that Zack mentioned. He seemed relatively happy about it all, his voice smooth, for him. There was a good variety of people and beings there too. Some that Keeley had to search her memories to find out about. Elth, were easy, since they were so small and cute it made them distinctive. Basically elves really, though that was considered an insult to their kind to call them that. Hsreth were represented as well. They looked almost identical to Glen and Clara, which made sense. They reproduced asexually after all, so they were all directly related. There were others too.