by Lisa Olsen
“I’ll help you escape, Mistress…”
*
We decided it would be safest to leave just before dawn, when most of the population of Midian sought their beds and there were still plenty of shadows to work with. While the demons could endure the sunlight, most of them preferred the darkness, as the light made them uncomfortable at best and actually caused pain for some of them. That meant I had to get through court with Raum and hope he didn’t feel peckish again before we left, because I would need all the strength I could get for the journey back home.
I still had no idea how we were going to get past Naberios at the gate. I decided to cross that bridge when we came to it, focusing on one step of the plan at a time, or I might have talked myself out of it as too foolhardy. Even with the nap to conserve my energy beforehand, it was hard to stay awake in Raum’s court that night. Mostly because it was boring as hell. When he ordered me to ‘attend’ him at court, that largely meant standing around looking pretty, while other demons came up to pay him obeisance. I thought he might call for another demonstration of my power, or even offer me up to one of his favored vassals or something, but I was largely ignored, which served my purpose just fine.
I was zoning out when I heard my name and recalled where I was, blinking back at him blankly before I realized he wanted me to come forward. “You have served me well today, kneel,” he said magnanimously in a ringing voice. With little choice I knelt before him on the stone floor, hoping he didn’t decide to reward me with more of his attention. Instead he produced a heavy gold necklace, encrusted with diamonds and deep, purple stones that might have been amethysts, bending to fasten it around my neck with a tender kiss to the angry wound that remained at my shoulder. “There now, that makes it all better, doesn’t it, my lady?”
His mood was bright and I drummed up a thankful smile. “Thank you, my lord, it’s beautiful.”
“It becomes you my dear, as does my other gift,” his fingers traced over the rough edges of the bite marks. “The riot of colors highlight your delicate beauty. Imagine how lovely your skin would look covered in such marks.” I didn’t have to fake the shudder of fear and revulsion that went through me, or the wave of despair at his amused chuckle. “Rest well then, m’lovely. Tomorrow is another day.”
“Thank you, my lord,” I mumbled. Taking that for a sign of dismissal, I got the hell out of there before he decided he wanted to play artist with the blank canvas of my flesh. I felt strong enough to heal the shoulder wound more completely, but I decided to conserve my strength, in case I needed it. Besides being a little sleepy, I felt much more like my old self, and it wore on my last nerve to sit around and wait until dawn to make a break for it. Patience had never been my strong suit, and lack of it made any further sleep impossible.
Nelo brought me a long, dark cloak to mask my human appearance and any sign of my telltale glow in case I got scared along the way. He also retrieved my regular clothes and shoes. I put them on in anticipation of the long walk, but the trip out of Midian proved much quicker than the trip in. It helped immensely to have a demon guide to help us hop from one shadow to the next. In half a dozen or so jumps, and half as many minutes, Nelo had us out of the palace and inside the subterranean corridors beneath the city.
Once inside the tunnel, it was slower going, because he hadn’t been there much before, and it was easier to walk for the most part. The time of day served us well, there were few we ran into along the way. Nelo was able to easily obscure us from view by pulling us into the shadows and they passed right by us without being any the wiser. I admit, it was tempting to try and rush, as I felt like our disappearance might be noticed at any time and Raum would set his minions after us. But Nelo persuaded me that slow and stealthy was the wiser choice (he did know a thing or two about being stealthy). If not for the grip I had on his hand, I might have lost him a time or two.
As we approached the gate our pace slowed to a crawl, and I clung to Nelo’s small hand. “Do you know how to get through the gate? Can we make a run for it and jump through or something?” I whispered.
“I can get us through the gate once we reach it, but Naberios will surely see us coming and keep us from… running for it.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. What if I hit him from behind with a blast of Grace? That might distract him long enough for us to get by, right?”
“It might,” Nelo sounded skeptical. “But what if he’s facing this way?”
“We’ll have to hope a little luck is on our side.”
Unfortunately, when we came to the final stretch of corridor, Naberios could be plainly seen facing in our direction, his hulking form blocking most of the passage. “What about the shadow he’s casting? Can we jump to the shadow right in front of him and then try and duck past him?”
“As you wish, Mistress,” Nelo replied, and we slid into the shadow, the darkness disorienting as it always was, but he navigated through it just fine. The next thing I knew, we stood in front of the gate guard, his expression of surprise almost comical in someone so large. We took advantage of that surprise, and I let go of Nelo’s hand to duck under the guard’s arm, while Nelo slid under his legs. If I’d thought about it logically ahead of time, I probably shouldn’t have let go of his hand like that. Nelo could have popped us back into a different shadow and it would have been nearly impossible for them to find us. Instead, Naberios easily caught me by the arm and I was trapped in his surprisingly gentle grip. Who would have thought such a big guy could move so fast?
I could see Nelo standing next to the gate, his body crouched low to the ground as if he wasn’t sure which way to spring. “Go ahead, Nelo. No sense in you getting caught too,” I called to him, but he stayed put. Maybe he was afraid to go ahead without me and afraid to go back? I turned my attention to my captor, swallowing back my fear at his stern expression. “Hi, it’s Naberios, right?” He didn’t reply and I tried again. “Is there a toll we should pay you, maybe?”
Naberios looked at me for a long time, his expression inscrutable. “He told me you’d be coming,” he said finally and it took me a second before I realized he meant Adam, and I gave him my most winsome smile.
“Oh. Did he happen to say you should let me by?” That was met with stony faced silence and I lost my smile. Wasn’t it bad enough I was being held by the demons that Adam felt he had to add his own instructions to the gate guard as well? A disgruntled tone crept into my voice. “Damn Adam anyway… he’s not the boss of me, is he the boss of you?”
That produced an effect, his expression became even more sour and disapproving. “No.”
“So why are you letting him tell you what to do?” Ha, I had him there! I didn’t have time to gloat though, as he still gave no sign of letting me go.
“I don’t serve Adamiel, I serve Raum. Do you expect me to believe he released you with this as an escort?” He gestured with distaste to Nelo who still crouched next to the gate.
“Raum isn’t the boss of me either,” my eyes flashed in annoyance. “What are you going to do with me? You can’t leave the gate unattended, right?” His gaze flicked to the shining rock face. “You can’t take me back to the palace yourself. And the last time I checked, a cellphone doesn’t exactly go with that ensemble.”
“We will wait.”
“Wait for what?”
“Someone will come and I will send you back with them.”
“What if they eat me instead? You saw how Bert and Hubie were when I got here, what if I don’t get delivered safely back to the palace?”
“Perhaps you should have thought of that before you left the safety of its walls?”
“Or… you could let me pass, and then I’d owe you a favor.” It occurred to me that he must do the occasional bartering. Hadn’t Adam said he’d gotten in because Naberios owed him a favor?
“What favor could I want of you?” he scoffed, but I could tell I held his interest and I nodded encouragingly.
“That’s the beauty of an open e
nded favor, you never know when it might come in handy.”
“No,” he said simply and I mashed my lips together to keep from swearing.
“Fine then, what about a favor from Adamiel?”
That caught his attention. “You have the ability to make such an offer in his stead?”
Okay, I knew I was stepping out of bounds, but I had no idea how else to get past him and the gate was right there, freedom beckoning to me so tantalizingly. There was no way I could go back to Raum. No way. I had to make it as lucrative for him as possible. “Of course I do. He must have told you I belong to him, right?” I tried to use terms he would understand, even as it chafed to admit I belonged to anyone like property.
“You belong to Raum now.”
“Only because it served Adam’s purpose for the time being. But he didn’t want me damaged. I can’t imagine him being happy about me being treated like this, can you?” I shoved aside the dark cloak to show the angry red wound on my shoulder, no longer as deeply scarred thanks to my naturally enhanced healing, but still a definite sign of bite marks. I took a gamble, because a guy like Naberios might not bat an eyelash over my being maimed beyond recognition, or care what Adam wanted, but instead his scowl deepened as he examined the injury.
“Raum marked you.”
“Yes, with pain, and I gave him what he wanted at the time too.” I didn’t bother to hide my bitterness. “He wanted to hurt me. He said I tasted better that way. Adam would never want that, would you want that for your woman?” Did he even have a woman if he stood guard all the time? I saw his resolve start to falter though, and it wasn’t hard to drum up a few tears, my fate literally hanging in the balance. “Who knows what he’ll do to me next time just for fun. Please let me go, I’ll owe you a debt of gratitude and so will Adamiel.” Long seconds ticked by, and I didn’t think he would go for it, but then he let go of my arm, taking a step back from the gate.
“Go then, and don’t come back. If Raum captures you again, I will not interfere a second time.”
I didn’t stop to ask questions, I slid past him, grabbing hold of Nelo’s hand to pass through the gate. “Thank you,” I gave the big man a smile of gratitude, “I won’t forget this.”
“Nor will I,” he nodded and I wondered what I’d promised in order to buy my freedom.
*
Just because Naberios let us pass, didn’t mean he’d bar anyone else from coming after us, and once we were on the normal side of the gate, we stepped up the pace, adrenaline giving me the push I needed to get my feet moving. We didn’t stop to think about moving between shadows, I could have cared less about running into regular humans at that point.
As we progressed into the better traveled hallway at the rear of the club, Nelo faded into the gloom, though I could still feel him keeping up beside me. I strode brazenly through the strip club, barely sparing a look for the denizens, apart from the bartender who I recognized as a demon. After what I’d been through, they were the least of my problems. Drug pushers, low lifes and other assorted scum? Bring ‘em on! Compared to Raum they didn’t scare me one bit.
Nelo stuck close to my side, coalescing into view when we reached the parking lot. We hadn’t talked about what would happen next, where he would go once we made it to the ‘real’ world, and I felt responsible for him after all his help. “Now we have to find a cab that’ll stop in this neighborhood.” I flashed him a smile, my spirits incredibly buoyed by our successful escape attempt. It was night out, late at that, and finding a cab proved to be more difficult than I would have thought. Without any money or my cellphone I couldn’t catch the bus or easily call anyone to come and pick me up.
Except for the one person who owed me a similar favor. Finding a working payphone, I dialed my brother’s number, hoping he’d be in decent enough shape to come and get me. I’d done the same for him more than a few times over the years as part of our pact not to let each other drive when either of us had too much to drink, though I hadn’t had to call him for a ride in a long, long time. Sure, I could have called Ben. He would have come to get me without question, or even Daphne, but it was late and I’d already been gone for a few days. I figured it would be better not to interrupt their night’s sleep for taxi service, and it was the kind of imposition you needed family for.
Making the collect call, I hurried to get the words out in the brief amount of time allotted before the phone cut me off. “Matty! It’s me, just accept the charges, okay?”
“Merce?” His voice thick with sleep, Matty came on the line after a long pause and I let out the breath I’d been unconsciously holding.
“Hey Matt, I’m fine and everything, but I need you to come and pick me up.”
“It’s… almost four in the morning.”
“Yeah, I know, that’s why I’d rather not keep standing out on this street corner. Can you please come and pick me up?”
“I thought you were supposed to be the responsible one?”
“I thought we’d switch for a while. You can go back to being the irresponsible one next week. Now get your ass up out of bed and come and get me!” I put a bit of heat into my voice because that was the only way I was gonna get him to leave his warm bed. Had he even known I was missing in the first place? It didn’t sound like it from the tone of his voice.
“Alright, alright, hold your horses. Where are you?” he yawned and I gave him the address. Twice. Reasonably certain he wouldn’t fall back asleep again, I turned to Nelo who stood beside me, his eyes wide as he took in his surroundings. “You should probably stay out of sight when he gets here. The fewer people who know about you the better, especially if Raum sends anyone after us.”
“As you wish, Mistress,” Nelo nodded readily.
“After we get home and sleep for about a thousand years we can decide what to do next. Unless you have any ideas?” He shook his head and I realized how rattled he was. Seattle was probably a little overwhelming for someone who’d spent his entire existence in a demon plane. Good thing we managed to get there at night instead of full daylight, that would have made him really uncomfortable.
Even with the cloak, I was pretty cold by the time Matty pulled up in his beater car. He didn’t bat an eye when I held the door open long enough for Nelo to climb in or mention the unusual cloak or what I was doing out there in the middle of the night by myself. All he did was nod blearily over my profuse thanks for the ride. Maybe he was on autopilot, but I was grateful for the no questions asked ride, I was sure to get the opposite from Ben.
Ben.
He was probably going out of his mind insane with worry. He didn’t like it when I was a half hour late and I’d been gone for days… “Did Ben contact you at all while I was gone?” I asked Matty as we turned onto my street.
“No, was he supposed to have? Is this about that Thanksgiving thing? I told you I’d come, but I don’t know if I’ll have a date or not. Just text me the address to Ben’s place.”
I frowned over that; had something happened to Ben after all? Did Bert and Hubie go back even after I went along with them quietly as promised? Because I couldn’t imagine him being okay with me never making it up those stairs that night. “Yeah, I meant about Thanksgiving,” I replied, not wanting Matt to worry.
“How come you didn’t call Ben to come and get you?” he asked, waking up a little more and I seized upon the distraction of my apartment building up ahead.
“It’s a long story, but I promise I’ll tell you sometime when we’re both more awake. Do you have your spare key to my place?”
“Yeah, sure…” he unclipped it from his keychain and held it up. “Where are your keys?”
I leaned across the console and dropped a noisy kiss to his hair like I used to do when we were kids. “Thanks for the ride, Matty. That’s one less you owe me,” I grinned, slipping out of the car before he could press for more. The barest flicker of movement told me Nelo scooted out beside me, and I shut the car door with a slam. “Here we are, home sweet home.” Leading
the way up the stairs, I saw Nelo relax at my side once we were in the darkened hallway. “Almost there.” I gave him a comforting little pat on the shoulders as I unlocked the front door. I was about to invite him inside when the door was yanked out of my hand, Sam’s face a mask of surprise as he caught sight of me.
“You are back!” he crowed in excitement and I shushed him.
“Hey, keep it down, I have neighbors. Wait until you hear where I’ve been.” I might have said more but his face went deadly calm, that lethal look descending over his features.
“Mercy, come to me.” Sam stretched one hand out towards me as a gleaming sword appeared in the other. “Do not be afraid, I will protect you.”
Was there something dangerous standing behind me?
Chapter Thirteen
I froze, expecting bloodshed at any moment. “What is it?”
“Come to me, Mercy. You mustn’t let that unclean thing touch you.”
Unclean? I had to look then, and turned around, but there was no one behind me. No one except for Nelo, who hid behind me, his hand clutched tight in mine. “Oh, for crying out loud… Sam relax, he’s with me. This is Nelo.”
Sam’s head canted to one side as he studied us, the sword remaining fixed in his hand. “How do you mean he’s with you? He’s a demon.”
“Yeah, I know,” I snorted. It wasn’t like he could pass for anything else. “Now put the sword away and let us in, it’s been a hell of a few days and I’d like to sit down.”
“Hours.”
“What?”
“You’ve only been gone a few hours,” Sam clarified.
“That’s impossible. I was in Midian for…” I wasn’t exactly sure how long, but it had been at least a few days.
“Time works differently there, you could be gone for years and only have a few months elapse here on Earth. It’s the opposite in Heaven, time is measured differently. That’s why I was gone so long when I went to see Nathanael.”
