Chapter 17 #2
“My lady, I told you I have no interest in you.” He looked positively repulsed.
“Nor I you. Trust me. I want to see if you’re wearing Feldema’s mark. You would lie to me if you’ve already bound yourself to Feldema. I know that’s the only thing that would allow you to do so.”
I gasped as his garment disappeared. The rest of his skin was just as dark and discolored and saggy as his face, and he stretched out his wings so I could see he carried two phalli.
“Not for your taste, I’m sure,” he said, baring his fangs in what seemed a mocking grin.
“I bear no mark of the Priestess of the Sea or any other.” He turned to show all of himself and then stopped, once more facing me.
He waggled his dual dicks and watched my expression.
“There are many who would appreciate such endowments.” Looking down at himself, he laughed at my discomfort.
“Fine,” I said as his garment reappeared, none too soon in my opinion. “I have one final item.”
“Say it.”
“I am offering you a very strong familiar—you’ve offered me only information that may or may not help me. I request a blood favor from you to use in the future, as well as the information.”
“Done,” he chirped. “I was wrong—you are even better at this than your mother was.” He made that face that came close to an evil grin again.
I tried to think of any other outs I might have missed. Nothing came to mind. I was sure I would live to regret this at some point, but at least I would now have an advantage on Thule. “Done.”
Before I could say anything else, I was being pulled through the dark and stink again and we were back in the meet room. No one seemed to realize we had even left.
“You will have your information back in your chambers when you get there,” Karackos said, turning to leer at Feldema. I almost felt sorry for her, but she would have a choice, so I really didn’t feel bad at all.
I watched him waddle to Doran, bid his goodbyes, if Demons said goodbyes, and disappear into a cloud of smoke in the circle. I took in a lungful of the fresh air from the window. The stink of Karackos lingered, as if on my skin, in my hair, and I wanted it off me.
Manus approached and gave me a questioning look. Had he been watching? “Are you all right, Keena? You look…” As if I’d been to another realm? As if I had traded my sister into the servitude of a major Demon? “Like you’ve had a fright.”
“I’m going to my chambers. You need to come with me.”
Now he looked as though he’d had a fright. “What have you done now?”
We snuck away without Tynan even noticing. By the time we opened the door to my chambers, I had finished telling Manus the story. He was fuming.
“Keena, dealings with a Demon…!” On the table was a simple, black wooden box, smaller than a shoebox. I opened it immediately. Inside was a scroll. The writing on it looked to be Arabic. I cursed Karackos aloud, and the text changed to English. Cool.
“See? His word is good,” I said. Manus just kept frowning.
The scroll looked ancient, and the parchment was more worn than the pages of the old book about Thule.
I read most of it and found nothing useful.
I was sitting in one of the velvet-covered chairs.
Manus was pacing and watching to see if anyone was coming.
I got through the story of the fallen angels, but there was nothing of interest there.
I didn’t much care how Nessum got here. I wanted to know how to get rid of him.
The last line told me, and I read it out loud. “And the death of the Dark Angel can be brought by the wielding of the sword of an innocent he hath slain.”
Manus stopped short in his pacing. “How is that useful?” He snatched the box off the table and found another slip of newer paper that I would swear wasn’t there before. “The blade of Trevina is still in her skull on display in Castle Bran.”
“So,” I said, putting the scroll back in the box, trying not to think about my mother’s skull on display in a trophy room.
I would have to deal with that later. “Karackos kept up his end of the bargain. All I have to do is slay a Fallen Angel, rescue my father and Abbey, beat Feldema in the battle, and then honor my end of the deal.”
Manus scowled. I smiled at him and rose to kiss his forehead. “Take this.” I handed him the box. “Hide it. Or better yet, destroy it.”
“Keena, you’ve made a good bargain by the skin of it. But Demons are seldom only skin deep. When you summon him, be very wary. We can’t release you from him easily if he’s tricked you in some way.”
“I know.”
“Feldema will probably choose death, Keena. Being the familiar to a Demon is not a pleasant existence.”
He almost shivered. Not quite, but it was close enough to pique my curiosity. I had to ask. If I damned her to that existence, I should be strong enough to know what it would be. “And?”
“Witches can draw their magic from the earth, but Demons can’t.
They have to draw energy directly from ley lines.
It’s like using raw electricity. Karackos will filter that energy through Feldema.
After some time, she may lose her own powers, maybe even her mind.
I’ve seen humans used like that, and they only lasted a few months.
They just weren’t able to filter it through their minds and not be affected.
He wants Feldema because she’ll be able to do it better and longer.
Since her powers are so strong, she may even be able to do it as long as she lives. ”
“Wow. That would really suck.”
The loud chuckle I loved so much echoed in the room. “Yes, it would. That’s why I’m worried that either Karackos or Feldema have plotted against you in this. You realize that you’ll need to summon him into a circle to protect yourself?”
More magic I couldn’t do well yet. “This just keeps getting better and better.”