Promise Me Anthology (28 page)

You’re as much a liar as Danial ever
was.

I needed to know, Terian thought defensively.
I needed to know if she could love me.

Sar is good. You’re evil. She couldn’t love
you. That’s why Sundown couldn’t love you either.

Sundown had been an exotic dancer Terian had
stumbled across when he stopped to get some food late one night.
Her long dirty blond hair was a ringer for Sar’s, even if her
personality was completely different. They’d briefly dated and
lived together. But as much as Sundown craved the stability of a
relationship, her distrust of men was deep. Terian had asked her to
commit and Sundown had refused, her learned ferocity lashing out in
cruelty.

“Don’t you care about me?” he’d said in a
small tentative voice.

“It was just sex to me, like I’ve had with
dozens of men.”

Terian had known she was lying. His
supernatural hearing was acute enough to hear her inside crying as
he drove away with his stuff. But he also couldn’t heal someone so
broken, not without their cooperation. Colin had taught him
that.

“Without hope, you are doomed, Terian. Life
is hope. If you want to survive, you have to believe that things
can get better.”

There was nothing left for him here. It was
time to leave, to go far away West, like he’d planned a few months
ago. Colin’s home base was in Denver. Terian needed a fresh shot of
hope about now.

* * * *

“There is no comfort in deep-rooted pain,” a
feminine voice said gently, breaking the silence of the library.
“Remembering the past won’t heal wounds, it will only keep them
fresh.”

Terian looked up into deep blue eyes. A
beautiful woman stood above him, her long black hair in a glossy
braid over one shoulder. Her expression was sincere.

“You’re a sorceress,” he stated.

The woman nodded. “My name is Monica Remmin.
And you are?”

Was this a friend of Colin? How had she
found him, when Colin didn’t know yet that Terian had even
arrived?
“Terian.”

“No last name? Or is that you’re working
name?”

“Let’s say it will suffice for now,” Terian
said, rubbing his eyes. “Did you come to kick me out of the
library?”

Monica smiled. “No. I think you have another
hour before they close. I wanted to say hello and ask if you want
to join my coven.”

Terian looked at her, bemused. “You must
sense what I am. Are you sure?” He let his lips part, giving her a
glimpse of his many rows of pointed demon teeth.

Monica’s smile faltered a little. “I take it
that you’ve been looking for answers. I got word that a half-demon
was coming this way with a propensity for trouble.”

“I’m not here for trouble,” Terian said
hastily.

“But it follows you, doesn’t it?” Monica
prodded. “You’ve stayed on the move because of what you attribute
to bad luck.” She leaned closer. “But it’s not bad luck, Terian.
It’s a revenant on your tail.”

Terian shook his head in disbelief. “That’s
bullshit. I’ve lived for seventy-five years and never seen a
ghost.”

“That doesn’t mean they haven’t seen you,”
she said darkly. She held out a card with an address on it. “Come
tonight to my home. I think I can help you.”

What was it with people wanting to help
him handing him business cards?
“Why would you help me?” Terian
said, making no move to take the card. “When everyone else I meet
usually wants me to keep moving?”

“Because there is more to you than you know,”
Monica said cryptically. “And I’m meant to help you.” She moved to
walk away, but Terian leaped up, grabbing her by the hand and
yanking her backward. His red eyes bored into hers, the color
flooding through his concealing contact lenses. Evil permeated the
room, making Monica shiver even as she tried to hold still.

“Tell me and don’t lie,” Terian growled,
showing his rows of pointed teeth as persuasion. “I’ve had enough
lies. What do you want with me?”

“I had a vision of you,” Monica stammered.
“That’s it! I do a spell every New Year’s, and ask for guidance for
the following year. It showed me several people I knew, and one
stranger. You were the stranger. So when I saw you here I knew I
had to come over and find out who you were...even sensing what you
are.”

Terian loosened his grip on her. Monica
pulled away, straightening up.

“I don’t understand.”

“Visions are usually puzzles,” Monica said,
irritation distinct in each clipped word. “With the other people, I
know what I’m supposed to do, because I know them. But with you, I
have no idea.”

Terian studied her, wondering how much to
believe her. Monica gave every indication that she was on the
level.
But was she?

“Come tonight,” Monica said again. “Please.
No one wants to hurt you here.” She turned and walked quickly
away.

Terian watched her go, then looked down at
the card she’d managed to slip into his hand. He’d go, just to see
what kind of witches Monica kept company with.

* * * *

Monica’s base of operations was nothing like
the witch’s lair Terian expected. Her small brick home was cozy
with plentiful flowers, and the small one-level red barn at the
back had been completely modernized into one plain white room and a
set of bathrooms. He sat at a large conference table with twenty
other men and women in their early twenties and thirties, most of
whom were in casual dress.

“Good, we’re all here,” Monica said
cheerfully. “Please everyone, welcome Terian, who is here by my
invitation tonight.”

Most of the people murmured a greeting, which
Terian returned awkwardly.

The rest of the night was forgettable. Terian
would have left after the first ten minutes, but he hadn’t wanted
to call attention to himself. All these “spellcasters” were of
amateur level; young wives trying to win back their straying
husbands through love spells, and men with goals of finding a way
to beat the odds at gaming tables. Terian left the vapid discussion
as soon as he was able. As he walked out, a shadow descended on
him, floating ghostlike through the air. At first, he was
entertained, thinking it to be some trick of Monica’s to impress
him into staying. But as it reached him, a sharp odor of lilacs
reached him. He fell to his knees, trying to breathe and found his
air was constricted. He lashed out with power, and a supernatural
shriek rent the air. The scent thickened, then a veil of darkness
descended as Terian fell prostrate on the ground.

Keriam was lying on the floor, his face a
twisted grimace of pain, his hands claws that had ripped out tufts
of carpet as he’d writhed in pain. With a scream, Terian ran to
him, gathering the lifeless body to him. Loss and loneliness
crashed down on him.

“No!”

There was nothing he could do. He was too
late again, too late to save his brother, too late, always too
late...

A sharp crack of a gunshot echoed loud in
Terian’s ears. Then there was the sound of guttural swearing.
Terian felt a hand in his. He roused himself just in time to be
pulled to his feet by a man who had the same brown hair and facial
features as Colin, yet his eyes were as red as Terian’s.

“Demon or not, your ass is going to be toast
if you don’t learn to let things go,” the man said grumpily.
“Didn’t Colin teach you not to dwell on your pain?”

“You’re Colin’s brother,” Terian said in
astonishment.

“You’re a bright one,” the man said with
sarcasm, though he smiled. “Half-brother, as you of all people can
probably tell. I’m Balt.”

What the hell was he supposed to say?
Commiserating on their shared demon lineage seemed just as bad as
saying that it didn’t matter.
“Yes,” Terian managed.

“Colin told me to expect you,” Balt
continued, “He’s waiting for us, if you’re ready to leave. Unless
you want that ghost to come back and finish tearing you up.”

“Let’s go,” Terian said, relieved.

Balt took Terian back to a small chain hotel
with an attached restaurant on a seedy street of bars, strip clubs,
and small motels. Colin was there at the hotel bar, nursing a drink
and talking to a tall knockout of a woman dressed in red. She shot
Terian a smile as she left. He didn’t return it, averting his
eyes.

“Sit down,” Colin told him, motioning to the
bartender. “Bring a beer for my brother and another scotch for me.
Terian, what do you want?”

“Nothing,” Terian said flatly.

“Bring him a vodka,” Balt said over his
protest. “He can’t bitch about it if he can’t taste the alcohol.
I’m going to hit the head.”

The bartender brought the drinks in a few
minutes, while Terian filled Colin in on what had happened since
their last meeting.

“Why did you do that to Sar?” Colin asked,
clearly disappointed. “I didn’t loan you those books to use them
like that. I’ve told you before that you can’t force people.”

“I wasn’t forcing her to do anything,” Terian
argued.

“You’re magic made her give voice to emotions
she didn’t want to talk about,” Colin stated. “That’s force.”

“I just wanted to know how she felt, so I
could decide to stay or leave.”

“She told you she was in a relationship with
another man. Wasn’t that cause enough to leave?”

Terian didn’t answer.

“It’s the demon part of you that will want to
control people,” Colin warned. “Demons like power. They like to
make things happen.”

“My intentions were good ones.”

Colin gave Terian a scathing look. “Do I
really have to tell you the old saying about good intentions?”

Balt sat down on the stool next to them,
taking a long drink of his beer. “I see he’s giving you the usual
upbeat pep talk. Ignore him. It works for me.”

“I’m warning him, because someone had to,”
Colin said grumpily. “And you’d be better off if you were less
flippant about your own situation.”

“You’d be better off teaching him a little
more magic to defend himself,” Balt retorted emphatically. “That
ghost last night might have killed him, if I hadn’t stopped by to
drop off those books to Monica for you.”

“Who is she?” Terian said, eager to turn the
conversation away from himself. “She made herself out to be a
sorceress, but she’s more like a poseur.”

“She’s just young,” Balt said brusquely,
surprising Terian with his defensive tone. “She can do minor spells
like make illusions, and she’s a fair healer. She’s got the talent
for becoming a sorceress to be reckoned with.”

“But she cares a little too much about the
romance of magic,” Colin added. “She’s another one that doesn’t see
her own vulnerability.”

“If you’re afraid all the time of bad things
happening, how are you supposed to enjoy your life?” Balt
countered, sounding irritated. He got up and stalked away.

“Don’t mind him,” Colin said. “He’s sweet on
Monica, if you hadn’t noticed.” His tone turned concerned. “But
he’s right that you need to worry about this ghost. Most don’t have
enough power to kill a half-demon, but they’ll make you suffer.
Next time use a dissipation spell. You hit it with that a few times
and it’ll leave you alone for good.”

As much as Terian had wanted to talk shop
with his old friend, it was Balt he wanted to speak to now.
Who
could give him better advice than someone who was the same sort of
being he was?
“Are you staying here? I’m sorry but I need to
crash. I haven’t slept since I got here.”

Colin looked at him, unsmiling. “Go after
him, if you want. Just be careful.”

Terian gave Colin an odd look, but slid off
the stool and went after Balt. The man was chatting up the girl in
red who had been talking to Colin inside. He turned as Terian
approached. “Terian, this is Rhinestone.”

“Hi,” Rhinestone said with a big smile. “I
asked him who you were. I hope you don’t mind.” She made a point of
getting out her keychain. “I live just down the street. Would you
walk me home?”

“Why would he mind?” Balt said a little
overzealously, slapping Terian on the back. “He’d be glad to.”

Terian looked over Rhinestone with an
appraising glance. She was pretty, young, and obviously had getting
laid on her mind. And he wanted no part of her. “I’m not sure if
that’s a good idea. But it’s good to meet you, Rhinestone.”

Rhinestone looked uncertainly from Terian
back to Balt, obviously wondering why he wasn’t anxious to take her
offer of sex.

“Hold,” Balt intoned. Suddenly everything
froze still. Rhinestone looked comical, as if she’d begun to speak
and stopped. Even the breeze had disappeared, the leaves of the
trees caught at odd angles above their heads.

“Impressive,” Terian commented, trying to
ascertain how far around them the spell reached.

“I’m not a high-level wizard,” Balt said with
braggadocio. “But I try to push myself as far as I can. I try to
live. What’s your excuse?”

“I’m doing what I—”

“You need to get whatever pleasure you can,
while you can,” Balt interrupted roughly. “How long do you think
you have to fuck around mooning over a woman you left back
east?”

“Eternity
,
” Terian
derided. “We’re immortal, remember?”

“And what half do we get that from?” Balt
smirked back evilly. “Not the human half. The older we get, the
more the human half ages. The more our human resolve weakens, the
more the balance of power shifts.”

Terian’s face relaxed from animosity to
unexpected confusion. “What are you saying?”

“That being half demon is not like being half
something else. The demon side wants to call the shots.” His red
eyes burned in the gloom. “Sooner or later you’ll have a weak
moment and that side of you is going to take control.”

Fear coursed through Terian, chilling him.
“That isn’t possible.”

“It comes in the night like a dream,” Balt
said wearily. “The whispers of temptation, the images of depravity,
how good the abandonment of your scruples would feel. Then one day
you wake up and you’re doing those things you imagined and enjoying
them.”