A Demon's Work Is Never Done: Latter Day Demons, Book 2 (21 page)

The pain shot through my head from just thinking about it.

V'ili had done this to us. If my head hurt, Loftin's had to hurt ten times as bad.

Fuck. I wanted to kill V'ili with my bare hands. The pain in my head was so bad after that thought, I believed I was going to die.

* * *

Lexsi

"León and Diego will come with Tibby and me," Farin dumped fresh tomatoes onto the salad. "He says Ecuador is nice, and we'll be close to the beach."

"Farin," I caught her arm. "You know this is dangerous, don't you?"

"Yeah." She dropped her eyes to the salad bowl. The bowl was huge—we had many people to feed.

"Look who I found." Zaria walked into the kitchen, followed by a sheepish Jamie Rome.

"Where have you been?" I demanded, waving the wooden spoon I'd used to stir the broccoli-cheddar soup I was making.

"I ah, went to visit my mother and brother—with Zaria's help," he sighed.

I studied him for a moment. He looked better. Not nearly as thin. Somebody had bent time with him.

I refused to ask how long the visit was. Had to be a few weeks, at least.

"He feels better, now. I found him a shrink," Zaria said. "Need help?"

"It's almost ready," I said. "Table's set, drinks are made, all you have to do is sit down and enjoy."

"I'm sorry I made you worry," Jamie pulled me into a hug. "It won't happen again, I promise."

"Tell that to Anita," I said pulling away and going back to the soup.

"She's going to kick my ass," he said.

"I won't, but I'll think about it," Anita arrived and pulled him into a tight hug. "We missed you."

"Yeah," he said. I noticed his eyes were misty when he pulled away.

Chapter 12

Lexsi

"We have Zaria to thank for this," Opal said beside me. She'd left her dark hair loose; it clouded about her face in the breeze off the ocean below us. I leaned my arms on the half-wall surrounding the patio of our borrowed housing, while Opal stood straight and tall beside me.

Our temporary home in Ecuador was in Punta Blanca, half an hour north of Salinas. The ocean view from our extensive compound was breathtaking, although the breeze off the water at this time of year called for a light sweater.

We had two vehicles in the garage if we needed them—since Punta Blanca was mostly residential with no markets or stores in easy walking distance, we needed a vehicle to get around. Or at least to keep up appearances.

"Anita says Esme will join us for dinner tonight," Opal went on. "She's made several trips to the Galapagos, trying to contact Phineas. He isn't answering."

"That doesn't sound good."

"I'm worried he'll attempt to get into Peru himself, and that could be fatal."

"I hear you."

The water near the shore turned a deep turquoise as clouds moved across it. Farther out, the sun glinted off the South Pacific so brightly I almost couldn't look at it. For me, it was difficult to imagine shapeshifters who spent most of their time in the water.

"Do they come out for, ah," I floundered.

"Yes. Sex is, by nature, safer and much more pleasurable when they're humanoid. It's standard practice among shifters. Before you ask," she said, folding her arms over her breasts and lowering her eyes for a moment, "I'm a rare breed. There are no others like me, now. I'm an overly tall, overly fast velociraptor. I was young when I watched Europeans crowd into these lands and take them by force, in many cases. My family of shifters was revered by our tribe. Most of them died protecting that tribe. I'm the only one left."

"I'm sorry about your family." I wanted to hug her but held back. Opal was such a private person, and I felt as if I were eavesdropping on a precious, painful memory.

"It was a long time ago," she said. "And so you know, I appreciate hugs just as much as anybody."

I did hug her, then. I couldn't begin to imagine what it was like, watching your family and friends die in front of you. It must have been horrible.

"Thanks," Opal wiped moisture from her cheeks when I stepped back. "I don't tell many that story."

"I'm glad you told me. It helps," I said, "to know what you're fighting for. Who you're fighting for."

Gran always said that everybody had a story. We needed to learn as many stories as we could, to add to our own.
It makes us better people
, she'd say,
because we know their pain. At times, it coincides with ours. At other times, we can only shake our heads at the strength it must have taken for them to endure the hardships and adversities of their lives
.

I knew Gran was one of those people. She'd fought hard for herself and those around her. I was only beginning to earn a place for myself in the universe.

"You do well enough," Opal smiled at me.

"Save that for when we get rid of the mess in Peru," I whispered.

"Agreed."

* * *

Kordevik

"I prefer tea," Klancy refused my offer of coffee.

"I think we can make a cup of tea," Anita said. She and I stood in the kitchen at the compound in Punta Blanca, digging through supplies for something to snack on for lunch.

The kitchen wasn't as nice as the one in San Rafael, but we could make do. Instead of an island, we had counter space and a large table set near a window for a view of the ocean. Klancy sat there, watching Anita and me as we prowled the new space.

"Esme's coming for dinner," Anita informed me as she sifted through a box to find tea bags. "Earl Grey?" Anita turned to ask Klancy.

"That should be fine. Thank you." Somehow, Klancy was less grave and serious, after—well, after he'd met Zaria, and she'd made it possible for him to walk in daylight and eat normal food.

I almost asked him where Zaria was, but held back. Maybe it was none of my business. "We get hot water the traditional way," Anita turned a stove burner on and filled the teakettle with water.

"Want me to do it?" I asked.

"You'll just melt the teakettle."

"Probably." I put coffee in the coffee maker. "I tried to fire ceramics, once. Broke everything. Too hot too fast," I explained.

"Seriously? That's funny."

"It's a part of army training on Kifirin," I said. "How to control your heat levels."

"Now, that I didn't expect," Anita handed me a coffee cup. "There I was, imagining that you'd taken time to explore your artistic side. I should have known better."

"Dude, you have an artistic side?" Watson shuffled in and began opening cabinet doors, no doubt searching for something to eat.

"Doubt it," I said, watching the coffeemaker do its work, steaming and sputtering as it filled the pot with dark liquid. "Although I might be able to shave an important message in your fur come the full moon."

"What message would that be?"

"I'm a difik?"

"Don't fall for it." Anita's whisper was loud enough for the neighbors to hear.

Klancy laughed.

I had to admit, I'd never heard him laugh until that moment. Even Watson grinned at the sound.

* * *

Lexsi

"Dinner will be better, I promise," I told Watson, who'd grumbled over ham sandwiches for lunch. "I need to find a local market, to buy fish or whatever is fresh."

"Thank you," he mouthed at me before grinning.

"I'll come with you, as protection," Anita offered.

"I'm coming," Kory insisted.

"Will the market hold all of us?" I asked.

"It'll be fine. Have money? Let's go," Zaria arrived with Klancy not far behind her. "Want to go to the market, honey?" she turned to ask him.

I learned Klancy had a dimple, then, because he smiled at Zaria.

"I will go wherever you go," he said.

The market was more than a mile away, so Klancy drove the SUV we found in the garage.

"Are you kidding?" Anita disagreed with Kory's choice of cookies. "That's all sugar."

"Are you saying I don't need sugar?"

Anita blinked at him for several seconds before grabbing a second bag and tossing it into our cart. Zaria snickered as she walked behind them. I realized they hadn't been talking about sugar.

Not exactly. I felt my face warm as I quickened my pace toward the meat section at the back of the market.

Anita and Zaria—did they realize how lucky they were? That they could kiss and make love whenever they wanted?

It just wasn't fair.

People don't die of sexual frustration
, I reminded myself as Kory came to stand beside me. For a moment, I watched the smooth, bulging muscles in his arm flex beneath the short sleeves of his T-shirt, and wondered what it would be like to have those arms wrapped around me while—I forced myself away from that image.

"The tuna steaks look nice," Kory rumbled beside me.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath before opening them again and studying the fish behind the glass. "
Por favor, señor
," Kory called to the aproned man standing behind the counter, "
Esta fresco el pescado
?" He pointed at the tuna steaks.

"
Si
," the man nodded and moved forward. "
Cogido esta mañana
."

"I want all he has," I looked up at Kory. Kory relayed my instructions. We watched, Kory's hand rubbing my back, as the man wrapped all the tuna steaks for us and handed them over.

"Tell him I want two kilograms of the large shrimp, too." They'd make a great appetizer.

The man grinned as Kory translated.

"We may need a bigger cart," Anita said dryly.

We have people to feed
, I reminded her.

After getting several other things to make sauce for the fish and fresh vegetables to go with the meal, Klancy drove us back to the compound. Esme, Anita's cousin who looked enough like Anita to be her sister, waited there for us, and it looked like she'd brought a guest.

An unhappy guest.

I was introduced to Phineas, King of the Merpeople in South American Waters. If restless anger could kill, we'd all be dead within seconds.

* * *

Opal

"These people are allies," I snapped at Phineas. He was a grump at the best of times. With his daughter in the hands of the enemy, his foul mood had ramped up to impossible levels.

"You're having a party, while my daughter is in the hands of filth," he snapped back.

"It's not a party. It's dinner. We have to eat, and we have to plan. You have no idea what you're up against, and if I know you at all, you'll go marching in or swimming in, and that will get you fried and on a plate in thirty minutes."

At least he'd agreed to go to the garage before venting his anger. I had some of my own to toss back at him. The others had made an effort to make him comfortable—he'd been rude in each instance.

"I don't know whether she's alive, and neither do you," he accused, pointing a finger at me.

"Someone reliable says she probably is—she's a novelty to them."

"Put in a tank for humans to gawk at."

"Look, you can turn everybody against you now and die going in by yourself, or you can be civil, accept our help, play a part in this and hopefully come out with your life and your daughter's life intact."

"Who says she's alive?"

We were back to that.

"Zaria."

"The one who found me." His voice was flat.

"Yes. Zaria is quite talented. If anybody can help find your daughter, it will be her."

"I want to grind them between a rock and the seabed," he hissed, clenching his fists.

"I want that too, only I want it to be more painful than that."

I'd surprised him—his eyes widened for a moment at my words. "I've already seen the dead they left behind. The machines that kill on command," I hissed. "I've dealt with the creatures they've hired into this mess to kill anyone they don't like. Money, greed and power is at the root of this. Your daughter is a pawn to them. A fish in a tank, kept because she's pretty and a rarity. Don't give them a motive to harm her."

"You think they will?" Anguish filled his words for a moment. Say what you would about Phineas, he loved his daughter.

"I hope not. We really need to pinpoint their location. They're growing a plant, the seeds of which produce a terrible drug. That doesn't mean the bulk of them are somewhere amid the fields. If my guess is correct, they have taken something luxurious for themselves. That means we must systematically rule out those places we can, to get a better vision of where they may be."

"And then what?"

"We attack. I'm hoping for more recruits, but that's not something we can rely on. Regardless, we have a small army here. It may be enough."

"Faugh." He threw out a hand. "Three of theirs killed Amalthea's guards and captured her. What do we have to fight against that?"

"More than you know," I said.

* * *

Lexsi

"This is awesome. I mean, we have good cooks on Grey Planet, but this," Yoff pointed his fork at the last bite of tuna steak in sauce. "This transcends every spell I could ever make."

"Stop it," I grinned at him. He and Kell had been out all day; I had no idea where or for what reason, but I figured Kell was teaching Yoff what it meant to be a spy.

"What are you?" Phineas interrupted our happy food session. Whatever came out of that man's mouth sounded as if he were displeased with the universe. His question was pointed at Yoff, who studied Phineas for a moment.

"I am the son of a winged vampire, who is also the son of a winged vampire, and I have skills as a wizard." Yoff lifted a hand, causing Phineas' wineglass to lift from the table.

"So you can lift a glass off the table," Phineas snorted.

I watched Kory instead of Yoff; Kory sat closer to Phineas, and I was surprised he wasn't blowing smoke by this time.

"Oh, sure. I do party tricks," Yoff agreed, just before Phineas' plate turned into a vicious lion's head that snapped at him. Phineas' chair scraped across the tiled floor in a blink and Phineas almost toppled over it in his haste to get away.

"Yeah. I do party tricks." Yoff lifted the last bite of tuna steak to his mouth and chewed. It was just as Great-Uncle Erland said. High Demons had a strange knack of knowing when a spell wasn't threatening and allowing it to continue.

The phenomenon had been studied in my mother's time with the ASD—they'd first discovered that talent in her back then. It was natural, something that wasn't consciously done. Yoff's spell hadn't threatened me or most of the people about me—in fact, it had helped. Phineas was more than surprised, I knew that much.