Kelsey leaned over the table threateningly. “You listen to me. I am more powerful than you realize. You even attempt to touch Desmond, and I have no qualms about destroying this amulet, you hear me? Or I’ll turn him right over to the Emperor and Empress and you’ll never get him back, because yes, I do remember him now. And after that, I’ll go after you.” Kelsey held up one finger and it, too, instantly lit with fire. She placed her finger under the talisman and let the smoke curl around it.
Desmond gave a strangled cry of surprise and nearly jumped out of his seat in shock.
Raga snarled. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Kelsey squinted. “Oh yes, I would.”
The talisman began to spark and blacken on the bottom, and Kelsey felt Caim’s rage in her gut.
Raga backed off quickly. “Fine. Leave him be.”
Kelsey flicked her finger and the flame disappeared. She gave Desmond a look that said they’d talk about this later, blew on the talisman to cool it, and then hid it back under her shirt.
“Now tell me why he killed the Emperor and Empress, and what they’re planning on doing with him,” Kelsey ordered.
Raga’s brown eyes began to glow red in anger. “They want to torture him to find their damn charm, that’s why. You listen to me, Sister. Threaten me all you want, threaten Caim, but if you don’t help me, I’m going pluck your friend Josh from Xanadu and deposit him right at Father’s feet. After what he did, he should be down in the hell realms right now paying for all the sins he committed in this lifetime, instead of being protected. You know this. Hide him all you want, but the transgressions on his soul have marked him just as much as we are, and his aura is like a black slime oozing through Xanadu. Everyone can see it and it will take a millennia to dissipate. More than enough time for any of us to find him.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
Raga raised her brows. “Oh yes, I would. And I’ll play with him first for a thousand years until I use him up, and then I’ll hand him over to the hell guards. You know how much I love to do that.”
“You can’t touch him. He’s protected in Xanadu.”
“So you think. There are ways. He’s easy enough to see. Father went there once. We can go there again. In fact, there is a rift in the sky right now,” she said, knowingly.
“No there isn’t.”
Raga sneered. “Oh yes there is. Your beloved Emperor and Empress are up to something. There is a rift in their nighttime sky, and one that was not created naturally. Just big enough for a few demons to push through.”
Kelsey stood up angrily. “Enough of your pathetic threats and lies. Let’s get out of here before we create any more of a scene. You can finally tell me what this charm is they’re looking for, and then I’ll decide if I’ll help you.” Before Desmond could even fish for his wallet, Kelsey threw thirty dollars on the table to cover the glass of wine she’d gotten for him before he’d arrived.
Raga stood up and stretched like a cat. Every eye in the restaurant was now upon her. She stared around. “Lovely. There is such sensuousness here. Maybe I do understand a bit of the allure.” She turned to Kelsey. “I’m dying to see where you’ve chosen to spend your life. I’m sure it’s just as grand as your suite in Father’s palace. Do you still have a pleasure room? You remember, the one with that large pink fur couch and the leather swing?” she asked innocently. “I love that swing. I hope you don’t mind that I took it after you left.”
Kelsey sighed and simply shook her head. “Let’s just go, Raga.”
They breezed through the front bar and had nearly reached the door when Kelsey paused. She glanced around warily as Desmond handed her leather coat to her, which he’d retrieved from the coat check.
“What is it? Is it Caim?” Raga asked.
Kelsey pursed her lips and grasped the amulet. “He’s angry suddenly. I can feel his energy.”
“Of course he’s angry. You nearly burned him to death.”
Kelsey walked back and stared around the bar, searching. “I don’t think that’s it.” She turned to Raga. “Do you have the power to talk to him? He’s trying to tell me something.”
Raga took a hesitant step forward and held out her finger. She touched the amulet almost reverently and closed her eyes. After a few seconds, Raga opened them and shook her head in disappointment. “No, I feel nothing from him.”
Raga actually cares about him. Look at that.
Kelsey kept searching the bar. “If you’re so almighty powerful on Earth, do you sense anything else in here?”
Raga peered around. “Just pitiful humans.”
“Then you’re not as mighty as you think. There’s another demon in here with us and Caim can feel it. Unless I confront every single person in the bar and restaurant and make a huge scene, I don’t know how we’re going to find it.” Kelsey took a further step into the lounge and searched the faces of its patrons. This section of Lao Yo’s was crowded. Couples drinking champagne. Some men on the bar stools watching a football game. A group of women who looked like they had just come from work. A man in the back with his head stuck in a menu. She stared hard at him for a few moments and took a step towards him. He wore a baseball cap and blond hair peeked out from it. He had sunglasses on, despite being inside, and he had a beard and mustache. He looked nothing like the man who had attacked her in her bed. When Caim didn’t react further either, and the man began turning the pages of the menu, Kelsey turned away.
“Let’s get out of here.” She turned and left the restaurant with her sister at her side.
Desmond followed them, feeling more and more like every world, and every realm, had suddenly collided.
* * * * *
Robbie sat at the far corner of the bar in a back booth, sipping ice water through a straw and pretending to read the menu. He observed the two temptress sisters stall, glance around, and then finally breeze out of the restaurant. When Kelsey had stared at him and taken a step towards his table, he’d nearly portalled back to Pritvhi. He was upset Kelsey elicited such powerful emotions from him. Normally, nothing fazed him, yet this girl, this demon, constantly put him off guard. She struck him as impulsive and unreliable, unlike any being he’d ever encountered before. And she had felt my demon. He’d dared not move, even though he had taken great care not to stand out. He’d purchased a blond wig and had glued a fake beard and mustache to his face to hide his bruises and swelling. A pair of sunglasses rested on his nose, hiding his black eye. He’d taken a chance wearing them inside, but there was just no other way to hide his injuries.
He’d kept his cool, reading the menu as if he had not a care in the world. But he did care. Had he not portalled out of Kelsey’s apartment when he did, Robbie was sure he would be in even worse shape, if not dead. This girl--this demon--was a brutal fighter, and he blamed himself for letting his guard down for even a moment. Robbie kicked himself for having been shocked when she woke up, but she had been in such a deep sleep he thought he could get in and out quickly with no problems. For God’s sake, he’d had his knee in her gut and his arm across her windpipe, choking her. She never should have been able to even move, yet once she woke up, it was as if all his training had been for naught. In seconds, Kelsey had flipped him around like an amateur, and beaten him within an inch of his life. If he had not apparated when he did, he knew he could very well be dead.
Humans just couldn’t fight like that. She’d stunned him with her punches to his temple, and all his training hadn’t stopped the instinctual desire to cover his face with his hands. Still, he’d had the sense to grab the ring and portal out of there, right to the teaching quarters in the training grounds at Pritvhi. After people there had surrounded him and gotten him medical help, he’d had to endure the snickering from the other students and the lecture from the elders for not being more prepared for every inevitability.
Robbie had taken the dressing down, but when he’d explained what happened, the elders had been stunned that Robbie hadn’t been given more information on Kels
ey by the Emperor and Empress from the beginning. Master Dov and the other elders had been told Robbie was simply being sent on a training assignment to retrieve an amulet from a lowly temptress demon with little power, and that it would be important for his personal growth. Like everyone, he’d studied the seduction of Siddhartha and learned about the three sisters, but much of his teachings concerning his target had obviously been left out. To what end, he had no idea. Tanha was no lowly demon as he’d been led to believe, but actually quite powerful and the daughter of the Buddhist Devil himself. Why had he not been better educated about her before he’d been asked to confront her?
The Elders had met that very hour to discuss Kelsey Porter, and now this second demon that Robbie had fought with at the bookshop. Robbie didn’t miss one whisper or pitying glance they cast in his direction. He’d said nothing, but he knew something else was in play.
Master Dov had found him resting in the sculpture garden. This particular teacher had been with him since he was just five years old and essentially served as the father figure in his life. He’d been assigned to Robbie and immediately started the boy’s training as a soldier and protector of the realms. As he grew, Robbie realized Master Dov differed from the other teachers in Pritvhi. He was more firm and fierce, and had an air about him that seemed as old as time. He expected the best of Robbie and constantly pushed him to be better, to be stronger, to be learned in the arts of demons. The other students, truth be told, were scared of Master Dov. Robbie had heard the man hadn’t always been so driven, but that once he’d been given Robbie to train, he’d found his true calling and had become an entirely different person.
Because of this training, Robbie had become strong and sure at an early age. No other students were taken on missions and quests to hunt demons before their eighteenth year, but his master took him. Master Dov impressed upon Robbie that it was essential not to fear. Essential that he learn how to control his emotions around demons.
The other students were jealous of him, but Robbie knew it was because he was better than all the rest of them. And yet Kelsey had still bested him. He felt ashamed and berated himself, knowing that he must do better the next time he faced her.
His master had beckoned him to his side on a nearby stone bench. “I need to ask you a few questions outside the hearing of the other elders.” He removed an icepack from the folds of his navy blue robe and handed it to Robbie.
The boy placed it on his swollen cheek. “Thank you, Master. What kind of questions do you have for me?”
“Does Kelsey Porter seem at all familiar to you?”
Robbie’s eyebrows shot up in surprise and he tried not to gasp at the involuntary pain the action caused. “She actually does. I felt something in the back of my mind when I first saw her at the cemetery, but I don’t know why.”
“Explain it to me.”
Robbie thought hard. “I have this strange sense of déjà vu around her, but I believe it’s simply one of her powers of persuasiveness. In Xanadu, the Emperor told me this might happen and if I feel it, I’m to ignore it.” He paused. “Why? Should she seem familiar?”
“The various parts of the universe are connected in many ways. But there are things you still don’t know that I must teach you.” His teacher seemed suddenly chagrined, which was a strange emotion to see in the man’s normally stoic face. “I need to apologize to you.”
Again Robbie was shocked. “Apologize, Master? For what?”
“For being so hard on you all these years. For not allowing you to have the same childhood that the other students had. I pushed you hard, harder than all the others, but I felt it was necessary. You’re destined to do great things and I needed to make sure you were prepared.”
“Thank you Master. I appreciate that.”
“There’s nothing to appreciate. It was my duty. Any other student would have failed already and died in the demon’s lair. You, at least, had the presence of mind to get out of the apartment and portal home even in the middle of an attack. Not to mention you survived the encounter at the bookshop. You are strong, Robbie. Much stronger than you realize.”
“Obviously not strong enough.” He stared at his hands, both honored and embarrassed by the adulation Master Dov showered on him. His teacher didn’t compliment him often, and when he did, Robbie knew his words to be true.
Master Dov put an uncharacteristic hand on his arm and squeezed. “Don’t beat yourself up anymore. In failure we learn. Kelsey is unlike any other demon you’ve encountered so far. She is both human, in her physical form, and also is the reincarnated daughter of Mara, the Buddhist Devil. I have an idea who the other demon is that you met, though I don’t understand why she would be here. Can you describe her to me?”
“Indian in form and extremely sexual. She has this energy that just seems to ripple off of her.” His cheeks reddened.
The teacher blew out a sharp breath. “Of course. It was another temptress demon. Don’t be ashamed about how she made you feel. That is her one true power. To bring men to their knees and make them lose their minds over desire. It is a very formidable ability. One of the most powerful, that can best the strongest of men. Robbie, come with me.” Master Dov had risen and taken him to the library. The man perused the spines on the shelves and then pulled out an old illustrated scroll. He unrolled it and displayed a beautiful illustration of three women dancing around Siddhartha as he tried to meditate in his quest to find enlightenment. Robbie’s master pointed to one of the women. “Is this the one you saw at the bookshop?”
Robbie shook his head and pointed to one of the other sisters. “No, this is the one I fought.”
“Yes, that is Raga. Of course. It makes sense that she’s here,” he mused.
Robbie stared at the illustration. “Which one is Tanha?”
His teacher pointed to the final beautiful, sultry Indian girl. For a moment an expression Robbie had not seen before crossed the man’s face. His countenance softened for the sheerest of moments, but then it was gone.
“She looks nothing like Kelsey Porter, Master.”
“Of course she doesn’t. In this lifetime, Kelsey Porter is a twenty-three year old Caucasian American girl, not an Indian Princess of the Underworld. But nonetheless, Kelsey is the reincarnation of this demon.”
“Does she know this?”
Master Dov nodded. “Yes, she does.”
“Wait, she knows she is a demon from the hell realms? The daughter of Mara?”
His teacher nodded again.
Robbie was floored. “Teacher, what are the daughters of the Buddhist Devil doing on Earth? And why is Kelsey even allowed to roam around unconstrained? I have always been taught that demons are not allowed to exist in the human realms. It is why our order was created. To either dispose of them or send them back to where they belong.”
His master turned to him and his eyes held Robbie fast. “I must teach you something right now. Something that will go against everything you have been taught thus far in Pritvhi. Not all demons are bad.”
Robbie’s jaw dropped in astonishment. “Since when? Some may have lower demonic powers, but none of them are good, sir. They are all doing penance in a hell realm for transgressions committed in a previous existence. None were able to be human.”
“Yet, Kelsey is human. Do you wonder why at all?”
Robbie paused. That question hadn’t even entered his mind. “Well, of course. She’s not really human. She’s just using someone’s body.”
“No, she’s completely human and born of human parents. She did not possess anyone’s body.” His teacher had a faraway expression on his face again, and then shook his head as if clearing his mind. “I struggle with what I can say. What I can tell you is that nearly four thousand years ago, Tanha made a great decision. She left her father’s side in the Naraka realm and decided to live a human life.”
Robbie jumped to his feet. “That can happen? Demons can choose to be human without paying penance?”
“She was neve
r human to begin with, so she had no penance to pay. Her soul made this decision. So while she is a demon at her spiritual core, she is different than all others.” The teacher sat back and rubbed at the scar on his chin, thinking. “And now the Emperor and Empress feel Kelsey is someone you need to confront. They’ve put her in your path and that is disturbing for many reasons.”
“You know something, Master, I know you do. Please, you must tell me. There are two temptress demons walking about on Earth right now and no one seems too concerned.”
“It is concerning and something the elders are taking seriously, but you must remember, you are still young and a novice. There are things you do not yet know and things you have not yet learned. Do not become pompous. A soldier can’t fight demons if he thinks he knows everything, and you do not yet know everything. Remember that, boy.”
His teacher’s words reassured him somewhat, but then Master Dov put his hand on Robbie’s shoulder again. “You need to remember this, though. No matter what her lineage, Kelsey is a human girl reincarnated from Tanha. So yes, while she is the spiritual daughter of the Buddhist Devil, she is also very much human. She had a mother and father here on Earth. A loving family she grew up with. She’s lived a human existence up until now, and it was a path she personally chose.”
“So, she has no abilities or powers that can hurt anyone?”
“I wouldn’t say that.” But the teacher said no more.
Robbie finally got angry. “Why are you not telling me everything? Why are you hiding things from me? Why did the Emperor and Empress not tell me about her? Look what she did to me! I am a trained fighter, taught by the best soldiers and the best teachers in Pritvhi, and yet this girl nearly killed me. You can tell me all you wish that she’s human, but it’s a lie. She’s not a regular girl! At the very least, tell me her entire story so I know what I’m dealing with.”
Master Dov thought for a moment and then nodded. “Fine. I owe you that much. Lore says that Tanha left Mara’s kingdom to be reborn as a human. Though she had her every want and desire met while living in the Naraka realm, she wanted to lead a spiritual life on the righteous path. She always thought there was something more for her in this human continuum than living her life as a demon. We believe Siddhartha himself may have influenced her when she first tried to seduce him. He planted a seed in her brain that perhaps there was more to one’s existence than vapidness, selfish desire and debauchery.”
The Search for Starlight Page 8
