Demon Girl (12 page)

“You know each other,” I said, the challenge
for denial clear in my voice.

“Yes,” the boys replied.

I blew out a breath. “May I ask how?”

“Ye–”

“Not yet,” Breandan said.

They were both on edge again. I had a feeling
this was only remaining peaceful for my benefit.

“I don’t like not knowing what you’re
dragging me into. I don’t think I’m so curious anymore.”

“I told you, you are safe.” Breandan seemed
annoyed I had not trusted his word. “There are other things you
need to know and see,” he explained, “Before I can tell and show
you everything.”

“And right now you don’t want me to see how
you got in here,” I guessed. After a few moments of stubborn
silence, I shrugged and did as Breandan asked. “I don’t see how
this is going to–”

My eyes flew open and I gasped. Breandan’s
lips were pressed against mine. His eyes were open, watching me. He
leaned away a little and made a low humming noise.

“This would be easier if you trusted me,” he
murmured. “I’ll come back soon. Behave until then.” He leaned back
in, but paused. “And Rae, do not agree or give anything you don’t
want to.” His eyes flicked to Devlin and his eyes narrowed into
slits. His gaze darted back to mine. “Alright?”

Confused, I nodded and closed my eyes as his
lips met mine again. When I opened them again he was gone. My first
kiss, and it had made my toes curl in my boots and my heart swell.
I swallowed thickly and looked to the west. The sun had nearly set.
My vampire-boy would rise soon.

Devlin stared at me, considering. “I can
almost see the questions tumbling around that head of yours.”

“I’ll even tell you a few. At best guess
you’re some kind of demon pet,” I said and paused deliberately. “A
human spy feeding the fairies information, I mean.” I didn’t give
him a chance to answer. I started to walk away but then I spun
around. “You haven’t told anyone about the person you saw me with
this morning have you?” He said nothing for a long while and I
looked up in alarm. At the steady, appraising look he was giving me
I felt a tide of stupid rising inside me, and I stared to babble,
“You’re not double crossing demons are you? By working for the Sect
and pretending to be the demons inner eyes and ears, because that
would be really dumb.”

“As dumb as stashing a vampire in a
wardrobe?”

I swear my face must have turned the colour
of snow again. Devlin rocked on his heels, sucked his bottom lip
into his mouth and chewed it thoughtfully. I caught the smile he
tried to hide.

“No,” he said finally. “I haven’t told
anyone. And you’ve got me all wrong.” His eyes became wicked keen,
fixed on my face. “You should stay away from him. He could be
dangerous.”

“The vampire or the fairy?” I asked before
slapping myself on the forehead.

He laughed. It was a delicate, carefree
sound. “Both.”

My fingers curled into claws, and I squeezed
them so tight my nails split skin, gouging out a chunk of my palm.
My blood trickled down my wrist before my whole hand burned and the
skin repaired itself, spreading over the cut. Healed, I froze and
slowly raised my gaze. Devlin didn’t look shocked or scared. Simply
amused. He quirked an eyebrow and motioned with a sweep of his hand
‘lead the way’, it said.

I stared at him, waiting. He stared at me,
waiting.

He broke first and did a good imitation of a
long-suffering huff. I could see he was having a good time at my
expense.

“Am I to keep what just happened a secret
too?”

“What just happened?” I said evenly.

I felt crazy confused. It was like there was
this big, obvious thing dangling in front of my face that I was too
silly to see.

He stepped forward, and the stare he gave was
so intense a tickle at the back of my brain made me shudder. His
encroachment on my personal space was uncomfortable.

“I don’t like people so close,” I told him
and stepped away.

Boldly, he stepped forward again and reached
for my hand. “Come with me,” he said softly and as an afterthought
half a beat later added, “Please?”

A warning from my intuition fired in my head,
and I yanked my hand away before he clasped it. “I have to get
back.”

I looked over toward Bayou, conscious a demon
was waiting for me, but couldn’t help but stay still, and keep
trying to find that elusive obvious thing. There was something
about Devlin I was missing. I just knew it. Usually, if I didn’t
want to talk to someone I could ignore or drown them out, but when
Devlin asked me a question I felt I had to answer. When he spoke it
was like I had to listen.

“Breandan warned me away from you,” I said
quietly. I backed up, wanting much, much more distance between us
and watched his face for signs of falsehood. “If you were a fairy
informant, why would he do that? Wouldn’t he trust you?”

“I told you had me wrong, you came to that
conclusion by yourself. Regardless, trust is a complicated
thing.”

“He trusted you enough to leave me here, but
not enough to warn me about you.”

I struggled to understand where my thoughts
were headed. It felt like I was trying to lead myself somewhere,
but failing to use the clues I already knew to finish the riddle.
Come on brain, do your job and work.

“Of course he would. The idea of competition
for your affection will frighten him now. He’s terrified you may
choose to go another way. The right way.” He gave me a quick fire
grin, happy and out of place. Now I thought about it, everything
about him was out of place.

Tired of standing so still, and tense, I
shifted and I stumbled over my own foot. I scowled at them before
remembering I had more pressing issues than my own clumsiness. My
eyes darted to the dorm and back to Devlin’s face. His white-blonde
hair did that weird shimmering thing and his eyes sparkled, even in
the dark.

It clicked.

“No, no, no, you too,” I said, surprised and
pointed at him. “You’re a demon too.”

He said nothing and that was more than answer
enough for me. I reverted back to my original plan. I turned and
ran.

“I didn’t want to have to do this,” he
called.

The next moment he was in front of me,
sighing. I stopped before I slammed into him, my arms flapping
either side of me. My knees knocked together and I squeaked in
alarm.

Oh gods. How could I have
not
seen
this coming?

He moved, body blurring to close the distance
between us. Crying out, I brought my hand up to ward off an attack,
but he halted, and pushed against my palm until all between our
bodies touching was my hand. The steady thump of his heart pounded
against me and the sweet scent of his body made me dizzy. Then I
felt something cool and hard pressed against my chest. There was a
subtle vibration, a prickle of energy rolling outwards. A tingle
ran down my body and I wiggled. Looking down, I couldn’t see
anything, our bodies were pressed too tightly together, but I was
sure his pendant was pressed against mine through the layers of our
clothes.

“Don’t worry, you’re safe,” he said and
cupped my cheek. The touch was not romantic, but somehow
authoritative and belittling. “You’re coming home with me. Okay?
Your real home.”

“No,” I said so quietly it was more a squeak.
I raised my voice and it was strong this time, “No.”

The world spun and disappeared inch by inch
the longer he was close, swallowed by the dark. He was shorter than
Breandan, and I stared into his eyes without craning my neck. Fixed
in place by the presence of him, the ability to move left me though
the urge remained. I tried to focus on anything apart from how
close he was.

“Please,” I said. “Please move back. I
can’t…I can’t think straight.”

Devlin’s hand trailed across my face and
caused a squirm. “I can see you’re confused, frightened. I can make
it all go away.” His hand moved down my neck and across my
collarbone. His finger hooked around the leather tie that held my
pendant, and pulled it up so it slipped out from under the neck of
my tee, and swung between our faces. There was a wicked gleam in
his eye. “All you have to do, to make it all go away is come with
me. Or, give me your necklace.”

“I’ve had it my whole life,” I said and
catching his hand I yanked the tie away from him. I sucked in a
shaky breath. “I told you what it means to me. You can’t have
it.”

“Don’t you want everything to go back to
normal?” His smile made the world dim and him bright.

I ran my eyes over him again, because he was
too bright. There was something glowing and pulsing around him. I
tried to move away and as I did he took hold of my head in both of
his hands. They were overly warm and almost feminine, delicate. His
eyes locked mine down and I stilled. Something pressed on my mind,
tethered inside me.

Clasping a hand round my neck he tugged.
“Give it to me,” he commanded.

I was sweating. Was I being foolish? If I
gave him my necklace he said everything would go back to normal. I
whimpered. I didn’t
want
to give it to him. It was the most
important thing I owned. The only thing I had that was of any
value, it was important to me. The necklace was my only connection
I had to a family that had given me up at birth, and was my
reminder to be strong and independent. A wrinkle of cold rolled
over my skin and I shifted back, brought to by this out of place
feeling. I hesitated and leaned back further, a question in my
eyes. He had been doing something to me, making me forget
myself.

Pushing him away, I shook with fear and
anger. “What did you do to me?”

“Calm down, Rae.” He was distracted, looking
around him cautiously. Then he spun and cursed, peering at nothing.
He seemed to see something I could not, for a wicked smile
stretched his lips. “Fool,” he sneered. “Come. Let me mark your
face again.”

A streak of silver light flashed past and
knocked me off balance. I stumbled, blinked, and Devlin was gone.
Standing alone in on the grass where he was I clucked around.
Looking up, down, left and right before understanding he was gone.
I was seriously considering getting my eyes checked. I freaked out
in a big way; I had no doubt in my mind that Devlin was not who he
said he was, And that he was up to something, a ‘no good’
something. I didn’t know what to do. Oh gods, what was I doing? I
needed a sign I was going to be okay, and that I was making the
right choices. Tomas would have risen by now and would be waiting
for me. And here I was looking for a Disciple, who was not really a
Disciple, who knew about said vampire in wardrobe, and knew I knew
a fairy.

“There you are, Rae.”

“Gah!”

I jumped and landed at such an odd angle my
right foot jack-knifed out painfully, and I fell. How many times
was I going to land on my ass today? It was a damn good thing I
didn’t bruise easy.

A hand appeared in my line of sight. Unsure
of what to do, I studied it intently before slowly lifting my head
to look at the boy offering it to me.

Long ebony hair pulled into a ponytail, his
ears were pointed at the tips and his gold eyes glowed. I had never
seen anyone other than myself with such light hazel eyes before.
His were striking and almond shaped, like mine. His face was all
hard angles, smooth expanses of skin, and incredibly beautiful.
Chest bare, his lower body was encased in leather plates
intricately engraved with leaves. A sword, the length of my torso
and latched to his back, triggered a shudder.

“You have nothing to fear from me.” The
fairies voice was warm, friendly. “My name is Conall. Breandan sent
me.”

Conall, I remembered the name. Breandan had
said it before, I was sure of it. The fairy didn’t make any other
move and he seemed friendly, so I swallowed the yell I’d had ready.
With my eyes darting from the hand to his face, I clasped it. He
yanked me up with more force than necessary, and stumbling over my
own foot, I crashed into his chest. I flushed as he clamped a hand
around my shoulders, set me away from him, and held on until my
legs steadied.

“You guys think it’s okay to just pop up out
of thin air. It might be normal where you come from, but I’m used
to seeing people coming a good few seconds before they’re there.”
Placing a hand on my hip, I clutched the other over my poor, poor
heart that may give out any day. “You scared me, do you understand?
I don’t like it.”

He bowed, arm coming across his torso to rest
upon his chest. He moved with effortless grace and predatory
bearing. A demon. He smiled at me. “It won’t happen again. Do not
be alarmed, but I sense something, odd.” His hands seemed to feel
something out in the air in front of me, pushing at it
thoughtfully. A crease appeared above his brows in the middle of
his forehead. “Its power pulls at my nature then resists
contact.”

It seemed wise to keep quiet. Maybe I also
should have told him I didn’t like ambiguous statements.

I filed the phrase away for later and instead
took my cue from Conall. His face became grave, so my face became
grave. The fairies jumped from one emotion to the other so swiftly
it was hard to keep up naturally. I had decided to play monkey see,
monkey do. He gazed at me silently for so long, I became
uncomfortable. I don’t think I would ever master the blink-less
stare these demons seemed to be so good at.

“You seem stressed,” he said.

“Conall, I’ve had a hell of a day and you
seem to be gearing up to let me in on big demon secrets, but I’ve
got to be honest with you, now is
not
a good time.”

I backed away. I was halfway back to Bayou
and it was full dark. I didn’t feel any danger from Conall, but I
was worried about what Tomas would do if he remained in my room
much longer. What if he got hungry? I had to get him out of the
Temple as soon as I could. I didn’t know what the hell had happened
to Devlin, but I was guessing the silver streak was Breandan. If
Devlin got away from him he might tell the Clerics I had a vampire
in my wardrobe. I had stuff to do, and surely whatever this fairy
had to tell could wait a few hours.