Unleashed, page 7
With a grimace, Del pushed herself to her feet and squeezed the drink out of her shirt, but her eyes stayed on the lord. The service demons ran forward, cleaning up the sugary drink almost before it touched the dais.
Tarzi was coming back to herself, her eyes clear, but she leaned against me, still shaky. I hoped she’d learned something good because we were about to get our asses handed to us.
“You’re not charmed,” Del said, her voice flat.
The demon lord smiled. “Not for a second, but you all put on quite a show.”
Del shrugged, still trying to keep his attention on her.
I searched for Jaxon. He stood so still I almost thought he was bespelled, but then he took a breath and met my eyes. Despite our desperate straits, there was a hint of amusement in his eyes, a drop of the old Jaxon who used to humor me when we were kids. I grinned. That’s what we needed here.
“And not that you aren’t amusing,” the demon lord said, his eyes dropping to her perky tits outlined in her wet shirt, “but missing sisters? Not really my thing.”
“But you took her,” Tarzi stated, her voice woozy. “With that portal demon.” She pointed toward the short figure at the lord’s side.
He settled back into his chair. “Sounds like I have something you want.”
“Yes, you do,” Del said.
“And you”—his eyes ran over Jaxon and me—“wolves have something I want.”
“You know what they are?” Del asked, backing down off the dais.
I didn’t need the mate bond to feel the tension radiating off her. She was terrified we were going to have to fight, and after our journey in, we knew how useless that would be. But Jaxon and I had a better plan. At least, I hoped that was what his look meant.
He chuckled. “I’m a seer. I make it my business to know my adversaries.”
“The mountain magic for Amma?” Jaxon asked.
Del spun to face him. “No, Jaxon. I won’t let you do it.”
I stepped forward. “It’s just magic. Your sister is more important.”
Her mouth dropped open. Yeah, me saying that meant there was a plan. I tried to message her with my eyes because we didn’t have a bond, but she wasn’t getting it. Her eyes were wild.
“But we want the sorcerer too,” Jaxon said.
“The sorcerer?” The demon lord frowned then nodded. “Ah, you mean that foolish thief I sent after the magic, Gabriel.”
“Yes,” I growled, not trying to hide my fury at the sorcerer.
“I could perhaps tear him into little meat-sized bits for you?” the demon lord asked.
“I’d rather do it myself,” I said.
“I could add him in,” the demon lord said, his dark eyes trailing over Del’s form, “in exchange for a night with your succubus.”
“No,” Jaxon snarled.
Idiot. Revealing himself like that. The demon lord was soaking it all in, seeing whom he could play off whom. It’s what I would have done in his place.
“True enough,” the lord said. “I could just take advantage of the one I have.”
Del leaped for him, claws out. She didn’t even draw her fire. Lost in her fury, she was pure animal. I wanted to lean back and watch her tear him apart, but then I remembered all the guards and other demons that we’d seen on the way inside. We had to stop her.
Jaxon and I rushed forward, hands out, and Tarzi stumbled but kept herself upright. But we were too slow. She’d reach him before we could grab her.
The demon lord snapped his fingers and his guards appeared around him, the portal demon in the back, drooping with tiredness. Must be rough luck, playing magic maker for this demon lord all day. He made a quick movement with his hands, and Del was incapacitated.
She floated in mid-air; her face twisted in anger. Jaxon wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down to his side. The spell faded as she descended.
“That was fun,” the demon lord said, looking around at his lackeys. “Wasn’t that fun?”
“What do you want?” Tarzi asked, her voice tired, but her strength seemed to be coming back. I wondered idly what she’d learned, but that would have to wait.
“I want my magic,” he said. “If you’re able to get it for me, I’d be happy to release the baby succubus.”
“Why don’t you just go get it yourself?” I asked.
The demon lord laughed. “But what would be the fun in that? It’s way more exciting to watch you all scrabble like idiots.”
I pressed my lips together before I said anything more. There was something else going on here. There was some reason he needed Gabriel or us to bring him the magic, and I had a feeling that was going to be the key. Maybe Tarzi could get into his head once we were clear of this place?
“Escort these fools out of here,” he commanded.
I prodded the others as the guards descended on us from all the shadowy corners of the audience chamber. “Let’s go. Quickly.” I eyed the blades of the nearest guards, already out and ready for action as they shoved us toward the doors. If we weren’t careful, they’d shove them through us instead.
I yanked Del and Jaxon outside. Tarzi scurried ahead of us, her eyes jumping from one guard to another like a startled rabbit.
This whole scenario was nuts. That demon wasn’t just dangerous, he reveled in what he could make people do, how he could play them. It’d be better for all of us if we stayed the fuck away from him from now on. I bit my tongue. Tarzi had to have got something we could use.
Tarzi took a deep breath as we left the gatehouse and carried on down the street. Her hands were steadier now, and her face was more flushed than pale. “I saw something. The sorcerer went to some compound of the demon lord’s, but I can’t narrow it down. The service demons and the guards didn’t know which compound they meant.”
That didn’t mean the sorcerer was still here, but . . . he probably was. That demon lord was far too smug about being able to dangle Amma and the sorcerer under our noses for Gabriel to already be back on Earth and out of reach. No, he was enjoying flexing his power, his ability to taunt enemies or tear allies apart. That meant the sorcerer was still here, within his reach. Somewhere.
“What’s our next move?” Jaxon asked, looking around the almost empty street.
Del sighed and looked ahead to the next crossroads. “A demon like him could have dozens of compounds. Maybe we can find someone that knows more or work out another angle, but we shouldn’t talk about it in the open so close to his place. Let’s walk to the main street and find a portal demon to take us back to my place. We can regroup there.”
Jaxon nodded. He walked on one side of her and Tarzi on the other. I trailed some way behind them, taking in Hell while I tried to puzzle out a new plan to help Del—I mean, to find the sorcerer. Those things had got all tangled up in my head, but rather than deny it, I accepted it. They were basically the same thing anyway.
What would this compound even look like? Streets here were similar to Earth but a little removed—especially when it came to tech. I’d yet to see any kind of electronics, yet magic—such as the portal demons—appeared to fix many of the gaps. Demons popped in and out of the current street all over. And I mean, why drive if you could practically teleport? I groaned. With the ease of transport, this compound could be hundreds or thousands of miles away from here!
I stared at the back of Tarzi’s head, hoping she had something more buried in the info she’d taken. Else, we might really have to deal with the demon lord.
A demon brushed past me, then another. I pulled my arms in a bit. We were already on what appeared to be one of the main roads. Shops hung butchered meat on large metal hooks in the windows or displayed stacks of boxed fruit and vegetables. Others depicted services of all kinds on garish signs—to be performed here or back at your dwelling. I smirked at a few of the cartoons. Real detailed work. Just the remedy for the rut my mind was stuck in.
The other shoppers were a mix of every kind of demon you could think of. Most were moderately human in form but not all. I saw blue demons like the demon lord seer, hellhounds in their beast form, succubi—clear from how much they drew the eye—and twisted combinations of limbs and darkness and sludge that chilled my blood. Demons may have a society much like Earth, but they were something very different, too.
A pale-faced, waving blur at the corner of my peripheral vision captured my attention. It came from within the side alley I’d almost walked past. I glanced ahead. The others were almost out of earshot now, the crowd so thick I’d quickly lose them. But who’d wave at me here? Was it even me they were trying to signal down?
I peered into the alley and growled, my wolf clawing at the ground in my mind and sending me visions of biting into the sorcerer’s thick throat and gorging on his lifeblood. That was him, Gabriel, waving at me with a huge beaming grin stretched across his face. How dare he act like we were still friends? I ran at him, wanting to throttle the air out of this bastard and demand he tell me where Amma was.
Gabriel shoved his hands in his pockets. “Stop,” he said.
Mud seeped into my thoughts and limbs and drew me to a complete stop, mere feet away from this asshole. I screamed out my frustration, but it was lost in the clamor of the crowd on the main road. I’d seen red, and I’d done something as stupid as Del’s first instinct. I’d charged right at the enemy without thinking things through. Without remembering this bastard still had some of my hair and fur and could control me. I’d hoped he’d lost the damn stuff, but that would be too easy, wouldn’t it?
I glanced back at the alley entrance, wondering how long they’d take to realize I was gone and come looking.
Gabriel laughed. “I know you’re not alone. The demon lord already informed me of your little . . . meeting. Ill-advised, I must say. He was so amused, he granted me extra demons to command. But you will be the most valuable piece to my plan.” The mirth fell from his face like a mask, and he walked around me, whispering orders that spilled into my mind and wrapped around my free will. I yanked against them, itching to choke the breath from his slimy little neck, but all my resistance did was wear down the willpower I had left.
“Is that understood?” Gabriel asked once he was done with his orders.
“Yes.”
“You’ll do exactly as I say.”
An answer wasn’t strictly needed, but I closed my eyes as the mud sucked me in even deeper, demanding a response. I couldn’t even resist an indirect question. I bit my tongue hard, wondering if I’d ever get out of this bastard’s hold. Jaxon had done it, but I couldn’t even ask how under these orders. “Yes. Exactly as you said.”
“Good. Now go back to Del and the others and say you got lost. Make sure they believe you.” He shooed me and disappeared around a blind corner. I couldn’t see if he had anyone with him, and it wasn’t like I had the ability to go after him with his orders pressing down on me, so I turned back down the alley and into the flow of demon shoppers and commuters.
I rose onto my toes, looking over the crowd to find Del and the others. Demons flowed up and down the street around each other without any clear order, but there was a still spot in the movement up ahead. I aimed for it, pushing my way through the crowd, and found Del, scanning the crowd much as I had. Jaxon was watching her back, and Tarzi was looking in the opposite direction.
“There he is,” Del said, her tone exasperated. “What happened to you? Thought you’d find the sorcerer on your own? In the middle of a crowded market street?” She rolled her eyes, like that was a ridiculous idea.
I would’ve smiled at how much she mirrored my dismissive reaction to her rage-fueled need to charge into the demon lord’s den back at her place, but I had a strict part to play. I gritted my teeth, wishing I could announce the sorcerer was here and within easy grasp if only we could run down that alley right now, but I couldn’t. The bond between me and him had snapped tight around my neck, strangling out the words before they could arrive.
“No. I got pulled along with the crowd and got lost.”
I didn’t apologize. That’d be far too out of character. Instead, I fell back on what I was known for. “Did any of you find a portal demon or a plan worth using, or have you been wandering about waiting for me?”
Del flinched, and I wished I could take it back, but the spell stayed my tongue.
Jaxon snarled. “Really, Zeke? She’s just lost her sister, and you say shit like that? Have a heart. We’re all doing our best here.”
I shrugged, even though I felt twisted up inside. I actually agreed with him. Del didn’t deserve this. Though frankly, Jaxon asking me to have a heart was a kettle-pot moment. But whatever. With that redirection, I’d sold that I’d gotten “lost”. According to my orders, that’s all that mattered. Never mind that my heart frosted whenever I glanced at Del’s stiff shoulders and closed-off expression. Her barriers had snapped back into place. But maybe that was for the best. I was here to get the sorcerer, not to become her friend. I shook my head. I couldn’t afford to agonize over this stuff. I had to focus on finding a way to work around the sorcerer’s plan, or he’d get exactly what he wanted out of this deal and we’d all be as good as dead.
Tarzi stroked Del’s arm. “Del, honey, I think that’s a portal demon over there.”
She pointed toward a bakery. I could just about smell it over the body odor of demons sweating in the heat—starchy and peppery. A demon walked out the doors, the bell ringing over his head. In one hand he carried a hoop, and the other was raised to his mouth to munch on what looked like cheesy dough balls.
I sighed as my hand reached for the slip of paper in my pocket and hid it in my hand, but there was nothing I could do to stop this.
Del straightened and stormed over to the shop, the demon in her sights. The edge to her confidence had dulled—her step a little slower, her body stiffer. That was on me, digging into her and the others about their plan. Internally, I winced at seeing my demon off her game. Outwardly, I smiled, catching the portal maker’s eye. I was about to make everything so much worse. Damn fucking spells.
Jaxon
The portal trip back to Del’s place was relatively painless. At least, I shook off the wooziness quickly. Now we had to regroup, see if we missed anything we could use to find Amma.
Tarzi clinked about in Del’s kitchen, getting us something to eat and drink. She needed it more than any of us. All that work getting into their minds had wiped her out. And I would’ve taken the work off her hands, but my focus was squarely on Zeke. I couldn’t quite believe he’d agreed to help us without conditions. And his plan was good, too. Tarzi’s mind-hopping had told us that Amma was being held at some compound. We just didn’t know which one. The workers knew the demon lord had plenty, and some were probably kept under wraps from the likes of service demons. But was Zeke helping us to help Amma or still invested in revenge against the sorcerer?
I rubbed my chin. He was nose deep in the spell book. I gritted my teeth. He had no damn reason to be sticking his nose in there. What was he looking for—some new way to hurt the sorcerer? Or was he reading it for fun, like he used to research all that magical stuff? After all that effort he put into avoiding helping us, he was looking through the book for easy reading!
I snatched the book out of his hands, but he only rolled his eyes at me. “What can I do for you, dear brother?” he asked.
“We didn’t ask you to read anything, Zeke. You don’t touch this book unless we ask you to.”
He sighed. “Whatever. You know, you could be more thankful for my help. Is ‘thank you’ too difficult a word to get through your alpha brain?”
He smirked, his eyes shifting to Del. Then he frowned, his teeth nipping his lower lip in a way that told me he was concerned. My brother thought he was so secretive, but I’d been able to read his tells forever.
What did he have to worry about? We’d find the sorcerer sooner or later. Or . . . fuck, no. No way was he getting feelings for Del. Sure, I’d seen the way he looked at her like she was a dessert, but Del was a sex demon and stunning. Zeke would look at any sexy woman that way. A frown like that, all sweet concern, was flashing red danger. Zeke was not getting his claws on my mate. She had plenty, and he was not good mate material.
A muffled noise broke the quiet outside. I shook off my frustration. Was someone out there? A metal clang and the chatter of voices confirmed it. This wasn’t some passing neighbor. The noise was only getting louder. A shiver bristled my skin.
Del peeked through the blinds to the street and snatched her hand back, cursing. “A fucking army of demons is moving around the building. They must’ve spotted us in the market and questioned the portal maker.”
I frowned. They’d have had to have eyes on us to do that. Had the demon lord had someone follow us from his palace? I’d not sensed anyone. But I had seen Zeke shake the portal maker’s hand. He hadn’t said a word, though. I shook my head. As much as Zeke usually was behind this kind of thing, that made no sense. I couldn’t blame him for this one. It’s not like he had any way of communicating with these people. A demon had probably slipped past my senses.
Like Del, I went to the window and looked out. I had no idea what kind of powers many of these demons had, but the shining blades in their hands or on their belts and the fireballs bobbing inches above some palms like Hell’s version of snowballs meant they weren’t fucking friendly. Maybe the demon lord wanted to finish us off after all, but not on his floor.
I peered around the very edge of the window, trying to see around the side of the building. That’s when I caught sight of the sorcerer. The bastard was directing the demons like a fucking traffic officer—signaling one way or the other as demons rained out of a fucking portal. There had to be three dozen of them so far, and they were still coming. We were so completely fucked.
I gritted my teeth and turned to Del. It’d be so much easier for us to use a spell to go back to Earth, get away from all this and come back after they’d gone, hopefully with more info mined from the sorcerer. But Amma was still with these people, probably being threatened or hurt. She had to be terrified. Del would never leave her or delay, and I couldn’t ask her to. Amma was her family. I bit my tongue. That didn’t leave us great options. The sorcerer coming with these kinds of numbers meant he wanted us dead.
