A Darker Crimson

by Carolyn Jewel

  One effect of Jaise’s possession was the way in which the demon’s perceptions seeped into his. He sensed the four guards in a different way than before. All four were Elismal, information that leaked to him from Jaise. Unlike Jaise, they were not powerful. Jaise held them in a deal of contempt. Another discovery of Korzha’s was that no matter how closely Jaise had studied vamps while in B-Ops, the fact was, the demon wasn’t prepared for the reality of vampire physiology. There was a very real difference between book learning and hard experience. Indwelling wasn’t the same as being. Only a vamp knew what it meant to be a vamp.

  At the threshold of the portal room, before he was far enough past the door to see, Korzha felt a subtle change in the air, a disturbance of the magic, a pulsing that unsettled the demons. The demon carrying Masters’s body put the corpse near the portal. They did not have to wait long for Aslet and Donovan to arrive. The humanness of her, everything about her made his senses flare. But he was an onlooker only. Jaise processed the information and interpreted for himself, leaving Korzha isolated from action.

  The tow-haired demon was Elismal. Strong, like Jaise. More than a match for Jaise. He was a demon to be watched, a rival. The guards at the portal, more powerful than the four Elismal with him, came to Korzha’s attention. Was it only forty-eight hours since they’d come through from L.A.? Forty-eight years seemed more accurate. Aslet held Officer Donovan by the elbow. She wore her clothes from L.A., except they’d taken her shoes. She looked healthy enough; she stood without wavering, her back straight. Perhaps her skin was a bit pale. Her eyes were shadowed with purple but there was no madness there, though strain showed. Korzha felt all the demons’ attraction to her. The greed, the lust. He wondered how she was managing the demons and their sexual avarice.

  Donovan tried to jerk free of Aslet. “Freak,” she said to the white-haired demon. “Let go of me.”

  Aslet’s hand tightened on her elbow. With her free hand she grabbed his forearm and pressed her thumb into the soft tissue there, and his fingers twitched. Donovan got free. Fury pulled at Aslet’s mouth, but he stayed silent. The guards flinched, and one took a step toward Donovan. For a moment Korzha thought she was about to pay for making Aslet let go.

  She looked at him, meeting his gaze squarely. “Korzha.” She let out a breath and looked disappointed. “I should have known.”

  Jaise spoke from Korzha’s body. “Prepare, Aslet.”

  The blond demon bowed and bent to grab the leather satchel on the floor. He took out the clothes Jaise had worn in Crimson City. The guards had cooked their dinner and one of them was cleaning up. The others spoke amongst themselves. Jaise leaned Korzha’s shoulder on the entrance door. “Sit down, Donovan,” he said.

  She did so. “I’m not leaving here without Holly, Korzha,” she said.

  Jaise’s anger flashed. “You’re not leaving here at all.”

  Aslet stripped off his clothes. Donovan, sitting with a straight line of sight to the demon, turned the color of a tomato and looked away. Jaise, Korzha now knew, had lived among humans long enough to understand their tendency for sexual repression. The demon interpreted that as a sign of inferiority.

  In her haste to avoid watching Aslet strip naked, Donovan bumped into Masters’s body. The wrapping parted and a pale arm flopped out. She looked down and, very much to her credit, all she did was draw breath, though her skin went several shades paler. “Damn,” she whispered. The cop in her came out. She squatted at the body’s side and twitched the blanket open. She craned her neck toward Korzha, her eyes big as quarters. “Laura Masters?”

  Korzha had a sense of not quite doom, but the word sufficed for the moment.

  She turned to him. The wounds on the body told a clear enough story about what had happened, but to Korzha’s surprise, she looked thoughtful. She took a step toward him. “Unfortunate woman, wouldn’t you say, fang?”

  “Not particularly,” said Jaise.

  Korzha’s hunger flared. But Jaise didn’t know what that meant because he had no context. The demon knew human hunger, not a vampire’s need.

  Aslet put on Jaise’s B-Ops gear; black shirt, black pants, boots. He fished out a pair of dark glasses and hooked them into the collar of his shirt. A set of car keys went into a pocket, the melted cell phone, a shoulder holster. From the satchel he produced a gun which he slipped into the holster. He stood by Donovan, smiling, taunting in silence. Korzha felt a pulse of energy flow from Aslet. The demon morphed. But for the eyes which remained blue as a boiling sky, he was Jaise, the very image of him.

  “So, Aslet,” Donovan said with remarkable poise. “You been passing for Jaise? Taking turns, are you?”

  “When necessary,” the demon said.

  “You taking Korzha with you?” Donovan jerked her thumb in his direction and snorted. “Because if you are, man, you cannot trust him. Never, ever trust a vamp. Isn’t that the B-Ops motto? You’re faking it as an operator. You should know, right?”

  Aslet lifted a hand and struck her full in the face. She staggered back but caught her balance so quickly she must have expected the attack. One of the guards leapt at her. Korzha roared, a sound that echoed off the walls. In the face of his rage, Jaise got pushed back. Korzha flew straight up. All the demons looked surprised; they knew Jaise was indwelling and didn’t attack.

  While Jaise struggled to regain command of Korzha’s body, Donovan reached for her comm band, abandoned here since their arrival in Orcus. In the time it took Korzha to cling to the ceiling and swing down to kick one of the guards on the point of his chin, she’d bent over Masters’s body and snapped the unit onto the corpse’s arm. Then, she clapped a hand to her cheek as if in agony.

  Korzha’s fury at the attack on Donovan inevitably faded, and Jaise surged back, encircling Korzha’s will, enfolding him. He dropped to the floor while Aslet slung Masters’s body over his shoulder.

  “You’re a cop,” Jaise said to Donovan in Korzha’s voice, still resonating with rage. “What do you think the P.D. will say when they find this body looking the way it does?”

  She returned his gaze coolly. “I think they’ll call Internal Operations.” She shrugged. “SOP when all evidence points to a vampire kill.”

  The demon in Korzha grinned. “And what will happen on the street when word gets out Laura Masters was killed by a fang?”

  “War,” she said. “All-out war.”

  “Four hours,” Jaise said to Aslet, through Korzha’s mouth. Then, to Claudia, he said, “Open the portal, Officer Donovan.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Claudia shuddered with the pain of standing in the portal. Korzha had a merciless grip on her arm, keeping her there while Aslet, looking eerily like Jaise, went through into Crimson City, the body of Laura Masters, with Claudia’s comm unit fastened to the arm, slung over his shoulder. On one side of her was the dilapidated corridor in L.A., on the other, Orcus, Korzha and her daughter. She threw back her head and screamed because this was like having her body rip apart.

  Korzha pulled her back to the Orcus side of the portal. Her legs quivered under her, but she stared at the vampire, heart and body pounding from the effect of standing in the portal. She wobbled on her legs, disoriented and feeling somehow thinner, less substantial than before she went into the portal. The vampire, the traitor, had retreated from her, and now he leaned a shoulder on the doorframe surrounding the portal.

  “Officer Donovan.” Fucking Upper voice. He still wore Armani, still looked elegant and not the least bit human.

  Aslet was in L.A., passing for human while Korzha didn’t seem to be trying to pass at all. The vamp who’d provided the body that was going to start a war seemed less human than ever, paler than a normal person, with more presence than a normal person. With a wave, he dismissed all but the original portal guards.

  Those guards settled against the wall. One of them picked up a cup and dice. Another of the guards threw down a coin, then the other two did likewise. Korzha pushed off the door and walked
toward her. Her heart sped up. Never trust a vamp. Never. He settled himself on one of the rugs like he’d been doing it all his life. Claudia frowned. Definitely this was Korzha. Definitely it was the vampire, but somehow different from the Crimson City vampire. “What happened to your hair, Korzha?” she asked.

  His hair hung in curls to his shoulders. She’d have killed for hair like that. She’d also have killed for eyes like his. Big and green. Not long lashes, but really, really thick. Really pretty eyes. Even for a vamp.

  “My appearance, Officer, is none of your affair.” But he ran his fingers through his hair, she noticed. The curls tangled a bit and when they settled around his face again he looked like he’d just come inside from a windy day. And he needed a shave, because his face held a hint of five o’clock shadow. Just a hint. More like eight o’clock, actually. The long hair made him look younger, and the not-just-shaved jaw wicked away some of the cold haughtiness. It was a shame for a guy like that to have been taken out of the human gene pool.

  “I thought you were one of those vamps who got all gussied up before you got made.” She concentrated on his chin. It was pretty typical among people who decided to convert: a flurry of dieting, working out and surgery if it was in the budget, a visit to the spa and then they’d get made.

  “Evidently not.” His eyes flickered oddly. “Sit, Officer.” He held out a hand.

  She thought about refusing, but it wasn’t worth the aching feet. She sat on the rug, but as far from him as she could. He stared at her. Something wasn’t right, and it wasn’t his appearance. She just couldn’t put a finger on what it was. It bothered her. “How come your good buddy Jaise isn’t here?” she asked.

  Korzha smiled. “He’s not so far away.” Behind them, one of the guards shouted. Dice rattled again in their cup. “Why so quiet, Officer?”

  “You’re the errand boy, fang. I’ll save my breath for Jaise.”

  Korzha’s expression went blank, as if he could not imagine anyone speaking to him so bluntly. Too bad if his feelings were hurt. His eyes flared, and with a leap of reddish light in them, Claudia felt heat sliding along her, into her. The vampire leaned toward her, his voice turned low and dark. “Aslet bound you to Orcus and the Elismal. You cannot change that until you die.”

  She sneered. “You’re fraternizing with the enemy, Korzha. If they told you pigs could fly, would you believe them?”

  “This world is in your blood now. That’s Orcus you feel in your head. And now me.”

  Claudia saw fire in his eyes. The back of her head felt hot. “Don’t.” She lifted her hands and tried to push him way. The pressure in her mind increased. Her head felt thick, and she couldn’t tell if she was talking or just thinking.

  “We need you,” the vampire said. “They need us. Both of us.” His voice fell, low and soft. “You’re tied to the Elismal now, Donovan. Because of you, demons will walk in the Overworld again.” He shrugged. “Accept what you cannot change.”

  “No.”

  “What is the alternative?” More shouts rose from the guards, groans as a roll went badly for most.

  “I’m not going to talk philosophy with you, Korzha. I want Holly back. That’s all the philosophy I know.”

  Korzha smiled, and the chill in the curve of his mouth made Claudia’s heart sink. “In due course.” Something about his voice sounded funny, like it wasn’t really him talking. “In due course, you will know your place among demons.”

  “Somehow I think I won’t like it much.” She felt pressure on her hip where she’d been marked. A filament of flame coursed through her. Hot. Burning hot. The heat in her head built to intolerable levels, and her hip burned. She tried to turn her head, but couldn’t. She felt like she was standing in the portal again. The thought of moving sent spasms of agony through her. Claudia heard someone scream. A roar sounded in her head. The noise deafened her. Her blood boiled, every inch of her body alight. Someone screamed again. It sounded like a woman. It sounded like her. Someone was holding her down, stopping her from moving, but there wasn’t anyone touching her.

  The sensation stopped, but pins and needles continued to prickle across her skin.

  “You see?” Korzha said. Through her receding pain, he sounded like Jaise. Why was that?

  She opened her eyes and saw the vamp leaning over her. His eyes didn’t seem right. He didn’t seem right. A vamp like Korzha didn’t get emotional and petty. Korzha was a killer who didn’t loose his cool, ever. But she’d seen him attack Aslet, clinging to the ceiling, doing things only a vamp could do. It had to be Korzha.

  The vampire sat cross-legged and picked up Claudia’s pack, left behind in the confusion of their first arrival in the demon world. “I’d like to show you Orcus,” he said. “Will you think it’s as beautiful as I do, I wonder?” He grabbed the top loop of the pack. “All the same,” he said, “a home you cannot leave is a prison.”

  Claudia shook her head. “Why do you care so much about demons? From what I’ve seen, they weren’t locked away without reason.”

  “Mistreat a dog, Donovan, and you shouldn’t be surprised if one day the dog bites you.” He watched her with his big, green, gorgeous vamp eyes that settled on her with an intensity that made her blink. “You never think to stop the human who acts on his hatred.”

  “You forget I’m a cop. I do that all freaking day.”

  He let her pack dangle on his index finger. “Humans are afraid of vampires. You’re also afraid of werewolves, but…I think humans fear vampires more. Don’t you think?”

  “Depends,” she said. “On whether it’s a full moon.”

  Korzha laughed. “The demons want to come to the Overworld to live peacefully with vampires and werewolves. And humans. They wish not to be imprisoned. Their children have no future if demons remain imprisoned here. Surely you, of all people, understand that. Together, demons and vampires can convince humans there is no danger.”

  “Yeah, Korzha, sure.” She let out a quick breath. “And now, how ’bout a round of Kumbyah? Humans and demons just don’t mix. Like fangs and humans don’t mix. Have you seen the trouble we’re having lately? It ain’t gonna work and there’s no point pretending it ever will.”

  Korzha scowled. Claudia had the impression he didn’t mean it for her. “Better the Elismal than the Bak-Faru.”

  “Demons are demons,” Claudia said. But she’d seen a Bak-Faru with her own eyes, and she wasn’t so sure.

  Korzha laughed, and the sound unsettled her. “Few demons can stand against a Bak-Faru. Few demons can and no humans. But the Bak-Faru have come to Biirkma City for the first time since the portal was sealed. They’ve been trying for years to return to the Overworld. They know. They know the portal has been breached.”

  “These Bak-Faru, they’re not very nice, are they?”

  His voice dropped to a lower register. “We must convince the Council to move on the Overworld before you become useless and die. Before the Bak-Faru learn how the portal can be opened. Because they will learn. The Bak-Faru don’t follow the Council. They have magic other demons don’t dare use.” His mouth curled on one side. “Humans break promises all the time. You think nothing of not keeping your word. So, understand this about demons: our promises must always be kept. Always. Help me, or instead of the Elismal, the Bak-Faru will rule your world.”

  A chill worked its icy way along her spine. “Korzha?” Claudia whispered.

  He lifted a hand. “Break your word to a demon, you will be glad to die and lucky to die quickly. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.”

  He met her gaze, and she could have sworn she was looking at someone else. Korzha, or whatever the hell was sitting across from her, moved toward her. The lump her in her throat turned to lead. He touched her chin. “She looks so much like you, Claudia. Don’t you agree? All the beauty of her mother.”

  Claudia’s world depended on every word Korzha said.

  “I don’t want to hurt you, Donovan. But if I must…then I will. That’s
all you need to understand. You won’t live much longer. Time is running short for all of us. If the Council does not move now, you won’t live to see your world or your daughter again. And that’s a promise that will be kept. I want your help. Cooperate, and I’ll make sure you see your daughter before you die.”

  Claudia realized she wasn’t talking to Korzha anymore. The demon was inside him. She’d been an idiot not to understand sooner. “What is it you want from me, Jaise?”

  “I want to know if you can still open the portal after the fang makes you.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Officer Donovan stared into his eyes and Korzha knew she was unaware of the danger she was in. She knew about Jaise and still didn’t understand. The scent of her rose sharp in Korzha’s nostrils, living and warm, and Jaise took in the information, too, classifying the constituent pieces as a human might; ignoring what he didn’t understand. An attractive woman, a vampire’s sharper-than-human sense of smell, ignorance of a vampire’s mental reach, ignorance of true need.

  Jaise was hungry, but only that. Just hungry. Jaise’s frame of reference for sensing others was limited to demons. An assessment of power and rank was natural for him, but that was all. He disregarded what did not relate to his hierarchy of power. Jaise felt Claudia’s bond with demons, the bond Aslet had created, that uneasy edge of darkness, in a way Korzha never had. But the demon didn’t know what to do with the unaccustomed flow of her thoughts. One thing came clear in her emotions, overwhelming everything else: anguish. Overwhelming anguish over the loss of her daughter. Physically, she hid it well. Mentally, not at all.

  Korzha’s hunger affected the demon, fascinated him, but Jaise didn’t know what it meant. The demon found Donovan an object of extreme sexual interest and ignored Korzha’s other attraction. Perhaps that was best. Korzha thought so.