Demons End (Tremble Island) (3 page)

Flitch watched his liege enter the dungeon. Borland looked like he might have fallen from the heavens. His hair was golden and the brilliant blue eyes were framed by alabaster skin. Borland’s lips pursed in a bow shape that Flitch knew so well, was stretched into a smile of evil glee as he surveyed the prisoners. Flitch could accurately guess which of the people in the line would meet death’s door this day. His master was generous in allowing his men to participate in questioning each prisoner, and he could barely contain his exuberance at the prospect.

He chose a shifter with the nature of a cat. The cat was orange and black stripes if he remembered, and he wondered how Flitch had gotten the man to come with him, without changing into the cat and running off or fighting till his death. “You will do nicely, I want to know what happened to the Chosen One for this year’s celebration. If you tell me truthfully where the siren is, I will grant you a swift death, and allow that death to be dignified.” He ran one of his soft pudgy hands over the chained man’s belly, before using the other hand to slap the prisoner’s face. “I will get the answers I seek, and you will tell me every secret I ask you to tell before we are finished.”

The shifter’s hatred was easily recognized. And again, he wondered how his dear right hand had obtained him. “Flitch? How did this male become so docile? Did he come willingly, to be sacrificed to the Demon Prince? Is his existence so miserable that he has a wish for death?” He waved his hand toward the two large beams standing straight up from the ground, and four soldiers pulled the man to them, fastened his wrists and ankles to the pillars spread eagling him, binding him with long thin leather strands.

“My Lord, I merely took an interest in questioning his pregnant mate, and he offered to come with us to assist you in your endeavors. He has been cooperative the entire time. I believe he thought to protect the female from the journey to the Hall as she was very heavy with child. He claims to know nothing of the siren child.” He stepped close to where the man was tied and pulled the ragged shirt from his shoulders, revealing the raw ugly welts that Flitch’s whip had already made in preparation for this moment. “I questioned him on the way here, and he still remains witless.”

Knowing Flitch as he did, he would bet the back of this prisoner was not the only place injuries had been inflicted, but he let that go once he saw the face of another prisoner in the line. His body stilled, and his breath caught in his throat.

Staring at him with hatred and loathing, was his first mate, Velia. The very woman who had cursed him and died by his own hands. This must be a relative or some such. He had felt the air leave her body. Seen the way blood had seeped into the sockets of her eyes before he had loosened his fingers from her throat. Her beckoning fingers crooked toward him, luring him to her. His feet ate the short distance to stand in front of the beautiful woman. Her hand lifted to his head and she pulled him down to share a kiss, the sweetest kiss he had enjoyed since that fateful night he had lost his temper and killed her in a fit of rage. He groaned from the feel and taste of her.

Flitch was laughing quietly, and he heard someone laughing outright, but refused to look away from the beauty holding his attention. “How is it possible that you are more beautiful than I remember? How can you be alive and whole instead of cold in your grave?” Her skin glowed and her arms encircled his shoulders, before she again set her lips to his. The sudden pain of sharp daggers breaking the skin covering his neck and back brought him from the sensual haze he had felt. His eyes opened and the screams coming from his mouth increased in volume in the room as he saw the skeletal face and grinning mouth wide open, snapping open and shut coming toward his face. He scrambled backwards, continuing to scream as he felt the dagger-like fingers slice through the material and skin they were grasping. He continued to walk backwards out into the open air, making earsplitting noises.

Standing in the place of the creature of moments before was the crone that everyone but Lord Borland had seen being embraced and tenderly kissed by him. The lord had obviously had a hallucination. No man alive would willingly embrace the earthy smelling, gap-toothed elderly female, certainly not the fussy Lord of Morlien Hall. The sight of the evil-minded man screaming and fleeing backwards made a few of the soldiers and their captives snicker and laugh. The silence was quickly restored when Flitch turned hard eyes on the group. “Take the prisoners to cells and secure them until I tell you differently.”

He followed his lord into the Hall, not knowing the crone had again changed forms to become Leroi, the Demon Prince. He had the soldiers subdued within mere seconds. “I see you are gearing up for yet another round of torturous fun with the villagers. One of you will now tell me what the questions are this time. What is Borland seeking that cannot be found at his fingertips?” He pulled the nearest soldier to him and was filled with laughter as he saw the wet stain rapidly spreading down the leg of the man’s pants. “You are a worthless one, I have not issued a threat or challenge, yet your cowardly actions make you unworthy of my sight.” He tossed the lout, ignoring the cracking sound of a skull crashing into the rock walls of the dungeon. His eyes began to gauge which soldier would give him at least an iota of a fight. Only one seemed to hold himself with any dignity, and that was belied by the fine tremble in the hand reaching for the sword at his side. “Boy, drop that hand or lose the life that you so cherish, I am not here for your souls, I am here to find out who Lord Pudding Bottom is searching for, and one of you will tell me. From the cowardly thoughts you are all shoving at me, I know it is a female, so save me the trouble and yourselves the fright by telling me what I wish to know.”

The one soldier that he had picked out stepped forward, the tremble in his limbs remained, but it seemed the boy had found his voice after all. “Prince of Demons, we have no wish to offend you, but the knowledge you seek is not ours to know. If we tell you anything—our lives are forfeit, if we tell you nothing—our souls become yours. We are left with a no option choice. Truthfully, we know very little about the child.”

Leroi watched the rest of the assemblage, a very young boy was fiddling with his fingers, twisting them around, and making faces. He pulled the child forward, and the male-child froze. The demon grinned, and placed his hand upon the boy’s head. He hissed a stream of smoke as he read the thoughts from the adolescent brain. He let his victim go, and stepped back. His eyes were narrowed when he grabbed the soldier nearest him, and held his head between both hands. His eyes began to glow red, and his skin darkened, before shaking his head and losing the man. “You will pass from this earth very soon, your soul is already mine, and I will remember you.

“The one thing I want all of you to understand is this, I take souls that have become blackened by the deeds of their owners. I have no interest in petty sins, or kind lies. I will remember each of you, and know that I myself warned you before your actions condemn you to Demons Den.” He went to the cat shifter and shook his head. His fingernail extended to a razor sharp claw and he cut the man’s bindings. “You people leave and go to your homes. When Pudding Bottom’s minions come searching for victims, tell them I have ordered you to stay in your homes. Anyone that disregards my order will become mine. Any soldier ignoring my edict will be mine.” The boldest soldier was given the message to give to his superiors. “You are to tell Flitch and his master that I am waiting for them, they will not be allowed to hide behind a child, no matter the child’s lineage. I will no longer accept a sacrifice to purchase their souls for another year. I do not deal in the souls of children. I did not tell him I wished for a child, the ignorant fool must not have listened carefully when I told him of that which I seek. I have changed my mind now.” He clapped his hands and disappeared in a whirling cloud of choking yellow dust.

No one wasted time waiting for further happenings to frighten them. The villagers’ fears made them stumble over one another to leave the dungeon, and the soldiers stood alone, wondering what to do now. No one wanted to be the bearer of the Demon Prince’s message to their overlord, or his right hand, Flitch. They were uncertain of their temperament at the best of times, who knew what they might do to the man that allowed the Demon to let the prisoners leave so easily. They were soldiers that followed orders, any orders given to them by their liege. Two of the four had been in the service of Lord Borland for more than a year. Those two men now knew for certain they were condemned for following the orders that they reluctantly carried out in the name of Morlien Hall.

*****

Flitch followed his lord to his rooms. There was no doubt the man was rattled and he wondered what exactly he had seen. In the years he had been in service to Borland, he had never seen him offer a tender embrace to any person or creature for that matter. The sight of the picky man embracing the hag was unsettling to say the least. The passionate kiss shocked him. Now the sight of the most feared man in the realm cowering in the darkest corner of his own room, sent a shiver of fear through him.

Chapter Three

Wensel knew she was being watched. She had kept the disguise of being a male to lull her hosts into believing that she was only a caretaker of her niece. The child’s father had been Wensel’s brother, Dre, and his mate, Lolly’s child. Since Both of Aria’s parents perished in a fire, Wensel was the only being standing between the child and Lord Borland. Lolly had been a siren shifter, and she had been on Echo long enough to teach her baby to swim, that was the best thing she could have accomplished, because Wensel would have drowned if the tutoring had been left up to her.

Aria was busily playing on the water’s edge, while Wensel kept her hands busy braiding lengths of leather into a long rope. She was making a long whip for each Tremble Lord, and while she would rather be at home snuggled inside the cave by the lagoon, instead of here, she felt content. Unfortunately their small haven had been discovered by the overlord and his soldiers. She’d barely escaped with the child by grabbing her hand and the two of them jumped into the deep waters of the lagoon before the soldiers knew they had escaped. Borland had come for Lolly in the first place, and when he discovered she was dead, he changed his focus onto the tiny girl.

A boy only a head taller than Aria came to play in the water’s edge. The two children began using their hands and arm gestures to communicate. It was like nothing Wensel had seen before. The one small problem she had found when dealing with the little girl was a way to do what this boy was doing. Aria obviously understood every flash of his fingers and wave of his hands. She had been caring for the little one for the past two years, so either her mother had found the time to teach the small one this form of fingertalking, or the ability was innate. Whichever the case may be, Wensel needed to find the boy’s parents and ask to be taught the language.

She began to rise when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning slowly, she met the gaze of the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. When she spoke, Wensel could remember the cadence of her sister-in-law’s words in the woman’s voice. She had to be a siren, there was little doubt in her mind. The woman’s unrivaled glowing beauty and singsong tone of voice clenched it.

“Pardon my question, but how did you get this child? She is one of ours, and I would know, for there are very few Sea Singers in this place.” The hand on her shoulder increased in intensity, causing Wensel to lose her glamour. The clench of her fingers became painful, so much so that it began to lure the dual side of her nature. She had to take deep breaths to calm the need to change into one of the deadly creatures that she fought so hard to contain. Her cat would rip the neck of the beauteous creature wide open and enjoy the experience. The banshee would suck every drop of life from the siren and not stop looking for more sweet tasting victims until she was sated. Either form was deadly enough to make her afraid of herself and what she might do.

“Let go of my shoulder, I will tell you one time; at the moment I am doing my best to allow you to continue living. Remove the hand or regret it for the few minutes you have left in this world.” Her eyes must have already begun to change enough to scare the female into easing her grip, because she backed away from Wensel until her feet touched the water of the lakeshore. “I have my niece because her parents were killed in a fire. I defend her from those who may do the child harm. That includes someone with her special talents. Her mother was named Lolly, but where she came from I have no idea. Make no mistake, I will destroy anyone seeking to hurt Aria.” She called the child to her, watching as Aria reluctantly left her new playmate and came to her side.

She took the little girl’s hand and walked away from the lake. Now that she had allowed her glamour to drop, too many people had seen her true form. She needed to see Lord Tremble and confess her deception. There might be repercussions, but she had to deal with them as soon as possible. She could not allow the lord to send them back to Morlien Hall and Lord Borland. Should the worst happen, she would have to hide Aria, and find a way to get close enough to the pasty-faced lord to unleash the banshee. It was the only way to keep the child safe from the overlord and his minions. There was no way Wensel would allow him to visit his cruelties upon the child of her heart.

She found Lord Nord stepping out of the meeting room, his hair and clothing looked as if he had just awakened from a late morning nap. When she stood in front of him, he stopped and stared at her, taking in the child clinging to her hand.

“I assume you wish to explain this change in your visage?” At her nod, he sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. “We suspected there was more to your tale than what you have shared to date. Come back tonight after the evening meal. We will gather and discuss your situation.”

She was dismissed, so she and Aria went to the small room off the main dining room that had been assigned to the two of them. She sat on the wide pallet with the sweet scented child held securely in her arms.