Legacy of the Demon (25 page)

“No, there are others,” Giovanni's voice wavered then steadied. “In the west wing. Smaller pieces, yet there should be enough.”

“All right, that works. Even though Giovanni's info is a few centuries old, and stuff might have been moved, Turek will know where things are.” I smacked my forehead. “Holy shit! We'll bring Turek back with us. And Michael, too! They can help me communicate with Szerain.”

“Who in god's name are Turek and Michael?” Pellini growled.

I grinned. “Sorry. Turek is an ancient savik who's essence-bound to Szerain. He'll do whatever is needed to help Szerain. And Michael Moran is the brother of deceased rock singer Lida Moran, and can sometimes ‘see' where the lords are at any given time.”

He straightened. “I remember that case. Your report said Lida coerced Michael into murder, then she killed him but his body was never found. Didn't he have something wrong upstairs?” Pellini tapped the side of his head.

“Michael suffered a head injury when he was twelve,” I said. “His condition made it easy for his piece of shit sister to exploit him. She used his talent for making earth golems to get rid of anyone in her way.”

“Huh. And so you shipped him off to the demon realm.” Pellini stroked his mustache. “But if we already know where Szerain is, why do we need someone who can see him?”

“We know he's in a dimensional pocket that's tied to the outreach center and that he needs help making a move soon after the summoning. Unfortunately, we weren't able to finalize plans, which means I have to improvise a way to communicate. I think that
how
Michael sees the lords can give me an arcane road map.” I pointed at the security monitor. “For example, how do we see the guard at the front gate?”

“Combination of wired and wireless signals.” Pellini frowned at the screen. “I think I understand. When Michael sees Szerain, you'll use arcane tracers to home in on whatever signal he's receiving.”

“Right. Then I'll create a conduit to follow that frequency, giving Turek a pathway to telepathically reach Szerain. That's my theory, anyway.” It was equally possible that Michael wouldn't be able to see Szerain at all in the dimensional pocket, in which case he'd at least get the chance to play with fluffy kittens before he returned to the demon realm.

“There's certainly enough to justify making the trip,” Pellini said. “The gold, the gimkrah, and getting a message to Szerain.”

“I'm going to ignore your weak-ass alliteration attempt, because this trip keeps getting better and better. I can grab Elinor's journal, plus we can finally bring back that poor woman Farouche kidnapped last year and who Rhyzkahl enslaved.” I snapped my fingers as I dredged the name from my memory. “Janice. Yeah, that's it. She's been under Mzatal's protection ever since right before the valve went kablooey.”

“I bet she'll be glad to see us,” Pellini said.

I swung toward Giovanni. “Since we're not sure if we can get you through the gate, and I don't want to be caught with my pants down if we can't find Turek, I need you to write down every place in the west wing where the gold statues could be.”

He gave a resolute nod. “I will scribe that which you require. Should calamity befall and the fates bar my participation in this quest, you will yet succeed.”

“That'd be great,” I said, “but trust me, I'm hoping we can pull this off and get you through. After all, we need to grab fifty pounds worth. And Pellini can only carry so much.” I ducked as Pellini winged a pen at me.

“I'll carry your ass to the curb,” he said with a mock snarl.

“I have no doubt,” I said. “In the meantime, let's get the logistics for this trip hammered out then grab a few hours of sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a busy day.”

With the clock ticking for the gold delivery, four hours was the most we could spare for sleep. Though, considering the stressed and frenetic pace of the past two months, four uninterrupted hours felt positively decadent.

Pellini and I were old hands at going to strange and distant locations at the drop of a hat, which meant gearing up went quickly. Our rucksacks each had enough room for twenty to thirty pounds of gold, but in a burst of optimism that we'd get Giovanni through the gate, we found a rucksack for him as well. Carrying fifty pounds would be a lot easier if divided three ways.

“I assume you have a fallback plan in case we can't get the gold at Szerain's?” Pellini asked as he packed the luggage scale we planned to use for weighing the gold.

“I do,” I said, checking off items on the must-bring list. “Rhyzkahl has all sorts of gold crap in his throne room and on decorative panels throughout his palace. It's nowhere near as easy to remove as statues and art, but we can hack off enough hunks to hit our quota.” I smiled. “That's why I stuck a camping hatchet in your pack.”

“Yeah, saw that. Somehow I accidentally dropped it into Giovanni's. Dude could stand to put some muscle on his bones.”

“Aw, cut the guy some slack,” I said with a laugh. “He's been dead for three hundred years.”

“Sounds like a pathetic excuse to me.” Pellini smiled. “Is there a Plan C?”

I made a face. “More like a Plan F, since it's a last resort. The summoning antechamber in Mzatal's palace has gold all over it, but it's leaf.”

“And it would take serious time and effort to collect the amount we needed.”

“Exactly,” I said. “But between those three options, I'm positive we can get the gold we need, one way or the other.” I zipped my rucksack closed. “And now it's time for me to lay down some smooth-talk bullshit on General Starr so we can actually
get
to the demon realm.”

That was my next hurdle: obtaining official clearance to use the Earthgate to travel to the demon realm. Sure, we could likely get to the crystals and make the transfer before anyone stopped us, but we'd have a world of trouble waiting for us upon our return and would likely never get near them again. Therefore, before I called General Starr, I prepped a solid and compelling argument for why Pellini and I needed to reconnoiter the other side of the gate, as well as why we needed to use our own “expert consultant” to test whether we could bring other people through.

But General Starr readily agreed, expounding with great exuberance on the tactical benefits of direct reconnaissance. In fact, while we were still on the phone, he passed along an order to allow us and one civilian unrestricted access to the Spires. The only hitch was that the general wanted us to each wear a body camera at all times—a completely valid request since we were supposedly doing recon. However, I shot that idea down nice and quick by oh-so-regretfully telling him there was simply too much arcane activity in the demon realm to make pictures or video even remotely possible. I didn't need DIRT spying on our business, plus I had zero intention of feeding their invasion cravings by giving them the layout of the demon realm.

My next call was to Mzatal. I clung to the hope that he could tell me where I could lay hands on his master gimkrah—while I crossed fingers he wouldn't react as Rhyzkahl had and tell me I was insane to even consider it. He hadn't returned my previous call, but there was a chance he hadn't checked messages.

After four rings, the DIRT voicemail picked up, but I'd prepped for this, too. Never knew who was listening in on my calls, and I didn't want to drop any more info than was absolutely necessary.

“Mzatal, it's Kara. A student of yours from a long time ago is here, and she's having a really hard time getting home. I need to get the help of someone related to that big guy you were dancing with last time I saw you. Word is you have a gizmo that
can help me out with that, and if you could let me know where to find it at your crib, that would be righteous.”

I hung up, pleased with my subterfuge, only to see Jill biting back a laugh. Behind her, Giovanni simply looked perplexed.

“You're the dorkiest sorceress ever,” she said with a grin.

“I'd rather be called the dorkiest sorceress than supreme arcane commander.”

“Well, D.S. Gillian, Giovanni found another reference to the master gimkrah. I'll warn you now, it's a bit vague.”

“I'll take anything you can throw at me.”

Giovanni handed me a sheet of loose-leaf paper. “Parts of the original are smudged and unreadable.” He winced. “And the rest is in a poetic style that is not conducive to the most accurate translation. I have scribed my best interpretation.”

I murmured a thanks, already reading.

creatures of night and blood

hold back the claws and teeth

make gentle the beast summoned to serve lest it serve honor with pain and death

master and slave of torment and treachery

the gimkrah lies in wait

surrounded by emptiness

deep in the heart of darkness.

“That is indeed annoyingly vague and flowery,” I said. “Plus, now I have ‘Deep in the Heart of Texas' stuck in my head except with
deep in the heart of darkness
.”

Jill made a noise in the back of her throat. “Great. Now I do, too!”

“Glad I could share.” I read through it again. The last part sounded like Mzatal during his millennia of walled-off isolation. Alone, with a ruthless heart. “Maybe something will pop for me when I get to Mzatal's palace.” I folded the paper and stuck it in my front pocket. “Still way more than we had before. Thanks, Giovanni. We're hoping to leave in twenty minutes, so if you need to do anything before we go, now's the time.”

He nodded and hurried off to the guest room.

Jill gave me a worried smile. “Be careful and come back in one piece.”

I gave her a cheeky grin. “Will you have macadamia white chocolate chip cookies waiting for me?”

She snorted. “Sure. As soon as you get me macadamia nuts and white chocolate.”

“Damn. How about sugar cookies?”

“You got it. And I won't even add sardines.”

•   •   •

As soon as Pellini and I finished double-checking weapons and gear, we bundled Giovanni into the Humvee and headed to the Earthgate. Tandon and Kellum followed us over and went through the security checkpoints with us, then settled in to wait. If it turned out that Giovanni was unable to pass the arcane perimeter around the crystals, my two security guards were ready to scoop him up and get him the hell out of there, hopefully before any DIRT personnel decided to scrutinize our “expert consultant.”

Captain Hornak looked as if he'd rather chew glass than have anything to do with us, but he remained professional and made no attempt to interfere with or question our mission. Hell, maybe he was hoping this jaunt of ours would rid him of a Kara-sized thorn in his side once and for all. Niceties taken care of, my trio proceeded toward the crystal gateway and the invisible arcane barrier that, thus far, very effectively blocked everyone but Pellini and me.

“I propose we each take one of Giovanni's hands,” I told Pellini as we neared the barrier, “and think super hard about how much we want him to come with us.”

Pellini nodded slowly. “When I was a kid, Kadir showed me how to ‘slide' through matter in the sparkly dimension. It wasn't so much about
thinking
as
believing
it had already happened. Since this barrier is Kadir's, his believing method just might work on it.” He took one of Giovanni's hands, and I took the other. “Maybe do your pygah, and we'll cruise on through.”

“That's probably better than my plan of running at it full-tilt while praying for the best, like Platform Nine and Three Quarters.” I grinned as Giovanni gave me a perplexed look. Apparently his download from the current-day flows didn't include finer details such as Harry Potter. “After this is over, we'll get you caught up on the current cultural icons,” I promised him.

“Here goes,” Pellini said.

I blew out a breath and reminded myself that Pellini had a close tie with Kadir and was practiced in the
believing
technique. Tightening my grip on Giovanni's hand, I relaxed into a pygah and imagined all of us smiling between the crystals. A casual stroll forward . . .

And then we were through the barrier and at the base of the
Spires. We cautiously released Giovanni then breathed mutual sighs of relief when he stayed right beside us, clearly unaffected by any aversions or compulsions to leave.

“So far so good,” I said. “Now for the fun part.” Right. Fun. I wiped sweaty palms on my pants. Nothing set a mood quite like the total uncertainty of using an alien teleport gate. I was pretty sure it would take us to Kadir's realm, but for all I knew we might end up in a galaxy far far away. Or simply disintegrate. “Let's see if we can fire this puppy up.”

“You have any idea how to work it?” Pellini asked as we stepped between the Spires.

“Nope. I'm implementing Standard Operating Procedure Alpha.”

His mouth twitched. “So we're winging it.”

“Pretty much.” I set a hand on the crystal to my right. Pellini did the same to the other one.

“I hope I never have to find out what Standard Operating Procedure Beta is,” he muttered.

I laughed, clinging to humor to combat the
ohfuckohfuckwhatthefuckamIdoing
sproinging around my gut. “Stop your whining and focus,” I ordered with an oh-so-stern glare.

“Yeah, you'll look like an idiot if you can't make it work,” Pellini said. “In front of Captain Hardass, no less.”

“Me? What about you? You're the Kadir expert.”

“I'm just following orders, Arcane Commander Gillian.”

I snorted. “Then I
order
you to do expert shit.”

“I'll get right on it, ma'am!” he said with a smartass grin edged with tension. He splayed both hands on the crystal and closed his eyes in concentration. For a good thirty seconds nothing changed, then a throbbing hum rose from the Spires, so powerful it set me swaying.

I grabbed Giovanni's shoulder with my free hand. “Stay close—”

The muggy parking lot disappeared, and we dropped into a sickening freefall through pitch black, bitterly cold nothingness. No air. No breath. Panic squeezed me.
I'll lose my Self again.

No!
Not this time. Pellini's words ghosted through my flailing thoughts.
Believe it has already happened.
That was it.
Believe I'm already there.
I floundered for an image of what “there” would be like, then remembered it wasn't about thinking.
Believe.
The feel of solid ground beneath my feet. A breeze. A deep lungful of air. Gravity.

Nothingness gave way to blinding sun and arid heat. I staggered into Pellini and gasped a grateful breath. Giovanni lay sprawled at our feet, wide-eyed and hyperventilating. A pair of crystals towered over us, identical to the ones on Earth, just as Paul had said.

“Ow,” I said and took another deep breath, pulse still in sprint-from-imminent-death mode. “Somehow I don't think it's supposed to be that hard.”

Pellini shrugged, looking none the worse for wear. “Seemed okay to me.”

“That's because you were driving,” I retorted, resisting the urge to sprawl in the sand beside Giovanni. “Wasn't much fun in the back seat.”

“Sorry. No instruction manual.” Pellini gave Giovanni a hand up. “We made it, didn't we?”

“Fair point.” I took stock of our surroundings, shading my eyes with a hand as I gazed out at what seemed an endless stretch of rolling dunes of white sand. “We're in the middle of a friggin' desert!” And on top of that, it felt as if my skin wanted to crawl right off my body. Ugh. Kadir's realm was “out of phase” with the rest of the demon realm, like a radio tuned to a different frequency. It obviously suited him—and Paul as well now—but the other lords and most demons avoided the place.

Giovanni tapped my shoulder. “Oasis.”

I spun to see shimmering mirages and, beyond them, a sparkling pool of what appeared to be real water. Surrounding it, like broken and blackened teeth, were remnants of what might have once been trees. Beside the water crouched a simple whitewashed structure, no bigger than a middle class family home and with a flavor of adobe meets Mediterranean. It was austere yet appealing, and by far the least palace-like of any of the lord's dwellings I'd seen.

Past it, emerald and amethyst shimmered. “There's his grove,” I said with undisguised relief. The feel of it enveloped me, like sliding into a warm pool after being forced to wade in the shallows. The planetary network of groves were like teleport stations between the lords' domains, and this one would be our transport to Szerain's realm. “Let's move.”

Only half a mile lay between the gate and the oasis, but the sand shifted and slid beneath us, and it took at least triple the usual time to cover the distance. The first few steps on solid ground felt as odd as if we'd been on a rocking boat, but we
made better time once we found our gait again. Surrounding the pool were over a hundred charred, waist-high tree trunks, yet the ground was free of ash, as if wind and sand had scoured it clean. Sturdy tufts of grass struggled to make a comeback, but the water that had looked so inviting from a distance was a murky brown with an oily sheen on the surface.

“What happened here?” Pellini asked, brow furrowed.

“An anomaly with fire rain hit a couple of months ago,” I said, unsettled and saddened by the destruction. “Elofir helped Kadir, but I guess they couldn't protect the oasis.” I had no trouble picturing what the area had looked like before. Lush and lovely. An oasis of calm for body and mind. For the first time, I found myself glad that Paul was with Kadir—a sentiment that took me by surprise. Paul certainly seemed content with the odd lord, and perhaps he helped Kadir find a measure of peace in the chaos of his internal world.