The Deception Dance (30 page)

Tobias snaps the laptop shut and returns it to its original perch.
When he turns to me, he almost looks happy though he’s not
smiling. His brows seem to spread across his forehead and his eyes
gleam. He doesn’t say, ‘
and it’s all your
fault’.
But, the accusation is as present in the room as it
would be if he spit the words into my face.

When my body can finally respond to my mind’s commands I raise
the pen and slowly move it across the paper to write: “how
long?”

Tobias reads the message then answers, articulating every syllable,
“Twenty-six days.”

I inhale sharply. I was dead, a soul trapped inside a rotting corpse,
for
twenty six days
? What happened? Why did it take so long?

My questions must shine through my expression because Tobias answers
them, “Unsurprisingly, the beast you bartered with was more
intelligent than you. You said nothing in your deal about her
releasing Linnie or your father. This was made obvious when the demon
demanded your corpse for Linnie’s release. Thankfully we had
agents rescue your father within the next week. But for Linnie,
everyday more and more demons were guarding her. Since we did not
know about your unnatural plot to rise from the dead, some of us were
willing to make the trade. But, Madeline and Mrs. Trandle guarded
your coffin, armed, night and day. Others in the family also strongly
disagreed that we should...” His gaze flits to Nicholas,
“...negotiate with demons.”

“It was not until a week ago that we suspected there was some
sort of plan for your corpse. That was when five soul-bound
infiltrated our base and through stealth found your remains and
attempted to destroy them. They were rounded up, of course, and under
question revealed to us that any soul-bound who destroyed and
scattered your remains would be rewarded with the gift of keeping
their soul, post-mortem. This was when our suspicions were confirmed
that there was some conspiracy, we were unaware of, concerning you.”

He pauses to glare at me, “The witch declined to reveal
anything. And, our own operative refused; Mrs. Trandle was dismissed
for
obvious
reasons. When a second more desperate attempt was
made by the soul-bound we decided that you needed to be moved. With
much deliberation we followed the witch’s scheme, since she was
the only person to know this plot.

“Two days ago our mission was successful and Stephen liberated
your sister from Copenhagen and out of the country. When we gave the
news to the witch, she revealed her twisted plans, her
ungodly
schemes, which held our last hope. But it seems...” he examines
me, “our hopes were misplaced.”

Day Fifty-Six

“She,” Albert says, pointing a finger to where I’m
sitting, “had the whole of Hell resting on her shoulders; and
she let it come crashing down!”

This is more of the same that I’ve been hearing since Tobias
snapped the laptop in my face last night.

I could croak out a response, Madeline used a spell to restore my
speech and wobbly walking this morning, but, truly, I have no
defense.

Unfortunately, Madeline waited until this morning to restore my
speech; well after the torturous video was finished and the
operatives (called 'runners') had left, each with a copy of the
video. But, she told me she had needed sleep to conjure anything.

My knees have started to complain from sitting in this position for
so long.

“Hundreds of thousands of people, can you feel their blood on
you?” This comment is from Tobias.

Nicholas is here, too, in the Leijonskjöld Slot dining room; but
he hasn’t said a word to me. They told me they were going to
feed me a late lunch but what they really gathered for was a
tribunal. Yeah, a tribunal where no one defends me?
That's fair
.

I sigh. What’s to defend, really? I mean, these guys hold me
responsible for unleashing Hell on their home… on their entire
country.

My newly repaired lip is halfway chewed through. At least they gave
me water, but some bread would be nice. Isn't that the standard fare
for the accused?

Stephen is noticeably absent, just as well, I actually like him and
I’m not too excited to have him join in on the
hate-Raven-party.

Unfortunately, as if my thoughts summoned him, Stephen strides
through the door just as Tobias shrieks, “So sayith the
scripture, Revelation 17:5: ‘
And upon her forehead was
written, Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and
abominations of the earth.
’ You sit upon the beast and you
have nothing to say for ...” but seeing Stephen, Tobias cuts
off his rant abruptly (which was pretty much nonsense to me) and he
freezes in his half-raised position.

Stephen looks furious, his mouth is half-open in a speechless outrage
I could have never imagined on his kind, scarred face.

I brace myself for his attack, for some reason, this one will
probably hurt most.

“Never have I been more disgusted,” he says, through
clenched teeth.

I flinch, tightening the embrace I’m already holding around my
stomach.

“You.” I look up to see his pointing finger, but it's not
pointing at me, he directs it into Nicholas’s face. “You
deliberately kept this from me. This abuse. This injustice. This
waste of valuable time!”

Albert stands up with a mirrored expression of outrage.

Stephen silences whatever Albert was about to shout by yelling, “Do
not defend your abuse, Albert, Madeline told me what you tried to do,
you ...” he seems at a loss for words for a moment, “…you
hypocrite!”

I close my eyes, and feel Stephen’s arm wrap around my
shoulders while his other hand pulls out my chair. He’s gentle
for one so enraged. “Come with me, Raven, you don’t need
to listen to these wankers.”

I follow him, letting him support my shaky stride. When we are out of
the room, down the stairs, out the door, and on the patio, I rasp,
“Thank you.”

He only shakes his head.

I look over to where a long line of people wait for a (probably cold
now) lunch buffet on the patio. The line leads off the patio and
farther curves behind the hedge wall of the gardens. All along the
line and stationed everywhere are armed guards. Four stand directly
behind us at the entrance to the main house.

The most spectacular change to the castle grounds is the lines of
houses. From the helicopter that flew us in, and landed on a
helicopter-pad on top of the garage, the houses looked like evenly
spaced large boxes. It took me a minute to figure out where they got
all the lumber, but then I remembered the church stacked high with
wood for
reconstruction
. From this view the houses look like
small forts made from five solid panels nailed together. There are so
many of them, lining up in every direction. No wonder they
accidentally let soul-bound in here, there are probably thousands of
displaced survivors.

I was told that the guest house was converted into a small hospital.

“Don’t worry,” Stephen says as we step into the
back kitchen, which is completely filled with blue crates overflowing
with medical supplies. “There are no people with the infection
the ravens are spreading here. And we hope no soul-bound are in here,
after the two breaches we did a full search of every person within
the compound. From what Nicholas tells me about last night, my guess
is they were offered a new deal after your… awakening: your
death for their soul. Keep vigilant and check every wrist ...”

“Stephen,” Someone calls from behind. When I turn to
look, I see Nicholas waiting just outside.

"You do not want to hear what I have to say to you right now,
brother," Stephen says.

"Please," Nicholas says.

"I'll meet you in your room in two minutes. Can you make it
there?" Stephen asks.

“Sure.” I walk forward lightly running my hand along the
wall in case I need support. I don’t want to be anywhere near
Nicholas. The hallways are bustling with women and men rushing by.
Everywhere I look blue crates stack in evenly spaced lines, some
open, most closed. The place still smells like pine though, no
hospital smell.

They, for some reason, kept my room unoccupied. Linnie and my clothes
are still hanging in the closets. It’s just as I left it,
twenty-seven days ago. The walk has made my stride go from unsteady
to full-out stumbling, so falling onto the bed is easy.

I press my face into my pillow. If I could, I would disappear into my
pillow, climb inside and live in a cloud of feathers, forever.

I knew that Andras would have a reaction to losing me, I knew. But I
didn’t realize (couldn’t have even
imagined
) this
would happen. How many soul-bound are there, now? How many people’s
souls does Andras think he needs to buy to bring me back? How long
will it take to show Andras that I am alive? When he sees the video,
he’ll know. Those runners will find him and show him, and then
this will end. He said no more souls while my heart beats, so once he
knows, he’ll stop...he has to, he can’t lie.

And… then what? What kind of person would I be if I go to him?
What will he do, if I refuse to?

I squeeze my eyes shut. I will not think of his eyes, his touch, I
will not...

"Are you crying?" A hand lightly
touches my back between my shoulder blades.

I turn my head on my pillow to face Stephen.
"No."

Stephen sits, perched on the edge of my bed. He
keeps his hand on my back while he says, "My brother's are wrong
in what they said to you, what they accused you of. They are too
emotionally involved in this, to see clearly. Their anger is clouding
them and they don't see the truth."

He brushes my hair out of my face and tucks it
behind my ear.

"What
is
the truth?” I ask.

"That you were deceived."

I almost laugh. He gives me too much credit. I
gaze up to meet his eyes, and then look down. The words are hard to
say, but I say them, "No, Stephen, I wasn't. I knew when I went
to him, knew that he's a demon."

"Why did you go to him?"

I cover the half of my face that's showing. "I
don't know," I say, through my fingers.

"Because you loved him?"

"I don't know," I repeat.

"You did, you know. Maybe not this time
around but you did once. Did you think Andras loved you?" He
asks.

I cup my hand under my face and whisper, "Yes."

"Raven," Stephen pauses to inhale
deeply, "Demons understand obsession, lust, possession,
infatuation, even passion; but
love
isn't even a word in their vocabulary."

I close my eyes.

"How did he find you? How did he approach
you? Nicholas's mission in Italy was to prevent you two meeting;
Nicholas managed at the hotel, in the piazza and at the restaurant,
but somehow Andras got to you. How?"

I keep my eyes securely shut. "I went to a
club with Chauncey and Nicholas in Rome. I was drugged ...”

"Nicholas told me Chauncey drugged you."

"Yeah."

"Did she admit to doing this?" he
asks.

"No." I open my eyes to glance at
him. "She denied it."

"What proof did you have?"

"She told Linnie that she did something
she really regretted that night," I say.

"Could it have been selling her soul?"
his tone isn't condescending, but I still feel as if I was slapped
upside the head.

I pause until I recall another detail, “She
also looked at me when you accused her of having a knack for ‘adding
ingredients’."

Stephen stares at a spot above my head.

But the memories click into place and I recall,
"She told me that she had the bartender add different alcohols
to make my shot strong and nasty, though. But what happened wasn't
just from alcohol; I know I was drugged. Andras even said I was, and
he can't lie."

Stephen nods. "I agree, you were
definitely drugged. But, what if we assume that Chauncey told the
truth and wasn't the one who drugged you? Let's continue reviewing
that night. What happened next?"

"Chauncey left and Nicholas chased after
her."

"Or, Chauncey was lured away by demons in
plain view of Nicholas. And Nicholas, being the hero that he is,
chased after her to stop her from selling her soul."

Stephen’s hand pulls away as I sit up and
stare at him.

I continue, "I fell asleep; when I woke up
a man had his arm around me. He dragged me out of the club and down
alley, after alley."

"Far away from the club, far away from
Nicholas," he interjects.

"The man attacked me."

"With what?"

"A knife." I narrow my eyes then
shake my head. "No, a talon. He grew claws and attacked my
shoulder."

"Then he wasn’t a man, he was a
demon."

I slink back into the bed, wishing that
pillow-feather-land did exist and that it would swallow me whole. I
close my eyes as I say, "Andras saved me…"

"…and gained your trust."
Stephen pauses then speaks slowly, "Raven, do you know who is in
charge of all the demons who have escaped from Hell?"

I nod, unable to say his name out loud. I keep
my eyes closed. “So he ...”

“He probably did not actually tamper with
your shot, but it was under his orders. Most likely it was done by
the demon who dragged you outside."