Demon Demon Burning Bright, Whisperings book four (29 page)

I pushed away the numbness trying to take
over my brain and faked a laugh, shrugged. “Well isn’t that
typical. I get to be an alien without the benefits. Super strength
would come in handy right now, so I could twist you into a
pretzel.”

I bent over him, chuffed out another laugh,
spoke low, my jaw so tight it ached to speak. “You sadistic
bastard. Is that your best shot?”

“Tiff!” Royal said.

I straightened as if invisible strings
attached to my skull yanked me upright and twirled me on my toes.
There he was, wearing nothing but a fearful scowl and a ridiculous
little pouch. In a situation electric with tension, Royal naked was
still enough to make my head spin. My gaze zeroed in on how the
small piece of leather barely contained him. Then I saw the ugly,
discolored splotches on his shoulders and arms. He was pale, the
skin around his eyes dark, as if bruised.

I turned on Cicero, finger tight on the
Ruger’s trigger. “You said he was okay.”

“I did it to myself, trying to escape the
cell.” Royal said.

My lip curled. “He just saved your ass,” I
snarled at Cicero.

You know those scenes where a man and woman
joyously run to each other and everything slows down? Not Royal and
I. He blurred, and we slammed together with such force, my bones
felt the impact.

His fingers were in my hair, tracing the
contours of my face, circling my neck, closing on my shoulders,
sliding to my waist. “Tell me he did not hurt you.”

“I’m okay,” I murmured into his hair as I
held tight to his shoulders.

He went still. His hand rested on my arm
below the bandage. “Your arm!”

I could do nothing other than grin. When I
was a kid, a stepmom told me if I made a face for too long it would
freeze that way. I could cope with wearing a grin for the rest of
my life if Royal were with me. “It’s nothing. I’ll tell you
later.”

He kissed me, and the ground dropped away
from my feet. Royal and I, lips and tongue, suspended in a void,
clinging. We were together again, and nothing mattered beyond
that.

He eventually put me back on my feet. As I
had countless times before, I let his strong arm take my weight,
knowing he would not let me fall. His warmth bathed my skin.

“How did you escape?”

He grinned, brought his other arm up and
brandished two long hairpins before my eyes. “After I all but
battered myself unconscious, I noticed Darja had these.”

“The councilor?”

“We have to get her out, Tiff. Get all of
them out.”

“We could have a bit of a problem there, my
friend,” Chris said from behind us.

I turned in Royal’s arm to see Chris and
Gryphon, and Cicero. The Seer had dragged himself along the floor
toward the outside, until Chris and Gryphon blocked his escape.

“We heard a firearm,” Gryphon said.

“That would be me,” I said brightly. At that
moment, I didn’t care if I was human or other, what my parents
were, how Cicero tried to use me. I cared only that Royal was here,
safe, with one arm curled around me.

We joined them. Cicero had not gotten far;
he lay on his face at the end of a bloody swath which made a trail
from his bedroom door.

Royal saw the stun gun. His body tensed with
anger, then he picked it up and threw it at the wall. The small box
came apart and fell in two distorted pieces. He put his arm around
me again, but his heat did not banish the chill which swept over me
and doused my elation.

He thought I defended myself, and I’d never
tell him I cold-bloodedly shot my uncle to get what I wanted from
him. I couldn’t bear to see disappointment in Royal’s eyes.

“People are coming from the village. They
heard gunshots,” Chris said.

We could stay and fight, but could we take
down all of Cicero’s people? We could zip out of here, but his men
would go crazy when they found their Seer gone and blood outside
his bedroom.

“We can’t leave the captives to them.”

“We have no choice,” Gryphon spat.

We needed that army Gryphon meant to
recruit.

Tiff, you can be
so
dense.
We
had a cave full of demons and I knew where Cicero kept the keys to
their cells. I focused on Gryphon. “Your Lordship, you don’t have
to find an army, we already have one.”

Including Gryphon, fifteen Gelpha wearing
bits and pieces of Cicero’s clothing stood on a broad ledge
overlooking the valley. I suppose turning up at the High House
wearing next to nothing would cause a stir.

Fifteen!
Or sixteen if I included
myself.

While Chris and Royal moved deeper into the
mountain, I got what I needed from Cicero’s suite. I had a plan,
but whether I could bring it off was another matter.

Two more demons, a young woman with curling
ginger hair and a white-haired, black-eyed teen boy came from the
cave mouth and made their way down to where we stood.

I didn’t see Gia, but I’d bet my last cent
she was still here, watching to see how her scheme played out. I
wanted to talk to her, but she wouldn’t come here while demons
surrounded me.

I wandered over to a crevice not far from
the cave mouth with the idea of slipping inside. It was another
slot canyon, the bed not much wider than my body if I kept my arms
tight to my sides, and it led upward.

Gia could come to me up there, if she wanted
to.

I looked over my shoulder. Gryphon watched
me.

“Gotta go do the necessary.”

He frowned. “Can you not use the facilities
inside?”

“I wouldn’t go back in there if you paid
me.”

I guess he bought it. He didn’t stop me when
I slipped inside the canyon.

It was rough going, the incline became
steeper, twisting this way and that, and pebbles and tiny stone
chips rolled under my boots. The air felt like the inside of a
furnace. After traipsing for five minutes, I knew I had to go back
soon or someone would come looking for me.

The canyon abruptly opened out and I stood
on a ledge, the mountain at my back, the valley spread before me. I
wiped my face with my sleeve and ran my fingers through sweat-damp
hair.

It was a dead end. The ledge appeared to
continue between two mountain spurs, but a giant boulder stoppered
the gap.

Gia stood on the boulder. She leapt to the
ledge and came toward me.

I scowled. “Hello Mommy dearest.”

Then I was elsewhere. Gia let go of me, I
fell on my butt and it
hurt
. Flustered, I grabbed for an
anchor and clutched handfuls of moss.

Old aspen and pine towered above us. We were
in a tiny, mossy, shaded glade through which a rivulet trickled
over smooth white pebbles. Lovely place for a picnic but not one to
land in on your backside. Gia leaned on a tall sapling.

“Sorry about that,” she said, not sounding
so. She tapped one finger on the side of her head. “Gelpha
super-duper hearing, remember? Do you want them to know I’m
here?”

“Thanks for the warning before you whisked
me off to Never-Never Land.”

Releasing the moss, I heaved to my feet and
rubbed my backside. My voice soured with sarcasm. “So you didn’t
know Cicero is also the Burning Man?
Tsk tsk.
You out and
out lied, about everything.”

Her lips twitched. “You have never told a
lie, Miss Banks?”

I’m no angel, I’ve lied. But they were
little lies and hurt no one. I don’t understand how anyone can look
you in the eyes and blatantly lie about something which majorly
impacts your life.

“Not over something this important.” But I
let it go; she wouldn’t debate ethics. I glanced around the glade.
“Where the hell are we?”

“Where they cannot hear us.”

She pursed her lips, watching me
speculatively. “Mommy dearest? I take it Cicero told you.”

Something in the region of my heart lurched.
Although she had lied and connived to get me here, my gut told me
she didn’t lie now. Those few words made Cicero’s disclosure
immutable.

“You appear to be taking it well. Or are
you? You are difficult to read at times, Miss Banks.”

“I’m trying not to think about it.”

She folded her arms, bent her head and
studied her booted foot. “You are what you are.”

“Did you know since the beginning?”

“The day we met? Not immediately. You piqued
my interest, so I watched you and discovered I was not the only
one. I can put two and two together. Finding your connection to
Cicero took a little longer.”

“But you could have told me a long time
back,” I said through my teeth. “You planned this all along. You
know what I am, what Cicero wanted from me, that I’d not go along
with it. It’s why you were in Clarion and agreed to bring me here,
why you took me to Dun Falmor so I’d see what kind of man my uncle
is, what he’s capable of. It’s why you used the bike. You could
have demoned us to Cicero in a flash, but you wanted an excuse to
stop at the village. How long have you waited to bring the Seers
down? You couldn’t do it yourself; who’d believe a Dark Cousin, a
Mother
, rather than their Seer?”

She maneuvered me right from the beginning.
The package with her return address so I knew she was in Clarion,
conveniently at hand to help me. The business card with her phone
number.
Give me a reason, Miss Banks
. . . so I thought I
had to talk her into it. Did the reason I gave surprise her?

“Something had to be done. The Seers
manipulate the Gelpha, pitting House against House. Not only
Cicero, every Seer in this land. But Cicero wanted more, to rule
Bel-Athaer through the High Lord. You were perfect. I knew your
sensibilities would not let you walk away once you knew the
truth.”

“Did Chris know about this? He turned up on
his bike at the right time.” I blinked. “You
knew
he
listened outside your apartment. You went after him. Either you
asked him to come along or he talked you into it.”

“Nobody talks me into anything, Miss
Banks.”

“He whisked the assassins out the hostel
before I could rip off one of those masks and see they looked like
me. You didn’t want me to know before Cicero told me. I had to hear
everything from him so there could be no mistake, no suggestion you
influenced me.”

Another thing Gia’s good at is changing the
subject. “You mean to fight the villagers?”

I shook my head. “Just make them think twice
about coming up here till we can get everyone out, then we’ll zip
off to the High House.”

“Don’t fail me.”

Was that a threat? “Or what?”

She got in my face and said softly, “Or I
will be very disappointed.”

And I was back, head spinning, trying to
keep my balance so I didn’t fall and bruise my already tender
posterior.

I walked back to the cave, pondering what I
meant to do when we got to the High House.

Gryphon was watching for me. I flashed him a
smile.

Royal and Chris came from the cave
supporting another, blanket-wrapped demon. Sadly, not wanting to
spare the time to find their clothes - if Uncle had not destroyed
them - they had also helped themselves to Cicero’s. Royal is
broader than the Seer, so the white muslin shirt and sleek navy
pants fit
very
snugly. Chris could be a buccaneer in a white
silk shirt open to his navel, sleeves billowing at his wrists,
shiny brown leather pants tucked into black, thigh-high leather
boots.

The other demon wrestled free and rushed
straight at me. I tensed, but relaxed when I recognized him. The
next second, he threw himself on me. The short, slender demon
draped over me, arms around my neck. He loosed a sob into my ear
and shuddered.

I had forgotten Lawrence asked me - ordered
me - to find Gorge. I patted his back, spat out a strand of long,
bright golden hair. “Calm down, Gorge. You’re safe now.”

“Pull yourself together, old fellow,” Chris
said.

Gorge shuddered again. “Awful. It was just
awful, Tiff. I didn’t think I would get out alive.”

“I suppose Cicero kidnapped you because
you’re close to Lawrence.” I eased Gorge’s arms from my neck. He
was an acquaintance, not a bosom buddy. I don’t know why he hung
all over me as if hugging a life preserver. “He thought you have
too much influence.”

Gorge rolled his eyes as he tugged the
blanket back around his shoulders. “As if. His little lordliness
goes his own way and nothing I say makes a difference.” He suddenly
dropped his blanket to knuckle my shirt. “Is he all right?”

Gorge resented Lawrence ordering him to
Bel-Athaer, but he loved the boy, as Lawrence loved him.

“He’s fine, Gorge.” I opened his fists and
pushed him away. Gorge, like Royal and Chris before they
commandeered Cicero’s clothes, wore next to nothing. I tried not to
focus on Gorge’s package. “Pick your blanket up. With your thin
skin, you’ll get cold.”

Heat beat at me and I wished the breeze would
return. I felt heavy all over.

Bound hand and foot, gagged and wrapped in
his bed sheet, Cicero lay behind us. Royal had bandaged his foot
and knee so he would not drip blood.

I felt a tiny pang. If only he was the uncle
I wanted him to be.

Cicero’s black-clad warriors watched us from
the valley bowl. Other villagers lingered near their homes. If they
weren’t certain something bad happened to their Seer before, they
were now, with Gelpha lined up outside the cavern, looking down on
them.

Royal spread his arms.

I grinned at Chris. “Sorry, old chap. Maybe
next time.”

Royal’s arms closed on me.

“Yes, another time, Sweetness,” Chris said
as Royal demoned me away.

Did I imagine the bitter sting of regret in
his voice?

CHAPTER TWENTY

“The Seer does not
zoom
in,” Royal
said.