Demon Yoda recoiled. “Neither do you. I happen to like buttons.” He held out his hand again and again she slapped it.
“Too bad,” Ari said. “First tell me what I need to know.”
“Which is?”
“You said I could cut off the ring and that it wouldn’t control me.”
“Until it grants you something.”
“Sure, sure,” Ari said. “We covered that. But this Darduk The Devourer guy, that ship has long sailed. So even if we cut it off, the ring will still affect him, right?”
“Yes, but then you’ll be able to kill him,” Demon Yoda said.
“You mean to tell me that as long as he has the ring he’s immortal?”
“Something like that. The ring he’s wearing will protect itself. It will protect its host.”
The analogy of the magic ring-person relationship as host and parasite made Ari’s blood run cold.
“We’re getting company. And lots of it,” Harry announced, eying the surveillance monitors and rummaging in the drawers, presumably for the earbuds he promised.
Demon Yoda took the opportunity to tap several buttons in quick succession before looking up. “The ring will do whatever it takes to survive. It will allow massive amounts of damage to this Darduk.”
Ari sighed. “Meaning I can’t kill him with the ring until after it’s been cut out.”
“Exactly.” He tapped a few more buttons. His face was lit up in excitement. “You can chop his whole head off, but the ring will meld it back together. You have no chance until it‘s gone.”
Kirian chimed in, “Ari said the ring is on one of Darduk’s back molars. And you’re saying that her only option is to walk right up to him, let him eat her, and then perform a dental procedure? And then we can kill him and get rid of the ring? I gotta tell you, that doesn’t sound like it will end well.”
“Oh, more than that,” Demon Yoda said. “This entire galaxy-destroying-apparatus is tied to the ring. It’s like Sauron. If you cut off the ring and kill him, all of his demon hordes will run for the hills. Poof.”
Ari perked up. “Did you hear, Kirian? Poof.”
“I like the sound of that,” Kirian said. “I don’t like the idea of you getting eaten, Ari. How the hell are you going to get eaten without dying? And then there’s the part about the icky oral surgery.”
“Oh yeah,” Ari said. “Stingr, please.” She held out her hand. “I assume you have a couple more of those on your person.”
Kirian laughed, dug one out of her front jeans pocket, and gave it to Ari. “Sure, but just so you know, I’ve never performed oral surgery with it. Ouch.”
“It’s him or me and everybody knows it,” Ari said. “Especially him.” She tapped on the button for the surveillance camera that showed the mutant goth Viking. The other Vikings flanked him, but he was having trouble keeping them focused in the Regal lobby. They were peeling off from him at an alarming rate to gamble. Ari knew she had to leave, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of the surreal events taking place in the lobby. The Viking warlords grabbed whatever Regal employees they could find, not to kill, but to run the gambling machines.
“What the hell?” Kirian asked.
Harry laughed. “Would you look at that? I’ve got an idea. It might just buy you some time, Ari. I’m going to send in my guys to get the rest of the casino area up and running. With any luck, we can isolate that Darduk guy and then maybe you and Kirian will have a chance at him.”
“I’ve got an idea too,” Kirian said. She whispered it in Ari’s ear, probably to not allow Demon Yoda to hear. She was in luck, because Demon Yoda was busy bothering Harry by pushing buttons that were messing up his view of the Regal lobby.
“Stop it, you little green weirdo. I’ve had guys’ fingers chopped off for less. You’re damn lucky Carpe isn’t here. And that I don’t do that sort of thing anymore.” Harry found what he was looking for in the drawers. He handed the earpieces to Ari and Kirian.
“I don’t get a toy?” Demon Yoda asked.
“Toys are for helpers, not button pushers,” Harry answered. Then he turned his attention back to Ari and Kirian. “Okay, put these in and we’ll be able to talk to each other. I’ll do what I can from this end.” He kissed Ari on the cheek. “Please be careful.” He wore a sad expression. Then he caught himself, probably realizing that he wasn’t helping her confidence with that kind of talk. His expression changed back to cocky mob boss grin.
That was the expression that Ari loved the most. She returned the smile.
Then Harry winked at her. “What I meant to say is go get em, killer. If anybody can pull this thing off, it’s you two.”
“Three,” Demon Yoda said.
“You don’t count,” Harry corrected. “Unless you’re going to help. Are you going to go with them or disappear again?” he asked.
“I think I’ll stay here with all the shiny buttons,” Demon Yoda answered.
“I thought so,” Harry said as he slumped into the chair next to him. “Great.” Then his eyes got big. “Oh, hey. It looks like the ghost drones are figuring out there’s a back door. You guys should go.”
17
Kirian led Ari out the back door. As soon as they were out, they could hear Harry fortifying it from the inside.
That was probably unnecessary, Ari thought, since they were all after her, anyway. But she didn’t blame him.
Kirian cut her way through the few ghost drones that were there. Then the two of them were running down hallways again.
“Okay,” Ari said to Kirian. “What’s your plan?”
“I’m going to cut off his head,” Kirian said.
“Sure,” Ari said, a little disappointed, “that usually works. But Demon Yoda said that thing would heal itself.”
“How fast can it heal a severed head?” Kirian asked. “What if we sever it, run off with it, and then cut the ring off?”
“I won’t have to get eaten!” Ari said. “That’s literally the best idea I’ve ever heard. Kirian, I could kiss you.”
“I’d save that for later,” Kirian said as she rounded the corner toward the lobby. “Look, I know you have a deal with that little green demon, and I don’t blame you, you had no choice. That being said, I don’t trust him, and you need to be careful, okay? Hold on, Ari, we’ve got company.”
The two of them stopped because they were almost to the lobby. They peered around the corner. There were gambling sounds, music, and machines. Shouts of celebration and anguish told them that Harry had already put his gambling distraction plan into motion. How odd, though Ari, that these Vikings could casually gamble in the middle of a planned apocalyptic invasion.
“Hold on,” Kirian whispered. “Darduk’s not where he was in the surveillance video. Harry?”
They waited a moment for Harry to get back to them.
“Okay,” Harry said, his voice crackling though their ear pieces. “It looks like he ducked into the Rampart Room. He’s communicating with some of the ghost drones. Probably his scouts. Hey!” Harry yelled that last word into their earpieces, causing Ari to drop to her knees and cover her ears. Which didn’t work because that’s where the earpiece was.
“Sorry,” Harry said, whispering. “But look out behind you!”
“Shit,” Kirian said. She whirled to face half a dozen of the ghost drones that had snuck up behind them. “I didn’t hear them coming, Ari. Did you?”
“No,” Ari said, frowning. “I wonder if they’ve gone into some weird stealth mode or if we couldn’t hear them over the sound of the gambling.”
Kirian took out two of the ghost drones, but then a third one came up to the side of her. It pulled out a stick and jabbed her. The ensuing jolt caused Kirian to drop her sword. It fell to the floor with a thud. Another demon drone brought a fist down on her neck.
Everything was happening so fast. Ari’s pistol was in her jacket pocket, and the Stingr sword was in her jeans. The fastest way to help Kirian was to use her non-ring magic. She pointed
a finger at the remaining ghost drones and they fell to the ground with a clank. Just like they had at the top of the hatch. Then Ari went down on one knee, trying not to pass out again. She got an idea and rummaged through the rest of her pockets. She found some junior mints and popped them all into her mouth.
Kirian got up and massaged her neck. “Did I miss something? Is it snack time already?”
“The sugar,” Ari said. “I crave it after I use the magic. And look, I’m still here. I didn’t pass out!” She put the half- eaten box of junior mints back in her purse.
“Good for you,” Kirian said. “That’ll come in handy.”
“You guys, get out of there!” Harry said, shouting again. “They know where you are and there are a bunch more ghost drones headed your way.”
“Where should we go, Harry?” Ari asked.
“Umm… hold on. Okay, take a right and head into Chez Vrais. Go all the way through to the back. Then you’ll have a back way to get to Darduk. I heard your plan, Kirian. I like it.”
Ari sucked in a breath. If Harry heard it, then Demon Yoda heard it. Ari walked quietly toward Chez Vrais with Kirian following. She made it and opened the antique oak double doors, let Kirian in, and then shut them again.
Inside, a few Regal guys in the back got startled and pointed weapons at them. They retracted the weapons quickly when they saw that it was Ari, and that she had a finger over her mouth. They started murmuring when they saw Kirian.
“Is it clear?” Ari asked, pointing to the back room as she got closer to the guys.
“Yes it’s clear,” they said. “You think we’re sitting here fully armed for nothing?”
Ari and Kirian crept past them to the back door and listened. It was clear. For now. Shouts from the Regal guys followed by weapons fire confirmed that the ghost drones had followed them.
While Ari and Kirian were peering down the hallway, Darduk walked by, heading toward the lobby. This was their chance. Nobody was in sight, and Darduk was alone. They quietly made their way down the hallway.
“Okay,” said Kirian, “got him.”
When they got to the lobby, Darduk’s back was to them. He appeared to be yelling at a subordinate who was busy gambling instead of doing his job.
“Imbecile. Get back to work,” Darduk said.
“Make me,” the other Viking said. “I’m up forty-seven thousand galactic credits. Unless you’ve decided to give me a forty-seven-K raise, then go find that stupid Staar yourself.”
Ari and Kirian continued to sneak up on him.
Darduk straightened and squared off at the defiant Viking. “That’s not how this works,” he said. “Hitherware is not a corporation. It’s a supernatural power.” He grabbed the Viking by his armor and lifted him up into the air.
The Viking squirmed.
Ari and Kirian had continued to sneak up on Darduk while his back was turned. The Viking in trouble could clearly see them now from his higher vantage point.
He pointed at the two women. “Darduk! The Staar girl and her friend, they’re sneaking up on you!”
“I’m not falling for that old trick,” Darduk said. “Then the giant mouth mutated again in front of the squirming, squealing Viking.
“No! Darduk! You promised not to eat any more of us, remember?”
Darduk stuffed the Viking, still screaming, into his mouth.
Ari froze. The whole point of the thing was to sneak up on him and cut his head off. Only, the screaming and the crunching, and the gurgling that was happening right now in front of her had given rise to a primal fear. It was the bone crunching noise that got to her. Followed by the gurgling, chewing, and strained swallowing. Ew.
While Ari found that she was frozen in fear and couldn’t move, Kirian was more than capable.
“You should have listened to your man, Darduk,” Kirian said. Her Stingr sword was already out and activated. Darduk turned, surprised to see them. He looked like it caught him off guard. He tried to chew faster. Jagged, bloody teeth jutted from the edges of his mouth, where they had not been before. Ari had to fight the urge to lose her junior mints.
Kirian, probably sensing he was vulnerable, leaped at him. She swung the Stingr sword at the neck that was impossibly supporting the giant, hideous face and mouth.
Ari held her breath as Kirian’s sword slashed through the thin neck. She watched as Darduk’s expression changed. His eyes grew wide in surprise. Then they became fixed and unmoving.
The gigantic head fell, top heavy down onto the floor, the glazed over eyes were still staring at Ari. Which was terrifying because now the head was decapitated and lying upside down on the floor.
Now was her chance. Ari finally broke free of her trance. She sprinted toward the hideous head to grab it.
That’s when she was jabbed and electrocuted from behind. The last thing she saw out of the corner of her eye was an entire herd of ghost drones that had snuck up behind her and Kirian while they were watching Darduk the decapitated eat his own Viking soldier.
No fair, she thought. Once she hit the ground, Ari could see that the ghost drones remembered the beating that Kirian had given them earlier and were enthusiastically returning the favor. Time slowed down. Darduk’s body calmly bent over to retrieve the oozing head from where she dropped it when she was ambushed. He placed it back on his body. Then he stood there trembling for a minute.
Ari could feel more jolts coming from the ghost drones, but she was almost too numb to care. She was watching with horror and interest as Darduk’s head and body melded back together. In her earpiece, Harry was unapologetically freaking out. He was screaming at all of his personnel to get to their location right now. It wasn’t going to matter though. Nothing would matter anymore. They were beat.
Darduk barked an order, presumably to one of his Viking men. A moment later that Viking came back with a giant axe that was taller than Ari was. He made a hand gesture to the ghost drones, and they stopped tormenting Ari and Kirian.
In the ensuing silence, Darduk stood to his full height and cleared his throat. Then the formerly disembodied and still engorged head wore a horrific smirk.
“Okay, Staar girl, It‘s time to die,” Darduk said.
“Hey,” Ari answered. “I thought you were going to eat me.” She figured that this was as good a delaying tactic as any since the guy was obviously full.
He dragged the axe over to Ari and knelt next to her. “Sure,” he said. “I could do that, but there’s no rule that says you have to be alive when I eat you. It’s more fun when you’re alive, but the prophecy said you’d give me real problems. And I don’t need problems. So I will kill you now and finish your galaxy. But first, I’m going to kill her.” He pointed at Kirian. “For chopping off two different body parts of mine today. A gutsy move. In truth, no enemy has ever managed to chop off any of my body parts before today, so it’s impressive.” He stopped to flex the arm that had reattached to his body.
That’s insane, Ari thought. Totally bonkers. You can’t just go around losing limbs and your head and live to tell about it. Just how powerful was his magic ring, anyway? Magic ring. She had completely forgotten about it since she was still pretty much dead set against using it.
Darduk walked over to Kirian. He lifted the axe and shifted its weight in his hand. “It’s time to die, female warrior.” He raised the axe. “I salute you.”
Ari closed her eyes. She felt the ring, its presence and its energy, maybe even a will. She heard something then, above the noise of her own beating heart and above the distraction of her racing emotions. She heard a tone. It sounded like one of those hearing tests that one takes as a child. At first, she could barely hear it, but then when she concentrated, it drowned out everything else. Ari didn’t understand what the ringing meant, and she didn’t have to figure it out. But she had a magic ring, and she remembered what Demon Yoda and Ray said about her and the ring doing things for each other. It made little sense to her, but anything was worth a try at this point. If she did this,
though, she would lose her ability to separate from the ring, possibly forever. She decided it was worth the risk. There, in the silence, she whispered to the ring. It was a wish, a wish she meant more than anything she had ever hoped for in her life. Then she closed her eyes.
18
After Ari made the wish, she listened. Her eyes were still closed, and she was afraid to open them. She was afraid to listen too, afraid that she would hear that giant axe come down into Kirian. Afraid that there would be a clunking sound as the axe went through her to the wood floor below. She continued to listen, but she heard nothing.
“What, is she sleeping? At a time like this?” It was Soda’s voice. “Wake up, Ari. You’re a lot of things, buy lazy isn’t one of them.”
Ari cracked an eye open. The sight of a neon green octopus staring down at her greeted her. She opened her eyes all the way and stood up.
She was in Arcturis! At the Galactic Ambassador Hotel. With Fleek and Ray and Soda and Froggy. And Chipmunk. “Hi, Chippy.” She never figured that would make her as happy as it did right now. Then she remembered something. “Kirian!”
There was a groaning sound across the room. The group went over to check on her. Kirian’s clothes were literally sizzling from the wounds inflicted by the ghost drones.
Ray bent down and put out the smoking clothes with his cape. “What happened to you guys?”
Kirian sat straight up and grabbed her belly and chest. “I’m alive! I’m in one piece. I’m… … Back in Arcturis? What the hell happened, Ari?” She looked around in confusion for a moment. “I mean, thank you, Ari, but what did you do?”
Kirian looked up at Ari with a look of concern. “You did it, didn’t you? You made a deal with the ring. Now you’re committed.”
“What is she talking about?” Soda asked Ari. Then Soda’s gaze went to the ring on her finger. “Great. The ring. You got it, we’re saved. Go kick some ass, Ari. It’s that simple, right?”
“Yeah,” Ari said. “It’s that simple. Except I don’t exactly know how the magic ring works, so I made a deal with little green Demon Yoda who said he’d help me. And then the ring granted me something. So, that’s pretty much two different soul-selling devil deals today.” Ari glanced at her watch. “And it’s what, barely past lunch?” Then Ari looked at Ray, whose face went white as a sheet. “Ari, no! You did what? I could have helped you with the magic.”
Overlord Alliance: Book 2 of the Neon Octopus Ally Series Page 11
