“What? Like break into a maximum-security prison and free the golems?”
“Whatever it takes.”
He let out a bark of laughter. “I’m afraid you’re not going to have it that easy.”
“Easy?”
“That’s right. No bricks and mortar to conquer, and no grateful golems who you can sway to your cause.”
“What do you mean?”
“Daemons … We’re not like you. We don’t imprison creatures simply for existing.”
“Are you saying the golems aren’t in prison?” Bres asked.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Murray said. “The golems are free, just as they should have been all along. They have lives, jobs, and homes. They’re members of Demonica society, and I can’t for the life of me think why they’d want to come back to a world that wanted them dead. I can’t see what you could say to sway them to help.”
Oh. Shit.
Okay, that sounded bad. I mean, it was great they weren’t prisoners, but there went my knight-in-shining-armor plan.
Deep breath. “I have to try. There must be someone I can speak to. A leader, someone they look up to who’ll hear me out?”
“They have their own community run by the Circle, a group of mages chosen by the golems to keep the peace,” Murray said. “The golems the Nightwatch used in the war were built for fighting. Loaded with aggression and that aggression needs an outlet. Twice a year, the Circle holds the games. Good-natured tournaments that test the mind and body. The golems work in teams, and the winning team members are given a blessing of their choosing.”
“Blessing?” Mai asked.
“Yes,” Murray said. “Wealth, health, a child, whatever it is their heart desires as long as it doesn’t harm another.”
“A child?” Jay frowned. “Golems can’t procreate?”
“No, but the mages have the power to build golem children by melding elements from golem pairings. These daemon-mage-created golems mature as a human child would.”
The power that would take. What would Karishma make of this if she were here? What would Lark say if he were awake?
“It looks like the daemons have done what our council failed to,” Henri said bitterly. “They integrated free golems into society.”
“Then Kat should speak to the Circle,” Kris said.
“The Circle speaks for the golems. It speaks to them,” Murray said.
“Fine, then I’ll appeal to this Circle or whatever.”
“You shouldn’t go alone,” Murray said.
“I can go with her,” Kris said.
Like hell. “No, there’s still a hit out on you. We can’t risk it. I can do this alone.”
“Maybe,” Murray said. “But you shouldn’t have to …” He was looking over my shoulder. “Should she, Larathiel?”
Huh? I followed his gaze to see Luther pressed into the shadows by the counter.
Luther’s eyes glowed softly in the gloom, but he didn’t say anything.
“You can change your face, but you can’t alter the vibration of your power. Come out, old friend.”
Luther stepped out of the shadows. “No.”
Murray’s brows snapped low over his eyes. “No? You’d put your life above those of the many?” He let out a derisive laugh. “Why aren’t I surprised? After all, that is what got you into this mess in the first place.”
“You’re Larathiel?” Kris was staring at Luther, stunned. “I mean … you’re real?”
I threw up my hands. “Hello? On a fucking timer here.”
“Larathiel, the traitor,” Kris said. “That’s what they call him. Larathiel was a mage who abandoned his coven to save his own skin. They all died, and he stole their power.”
I stared at Luther, who averted his gaze, jaw ticking.
“And here he is,” Murray said. “So, Larathiel, will you help, or will you run?”
Luther met his gaze. “If I planned on running, I wouldn’t have agreed to help with the summoning. Admittedly, I wasn’t expecting to be summoning you.” He fixed his attention on me. “I can infect your chosen companions with miasma. It will allow them to travel with you.”
“So …” Murray clapped his hands. “Who’s making the trip?”
Chapter Fourteen
Henri and Bres were coming with me. Luther had juiced them up using his daemon mage mojo, and they were good to go. I can’t say I wasn’t relieved to have my two favorite guys with me on what seemed like an impossible mission.
Mai and Jay offering to join me would have been a plot twist; better yet, Luther, AKA Larathiel, volunteering to go all badass and come with me would have been a kickass plot development. He’d obviously go all redemption mode and somehow find a way to convince the Circle mages to help me, maybe offering himself up for his crimes in exchange for the Circle convincing the golems to help our world. But this wasn’t a novel, this was my life.
Also, Luther obviously wasn’t suicidal. Apparently, the penalty for his crime was death.
It explained why he was hiding out in our world and why he masked his power. If not for the red sky and the tear into the Abyss, maybe he’d have even fooled Murray. I couldn’t imagine him as the bad guy, though. I mean, he’d helped us every step of the way. There had to be more to the story than we were getting, and maybe if we got out of this shitty mess, I’d get a chance to ask him about it.
But right now, it was time to go to Demonica.
The leyline crossing looked ominous under a crimson sky. Heck, the whole town looked like it was bathed in blood. The tinge was beginning to play havoc with my vision. Three days … how much of that did we have left?
Bres took my hand and squeezed reassuringly as Murray did his thing and opened a portal. Henri’s arm brushed my shoulder as we stood side by side, waiting, and then the air shimmered like mercury.
“Ready?” Murray asked.
“Nope, but here goes everything.”
I stepped through the mystical doorway with my hand still snug in Bres’s palm.
The world tilted, a sensation I’d forgotten until now. My head spun, and then I was chucking up my guts under a starlit sky.
Bres gagged and coughed but didn’t throw up. Henri, like the last time we’d been here, was unaffected.
“Sorry.” I wiped my mouth with a crumpled tissue I dug out from my jacket pocket. “I forgot about this bit, or I would have warned you.”
Bres took several deep breaths. “No. I’m good.”
“At least we don’t have to wear ridiculously revealing clothes this time,” Henri said.
Bres perked up. “Really? And what did you wear the last time you came here?” he asked me.
I grinned. “If you’re a good boy, maybe I’ll show you sometime.”
Henri rolled his eyes so hard it was almost audible.
Murray stepped out of thin air a moment later, looking as chilled and casual as always. He glanced up at the sky and down the cobbled road that led up to a town lit up prettily with a multitude of amber lights.
“Is that where the golems live?” Henri asked.
“Yes, they call it Liberty,” Murray said. “The games begin at dawn, so if we want to speak to the Circle, it needs to be now. Once the games begin, they won’t be taking any audiences until all the games are over.”
By which time it’d be too late for us.
We set off down the road at a half jog. As we drew nearer to the town, music drifted out to greet us, and the hum of voices rose up on the air. The dirt track morphed to cobbles, and it was like stepping back in time to the Victorian era—the houses, the streets—it was a replica of a Victorian town.
“The golems designed this,” Murray said. “Designed and built it.”
They missed home … They missed earth. “It’s beautiful.”
Golems walked the night streets, carrying planks of wood and trays of food. Some were in their natural metallic form while others had chosen to don human faces. They were all headed in the same direction—
away from us and toward the center of town. A few inquisitive glances were thrown our way, but then they settled on Murray, and the curiosity was gone.
I guess they knew him. I guess the fact we were with him meant we weren’t of interest.
“The Circle meeting house is up ahead,” Murray said. “During the games, the Circle resides in one building. It allows them to easily officiate and monitor the games.”
“Have you been to the games before?” Bres asked.
Murray shook his head. “No. The games are closed to the public. Only golems get to spectate or take part.”
He cut down a side street, past beautiful ornate streetlamps, each with a single gem pressed into the metallic post. Pretty. We came to a halt outside an ominous-looking black door. There was an actual knocker on the door, a huge brass thing that made a solid boom when Murray used it.
The door was opened a few seconds later by an elderly butler guy. He focused on Murray, not even bothering to look at me and the guys, before ushering us into a dimly lit entrance hall. A coat stand stood to the left next to an umbrella rack, and a staircase shot off up to the right.
“I require an urgent audience with the Circle,” Murray said to the man.
The butler dude inclined his head and then vanished down the dark corridor to the side of the stairs.
“You sure they’ll see us?” Henri asked.
“They’ll see us,” Murray said. “If not for any other reason than curiosity.”
Long minutes ticked by, and then the butler dude reappeared. “This way, please,” he said, before diving back into the dark corridor.
We followed him into the gloom. The place smelled musty, old, and unaired. The walls seemed to close in, triggering a sense of claustrophobia, but then light was spilling across the floor up ahead through a set of double doors. Smartly dressed male figures were visible standing by a huge hearth. Each held a glass of amber liquid.
“Murray! How good to see you,” a portly man said. He was dressed in a suit that looked like it was about to burst open around the abdomen.
“Benjamin, good to see you too,” Murray replied.
Did all daemons adopt bland human-sounding names?
“And you brought visitors?” Benjamin looked us over with interest. His attention lingered on Henri a little too long, and my scalp prickled.
“We need to talk,” Murray said. “The human realm is about to be under attack from primordial creatures. We need your help.”
“Oh?” Benjamin’s face took on that polite inquiring expression I’d seen way too many people put on. It was totally fake. I knew it, and Murray had to know it too, right?
But if our crossroads daemon picked up on the fake concern, he didn’t show it. Instead, he nodded solemnly.
“It’s bad, Benji.” Murray went on to explain the situation. “So, you see, we need the golems to help fight off the threat, long enough for Kat here to get into Somnium and end Tartarus.”
Benji exchanged looks with the other Circle members, all male, all well-fed by the looks of their rotund torsos.
“You want to take the golems back to the human realm?” one of the other men asked. “Back to a world that shunned them?”
“They weren’t shunned by the world,” Bres said. “The council made a bad call.”
“Oh, so you admit that now,” Benji said. “You admit that your council used and spat out the golems.”
“Yes,” Henri said. “What the council did was unfair.”
“And yet, I wager you still work for them?” Benji said to Henri.
“No,” Henri said. “I’m free. Kat freed me months ago. I choose to fight by her side of my own free will.”
“You choose to work for the Watch?”
“I don’t give a damn about the Watch,” Henri said. “I care about my home and the people who live in it, and we need the golems to fight alongside us. We need their help.”
Once again, the Circle members exchanged indecipherable glances. It was almost as if they were communicating somehow. Heck, who knew, maybe they were.
Finally, Benji turned to us with a smile. “The answer is no.”
I hadn’t been expecting this to be easy, but his expression and tone, like he was declining a cup of tea, grated. It made me want to punch him. “Why not?”
“Why should we?” he countered. “The golems are safe and happy here. There is no need to disrupt their lives. Why put them in danger?”
“They wouldn’t be in any danger. They can’t be killed,” Henri pointed out.
Benji shrugged. “Fine, the truth is we don’t believe you deserve the aid. If your world is on the brink of extinction, then maybe you should consider why. Maybe it’s time for your world to cease. Maybe this is the natural course for you. Everything ends sometime.”
“Not if it can be prevented,” Bres said. “Demonica has a treaty with the human world. You’re supposed to aid us.”
“With the fomorian threat, yes; any other threat is negotiable, and if it’s daemon assistance you need, then you should speak to the high council. You’re wasting your time here.” He turned away. “Now, if you don’t mind, we have—” He broke off and cocked his head slightly as if listening to something. “Or …” His smile was faux warm. “There is one other option …”
I didn’t like the sly look that crossed his face, but if there was a way to get the help that we needed … “And what is this other option?”
“You could participate in the games as a guest player. You and your friends as a team. If you win at least one game, then we’ll petition the golems on your behalf. We can be extremely persuasive.”
“Wait, why are you offering us this option now when you were dead set against helping us a moment ago?”
“The golems are important to us. We are very protective of them, and I’m sure you can understand why we’d be reluctant to ask them to fight a war that doesn’t concern them. Even if we did, it would be a strenuous task to convince them of the benefits of offering aid. But morale has been low this past year; the golems have become agitated and antsy. The last games didn’t provide the release of aggression they usually do. But having fresh blood in play on the first day of the games may be just what we need. One day in the games, what do you say?”
“You want a more viable channel for the golems’ aggression,” Murray said.
“Yes,” Benji said. “A fomorian, a Nightblood, and a traitor golem.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “You’re just what this year’s game needs. So, ask yourself, how much does your world mean to you? Are you willing to risk your lives for a chance to save it?”
Dumb question. “I’m in.”
“Kat!” Murray looked horrified. “They’re golems, they can’t be killed.”
“I’m not looking to kill anyone. I’m looking to win.”
“But they’re golems, they could kill you,” he pointed out.
It was obvious Benji had thought of this too, and from the look on his face, he wasn’t fazed by the possibility. But what other choice did we have? Walk away now, emptyhanded? No. If there was a way to get the allies we needed, then I had to do this.
“Still in.” I crossed my arms under my breasts.
“I’m in too,” Henri said.
“Always,” Bres added.
“Excellent.” Benji rubbed his hands together. “Jeremy will take you to the pre-game accommodation and fill you in on how it will work.” He gave a hearty sigh. “Tomorrow is going to be so much fun.”
Chapter Fifteen
When Benji had said accommodations, I thought he’d meant bed-and-breakfast-style rooms. But all four of us had been shoved in a cell with a hearth, a couple of benches, and uncomfortable-looking pallets on the floor.
We’d passed several other doors on the way here, other cells housing golems no doubt. The games’ residences looked like a prison, but the atmosphere was one of excitement and anticipation.
“It’ll be dawn in a couple of hours,” Bres said from his seat by the f
ire.
The fire was more for illumination than heat because golems didn’t feel the chill. I doubt Bres did either, but there was something soothing about a roaring fire in a grate that made everything seem safe.
Henri claimed a spot on one of the benches up against the wall while I paced the flagstones.
“There’s something off about all of this.” I walked over to the cell window and looked out at the pre-dawn landscape. Our room, cell, whatever, had an unobstructed view of the arena. It was a huge sawdust-strewn space, bordered by impressive pillars and ascending stands that would be filled with spectators come dawn. Each pillar sported a flag of a different color. Were they golem team flags?
Speaking of golems, several were visible, setting up obstacles and loading up weapon racks in preparation for the games. Games, which from what I’d gathered from Jeremy’s breakdown, were just a colorful way of giving the golems the chance to beat the shit out of each other without feeling bad about it.
“They put the golems in teams to make it feel like a sport,” Henri said. “To take away the personal aspects.”
My gut was squirming with dread and the conviction that we were missing something vital.
“It will be okay,” Bres said. “We need to win one game, and Jeremy said we’ll be playing at least four games tomorrow. We have four chances to win.”
I didn’t doubt my team, I doubted the setup, but I couldn’t for the life of me pinpoint why.
I was about to turn away from the window and my awesome view of the game grounds when I spotted two Circle members ambling onto the sawdust. They walked casually as if taking a stroll, stopping to chat with the golems one by one as they passed. It was obvious the golems respected them. They inclined their heads when greeting the mages.
What were the mages doing there, though? Just watching the golems set up? They walked across the arena toward one of the pillars, and then they were out of view for several seconds.
They emerged on the other side of the pillar and continued to the next pillar, vanishing for another moment before crossing the arena and disappearing out of view altogether.
“Kat,” Bres said. “You need to feed. You’ll need the buzz.”
Lay the Ghost: Nightwatch Series book 4 Page 10
