Demon Revealed (High Demon Series #2) (12 page)

"Of course, Master Arvil." The man bowed again. I
knew why Arvil wouldn't be shooting—he couldn't see the enemy. The wizards and
I could. Silently cursing Delvin for perhaps the hundredth time, I slung one
rifle over my shoulder and accepted the second, checking the charge readout. It
was ready.

"Heads up," the gray-haired wizard called. I'd
already sighted the lights—they were blinking as they walked toward us.

"These have been charging once they're hit," Delvin
said quietly beside me. "Be prepared." I wanted to tell him what he
could do with his information.

"
Af te Jufaleh
," I said instead. Tory had
given me the meaning for the High Demon words—they meant
go to perdition
.

"Re, you'll have to tell me what that means
sometime," Delvin grinned and lifted his rifle.

"Be happy to," I muttered my reply and sighted my
first target.

Arvil was laughing and clapping his hands with glee as I
emptied my first ranos rifle in very little time, dropping it at my feet and
allowing the second rifle to slide off my shoulder. I aimed and fired it just
as quickly as the first. Spawn eye lights were winking out every time I fired. Arvil
couldn't see the enemy but cruel-mouth was telling him, with corroboration from
the others that I wasn't missing. Arvil was getting his money's worth, I
think—the best of food for his table and a marksman right along with it. Somewhere
in the Alliance records were my marksman's medals—I'd earned everything they
could give out to a recruit. They would have been given to me had I gone to any
job except the one I did—there wasn't any need to wear medals such as that on a
cook's uniform.

"They're charging!" One of the wizards shouted. We'd
already killed hundreds, but even I could see that some of Arvil's wizards were
poor shots. They could see the enemy; they just couldn't hit them. That left
holes in our defense. If we'd had Bel and the others there, we wouldn't be
having this trouble. We didn't have Bel—Delvin had lied to his friends and now
worked for the enemy.

My rifle emptied just as the spawn were about to hit us. Cruel-mouth
raised his hands to send out blasts, but even I knew that was useless. Arvil
was screaming for someone to get him out of there when I used the butt of my
rifle to knock the spawn back that seemed determined to get to Arvil San Gerxon.
I kicked the next one and punched another in the face before a fresh rifle was
tossed to me. I started shooting just as fast as the weapon could fire, mowing
down anything that came near us.

Arvil might have still been shrieking, but I shut it out after
only a few ticks, concentrating on killing spawn. A fourth rifle was handed
over when the third ran out, and I killed the last three that rushed us. "Fuckers,"
I muttered angrily, slinging my rifle over my shoulder and going to examine a
deep pile of spawn dust in front of us.

Aurelius had said four feet to me once. This pile was nearly
as tall. I remembered that I'd asked him to teach me his measurements. There'd
been no time for that. We'd had no time, Aurelius and I. Tory and I barely knew
one another. I missed both of them with an ache in my heart. I thought of Teeg,
too. I wished I could truly call him friend—that we could be that, if nothing
else. I had no friends. Not on Campiaa, anyway.

"Not bad, huh," Delvin clapped a hand to my shoulder
as I examined the piles of dust surrounding us. "Not bad at all. Even for
a girl."

I turned so swiftly toward Delvin he didn't have time to blink.
"Bastard!" I shouted and punched him right in the face.

* * *

"Reah, he guessed." Delvin held the piece of cold
steak to his eye inside my kitchen. Arvil San Gerxon was grinning hugely—he had
a new toy to play with—
me
.

I wanted to hiss at Delvin and hit him again. I couldn't—Arvil
had already informed me that he would forgive the hit I'd delivered to Delvin's
left eye—I was allowed one punch after killing most of the spawn attacking his
fields. I wanted to tell him they weren't attacking his fields, they were attacking
us. Arvil had warned me not to hit any of his wizards again, unless he ordered
it. That was just perfect.

"Reah, that's a pretty name—Reah," Arvil grinned at
me. "From now on, you can dress any way you want. And grow your hair out. Nobody
will touch you unless you want them to. Years ago, Erland Morphis had a female
bodyguard. Nobody got past her. Now, I not only have a female cook, but she can
protect me, too. That's priceless." Arvil sat down, still beaming at me. I
didn't give myself away when he mentioned Ry's father, but I did wonder how
Arvil knew of Erland Morphis.

"It would be better if I bought her more of those black
leathers," Delvin said. He removed the steak from his eye for a moment,
revealing the black and purple bruise beneath. "A more feminine version,
anyway. You'll be ready for anything," Delvin chuckled at the look on my
face.

"Sure, leathers are so comfortable to cook in," I
said sarcastically.

"Now, now, children, mind your manners," Arvil still
sounded gleeful.

"Well, you can wear normal clothes when you cook,"
Delvin conceded. I wanted to thank him for giving his permission in the most
sarcastic way I possibly could, but Arvil might be running out of patience soon.
I had no desire to see anyone else burned to a crisp while screaming in agony.
Especially if the warlock was aiming at me.

I went to bed shortly afterward, but before I futilely
attempted to sleep, I drew out what I'd held in the pocket of my leather pants
and examined it. Perhaps it was luck, perhaps it was my death. I'd tripped over
something when I'd gone to examine spawn dust in the field surrounding us. It
turned out to be part of a sprinkler pipe.

I'd lifted a piece of it up after nearly tripping over it in
the damp soil, and then slid the small chunk carefully into one of my pants
pockets. It held a serial number—most things did that were manufactured by the
Alliance. Contacting Lendill, who was grumpy at being wakened, I sent the
serial number to him through mindspeech. I hoped he was awake enough to record
it for research later—he was certainly interested in the fact that there were
more fields of drakus seed somewhere.

* * *

"Re, what's this?" Teeg came in the following
morning. I was exhausted since I'd gotten in late and then was unable to sleep
afterward. I didn't bother with a jacket today and wore a stretchy, sleeveless
shirt—it was summer on Campiaa and warm inside the kitchen, even early in the
morning. My breasts, such as they were, were visible under my top. And when my
nipples hardened at Teeg's appearance, it made me flush with embarrassment.

"I'm a girl. Master Arvil discovered that fact last
night, even with my best disguise. There," I muttered, turning away to
tend to something on the stove.

"He didn't touch you, did he?" Teeg was turning me
back to face him, a look of concern on his face.

"No." My reply was sullen.

"I'll kill him if he does," Teeg's hands clenched. I
stared at him in shock—where had that come from?

"Don't worry," Teeg said. "Go back to your
cooking. The countertops will be delivered sometime today. They couldn't give
me an exact time."

Neele chose that moment to wander in and he grinned at me. "Delvin
told me," he laughed.

"Of course he did," I muttered.

"Nice black eye you gave him."

"He deserved it."

"Probably," Neele was still laughing. "I hear
you're Master Arvil's new bodyguard, as well as his cook."

"I'm so lucky," I snapped.

"Re," Teeg warned.

"It's Reah," cruel-mouth sauntered into the kitchen.
He stared at me the whole time I fixed breakfast. Teeg checked the plumbing. He
checked all the new appliances. Checked the new cabinets and made sure he had
enough supplies to lay the new countertops. Cruel-mouth finally left.

"Neele, is there any furniture polish anywhere?" Teeg
asked my assistant.

"I think the housekeeper has some," Neele replied. Arvil's
housekeeper was likely in her twenties and looked as if she hopped into bed
with Arvil whenever he snapped his fingers. Her long dark hair and pretty face
hadn't gotten past Neele either. "I'll go ask," Neele trotted out of
the kitchen.

"Reah, if that wizard so much as looks at you
wrong," Teeg didn't finish his statement. I wasn't sure why Teeg would be
concerned, or what he could do if cruel-mouth did look at me wrong.

Neele trotted back in with a bottle of furniture oil. "This
will do nicely—do you have an old cloth or anything?" Neele found that,
too, by going to ask the housekeeper. He was gone longer the second time. Teeg
did a thorough job, oiling and polishing the wood cabinets. They were red wood,
and the new countertops were supposed to be black stone. It would look very
nice when finished.

When Neele walked out of the kitchen to go to the bathroom,
Teeg spoke again. "Reah, meet me in front of the casino when you're done
tonight," he said.

I wanted to ask him why, but my desire to meet him just about
anywhere kept that question behind my teeth. "All right," I agreed. "But
they'll watch me, I think."

"Arvil won't care—I work for him, too. He keeps me busy
at all his casinos most of the time. He pulled me away from my current project
to finish this. I'll go back to that, tomorrow."

"They'll still have an eye on me," I said softly. Teeg
was kneeling on the floor, oiling a cabinet door next to the stove, which meant
he was right beside me as I worked.

"Only until they see you're with me. Don't worry, Reah. All
right?"

Asking me not to worry was like asking the sun not to rise. Not
possible. Teeg had no idea who I was and why or how I'd gotten here. And he was
quite handsome, turning heads wherever he went. What could he possibly see in a
small, nearly flat-chested female with a shaved head? It made absolutely no
sense at all.

Chapter 6
 

"There you are—I was beginning to think you'd changed
your mind."

"Arvil wanted extra dessert," I mumbled as Teeg
pulled me along beside him. We were walking down the street that ran between
the casinos and the beach. I'd been right, too, about Arvil's guards watching
me. They'd melted away as soon as they saw me with Teeg.

"Let's sit here." Teeg chose a spot with a nice view
of the moon hovering over the water. I dropped beside him and sat cross-legged
on the sand. That seemed to amuse Teeg for some reason. We didn't talk for
several ticks.

"Reah, did you think I wouldn't know? I can't believe
those idiots didn't see it sooner," Teeg turned to look at me. His face
was in shadow, but I could see moonlight glinting in his dark eyes.

"I should have hit Delvin harder," I grumbled.

"He does have a nice black eye," Teeg agreed. "But
I don't like the way Haral looks at you, now."

"Is that his name? I was calling him cruel-mouth."

"He has that, certainly," Teeg agreed. "You
didn't call him that to his face, did you?"

"Do you think I'm that stupid? I watched him fry a man."
The thought of that made me shudder.

"Reah, I think anyone else would have gone into fits over
that," Teeg said, bumping his shoulder against mine. "Or
fainted."

"I wish I had fainted."

"No, Reah. We don't need to hand them any more weapons
than they have already."

"What do you mean?" I was concerned, now. And a
little frightened.

"If he learns he can make you pass out, then he might do
it, just because he can," Teeg shivered.

"Oh, gods," I dropped my face into my hands.

"But since he knows you can deliver a good right
hook," Teeg smiled crookedly, "maybe he'll back off. Watch him, Reah.
He likes the young ones—the smaller ones."

"Arvil told them they couldn't touch me unless I wanted
them to touch me. I won't ever want them. Any of them. Ever."

"Then don't put yourself in any position to make it a
he-said, she-said situation. Arvil may side with his wizards. They're valuable
to him, I know."

"You seem to know a lot about them—for a
contractor."

"Reah, I've been in and out of Arvil's palace and his
casinos. I've heard all kinds of things. Trust me—burning that poor man to
death was one of Arvil's quicker murders. He owns Campiaa, Reah. Don't ever
forget that. The constabulary are for the others, when they murder, rape or
steal. Arvil gets away with whatever he wants."

"Yet you work for him. My employment was
involuntary."

"I heard that too," Teeg sighed. He didn't bother to
explain how or why he worked for Arvil San Gerxon. "I know you don't
belong here, Reah," Teeg went on. "You're like a lily standing in a
patch of blackweed." His analogy was good; blackweed was a pernicious
plant that choked out all other plants if allowed to grow unchecked.

"Let's go walk in the water," I suggested. Our
conversation was only serving to frighten and depress me. We took off our shoes
and waded in the water while the moon shone upon us. After a bit, I pulled the
piece of pipe from my pocket—I'd been afraid to leave it in my room—and flung
it far out into the water.

"What was that?" Teeg asked as we watched it curve
over the ocean before dropping in with a soft plop.

"A piece of my former life," I sighed and walked on.

* * *

"That fool Delvin let the bull out of the barn." Norian
felt like hissing, even if he wasn't currently in his lion snake form.

"So they know she's female now." Lendill raked a
hand through his hair.

"On another note, we've managed to convince wizard Bel to
work for us. He was so angry over being duped by Delvin that he wants to help
us out any way he can. I think the fact that they grabbed Reah had something to
do with it." Norian had Bel's signed conscription on the comp-vid lying on
his desk.