Keeley Thomson (Book 4): Demon Trap (3 page)

Especially Zack.

Chapter two

It wasn't a small thing either. He looked
good
, like a GQ model that was just getting ready for a photo-shoot. The clothing was fantastic, since Bente had made it herself. It fit perfectly, and almost totally hid the splint on his left arm. The gold and brown of the jacket, which was short, hugging his lean waist, was patterned to hide most of the minor flaws of his body perfectly. As for the rest of him, it was clear that someone had spent a lot of time on the project. His hair was neatly trimmed and artfully styled to make him seem both casual and ready for a party at the same time. He was even wearing make-up, to smooth the wrinkles around his own eyes and mouth.

Over all, the look worked for him pretty well. Since he didn't think of himself as more than a six on a good day, this had to be an ego boost for him.

She waited to mention that though, since it was rude to leave people standing on the front stoop.

"Please, everyone, come in!" She let them get inside, Bey acting as if he suspected a trap or ambush and moved around the little man slowly, in order to shut the door. For a Vampire he smelled nice. Slightly of cinnamon and clove. It was almost enough to make her hungry.

Casually her hand brushed the back of his, stealing a copy of his mind in the process. Keeley already had one, a thing so old and vast that it wasn't totally comprehensible yet, but the new data she got was interesting. Lazar the Vampire, the one that had broken Zack's arm, had gotten himself killed. By her new little line walking friend, which was fascinating to learn. He'd used a node to tear the vamp in half. It was both clever and clearly not something that a human should be able to do at all. Her move wasn't lost on the ancient being, but he suffered it nobly, not even scowling at her.

The Bey, a word which meant
lord
in a language that was now mostly dead, truly didn't want to cause a fight. Especially with Mr. Hartley right there. There was too great a chance that the boy would die if that happened.

It was true enough, but Keeley wasn't planning on a fight at all that night. Ready for one, but that was just prudent given the way things had been going in the last months.

Zack looked at her closely, but wasn't staring at her chest too much or anything. No, he was looking at her eyes, as if searching for meaning, or trying to see what was different about her. After a few seconds he nodded, not bothering to smile at all.

"You've made yourself look older. To match me? It's a lot easier to handle than you looking like a sixteen year old. That almost made me feel guilty for wanting to have sex with you. This is much better." Then he paused and gave a very cute shrug that took about fifteen years off of his twenty-two for a few moments. "I probably shouldn't anyway. I'm dating Lenore now and that's kind of complicated. Vampire rules. I'm not certain I understand them all yet."

The words were blunt sounding, but not mean. Not even overly coarse, for all that he'd just admitted, very honestly, that he wanted to have sex with her. It was a part of his broken mind. For some reason he couldn't lie at all. It was a handicap, if he turned out to be a Greater Demon after all. Touching his hand openly, without bothering to hide what she was doing, Keeley picked up a bit more from him as well. The thing with Lazar, which was a much greater feat than even Bey knew, and the fact that Finias had regularly been coming to look in on him. Openly, at least the last time it happened.

The information was dense on the topic, but there were enough holes in the story that she didn't think it could be true. Even a human mage child couldn't exist on the inroads for months like that. The memories said it was true, the ones from the young man in front of her. The thought was a very strange one really, since she knew for a fact that he was older than she was by at least six years. Seven nearly.

In return he took her hand and held it for a moment. He was her date after all, so that was kind of to be expected. There was no passing of information the other way though. Most Greater Demons could do that, but Zack was so broken it might not be real for him yet. It would eventually present, she thought. If she was right about what, and who, he really was.

Darla smirked and held her own hand out to shake, like an actual person or something. The moment she made contact she went still, which the Vampire's both noticed. Lenore even got ready to fight, until The Bey touched her arm.

"No, dear. I don't think The Technician means harm or insult." The words were soft, but they all heard them, being way too close to one another for a mixed group like this. Keeley decided to assume that meant, afraid of her or not, that they could all be friends, eventually. It was probably wrong, but Lenore wasn't a bad sort, past her strong and deep seated desire to rip people's throats out on occasion. Bey was actually nicer than that by a good bit even, and Zack was a sweetie.

Darla pulled back and nodded, holding her hand out to the rather frightened Lenore, gently.

"True. He just shocked me a bit. Call me Darla. As your friend mentioned, I'm known as The Technician by some." They clasped hands easily enough and then the move got turned on Bey. The old and somewhat goofy looking thin little man bowed over the hand, just as he would over a regular woman's. It was darling. They'd have to have him around more often, if possible.

Keeley clasped her hands in front of her, a move that made it seem like she was from a long ago era. Zack didn't seem to get that at all, but the others all did. She was old, and had strange mannerisms, just like they did. It practically screamed that she belonged in a group with them, but she tried to hide it after a moment, making it seem like a slip. Very subtly though, so no one would jump to the conclusion that it wasn't.

"We should go soon. I have some people attending with us. They'll be brought in by my Lesser Demon, Balthias. I don't want anyone to be frightened. They're all terribly polite and well behaved. Now at least." Smiling in a friendly fashion, she opened a node for Zack to walk through, holding it with a good bit of focus. It took a moment to trace all the possible side routes and close them, so that it would only end at Finias's winter home, in the mountains. It wasn't a problem for them to get there, given everything, but some of the people invited would have been fighting through six feet of snow for days to make it on time. That was no doubt another way to subtly show off how powerful her kind was.

On the good side it would make Zack look good too.

"Shall we?" She waited for the others to go first, holding the rent in space open with her will and magic. It occurred to her to use a bit of the energy that she'd absorbed earlier for that. It seemed to help some. After the first group went, the Vampires giving a well timed little hop into the air so Zack could pull them along more easily, Darla tilted her head.

"We need to talk about your friend. I can't
swear
he's one of us, but if I had to guess, I'd say we're going to the event with Xenses's child." She tried to slip into the inroads then, but Keeley cleared her throat first.

"Didn't you tell me that Xenses had never had a child? While you couldn't lie?" It was kind of a big thing, because that might mean she was lying right then, given that fact.

The pretty blonde, that looked about eighteen at the moment, seemed slightly annoyed by the questioning.

"
And
? I have new information, so the truth changes. The things done to him... They're very close to some of the things that Xenses used to do to me. That isn't proof of anything, but there are some signs. His energy pattern is being forced into a human flow for instance, not going still and drawn ever inward like ours does. It's a good trick, actually. We should both learn it. The flow
wants
to be like ours though. Not that strongly, but that could mean a thousand things. We need to grab Finias and grill him on the topic. Right now though we should go, or they'll feel abandoned with a bunch of strangers." Then she finished the move and opened her own door onto the inroads. It was a sign of power to do that after all. That and age.

Keeley moved in behind the others, who'd waited for them to show up before ringing the doorbell. It was a horribly normal thing, a simple chime that played in the background to let the people inside know they were there. The whole thing was decorated with bows of pine and holly, along with red silk ribbon and bits of mistletoe. It was festive enough, if a little plain for something Finias put together.

The man on the door
wasn't
one at all, being very short, but perfect looking anyway. Elth, she thought. She'd have to remember not to thank him. They found that offensive, and while she'd survive it, it was considered generally rude to cause problems at a get together. As the host it would be up to Finias to settle anything like that too, which would probably not go well for her if it happened. She wasn't really up to fighting a being as old as he was, even if he did seem happy and a bit careless most of the time. For one of
them
at least. He seemed human most of the time really, which was a cultivated trick, no doubt.

The tiny man, who wore all black, except his perfectly white gloves, bowed and gestured for them to come out of the cold.

"Welcome all. This is the party of Finias, please come in and seek refreshment." It was clearly the line he was supposed to speak and when it was done the man simply stood there, not even acting like he had a thought or care in the world.

Which he didn't. He was a slave, she realized, tracing the thin line from him to Finias, who was talking to a group of people across the richly appointed room she could see into on the left. It was all done in red and wood. A bright thing meant to agitate the Vampires, no doubt. There were, she realized, a few minor touches of green as well, but again, they were subdued compared to the Halloween fete he'd thrown. After they moved in, before everyone could see who was there, Keeley mentally contacted Balthias. Then, after he was alerted and started to get everyone else around, she smiled and gestured slightly.

"Balthias, please attend us." It sounded regal and phony enough that a few people seemed amused, until the giant red brown form came to them, a hand on the shoulder of two Manthori Vampires, their white skin and red eyes giving them away instantly, a Hsreth standing behind each of them, also touching the giant beast man's arms. The four of them each holding a gift for the party. The Hsreth had large baskets of food and the Vampires held coolers packed with ice, which had almost fresh blood in it. Human, but gotten from a blood bank, just for the occasion.

That was a real trick though, since Keeley had gotten a part time job in the local plasma center to make it all happen. It was surprisingly easy to get the blood, writing it off as waste, taking just a little from each person donating, before it was separated. The hard part had been finding an anti-coagulant that had no particular flavor to the Vampires. The normal kind had a bitter and unpleasant taste to it, so Vampires didn't care for it in the main. Otherwise most would never bother hunting humans at all. No more than people bothered going after cows for dinner, when the store was so handy.

There was a table on the right side of the space with bits of food and drink, so she sent her people to handle that for them. They weren't there to have fun really. Well, Rebekah was, but she wasn't a slave. No, she was an employee, with full benefits. Including time off when she wanted it. To that end, when the cooler was settled, she walked back to them, looking nervous and out of place. The others just worked. They were props after all, and knew their jobs for the evening.

Reminding everyone that she took slaves that no one else could manage. As Darla had pointed out, most, knowing her reputation, wouldn't have bothered trying to challenge her at all. Not alone. Unless they were morons at least. She hoped that wouldn't happen though, since she didn't need more slaves at the moment. It was that or kick their butts the old fashioned way, and really, she was just passable in a fight. Darla had pointed that out by beating her regularly over the last few months, by way of teaching her.

This was a much smaller party than the one Finias gave for Halloween, with only about fifty beings in the room. It kind of explained why Darla had gotten her to wear matching tramp gear instead of the very fine gown that Bente had sent for the thing. That and the fact that people might think she was under the fashion Demon's control or influence if she did. It was a bit of a shame, since the thing was
incredible
. Keeley had never been all that in to dressing up, but it was so nice she was kind of searching for someplace to wear it, to tell the truth. It would probably end up being a school dance, but that was nearly a crime, since only two or three people would understand what they were even looking at.

It was a Vampire that came up to them first, a decently tall and thin Manthori, who seemed remarkably friendly for one of his kind. He strained to smile with his mouth closed and approached them, his hand reaching out to shake politely. With Zack.

"Mr. Hartley! So wonderful to see you. I was unaware that you were friends with The Mind Drinker." There was a sidelong turn toward a thirty odd year old man across the room, who had on a stylish black suit that wasn't a tuxedo at all. It was interesting, but not that impressive really.

Keeley smiled and explained, since the memory Zack had of the man was him as an older gentleman.

"Finias. He reads minds, hence the name." It was a bit of shorthand, but no one disagreed with her over it. The Greater Demon was known to be one of the strongest telepaths in the world. If you had a secret, you had to lock it up pretty tight if you didn't want him to find out about it. Keeley could do it, at least if he wasn't prying too hard. She didn't know if that would work if he were actually
trying
, of course. Probably not, if she were going to be realistic about it. Her implanted memories told her that he could be pretty impressive that way, when he wanted to be.