High Demon 3 - Demon's King Read online

  The rooms on the fourth and top floor were huge, the doors facing a bank of windows on the opposite side of the hall. I slipped my key card into the slot two doors down from Zellar's room and went inside, putting my back to the door when it closed and listening carefully for Zellar's door to shut. When it did, I was out of my room like a rocket and kicking his door in. What happened next I didn't have any explanation for. Not until later, anyway.

  * * *

  Lendill, Tory and Aurelius watched the pirated vid-feed in horror. The hotel where Reah was staying had been bombed. At the moment, only Lendill knew where Reah had gone and that the room where the blast originated had been Zellar's. Assignments were generally kept secret from the others, unless they were on the same assignment. None of them had been able to reach Reah through mindspeech after the blast.

  Journalists were saying it was a ranos grenade. Aurelius placed an arm around Tory's shoulders—Tory was sitting, Aurelius standing. Gardevik burst into the room. Tory stood and went to his father. Aurelius sat in Tory's vacated chair with a sigh of disbelief.

  "Just one blow after another." Norian Keef, Director of the ASD walked in. "Do we have any agents in the area? Lendill?" Norian grabbed Lendill's arm.

  "Two," Lendill had to bring himself back from the horror he was seeing on the vid-screen. "I've already sent them. They'll have something for us soon."

  "Let me know as quickly as you can. Do you need something? Anything?"

  "I need to know that Reah is safe," Lendill choked up.

  * * *

  "Do this first." I barely understood the words; I was in too much pain. There was more—a sharp stabbing pain in my collarbone. What were they doing to me? I couldn't see; something covered my eyes. "Now," the voice was soft as it continued, "normal painkill and anesthetic won't have much effect. Don't give too much—it could harm her."

  "But she has broken bones. Her ribs are crushed, three vertebrae are cracked, one leg is broken in two places, the other leg in one. One arm broken, one not. Skull fractures—honestly, I have no idea how she still lives." That was a second voice, talking with the first voice. I moaned.

  "Make sure she stays alive," the first voice said. "I'll help this time." Fingers touched—cool against my forehead—followed by pain-free darkness.

  Fever came with my next waking. I must have been restrained—I couldn't move. That frightened me, even in my feverish state. I was too weak and in too much pain to struggle much. I still couldn't see and knew somehow I'd been blindfolded. Somebody didn't want me to see anything. They wanted me to live; I remembered that from the previous waking, but little else. Who had me? They couldn't be friendly; I realized that, even in my impaired condition. Pain bloomed with my agitated movement.

  "Shhhh," fingers against my hot forehead. Darkness came. Again.

  * * *

  A slight sound woke me next. I still couldn't move or see. I must have made some sort of noise—the second voice was back. "Only changing the bag, pretty girl. We have to feed you, you know."

  What had they done? Placed a feeding tube? How bad off was I? I moaned. "I didn't mean to upset you. Just stay calm, all right? Gods, you're so beautiful." I felt a tugging around my torso—second voice was cleaning the area around the tube and placing a fresh dressing. I wanted to weep. I wanted him to take off the fucking blindfold. I wanted to be anywhere except where I was.

  Could I send mindspeech? How could I tell Tory, Lendill or Aurelius where I was? Auri? I sent. Tory? Lendill? Only silence met my weakened sendings and I failed to get any response. The effort, too, was taking its toll. Second voice continued his ministrations—he was bathing me now, his hands expertly wiping my body with a warm, soapy cloth. My ribs and the surrounding area were so tender I wanted to scream when I was washed there. "It'll be over soon—over soon," the voice crooned. Could I trust that voice? He'd left me blindfolded—I couldn't. I didn't even try to speak to him. He might ask questions and I was in no shape to keep him from getting what he wanted—all he had to do was exert a little pressure against my aching ribs. My breathing became ragged as he worked; pain was waking all over my body. The singsong "It'll be over soon," came again. I whimpered and endured it.

  * * *

  "How soon can she be moved?"

  "Tomorrow, if you do it your usual way. Make sure you have a secured place for her—she's staying awake longer."

  "You think I haven't already thought of that?" A snort followed that statement. First voice was speaking. Something worried me about the voice, but they'd given me painkill earlier. Drugs were second voice's choice if he didn't want me to be awake while he did whatever he was going to do. I imagined he had to give a lot of it—a normal dose wouldn't do. He probably had to experiment at first, just to get the amounts right. Now I wanted more than anything to allow the drug-induced sleep to come, but fought it to learn whatever I could.

  "You're not going to hurt her, are you?" Second voice sounded worried. Another snort but no answer this time. I had no idea what that meant and it frightened me. I hadn't carried any ID other than the false one Lendill had sent with me. They couldn't know I was ASD. What did they want with me? That thought raced around a track in my brain with no way to stop it or turn it aside. And they hadn't said where they were moving me. I hadn't felt this helpless since I was small and Edan had beaten me, breaking a wrist and cracking ribs.

  "You should be asleep," first voice said; the fingers against my forehead followed.

  * * *

  "Make sure it's secured—we don't want anything happening. The boss will be pissed if she manages to dislodge the mattress." That's what I woke to—another place. I was sure of it—it smelled different. They'd moved me while I slept. Since I had no concept of time or where I'd been before, I knew even less now. The blindfold was still in place and I was still restrained. At least three were working around my bed—I could hear them moving, cursing softly and breathing.

  "Careful," the one who'd mentioned the boss said from my left. That statement was followed by the sounds of a buckle fastening and more soft cursing. I tried sending mindspeech to Lendill and the others but there was still no reply. Could I skip? Was I strong enough? It took full concentration to do it. A healthy body would be a plus, but that might not come for a while, if ever.

  I still had no idea why my captors had kept me alive or what they wanted from me. I gathered my wits about me and made the attempt to skip. Nothing. I was still right where I was with my attendants securing me to a bed somehow. "Watch the bag." The voice came again. It sounded vaguely familiar, but I still couldn't place it. With my wits addled as they were, I wasn't surprised. My mind could be playing tricks on me, too—I knew that.

  "All done," one of my attendants heaved a relieved sigh. I heard them walking out and then the sounds of an iron-barred door closing. I knew something of where I was then; I'd heard that sound many times over the past few years. It was the sound of confinement. I was in a prison cell.

  * * *

  "I think we can remove the feeding tube this afternoon." Second voice was back. I hadn't heard from him for several days. Someone else had come to bathe me in between. Someone with gentle hands, although they never spoke. Those hands always stopped if I whimpered with pain, giving me a moment to deal with it before beginning again.

  "Then we'll have to remove the blindfold too, if we expect her to feed herself." First voice was also back. He didn't sound happy.

  "She will be weak—she may not be able to lift her hand at first—you've kept her restrained. We should have been exercising her more."

  "Don't tell me my business. I know what I'm doing."

  "Of course. Sir."

  "Call me when the tube comes out. I'll let you remove the blindfold at that time. We may get some feedback from our prisoner then." First voice walked away.

  "Taking the tube out won't hurt much, don't worry about it," second voice soothed. At his words, I decided to try my voice. I hadn't spoken for a very long time.

  "
What does he want?" My voice cracked—my mouth was too dry.

  "I don't know the whole of it, and I couldn't tell you anyway. He has forbidden it." I wanted to ask if they were going to hurt me. Ask what they knew about me to keep me like this. I didn't. I knew better. I had to be patient. Right then, I had very little in the way of patience. I would have to work on that.

  "Pretty girl," second voice went on, "I have to ask you now not to hurt yourself if we remove the restraints. Can you do that for me? You won't have control over your muscles at first, and you're still in casts—your arm and both legs, anyway. We'll have to wrap your ribs better once the feeding tube comes out. I know it hurts to breathe." A hand stroked my forehead.

  "Name?" I asked.

  "He won't allow me to tell you. Mine or his." I tried to swallow but my mouth was too dry. "Here." He swabbed my mouth with a moistened applicator. That helped. "We have an IV line in too, to keep your fluids up. We'll remove that at the same time."

  "Should have let me die," I whispered.

  "No." Second voice whispered back. "The target did get killed. The boss said finding you afterward was the biggest bonus he's ever gotten."

  Was he saying Zellar was dead? Was that what he meant or was there someone else? "Of course all of Zellar's little apprentices are out there now and we have to hunt them down." Second voice sounded extremely angry about that. At least I knew that Zellar was dead, but what was that about apprentices? How many were there? Would they do what Zellar had done, draining worlds until they died? That frightened me and my heart rate and breathing increased.

  "I didn't mean to upset you, sweet girl. Calm down, all right?"

  "You don't know that I'm sweet," I rasped.

  "No, I don't know that," he chuckled softly. "I do know you're the prettiest thing I've seen in a long time and the boss will kill me if I lay a hand on you other than to treat your wounds." He moved around for a while before leaving. "I'll be back in a few ticks," he promised. The sound of the iron-barred door opening and closing came next. I heaved as much of a sigh as my ribs allowed.

  * * *

  "IV out first," my right hand felt the tug as the line was pulled out. The hand was wiped with cold disinfectant before a bandage was laid across the wound. "Not much bleeding, that's good," second voice said. "Now, for the feeding tube." He rustled around the bed, unhooking the bag, I imagined, just by the sound of it. A click—the line had been closed off. Didn't want the contents of my stomach everywhere, I suppose. "Now, we take the stitches out," a snipping sound and then the tugging came. Removing the stitches didn't hurt much at all. The tube coming out did. It caused a muffled shriek to escape—I hadn't been expecting it.

  "It's over, we just have to cover up the small wound," second voice said. He did so, wiping off the wound and covering it with more bandaging. "You'll still have to be bathed for a while until the wound heals and the casts come off. The scans look good, though. Should be a few days at most."

  "I want to wash my hair." My voice sounded like one sheet of sandpaper rubbed against another.

  "I know, pretty girl. We'll see about that."

  "Don't fucking call her that." First voice had arrived and was watching. Second voice was silent. I cringed.

  The restraints came off next. "Try to raise your right arm," second voice said. I tried. That was the best that could be said. I got it off the bed but I shook with the effort. "Grip my fingers." I gave the best grip I could. It wasn't much. Second voice moved to the other side of my bed and did the same with my left hand. My arm was weighed down by the cast, although it was made of the lightest materials. I did better at squeezing his fingers on that side.

  "Now the blindfold," first voice demanded.

  "Now the blindfold," second voice repeated. I learned it was grip-fastened in the back so I wouldn't have to lie on a knot in the fabric. Second voice pulled it away and I blinked, unprepared in the sudden light. Even though it was dimmed, it still hurt my eyes. They watered while I worked furiously to get my sight to clear. I peered into second voice's face. It wasn't a bad face and he was smiling at me. He looked to be around forty turns or so, had dark-brown hair, hazel eyes, a nose that was a bit large and a dimple when he smiled. I couldn't bring myself to smile back at him.

  "We'll let you try to eat in just a little," he assured me. He wasn't going to tell me his name. Well, I wasn't going to tell him mine, either. Things might have gone well if first voice hadn't stepped into my line of vision. It took everything I had to rip one of the restraints from the bed rail and fling it at him, screaming the entire time.

  Chapter 2

  "Let me go, you stinking pile of shit," I shouted at Teeg San Gerxon. Of course, I was weeping and hanging precariously off the bed while I did it. My muscles no longer obeyed me and the pain of moving with cracked and broken ribs was unbearable. I learned then that my back, too, could bellow its displeasure.

  Second voice was shouting for help and Astralan, the warlock asshole, was there to help in only a blink. Both got me back on the bed—with second voice fussing the entire time while Teeg stood off to the side, watching with hooded eyes and absolutely no expression on his face. Once I was back on the bed and arranged to second voice's satisfaction, Teeg came to the bed again. "Done with your little outburst, Reah?" I didn't answer him. "And I don't intend to let you go. While you voided the adoption with Arvil, we are still married. I never set that aside, you know. You'd have learned that if you hadn't skipped away from me the last time."

  "Oh, boo-hoo," I said, turning my face away from him. "Send me back to the Alliance—they don't recognize your marriage contract there. See? Problem solved."

  "I could have set it aside here. I decided not to."

  "It's too late for me to sign a pre-nup."

  "Reah."

  "Teeg, don't even try. You get everything you want? Do you?"

  "You're harder, now."

  "You can bet your ass on that." Working for the ASD had done that. Dealing with what he'd done to me before had done that. Now he was back to torture me again.

  "Can you still cook?" Astralan asked.

  "Astralan, go ahead. Do your best sorcery or whatever the hell it is that you do. I dare you." I turned my head back to glare at the warlock. "How's Teeg treating you? As well as the Hardlows?"

  "Not even a comparison," Astralan grinned.

  "We had everything set up to take Zellar down inside that hotel room, Reah," Teeg crossed arms over his chest. That chest was just as wide as it was before. "But the Alliance sends in one of theirs. It couldn't have turned out more perfect. They hand you right back to me, when I've been looking for you for years." I pointedly ignored the fact that Teeg was just as handsome as he ever was.

  "Sure, you looked for me. And Elves are real, too," I muttered. I didn't add that if I were in better health, I might consider breaking his perfect nose with a single punch.

  "You might be surprised," a smile tugged at Teeg's mouth.

  "What do you want from me, Teeg? Am I a hostage? You intend to beef up your bank account by selling me back to the Alliance? Force them to do something they don't want to, just to get your way?"

  "Oh, I have a project in mind." He nodded at my assessment, his dark eyes giving nothing away. "But I want your help to track those fool apprentices Zellar trained first. They could be anywhere. I've hacked into the ASD records, Reah. I know you still don't miss. You're going to help me take those fuckers down before they destroy what I've tried to build."

  He meant his new alliance. I realized that quickly. "Still building things, Teeg?"

  "Trying to—yes." Long, well-shaped fingers raked through dark hair.

  "Uh-huh." I handed him one of Queen Lissa's best, unusual phrases. It stopped him for a moment and he blinked curiously at me, attempting to determine what I meant, more than likely.

  "I also know you have other mates. I suggest you cooperate with me or I'll put a price on both their heads." That statement made my chest hurt. It made me want to cry. "You
didn't take him, did you?" I could barely get my hand up to wipe away the tear that fell.

  "Take who?" Teeg was staring at me.

  "Nobody," I muttered.

  "Maybe we did, then." Was he using what I'd just given him or did he have Gavril? I was shaking.

  "You're upsetting her." Second voice had my wrist in his fingers, checking my pulse.

  "You mean Gavril, don't you?" Teeg sounded smugly satisfied. How had he gotten that name? I'd never said it to him. Neither had Ry nor Tory. An ASD agent never gave the enemy a target to go after. Teeg knew he'd hit the mark when I didn't answer. "We have him—we just didn't realize he'd be important to you in any way. We were going to present other demands to Le-Ath Veronis. Is that where you live, Reah?" Teeg was digging into my ribs verbally. It hurt. My breathing quickened.

  "Do not hyperventilate," second voice issued the command. My body ignored him. Astralan helped get me sitting up in bed and my head down as far as it would go. "Get the quickshot!" Second voice shouted. I struggled; they gave it anyway. I was out in no time.

  * * *

  "It went better than I thought—I think she'll cooperate now," Teeg sighed and rubbed his forehead.

  "Why can't you just do what you normally do or have your wizards do something?" Doctor Jes Wurfl asked.

  "Because of what she is. Besides, you have no idea how effective she can be against Zellar's clones."

  "What is she, then? How can she have any effect against one rogue wizard, let alone half a dozen or more?"

  "Have you ever heard of High Demons?" Teeg gave Jes a pointed look.

  "Those are myth," Jes scoffed.

  "Not myth. That's what my wife is—High Demon."

  "Is she really immune to wizardry?"

  "Every bit of it. She's going to get rid of the scum in the Campiaan Alliance. Then we'll use her as a bargaining chip with the Reth Alliance. Have them recognize us as an equal. There's a lot at stake here, Jes."