The Demon's Game (16 page)

“Why would Dylan need to save you?”

“Most of my people have moved above ground. Those
remaining are criminals and slaves who didn’t make it out before crime
overruled order. I tried so hard to get everyone out. Trolls and goblins arrest
people on sight, but evil prevails here. There is peace above ground and people
mourn the loss of family members who aren’t dead, who are just trapped down
here.”

“Then move above ground and mourn with the rest of
them.”

“I will not abandon innocent people!” he screamed. He
paled suddenly and backed up against his guard’s chest. “I’m sorry, goddess.
You are Dylan’s wife; I thought you would understand. It is my responsibility
to save my people. I am High King. My people will not die for me to live in
peace but the other way around.”

“Dylan sure as hell knows how to pick his friends. I
think everyone my husband befriends is certifiable. I will help you so Dylan
isn’t drawn here, but I must find the guardians of the void. You can sense
them, right?”

“Normally.”

“Not right now?” I asked

He looked embarrassed and looked up at his guard’s
face. “We have not had water or food for ten days. We are both a little
distracted,” the guard said, putting his hand on Nila’s shoulder. It was very
clear how much the goblin cared for the young king.

“I will be right back,” I said, flashing to my apartment.
I grabbed a plastic bag, threw in the loaf of bread from on top of the fridge,
and then searched through the fridge until I found lunchmeat, cheese, and
bottled drinking water. Then I flashed back to Dios and handed the bag to the
young king. “This should be enough for today.”

“Why are you helping me? You’re not the god of Dios.”

“Zer is not interested in helping his people.
Besides, you’re a friend of Dylan.”

“Thank you,” he said. I waited while he and the
goblin discovered sandwiches and swallowed them down like they were… well,
starving. I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt until they finished off the food
and each drank two bottles of water.

“Are the other gods as giving as you?” the goblin
asked.

Several of my brothers were more giving than myself,
but I would do what I could to help Dylan’s friends. If Dylan decided they were
worthy friends, I would assist his allies whenever possible. I wanted to help
my people in general, but I normally left the people of other worlds to their
own gods. The thing was, Dylan had the ability to make friends anywhere.

“How much do you know about the void and those who
guard it?” I asked.

“Not a whole lot. I can sense things that involve the
void, but the only real knowledge I have is from Nano.”

“Where is Nano?”

“He and Vivian moved above ground.”

“Nano should be protecting you.”

He wouldn’t meet my eyes and I knew there was a lot
more going on here than I was privy to. I considered it for a moment, but if
the mortal wasn’t desperate enough to ask for help, I would stay out of it. Of
course, Dylan would see his friend in trouble and demand to help.

“Can you tell me where the void guardians are?”

“I can normally sense them when I sleep. I can
sometimes see them in my dreams. There is one girl on Kahún that is pretty
reliable. She might be difficult to find though; I haven’t felt her in almost a
year. There were two boys on Dios, but they both died a month ago. There is one
on Skrev… he’s violent and powerful. I always hate seeing him because I know he
can see me. I’m the black sheep of the void-bonded. They can open gateways and
control passage through the void. I actually have the void in my blood, but I
can’t do anything.”

The goblin growled. “You are a leader,” he argued.
The boy rolled his eyes.

“I’m going to Skrev to check on the void guardian.
How do I find him?”

“Open the void on Skrev and he will come to you.”

I flashed to Skrev and felt my brother trying to pull
me out. I fought Araxi off and tore into the void. Unlike the guardians of the
void, I couldn’t make it safe. All I could do was hope nothing went wrong
before the void guardian found me.

Standing in the middle of a jungle, I tore a hole in
the universe just to find someone who I wasn’t sure could even help me. To my
shock, the hole started to close. I didn’t fight it, though, because I was
distracted by the sky, which was changing quickly from light blue to deep red.

“You are a fool!” A sharp bark drew my attention to a
small tree. From his hiding place among the leaves, a man jumped to the ground.
He was scruffy in all sense of the word; about Dylan’s size with long, light
brown hair tied back in a messy braid. His luminous eyes, narrowed with anger
and suspicion, were an unusual sort of amber-orange. “Do you realize what
opening the void here could do?”

“You do not realize who you are talking to,” I said
patiently.

“The goddess Tiamat, I presume. I have heard of you.
Since you are not bonded to the void, you have to be a god to open it, and
there is only one that is female.”

“Then how dare you speak to me that way?”

“You are risking my life and my world. Ghidorah may
fear you, but the worst you can do is kill me.”

“I have come here to find you.”

“I know. Foolish woman!”

“Mind your tongue, mortal,” I demanded. “I need your
brain, not your tongue, so I am not afraid of cutting it out.” The man was
severely trying my nerves, which was something I never felt before taking a
mortal body.

“I am sorry, foolish
goddess
. Now, what do you
want? Other than to be worshipped?”

“Janus is missing.”

“Yes, I know. And so is almost everyone who is
associated with the void. You know how I survived? By being wonderful company.”

“What happened to them?”

“They were killed.”

“By?” It was like pulling teeth to get a complete
answer out of him. This must have been what Dylan felt every day of his life.

“By the demons of course, particularly one they call
the queen. She is an Ancient, exceptionally strong in her illusions and
seductions, that has fought her way to the top of their hierarchy and has a
very devoted following. Once she crawled out of the void, she overthrew Janus.
She did not stop there, though; she went after everyone associated with the
void until she set her sights on Earth.”

“Why Earth?” I asked.

“How should I know?”

“But demons obey the balance.”

“Demons are compelled to obey, but the Ancients can
overcome the instinct. If the demons devote themselves to their queen over the
balance, she will be acting against it.”

“So the demons are building an army.”

“And there is no one on this side to fight,” the man
added.

“There is. Have you heard of Dylan?”

“I heard the demons mention him while they were
hunting me.”

“They fear him. Dylan is the most powerful Noquodi
ever born.”

“What would a servant of the gods be able to do
against the Ancients?”

“He may be called a Noquodi, but he is no servant.
Most of my brothers fear him and Vretial is his ally. One of the Ancients has
been captured by him and is his faithful pet. He is even friends with dragons
and voids.” Well, one dragon and one void.

“It sounds like he is building his own army.”

“You would have to meet him to understand. Why is the
sky red?”

“The Ajaskakara is coming. We have maybe another hour
before everyone either shifts or… For the next twenty days, it will not be safe
for anyone to travel to Skrev.”

I flashed back to the apartment. It was late this
time and Dylan wasn’t at home. I could feel him, so I followed the sense until
I reached the apartment next door, where I met our neighbors. The wife was a
powerful fae and the husband was a human with no magical skill whatsoever. It
occurred to me how perfect they were for each other. Whether I believed in soul
mates for the Iadnah or not, Dylan was mine.

I prided myself on being able to blend into a
society. Of course, I only did so to gather information. However, Dylan really
seemed to want a chance at a normal life. It could only last a few days, but I
refused to be the one to spoil it for him, so I would play human and be nice to
the mortals in this town.

After an hour or so of visiting with the neighbors,
we went home and Dylan put the boys to bed, more for his own comfort than for
theirs. I was getting undressed when he returned to our bedroom.

“What time do you have to be at work tomorrow?” I
asked.

“I have tomorrow off. I planned to take the boys and
Mordon out to see what the town has.” He wrapped his arms around me and kissed
my neck. Before he let me go, he pulled the ponytail out of my hair.

“You don’t like my hair up, do you?”

He sunk his fingers in my hair and tightened his grip
so he could gently pull my head back and roughly kiss me. When I met him, he
was a virgin who only ever fooled around with his ex-girlfriend. Vivian was
quite far out of the way and Dylan was all mine, but it took time for his
personality to come out during sex. After Ron was born, he never held back.
Maybe it was odd for a goddess to submit to a man, but I loved it, and him.

“You know exactly how to dress and how to wear your
hair to make me happy. You know I love you in red plaid. I also know you don’t
look at my clothes or my hair. So what do you like? What attracts you to me?”

“I’m Iadnah, Dylan. My people can change our physical
form at will. How you look, how you dress, none of that matters. I like your
green eyes because they’re very expressive.”

“Yet I must be attractive to you somehow. We have
kids.”

“I like when you’re in charge. I like when you know
something no one else knows, terrify an Ancient with a bluff, threaten my
brothers…”

He laughed. “That’s natural for human women. It’s an
ancestral instinct for women to be attracted to men that can protect them and
scare off anyone who threatens their position. I’m not physically powerful like
the people of Dios, but magically, I’m top dog. That’s very interesting to me.”

“You like that I have human instincts?”

“I wouldn’t call them human instincts, since you
created humans. No, I think it has more to do with the war. Iadnah could absorb
the power of those you defeated, and since this was the cause for the war, I
figure it’s part of your nature. If it comes to killing someone just as
powerful or breeding with them… it makes a little more sense for you to be
attracted to them.”

“That’s a rather disturbing deduction. You’re
basically saying I would find anyone more powerful than me attractive.”

“No, because that would make you very attracted to
Vretial and Regivus, which would really be disturbing. I think you love me and
that’s why you’re attracted to me. My power is what attracts you biologically.
You have a physical form so you have emotions, physical needs… and biological impulses.”

I ran my fingers through his hair and then over his
five o'clock shadow. “You’re right; I find you sexy because I love you.” That
made complete sense if I was anyone other than myself. “Don’t shave tomorrow. I
like this.”

*          *          *

Dylan was lain out on the ground like a sacrifice,
not bleeding, but absolutely dead. I saw myself crying over him while Mordon
stood to the side in shock and Ron and Hail cried silently. Vretial appeared
next to me and ran his fingers through my hair. The destroyed, crying woman
that I was in this vision looked up at him.

“Help him.”

“It’s too late. This is all your fault. You didn’t
listen to the warnings.”

“No!” I screamed.

*          *          *

“Divina!” Only the feel of Dylan’s arms around me
could calm me. He held me tighter the harder I shook and pressed his lips to my
forehead. I was a god, crying and shaking in his arms, but at least I wasn’t
still screaming. “What did you see?”

“I…” I choked on my tears. I knew it was not a
nightmare but a vision. This was a possible future and if I didn’t find a way
to stop it, it would come to be. As a god, I saw far too many realities, far
too many possible futures. Very few were so strong or vivid. If I didn’t figure
it out, Dylan would die.

“You what?” Dylan whispered.

“I don’t remember…” I lied, my voice broken. I wiped
at my eyes with frustration. “It must have been memories.” If I told him what I
saw, it would come true, that part I understood. I knew Ron and Hail were
beginning to have dreams about it, too. I trained Hail as best as I could to
understand his visions, but Vretial was better at teaching them.

Dylan pulled me against him and settled the covers
over us. “Just sleep. I’ll wake you if it looks like you’re starting to have a
nightmare again.”

“I love you,” I said.

“I know. Sleep.”

I had to hold onto my strength. Now more than ever I
couldn’t let Dylan develop the Sight. I couldn’t let him know that I kept the
power from him. Vretial suggested I force Dylan’s power onto Mordon, but if
Mordon saw Dylan’s death, there would be no Earth left by the time the dragon
settled from his rage.

*          *          *

Spying was a low move for a god, but I made an
excellent spy. I was much more hands-on than my siblings, so spying,
manipulating, and seducing were some of my most useful skills. I couldn’t directly
follow Dylan because he was with Mordon. In order to use enough magic to hide
myself from Mordon, it would tip off Rojan. So instead I went to the hospital
and hit the jackpot, as Dylan would say.

The entire town swarmed with paranormal creatures, from
fae, to shifters, to people from other worlds, and it was run by dragons as law
enforcement. This area was one big refuge, so it was no surprise why Dylan
chose this particular town. He could probably sense how badly he was needed
even without the Sight.