A Demon's Due: Latter Day Demons, Book 3

by Connie Suttle

  It looked good enough for anyone to inhabit—except for the rather large hole in the floor's center.

  Mason stared down that hole into darkness. "Somebody's building a tunnel," he lifted his eyes to mine.

  "Three guesses where it's going," Watson growled.

  "I don't need three guesses. Is it a straight drop?" I asked Mason.

  "No. Roughly six feet down, it bends and then slopes gradually, I think. At least that's what I see from here."

  He had vampire night vision, so of course he'd see that.

  "Good. I'm going in," I said. "I missed dear old V'ili in Adelaide. I'd bet everything I have that he's at the bottom of this."

  "No," Watson held out a hand as I dropped into the hole and landed on solid ground below.

  "Come on, you wimps," my voice echoed. "Let's get this thing going."

  * * *

  Queen's Palace, Le-Ath Veronis

  Lissa

  "You should stay here," I said.

  Glinda ignored me and pulled a long knife from a sheath to check the edge. The metal was black, the edge as sharp as Grey House could make it.

  "Tell me why," she demanded, turning toward me.

  "You haven't fought in a while," I pointed out.

  "Jayd hasn't fought in a while, either."

  "Glinda, you can't go against him. It'll destroy you, even if you survive."

  "You think I haven't been destroyed already? He may as well have killed Jheri, shooting that filth into her neck."

  "Then let me come with you," Denevik appeared beside me.

  I won't lie; I sagged in relief.

  "Denny, what happened to us?" Glinda's eyes filled with tears.

  Denevik strode toward her and pulled her into a tight hug. "I think it started a long time ago, baby sister," he soothed. "Times changed. We didn't."

  "Or most of us didn't," Glinda muffled against his shoulder.

  "True. All it took was a little nudge from rogue gods, and the thin veneer of civilization sloughed right off," Denevik said. "We didn't fight to get it back. Li'Neruh Rath said Jayd and Garde could have fought for it. They didn't."

  Garde.

  I'd loved him. A part of me still did.

  "I can't employ power for this, but I can still fight," I said. "I'm coming with you."

  Glinda pulled away and stared at me in shock.

  * * *

  Foth Castle, Northern Reaches, Kifirin

  Zaria

  Blades clashed against blades; Kory's brothers had all shown up with their own arms. If they hadn't, they'd be forced to fight with fists against blades.

  With what Foth had in his treasury, and the few swords they'd made that I'd reinforced, at least we didn't have faulty equipment to wage war.

  I stood behind Bryan Riley in his tower, while he transmitted his camera feed directly to a room full of images that Jamie Rome and several others watched and sent immediately to Le-Ath Veronis and Wyyld. From there, they were transmitted to the Alliances.

  The Alliances were watching a war first hand, and from close quarters.

  I cringed every time I heard a death roar from a High Demon. Their blood slicked the courtyard at the center of the Castle, and I was too terrified to Look to see who lived and who died.

  Interfering too much with this timeline could have disastrous consequences for the future; I knew that already.

  And so I watched Kory's brothers fall through my tears.

  At least Kory and Lexsi had their blades; they'd finally needed them.

  Another roar.

  Another fallen High Demon, his affiliation unknown.

  We're here, Glinda, Denevik and I, Lissa sent.

  Then haul your granddaughter away from her derring-do and get your mist on, I said. I'm tired of watching Kory's family get slaughtered.

  On it, Lissa returned.

  The first High Demon head exploded seconds later.

  * * *

  Kent, England

  Adam Chessman

  "Anita, Watson, Sandra and Mason are missing," Kiarra folded into the kitchen, where I was having a cup of afternoon tea.

  My head jerked up at the news. "Where?" I stood, prepared to go after them.

  "No idea. You know we can't find a Sirenali; that's their superpower."

  "Then where do you think they may have gone?" I asked. By that time, Merrill was in the kitchen, listening carefully.

  "I suggest looking in Mutitjulu," Pheligar appeared behind Merrill. "A few structures are still standing. All should have been knocked down by the force of the blast."

  "We'll start there," Kiarra said, changing her clothing with a thought to deal with the heat of an Australian summer.

  I didn't have time to do mine; Pheligar did it for Merrill and me before folding the three of us away with him.

  * * *

  "Here," I said, after sniffing about the small shack on the outskirts of the tiny town of Mutitjulu. "I smell both werewolves, the vampire and the Sirenali."

  "Agreed," Merrill said.

  "The door's still open and nobody's inside," Kiarra said after Looking.

  "Shall we?" Pheligar transformed into a human-sized being and motioned toward the door.

  I wasn't prepared to find a hole at the center of a nicely-appointed home inside the deceptive, shack-like exterior. "Somebody's tunneling their way toward Uluru," Merrill said, echoing my thoughts.

  "The scent of our missing four is all around it," I said. "They're following the tunnel makers."

  "Not good," Kiarra stared down the dark hole and shook her head.

  "I will ensure that it will not collapse about us," Pheligar declared. "We will do our best to catch up to our knights errant before the timeline is damaged."

  "I'll go first," I said and dropped into the hole.

  * * *

  Foth Castle, Northern Reaches, Kifirin

  Zaria

  Dearest, Val sent, Father has heard from Pheligar. I'm afraid that Anita and three others are tracking V'ili and Morgett through a tunnel built by Morgett and the Blackmantle twins. They're attempting to reach Uluru underground.

  I slapped a hand over my face while High Demon heads continued to explode in the courtyard. Is Pheligar following them? Please say yes, I returned.

  He, Kiarra, Adam and Merrill are following, although only Pheligar can employ his power. I have no doubt that any use of a Saa Thalarr's power will alert the Ra'Ak Prince to their location.

  And chaos will surely come, I said.

  Yes. That is my father's opinion, as well as my own.

  When it rains, it pours.

  Not always, dearest.

  Honey?

  Yes?

  Now is not the time to be literal, okay?

  I see your point.

  Thank you.

  What do you intend to do about this?

  Honey, I'm thinking, I said. It's not easy to do that, because High Demon heads are popping like Champagne corks below me.

  "Do what you must; I will watch here," Li'Neruh Rath's smaller Thifilathi appeared at my side.

  I grimaced at him. He leaned in to kiss me. Energy slammed into me at the same time. I felt more alert afterward than I had in days. He'd given me strength to act and think, and I was grateful.

  Plus, as a first kiss, it wasn't terrible and I told him so.

  "Thanks, I think," he grinned around his fangs.

  "I'll be back," I said and folded space.

  * * *

  Lexsi

  Gran and I misted from one rogue High Demon to the next, misting in, expanding our mist quickly and causing heads to explode.

  I could do nothing about the trail of bodies we left behind; those were piling up at an alarming rate. Still, they outnumbered us and more came.

  Go to the back of the line and work your way forward, Gran instructed. Hopefully we'll meet in the middle.

  Okay. I squelched a wave of queasiness at the growing mountain of bloody, headless High Demons below my mist and rushed toward
the back of Jayd's troops.

  Jayd stalked behind his army, uncaring that ahead of him, my grandmother and I had taken out so many High Demons already. Somehow, the anger on his Thifilathi's face let me know that he wanted his own hands on Lords Weth, Foth and Greth. If he could get his hands on me and Gran, he'd try to kill us, too.

  Ignoring him for the moment, I misted inside the head of one close to him and blew out my mist.

  Jayd barely faltered as the headless High Demon fell. He merely snorted clouds of smoke, as if daring me to kill him, too.

  He was related, through my father. How could I kill him?

  Forget him, a male voice sounded in my mind. Li'Neruh Rath had come. Continue taking down the others, he added.

  Feeling somewhat relieved, I went back to work killing the others, just as Li'Neruh asked.

  * * *

  Reah

  Edward and Gavril arrived. Edward's War Eagle screamed overhead before diving down and removing a High Demon's head with razor-sharp claws.

  That's when several High Demons took flight to chase after him. In midair, Gavril, as mist, exploded one head after another, raining bodies, blood, brain matter and skull fragments on the attacking High Demons below.

  Edward and Gavril had planned this together. Jayd's rogue army was now threatened from above as well as on the ground.

  Flinging out a wing, I knocked an attacker off his feet, then skewered him in the throat with my blade before he could rise.

  Yes, it was nasty business. I killed them before they could kill me. That is the most basic rule of any war, and I'd been through more than enough battles in my lifetime. Slowly, these rogues were learning that my Thifilatha was just as seasoned (if not more so) than the best they could send against me.

  My Grey House blade clanged against that of another rogue, who'd thought to come close as he attacked me. I punched him in the face while our blades were still crossed, then kneed him in the groin. While he doubled over in pain, I stepped back and relieved him of his head.

  * * *

  Near Mutitjulu, Northern Territory, Australia

  Anita

  They were digging as they went, if my supposition was correct. I and my three were following the easy path they'd created.

  I figured V'ili had nothing to do with the formation of the tunnel; he'd be there to provide cover, only. Morgett and the twins would be tired from creating a tunnel so quickly.

  Morgett wanted to get to the Library very badly.

  As did the Ra'Ak horde covering the ground above our heads.

  Sandra and Watson had turned to wolf; Mason carried their clothing in case it was needed again. Both werewolves followed the scent along the tunnel after Watson confirmed that we were on the right path.

  Our quarry hadn't taken time to build misleading tunnels to trap or confuse any followers—likely because they wanted to reach their goal as swiftly as they could.

  The question that kept niggling at my brain, however, was this; what did Morgett hope to gain from this? Did he think the Library was going to do his bidding or something? Would it give him an enormous amount of power—provided he could control it in some way?

  Zaria's words came back to me, then. The words she'd said had come from Papa Neff—Nefrigar, Valegar's father and Chief Archivist of the Larentii Archives. He'd surmised that the Library could destroy everything.

  I hadn't really considered that to mean everything everything.

  Zaria imagined that rogue gods could be involved in all this, somehow.

  "Oh, my fucking goodness," I stopped short to mutter under my breath. I was accompanied by two werewolves and a vampire. They could have heard my low voice from half a mile away.

  "What is it?" Mason asked.

  "I think we're all being played—to the bitterest end you can possibly imagine," I whispered.

  "What are you talking about?" Sandra was human again. Naked and human, I reminded myself.

  "On Kifirin, a planet so far away you can't see its sun's light from here, the High Demons are trying to destroy themselves, thanks to a bit of interference from rogue gods. Here, we have Morgett doing his best to get to the Library through this tunnel, and above our heads, we have an army of Ra'Ak, led by a Ra'Ak Prince who wants exactly the same thing. Who told them about the Library to begin with? I think the same rogue gods are playing both sides against each other. Why, you ask? Well, Nefrigar of the Larentii thinks that the Library could destroy everything, rather than fall into the wrong hands. What if this is the rogue gods' way to clean the slate? People, I think we're screwed."

  "Clean the slate?" Watson pulled his shirt over his head, then blinked at me in confusion.

  "Don't worry about it," Zaria said as she landed beside me. "Anita, Kiarra, Adam, Merrill and Pheligar are trying to catch up with you. Wait here for them, all right? You're not equipped to take on Morgett, you know. That's what they do—they fight Ra'Ak all the time."

  "You sound like you're leaving again," I said, my hands going to my hips.

  "Yeah. I think I have to. No, I can't explain it," she held up a hand before I could ask. "Just wait for Kiarra and the others. Besides, Pheligar can get you around and provide a shield so you won't be seen. Okay?"

  "I'm all for not being seen," Sandra said right away.

  "Fine," I grumped. "How long before they arrive?"

  "Less than half an hour," Zaria replied. "It'll give you time to rest a bit."

  "All right, but it's only because you helped me a long time ago," I said.

  "Yeah. Don't forget that," she said and disappeared.

  "What did she do to help you?" Sandra asked.

  "It's a long story," I hedged. I really didn't want to explain my past to Watson and his sister. Not now, anyway.

  "We have half an hour," Mason observed.

  Fuck.

  * * *

  Zaria

  So many things needed to be done, and those things crowded my mind, each clamoring to be the first.

  Actually, there was something I wanted to do first.

  Hank said he'd move mountains for me. This wasn't a mountain, and would require less effort on his part. Nevertheless, it would be inordinately more important to me than moving any mountain would be.

  Except—I considered that for a moment.

  Yes. I had two things to ask for, instead of just one. I sent mindspeech to him while he watched the battle unfold on Kifirin.

  I waited. Seconds ticked by.

  All right, he agreed.

  Thank you, I replied and bent time.

  The first thing on my list, after all, was getting a really good look at Morgett. I needed to know so many things about him, and seeing his face would give me that information. I suspected there were secrets he didn't want anyone else to know. Therefore, a volcanic eruption in Peru's past was my initial destination.

  * * *

  Northern Reaches, Kifirin

  Lissa

  At least I'd been well-rested before killing High Demon rogues this time. In the past, I was already tired when I took them and their Copper Ra'Ak allies on.

  I recalled that I wasn't nearly as powerful then, too.

  Come on, you fuckers, I sent mindspeech to Jayd's remaining army. Lexsi, Gavril and I had whittled those troops down, but still many thousands threatened Foth Castle and the High Demons fighting for Kifirin.

  Gran! I heard Lexsi's mental voice clearly.

  She'd sent a mental image, too.

  Glinda had skipped to the back of the invading army, her White Thifilatha bowling straight into Jayd's Black Thifilathi.

  Holy. Fucking. Hell.

  I'm coming, I sent. Leaving my post would mean High Demons belonging to Weth, Foth and Greth would die without my help.

  I had to leave them. Glinda had done the unthinkable, and would likely die from her actions.

  Denevik, I sent. Come and help. I folded space to Lexsi's side.

  * * *

  Near Mutitjulu, Northwest Territory, Australia


  Anita

  "But," Sandra breathed.

  She, Watson and Mason now knew my story. How V'ili and I were connected and related. How Esme was my sister and my cousin.

  How she and I had died at V'ili's command, and then lived again—to hunt him. To bring his death if we could.

  "Look, I don't know how it was done, but the powerful ones that bent time to pull us away can do it, as long as it doesn't upset the timeline in any way."

  "That's frightening," Watson blinked at me.

  "It was frightening," I agreed. "If Zaria hadn't come to reassure me and tell me someone was coming for us; it could have been much worse."

  "There you are." Kiarra and her bunch had arrived. I pulled myself off the floor and brushed tunnel dust off my cargo pants.

  "Zaria told us to wait for you," I said, feeling ashamed. I'd slipped away from Kiarra's home without telling anyone where I was headed, and had taken my three with me.

  "Thank you for waiting, then," Kiarra sighed. "I hate to think what would happen if that Ra'Ak filth found you down here."

  "We sort of figured that out," Sandra confessed. She looked as guilty as I felt.

  "Your idea was sound and something we wouldn't have considered," Adam said. "I appreciate your ingenuity in this; it may allow us to get past the army above our heads and deal with the situation from another vantage point."

  "If nothing else, we may be able to rescue any hikers left alive," Merrill said. "The news programs are listing names of the missing. Once the Ra'Ak become hungry, a feeding frenzy will ensue, you can be sure of that."

  "I hadn't thought about that," I mumbled and hung my head. These—they understood all there was to understand about Ra'Ak. I'd never had dealings with any of them until recently. Of course the monsters would get hungry.

  Humans were their preferred food source.

  "Fuck," Mason breathed.

  "Exactly," Kiarra confirmed. "Shall we?" I lifted my eyes to her as she gestured toward the open tunnel ahead of us.

  "Yeah. Let's go," I agreed.

  * * *

  Tungurahua Volcano, Ecuador

  Zaria

  Shielded and invisible, I hovered at the outside entrance to the Library. Would it know if I went past the entrance? Somewhere, perhaps a quarter mile along that tunnel, Lexsi walked ahead and led our crew toward the Library's hiding place.