by E. S. Moore
Sienna sighed. “The next thing I knew, I was standing outside your house with no real idea how I got there. I just knew that I was where I was supposed to be. Does that make sense?”
I nodded. “Yeah. It does.”
She started blinking rapidly and her lower lip began to tremble. Little spots of blood speckled her lip where she’d bitten it too hard. “If I wouldn’t have run . . .” She broke down then, unable to stop the flood of tears. She buried her face in her hands and cried.
Ethan put his hand tentatively onto her back. When she didn’t pull away, he began to softly rub in slow circles.
“It’ll be okay,” he said. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”
Obviously, he’d done or said the right thing because the next thing I knew, she had her arms thrown around his neck and was sobbing hard into his shoulder. Ethan looked stunned for a moment, hands spread wide as if he was afraid to touch her again, before he finally put his arms around her and hugged her. He closed his eyes and looked very near crying himself.
I waited them out, trying to sort through the information she’d given me. Something had happened to Sienna that allowed her to escape when all her life before, she’d been trapped by Levi’s influence. Why? What changed?
Sienna’s sobs subsided and she let Ethan go. She gave him a sheepish look as she wiped at her eyes. “I’m sorry about that,” she said. “I didn’t mean to blubber all over you.”
“It’s okay,” Ethan said. “I didn’t mind.”
I fought really hard not to snort. Mind? He was practically beaming.
“I’m really tired,” Sienna said. She looked it. “It feels like I haven’t slept in years.”
“You can take my room,” I said, standing. “I don’t need the bed for anything.” Of course that meant I’d have to find a safe place to hide out when the sun came out, but that was okay. Sienna’s needs came first.
I led her back up the stairs to my room. She looked dead on her feet and just about collapsed into the bed. Her flight and subsequent attack had clearly left her exhausted. A good sleep was definitely what she needed.
I closed the door and frowned, wondering what I should do. I really didn’t want to leave her alone, especially if she had another sudden urge to leave. Someone would need to be here to stop her. I wasn’t about to lock her inside or tie her down.
Figuring she was okay for the moment, I went back downstairs. Ethan was staring blankly out the back door, much as Jeremy had been a little while ago. I joined him, but there was nothing new to see.
“She’s really suffered, huh?” he asked.
“She has.”
His fists clenched. “I’m not going to let her go back. She should never have to go through that again.”
“I agree.”
He glanced at me. “I’ll fight him myself if I have to.”
“I know you will.” One look at the determination in his face was all the confirmation I needed of that. “But you won’t have to. We’ll find a way to keep her from going back.”
And there was one person I knew who would be able to tell me how.
I knew I was putting myself at greater risk, but damn it, I needed to know what to do. No one else knew about Delai. No one else could tell me if Levi’s hold was weakening or if something else had happened that had allowed Sienna’s escape.
“I need to talk to Beligral,” I said, hating it even as I said it.
Ethan started to protest, but I stopped him.
“It’s about Sienna,” I said. “I think he can help.”
His shoulders sagged as he looked toward the stairs. “Do you really think he can?”
“I don’t know. I have to ask.”
“We shouldn’t leave her alone.”
“I know.”
“I won’t leave her alone. If she tries to run, someone has to stop her.”
Damn it, but he was right. There was no telling if she’d have another attack and when it might happen. What good would talking to the demon do if she took off and ran away while I was dealing with him?
“We could wait until Jeremy gets back,” I said.
“He might be out all night.”
I sighed, frustrated. Once again, he was right. I didn’t want to wait any longer than I had to. I had no idea how far Levi’s reach went. The longer we waited, the more likely it would be that he could come after her.
“Stay here,” Ethan said. “Make sure she’s safe. I’ll go down and summon Beligral and then come get you. I’ll watch over her while you talk to him.”
I didn’t like the idea of leaving the demon alone down there even for a few minutes, but if I wanted to keep Sienna safe and talk to the demon at the same time, I really had no choice.
“Okay,” I said, resigned. “Hurry.”
Ethan gave me a quick nod and then jogged down the stairs to summon his demon.
5
It felt like it took forever for Ethan to summon Beligral and come and get me. I paced in front of the stairs, torn between wanting to spend the night watching over Sienna and actually dealing with the problem. If the demon could help me figure out how she’d escaped and how to keep her safe, then I’d be doing her far more favors by letting her rest.
Fifteen minutes after he’d gone down, Ethan returned. Sweat ran down his neck and he was breathing hard, as if he’d worked in a hurry and then ran up the stairs to get me.
“He’s all yours,” he said. “I’m going to go hang out in the hall.” He headed up the stairs to sit vigil outside where Sienna slept.
I considered my weapons before heading down, but decided against them. If Beligral saw me packing, he’d probably try to antagonize me more than usual in the hopes I’d try to shoot him. Breaking the circle would be a very, very bad thing.
The door to Ethan’s lab was open a sliver. If he’d have closed it, I wouldn’t have been able to get in. It was the only door in the house to which I didn’t have access. I slipped my fingers into the crack and pulled open the door. A wave of heat blasted out of the second basement, telling me the demon was indeed waiting on me.
I took the stairs carefully, closing the door behind me. It was hard to breathe, though I knew a lot of it was in my head. The demon preferred dealing with me when I was at my most uncomfortable. I think he hoped I would make a major mistake at some point. It was either that, or he feared that if I was able to study him closely, I’d find a way to be rid of him forever.
Beligral was walking slowly around the inside of his circle when I came downstairs. He was dressed as always, using the illusion of a rather dapper man, cane twirling in his hand. He glanced at me and smiled.
“Well, well, well,” he said. “This, I did not expect.”
I kept my eyes averted from his as I came to a stop a good two yards from the circle. There was no way I wanted to get close. He might be trapped inside the circle, but that didn’t mean his power was.
“This is quite interesting,” the demon went on. “I am summoned here only to have my summoner leave the room without a word. And then, here you are.”
I very nearly froze, unable to think clearly. The heat and his influence pressing on me was enough to make my head start swimming. What in the hell was I doing down there? I should have tried to come up with another way to do this.
Yet there were no other ways. Beligral was the only person I knew who knew anything about Delai.
I forced myself to look up. I glared hard at the demon’s chin, which only caused me to focus on his smile. He looked downright smug, as if he had known this moment was coming all along.
“What can you tell me about Delai?” I asked. Start general in the hopes he’d tell me something without having to ask too many questions. Asking too much of him would only get me into trouble.
“Have we not discussed this before?”
“We have,” I said. “But something’s changed.”
“Oh? And how do you know this? Have you found a way back?”
My teeth clamped tog
ether. I really didn’t want to tell him about Sienna, but was there any way around it?
“I haven’t,” I said. “But someone has escaped.”
“Oh, really?”
“You don’t sound surprised.”
“Should I be?”
My fists clenched. “Should you?”
Beligral laughed. “Is this conversation going somewhere? If so, I’m having a troubling time following it.”
It took all my self-control not to stride forward and punch him in the face. “I need to know if the girl who escaped is safe,” I said.
The demon chuckled and walked slowly around his prison. “Safe?” he asked, sounding annoyingly amused. “She’ll never be safe as long as Di’leviathan is out there. Even if you somehow manage to destroy him, someone will always be after her.”
“Why?” I asked. “She’s just a girl.”
Beligral tisked. “You should know better than that. Why would an angel hold ‘just a girl’ in his power? Out of the kindness of his heart?” He shook his head, feigning sadness. “No, no, no. I don’t think so.”
There was something to his voice that told me he knew a lot more than he was letting on.
“You helped her escape, didn’t you?”
Beligral smiled and spread his arms wide. “Would I do something like that?”
“You did.” I could hardly believe it. “Why?”
“Why else? For you, of course.”
I stared at his chest, speechless. Why would a demon do something to help me? The answer was obvious, really. He wanted something from me.
“Okay,” I said. “What do you want?”
Beligral’s smile widened. He stretched and walked over to the chair that sat in the middle of the circle. He sat down, twirled his cane, and set it across his lap.
“That is the question, isn’t it?”
“Don’t play games with me.”
“Why not?” He laughed. “It’s so much fun.”
The urge to walk out was strong, but I had to know what he had to say.
“My dear Lady Death,” he said. “It is all laid out in front of you. If you’d simply put the pieces together, you’d know exactly what I want.”
“How about you just tell me? I’m not up for riddles.”
Beligral sighed, as if put out. “Fine.” He tapped his cane onto the ground, where it vanished into thin air. “Why must you always take the fun out of everything?”
I didn’t say anything as he stood. He walked to the front edge of the circle and stopped, mere inches from it. He studied me for a long moment before speaking.
“There are three things I know. You wish to save the girl who now slumbers within your home. You wish to be rid of Di’leviathan forever. And you wish to be human.”
Dread crept into my gut. Already, I wasn’t liking where this was going.
“These three things are all one in the same,” the demon went on. “The only way you will be able to keep the girl safe will be to return to Delai and kill the summoner of the angel who rules the place. To do so, you must be human again. Or a close approximation to it.”
“And how do you expect to do that?” I asked, not really wanting to hear the answer. I’d dreamed of being pureblooded again, but a demon’s cost would be too high.
“Simple,” Beligral said, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “You take the body of the girl within your home.”
“No,” I said. “Never.”
“It is the only way,” the demon said. “The blood is touchy. It doesn’t like change. You yourself are the result of the tampering of blood. Reversion is near impossible.”
“I said no.” I so didn’t want to hear this, but I was glued to the spot. It was as if a deep-rooted part of me wanted to hear him out.
“I myself can’t do anything for you while you are still inside your own body. The blood is a part of you. It is a part of your very being, has changed you beyond repair.” His smile grew sinister. “But the soul,” he said. “That is something I can work with.”
“No.” The heat in the room built. I took a step back, away from the demon, away from his so-called answer.
“It is but a simple procedure,” he said. “All you need is a willing vessel. I’m sure if you told the girl what is at stake, she would give herself freely. You would be free of the vampire taint. You’ll be as close to human as you’ve ever been.”
“I’ll never allow it,” I said, though my voice trembled. To be human again? It was almost too much to believe. “I will never allow you to harm an innocent girl just to make a point.”
He laughed. “I’m not trying to make a point. I’m trying to make you stronger.”
I didn’t see how moving my soul into the body of a young girl would make me stronger, but I didn’t say it. I refused to even consider it.
“The girl will live on,” Beligral said. “She will have your body. She will be free of Di’leviathan’s touch, so that he will never be able to harm her again. He wouldn’t even want to. He will only want you.”
I turned toward the stairs. I would not listen to him. “You have a lot to learn if you think I’ll ever do something like that.”
“How else do you think you’ll save her?” he asked. “Do you think he’ll stop trying to draw her home? Do you think he won’t do everything in his power to take her from you? He won’t stop. He cares nothing for humans. He will kill everyone just to get to her.”
As much as I wanted to leave, I just couldn’t. I refused to let him touch Sienna, but maybe there was another way. I turned to face him.
“Then swap me with another vampire,” I said. “He’ll let me in if he doesn’t know it’s me.”
“And how do you expect that to work?” Beligral said with a sad shake of his head. “There are thousands of your kind out there. What makes you think he would choose you, even if you are in a new body? The chances are slim. The girl would still be at risk.”
He spread his hands wide and tried to look sympathetic. His eyes gave him away. They gleamed in their sockets, begged me to look directly into them. I focused hard on his chest, knowing he’d somehow force me to go through with this if I let him.
“Di’leviathan wants young Sienna. I know this. I know he cherishes her, uses her to his own ends. He wants her back badly even now. I knew that with her, you could return. Why else would I help her escape? It is the only way in which you can put an end to him.”
My mind raced to find another solution. Anything the demon did for me would be for his own ends. There had to be a reason he wanted me to stop Levi. If Beligral wanted to use me so badly, then why would he risk letting me fall into the hands of an angel? There was more to this than he was letting on.
“I won’t even mark you,” he said. “I do this freely of my own will because I can’t stand the thought of Di’leviathan running free any longer. If I am to be trapped here, then so should he.”
I doubted that was his entire reason, but there was definitely some truth in it. For as much as I hated the demon, he’d never lied to me as far as I was aware. Somehow, the thought was frightening.
“I can’t do it,” I said. “I refuse to put Sienna through something like that just so I can make you happy.” A nagging voice in the back of my head kept telling me I was making a mistake. Should I really turn my back on the only chance I might have to take down Levi?
Beligral shrugged. “You say that now, but what about when she feels the need to go back to him? You don’t think he will simply give up, do you? He will torment her until she has no choice but to return. You can’t keep an eye on her forever. This is your only chance.”
I knew he was right, but there was absolutely no way I was going to do a soul swap with Sienna. I had no doubt the demon could pull it off. He wouldn’t offer unless he could.
But to do it meant Sienna would become a vampire. She’d be the monster I’d fought so hard to tame. All the anger and pain could very well overwhelm her. I wasn’t going to be responsible for doing t
hat to her, no matter the benefits.
“No,” I said, firm.
“So be it.” Beligral sighed. “But when you are at your wit’s end, trying to figure out how to stop her agony, remember that it is your fault that she is suffering. You could be free of the vampire taint. You could keep Di’leviathan from torturing others. This is your only way.”
The temptation was there. To be human again . . . It was a dream I’d had ever since I’d been turned all those years ago. Never before had there been a single shred of hope that I’d ever be anything but the vampire I’d become.
But now . . . Now all I had to do was say yes and condemn a young girl to my fate. I could send the angel back to his own realm, could escape the torments of those that would control me.
But at what cost?
Beligral must have seen my will wavering because he smiled. “Think about it,” he said. “The sunlight on your upturned face. The smell of spring and flowers and fresh cut grass. It could all be yours again.”
I squeezed my fists so hard, my fingernails punctured my palms. The pain brought some sense back and I actually managed a smile.
“Not on your life,” I said. I raised my eye level to the bridge of his nose. “You can go fuck yourself for all I care. I’m not going to do this to her.”
Beligral sneered. His calm veneer cracked ever so slightly and I caught a glimpse of the real demon within. I didn’t actually see the red, blistered skin or the black wings or the horns or any of that. I simply saw him for what he really was: a manipulative monster who only truly cared about himself.
I was never going to give myself up to that; never again.
“Soon,” he said, pointing a finger at me. The nail was long, sharp, and pointed. “You can’t hide from this. As much as you want to protect her, you need me.”
We stood there, facing each other without our eyes meeting. Panic flared through me when I realized I was alone down there with him. Ethan wasn’t there to dismiss him, to make sure the demon was truly gone. I could leave, but then I couldn’t be totally sure he wouldn’t find a way to escape while I was out of the room.
