Personal Demons: A Riverton Demons Novel

by Katherine Kim

  “It’s a pleasant area,” Michael said. “Or was some time back. I haven’t passed through here for many years now.” He stood to glance out the window towards the street where someone was arguing with the men on the trash truck accompanied by a great deal of heavily muffled clanging. His voice went soft and May raised her eyebrow at him.

  “Um, well. Yes, it’s really nice. We’ve been up here for a few days and were actually getting ready to head back, so we stopped in town for some brunch, and ice cream, because why not? It was a beautiful morning and we were laughing cause of the mess Owen had made with his cone dripping all over everything. When he’d finished all the ice cream that he was going to I hauled him into the public bath house that’s there by the parking lot to wash the worst of it off him before we got in the car, and when I came out, there was Kevin. Just sort of lounging there, like he’d been waiting for us. I don’t even know how he found us, but I snatched Owen up and tried to get past as fast as I could, and Kevin just started in at me. Why wouldn’t I be reasonable? Why won’t I let him take his son? Stuff like that. He was blathering about being Owen’s father, and having every right to demand things, expecting me to fall all over myself to do whatever he told me to. He followed me all the way to the car. We passed Brian at some point and he got between me and Kevin while I got Owen into his seat. Next thing I know, someone screamed and Kevin was on the ground with what I hope was a brutally painful and completely broken nose, and Brian’s hand was bleeding. I got him in the car and called you as soon as I noticed the green squiggles. I don’t know why. I just wanted someone to talk to, you know? I thought I’d go nuts if I had to be alone, and when I saw your name in the contacts, it just seemed like I needed to call you.”

  “That was some very quick thinking,” May said. “And totally right, I might add. Thank the gods you listen to your instincts, Laura.”

  “And it seems that this Kevin is connected to a case we are working on, and you have given us some valuable information. We now know why we haven’t found stronger traces of them in Riverton, May,” Michael added.

  “That’s right,” May grinned. “They really do have a great ice cream place up here. Think we could maybe spend some time taking in the sights?” Michael nodded.

  “In a few days, I agree. First, however,” he turned back to Laura. “We have some other things to arrange.”

  Chapter 11

  Brian opened his eyes but the darkness still surrounded him. This darkness felt far different than the one he had been falling through. That darkness had been full of heat and thirst, punctuated by a brief round of excruciating pain. It had been soundless, not even his screams echoed in that void even though he’d felt them in his throat. And then there had been the pain, shooting up from his injured hand and coming in stabbing waves of agony and fear.

  Here, though, it was dark, but at least he felt warm and comfortable. It smelled a little like the fancy candle store at the mall he’d worked at when he was in high school— floral scents competing with industrial cleaner. And there were several quiet noises that kept cycling from somewhere nearby: a whirring sound, and a distant beeping.

  He blinked a few times, and realized that it was dark because it was night, not because he was still stuck in that creepy void. And he was lying in a hospital bed, tucked under some fluffy blankets. There was a huge flower arrangement on a table nearby, and something warm was bumping into his arm. Glancing over he realized that one of the sounds he was hearing was Laura’s breathing. She lay curled on her side, scooted down the bed a bit from where she had clearly been sitting up and reading on the tablet reader which lay precariously close to the edge of the mattress. How had they gotten here, and why were they sleeping in a hospital bed? And if they were in a hospital, where was Owen? A thread of fear wrapped around his mind at that thought.

  Brian took a few minutes to sort through his memories, trying to make sense of the situation before he let panic sweep over him. What happened? He’d been waiting for Laura and Owen to come back from the bathroom. They had meant to pile into the car and drive back to town but Laura wanted the least sticky child she could get before they buckled in. Then… Kevin. That’s right. Kevin had been there, waiting for them somehow. He’d had a knife and tried to use it, but Brian remembered breaking the man’s nose instead. That brought him some satisfaction, for sure.

  He lifted his hand to look at the bandage wrapped expertly around it. It didn’t hurt much now, but he had a clear memory of roasting heat and searing cold and intense pain. He had nothing to compare it to in his own experience. The only thing that his mind could dredge up to describe it was that it had felt like death. One little cut like this might have needed stitches, sure, but shouldn’t have knocked him out.

  “It was poisoned.” Laura’s voice was thick with sleep and worry, but clear. She rescued the tablet before it slid over the edge and set it on the bedside table. Then she switched on the antiseptic hospital reading light and the room popped into vivid color, making Brian wince.

  She picked up a small vial and turned back to him.

  “Michael said I should offer you this when you woke. You don’t have to try it, he said, but he seemed to think it would help speed up your recovery.”

  “Who’s Michael? The doctor?”

  “No, he’s not a doctor. He’s a Guardian.”

  “Guardian?” Panic now started pressing against Brian’s ribs. “The Temple came here? Do they—”

  “Brian, as soon as I saw your hand, I called May,” Laura spoke over him, the words rushing out. “I’ve never been so scared and unsure of what to do in my life. Not even when I found out I was pregnant. I called May, I couldn’t think of what else to do! That cut was obviously not something normal.”

  “Who’s May? What about the cut wasn’t normal? Did they find out…” Brian couldn’t even form the question so he focused on something else. He turned the vial over in his hand. It was maybe two inches long and as big around as his pinky. Some sort of dark liquid rolled back and forth inside when he tipped it. “What is this?”

  “You passed out so fast. And there were these horrible green lines coming out from where you were bleeding. Like neon green, Brian! It was a poison. The knife was coated with it, apparently,” her breath hitched but she soldiered on. “May is my friend. She’s a Priestess. She and Michael have been trying to track down the person making that poison. They want to stop it at the source.”

  “So they…” He struggled to put words around it. “They don’t know? About me?” Laura looked away, hunching over a bit. She reached over to his good hand and laced her fingers through his, her other hand tracing over the back of his arm.

  “They know about you,” she said. Then she took a deep breath and looked right into his eyes. “And now we know what your father was.”

  “What—” his voice cracked. “What was he?”

  “He was a High Demon. But it’s okay, Brian…” Laura was still talking but he could barely see her and the buzzing in his brain was far too loud to let spoken words through. His father was an actual, real, gods-damned demon. Which meant he was a demon, too. And the Temple knew about him now. This was it. This was his nightmare come to life, but the reality was so much worse. Just when he had dared to start hoping for a normal life again. Why they had bothered to let him live he couldn’t even begin to imagine. Testing, maybe? Put him in a lab and see what was most the most effective way to destroy him, perhaps?

  “Brian!” Laura smacked his chest hard enough to bring his attention back. “Did you hear anything I just said?”

  “No. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Laura. You’re not in any trouble, are you? Oh gods, is Owen safe? They didn’t take him, did they? Where is he?”

  “Brian, calm down! It’s okay. They’re not going to lock you up or hunt you down or anything. I promise.” She gripped his good arm tightly.

  “How can you be sure?” His life was over, and she was simply too sweet to admit it.

  “Why on Earth wou
ld they rush out here to save your life, then leave you all alone in a fancy private room at a hospital forty minutes away from them if they were going to lock you up? I trust May, and her Guardian seems nice enough, considering everything. I guess he’s a pretty big donor to the hospitals around here. He called ahead and made sure that you got the best treatment they could provide till they got their healer up here in person. Seriously, you didn’t hear anything I just explained, did you? There is absolutely no danger to you. They’re on our side.”

  Brian stared at the ceiling. It was easily the one thing he’d been most afraid of since he’d learned Mom’s secret. The Temple knew about him. He could well be hunted now for the rest of his life, which was likely to be short.

  “Where is Owen?” He tried to sit up but a wave of dizziness hit and Laura eased him back to the pillows.

  “He’s at my folks’ house,” she fussed the blankets back over him. “They came and picked him up right after we got here. A hospital is not much fun for a preschooler, and he was working himself up worrying about you. I called them a little while ago to let them know that you’re going to be okay, but needed to rest overnight. Apparently, that poison takes a lot out of you.”

  “No kidding. I feel like I was hit by a truck.” His next step really should be finding his clothes and getting away from here. Laura and Owen were in enough danger without adding his problems on top of it all. They were already probably on some list of people known to fraternize with demons or something. He should get up right now and get out of here. If he only had any energy.

  “It’s still fairly early. Not even midnight yet, but you were unconscious for hours fighting that stuff. You should get some real rest and try to figure things out in the morning. Michael said he would like to talk to you, since we planned to head back to town anyway,” Laura was fussing again. Filling a glass with water, rescuing the vial she’d handed him from the mess of blankets where it had rolled, and tucking those blankets back around his chest.

  “So, what is this, then? You never said.” He stared at the vial. It was a typical alchemist’s apothecary vial. They were a little old-fashioned now— he’d seen plenty of them in his high school chemistry class, but none since. It was full of a dark, viscous liquid that rolled gently when he tipped the vial back and forth. There was something oddly soothing about the motion.

  “Um. It’s medicine, I guess. Michael gave it to me for you,” she answered. “After they’d given you the antidote to the poison and were sure you’d be okay, he handed me that vial and said that due to your unique parentage that stuff might help speed up your recovery. It’s, um. It’s pig’s blood. Demon medicine, I guess.” Brian closed his eyes again and just concentrated on breathing. There it was again, the churn in his gut that he was getting way too used to. This time there was an added roil of nausea.

  “I think I’ll just take an Aspirin, if you have any.” He handed the vial back to her and tried not to shudder. Laura just took it and nodded.

  Chapter 12

  Brian stood looking up at the Walker Hotel for a long time, letting the people on the sidewalk flow around him. He knew that he was early enough for the meeting that he had time to spare for catching his breath and trying to calm his racing heart. He’d woken in the hospital bed that morning feeling groggy and sore all over, but much better. When he had finally gotten up and dressed he let Laura drive him to pick up Owen, where her parents fussed over him all over again. It was very strange, having these people treat him like family, feeling almost like he belonged there.

  They’d eventually gotten home to Laura’s apartment in time for lunch, then gotten Owen settled in his own room to play for a while. Laura had handed Brian a piece of paper and urged him to make the call, but Brian had just stared at it for a long time. He wasn’t groggy anymore, but now he felt sick. It’s not like he could hide anymore. The Temple had finally found him, and they knew what he was. They actually seemed to know more than he did about it— about Brian himself— and that was even more terrifying.

  Finally, he dialed the phone number that Michael Gilbert had left, deciding that if they wanted to come after him, they would catch him easily enough. At least this way maybe he could get some answers. He reached the man himself within two rings and had been persuaded to come here and talk about his situation, as Mr. Gilbert put it on the phone. So now here he stood, in front of the Walker Hotel where Michael Gilbert, Temple Guardian lived with his Priestess, wondering what they would have to say about his situation.

  His situation that he wasn’t even human? Yeah, that’s going to be real easy to talk out. Especially since the conversation would be held in the home of some of the very people who were tasked with destroying people like him. Brilliant move, dumbass. Brian would have laughed if he’d trusted himself not to sound insane. He almost turned around, but Laura’s face flashed through his mind. It felt likely that once he walked into this hotel, he wouldn’t walk out again, certainly not as a free man. But if it would keep Laura safe from any trouble he brought with him thanks to his situation, then it was a price he was willing to pay.

  And after all, it had been this Michael guy who had brought the fancy healer to save his life, even though he was apparently a Guardian of the Temple. And he had even somehow gotten hold of that horrifying vial of ‘medicine’ for him. The memory of that thing made him gag a little. How could anyone think he would drink blood straight out of a little glass vial like that? Booze, sure. Blood? No. Never. People don’t do that sort of thing.

  But then, it turned out that he wasn’t a person, was he? Brian scrubbed a hand down his face and tried not to shudder. He had to keep that in mind all the time now, so the monster never surfaced. He could just keep pretending he didn’t know, keep his temper in check, keep blending in. But then to do that he would have to leave Riverton, just to keep Laura and Owen out of possible danger. He didn’t want to put them at risk. But he’d promised Laura he’d stay for a while and he really didn’t want to leave. And besides, the Temple already knew about him, how far could he really run? He wasn’t a super spy to be able to disappear at a moment’s notice. They’d hunt him down, catch him, and then the gods only knew what they’d do to him. Better to just face it now— find out exactly what he was, and what the Temple planned to do to him. Running again now would only drag it out longer than it needed to be, and what purpose would that serve?

  So the first step was to suck it up and go inside the hotel to meet with this Michael Gilbert. Brian rubbed his mother’s charm through the soft t-shirt fabric and tried to draw some courage from it. She had gotten it made for him by a Temple Priestess years ago, and given it to him when he was just a kid, still trying to learn how to control his own strength. He’d worn it ever since, the small metal plaque had always been a reminder that his mother loved him even when she was confused by him, which had been often back then. Knowing what he did now, he had to swallow against the understanding of what she had probably really been thinking the whole time. Maybe it would be for the best if they did lock him up or whatever they planned to do. Brian took a deep breath, stood straight as he could, and walked into the lobby.

  The efficient woman at the front desk had been told to expect him, and made a call to tell someone that Mr. Gilbert’s guest was here. Brian felt shy in the fancy lobby. It wasn’t especially pretentious looking and everyone was friendly, but he could tell that the furnishings were high quality and the staff very well trained. Not a cheap place to stay, he guessed.

  “Brian?” He turned to find a petite woman with curly brown hair cascading in a mess over her shoulders smiling at him. She wore jeans with worn out knees and a funky vest over a white button up shirt. And no shoes. His reaction must have shown on his face because she grinned up at him. “How are you feeling, how’s your hand? You look so much better than you did yesterday! I’m so glad to see you up and about so fast, I know Laura was really worried about you. I’m May Fletcher, Priestess of the Temple and friend of Laura’s. We didn’t get a pro
per introduction at the hospital, what with you being unconscious and recovering from the poison and all.” She held out her hand. As he shook it he could feel a faint tingle of power in the contact of their palms.

  “Brian Sedge. I feel pretty much like I was poisoned and spent the night in the hospital, but I’m not dead so on the whole I’m not too bad. Thanks to you I guess. I hear it’s because of you and Mister Gilbert that I’m here at all.”

  “And Anna. She’s the one who made the anti-toxin. I’m just glad we got there in time.” She tipped her head at him and an odd smile flickered over her face, which only added to his nerves. “Laura spoke very highly of you.”

  “She’s a wonderful person,” Brian nodded. “She’s been a really great friend to me.”

  May just grinned at him now. He had no idea what she was thinking.

  “So, I guess Mister Gilbert wanted to talk to me,” he said. He swallowed again, trying to sound confident.

  “Michael? Oh yeah. He’s really interested in you. You’re the first half-human we’ve met, and for him especially it’s a pretty big deal. Besides, we both figured that it’d be a good idea for you two to have a chat. Laura mentioned that you had some concerns.” She led him to an elevator, slid a keycard into its slot in the elevator and the doors slid shut. Something else slid through the elevator at the same time and made him shudder, the sick tension in his gut twisting suddenly. May flashed her grin again.