A Demon's Work Is Never Done: Latter Day Demons, Book 2 (9 page)

Two were Sirenali in their scaled forms; the other two were warlocks. That was easy enough to see.

The warlocks' first blasts toward us were nullified by Kordevik and Lexsi.

The Sirenali, without power of that sort, pulled out weapons and began to shoot. Kordevik changed immediately and with flames licking his black scales, he stalked them while they continued to fire.

Opal fought me when I attempted to shove her body behind mine; I turned us both to mist when she refused to cooperate. Lexsi screamed when the fire net was dropped over Kory's Thifilathi; he screamed, too, when the net began to burn through his scales.

Without thinking of herself, Lexsi changed to Thifilatha and dived toward Kory, grabbing the net in her silver-scaled hands to pull it away while the fools in the corner ran behind the firing Sirenali.

Kell, get us to the Sirenali,
Opal snapped in mindspeech.

She was right—they'd caused this trouble. Now it was time for them to die.

* * *

Lexsi

Tears of flame dripped down my cheeks—tears for Kory and for me. The net burned my hands whenever I touched it, but I couldn't let it harm him any more than it already had. Kory's wings, with burn-holes between ribs, beat to help me get the net off him. That's how I missed the events surrounding the four who'd attacked us—Kell and Opal went after them.

Kory screamed as the net sunk farther into sections of his back—it was designed to burn flesh until it had completely passed through whoever it was dropped on. I shook my hands to rid myself of the wad of net I held to reach for the part that was burning Kory so badly.

I felt as if it took hours to clear the net off him and then knock it from my own hands. Likely, it was minutes at most. Otherwise, it could have killed both of us. Burns sunk to the bones in my hands, but I was determined not to pay attention to that. I had to remove the net from Kory, first.

Once the net was off and piled near the door, Kory and I limped toward the corner where the warlocks were, only to discover they'd gone to hide behind the Sirenali. Likely, it was because Kory and I together neutralized their ability to fold space out of the prison.

Had anyone told them that might happen? Were they expendable, to disable or kill Kory with a fire net?

How the hell had they gotten a fire net to begin with?

Fire nets were terrible things, used only on the worst High Demon criminals to subdue them. They were taken off immediately, once the High Demon was subdued, lest it kill them. It normally took very little time to subdue someone with a fire net—that's how badly it would burn a High Demon. It would continue to burn until the victim died if it weren't removed.

Kory's back, sides, arms, legs and face were scored with net burns. My hands, arms, and chest were also scored, because I'd pulled the net to me to get it off him. Together, we were a burned, bloody mess.

I couldn't look at my hands. Instead, I lifted my gaze to see what happened to Kell and Opal.

With eyes that merely recorded instead of analyzing, I watched as Kell, his claws extended, appeared from mist, Opal with him. In less time that it took to blink, he had the heads off our four attackers, while three shackled prisoners screamed and shouted from their chairs at the center of the room.

Kell shook blood and gore from his claws and retracted them. Opal bent down to examine all four bodies, searching for identification.

Eventually, the prisoners realized it was over and quieted. When Jorden and a mass of other agents broke into the room, it was almost peaceful inside.

* * *

Opal

"Pain medication doesn't have much of an effect on High Demons—you'd have to give them a massive dose just for it to touch their pain," I said.

Kell ended up misting Kory's Thifilathi and Lexsi's Thifilatha to a nearby safe house; if they changed to humanoid, the severity of the burns and the subsequent pain could kill them.

They needed to heal as they were if they were to survive.

"We need a fucking pool," I swore softly as I watched them breathe with difficulty as they lay on the tiled floor of the safe house.

"Then we will find a fucking pool," Kell snapped. "I will place compulsion if I must. The young one weeps in pain when she wakes. Kory's injuries may be worse and I am terrified for him."

"Hold on," I said, pulling my cell phone from a pocket and hitting the Secretary of Defense's private number.

"Colonel Hunter," he said when he answered.

"Colonel Hunter," I said, "I need a very private residence with a swimming pool, and no questions asked."

"I'll get one for you," he responded. I heard him barking commands at an underling. In less than thirty seconds, he rattled off an address roughly five miles away.

"Thank you, Colonel. We'll be there in ten minutes."

* * *

Lexsi

"What's this floating in the water?"

It was Kory's voice, saying something strange. I almost opened my eyes, realized I must be dreaming and allowed sleep to capture me again.

"Ground oatmeal," came the reply, as if it were from far away. I ignored it and went back to sleep.

* * *

Kordevik

Kell's eyes met mine; he sat at the other end of a rectangular pool, cross-legged, as if he'd been meditating. "Why ground oatmeal?" I asked. Yes, it was difficult for my Thifilathi to form the words, but not impossible.

At least my back, arms and chest were no longer on fire, although I could still see the dark indentations left by the fire net on my skin—when the layers of oatmeal parted, the water was clear enough to make them out.

Lexsi lay against me in the crook of my arm, her forehead resting in the hollow between my neck and collarbone.

Her net marks were more pronounced, since her Thifilatha was silver and the net burns were black. I was grateful they weren't crusted with blood; someone had likely seen to it that the pool filtered all that out of the water before filling it with ground oatmeal to help with the burns.

Lexsi had slept most of that time, until I'd almost wakened her when I spoke.

Fire net burns were serious. Fire nets could kill. Somehow, the enemy had gotten one, when that shouldn't have been.

Those in existence were closely guarded by the High Demon army on Kifirin.

Except this was Kifirin in the past,
I reminded myself. A time when both Croth and Drith Houses were in full flower. Many of them were in Kifirin's military, and long before Jaydevik and Glinda took the throne.

Fuck.

Croth and Drith had almost destroyed Kifirin. Would almost destroy Kifirin, in less than three hundred years from when I currently was.

Have you identified the warlocks or the Sirenali?
I sent to Kell. Hell, he was a mister. Made sense that he could also be a mindspeaker.

No identification on them
, Kell's mental voice was clear.
Impossible to tell from where we are
.

True
, I allowed my eyes to close as I breathed a weary sigh. Earth wasn't even aware that there were vampires and werewolves living among humans, let alone know that there were other planets with other races living upon them.

Where are the bodies now?
I asked.

Opal sent them to a guarded facility for examination
, Kell replied.
The Secretary of Defense is helping her as much as he can. The President and Secretary of State have their heads up their posteriors
, he added.

No surprise
. I breathed against Lexsi's damp hair, hoping she didn't feel cold in the water. The pool wasn't heated. As far as the burns went, that was a good thing. Cool water was the best solution for a net-burned High Demon.

When she woke, I intended to thank her for getting the net off me so fast. If she hadn't, I could have died. She couldn't have turned to mist to get me out of it, either. The net burned into the skin and had to be ripped out at times, just to separate it from the High Demon in question.

Legend had it that Kifirin himself designed fire nets. If that were true, I was ready to curse his ingenuity. Certainly, no High Demon that I knew could manufacture them. They were practically indestructible, from everything I'd heard in the past about them.

What happened to the net?
I asked.

Ask Opal. She knows. I wasn't there when she had the thing removed. As you've probably guessed, the warden was obsessed. He and many underlings are now imprisoned for this attack on a government official
.

I hope it's buried deep, wherever it is. I never want to see another of those things touch Lexsi's skin or scales
.

I never wish to see another touch either of you
.
Opal told me I couldn't have extricated you from it by turning you to mist—that it had already burned into your scales and skin. Turning you to mist would mean turning it to mist, too.

Yeah. I get that
.
Lexsi burned her hands pulling it out of my skin
.

We will see that the young one receives the best of care. You, too. Without your particular talents, the warlocks would have gotten away. The Sirenali were determined to kill all of us; it makes me think that they may have been young, too, and had obsession placed by an older one. During the entire debacle, they never spoke
.

Check to see if they still have their tongues
, I snorted, watching the smoke I'd breathed drift away on the cool air. At least the pool was enclosed, even if the wood and brick structure around it wasn't heated in any way. It kept Lexsi and me away from prying eyes.

If you are well enough in a day or two, we will return to California. I believe Anita has been calling the Director every half hour to check on you and Lexsi
.

Tell her we're fine. Lexsi's sleeping and I don't want to disturb her. While she sleeps, she heals
, I said simply. It was an old High Demon saying, and a very, very true one.

* * *

Lexsi

I'm hungry
. The words formed in my mind before I recalled that others could hear them.

"Baby, we'll feed you if you'll open your eyes," Kory's lips grazed my ear. "Tell us what you want and we'll do our best to get it for you."

My eyes opened; I blinked several times so I could bring everything into focus.

Kory and I—we were in a swimming pool filled with what looked and felt like oatmeal.

"Better for you to heal with," Kory's warm breath informed me before pulling away. I realized then that he'd been keeping the rest of me warm; cold water rushed in to replace his warm body against mine.

I wanted to pull him against me again and cling to him like a barnacle on a rock.

"Where did the fire net come from?" I asked instead, my voice rough as I shivered in cold water.

"Baby, we don't know. The four that brought it in are dead, so they can't answer any questions," Kory said, standing and stretching before pulling himself out of the deep end of the pool.

Water dripped from his wings and body as he accepted a very large towel from someone.

"If you can climb out, now's the time," Opal said behind me.

My Thifilatha's silver scales couldn't show embarrassment. If I were humanoid, my face would be flaming. Kory stood above me, completely naked, while I huddled in the pool, just as naked.

Instead of attempting to climb out of the pool, I dropped my face into my hands. The pain that surged through me had me yelping and dumping both hands into the water again.

They hurt—as if they were still burning
.

That's when the tears came.

"Baby, no," Kory was back in the water, getting wet again just because I couldn't behave like an adult and not cry at the state of my hands. "Sweetheart, it'll take time—you handled that net, over and over, to get it off me. Your hands will heal, it'll just take time." Kory rocked my body against his.

What if he were wrong?

What if I could never cook again?

I wanted to wail louder at the thought. Instead, I sniffled and shook against Kory, while he tucked hair behind my ear and kissed the top of my head. I knew I looked a mess, my hair and wings draggling in the water while Kory did his best to stop the tears.

"Kell, we'll have to feed her; her hands are so bad she can't hold anything to feed herself," I heard Opal say.

"We will feed her for as long as it takes," Kell's voice answered.

I felt helpless as I collapsed against Kory and sobbed.

* * *

"This is a natural, aloe-based gel," the werewolf physician informed me as he wrapped my Thifilatha's hands later. Kory had fed me soup and a sandwich; I was still Thifilatha to ensure a faster healing. And, as he was Thifilathi for the same reason, the soup bowl was a large, stainless-steel bowl with a half-gallon of chicken noodle soup in it, while the sandwich was a large French loaf cut in two, lengthwise pieces and piled with ham and turkey.