A Darker Crimson

by Carolyn Jewel

  Thwip.

  In a rush, the air came back. The fullness in her head pulsed. She gasped. “What did you just do?”

  The Bak-Faru said, “You are marked now, as the female of a Bak-Faru. No demon will dare harm you now.” He kissed her forehead. “There is one thing more we must do.”

  “What?” Their eyes stayed locked. Such lovely, lovely lilac eyes in his Aztec face. He knew damn well he was beautiful. He oozed beauty from his pores.

  “We must finish what I have begun.” He spoke more in a low voice, syllables and words that made no sense yet sounded as if they must mean something, and something important. She stared at his mouth, listening as hard as she could because she felt that if she listened hard enough she’d know what he was saying.

  “Claudia,” he said in his dark velvet voice, and she was lost in it, lost in the lilac depths of his eyes. “You must say my name.”

  “Lath.”

  “I am called Lath, Claudia Donovan, but that is not my name.”

  “Ur-Kashev-Ghan. You are named Ur-Kashev-Ghan.” Claudia felt his spirit flowing into her, spreading through her, fever hot. “Ur-Kashev-Ghan is your heart and your life.”

  “Claudia Donovan, you are my life and my heart. They belong to you and only you. Now, say this. Exactly as I do.” Slowly he repeated a series of words, patiently correcting her when she stumbled. An odd pressure built in her chest as she repeated the sounds, and she felt dizzy.

  “It is done,” he said when she finished. He touched her forehead. “We have the vishtau. We are for life. For me, there is you. Only you. It does not matter if I hate one human, ten dozen of them or all of them.” Fire danced in his eyes. His fingers traced her lower lip, and his dimples flashed again. “We will mate, tes.” He tugged on her hands. “Come. Come. You will give me children to love.”

  “No!” Claudia said, and it cost her nearly everything to deny him. She touched his cheek. He turned his head to one side and kissed her hand. His hair fell across her arm, a wickedly black veil.

  “To save you, I have bound you to me for life. There will never be another female for me. To have the vishtau with a human female chokes me, my heart is dust to feel it with you.” His fingers followed the line of either side of her jaw, a light touch, a caress. “I have no choice. Because you are my vishtau mate, I will protect you. With you, only you. I must mate with you. The vishtau compels me. For more than pleasure. Not only for pleasure or for children. I would have a female child with you as beautiful as Holly Donovan. Sons, too.” Smoke and velvet flowed into his voice. “But we will have pleasure. Much pleasure, because you are beautiful.”

  She leaned back, but Lath followed. “If you don’t want me, send us home, and you just stay here.”

  He slid his fingers down her back and then inside her pants, along the dip in the small of her back. “But tes, I want to mate with you. I will always want to mate with you. And you will always feel how I want you. This cannot be undone. You and I have said the words. We are bound for our lives. There will never be any female for me but you.” Both his hands curved over her bottom. His voice fell. “I would give my life for you. And for Holly Donovan, too. For you, because of the vishtau, I will protect her, too. With my life.”

  From the courtyard, a scream shattered the air. Not a demon. Korzha. He must have recovered, and now the other Bak-Faru were attacking him. A flash of light lit the doorway. She darted toward the door. “Korzha!” Lath held her hand, and it was like trying to drag a Humvee. She whirled to him, heart in her throat. “They’re going to kill him, aren’t they?”

  He shrugged. “The vampire is not my business.”

  She looked directly into his eyes. “I’ll make a deal with you, Lath.”

  The spark of his quizzical interest leapt between them. “Yes, Claudia-tes?”

  “Whatever they’re doing to him, make them stop.” Her voice broke. “Don’t let anything happen to him. Don’t let him die.” She slid a hand down his chest. “Promise me you won’t kill him.”

  “In return for?”

  She swallowed hard. “I’ll never tell you no when you want me.”

  For a moment, he hesitated. But then he said, “Claudia Donovan, it is done.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Heart pounding, Claudia followed Lath back to the courtyard where two of the other Bak-Faru had Korzha cornered. A single word from Lath brought the attack to a halt. Claudia was fiercely glad to see that one of the Bak-Faru had a deep slash across his back and shoulder. Even a weakened Korzha was to be reckoned with. A purple bruise fading to yellow marred his cheek, another purple-blue abrasion at his temple, and he looked gaunt. Hard used. She felt the connection between them flare up. “You okay, Tiber?”

  “Yes,” came his reply. His attention darted to Holly and then to Lath and, lastly, to her hair, to the platinum strand woven into it.

  “Thank you,” Claudia told him. “Thank you for saving Holly.”

  Lath, standing next to her, curved an arm around her waist to keep her from going to Korzha. It was a gesture intended to make a point. He slipped his first two fingers under her chin and tipped her head to his. She saw the demon look at Tiber first, making sure he had the vampire’s attention. He did. Then, his mouth brushed over hers, and from the back of his throat came a low growl. He kissed her, a surprisingly tender touch, and she felt the heat of his desire. She wanted Korzha, cared about the vampire, but she kissed Lath. The demon drew back with a soft sigh. “What would you do if I said I wanted you now?” he whispered.

  “I’d go with you,” she replied. She had promised. For Korzha.

  “This is good.” He touched a finger to her lips. “Are you ready, Claudia-tes? Ready to open the portal and return to the Overworld?”

  She nodded and tried to catch Tiber’s eye again, but he wasn’t looking at her. Did he think she’d betrayed him? Did he believe she’d left him for the demon? Tension curled unpleasantly in her chest. One of the other Bak-Faru pushed his shoulder. Probably he would have looked at her, if the demon hadn’t done that. But he had, and the moment was lost. She had no idea what he thought of anything. Her stomach fluttered with unpleasant anxiety.

  Lath’s hand flashed out, fingers down. One of the Bak-Faru took Holly’s mink and put it into a satchel. The demon crouched with a friendly smile to show Holly the animal was fine. When he’d closed the satchel, and slung the strap across his chest, the demon touched Holly’s cheek. “I will keep your pet safe, Holly Donovan,” the Bak-Faru said.

  The six dark demons fell into position around Lath. Claudia picked up her daughter. “I’m ready. Korzha.” She held out a hand, ignoring Lath’s frown.

  “Tes,” he said.

  “I didn’t promise to leave him here, Lath.”

  Walking through the streets of Biirkma with seven Bak-Faru as escort made for an interesting experience. No one challenged them. The demons they saw were simply too old get out of the way fast enough or not powerful enough to sense them until it was too late. Lath stayed at the head of the group, exchanging a remark or two with the brown-haired Bak-Faru who carried Holly’s mink, now dubbed Whiskers. Before long, Claudia’s left biceps screamed in piercing protest at bearing Holly’s weight. She was about to put the child down when Korzha reached over and took her. “Thank you,” she said.

  He gave her a cockeyed grin. “You’d have taken my heart for sure if I’d let anything happen to her.”

  She grinned back. “Damn straight, fang.”

  The Bak-Faru came to a stop. Cries rose from within the portal room as the Elismal guards sensed the Bak-Faru. Lath motioned to two of his fellows. The air shimmered around them, and they vanished. From inside the portal room something howled, then fell silent. Lath smiled, and they all went in. The two Bak-Faru stood in the middle of the empty room. They bowed to Lath. Claudia caught an unsettling scent of burnt air. All seven of the dark demons in one room. The air practically ignited.

  Lath held out his arms for Holly. “Come, child.” H
e gave Tiber a look. “My life is hers, vampire. She will be safe with me. She will always be safest with demons.”

  Korzha looked to Claudia who nodded. The vampire would have refused. If she hadn’t agreed with Lath, he’d have been prepared to refuse to give Holly over, even if it meant enraging a demon more than capable of killing him.

  Lath stood at the head of his Bak-Faru, Holly in his arms. The demon with Whiskers patted the side of his satchel and then winked one pale brown eye at her daughter. Six of the Bak-Faru gathered in the doorway that led to the street. They spoke as one in a low, communal voice that made Claudia’s skin crawl. Around them, the air glittered. Foolishly, she assumed the other Bak-Faru were to stay behind.

  “Claudia-tes.” Lath turned to look at Claudia. “You must hold open the portal.”

  She nodded. Before she did as directed, she bent for her PD-issue pack, abandoned here all this time. She looked over her shoulder to be sure Tiber followed. Within a foot of the portal, she felt a pulse of energy. This time, she knew what to expect and didn’t relish the experience. Gingerly, she touched the surface of the door. Electricity zinged through her and caught her off balance. The portal felt different, its energy drummed through her. The pain started up, and in her hair, the platinum strand hissed. She pushed on the door, and her hand moved through the material. Bitter cold followed the movement. “Like the saying goes,” she muttered, “just do it.” She stepped into the portal.

  Claudia pressed herself into the middle of the portal, trapped in a swirling pattern that tugged at her from the inside out. The mark on her hip started to burn, and her head throbbed. On the Orcus side, Lath faced the other Bak-Faru and made a gesture that encompassed the entire room. Around the other demons, the air quivered, heated, and then the wall…vanished. Instead of fitted blocks of stone, she saw scores of Bak-Faru moving into the portal room. Lath stepped through the swirling, waltzing air of the portal, Holly in his arms, and into Crimson City.

  In Orcus, another demon lifted a hand and moved forward, toward and then through the portal. A blink of an eye later and rest of the Bak-Faru streamed through, marathoners in mid-race pace. It was done. The Bak-Faru invasion had begun.

  Behind her, Claudia heard a shout. Sound bent oddly in the portal. Was that Korzha’s voice? The portal held her, tearing her apart. She saw Lath standing in the Crimson City corridor next to Holly. She turned her head and saw Korzha in Orcus, standing to one side while the Bak-Faru warriors flowed past. Beyond him, past the vampire’s shoulder, she saw Aslet, his eyes red with flame.

  Forever. It took forever for all the Bak-Faru to go through. One hundred and seven dark demons. When it was done, when the last had gone through, the outside wall was just a wall again. Claudia held out a hand to Korzha, but looked into Crimson City. Lath stood in the grimy corridor, Holly next to him now. The child clutched the satchel to her chest. On the floor by Lath’s foot was a weapon one of the B-Ops commandos had dropped when he went through the portal to his death.

  Claudia glanced back at Tiber. “Come on.” She had no idea if he could even hear her, but she held out her hand. Pain ripped through her.

  Aslet roared.

  With a bone-numbing jolt, she was yanked forward into Los Angeles. She whipped her head toward Lath, already shouting a demand to know what the hell he thought he was doing. The portal closed, with Tiber on the other side.

  Chapter Thirty

  Claudia lay on her back, head turned toward the now opaque portal. Tiber was on the other side. Horror flashed through her at the sight of the battered wooden door. She flipped over, shouting at Lath. “You left Tiber!”

  Lath and his six Bak-Faru waited in the corridor. Behind them in the light cast by the single bulb swinging from the ceiling, the warriors flowed outward, some in human form, others in manifestations of animal or monster. The building groaned with the energy of demons flooding outward toward the streets of Crimson City. Dark demons, the darkest of the dark. She’d let an army of dark demons into Crimson City.

  “The portal is dangerous for you.” The demon stood with his arms crossed over his chest. He cocked his head at her, quirking one corner of his mouth. A dimple appeared in his cheek. “The vampire is no longer my responsibility. My promise to you is fulfilled. I did not allow my demons to kill him. He will be safe in Orcus.” He smiled again. “If you wanted more, tes, you should have asked.”

  Claudia pushed herself to her knees and threw her herself at the portal. One arm passed through, but Lath caught her other arm and stopped her momentum toward the door. She twisted toward him and kicked, but missed badly.

  “Claudia-tes,” he said in reasonable tones. But his eyes flashed red. Her hip burned. She reacted without thinking, using Lath’s strength as leverage. She swung her leg toward the portal, hard. At last, she surprised him. He let go of her arm, and she dropped to the ground and rolled toward the portal.

  As she moved, her left hand landed on the abandoned B-Ops gun. She felt its weight and figured she had half a clip left at least. She was damn lucky it hadn’t gone off and killed her. Weapon in hand, she threw herself at the portal again. Her right side hit first. The barrier gave way, and her body elongated, stretched, began to tear. A thousand needle sticks. She got herself upright and jammed one leg on the opposite side of the doorframe. Head back, she looked into Orcus. Electricity shivered through her body. With effort, she stretched her hand upward. “Korzha!” she shouted. “Tiber!”

  In her head, her shout made no noise, but he must have heard, because he whipped toward the opening. On the Crimson City side, something grabbed her ankle and pulled. She increased the pressure of her foot against the frame. She wasn’t going to be able to hold much longer. Impressions flew at her, hitting her from all around.

  Through the quivering barrier of the portal, she saw Lath bending over her. Behind him, Holly crouched on the ground, hands over her satchel. In Orcus, Korzha’s hand curled around hers. At the same time, she got the fingers of her left hand on the trigger of her gun. If she could stand the pain, she had a clear shot at Lath. Lath didn’t understand human weapons, not really, so when she aimed at the demon’s chest, he laughed at her. She was going to blow his heart out his back. Something ripped at her, paused the squeeze of her finger on the trigger. He had to die. She wanted to be free of him. Free of all the demons in her head.

  She could not do it.

  The air between them heated, searing her lungs. Korzha launched himself at the portal. The impact wrenched her arm but she held on. On the L.A. side, she lifted her gun and took aim. Her body threatened to come apart. Her sense of where she was in space distorted. Everything in the portal quivered, shook. Matter was about to rip. She fired at the demon…

  Nothing happened. She moved her arm and re-sighted. Her limb elongated, stretched as she broke the plane of the portal. Sparks flew around her, popping, deafening, searing. Her arm quivered and shook, her muscles involuntarily contracting and releasing. Her fingers sprang open. Her gun fired, but upward, into the portal void. Fire erupted from her weapon. All air vanished. Her body threatened to fly apart. Her lungs insisted on oxygen, but there wasn’t anything to breathe.

  She could see the Crimson City hallway. Tiber still hurtled for the opening, timing it perfectly. Lath, murder in his eyes, moved to intercept the vampire. She pulled the trigger again. Again, nothing. A streak of blue light arced over her head from the Orcus side and bounced around inside the portal as Tiber’s body pierced the veil of the seal. His momentum into Crimson City pulled her out of the portal and into the decrepit building. There was an enormous rush of energy and then a high, keening, deafening wail as they both landed in L.A. Claudia scrambled forward as the sound grew to deafening volume. The fire that had erupted from the gun collided with the blue flames. She threw her body over Holly, covered her ears and then her head. Light filled the room, a burst of white light and then—

  Nothing else. Absolutely nothing happened. Except for the smell of charred wood in the air, the roo
m felt completely normal.

  “Officer,” said a familiar voice. Tiber. He pulled her to her feet. He caught Holly in his arms, gently took the bulging, wiggling satchel from her. Behind the vampire, Lath’s lilac eyes flickered with exultation. Why the hell wasn’t he attacking? His six Bak-Faru stared at the portal.

  She glanced at the opening. Only, it wasn’t there anymore. Or, rather, where the battered door had been now remained only a quiver of air. She stretched out a hand, extending a tentative finger. Nothing. No sparks, no zing of electricity, no sensation of building energy, no sense of elongation. The gun she’d had in her hand lay on the threshold, a smoking wreckage of melted, charred parts. She saw Aslet clear as day, and she knew from Korzha’s expression that so did he.

  Aslet stood in the anteroom in Orcus, staring into Crimson City. His eyes stared past her, disbelieving, triumphant at the irony. His promise to protect Tiber had compelled him to unleash a magical attack against Lath that blasted into the portal at the same time Claudia’s weapon had fired. Wind caught his hair and blew silver strands across his cheek. That same breeze crossed into Crimson City. Exultation flared in his impossibly blue eyes. The demon lifted a hand and said something in a low voice. Then, with a deep breath, he stepped through the portal by himself.

  Lath bowed, hand over clenched fist. “The Bak-Faru welcome you to the Overworld, Nir-Aslet,” the demon said.

  Aslet returned the bow. “en-Lath.”