The kiss of a succubus was normally deadly but Shektee was careful not to take any of Mystique’s life energy. The kiss had other uses that Shektee had slowly developed over time. One of them was the ability to create a telepathic link to her victim. Shektee was able to read all of Mystique’s memories. She quickly scanned through them, trying to figure out why Mystique had dared summon her. Most mortals that summoned demons were overconfident and foolish; Mystique was neither of those. It didn’t take long for Shektee to find the answer: someone was after Angelica.
Angelica was a problem Shektee had been hard-pressed to solve. Angelica had demanded Daemon kill her and he would have, if not for the rules Angelica had taught him. Shektee had done nothing to Daemon or his friends, so he had refused, which was exactly what Angelica had spent years teaching him to do. Normally Shektee wouldn’t have been worried about any mortal, but Daemon was linked to her true master—an ancient spirit of immense power. Shektee realized this was a good opportunity for her to indebt Angelica to her. The thought brought a smile to Shektee’s face.
Now Shektee had to figure out how to get Mystique to safety and contact Daemon. She could tell Daemon was on the planet, but he was a long distance away and she had no way of contacting him. The first priority was to get Mystique away from here. She was injured and needed healing. The people who had taken her were experienced in combat and would have weapons.
Shektee’s train of thought was interrupted by the appearance of a human female coming to the door. Whoever it was, she was taking her time opening the door, which gave Shektee plenty of time to move next to the door and change into a better combat form. In her natural form she could beat most humans, but this was not the time for carelessness. The ancient spirit had given Shektee the ability to change into any form of near-equal mass, and she had learned to use it to her advantage.
The woman swung the door open carelessly and stepped inside. She had a light source in her right hand and a metal bar in her left. Shektee could tell by the way she moved that the woman had little experience in melee combat. The woman was a little nervous, so terrorizing her would be fairly easy. She stepped closer to the bed not bothering to look around the room. Shektee pushed the door closed. The woman spun around at the sound of the closing door. She froze in terror as the light of the flashlight illuminated Shektee’s combat form. Shektee’s combat form was shorter than her natural form. Shektee’s head was much larger to make room for her new mouth, which hinged near the back of her skull and allowed her to open her mouth unnaturally wide. Selene was standing frozen in terror when Shektee grappled her. Shektee pulled her into a hug and squeezed, breaking Selene’s ribs and causing massive internal damage. Selene would die from those injuries alone, but Shektee had need for the information her held in her memory. Shektee bit down on Selene’s face, driving a multitude of needle-sharp teeth into Selene’s temples. Shektee drained Selene’s memories and life energy with that horrible kiss. When she was finished, Shektee discarded Selene’s mummified husk in a corner of the room.
Shektee took a minute to sort through the memories she had taken from Selene. There was only one other guard on duty and he was Selene’s boyfriend. They were in something called a self-storage facility away from the main city. The Irishman was the man in charge, and he would not return for another thirty minutes or so. Shektee thought the first thing to do was eliminate the second guard.
She decided to disguise herself as Selene in case there were cameras between here and the other guard. Shektee shifted forms once again; this time, she took on the form of Selene. She then recovered Selene’s clothing and dressed herself, becoming Selene’s perfect duplicate. She had not heard Selene talk so the voice was not going to be the same, but she didn’t expect to have to talk to Gerald. She grabbed the flashlight and pipe and walked casually toward the office. She was glad she was able to retain her natural visual abilities; human vision was so limited Shektee was amazed they could see anything.
Shektee opened the office door and found Gerald relaxing on the couch. Shektee smelled a strange smoke in the air and realized it was one of the drugs Gerald and Selene used. She walked over, throwing the flashlight and pipe into a nearby chair. Gerald watched her with a stupid smile on his face. Shektee sat down, straddling his lap, and took his head in her hands. She slowly leaned in and kissed Gerald, using one of her abilities to heighten his sexual awareness and pleasure. Gerald died a very happy man.
Shektee checked the phone and found that the line was dead. She had learned how to use the phone from Selene’s memories and had found Daemon’s phone number in Mystique’s memories. It would have been too easy if she could have just called Daemon and told him what was happening. Shektee would have to get Mystique to a safe location and find a working phone. She returned to Mystique’s room and carefully removed the restraints. Mystique had not regained consciousness, which caused Shektee some concern. If Daemon decided she was to blame for Mystique’s death, he would most likely kill her. Shektee wrapped Mystique in a blanket and picked her up. She would have to carry her to safety, which brought up the most important question: where was safe?
***
Daemon was sparring with a couple of guys from the security detail when he felt the sudden change in Angelica’s mood. He had no idea what had happened, but Angelica suddenly was very afraid. He forgot all about the two men fighting him. They took his hesitation as an opening and attacked. Daemon instinctively defended himself, only keeping enough focus on the fight to make sure he didn’t kill the two men. The beast took control of Daemon’s body as his mind was trying to figure out what’d happened to Angelica. The beast had centuries of experience in hand-to-hand combat. The men were no match for his superior strength, speed, and skill.
Angelica was scared, which meant he needed to be with her. The beast grabbed the man coming in from the left, knowing he would expect Daemon to go after the man on the right, which was his favored side. The guard was very good but it’d made him overconfident. Daemon did not have the skill of the beast and relied on brute strength and speed to win his fights. The guard realized his mistake and would have evaded any other opponent. Daemon was able to get enough of a hold on him to pull him off his feet and throw him into his partner. Daemon didn’t waste time checking to see if they were injured. He spoke the magical word calling forth his axe, and sliced the fence wall of the sparing cage.
Another guard who had been watching the match recognized what was happening and sounded the alarm. All around the small farm, pop-up turrets sprang to life, their scanners switching from passive mood to actively searching for any sign of intruders. An armored attack transport lifted out of the barn to provide air cover while guards in powered armor ran to where Angelica was on the phone.
Daemon hadn’t bothered to put away his axe as he ran across the backyard toward the main house. Ambassador Quinn had moved them into a fancy hobby ranch slash farm. He’d explained that it would provide more privacy, which would allow the security detail more freedom to do their job. All that didn’t matter now. Something was scaring Angelica and the fact that she was still scared meant it was a real threat.
Daemon almost stumbled as he reached the back porch. Every hair on his body came alive and Daemon could feel a strange energy wash over him like a wave. The feeling only lasted for a few seconds and then it was gone. In its place Daemon felt a new presence, one that he’d felt before. Daemon stopped to identify this new threat. He focused on his ability to feel aggression in others. It didn’t take long for Daemon to find and identify the source. Shektee was on the planet in the dimension of man. How she’d crossed the dimensional barrier Daemon didn’t know and didn’t care about at the moment. She was hundreds of miles away.
Two guards in powered armor burst through the back door, charging down the steps to take up flanking positions. Every member of the guard detail had been instructed not to get too close to Daemon during a security alert. They had all witnessed Daemon’s demonstration of what his axe could do an
d had been informed of his psychological instability, which could turn him into a berserker in times of stress. They would escort him wherever he went, but they were under strict orders not to interfere with what he did. Daemon registered their arrival and smiled. They would have secured Angelica before looking for him.
Daemon put away his axe and calmly walked up the back steps and into the house. He had an idea of what had upset Angelica. Somehow she must have sensed Shektee coming through the dimensional barrier. The idea of a demon entering the dimension would scare any rational person. Daemon walked through the kitchen and into the living room where Angelica sat in the armchair she usually used. Four guards in powered armor were also in the room watching the windows and entrances. Angelica had her phone in her hand and she was staring at it when Daemon walked in.
“Someone has kidnapped Mystique. He’s going to call back in a few minutes to tell me what he wants,” Angelica explained to Daemon and the guards. Anger flashed through Daemon’s being, followed almost instantly by a burst of laughter. Angelica’s head snapped up, anger replacing fear. The guards transmitted the conversation to their captain knowing he would be interested in finding out what was happening.
“What the hell is funny about Mystique being kidnapped?” Angelica demanded as she stood up. She knew she couldn’t hurt him, but that wasn’t going to stop her from punching him a few times if she didn’t like his answer.
“Mystique will be all right. She’s already called help,” Daemon replied with a smile. It had to be Mystique that’d summoned Shektee. Shektee had implanted the summoning ritual in Mystique’s mind back on Endeavor.
“What are you talking about?” Angelica asked, a little calmer but still upset.
Daemon started to explain but realized the guards were listening. “My friend, the one you don’t like, is back,” Daemon said instead. Angelica didn’t understand and was in no mood to play guessing games. She was about to demand that Daemon stop playing and explain when she noticed him looking at the guards.
“Excuse me. Could you all please leave the room? I would like to talk to my brother in private,” Angelica requested, making sure everyone understood it was not really a request. The guards filed out of the room, closing the doors behind them. If Daemon or Angelica had known anything about the capabilities of powered armor they would have known a door wasn’t going to stop the guards from eavesdropping on their conversation. Part of the mission the guards had been tasked with was gathering information about the two.
Once the guards were gone, Daemon explained his theory about what was happening. Angelica couldn’t decide if she was relieved Mystique would be safe from the kidnappers or terrified that she was in the care of a demon. One thing was certain—they needed to get to the city, and fast.
***
The storm was dissipating as quickly as it had appeared and work crews were already heading out to repair the damage. Power had been lost to almost half the city and only landline phones were working. People stayed in their homes and prayed for safety. Shektee carried Mystique down a side alley between two large buildings. She tore a small hole in the fence surrounding one of the buildings.
The clouds were breaking up, which meant people would soon be leaving the shelter of the dwellings. Shektee didn’t have much time to find a place to hide. She hoped to find a suitable location on the roof of the building. She pulled a length of rope from her bag and tied it around Mystique’s chest, under her arms. Shektee didn’t like leaving her unprotected, but knew it would be faster for her to climb up and check the roof if she wasn’t carrying Mystique.
Shektee shifted into the form of a giant spider and ran up the side of the building. Once on top, she took a quick look around. She found the roof had numerous metal boxes spread out and decided it would do. She quickly went back to the ledge above Mystique and retrieved the rope. A minute later she was carrying Mystique to one of the boxes that was not sitting on the roof but was instead on legs. A small crawl space was left underneath just large enough for Shektee to push Mystique under and out of sight.
Shektee sat down next to Mystique to think. She took the time to meditate on the memories she’d taken from Mystique and her two captives. The two captives had very little useful information. They knew the Irishman mostly by reputation and had been surprised when he’d contacted them about doing a job. Mystique had no knowledge of him except for the few times he’d visited her. Shektee looked for other people who Mystique trusted. She needed to get Mystique medical help and make sure she survived until Angelica arrived.
Shektee wasn’t surprised when she found that Mystique didn’t trust many people. Most of the people she knew she thought of in terms of their usefulness, which Shektee found handy. Mystique arranged the people by their skills and abilities, then by their drawbacks, and decided based on the comparison how she treated them. Most people she simply ignored. There was one male that seemed to be useful and Mystique even trusted him a little. He seemed intelligent and resourceful but his mother had caused Mystique injury. The boy had also been able to contact Daemon and Angelica.
Shektee checked on Mystique and made sure she was as comfortable as possible. She was going to have to go to the school to find Bruce Montagu. Daemon would be coming but Shektee didn’t know how long it would take for him to arrive and Mystique was not regaining her strength. Bruce would know how to contact Daemon and let him know that Mystique needed healing. Daemon would tell her what to do and she would do it. Her responsibility for what was happening would drop dramatically, making it much more likely she would survive if Mystique did not recover, or so she hoped.
***
Bruce was glad he’d purchased the battery backup power supply for his room. As long as power was restored within the next eight hours, he wouldn’t be seriously affected. Half of the cell towers in the city had been fried by lightning but the satellite uplink for the school was still working, which meant he could still use his computer to get online. There was a lot of speculation as to what had caused the freak storm and the weather service was trying to figure out if it could happen again.
The gentle tap on his shoulder made Bruce jump, causing the glass of soda on his computer table to fall over and the bag of chips to drop to the floor. Bruce spun around in his chair, coming face-to-face with Shektee in the form of Selene. Shektee had no time for his questions so she used her charm spell. Bruce felt the overwhelming desire to please the woman standing in front of him. Every other thought vanished from his mind. He would do anything she wanted just as soon as he found out who she was and how she’d broken in. Very few humans have the strength of will to resist a succubus’s charm spell; Bruce was one of them.
“Who are you and what are you doing in my room?” Bruce demanded as he started to stand up.
Shektee tried a different approach. She put her hands on both of his shoulders and pushed him back down into the chair, forcing him to look up at her at the proper angle for a servant to look at its master. “I am Shektee, and if you do as I instruct, I won’t kill you,” Shektee stated as she dug her fingers deeper into Bruce’s shoulders, causing him to wince in pain.
“All right. What do you want? I don’t have a lot of money,” Bruce offered, hoping she would take the money and leave. He was going to contact someone in Agrotech security about getting an alarm on his doors and windows.
“Mystique is injured. I need you to contact Daemon,” Shektee informed him. Bruce was stunned; he had expected Shektee to demand money or jewelry or even his computer. Slowly the full meaning of what Shektee had said sunk in.
“How? Is she all right? Where is she?” Bruce blurted out as he tried again to stand, but like Mystique, this woman was a lot stronger than she looked. Shektee felt his concern for Mystique. He cared about her, which was good. She would not have to force him to help.
“I have no time to explain. Contact Daemon,” Shektee instructed. She released her grip to allow him to do as she’d instructed. Bruce sat still for a few seconds, thinking.
Shektee found it hard to wait, but she could tell he was trying to solve some problem.
Finally, Bruce spun his chair around and started typing. As he did, Bruce cursed his stupidity for not letting his mother get him a datajack. It would have allowed him to directly interface with the computer and instead of typing the commands, he would just have had to think them. He decided to start simple and email the New Sydney ambassador. He didn’t expect to get a response, but he figured he could follow the email to the embassy servers.
Bruce was a little surprised to receive an immediate response. He’d emailed the ambassador that he had information about Mystique. The ambassador’s response came in two parts, first a reply email asking for more information and the second a tracer. Someone was tracking his email back to his computer. He hadn’t thought to route the email through any other servers, so it wasn’t going to take the tracer long.
“We are going to have company in a few minutes. If you are going to run, you better get moving,” Bruce told Shektee.
“I told you to contact Daemon; not invite guests! You are trying my patience and I am not a patient being,” Shektee stated, conveying her annoyance clearly through her voice. The use of the word being was not missed by Bruce, who turned back to his computer and typed a reply to the ambassador’s email.
“They keep emailing me. Why don’t they ask for a video connection?” Bruce thought aloud, partly to let Shektee know what he was doing.
“Mystique was kidnapped and they think you are the kidnapper. They do not wish to scare you into leaving before they get here,” Shektee speculated. “According to their records, you were involved with the first kidnapping attempt.”
Bruce spun around to protest his innocence but froze when he saw Mystique standing behind him. “What the—” She was wearing the same clothing that Shektee had been wearing, which were now loose on her.
Mystique's Journey Page 12
