A Demon's Work Is Never Done: Latter Day Demons, Book 2 (16 page)

"Not good. Rare shapeshifters?" I expected her to say yes. Shapeshifters who became water animals were extremely rare—at least on Earth.

"Yeah. Unfortunately." Anita studied her shoes. They were sturdy, short-heeled boots covered mostly by the jeans she wore. She was dressed well enough to get into a restaurant or a brawl, if necessary.

"Does Esme need help?"

"She could use some help, but these shifters are so suspicious of everybody else. The only person who might have any sway with them is Zaria."

"You planning to ask her?"

"Hell, I want her to take us both to Ecuador so I can talk some sense into those people, too. I just need—Zaria to help me convince them."

"How can Zaria help?"

"I think Zaria has some talents that most folks don't or can't see. She'd convince me in no time, if I saw one or two things she can do."

"Are you going to tell me about that?"

"Those are her secrets. She'll have to tell you herself. I want her help, so I won't be talking for sure."

"You think Esme is in danger, too," I guessed.

"Yeah."

"You could have told me before," I said.

"Are you whining again?"

"I guess."

"I didn't tell you because you have enough to worry about already, okay?"

"And you're one of those people who keep their worries close to their heart. If you say it out loud, it makes it worse, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. You're extremely perceptive. It's annoying. Stop it."

I laughed—I couldn't help it. Her arm came around my shoulders and she hugged me close.

Another worry nagged at my mind, though. Anita's cousin and rare shapeshifters were in danger from those in Peru; Laurel's Sirenali, or perhaps more than one, was hunting off the coasts of Peru and Ecuador.

"There has to be more than one, right?"

"More than one what?" Anita pulled my hair back so it would fall where it should.

"Sirenali. They have more than one, don't they?" I turned to gaze into Anita's eyes.

"Bingo," she tapped her nose. "It's why some can go hunting while Laurel and her cronies remain blissfully away from prying eyes. You can't search for them using any sort of power if a Sirenali is nearby. It's why they couldn't see you right now, even if they wanted. You're with me."

"This really, really sucks, you know that? Not that I don't appreciate what you're doing for me. For us," I amended.

"I know. You provide your own sort of protection, as does Kory. No spell cast by the enemy will survive within a certain range of either of you; while you're close, it's nullified."

"I uh, got rid of some spells completely when I turned fake prisoners to mist," I admitted.

"You did what?" Anita was shocked.

"I don't know. The spells disappeared, once I turned them to mist. When I set them down, they looked like themselves again, and kept looking like themselves, even when I moved outside the nullifying perimeter."

"Do you know how fantastic that is?" Anita shook her head as if she still couldn't believe what I'd told her.

"I guess it's a really good thing." I turned my gaze back to the view out the window.

"It's an amazing thing," She sighed. "Maybe the most amazing thing I've heard or seen today."

* * *

"Zaria, Kell and I will be at the exchange site," Opal announced in our short briefing before the spectacle of the fight began. "Kory, Lexsi, Anita and Yoff will be in seats close to the ring. I expect you to take appropriate action if it looks as if something has been done to give Lover Boy Landon an unfair advantage in the fight."

"Or whether it's Lover Boy at all," Kory said.

"True. Thomas, Mason and Sandra will be stationed near the entrance, in case someone attempts to get away." Opal pointed at the holographic image of the venue, which was splashed on one of Tibby's hotel suite walls.

"Watson, Davis and Klancy will be with Tibby's family in their box seats, protecting them while the fight is going on. We don't want anybody getting away and we don't need more hostages," Opal stated flatly.

She was right about that; we didn't need more hostages. They already had Jamie, and they could force us to run in circles if they gathered even more hostages. The mere thought of it angered me in ways I couldn't accurately describe.

Kory, who sat beside me, was just as upset; tiny curls of smoke escaped his nostrils occasionally as Opal described our roles in the fight and the prisoner exchange. "Do you have more agents in the background?" I asked.

"Scattered through the crowd, in disguise and watching everything," Opal nodded. "They'll identify themselves to you if necessary."

"What's your plan for the exchange?" Mason asked.

"That's need to know," Opal hedged. I figured it would have to be. I imagined that she, Kell and Zaria would wait until they knew whether Jamie was real or not, then go on from there.

We didn't need everybody in a panic, simply because they didn't believe the real Jamie Rome would be handed over at the exchange.

Where is he?
I leaned against Kory.

Jamie?

Yeah.

No idea. Stop worrying so much, onion. We'll find him
.

* * *

Opal

We were headed to the desert outside Vegas, between the city and Primm, where other casinos cropped up from the barren ground like plants after a brief rain. There, Nevada butted against California's border, and it was a place to stop for those driving from one state to the other.

Along a narrow road, heading east from Primm, was where we were to meet for the exchange.

The three of us were extremely wary as a result; not only were they asking for Granger, but they'd upped the ante, asking for Kory, too.

We hadn't told Kory or Lexsi about their additional demands. What did they think to accomplish by attempting to corral a High Demon male?

How
did they think they'd capture a High Demon male?

Zaria was already preparing for this; a replica of Kory would walk beside us. If I knew Zaria at all, and I did know her a little, at least, not only would it look like Kory, but could also gesture and speak like him.

They want to see how important Jamie is to us
, Zaria had said.

It angered me that we had to stoop to these measures. I wanted to tell Charlene and Hannah to fuck off, as Zaria so delicately put it.

She suspected there was more to all this than even I could imagine, and I could imagine much.

Charlene, after all, was supposed to be at the fight. I couldn't imagine her being anywhere but there.

Was someone coming in her place?

Hannah, too, wasn't prepared for this sort of thing. Why was she coming? It made no sense to send an inexperienced woman to do the exchange, when it could turn into a fight, with or without weapons.

Jamie.

What would his part be in this—would it be him or one of Laurel's allies in disguise, ready to shoot at us the moment we arrived?

Where was Jamie? Really?

I doubted we'd find him on the other side of this exchange. I believed that Laurel wanted him completely dead, this time. So much so that she probably wanted to witness it for herself.

Fuck Laurel. Too many people wanted her throat in their hands, so they could watch her die from close range.

Jamie might be one of those people. I still wondered at the fact that not only was she alive, but those who'd invaded Earth appeared to be listening to her and catering to her whims. Most criminals I knew would have blasted her to bits long ago, rather than listen to her whiny voice.

It comes down to DSG Enterprises
, Zaria's voice sounded in my head.
Or, rather, the DSG in DSG Enterprises.

You know who that is?

I have a good guess
.

Who?
I countered.

Dervil San Gerxon. You know, Divil and Arvil San Gerxon's father?

I went still.

Has he fathered those two, yet?

Unfortunately, yes, although they're very young—Arvil's still in diapers. They come from a long-lived bunch. Actually, they have a line of wizards in the family, somewhere in the past. That lineage gives them extended life—far beyond what is normal for either Alliance.

How?
I thought for a moment before it hit me.

Who?

Ah, there's the question, huh? Somewhere in the past century, the Belancours married into the San Gerxon line. You and I know that the San Gerxons are also distantly related to the Cayetes Clan. Not many know of that connection.

You're giving me a headache. How did you find out?
I doubted many of the San Gerxons actually knew.

I did research. Remember, Hegatt, Morgett's brother, hired Marid of Belancour for a rather illicit act in an attempt to take the Karathian throne. I decided to research that connection, which obviously led to other connections. The criminal streak runs through the San Gerxons, the Cayetes bunch and the Belancours like molten lead through plastic.

I agreed. At that point, I wanted to toss a hand in the air and go have a drink or three with Kell in a bar. The Belancour line was almost dead in the future, or so I'd thought. To learn that they were related, albeit distantly at that point, to the San Gerxons?

Not good news.

All that was unimportant, as far as Charlene and Hannah were concerned. Unless more family members of the San Gerxon variety showed up in disguise as their replacements.

At this point, nothing would surprise me.

* * *

Lexsi

I hated that we had to make our way into the audience like everybody else. The crowd was thick and overwhelming at times. Kory and I were bumped and jostled as we made our way toward the seats near the ring.

Those seats weren't cheap. Somehow, Opal had arranged for that, using her position to obtain those favors.

Kory and I would be in range to nullify any spells placed on Lover Boy. We weren't far from his corner, after all.

Kory's broad shoulders formed a wake for me to follow, although one of his hands gripped mine from behind. He didn't want me to disappear in the wash of bodies that swayed one way then another as the noisy, talkative crowd pushed into the arena.

His hand was a lifeline as I learned a valuable lesson that night; crowds frightened me. If someone took control of the entire crowd, they could cause a tremendous amount of damage just by startling it.

That was a nightmare
, Kory's mental voice gritted as he settled me in my seat before sitting beside me.

It scares me
, I responded.
What if they get spooked? People could die.

Hmmph. I saw video of a much smaller crowd trampling people to death just to get one of five televisions on sale at the electronics store last Christmas season
, he replied.
This could be a thousand times worse
.

How did you get here before I did?
I asked.
To Earth, I mean?
We should have arrived at roughly the same time.

People who can bend time and fold space have their own agendas
, he shrugged, attempting to settle his long legs into a more comfortable position. There wasn't much legroom to be had, this close to the ring. If we wanted out of our seats quickly, we'd have to skip out of them.

Do you feel it?
I asked as I shivered.
Like something isn't right?
I glanced at the people who sat around us. All of them had blank looks in their eyes, as if their conscious minds had been temporarily removed.

If you're asking if the hair on my neck is prickling, then yes. Something is definitely going on.

What can cause that?
I asked.

Not sure
, he replied, turning in his seat to study the people sitting behind us. All of them now sat rigidly in their seats, fingers gripping the armrests on their chairs as if they were waiting for something, or were seeing something we weren't seeing.

What could do that?

I drew in a breath.

Why had I been so stupid?

Most of these people had stopped for drinks at temporary bars set up outside the arena. Many still had drinks in their hands, although they no longer realized they held anything.

I felt as if a switch had been flipped, suddenly, giving them blank looks as they sat, unmoving, in their assigned seats.

Kory, I'm worried
, I informed him in a small voice.
It won't matter if we reveal who or what Tibby will be fighting. These people are already hallucinating. Somebody's drugged them with drakus seed
.

"What?" he turned to me and spoke aloud.

"It won't matter. If the police ask questions later, they'll get a thousand different stories from a thousand different people. We aren't close enough to the cameras recording the fight to affect the spells placed there. What are they planning?" I was terrified—not just for Tibby and his crew, but for the crowd in the arena. Depending on how much drakus seed they'd consumed, they could die in their seats or later, in their beds. Drakus seed didn't discriminate; it was merely a matter of individual metabolism.