Hammer Down: Children of the Undying: Book 2

by Moira Rogers

  Protective rage made knots of his gut as he grated out an answer. “Fine.”

  “Did she tell you what happened between us? Why she left me?”

  His mother had never spoken of anything that had happened to her before she married Oliver Wetzel. “No.”

  “Another squad executed a routine raid, and they brought her into camp. I had to fight the demon who’d laid claim to her, kill him, but I would have done that a hundred times.” His eye gleamed in the firelight. “She was beautiful but frightened, and it took a long time for her to be able to look at me.”

  Darkness wasn’t just rising inside Zel anymore. It had come to life, hungry and wild and ready to swallow him whole. “I don’t need to know.” He couldn’t know, or he’d forget Jai and Ruiz and die in his attempt to slay the monster responsible for the crime of his existence.

  “Things were very good for a while, and then I made a foolish mistake,” his father admitted softly, his forehead crinkling in a frown. “I was protecting her from unpleasantness, but I forgot that human women have fragile sensibilities. I knew better, but I got…careless.”

  Anyone who called Sora Wetzel fragile was a fool. “You were holding her captive. How could you protect her from unpleasantness?”

  Several moments passed before Aton answered. “She’d been with me almost a year by then. There was another woman, a captive who’d been kept as a slave to another, and she was cruel to your mother. She lied, told the other slaves that Sora had whored herself to the camp warriors in return for special treatment. So I killed her. Sora…reacted badly.”

  A chilling assessment of a demon’s ability to care for someone, and an uncomfortable reminder of the same compulsion buried deep in his heart. Hadn’t he been ready to set his hands around Drake’s throat for the sin of slapping Devi?

  Aton seemed to be waiting for a response, so Zel gave it. “Anyone would have been upset. You don’t kill someone over a petty rumor.”

  “It hurt her. I saw the pain in her eyes when they gossiped or turned away from her.” Aton shook his head. “Sora stabbed me in my sleep and ran away. I lost her and my eye, but I would do it again. No one hurts the mother of my child and shrugs it off.”

  A grisly image formed. The challenge ring, painted in Drake’s blood. Painted in the blood of every man and woman under his command, because all of the warriors had stepped over that line at least once, driven by violence and rage and a shadow none of them could fight. He’d seen challenges over slights, real and imagined. Invented, even. Any excuse to tear each other apart.

  The circle had always given them an outlet. Without it, maybe none of them would be any better than Aton, who’d murdered a woman over hurt feelings. Whatever this skin felt for his mother, it wasn’t love. But it might be the truest reflection of what Zel was capable of.

  He’d done Devi a favor by thrusting her out of his life.

  “You understand,” Aton whispered. “I can see it. You don’t want to, but you do.”

  “I understand why it’s wrong.”

  “What would you do?”

  Zel didn’t answer. Didn’t want to know what the truth might be.

  “That’s what I thought.” Aton’s gaze skipped past him, and a quiet murmur seemed to collectively roll through the camp. “What is this?”

  Damn it, Tanner. It had to be him, disobeying orders because he couldn’t leave Ruiz behind. Zel half-rose as he turned and felt his heart freeze.

  Not Tanner.

  Devi.

  She walked down the cracked street, flanked by guards but not restrained. No, she came on her own, all of her attention focused on him.

  Aton’s voice boomed out. “State your name and business here, human.”

  She came to a halt in the middle of the street, her face dark in the long shadows thrown by the flickering flames. “My name is Devindra. I came for Zel.”

  The slightest flicker of emotion could put her in danger. “Devi, you shouldn’t be here.”

  Her expression remained bland and vaguely pleasant, betraying no fear or concern. “The summons was for both of us, wasn’t it?”

  He had a new goal now—get them all free so he could shake her until her teeth rattled free of her skull. There was nothing he could say to her, though, not without revealing more than he wanted to.

  The demon who’d sired him stepped forward, not too close, but close enough that Zel shuddered with the effort it took not to lunge, not to cover her body with his in an attempt to keep her safe.

  Not that she seemed to be in danger from the demon’s unthreatening words. “I am Aton.”

  She didn’t greet him, but she didn’t shrink away, either. “Sora told me about you.”

  The eyebrow above his patch arched up. “And what did she say?”

  “That you’re brilliant,” she answered at once. “Brilliant and ruthless.”

  It became too much. Zel rocked to his feet and took a step toward them. “Devi, enough. What are you trying to prove?”

  “Nothing.” Her gaze bored into his. “I came to see after my people, and you.”

  Revealing how much she mattered would put her at risk, and that gave him the strength to turn away. “She wants to see the blonde. The summoner.”

  Behind him, Devi inhaled sharply. “Are you talking about Juliet?”

  “Juliet.” Aton rolled the name over his tongue. “It suits. She wouldn’t tell us her given name. Half the time, all we got was a serial number.”

  An old human trick. Zel clenched his fists. “Can we see them?”

  But Aton shook his head. “In time, but not right away. Settle in for the night. Hugo will show you to your campsite.”

  With Devi there as the perfect hostage, Zel could only capitulate.

  Devi avoided Zel’s gaze as the guard led them to one of the smaller homes off the circle. Her father had called this sort of arrangement a cul-de-sac. Once upon a time, her grandfather had lived in a place like this, had played with other neighborhood children in a circle just like the one where Aton and his men—not men, demons—had built their bonfire.

  Inside the house, the demon called Hugo gestured to the stairs. “Don’t go up. The floor won’t hold you. There are bedrolls through here.” He opened double doors made of glass. Half the panes were missing or cracked.

  Beyond lay a large square room with a hearth, stacked wood and the bedrolls he’d mentioned. Devi thanked him absently and walked in, rubbing her hands over her upper arms.

  Zel stayed silent as he stalked the edge of the room, his gaze sweeping from side to side. He paused in front of a boarded-up window and pried at one edge, frowning when a rusty nail pulled easily free. “Someone’s been squatting here.”

  The words were even, almost detached. He was something beyond angry, and she didn’t blame him, but she also didn’t intend to let him ignore it. “Zel.”

  One cold, cutting look, and he moved on, to a place where the wall gave way to an alcove at shoulder height. A long row of old-fashioned books lined the shelf, their ornate, leather covers damaged with age and neglect. “We’re not talking about this.”

  Maybe he didn’t think she had the right to press him, not anymore, and perhaps he was right. Devi sat by the hearth, her back against the wall, and rubbed her hands over her face. “What was he saying about Juliet? She’s not a summoner.”

  “Guess she is.” He eased one of the books from the shelf, but when he flipped open the cover a chunk of rotted pages slipped free and scattered on the floor at his feet. “Jai bonded her.”

  Too many questions, ones she wouldn’t be able to answer until she saw Juliet and talked with her. “Did he mention Tanner? What about the others?”

  “Tanner’s fine. They’re supposed to be on their way back to Rochester now.”

  “He released everyone else?”

  “Yes.” Zel shoved the book back on its shelf and turned to face her. “He says she’s intriguing. I don’t know what that means, but she’s got protection at least. As long a
s Jai’s alive, it’ll be hard for even a fullblood to pop her.”

  “I’m grateful to him.” Her head swam. Six hours ago, Juliet had been a mundane human, with no gifts beyond her mind and muscles. Six hours ago, Devi and Zel had been sparring in the training room, moments away from falling to the floor together.

  Now, he would barely look at her.

  Her throat burned, and she squeezed her eyes shut. Crying was stupid, and she refused to do it. He’d offered her the chance to stay in Rochester, and she’d declined. Then he’d tried to force her hand, and she had come anyway. He could punish her, but it wouldn’t change anything, certainly not the core of who she was.

  “I’d do it again,” she said. “Hate me if you want, Zel, but I’d come here again.”

  His voice came, a hoarse, pained whisper. “I don’t want to hate you, but it might be the only way to keep you safe.”

  “Why is that the only way? Talk to me.”

  “He wants to prove that I’m like him. Right before you showed up, he told me I’d kill anyone who hurt a woman I care about. I don’t want to see if he’ll test that.”

  There was no way to counter that fear. Devi unrolled some of the bedding and curled up on her side, misery coursing through her in chilling waves. “You do what you have to do. I can’t fault you for it.”

  Silence filled the space between them, heavy and uncomfortable. When he finally spoke, he sounded desperate. “He’s not wrong. If one of them hurts you, I’ll do my best to kill them all. I’ll die trying, and where does that leave you and Ruiz?”

  Rage boiled over. “Don’t you dare blackmail me like that! If things go south, I’ll handle it as best I can, but trying to keep me in line with threats is low. It’s beneath you, Zel.”

  He spun and stalked across the room, drawing up just short of her. His large body towered over her in the darkness, hard and merciless as his large hands fisted at his sides. “You don’t get it yet, do you? That thing outside made me. Nothing is beneath me. I’m not human.”

  She came to her knees. “Your mother made you too. How does that line up with this theory that you’re some kind of horrible monster?”

  “All that means is that I know I’m a monster. I can regret the things I’ll do. It won’t stop me from doing them.”

  Arguing was a circular exercise in futility. “We keep coming back around to that. How can I make this better for you? What do you want from me?”

  Something helpless filled his eyes. “I don’t know.”

  “Neither do I.” Every time he looked at her like that, her heart broke a little more. “Your mother said you’d die for her, but you’d stay alive for me. Was that ever true?”

  He crouched in front of her, bringing his eyes level with hers. “I’d do anything for you.”

  It was a lie. “You won’t trust me not to be a weapon, a liability. The one thing that’ll get you killed.”

  “No, Devi.” His fingers touched her cheek, the slightest brush, but it still left her fighting not to lean into him. “I don’t trust myself. You could do everything smart, everything right, and I’d still ruin it all by being an idiot.”

  “Zel.” She had to return his caress, so she laid her hand on his chest.

  His free hand came up to cover hers, almost as if he couldn’t stop himself. “He doesn’t look like a monster.”

  “No.” She hesitated. “But that doesn’t mean he isn’t one. From what your mother told me of Aton, assumptions and snap judgments are foolish, at best.”

  “What did she tell you?”

  There was no way she was going to relay all of Sora’s words. “Just enough to give me the feeling it was a complicated situation.”

  Zel closed his eyes and squeezed her hand. “You should sleep. Who knows what’s coming tomorrow?”

  “Pull your blankets over here. It’ll be warm enough without a fire.”

  He obeyed without a word, spreading out the bedroll with her tucked between him and the wall. “I’ll get you out of here,” he said quietly. “You and Ruiz both. Jai’ll take care of her. He’s strong, and he’s stubborn.”

  Devi lay down and drew his arm around her. “I’m more worried about you.”

  “Don’t be. My mother was right.”

  “Good.” He had other people to think about, to protect, and that would keep him from making rash decisions that would put him in danger. “We’ll find out what Aton wants, and we’ll deal with it. Both of us, together.”

  His breath stirred the hair at the back of her neck as he pulled her closer. “We’ll find a way to get Jai and Ruiz and get the fuck out of here.”

  As escape went, it was more a goal than a plan, but they wouldn’t be able to plan until they knew what the hell Zel’s father wanted. “Do you think they’re okay?”

  “Jai bonded her.” His fingers splayed over her stomach in a quiet, possessive gesture. “Do you know what that means?”

  “All I know is that a bonded summoner is protected from other demons’ magic.”

  “Summoners are vulnerable. Not so much to getting popped, not like humans. You pop a human out of their body and they’re gone. Not a summoner. But they can get leaned on. Flipped. Demon, halfblood, anyone with enough power can make a summoner do any damn thing they want, and make ’em like it, too.”

  “I’m aware of that.” It was the main reason no city would harbor a summoner, and why she would never have one in her crew—or so she thought. “I just don’t understand the bonding.”

  “It’s…” He cleared his throat, and his hesitation wound a thread of anxiety through Devi. “Only one demon can control a summoner at a time.”

  The anxiety blossomed into panic. “He—he took control of her?”

  “Not exactly. But his magic is locked around her now. It would take days for anyone to flip her without killing him first. But the trade-off is that she’s open to him all the time. He could control her if he wanted to. She has to trust he won’t.”

  “Trust doesn’t come easily for her.” And it wouldn’t have come at all if there had been any other option. It wasn’t a reflection on Jai, but on Juliet. “I should have known. I let my crew keep their secrets, even when I shouldn’t.”

  “They seem to have their share.” Another pause, as his thumb smoothed in a slow arch, back and forth over her side. “Aton said that Tanner wasn’t human. Not anymore.”

  Another helpless, overwhelmed sob rose, and she swallowed it mercilessly. “I don’t know what that means.”

  “Me neither, but I think Tanner did.”

  Devi closed her eyes. “What the hell is going on?”

  “We’ll figure it out. Tomorrow. Get some rest, Dev. We’re gonna need it.”

  How was she supposed to rest now, after all this? “This is a mess, Zel. I’m sorry.”

  “I know. Everything gets messy when demons get involved.”

  Or humans. She squeezed her eyes tighter. “Good night.”

  “Look at me, Devi.”

  “I can’t.” It was all too much to process.

  His hand slid under her cheek, gentle but unyielding. “Devi.”

  Reluctantly, she turned her face to his. “This is stupid. Everyone’s safe for now, and this is… I’m being silly.”

  He smiled and smoothed his thumb over her lips. “We’re safe. I didn’t want you here, but now we’re gonna do this. Together.”

  The words melted some of her tension, but they couldn’t melt her worry. “I didn’t know if I’d find you and you’d be okay, or—”

  “Shh.” He pressed the pad of his thumb against her mouth, stilling her words. “I’m tough to break.”

  He was, and it went beyond the physical. “We’re safe,” she echoed. “Promise me you’ll stay that way.”

  “Of course.” He almost smiled. “I left Lorenzo in charge. I have to get back before the place falls in around his ears.”

  Zel couldn’t doubt himself, not if her life and the lives of others were on the line. “Good, because I don’t
think he wants your job.”

  “No, probably not. He juggles too many lovers to make that practical.”

  “Unless he builds a harem.”

  “They might let him.” His voice turned serious again. “I didn’t get a chance to see how many of Aton’s men are warriors. I don’t even know if the sex demons associate with the rest of them.”

  There was too much they didn’t know. “We have to be up front with him. For some reason, I get the feeling he’ll do the same.”

  “Did my mother tell you that?”

  “No.” She’d gotten the distinct sense that what Aton wanted, more than anything else, was not to be dismissed out of hand as a threat to be eliminated. “What she told me is that we can’t underestimate him. And that means we can’t play him.”

  “Maybe not.” He slid his hand back down to her abdomen and curled around her. “Like I said, it’ll be okay.”

  It’ll be okay. The words echoed in her head, a consolation, the only thing that allowed her to relax enough to welcome sleep.

  It’ll be okay.

  Chapter Twenty

  A soft hand at her hip woke Devi, followed by Zel’s low whisper. “They’re coming.”

  There was no time to wake slowly. Devi bit her tongue and sat up straight, shaking off sleep with ruthless efficiency. Pale light filtered through the boarded windows. “It’s barely morning.”

  “Whatever they want, they want it now.” Zel rocked to his feet, his hands held loosely by his sides.

  Aton came through the entry to the windowed doors. He knocked, a strange courtesy considering he could see through the cracked and broken panes. “Good morning. I trust you slept well?”

  He’d had someone posted outside the nearest window, listening, of that Devi was certain. Only a fool wouldn’t have, and Aton was no fool. “Well enough.”

  Zel ignored the pleasantries. “I want to see our people. I want to know they’re safe.”

  “Of course.” Aton smiled. “They’ll be at breakfast. Will you join me?”

  After the briefest hesitation, Zel glanced at Devi and nodded. “Breakfast would be…welcome.” The word sounded as if it hurt coming out.