Demon Evolution (24 page)

“As is standard with my kind, when we were
five-years-old we learned
what
we were. By then, I had
already accidentally started two minor fires. Unlike Lira who hated
being a demon, I loved it. I quickly learned to use my powers and
dreamed of one day being in the demon army. My mom worried about me
and tried to change my mind as to career path. While she loved
demons—she married my father even after learning that he was
different—she was afraid of losing us at the hand of some
‘bloodthirsty angel’, as she called them.”

“What about your dad?” Sampson asked.

“He had been in the army for twelve years
before he met my mom. I desperately wanted his support for my
choices and he gave it to me, encouraging me to live the life that
would make me the happiest. I am definitely happiest here. Finally,
I found a place where I fit in.”

“You sure do,” Sampson agreed. “I’ve been
meaning to ask, what’s with the hair?”

Kiren laughed and raised a hand to touch her
short spikes. Under the soft glow from his body he could barely
make out the current color: neon red. Kiren said, “I dunno, I guess
I just wanted something to make me look brighter. I could just wear
colorful clothes but I preferred changing my hair. It’s my thing, I
guess.”

Sampson nodded. Then abruptly he asked,
“Could you ever see yourself with an angel?”

“I’m with an angel right now, silly.”

“No, I mean, like,
with
with an angel.
You know, dating one.”

“Wait a minute, Sampson. You’re the one who
told everyone that we were ‘official’. Didn’t you mean it?”

“Well, I was sort of joking, and looking to
see your reaction. I believe you said, ‘I’ll think about it.’”

“I was just kidding. Of course I’ll go steady
with you, Sampson,” Kiren joked. Sampson flushed. “Am I
embarrassing you, Mr. Tough Angel?”

Recovering quickly, Sampson replied, “No, I’m
just not used to dating someone who’s tougher than me.”

“Aww, you say the sweetest things.” Kiren
laughed.

“Sorry, I’m not really used to this kind of
thing. My next compliment was going to be that you are looking
particularly dark today.”

“You are doing just fine. And thank you, I am
feeling quite dark today. But I’m not sure I believe you. I’m sure
you’ve always had hot angels lining up to get a date with you.”

“Trust me, I haven’t had a girlfriend in a
long time.”

“Well, that makes two of us. I haven’t had a
girlfriend
in a long time either,” Kiren joked.

Sampson was really enjoying Kiren’s quick
wit. He had always wanted to find someone that he would be able to
laugh with, but all of the female angels in the army were
completely full of themselves. And he didn’t really have a chance
to meet many human girls. But with Kiren everything felt so….well,
so easy, really.

“Okay, so you’ve told me about your
childhood, how about your time in the Lair?” he asked.

“Enough questions,” Kiren replied, leaning
her head back and kissing him. Her lips were upside down when they
met his.

“A Spiderman kiss,” Sampson said, still
feeling her breath on his mouth. “I like it.” Gaining confidence,
he pulled her around to face him and kissed her again, longer and
more passionately than the first time. Her hands found his chest
and pulled at his shirt.

Sampson was about to succumb to her hands
when he heard, “Sampson, Kiren—you in there?” It was Chris.

Wanting to pretend like they weren’t hidden
in the darkness of the cave, Sampson knew it wouldn’t work—the glow
of his body in the dark gave him away like a hooker in a Roman
cathedral.

“Yeah, we’re here. What do you need?” Kiren
was kissing his neck now, ignoring the conversation taking place
around her.

“We have a situation here. Let’s just say you
were right. We’re holding a special meeting in my room in thirty
minutes. Can you guys come?”

“Yep, we’ll be there,” Sampson managed to
murmur before Kiren’s lips found his again.

T
aylor’s mind was
becoming troublesome. She couldn’t seem to think clearly. What with
her lover gone on a suicide mission, and her body acting crazy like
it had a mind of its own, she didn’t know what emotion was
appropriate for the situation.

After waking up to the sight of her strange,
glowing body, she knew there would be no way she would be able to
sleep. Eventually, she left her room in search of Chris. She wanted
to tell him what had happened. Maybe he would know what to do.

No one answered when she knocked on his door,
so she went for a walk. Subconsciously, she ended up on a
transporter headed for the gargoyle dungeons. When she arrived, she
couldn’t get through the security door, so she sat down to wait for
someone to come along. Shortly after six in the morning, the
gargoyle master approached her.

“Access to this area is for authorized
personnel only,” he said, before recognizing her. “Hey, wait a
minute. Aren’t you that human girl?”

She stuck out her hand. “Taylor
Kingston.”

“Name’s Barnaby, but most everyone calls me
Gargo,” he said, taking her hand. Gargo may have been a good
looking guy at some point in his life, and maybe he still was, but
it was impossible to tell now. His thick, black hair was long,
easily reaching past his shoulders, and covering his eyes and ears.
A bushy beard and untrimmed mustache potentially hid entire
colonies of bats, rats, and insects. His dirty tank-top highlighted
a rock-hard physique though—he looked much stronger than Gabriel or
Chris—which was probably the result of all his work with the
gargoyles. With a twinkle in his eye and a warm smile, Taylor liked
him immediately.

“Would you mind if I say hello to a friend of
mine, Gargo?”

“I’ve heard about your connection with the
newest member of my flock. It’s quite remarkable actually. I’ve
never seen one of them take to someone so much. You can feed him
for me if you like.” The grizzly bear of a man opened the steel
door and held it for Taylor.

“Great, thanks.” Like before, Rocky’s head
was poking out of the cage and he was making squealing sounds,
almost like a pig playing in mud, well before she had even crossed
half the distance to him.

“Hey, buddy,” Taylor exclaimed. “Miss me?”
More squeals of excitement. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

As she reached down to stroke the crown of
his head, Taylor said, “Wow, I would swear he grew a foot from
yesterday!”

“Yeah, they grow up fast.” He grabbed a tape
measure from a nearby supply stand and used it to test her
statement. “Good guess. He’s up ten inches on the dot from
yesterday. That is actually well above the average growth rates for
newborns. He may turn out to be a big one. You know where the food
is?”

“Yeah, but I’m not sure how much to feed
him.”

“Easy. I prepare everything the night before,
just look for the tray in the fridge marked ‘Rocky’. At this age,
it’s almost impossible to over-feed them.” Taylor followed his
instructions and brought the plate out for her scaly friend, using
heavy duty oven mitts like Chris had shown her before. Given
Rocky’s appreciation for cooked food, she couldn’t be too careful.
Today he was in the mood for medium rare, using only a quick burst
of fire to sear the meat. Apparently he had honed his method
overnight. He was as smart as he was friendly.

“Amazing,” Gargo said. “Never seen one of
them do that either. He’s a special one alright.”

Taylor spent the next hour feeding, petting,
talking to, and teaching tricks to Gargo. When she was done with
him, he had learned to stand on one leg, roll over, and play dead.
Essentially, he could easily mimic anything that she demonstrated
for him. It was great fun and by the time Gargo had finished his
morning work, Taylor had completely forgotten about Gabriel and her
glowing body. “Thanks, Gargo. That was exactly what I needed this
morning.”

“Anytime, Taylor. Take care.”

She let herself out and waited patiently for
the next transporter. When the shiny, metal doors opened, she was
surprised to see Chris’s unsmiling face. He was the only passenger
and did not look happy.

“Quick! Get in, Tay. I’ve been looking for
you.” Taylor cringed as she guessed that her carefree morning was
about to end.
Back to reality
, she thought.

H
e knew there was no
time to spare—restrictions on teleporting could be ignored. Chris
grabbed Taylor’s hand as soon as she boarded the transporter, and
teleported them both back to his room, where Sam, Sampson, and
Kiren were already waiting. Taylor silently took a seat next to
Sam.

“Unauthorized teleporting, shame on you,”
Kiren joked.

“Trust me, it is warranted under the
circumstances,” Chris replied.

“What circumstances?” Sampson asked. “You
said that I was right about something?”

“Yes, you were.”

“Shouldn’t we wait for Gabriel?” Sam
interjected.

“He’s gone,” Taylor whispered. “That’s what
this is all about.”

“Taylor, do you want to tell them since you
were the first to find out, or should I?” Chris asked.

She spoke slowly, in clipped sentences, like
she was reading blurbs on a newswire. “Clifford came to our room.
There was a phone call for Gabriel. It was Dionysus. He has
Gabriel’s family. He went to rescue them. He doesn’t want our help.
That’s it.”

“I have more news,” Chris said.

Taylor’s somber face suddenly came alive with
interest. “Where is he?”

“He wouldn’t tell me where he is. Just that
he would be meeting Dionysus on the Warrior’s Plateau at sunset. He
is going to trade himself for his family.” Chris purposely omitted
that David would not be included in the trade. He didn’t want to
speculate on the reasons. They would have to deal with that issue
separately, when the time was right.

“Oh God,” Sam said.

“What’s the Warrior’s Plateau?” Taylor asked
rigidly, without a trace of emotion in her voice.

Chris explained: “Years ago, the War included
scheduled battles of each side’s strongest hand-to-hand combat
warriors. The fights took place on the Warrior’s Plateau, which is
a flat, rock outcropping located a couple of miles east of the main
battlefield. As far as I know, the area has not been used for
anything for decades.”

“Why meet there?” Sam asked.

“I dunno. A neutral place. Tradition. Random
choice. Who knows?” Chris replied.

“What are we going to do to help Gabriel?”
Sampson asked.

Chris desperately wanted to voice his
opinions, but wanted to let the rest of them come to the same
conclusion on their own. “He specifically said that no one should
come. He’s worried that if we make an appearance, they will kill
his family immediately.”

“And lose their only leverage? Not a chance,”
Sampson said. “If we show up, they will try to escape with his
family, so that they don’t lose their advantage.”

Kiren added, “We can’t just sit by and let
him be taken. They’ll kill him. And they probably won’t release his
family anyway.”

“I’m coming,” Taylor declared.

All eyes went to Taylor. Sam held her hand.
Looking at her intently, Chris said, “I’m not sure that is such a
good idea. It might distract Gabriel because he will be worried
about your safety, and even if he or Sampson can connect with your
aura, I don’t think it will be that effective for close-range
combat. I would worry that one of us might be killed by it.”

“This is not debatable,” Taylor replied
firmly. “He’s my boyfriend and I am tired of him being thrown into
deadly situations and me being told that I can’t help him. It
worked last time, didn’t it?”

Chris couldn’t argue with that. Taylor’s
bravery had saved them all the last time. “Okay,” he said
simply.

“Okay?” Taylor confirmed. He nodded.

“She might actually distract Dionysus more
than Gabriel,” Sampson said. “I think we can use that to our
advantage.”

“True. I had a whole plan worked up, but
everything changes with Taylor’s presence. Anyone have any ideas?”
Chris asked.

“It’s all about the element of surprise,”
Sampson said. “They’ll be expecting just Gabriel, for all the same
reasons that he instructed us not to come. And even if they expect
him to have backup, they most certainly will not expect Taylor to
be there. Here’s what I propose…”

Over the next half-hour, Sampson walked them
through his idea, and they diagrammed and practiced it until
everyone involved understood it backwards and forwards. It was
beautiful in its simplicity. Essentially, they hoped it would go
down like this: Chris would teleport in with Taylor, causing a
major distraction to both Gabriel and Dionysus. When either Gabriel
or one of the enemy angels got close to Taylor, Chris would
teleport them somewhere else on the Plateau. Amidst the confusion,
Kiren would teleport Sampson into the fray, as near as possible to
Gabriel’s family, attempting to free them and escape. Chris would
then try to escape with Taylor and Gabriel in tow.

The team also discussed contingency plans for
every possible scenario, including Taylor’s or Gabriel’s capture,
or the death of one of the team members. The conversation was
professional in nature, but all the talk of death and abductions
would undoubtedly be hard for an outsider to take.

“And I just sit here alone by myself, hoping
that my boyfriend, best friend, and other friends come home in one
piece?” said Sam. She sounded frustrated.

Chris had forgotten about Sam, who would play
no role in the mission; she had been listening quietly the whole
time. He hugged her gently now. “I’m sorry, babe. You probably have
the hardest job of all: waiting.”