Prince of Demons 2: The Order of the Black Swan (5 page)

“You’re joking. The last time I turned away you tried to set your…” he gestured toward her pelvis, “…privates on fire.”

“I did not do any such thing. There was, apparently, some kind of weird chemical reaction.” When he crossed his arms over his chest, it became clear that he wasn’t averting his gaze. “Gah!” She threw her hands up. “You get the prize for the most aggravating person I have
ever
met.”

She knew it was a lie as soon as she’d said it. There were several people in her acquaintance, in that world and others, who were considerably more aggravating. But he didn’t need to know that.

Brave continued to stare while she fixed her clothes, refusing to look away. When she was finished she held her arms out to her sides in a gesture of defiance.

After a few beats he said, “You want to stop for a while or get away from the aroma?”

She narrowed her eyes. “What do you think?”

His lips twitched, his features softened and he took a step closer. “Lana. You bring your own adventure with you.” He chuckled, then quickly took her hand and kissed her knuckles. She jerked her hand away and glared at him.

He knew she was tired and a little undone, so he slowed the pace. On some level she recognized that the view would be magnificent, but nothing could be pleasurable so long as the smell of sulfur was part of the equation. She trudged on thinking she might fall down at any moment and never wake up. And at that moment, the prospect of falling down and never waking up had a certain appeal.

“What now, Brave?”

“It’s almost dark.” She looked at the horizon and realized that, even though they’d covered a lot of miles, the daylight hours in that world were short. “We need a place to stay and I know one that might do in a pinch.”

She opened her mouth, but he held up his hand.

“If we keep going, we’ll be there before dark and we’ll also be away from the bad smell.” He looked at her for an indication that she agreed, but she offered nothing. “But we’ve…”

“…got to keep moving.”

“Yeah.”

When he hesitated, her brows rose and she waved the air in front of her like she was attempting to herd him away from the direction they’d just come. He shook his head and tried not to smile, but she was too cute to ignore.

She followed behind as he resumed walking with legs several inches longer than hers. Keeping up with him required effort, but she tried to keep her mind on other things besides achy muscles, scorched thighs, and plant stings.

“What sort of place are you taking us to now?” she said to Brave’s back. He moved with a fluid graceful athleticism showing none of the wear and tear that she was feeling. She was beginning to feel a little resentful about that. And the long legs.

“It’s kind of an outpost shelter. It’s been abandoned all my life, but I know that it’s still used sometimes.”

“For what?”

“Oh. If a hunter gets caught in a storm.” He chuckled. “Or if somebody is in big trouble with his wife.”

“By somebody you mean a demon?”

“Yes. They are somebody, you know.”

“Well, I meant… demons have wives?”

“Well, yeah, except for sex demons, which I don’t know that they really exist. I’ve heard stories, but I’ve never actually seen one.” He looked back over his shoulder. “You thought all demons were single?”

“I guess I never had any reason to give it much thought. Until recently, I thought all demons were just mythic characters, maybe even asexual.”

He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her. “Really?”

Looking up at Brave she had to smile at the way he’d screwed up his face. “Yeah. Really.” She looked past him and then at the fading light on the horizon. “How much longer?”

He pointed. “You see where the edge of the cliff seems to disappear behind those trees?”

“Yes.”

“When we get closer, you’ll see that it doesn’t disappear. It bends back behind that stand of trees. The building that I’m hoping is still there should be sitting on the bluff overlooking the valley.”

“But if it’s a place demons use when they’re in the rain or the doghouse, how can we be safe there?”

“Doghouse?”

“A place where husbands go when they get kicked out.”

“Oh. As soon as we get to the trees, I’m going to leave you hidden and go check it out. I’ll make sure it’s safe and then come back for you.”

By the time they reached the trees, the light was all but gone. Brave tucked her behind a large tree trunk a few yards inside the tree line.

“Brave.” She grabbed at his arm and looked around nervously.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t leave me here long,” she whispered it like she didn’t want the trees to hear her say it.

He smiled and pushed her hair back from her face. “You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?”

“In a strange demon world where I have no idea what’s going to happen next? Yes. Yes, I am.”

Brave leaned in and she felt the warm breath from his chuckle on her cheek. “I won’t leave you, Lana. I’ll be right back. Be brave.”

Then he was gone.

‡

A
t first she
was grateful to be sitting down, but after a while the muscle soreness was replaced with a growing awareness by her back that she was leaning against tree bark and a growing awareness that her ass was trying to conform to uneven ground covered with a variety of hard pointy objects like stones and twigs. When she shifted she found that relieving the pressure where indentations had been made in her flesh only made them hurt more as the skin tried to plump itself out and restore normalcy. All she succeeded in doing was adding a new wave of sensory protests to the stings and pricks that were already there. But that concern was replaced by one more compelling once the light disappeared altogether.

There were sounds nearby that she was certain had not been there before. Some were indistinguishable, barely audible swishes or clicks or tweets. She tried to be as still and quiet as possible, but the unknown, paired with darkness began to play with her mind. She imagined some of her worst fears, like snakes, for instance. She tried to regulate her breathing, but the more she thought about it, the more it sped up until she was almost panting.

When Brave’s hands gripped her arms to pull her up to a standing position, she yelled out. He gathered her close, putting strong arms around her and she clung to his body like a lifeline even though she was embarrassed about being so jumpy.

“Here,” Brave soothed as he rubbed his cheek affectionately against the top of her head. “I’m right here. I told you I wouldn’t leave you. Have a little faith in me.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“For what?”

“For yelling like a scared little girl.”

In the dense shadows Brave’s voice was low and sounded raspy. “We all get scared sometimes, Lana. You never have to be sorry for that.”

Her eyes closed. She let the comfort of his nearness seep in and began to relax. When he started to pull away, she had to force herself to turn loose and let him go.

He took hold of her hand. “Here. Hold on. Can you not see at all?”

“Apparently not as well as you. And you’re also really quiet when you want to be.”

“My friend, Perry, and I hunt together sometimes.”

“Hmmm.”

“What’s hmmm?”

“Well, I guess I don’t know much about demons, but I thought they all had names that were more ostentatious.”

Brave chuckled. “I guess they do, now that you mention it. His real name is Peregrination.”

“That’s quite a name. What does it mean?”

“Traveler, I think. We’re here.”

Lana could see a small light in the window of a ramshackle place that might loosely be called a cabin. Brave opened the door and she stepped inside. The light was too dim for her to see much, but she could tell that calling the place rustic would be overly flattering.

Brave moved toward a narrow cot, which appeared to be the only furniture useable for sleeping. He lifted the mattress and turned it over.

“There,” he said. “At least it won’t be dusty.” He looked at her and nodded toward the cot. “Sit down. I’ll see if there’s anything to eat.”

“Drink. I’m thirsty.”

“That I can do. Well water comes in over there. See? There’s a pump. Hold on.”

He strode to the contraption in the corner, grabbed the arm, swiveled it toward a half barrel and began to pump. When water spouted, she could have cried. She rushed toward the cup he was rinsing and had her hands outstretched when he filled it.

“Thank you.” She took it and gulped it down in seconds, then handed it back to him.

He smiled. “More?”

“Yes. But you first.”

He downed a cup even faster than she had, then filled it again for her. They continued taking turns until they were both satisfied.

Brave found another larger light that also seemed to operate on battery power.

“Let’s see if anybody left us anything to eat.”

Lana stepped toward the cupboard closest to her. “Here. Let me help you look.”

When she opened it, a five-foot snake fell onto the counter and she screamed bloody murder. Brave calmly walked over, grabbed the snake by the neck or, rather, behind its head, took it outside and let it go. When he returned, Lana was standing on top of the cot looking around with wild eyes.

He didn’t want to laugh. He tried not to laugh, but he lost the battle.

“Don’t you dare laugh at me, Brave. That snake was huge! And there could be more.”

“Let me guess. You’re afraid of snakes.”

“I’m terrified of snakes.”

“Well, in that case,” he was sounding patronizing, “I’m going to give the place a thorough going over, while you watch me, and make sure that was the only one.” She nodded enthusiastically. “And then you’ll come down from there and relax. Right?” She looked dubious. “Okay, then. One step at a time.”

Brave went through every nook and cranny, looked under things, lifted things and looked behind until she was satisfied that the cabin was snakeless.

“Good?”

She nodded. “Thank you. I’m starting to think I got lucky when the demons put me in a dungeon cell with you.”

Brave walked to where she stood on the cot, encircled her waist and lifted, letting her body slide down his until her feet touched the floor. “You’re so wrong, Lana.
I’m
the lucky one.”

She snorted. “You’re being generous. You’re brave and I’m high maintenance.”

“Worth it.”

His voice was low and his lips were close, but she didn’t think an escape was the right setting for a date. So she looked for a distraction.

Turning her head toward the row of cupboards, she said, “Did I see food in one of those?”

“Um, yeah.” He followed her line of sight. “It may not be a feast, but…”

“I’ll take it.”

So they ate tiny, smelly fishes from a tin and something that tasted like shortbread from a canister. Brave told her it was two more days to the port where he could get passage with magic tricks, but that it wasn’t all going to be easy like the day they’d just had.

“You call this easy?”

He chuckled. “Everything is relative. Right? I guess what I’m trying to say is that we need to sleep while we can.”

Lana looked at the cot made for one. “What’s your plan?”

“Well, first, I’m going to turn out the light. I think we’re safe, but it wouldn’t be in our best interest to advertise our position. You will lie down on your side. I will lie down behind you and keep you warm. In a little while, it will get cooler and we’ll both be glad we have each other.”

Lana thought about making a smart remark, but her mind had stuttered on the phrase “glad we have each other”. That’s what she had once thought about Stuart – that they
had
each other. She was so wrong.

That line of thinking came to an abrupt halt when Brave put out the light and carefully spooned with her, pressing his body into hers so that it would have been impossible not to notice the growing erection that prodded from behind. Not to mention Brave’s struggle to control the impulse to respond by moving his hips. Lana held perfectly still so as not to make an awkward situation worse with unintentional teasing, but she had her own struggle with controlling the natural response impulse of the interested female – to squirm a little.

Shortly the events claimed their toll. Her eyelids were refusing to stay open when she heard Brave’s breathing even out and felt the heaviness of the relaxed weight of his arm slung protectively over her body.

Sometime during the night she woke and realized that she was getting stiff from lying on one side too long without changing positions. She put her hand on Brave’s forearm and shook lightly while whispering, “Brave? Brave?”

“Hmmm.” His answer was as much a sleep growl as anything.

“I need to turn over.”

His arm lifted away and she had the impression that he was rubbing his hand over his face. “Alright. On the count of three. One. Two. Three.”

They turned over in unison, since there wasn’t room for anything else. Lana’s body nestled into Brave’s back like it was made for that purpose. He reached behind him and felt around for her hand. When he found it, he brought her arm over his body and placed it on his chest, covered by his own. In seconds he was asleep again, leaving Lana to savor the feel of the warmth that Brave’s body radiated against her entire length from breast to knee.