Keeley Thomson (Book 4): Demon Trap (25 page)

A large female that shook her hand very carefully. She was very hairy and stood nearly seven feet tall. Her name was given as Hilda, though that wasn't her given name. All her thoughts were different, since she clearly wasn't human at all either. She had a pleasantly musky scent though.

Finias and Darla moved across the room to talk to Zack's grandparents, because
that
wouldn't look funny at all, if anyone was paying attention. Lenore moved in next to them, her body language both frightened and protective. It was all the Greater Demons causing her to worry, of course. After a few minutes Troy came back and put his arm around her in a way that had to look like he was trying to pick her up. It would have felt like it too, except that he was actually trying to make a Vampire girl across the room jealous. Unfortunately that wasn't happening, because the other girl and Keeley had met before. She just looked really upset, instead.

Cutely so though.

"So, Keeley, do you go to school near here?" He was good at small talk so she let herself answer honestly. About a third of the people in the room knew who, and what, she was after all. There was some instrumental music in the background and people stood and mingled or sat and chatted with only a little bit of discomfort. There was even a table with snacks on it, she noticed. Nice ones too, probably brought by the Elth and Hsreth.

"No, I live in Arizona. You'll have to move when we get married." She winked at him, and then added more. Lenore was listening after all. "I'm just kidding of course. We can live anywhere you want."

Her tone got him to chuckle a bit, but it was an uneasy sound, since she'd deadpanned the whole thing. Zack moved in alongside of them and started nodding. That didn't last long, since he couldn't lie at all.

"You're too young to marry. You too Keeley. Be careful though, or he won't believe it and you'll end up in bed.
I
haven't even had a chance at you yet, so that would hardly be fair." The words should have made his girlfriend mad, but she was a Vampire, so as long as she'd had him first it really wouldn't bother her overly. Keeley avoided thinking about the fact that he was probably her nephew. She couldn't explain it after all, and sleeping with him
would
be a good enough reason for them to keep being friends.

That was what she was thinking when there was another knock on the door. This time it was firm, almost a pounding sort of thing. For some reason she turned to look as Troy moved in, a smile on his face. He was a naturally friendly person it seemed. Also, he had an arm around her, still trying to make it seem like they were together enough to generate interest from some of the other women. That meant she was walking toward the door as well.

In a way that was a good thing, she realized.

After all, if she hadn't been there to take the blow that came, just managing to get Troy out of the way in time, he would have died. As it was she ended up flying backward, collapsing the drywall next to the kitchen door, some fifteen feet away. It wasn't a pleasant trip, but it had given her time to start healing, even before she hit anything else, and to find the forty-five's handle and start firing, trying not to miss, since she didn't have that many bullets in the weapon.

The really strange thing though was that the person she was shooting at, who was hit over and over again in the chest, even before she could stand up, looked familiar.

"Very good, Keeley." The girl waved her right hand and not only did the bullets pop out of the wounds and hit the floor, but the clothing repaired itself perfectly.

It was a deep brown outfit that looked simple and very plain. It was the kind of tunic and trousers get up that Greater Demons wore when they were going to challenge another of their kind. In this case she had to assume that whoever it was had come for her.

After all, they were wearing her face at the moment.

It pretty much had to mean something.

Putting the gun back into place so she wouldn't lose it, she stood and grabbed her sword by the handle, freeing it as she rushed what seemed to be herself.

As she brought the blade down across the neck of the being in front of her, there was an annoying laugh. It sounded just like she always did.

Chapter thirteen

In Greater Demon society, in some very formal situations, you marked your power and station above others by wearing a darker shade of brown than the person you were facing. It was a way to basically tell them that you were more important, stronger, or more intelligent than they were. Generally you went a tone or two darker than what they were wearing, if you
really
wanted to rub things in. There were hundreds of shades though. The one that the fake version of her had on was so dark it was nearly black.

Apparently that wasn't just bragging either.

The sword slammed against the pale flesh of their neck, and did no damage at all. She didn't stop, but realized it wasn't even distracting whoever this was. On the good side she was nearly certain it wasn't Xenses. After all, if that was the case, she'd be dead already, or at least being raped. This person just stood there, smiling at her.

After a second she just stood back.

"Wow, is my smile that creepy all the time?" Keeley shook her head then. "Well, that didn't work. How about this, you can do anything you like, and be my slave? Just breathe or try to hold your breath to indicate-"

"Agreed.
If
you can win it." The contest of wills didn't last long at all. About five seconds. She used all the energy she had, slamming her stores into it, using everything available in an attempt to overwhelm whoever this new comer was. It just... sort of slipped off. There was no return attempt to take her at least, which was nice, since she would have been a slave then, instead of just falling to her knees in exhaustion.

"No? Too bad, it would be a nice respite from my responsibilities. Do you have anything else to try, or should I just kill you now? Or..." The other version of her looked around, her pretty face turning ugly in its apathy and lack of expression. "I know, a
different
sort of bargain perhaps? I'll tell you what, I'll let you go, unharmed and unmolested, and kill one of these others in your place. Let's see..." The voice didn't get to say a name, since a chair was suddenly hitting them with all the force that Troy could muster.

It didn't do anything, not even break the old metal thing that was being swung like an awkward club. On the third blow the other Keeley took it away, and set it down in a single, very fluid, motion. There wasn't even a click as it touched the carpeted floor.

"Stop that. Not
you
anyway, Troy Lopez. No, I think...
Her
." The slim finger pointed across the room, directly at Lenore.

The Vampire went incredibly still then.

"Yes. That one. Will you trade
her
life for your own? It's a good bargain at the price. She isn't even one of your people. You've barely met as a matter of fact. What do you say, Mistress of Souls? Will you give her over to me?" There was significant eye contact as Keeley got to her feet, still inside the other being's arm's reach. The device she pulled out next had been right there and she nearly got it activated before the other being noticed it happening at all.

It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty smooth.

"I don't trade my friends to monsters." It even sounded good. Strong and powerful, instead of scared beyond all reason. She didn't have time to waste on controlling that part of herself, and just had to act, even if she was pretty certain she was about to die.

Then she pulsed a bit of power into the device in her hand, the Demon Trap. The world folded around them, and after ten seconds they were alone together, hidden in the dark. The device was gone, leaving them locked in place. For a moment at least.

"What do you think this is going to accomplish. I doubt those others will even have time to flee before I'm out."

She shrugged, knowing that the other being wasn't really speaking, but not caring at all. She answered the same way.

"I know that. You know what I
don't
know though?" She worked her hand into place to grab the little crystal bomb that Darla had traded her. "I don't know what this thing will do in a space like this. Do you? Let's see..."

She activated the thing and dropped it, stepping back, flaring power behind her, so that she could, for a while, move into the space she carried with her. Her own little pocket universe. Handy in a time like this.

It didn't do enough to protect her, and the world faded for a bit, her thoughts going fuzzy under the pressure as the tiny space bowed around her, putting more force on her frame than it could easily handle. Then it all went away, for a long while.

When she came to, there were people standing over her. Darla and Finias were there, as was, to her surprise, Zack. Next to him stood...

Her.

"Crap. You didn't die? That's pretty inconsiderate of you." She felt like someone had let elephants tap-dance on her head, and this jerk looked clean and pretty still. The only thing that had changed was that she was wearing a white version of the outfit from earlier. It took a minute for her head to work, as she fought to her feet, but it occurred to her that the challenge was over at least.

She'd lost, naturally, but was still alive. That was something.

It was Finias that spoke first, his voice calm, and palms up, showing they were empty.

"It was a test, Keeley. Nothing more. There is no loss of place or pride here. In fact, you did very well. Don't you think so Tarsus?"

The other her smiled.

"
Much
better than expected. You still lack strength, but your use of what skills you had was adequate. Getting that Demon Trap into working order was a nice touch as well. I barely slapped it together. Your work Technician?" He wasn't really asking, but Darla nodded anyway.

"She traded for it, as an adult."

The other her nodded.

"As expected. Very good. This was the first Crucible. As has been stated, you passed. When you're older you must pass the other two, but this is the first step to adulthood. Proof that you can hold your own against even the strongest of us. You actually had that accomplished when you survived Gregor's little radioactive gift. This was mainly to demonstrate that you have a bit further to go still, so you won't stop working. Congratulations."

She stood up, searching through the information that this being had placed in her head, finding it easily enough, now that she had a name for it. The Crucible. The testing to destruction.

"I
see
." She locked down all of her emotions then and nodded at the far wall. "You should fix that. I appreciate the idea, but this is the household of the human line walker, not mine. Nor was this testing expected. I wouldn't have come here today if I'd known it would end in damage to another's property."

The elder Greater Demon looked around, but didn't throw out an insult about the decor.

"Of course, forgive me, Line Walker. It will be seen to directly, at my expense. Now, I should take my leave, before the Mistress of Souls loses composure and attacks again. You did well girl. Most die during the testing at this point."

He left, using the inroads, as if he was actually afraid that she'd attack again. That wasn't happening. Tarsus had well and truly kicked her butt. Without apparent effort either. It would have been more humbling, but she was pretty certain that the Crucible wasn't normally started until a person was closer to several hundred years old, rather than sixteen.

Darla tackled her as soon as the other Demon left.

"Keeley! You
passed
! This is so incredible. That they even sought to test you this young is amazing. You must have really impressed some people. I can't believe it. I mean I
can
, of course, since it's happened, but this is huge." She stood back then and chuckled. "Also, before you start hitting people, I want to point out that
I
had no way of knowing this. I'll admit that I was starting to wonder a bit, but it was about fifteenth down on the list of things that might be happening. It was far more likely that some old enemy of mine was using you to threaten me, or even Finias." She looked at Zack, but didn't include him really. It was also just possible that someone had been trying to get to him after all, like Xenses. That it hadn't happened yet didn't mean it wouldn't.

Her father seemed pleased. Proud even. It was slightly strange to see.

"I knew of course, but couldn't tell you. It's hard to spring surprise attacks if a person knows that they're coming." He hugged her then too. It lasted longer than it probably should have, considering she'd survived it all. "It was hard, being you father. The others didn't think the first two attacks that I set up were enough to count. Gregor's did though. It was why he'd pretended to be Zack and got backup from Malphius. So that it would present enough of a difficulty level to show as being real. This thing with Tarsus... Honestly, I think he just likes you." There was no sense of irony or sarcasm in the last words at all. Keeley didn't see it, but held her tongue.

Zack didn't.

"This is what he does when he
likes
people? Remind me never to get on his bad side then."

The older Greater Demon nodded seriously.

"Indeed Zachery, or the bad side of any Demon. You might coach your friend, young Troy, to send a gift by way of apology. Tarsus isn't a hothead by any means, but it wouldn't hurt. He's very brave, your friend Troy. You should see to his protection." There was a slight hint of command in the words.

Keeley nodded.

"True enough. What would Tarsus have done if I'd traded Lenore for my life?"

Darla shrugged.

"Killed her, most likely. You still would have passed at that point, since this wasn't about your combat skills, it was about you learning that there were things you still need to learn to face. It was probably what he expected you to do. After all, there was no way for you to win the fight. That you managed as well as you did was kind of impressive. Really, we should probably let everyone get back to the party. Sorry about the mess Zack. If the wall isn't fixed in a few days give me a call, and I'll take care of it. You have the number already?"