Sentinel Lost (Mind Sweeper Series Book 5) (17 page)

She glared at both of us for a moment before she spoke in perfect English. “I am Naya of the Demon Patrol.” She pointed to a symbol engraved in her chest armor. Was it some sort of badge?

“What are you two doing here?” she asked.

“Where’s here?” I blurted, ridiculously relieved to be talking to a demon version of the police. Maybe we weren’t screwed after all.

She frowned. “You do not know where you are?”

“We have an idea,” I responded. “Either the demon realm or the in-between?”

“You are in the realm. How did you get here?”

“We were chasing a demon on earth, and he sent us here,” Dalton replied. “We left him back in the caves.”

“Why would
you
be chasing a demon?”

Dalton said, “Because we work for law enforcement on earth. We’re working a case, trying to stop demons from crossing from the realm to earth.”

“And the demon who sent you here. What did he look like?”

I jumped in. “From his orange skin and yellow eyes, I think he was a Kelmar demon, which is one of the clans in your realm. There were two demons. Twins, I think.”

Naya scowled. “Did you see their human form?”

“Yeah. They’re scary big as humans. Their heads are shaved, and they have dark brown eyes and tattoos that wrap around their arms.”

“Tattoos?” Naya asked.

“Permanent ink markings on their skin. They looked like demon symbols.”

“These markings are used to hide the demons from our kind. And these tattoos are permanent?”

“Most are. Some are temporary, and they can either be washed off or fade away over time.”

“I know the two you speak of. We suspected they were participating in crossings, but we have not been able to catch them.”

Naya spoke to her partner in demon tongue, and he took off in the direction we had come from. “Marrick will track the demon.”

“Well, we might have the other twin in custody on earth,” I said.

“How? You are here?”

“Our team includes a Shamat demon and two vampires. They probably captured some of the demons involved.”

“Let us hope so, or you will have a difficult time getting home.”

“Can you help us?”

“I cannot send you back to earth, but I can take you to the in-between until we find a way for you to get home.”

Dalton frowned. “Shouldn’t we stay here so our team can track us?”

Naya shook her head, sheathed her sword, and then knelt down to pick up her staff. “No, it is not safe for you here. In fact, we have already spent too much time in this location. We need to move on so others cannot find you.”

“Thank you for helping us,” I said.

“Luckily you spoke in English instead of demon-tongue so I realized what you are. Otherwise, I would have killed you.”

I gulped. “So now what?”

“Now you follow me and do as I say. I will take us to a jump point where we can transport to the in-between.”

I looked at Dalton, who nodded. “I’m Kyle and he’s Dalton. Thanks for um…not killing us earlier.”

She smiled. “You are welcome.”

Naya put her helmet back on and led us further into the forest, through dark trees towering above us and blocking out the light. It appeared similar to a forest on earth, same colors, same kinds of trees, but for some reason it gave me the creeps. After a few minutes, I realized why. There were no sounds. No birds singing, no animals running or rustling through the forest. Only the sound of our footsteps, which echoed loudly in my ears, so loudly I cringed, thinking we were going to summon every nasty demon in the realm.

Dalton stumbled next to me, and I reached out and grabbed his arm. We stopped for a moment, and he braced his hands on his knees and took some shallow breaths.

“Are you okay?” I whispered.

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. I’m just having a hard time catching my breath since it’s so hot.”

I opened my mouth and then closed it again. It was not hot. It was cold. So cold that I had been wishing for a heavier coat. I studied him and noticed a sheen of sweat covering his forehead. Something was wrong. Was he getting sick?

Naya walked back to us. She held up a metal bottle to Dalton. “Drink this. It is safe.” She pointed to a tree that had been cracked off at its roots and was lying on its side. “Rest for a moment.”

Dalton didn’t protest, just accepted the bottle and sat on the felled tree. If he was listening to orders and not complaining—for sure he felt even crappier than he was letting on. Naya moved away and watched the forest. I followed her.

“What’s wrong with him?” I asked quietly.

“From the signs he is showing, the demon realm is toxic to his system.”

“How can we help him?”

“We need to get him to the in-between, but it will not cure him. He needs to be returned to earth quickly.”

“How sick is he going to get?”

“Fever, sweats, horrible thirst. How long were you in the realm before I found you?”

“Less than an hour.”

Naya frowned. “He is getting sick faster than I would expect for a human.”

“Why am I not getting sick?”

Naya’s eyes practically pierced me. “What do you think?”

I looked over my shoulder quickly to see if Dalton was listening, but he was leaning forward, his head in his hands. “Maybe my powers protect me?”

Her eyebrow lifted in surprise. “He does not know about your powers?”

“No, and I would like to keep it that way for now.”

She nodded. “Let us move on. The gate to the in-between is half an hour from here. Hopefully moving him there will slow his symptoms, but it will not stop them.”

I swallowed hard, and Naya grabbed my arm. “Try to hide your concern. Undue stress will exacerbate his illness.”

“You mean like falling into a demon realm with no way out didn’t stress him out enough? How exactly am I going to top that one?” I scrubbed my hand over my tangled hair. I could do this. I had been hiding my feelings since he came back into my life. I could do this.

“You must school your features. Your feelings for him show on your face.”

Crap.
So much for hiding my emotions. I closed my eyes and took a long, deep breath and relaxed my face.

“Better. We should travel now while he is still able.”

And while I could still keep it together.

Chapter 21

I felt like a walking tube of toothpaste, one that had been squeezed in the middle and then folded on the ends. Or that was the closest I could come to describing it.

I steadied my legs and shook my head like a wet dog once the portal plopped us in a field. I checked on Dalton, who was leaning forward, hands on his knees again.

“You okay?”

He nodded and straightened up shakily. “Feel like I’m getting the flu or something.”

Naya paused next to us. “I will take you to a place where you can rest until your team is able to call you back. It is not far.”

We walked for about a mile before we saw several small buildings. On closer inspection, they reminded me of English cottages.

As we approached, two demons dressed in armor similar to Naya’s stepped into the clearing and stared at us. Or rather glared at us. Dalton tensed and positioned himself slightly in front of me. God love him for his protective streak, but what did he plan to do, crush them by collapsing on top of them?

The taller demon crossed his arms and moved in front of the middle cottage’s door to block our path. He spoke in demon-tongue, that reminded me of Klingon, which officially meant I had been spending way too much time with Misha and his
Star Trek
marathons. First the green blood, now this. There was a ridiculous pattern forming.

Naya frowned and answered the other demon sharply. Nothing made sense to me, but I didn’t care at that moment, since I could tell Dalton was indeed ready to fall on his face. I wrapped his arm over my shoulder and my arm around his back. Then I reminded myself to be nice so I wouldn’t land us in demon jail.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but he needs to lie down right now.”

Naya glared at the mammoth demon until he stepped away from the door. We entered the cottage, and Naya directed us through a door into a bedroom with a double bed, a small table and chair, and a trunk as the only furnishings.

I helped Dalton sit on the bed, and then I pushed his shoulders until he lay flat.

“I’m okay, McKinley.”

I smiled to hide my worry. “I know you are. Just rest for a bit. There isn’t much to do right now anyway. We have to wait for the team to get us out of here.”

He sighed and closed his eyes. “Just give me a few minutes. I’m sure I’ll be fine once I rest.”

“I’ll be right outside.”

I went into the living area and closed the bedroom door. Naya was not there, so I snooped a bit. A hearth filled one wall, with pots hanging nearby, and a kettle hung from a hook next to the fire. A small table and chairs were clustered in the corner, and in the other corner were piles of books. Hundreds of books. I read a few of the spines. They were all classics: Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Byron.

The outside door opened, and Naya came back in. She removed her armor and placed it on a low table next to the door, along with her sword. She was wearing some sort of one-piece jumpsuit under the armor, and now that the armor was gone, there was no mistaking that she was a she. Why I kept meeting—and having to stand next to—tall, drop-dead gorgeous women was a question my ego continued to badger me about.

“How is he?”

“He’s resting for now.”

She pushed the kettle over the flames. “I’ll heat water for a special tea for him. It should help with some of the symptoms.”

“But it won’t cure him?”

“No. His system will not be fully restored until he returns to earth.”

“How will we get back to earth? Can my friends find us here in the in-between?”

“If they have one of the demons you spoke of in custody, he should be able to sense both your energy and Dalton’s. You will stand out from the other energies here in the in-between.”

I hoped so. “Did you calm down your friends outside?”

“Yes.”

“I hope we didn’t get you into trouble.”

“After I explained that you were sent to the realm by a rogue demon, they stopped asking me why I had not locked you up. I would introduce you to our leader, but he is on patrol now.”

“Is this your home?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you for bringing us here.”

She shrugged. “It is for purely selfish reasons. Very little changes here. This is the most excitement I have had in decades.”

I laughed. “I like your honesty.” I pointed to her books. “May I?”

She gestured for me to go ahead, and I picked up a leather-bound edition. It was
Beowulf
which, if I remembered correctly, was about knights battling a monster. Which seemed very fitting. “How did you get these books?”

“The demon council meets with our leader several times a year. He brings back items we can use.”

“So mechanical and electrical items don’t work?”

“Correct.”

“What is the in-between?”

“The border patrol lives here when we are not on duty in the demon realm. It is the space separating earth and the realm.”

“Most demons don’t have the ability to escape the realm. How do you move around?”

“The patrol has been given a device that allows us to pass back and forth between the in-between and the realm, but not to earth.”

“What happens if a non-patrol demon gets ahold of the device? Can they use it to escape?”

Naya shook her head. “The device is implanted in us. They cannot take it. If they try, we will die, and it will be useless to them.”

“And you’re stuck here. That sucks.”

Naya’s eyebrows raised. “What does ‘sucks’ mean?”

“It means it isn’t fair that you protect earth from harm but you aren’t allowed to see it for yourself.”

“I see it through my books.”

I set the book back down and joined her at the table. “From what I understand, demons from the twelve clans on earth are part of the border patrol. You must be Pavel?”

She frowned. “Why would you assume that?”

“You have purple skin, which is what Pavel demons have on earth. Although your black eyes threw me.”

“The patrol is one clan here, Kyle. There is no separation of clans for us. We protect each other.”

It was my turn to frown. “But your parents are from one clan, right? On earth, the demons can’t have children unless they marry within their clan. And there are the small few who have mated and have children with humans.”

“In the realm, they cannot procreate across clans either. We do not know if any of the realm clans have ever mated with a human, or if it would be possible to do so. But here in the in-between, we can procreate regardless of clan. Before we combined clans, my father was Shamat and my mother was Pavel.”