Allard drew in a breath, blinked slowly, and turned his gaze on me. “I assume there’s a reason you’ve bought me Vanessa’s half blood because she’ll tear Fairhaven apart to get this one back.”
Torrent dropped to one knee, kept his eyes down, and flattened his wings against the pier, spreading them out like a leather cloak. He couldn’t get any lower without rolling onto his back and offering Allard his vulnerable parts. “My lord, I know what you want. With your most gracious assistance, we can retrieve the coronam from Vanessa. I only ask that you consider me yours.”
Allard blinked down at Torrent. “That’s an offer a demon can’t refuse.” He slid his gaze back to me, but a smile had swept across his lips—a hungry, demon smile.
I bowed my head, mostly to keep from Allard seeing the concern and fear on my face. The twisting, slippery eels of unease were back in my gut, making me wonder what it was I was so afraid of, Allard’s easy acceptance, or Torrent’s perfectly attuned groveling.
Chapter 12
Allard didn’t give me time to pull Torrent aside and speak with him in private, although even if he had, I wasn’t sure what I was going to say. I hadn’t expected Torrent to be so thoroughly demon, which was ridiculous. He’d survived the Fall, the sundering of worlds, so I should have known he’d be formidable. I’d clearly underestimated him.
We strode wordlessly back down the pier, up Ocean Avenue, and into Fairhaven. My clothes squelched and chafed. Torrent had shaken off his demon, remaining dry throughout the whole display. He kept his gaze ahead, barely sparing me a glance. His expression was set and bleak with a slight downturn of his lips. He regarded Fairhaven and its mix of demons as though it was all perfectly normal. Inside, he was probably wondering what I’d gotten him into. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t warned him.
We trailed Allard into the bar. He snapped at the handful of demons inside, scattering them, and closed the door, sealing Torrent and me inside with him.
“Half blood…” Allard smirked. “Torrent,” he corrected, softening his snarl and sweeping a hand at the dozen or so tables and collection of scattered chairs. “Please sit. Explain what you’re doing here, why I should believe a word you say, and what you want.” Allard took up a relaxed posture on a plush bench at the side of the room. He leaned an arm along the back cushion and thoughtfully touched his fingers to his chin. “You may speak freely. We’re alone, besides Gem.”
I was amazed he remembered I was in the room. He hadn’t spared me a glance since the pier.
Torrent pulled a seat out and settled into it. Neither of them cared I was there, so I drifted toward the bar and leaned against it, watching Allard blatantly soak up the sight of Torrent. Torrent leaned forward, rubbed his hands together, and told Allard everything he’d told me and more: the whereabouts of Vanessa’s residence, how many guards she had, and exactly where the coronam was—placed on a mantelpiece in a similar fashion to when I’d found it as a vase at Torrent’s. Vanessa had apparently suspected Allard would look for it and had placed it with the most unlikely candidate for safekeeping, the private dwelling of a worthless half blood. Allard listened, demon-still, absorbing the information without comment. He made no attempt to hide the hunger in his eyes. They made quite the pair—Torrent, ragged and frayed at the edges and Allard, polished and refined.
“Do you know what the coronam is?” Allard asked.
“She said it could act as a key. I don’t know how it works or what it does.”
Allard flicked his gaze to me, maybe to see if I was paying attention. Lesser demons couldn’t have dragged me away. “The coronam is the last piece of a puzzle.” He skewed his gaze back to Torrent. “A puzzle I am rebuilding. I have the majority of the necessary components. The coronam is the crowning jewel.”
Ask him what the puzzle does. Ask him… Ask him, Torrent, while he’s talking. I itched to ask, but Allard was likely to clam up if I butted in on their little man chat. Torrent was getting more information out of Allard in thirty minutes than I had in months. Either Allard didn’t believe Torrent was a threat, or he was letting his desire disarm him.
“I can’t get to the stone without your help. I asked Gem, but she was reluctant to speak with me without your consent.”
Torrent was bending the truth somewhat. Still, his confession regarding my allegiance put me in a stronger position, one of loyalty to Allard. Torrent was well versed in demon etiquette, it seemed. He knew what Allard wanted to hear and gave it to him in swathes. It didn’t stop there either. The earlier quiver of his wings, the submission—that behavior ticked all of Allard’s boxes. Demons get-off on the groveling of others and the stroking of their own egos. In Torrent, was I watching a master manipulator at work?
“And you give me this information in exchange for protection and servitude?” Allard asked.
“Of course. Half bloods must be owned.”
The skin on the back of my neck prickled. Allard extended his touch, likely sweeping it over and through Torrent’s in a demon handshake, and in this instance, a deeper, probing examination. This was no cursory inspection. Allard meant to delve deep and dig out any indication that Torrent might be lying.
I couldn’t have let Allard inside me like that. It would feel like having a stranger strip you naked in the street. But Torrent bowed his head again and let it happen without a flinch. Nobody did that, not with a demon you’d just met.
I squirmed against the bar and glanced at the door. Maybe it was time to leave.
After what felt like hours but was probably only a few minutes, Allard’s element withdrew. Apparently satisfied with whatever he’d discovered, he asked softly, “What’s to stop me trading you for the coronam?” Torrent lifted his head, and Allard raised his brow. “It would be the easier solution.”
I couldn’t see Torrent’s face, but by Allard’s creeping smile, I imagined he too was smiling. Torrent took his time, relishing the anticipation as the seconds dragged on. “I washed your demon off the pier. You’ve seen a fraction of what I’m capable of.” A pause, anticipation building. Allard’s dark eyes widened by the smallest of amounts. Mine probably did too because Torrent was baiting him, reeling him in. “You don’t want to give me back.”
“Mm…” A small frown worried across Allard’s face, but he seemed to catch himself and flicked a hand at Torrent. “What’s your interest in my half blood, Gem?”
“The ice demon?” Torrent looked over his shoulder at me as though he’d forgotten I existed. “Nothing.” He shrugged. “I needed her to get close to you, my lord.”
Ouch. That cut too close to what sounded like the truth for my liking.
Allard drew in a breath and stood. Well aware Torrent was watching, he crossed the room and stopped right up close, crowding me against the bar. I knew what was coming, and there was nothing I could do.
Not yet.
He clamped his marble-hard fingers into my cheeks, holding my jaw still, and narrowed his eyes. “Half bloods must indeed be owned. Isn’t that right, Gem?” He’d spoken loudly for Torrent’s benefit because his next words he delivered as a whisper against my cheek. “Perhaps he will take your place? What need do I have of you with one such as Torrent in my service?”
I blinked quickly, clearing the gritty burn in my eyes, and couldn’t help seeing how Torrent watched it all unfold. Nothing showed on his face, not a damn flicker of emotion. Had he used me like he’d said?
My demon stirred. My element shifted, spritzing ice across my skin. At its touch, Allard sucked in a sharp hiss. His grip tightened, fingers cutting into my cheek, and Torrent looked on, indifferent—bored.
“Torrent is in your care, Gem.” Allard let go and stepped back. “Any betrayal on his part is also yours.” He paused and let that threat hang in the air between us. “Think of your brother. Now go. I’ll consider all this and summon you both when I’m ready.”
I left the bar as quickly as I could without breaking into a run. Think of your brother. Damn. I didn’t want the responsibili
ty of Torrent on my shoulders. I had enough to worry about.
Torrent caught up with me as I slipped into the stairwell and started to climb to my floor. He stayed a step behind, just in sight over my shoulder so I could see how he regarded the demons we passed. It took a couple of flights of stairs for him to relax and start looking around him in wonder. I pushed through a door onto my floor, watching Torrent side step around a lounging equitas. The lizard-type lesser lifted its head and flicked its tongue, tasting Torrent’s new scent.
Up ahead, tapping at the window was a nymph. They look like higher demons, humanoid in shape, but they’re sexless, slippery, and have more in common with eels than people. Torrent gave it a wide berth. His eyes widened as the nymph eyed him through slitted irises. I didn’t think it would be foolish enough to jump him, but it might. There was just one rule in Fairhaven: survival of the fittest.
“This place is a circus,” Torrent remarked with a wild grin. “You’ve got demons crawling these halls I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.” He’d jogged to my side and almost tripped over something scuttling and spikey. Even I couldn’t identify that one. The little critters belly growled. Torrent grumbled back.
A little smile found its way to my lips. “Some are ex-stock, the ones Allard couldn’t sell. Some, he lets go instead of killing them to make room for more. Some just kinda show up. They hang around. It’s not like they have anywhere to go. They venture out of the nw-zones and don’t know how to get back or don’t want to. It’s not their fault the netherworld kicked them out.”
“How many stay here?” He glanced at something scurrying under a skirting board.
I shrugged, “It changes. Fights break out all the time. Some die. More arrive. There’s a sasori nest at the pool bar and some ventores hanging out in the palms.”
“And you live here with them?”
“I guess so.” We arrived at my room. I let Torrent step inside and closed the door firmly behind us. “Okay, here’s the deal.”
On hearing my icy undertone, he turned. His right hand hovered close to his crossbow. I didn’t think he was about to draw. It was probably more of a defensive reflex, but he was jumpy. With good reason.
“If you jeopardize what I have here, I will kill you myself.” I said it clearly with no hint of irrational demon growls. It was fact.
The tension melted from his shoulders, and his smile bloomed all over again, this time with a hint of sly knowing. “What do you have here exactly?” His gaze strayed to the empty injector lying where I’d discarded it on the dresser.
I pinched my lips together. I wasn’t explaining myself to him. What I did or had to do was my own personal business. “I mean it. That was some display.”
His sly smile tilted. “The wings?”
“No, the lies.”
“Lies?” Torrent turned away and wandered toward Del’s bed. “I told Allard what he wanted to hear. Besides, not all of it was lies. Actually, most of it was true.”
He’d certainly won over Allard, but I knew what it was like to be the focus of Allard’s affection and didn’t envy Torrent should Allard act on the raw lust he’d let us both see.
Opening my closest, I yanked my top off and shrugged on a dry one then stepped out of my pants, peeling them off my wet skin and rummaging around in the drawers for replacement pants, finally settling on jeans. When I closed the closet door, Torrent was pushing down on the bed, testing it for springiness, I figured.
“Don’t touch anything.”
He snatched his hand back. “It’s a bed. Unless there’s a demon hiding under it. Is there?”
“It’s Del’s bed. Stay away from it.”
Straightening, he smiled. “Aren’t you a bit old to share with your brother?” An implication hung on those words.
I ignored him. He was baiting me, and I wasn’t biting. I had better things to do. Keeping him firmly in the corner of my eye, I swept the spent injector into the drawer and paused. I didn’t need a hit—yet—but if Allard called on us to raid Vanessa’s house, I might. Or I could miss one hit, couldn’t I?
I checked to see if Torrent was watching. He’d drifted to the window. Moonlight teased through his dark hair and over his dark coat. Chewing on the inside of my lip, I checked the drawer again. I didn’t want Torrent here when I injected PC34A. I didn’t want him here at all, but Allard had made sure I was stuck with him for now. Think of your brother.
“You have a wonderful view.” Torrent pressed a hand against the glass and spread his fingers as though he could capture the view in his hand.
The ocean… For a water elemental like him, being this close to the Pacific must have felt liberating, like having a vast well of power in your back yard. I’d seen pictures of places with snow, dreamed about shedding my human skin to dance with the ice. It was ludicrous, of course. And dangerous. If I let my demon free like that, she’d never give me back control. And I probably wouldn’t want it.
I slammed the drawer closed and made my way to the window. “That really was impressive, what you did to Joseph.”
Torrent’s lips twitched, but he kept his eyes on the ocean. “He had it coming.”
“Yeah, well, he’s not going to let it go. You knocked him off his top spot.” Torrent probably hadn’t needed to go all-out demon on the pier. He’d deliberately done it to impress Allard. It could easily have backfired. I respected the risk.
“Just like every other demon I’ve known. Joseph isn’t much. I’ve been deflecting Vanessa’s fire for as long as I can remember.”
“Allard too,” I said carefully. He knew exactly how Allard had looked at him, like he was Allard’s to feast upon. “Your display caught his eye.”
Torrent swallowed and rolled his lips together, his expression tightening. He reached for his pendant and closed his hand around the winged key. “It’s a small price when you’re worthless to begin with.”
Worthless? He really believed that? How long had Vanessa owned him?
When he finally looked at me, his turquoise eyes had captured the hypnotic roll of the ocean. Blues, and greens shifted, drawing me in until he blinked, and the effect vanished. That was his demon, I realized. How did he control it so effortlessly?
“I’m sorry.” He paused, choosing his words. “About what I said, using you to get to Allard.”
I blinked, scrambling around my head for what he meant. He’d said a lot, and I thought about the demon behind his green eyes, the demon with the smooth, scaled wings.
“It was mostly lies but also kinda true, a little bit.” He winced but did it with a smile. “I figured he’d know a lie.”
“It doesn’t matter to me. We had a deal. You’re here, we’re getting the coronam back, and I meant what I said. I will kill you if you screw with me.” I smiled as sweetly as possible, which often comes across as a slightly manic, crazy grin. It worked, because his smile died a little.
He shuffled back a step and nodded at the bed. “Where am I going to sleep?”
“There’s plenty of room for demons at Fairhaven.”
I needed to keep Torrent close. If he was bent on causing trouble, I wanted to know about it before any hint could get back to Allard. Maybe he should stay with me… I really didn’t want him sleeping in Del’s bed, but could I let him out of my sight and trust him? I stopped at the end of the empty bed.
It made sense for Torrent to stay with me. I didn’t trust him in the least. Even if he was just a wall away, he could slip out and tell Vanessa anything—everything. If that was his game, it was a dangerous one. Playing Allard off against Vanessa just delayed the inevitable. Allard would kill him.
Torrent seemed genuine, but he’d seemed fairly docile too until I’d seen his demon.
“Where is he? Your brother?” He interrupted my thoughts.
“Missing,” I replied softly. “And I need to do something about that.” I fixed my glare on Torrent’s. “Unless you have something better to be doing, come with me. I need to pay someone a visit.”
<
br /> He spread his arms. “I’m all yours.”
Chapter 13
When Torrent realized I walked everywhere or snuck rides on public transportation, he revealed the motorcycle parked outside his house on Pacific Street was Vanessa’s—and by extension his—and it would make travelling around LA a whole lot easier. It did, especially when Torrent drove like he was on fire.
Riding on the back of a bike with my arms clamped around Torrent’s waist and my knees pressed against his hips was one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my life. I’d tucked my head against his back, squeezed my eyes closed, and thought about frolicking naked in the snow—anything to stop LA’s streets blurring by at terrifying speeds.
When Torrent pulled the bike into the LAPD parking lot, ice glittered along his coat seams. My element had leaked. He took it well, laughing and shaking ice from his hair as he helped me off the bike.
Unaccustomed to losing control of my element and desperately trying not to throw up, I’d growled because I couldn’t find the words, snarled at him to stay beside the bike, then changed my mind and snapped at him to follow. He’d taken it all without comment, but his damned green eyes laughed. I was so not in the mood.
We sat in the waiting room. Or Torrent did. I paced from one side to the other. It was still dark out. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept or eaten. But I didn’t have time for those things. Whatever Allard was doing to find my brother, it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t wait any longer.
Torrent’s green eyes watched me pace back and forth, back and forth. My boots clomped, the clock behind the desk ticked, and Torrent didn’t say a word, although I could see from his studious attention he wanted to. He leaned back in one of those uncomfortable plastic chairs, an arm draped across the back of the one beside him and his ankle propped up on his opposite knee.
Chaos Rises: A Veil World Urban Fantasy Page 9
