8
T
he lab was cool and demon-free as I descended the stairs. I looked around, noted that everything looked pretty much the same as the last time I’d seen it, including the cage at the far end of the room, and then turned to face Ethan.
He was watching me, red-faced. There were no half-finished weapons on the table, nor were there used weapons in need of cleaning. There was no hint that he’d summoned Beligral that night at all, or had had any intention of doing so until I’d arrived. I briefly wondered what he’d been doing down here by himself, but decided I probably didn’t want to know.
“I need to speak to your demon,” I said, glancing around the room again. The circle was still there, clear of debris and dust like always. The chair remained in the center, though I thought it looked as if it might have been turned a little so it faced the doorway more fully. I wasn’t sure if that meant anything or not.
Ethan bit his lower lip when my eyes fell on him again. “You sure?”
I gave him a flat look.
“Right,” he said with a shaky laugh. He turned and gathered his supplies.
I’d seen Ethan do this a few times, yet each time, it surprised me that someone like him could do something like this. He didn’t seem the type. He’d been doing it since he was a kid and I wondered how he ever got himself into a situation where he felt the need to summon a demon. I mean, people didn’t just suddenly decide to start summoning demons because their life wasn’t going the way they’d hoped. Something had to have happened.
I’m not sure if I’d ever ask him. It felt too invasive.
Ethan set up his flesh candles and drew a chalk outline around the silver circle set in the concrete. He glanced up every few moments to check on me and I caught a hint of pity in his eyes.
I looked away. It was my fault I was marked. I kept calling it
his
demon, but really, I was just as involved as he was. Every time I came down here, I was making deals with Beligral when common sense should keep me from doing something so mind-numbingly stupid. Yet somehow, he always knew what to say to hook me. It’s what made him so dangerous.
Not this time,
I promised myself.
He won’t get me this time.
If only it were that easy. What he usually offered was a way for me to help someone I cared about. He’d allowed me to see Levi for what he really was. He’d checked my brother, Thomas, to see if his mind could be saved. Each time I took on a mark, I did so out of my own free will to help someone else.
Still, I didn’t feel any better about what I was doing.
I sulked in the corner as Ethan finished setting up the circle. No matter what happened here, I was determined to walk away mark free. Maybe someday, once I was clear of the demon’s influence, and clear of some of my other troubles, I’d find a way to set Ethan free.
He started his low chant, something he told me wasn’t entirely necessary, but somehow helped him focus. He was already starting to sweat, though the heat had yet to build in the room. I straightened and braced myself for what was to come.
The dark speck appeared in the middle of the circle. It was little more than a black, button-sized hole in the fabric of reality. Heat poured from it. It blasted into me and knocked me back a step, though I thought I’d been prepared for it. I was forced to shield my eyes from the heat, causing me to miss the demon’s emergence.
I felt, more than heard, the tear between realms. I tried to see past the waves of heat, but it was impossible. I caught a glimpse of red skin and black wings, and perhaps a horn or two, through my parted fingers before his glamour took hold and he was just another man, dressed in a suit and tie. This time, he was wearing a bowler hat. He tipped it my way as the portal closed behind him.
“It’s so lovely to see you, my dear,” he said with a smile. His teeth were yellow and sharp.
“You didn’t leave me much choice.” I wiped sweat from my brow and lowered my hand. It felt like I was standing in an oven.
Beligral leaned on a cane that suddenly appeared in his hand. “Enough time had passed,” he said, glancing casually around the room. His gaze passed right over Ethan as if he weren’t even there. “I thought it was a good time to remind you of what you owe me.”
“Oh, I haven’t forgotten.” I stared into the circle, but refused to look directly into the demon’s eyes. It was far too easy to get trapped in his gaze.
Ethan edged his way to his workbench where he sat down and started chewing his nails. He was watching us, almost as if he knew something was coming and was simply waiting for it to happen.
“So what do you want?” I demanded. I tried to sound tough, but damn it, Beligral scared the hell out of me. Even trapped within the circle, he was dangerous. One mistake and something very, very bad could happen. Yet even though I knew that, I kept coming back for more.
What exactly did that say about me?
“I’m simply interested in your paying off your mark, is all,” Beligral said. “There is no reason for you to be angry.”
Yeah, right,
I thought, but wisely kept my mouth shut. Somehow I knew he’d get too much pleasure out of me voicing my doubts.
About a thousand questions shot through me right then. I’d sworn to myself that I wouldn’t ask anything of the demon, yet now that he was there, I couldn’t help but think about everything he might be able to help me with. There was Delai, of course, but what about the Left Hand? Could he do something that would allow me to find them without having to search the entire damn city?
I groaned inwardly. There was no way I could simply walk away from the demon. He knew too much that could help me. The bastard had me and he knew it.
“What can you tell me of the Left Hand?” I asked, chancing a glance up toward Beligral’s face.
His smile was knowing as he turned and strode over to his chair. He took off his hat, twirled it on his finger a few times before sitting. He slung a leg over the armrest and sat back, looking as comfortable as could be. The hat was gone, as was the cane.
“The Left Hand,” he said, acting as if he was mulling it over. “What do I know of the Left Hand?”
I shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. I knew he was drawing this out on purpose. He would do anything to keep a hold on me and I bet he was trying to find something he could use to coax me into a mark without actually telling me anything. It was the way he worked. I’d only gain something if I took on another mark.
But I refused to let that happen. I would find a way to get the information from him without getting marked. There had to be a way, right? All I had to do was push him the right way and he might let something slip.
I knew I was fooling myself. If demons were that easy to manipulate, then everyone would be doing it.
I clenched my jaw and stared hard at Beligral’s knees while he continued to hem and haw.
Finally, he shrugged and swung his leg to the floor. “They are of no importance,” he said. The cane reappeared and he gently tapped it on the floor. “They are but pureblooded nuisances, are they not? Hardly worth your effort.”
“So you can’t tell me anything about them?”
“I didn’t say that,” he said with a smile.
I growled deep in my throat. “Can you tell me anything meaningful about the Left Hand?”
He seemed to consider it before shrugging. “Nothing that would help you do what you wish.” He stood and began pacing. The cane was gone again.
“Then we have nothing to talk about,” I said, turning away. I wasn’t going to stand there and let him toy with me any longer. If I got out now, I might avoid another mark for good.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”
Something in his voice made my breath catch in my throat. The room seemed suddenly hotter, which I knew was something he could do at will. My legs felt weak and my head started swimming again, as if I was having a relapse of my attack in the shower.
I staggered to the side and had to brace myself on the wall, lest I fall. My mark felt scalding hot. I wondered why it wasn’t gone yet. Usually, his marks vanished as soon as we started talking.
“There are things we should discuss,” Beligral said. “I’ve put it off because there hasn’t been a reason for me to bring it up in anything more than passing. I am starting to wonder if now might be the time.”
I turned back to him. The demon was standing right at the edge of the circle, so close, his foot was nearly touching the silver. Ethan was standing by his workbench, looking nervous as hell. I don’t think he was positive Beligral couldn’t escape.
“I’ve let our friend here continue on with this farce for long enough,” the demon said. “I could let him keep trying, but I know he will never find the answer. He doesn’t have the knowledge for it, the resources.”
“What are you talking about?” I cleared my throat, hating how my voice had come out sounding weak. I was shaking all over. Whatever he was doing to me, I was at the demon’s mercy. It was either hear him out or pass out and I sure as hell wasn’t going to do the latter. There’s no telling what he’d do with me while I was unconscious.
“In time, in time.” Beligral grinned and stretched. He actually yawned before walking slowly around the circle, eyes on the room as if he was investigating it for the very first time.
“It is interesting what you have done with the place,” he said after a few moments. “A cage is something meant to hold things inside, yet I have never seen anyone or anything contained within.” He took a deep breath, and let it out with a sigh. “But I can smell the wolf. He comes for a few nights and then leaves again. Who is this wolf?”
I glanced at Ethan. He shook his head with the slightest of motions. He hadn’t told the demon about Jeremy.
“A friend,” I said. “Is that what you want to talk to me about? Because if it is, I’m done.”
“No, but it interests me.”
The stairs were right there. All I had to do was turn around and walk away. The mark still might be there, but I had a feeling that once things ended here, it would go away. He normally just asks that I come back to see him, which is exactly what I’d done. I didn’t have to hang around any longer than I had to.
But I knew I’d always wonder. I couldn’t walk away if there was a chance he could tell me something that would help me.
“This wolf,” the demon said. “He is more than a friend, is he not? He is someone important to you?”
I shrugged. “As much as a werewolf can be, I guess.”
He glanced at me as he continued his circuit around the inside of the circle. “But he isn’t the one, is he? He is just the beginning.”
I frowned. I had no idea what he meant. “If you don’t get to the point soon, I’m leaving.”
Beligral chuckled. “I feel that the day is coming when my services will no longer be required. You are gaining power of your own, power that you hardly know what to do with.”
“That doesn’t sound like a bad thing,” I said.
He laughed again, this time a full-throated laugh that shook the walls, before turning his burning gaze on me. “But with that power, you will lose something you so desperately want.”
“Yeah,” I said, swallowing hard. It was a struggle not to meet his eye. “What’s that?”
“Your humanity.”
I couldn’t help it. My eyes rose to meet his own. Our gazes locked and he had me. I couldn’t look away. I could feel him rooting around inside my head and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I felt paralyzed, weaker than I’d ever felt before.
“Stop,” Ethan said. I could feel him next to me, but couldn’t look away from the demon long enough to reassure myself he wasn’t going to do something stupid. “Stop now or I’ll send you back.”
Beligral held my gaze a moment longer before turning away.
My entire body sagged as if his stare had been the only thing holding me up. I leaned against the wall, breath coming fast and hard. I felt like I’d just gone twenty rounds with a dozen very pissed-off werewolves. My chest burned and my head thumped so hard, it felt like my skull might explode.
“Are you okay?” Ethan whispered, resting a hand on my wrist.
I nodded and forced myself to stand erect. “I’m leaving,” I said. “We’re done. Don’t
ever
bother me again.” I turned away, this time fully intent on leaving for good. I could no longer feel the mark behind my ear. Apparently, it had vanished sometime during our little staring contest. I was free.
My foot hit the first step just as the demon spoke.
“I can make you human again.”
I froze.
I could feel his eyes on my back, could almost feel the knowing smile he was directing my way.
He had me and he knew it.
I turned slowly around. My hands were balled into fists. I felt like I might shake apart from the inside.
“What?” I managed. My lips didn’t want to move.
He laughed. “I see I finally have your attention.”
“What did you say?” I took a step toward him, legs wobbly.
“No, Kat,” Ethan grabbed at my arm, but I shook him off. “Don’t listen to him.”
“I can purify your blood so that the taint, as you call it, will no longer be present,” Beligral said. “You won’t need to feed ever again. This isn’t a temporary cure. You will be a pureblooded human.”
I swallowed. Was he serious?
“But this is something I will not give freely,” he added.
I stopped about a foot away from the circle and stared at him. I was looking at his face, yet he didn’t try to capture me within his gaze this time. He just stood there, smiling as if he knew exactly what I was going to do.
“What do you need?” I asked, hating myself for even thinking of going through with this. I knew he was just trying to trap me again, that it was some sort of trick, but I couldn’t help myself. To be human again . . .
Beligral sighed. “For now? Nothing. There are a few . . . problems standing in our way. Until they are taken care of, I can do nothing for you. But I assure you, this thing can be done.”