Kat Redding 03 - Blessed by a Demon's Mark

by E. S. Moore

  He didn’t speak as he worked. He didn’t even look at me. I knew what I was doing was dangerous, but I had no choice. I couldn’t keep going on like I had been. This was the only thing I could do and stay sane.

  It was that last trip past Delai that had done it. I’d felt so sick and the urge to drive down that road had been so strong, I knew it couldn’t be natural. Something was going on there. I couldn’t just ignore it.

  As soon as the circle was set, Ethan looked at me. “Are you sure?” he whispered. He looked terrified. I had to admit, I was terrified too.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  He started summoning his demon.

  Inside the circle, the heat was almost unbearable. As soon as the candles stopped flickering and froze, it was like standing in the middle of a bonfire. The light blazed around me to form the pentagram and as it faded, Beligral stepped out from the tear between realms. My eyes were burning too much to watch.

  He stared at me as if he expected me to try to run, but I held my ground. I knew if I were to break the circle, he’d be free. I was stuck in there with him until Ethan dismissed him.

  “You should have left your weapons outside,” the demon said. He sighed as he walked a slow circle around me.

  “They make me feel better,” I said, following him with my eyes.

  He reached out toward me and I jerked away. He tsked. “I’ll have to touch you if you want me to do this.”

  I ground my teeth, but straightened, giving him one sharp nod. God, I hated this.

  He didn’t touch my bare flesh, which was a relief. He went for the hilt of my sword. He didn’t draw it, but instead caressed the hilt as if it was precious to him.

  “It can feel my nearness,” he said. “It wants to go home.” He bared his yellowed, pointed teeth. “I’m surprised you were able to take them with you to Delai.”

  “Get on with it,” I said. “It’s almost morning.”

  Beligral glanced toward the wall, though there were no windows down this far. “Is it?” he said. “There is no night or day where I come from. It would be perfect for you. There’s no sun to burn you. Just shadows and fire and things of such magnificence I can hardly describe them.” He looked wistful.

  My mouth went dry. I wasn’t sure if it was from the heat or what he was implying.

  “Forget it,” I said. “I’m not going home with you. Just get this over with already.”

  The demon smiled as he chuckled. “So feisty.”

  I really wanted to punch him. Sometimes I wondered if the demon was all talk. I’d never actually seen him do anything. Even his marks appeared on their own without him actually making a move. And when he tried to save Thomas, he hadn’t appeared to do anything at all but look at him. As far as I knew, he hadn’t. It sure as hell hadn’t saved my brother.

  “What now?” I asked, frustrated. I just wanted this over with.

  “Now? I need you to agree to my terms.”

  “I already did.”

  “Humor me.” He bared his teeth.

  I growled and clenched my fists. Was he making this hard on me solely for his amusement? “Fine,” I said. “You do this and make it so I can see who or what Levi is and what’s going on in Delai, and I’ll come back and see you.”

  “And you won’t just walk in and call it done. You’ll spend time with me, listen to what I have to say. You never know, you may learn something. You might even find a way out of your current . . . condition.” He smiled.

  “Kat . . .” Ethan said from outside the circle.

  I ignored him. “Whatever. Can we just get this over with?”

  “Then it is done.”

  Searing pain exploded from behind my ear. I gritted my teeth, refused to show how much it hurt in front of the demon. He would take too much pleasure in it.

  “You are so much stronger than I’d ever hoped,” Beligral said as the pain subsided. “You’ve made me proud for so long, it almost feels as if you’re my own child.”

  I reached up and touched the mark. Had I done the right thing? It sure as hell didn’t feel like it.

  “I’m not.”

  Beligral shrugged. “We’ll see.”

  I could have stood there and argued with him all day, but to do so meant to stand in his presence for far longer than was healthy.

  “Okay,” I said, trying really hard not to grind my teeth. “I’ve made my promise. Now do whatever it is you’re going to do so I can get the fuck out of here.”

  The demon’s face went blank. We stared at each other, seemingly locked in some sort of battle, though I had no idea what kind of battle we were fighting. Did he want me to kneel, to beg? He was out of luck if he thought I was going to do anything that would show subservience to him.

  A small smile quirked the edges of his mouth. “So strong,” he said again as he raised his hand. I managed not to flinch as he reached for me. He poked me gently in the middle of the forehead.

  It felt like a nuclear bomb went off inside my skull. Pain like nothing I’d ever felt before became the only thing I knew. I was blinded, struck deaf. I was screaming, thrashing, but I couldn’t feel anything but the pain in my head, couldn’t hear a sound. My eyes felt like they were melting in my skull.

  I couldn’t even think. It felt like I was dying, but then again, dying wouldn’t hurt so much.

  I have no idea how long the pain lasted. I might have even blacked out, because the next thing I knew, I could hear the sound of my own ragged screams as my hearing returned. Something scrambled around me and hands grabbed me by the arms. I thrashed even more, intent on killing anything that touched me, certain it was the demon come to drag me through the portal, where I’d burn every night in the fires of his hell.

  “Kat!” The voice sounded far away but kept me from lashing out more. My vision cleared, and instead of the face of the demon, I was looking into Ethan’s frightened eyes.

  I looked frantically around, terrified I’d see the demon bearing down on me. Much to my relief, only Ethan and I were in the circle.

  Beligral was gone.

  22

  I thought I’d suffered through some pretty bad days before, but the day following Beligral’s “gift” was one of the worst of my life. I spent most of the time lying in bed, alternating between sweating and shuddering uncontrollably. I couldn’t get warm, couldn’t cool off. I took at least three baths, each lasting only a few minutes before the water became either too hot or too cold.

  Ethan came in and out of the room every so often to check on me. I was naked nearly the entire time, which usually had him sputtering and blushing until he looked as though he’d suffered sunstroke, but this time, he hardly appeared to notice.

  At first, I was panicked he had broken the circle in his haste to see to me, but Ethan assured me the demon had been sent back home before he broke the circle. It took him a few tries to get me to believe him. I was so sure I’d screwed up and set the demon loose in my thrashing, I just couldn’t seem to wrap my head around everything being okay.

  Not that it was, mind you. I couldn’t talk without my teeth chattering or mumbling like I was hallucinating. Half the time, I wasn’t sure if I was or not. My vision kept swimming in and out, and my ears rang almost nonstop.

  I was terrified the demon had done something permanently damaging to me. I wasn’t sure what he might have done, I just knew it couldn’t be good. I was already screwed up enough without having a demon in my head as well.

  It might have made me feel better if this Sight he was supposed to have given me made the world around me look different. As far as I could tell, everything was the same other than the pounding in my head and my fluctuating internal temperature.

  It wasn’t until near dark that my body started calming down. I was able to get dressed, though my hands shook as I pulled on my leathers. My mouth felt like I’d been sucking on cotton balls for the last six hours, and no matter how much water I drank, I just couldn’t seem to make the feeling go away.

  I wa
s afraid my hunger would erupt and I’d attack someone unintentionally, but at least that part of me still seemed under control. Ethan brought me a slice of buttered toast before finally collapsing in his room from exhaustion. I ate it slowly, hoping it wouldn’t come right back up.

  When night finally fell, I made my way out of my room and headed downstairs. Jeremy was waiting for me with a beer and a slice of turkey. For whatever reason, the two men must have figured I’d be hungry after my experience. I had to admit, I was ravenous. Other than blood and beer, I hadn’t eaten anything for days.

  I downed the meat in just a few bites and chased it down with the beer. It did little to sate my hunger. The food sat heavy in my stomach, but at least I did feel marginally better than I had before.

  “You okay?” the young wolf said, moving casually across the room without overtly trying to appear as if he was putting space between us.

  “Some,” I said. I chugged the rest of my beer, hoping it would rid me of the cottonmouth.

  “Ethan was worried he screwed up.”

  That made me a little angry. Ethan shouldn’t take on any of the blame for my actions. “It wasn’t his idea. He did what I told him to do.”

  “That doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel guilty about it. If it wasn’t for him, you wouldn’t have been put in this situation to begin with.”

  I turned an unhappy glare on the wolf. He cringed a little under my gaze but didn’t back down. While losing his arm seemed to have made him grow up a bit, he was still just a scared kid. I’d definitely been too hard on the guy. He’d gone through more than what a lot of other people had in his short life.

  I looked away and tossed the empty bottle in the trash. I could apologize to him later. Right then, I didn’t have it in me. He’d understand.

  I left him standing in the dining room as I went down to grab fresh weapons. I had things to do and I planned on getting as many of them done tonight as I could. No sense waiting around. I had no idea how long the Sight was supposed to last, so Delai had to be high on my list.

  But I was scared. I didn’t know what to expect. I was afraid at what I’d find when I got there, terrified at what I’d do afterward. I wanted to know what Levi was, and yet at the same time, I didn’t. Finding out he was some sort of monster would take all those months I’d spent with him and turn them into something dark, something sinister. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that.

  Still, I had to know.

  Of course, I had something else I needed to do first. Baset’s man might be waiting for me. Even though I’d killed Strinowski the night before, I had a feeling she would know he was dead. I didn’t want to avoid going to the pickup spot and have her take it the wrong way. I mean, it was Monday and she’d wanted me to go there every Monday. I’d much rather play it safe than to have Baset show up on my doorstep looking for me.

  Jeremy didn’t say anything as I mounted the stairs and headed out to the garage. He didn’t have to. I could see the concern in his eyes and wondered where it came from. The guy used to be terrified of me. Now he acted like we were friends in an awkward, “don’t show it if you don’t have to” sort of way.

  His concern did lift my spirits, however. It meant everything wouldn’t be lost if I found out Levi was something evil. I still had a place I could go, people I could trust. I might not like the idea that most of those people were werewolves, but at least I wasn’t alone anymore.

  How I never thought of it that way before was beyond me. Maybe Levi had done something to me. Maybe my own prejudices had gotten in the way. Just because Jonathan and Jeremy were wolves didn’t mean we had to be enemies.

  I checked the address where I was to meet Baset’s man before heading out into the garage. The place was pretty public, but not so much that it would be dangerous for me to be seen. I doubted anyone there would know me by sight.

  More snow had fallen during the day, so I took Jeremy’s car. It appeared he’d taken it out sometime and gotten gas, probably while I’d been half unconscious in my room. He’d returned the keys to my coat pocket where I’d left them, which I hoped meant he didn’t mind me taking it out again.

  I pulled out of the garage, silently thanking Jeremy for not holding my prickly attitude against me.

  I drove, growing more and more nervous about the pickup. It felt dirty working for cash like this, but what was I to do? I needed money to pay Mikael, and Ethan had to pay the bills, so why not take it?

  Then again, what if Baset was just using me and her men would jump me the moment I arrived? Just because it was a public place didn’t mean they wouldn’t try something. I didn’t know what kind of situation I was walking into here, and that really bothered me. I had no reason to trust her, which made it all the worse.

  I’d killed her lover and assassin. She would want revenge; though forcing me to work for her was revenge enough in my mind. I wondered what else she would end up wanting from me later down the road if I didn’t take care of her before then.

  I turned onto the street that would lead to the pickup site. The streetlights were bright, illuminating anyone and anything that would dare walk under them. A few pedestrians walked huddled together, eyes scanning all around them. Shops were lit up, places that sold things that anyone could enjoy, regardless of monster status.

  I drove past them, clunking along in Jeremy’s junk heap. A few other cars patrolled the roads, but nothing that would worry me. It felt kind of peaceful here, though I knew that down some of the alleys and inside some of the buildings, dark and bloody things were happening.

  I pulled up outside the building where the meeting was to take place and stared at it. It stood five stories high, most of the windows still intact. A chain lay broken on the ground in front of the door, which was closed firmly. There was graffiti on the walls, everything from gang signs to lovers’ initials scrawled in flowing scripts.

  “Great,” I said, shutting off the engine. The place was obviously abandoned. I’d hoped I’d meet Baset’s man outside somewhere under the lights, but it looked as though I was expected to go inside.

  I sat there for a few minutes waiting anyway. Maybe he’d grow impatient and come out to meet me. I knew they wouldn’t recognize the car, but perhaps whoever was inside would see me through the window. Dark, abandoned buildings did little to bolster my confidence.

  Someone banged on the back of the car and I jumped. Two teens ran by, laughing. One stuck his tongue out at me before they both vanished around the corner.

  Anger flared, but this time I was angry at myself. I was too jumpy. Baset wanted to use me. She wouldn’t send her men to kill me. I was just being paranoid.

  I got out of the car and slammed the door a little harder than I had to.

  The snow had been cleared from the sidewalk, though I had to walk through it to get there from the road. I stomped my boots clean and looked around for anyone who might be watching. Other than a group of kids standing outside a gas station, no one seemed to have noticed my arrival. The kids were watching me out of curiosity more than anything, and I pushed them from my mind.

  As I neared the front door, I saw a few scattered cigarette butts and empty wrappers. The building was more than likely a common place for kids to stand around and smoke and pass the night away, whether they were Pureblooded or not. The building sat between a convenience store and what appeared to be a small apartment complex. It looked out of place sitting between their well-maintained fronts.

  I stepped up to the door and knocked. It rang hollowly through the empty building. I waited for a good minute before trying again.

  There was no answer.

  I touched the doorknob and gave it an exploratory turn. It moved easily in my hand and I pushed it open the rest of the way. The chain at my feet looked to have been broken, and by my untrained eye, it looked recent.

  The door squealed as it opened into the dark building. The smell of blood assaulted me as a gush of fetid air whooshed outward. I choked on it and took a step back, fear thrumming t
hrough my body. I knew that smell, knew what it meant.

  Someone was dead inside.

  I didn’t want to draw my weapons out on the street, but I didn’t want to go in without them either. I pulled my Glock from its shoulder holster and kept it hidden in the flaps of my coat as I stepped inside.

  The smell of blood was stronger in the dark room. It took my eyes a moment to adjust to the gloom. I stood just inside the door until I could see well enough to move in without being blinded.

  The front room was large and empty of everything but a few scattered boxes that looked to have been abandoned. They were sagging, as if they’d gotten wet at some point, and most of them were torn, exposing scraps of cloth.

  I scanned the room carefully before moving on to the first open doorway across the room. As I stepped through, the smell of blood just about knocked me from my feet.

  The body was lying a few feet into the room. He’d started to shift but hadn’t gone much more than a sprout of fur on his face and arms. He was lying on his back, hands crossed over his chest. If it wasn’t for the blood, he might have been simply sleeping.

  I stepped closer and got a good view of the gash on his throat. He’d been slit from ear to ear and had obviously bled out. Blood had pooled all around him and had run toward the far wall where the floor sloped gently downward.

  Something glinted on his forehead from light seeping in from a window. I reached down, careful not to touch the wolf any more than I had to, and picked it up.

  It was a golden cross.

  I shot to my feet, dropping the cross to the ground where it clattered loudly in the silent building. I had my gun at the ready, turned left and right, searching for the killer, though I knew it was likely they were long gone.

  There was only one group I knew who killed supes like this. They’d nearly killed me before, and I so didn’t want a repeat of the experience.

  I held my breath and listened carefully. These people were Purebloods, so they weren’t as quiet as a vamp or wolf might be. If I paid close enough attention, I was sure I’d hear them if they were still here.