Fury of the Demon

Chapter 13

I found various snack fixings and piled them onto a TV tray that dated back to when I was a kid. The front door opened, and I turned to see Ryan come in. He dropped his keys on the table in the hall and continued my way.

“Don’t you know how to have a quiet day?” he asked sourly.

I put on my best baffled look. “Kuh . . . kuh why-et dey? I do not know this phrase.”

He laughed. “I agree. It is beyond your comprehension.”

“No kidding!” I lifted my chin toward the hall door. “Thatcher and Ortiz are in there.” I shuffled items around on the tray. “I told Mzatal he should go back to the demon realm soon, and that he should take those two with him. Thatcher needs a lot more healing, and it would be good to keep Ortiz off the radar for a while.” I quickly filled him in on what I’d learned about Paul’s forced recruitment and the injuries and beatings from his dad.

“He’s been through a lot,” Ryan agreed after I finished. “What’s the deal? How’d someone like that end up at the intersection of you and Katashi’s people?”

“Dunno, but Thatcher’s name was in one of Tracy Gordon’s notebooks, along with another dozen or so names.”

Ryan let out a low whistle. “Maybe he knows more about this stuff than Ortiz thinks he does.”

“That’s possible,” I said. “Paul seems innocent enough in all of this, but Thatcher could be in deep.” I snorted. “Their time with Mzatal should be pretty enlightening.” The demonic lord would pull every shred of information out of both men if it could increase our chances of finding Idris.

“Maybe I should take a vacation to the demon realm,” Ryan said with a grin.

I managed to give a light laugh. “I think it would do you a world of good.”

He snorted. “Yeah, I’m sure they’d looooooove me there.” The demons called him kiraknikahl, oathbreaker. That meant most demons looked upon him with varying degrees of animosity. Eilahn had settled into tolerant-but-not-too-tolerant, only allowing that much latitude because we were around him all the time. I still didn’t have the full story of what happened and what oath he broke, though it seemed that some of the bans against even speaking of it had been eased.

“Right now I’m just worried about Mzatal,” I said, totally ducking having to make a reply to his comment.

“What’s wrong with the fuc—I mean, what’s wrong with him?”

I shot him a sour look. “He’s away from his power base, he did a major healing, and he laid a huge smackdown on one of Katashi’s men.”

“He’s fading,” Ryan said with a slow nod, eyes growing distant. “Shows he shouldn’t fucking be here.” His breath quickened, and his face twisted in agitation. “He shouldn’t be here!”

“Hey, where’s Zack?” I asked a little too loudly as I recognized an agitated Szerain coming through.

The distraction worked. Ryan blinked and looked over at me. “Uh, he must still be out front. Jill called when we pulled up, and they sort of got into it.” He winced, shook his head. “There’ve been some pretty rocky times in these last few months.”

Dismay wound through me. “Shit. Why?” I asked. “They were so into each other.”

He leaned back against the counter and tucked his thumbs into the front pockets of his pants. “He’s not spending as much time with her as he used to,” he explained. “She’s not happy about it, and he doesn’t want to talk about it.” His face twisted in frustration. “I’m hoping he isn’t done with her. In all the time I’ve known him, he’s never been in a serious relationship.” He snorted. “Or even a not-serious relationship. Just some short flings. Nothing stable. Nothing until Jill.”

“He’s about to be a baby-daddy,” I muttered. “He’d better not be done with her.” Yet I knew the situation was way more complicated than simply his losing interest. Not that I could share those complications with Ryan. You see, your partner is actually a demon, and he’s ditching his baby-mama to deal with your alter ego. “The whole thing sucks,” I said.

“It’s weird,” Ryan said. “It’s not like he’s afraid of having a kid. I could sort of get it if that was the problem. Doesn’t seem to be, though.”

“Maybe every now and then you could push him to spend time with her?” I suggested.

“I’ve tried that,” he replied, mouth twisting sourly. “Sometimes it works. Usually not.”

“I’ll talk to Jill,” I said with a sigh, then lifted the tray. “Lemme go feed our guest.”

“Thatcher still unconscious?”

“Yeah, and I think he’ll stay out until he gets to the demon realm with Mzatal,” I said. “He’s in pretty bad shape.”

Ryan winced. “Zack told me he took a .45 in the back that pretty much blew out his chest.”

I started to say something about how Thatcher would have been dead in minutes, but I clamped down on it in time. No way would I be able to explain how Mzatal got there so quickly without mentioning Zack’s teleport ability. Best to let him assume Mzatal had gone to the warehouse with me. “The bullet nicked Paul’s arm too,” I said, glossing over the details of how Thatcher survived. “Speaking of, I’d better go feed him!” I hurried off down the hall before Ryan could ask any more questions.

Paul was still sitting on the stool by the bed. He looked up as I entered, and a faint smile touched his mouth as he saw the loaded tray.

“Thanks. I didn’t realize how hungry I was.” He tried for a smile and failed. “I’d made a deal with Bryce. If he took me to the warehouse, I’d let him stop at Hamburger Haven for a double bacon combo.”

I set the tray on the dresser. “When y’all get back we’ll see if we can make a Hamburger Haven run.”

Desperate hope lit his eyes. “You think he’ll really be able to eat one by then?”

“He won’t come back until he’s good as new,” I promised. “And I know Mzatal will take excellent care of him.” I paused as I heard Ryan call my name from the kitchen. “Eat up,” I told Paul. “Holler if you need anything.”

He nodded, and I returned to the kitchen. Ryan stood in front of the window, looking out at the back yard.

“You bellowed?” I asked cheerfully.

“You should probably check on him,” he said, with a not-quite-Ryan undertone in his voice.

I didn’t waste time with questions. I ran out to the back and slid to a stop, dropped to my knees beside Mzatal where he lay prone on the confluence point. “Boss?” I placed a hand on his back. He felt cold, and his aura was so faint I could barely detect it. “Mzatal?”

He drew a deep slow breath. “Here . . . zharkat.”

“You doing all right?” I asked, even though I felt that he wasn’t.

“No,” he murmured. “The confluence is but slowing the drain. I am fading.”

Fading. The same word Ryan used. “You’re going back now,” I ordered in a don’t-you-even-think-about-arguing-with-me tone of voice. “I already talked to Paul, and he’s okay with going with you. Let me get Eilahn to carry Thatcher out here.”

Mzatal didn’t argue and instead simply pushed himself to his side and then sat up. Even that small effort seemed to drain him. I ran inside, found Eilahn and asked her to get Thatcher, then hurried to the guest room.

“Paul, it’s time to go,” I told him.

Surprise flickered across his face. “Now?” At my nod he set the bunch of grapes he’d been nibbling back on the tray and moved aside as Eilahn entered to get Thatcher.

“Sorry for the rush,” I said. “Come on out to the back yard, and we’ll get this show on the road.”

He grabbed his tablet, eyes bright with excitement and perhaps a bit of fear as he followed me. I thought briefly about telling him not to bother bringing the tablet since the demon realm had some majorly shitty broadband, but then realized the tablet was probably a comfort thing.

Mzatal had managed to stand and waited on the little worn patch of grass with a worried-looking Jekki leaning against his thigh. Paul’s eyes went to Jekki and widened in pure astonishment. Oh, right. Forgot to tell him we had a demon here with us. Eilahn gently placed Thatcher at Mzatal’s feet, and as soon as she stepped back, I moved to Mzatal and kissed him. “Two days,” I told him. “I’ll summon you in two days.”

He wrapped his arms around me, gave me a deep and lingering kiss, then reluctantly broke it. “Two days. We will be on the nexus.”

I stepped back, gave him a smile that did nothing to hide my worry. Mzatal gestured Paul to stand close to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. I gave the young hacker an encouraging wink and a thumbs-up.

And then they were gone.