Claws (24 page)

He didn’t want to do anything near the
compound and she had to agree he was right. Conjuring demons might
not go over well with the tribe. She arrived at the cave and
sniffed the air. She smelled Jericho and knew he waited
within.

She joined him and growled under her
breath to see he shifted into human form and was nude, making a
circle with the concoction already. His nudity made her avert her
eyes even if she had seen every inch of him, felt every sinew of
muscle on his body. Her breathing became irregular to think of how
he felt under her hands, hard and smooth, his smell so intoxicating
she’d bite into him to taste him.

She hadn’t thought at all when she left
her clothes behind in the yard. The thought of shifting to her
human form and joining him made her tense with a highly sexual
impulse. The elder already taunted her for denying them both.
Somehow being nude with a raging Alpha in a cave didn’t seem the
best idea to keep from straying from her mate.

He looked over at her and grinned.
“Almost thought you chickened out.”

She shifted to human form and cringed
as he whistled appreciatively as his eyes slid over her.

“Knock it off, we got things to
do.”

“Did anyone ever tell you that you have
a nice ass?”

“My mate does all the time,” she shot
back and glared at him. “I didn’t come here for this, Jericho.
Let’s just focus on the demon.”

He grinned and his yellow green eyes
slid over her with obvious heat. “I’m sorry, naked hot chicks
always make me lose my focus. What were you saying?”

She shook her head at him, annoyed by
his teasing. “Stop ok? Quit looking at me!”

“Sorry, but your headlights are
blinding me.”

She glared at him, aware her nipples
were definitely reacting to the temperature within the cave. “Don’t
look at my headlights!”

Jericho chuckled uproariously and
finished making a circle with the tar-like substance in the pail.
He set it aside and gestured to her.

“Now step into the circle, hot chick.
I’m not looking at all, but you definitely could use a shave.
You’re starting to look a little wild down there.”

Vivvie growled under her breath,
wanting to smack the elder as she joined him in the circle. “Now
what?”

“We call it.”

“Like a dog?” she asked in disbelief
and laughed. “Here demon, demon! Here boy!”

Jericho grinned and looked delighted
despite the seriousness of the situation. “Ok, you’re probably not
the best one to deal with this creature. Just stay quiet. I’ll deal
with it.”

Vivvie giggled and nodded. She watched
as Jericho looked upward, his yellow green gaze glowing.

“Come to us, demon of the spirit world.
Here my summons.”

Vivvie felt the hair on her arms
standing up after several minutes as they heard a hissing from the
depths of the cave. She instinctively stepped closer to
Jericho.

“You definitely need a shave,” he
commented under his breath and she scowled up at him.

The hissing grew louder and suddenly a
demonic echoing laugh made her cling to Jericho’s side, unmindful
of the fact she needed to shave her legs. Her terror was obvious,
eyes glowing and watchful as she looked about.

“Who summons me here?” the demon said,
its raspy voice filling the gloom within the cave.

“I am Jericho of the Tequeroc tribe,”
he said loudly, his arm holding Vivvie tightly to his side. “I have
questions for you.”

“Questions?” the demon asked and it
seemed to have gotten closer, making Vivvie jump, feeling its
nearness even if she couldn’t see anything. Every sense told her
the demon was outside the circle. “You dare disturb me for
questions, Tequeroc?”

“You have made a pact with the female
Tania,” Jericho went on. “She has promised you tribute for her
freedom.”

The demon laughed low, right near
Vivvie’s ear, making her plaster herself to Jericho’s side. “Have
you come to offer me more?”

“I ask what it will take for you to be
satisfied to leave our people alone in peace,” Jericho
persisted.

This seemed to anger the demon. Vivvie
cringed to hear it hissing now. She trembled at Jericho’s
side.

“There is no peace in your existence.
Your tribe owes a debt. I will have my tribute. Tania promises me
much to see this debt paid. Why do you come to me?” the demon
demanded, louder, its evil voice making Vivvie shiver and feel like
her flesh was crawling.

“The price needs to be
negotiated.”

The demon laughed again. “What do you
offer me that she didn’t?”

“I ask what you want,” Jericho said,
his eyes glowing in the dark in his anger. “You demand tribute, you
profess a debt; yet you do not specify what it is you are
owed.”

The demon cackled and Vivvie’s fingers
dug into Jericho’s arm, her eyes looking around as the voice seemed
to come from behind her now.

“I am owed the souls of the nine,
Jericho of the Tequeroc,” the demon said in a grating tone. “I was
promised much more to give your people their power. I will have the
nine back.”

“The original nine who stole their
power from you are with the Great Spirit. What would you have in
their place?” Jericho demanded.

“I will have their descendents,” the
demon said and cackled loudly, making Vivvie cover her ears. “Your
people have had centuries to enjoy what is mine. I want it
back.”

“You speak of the power?”

“The power you have is mine!” the demon
shouted, its voice ricocheting within the cave. “It was stolen from
me! I want it back!”

“You ask for a child with both the
powers of dream walking and the leader of the nine,” Jericho went
on. “Would you be satisfied with something else?”

“Tania’s debt is not yours, Jericho,”
the demon purred and laughed. “The female offers me what I seek. I
will have the power of the nine back.”

“That is only two,” Jericho stated and
glared. “There are seven more. What is it you really
seek?”

“All in good time Jericho. Who is the
female who stays silent? Her life force is strong.”

“I am Vivvie of the Tequeroc people,”
she said in a trembling voice. “The female Tania has promised you
something of mine without right.”

“There is another dream walker that
moves among you. Tania has promised me her and the nine,” the demon
considered with a low hissing. “What have you to offer me, Vivvie
of the Tequeroc?”

“I’m not giving you a goddamn thing!”
she snapped finally in outrage and Jericho looked down at her
warningly. She had enough of this. “Listen, Moocher Demon
whoever-you-are; what does it take to get you to back off? Enough
of this haggling! What do you want instead of what Tania
offered?”

Vivvie felt a blast of icy cold air in
her face, gasping as she felt the floor rise up under them in the
demon’s anger.

“You dare speak to me in such a way,
Vivvie of the Tequeroc!” it fumed and its voice sounded like many,
mixed and combined in its rage. “I will enjoy tearing your soul
apart.”

Vivvie cringed but wouldn’t back down.
“You didn’t answer me! What will you take in the place of the child
Tania offers you?”

The demon laughed and the hair stood up
on her neck. Her eyes looked around frantically. She saw nothing
but shadows on the walls of the cave. The shadows appeared to be
many. This demon was not alone here. Many demons arrived with him,
creeping and seething around them like vipers as the negotiations
wore on.

“I would have the power of the nine,”
the demon replied. “It is what I’m owed.”

“And then you will leave the
tribe?”

“When I have the power of the nine
there will be no tribe,” the demon replied and cackled loudly,
making Vivvie cringe to know it wouldn’t negotiate on that. It
wanted the power back, all of it. That meant every member of the
tribe would be sacrificed to pay it back, not just the soul of the
child Tania would give it.

The demon would not bend. She looked up
at a tense Jericho, seeing the look of worry in his face. He
realized how futile it was to negotiate with this demon now, saw
how it wouldn’t compromise. Tania had no idea what she was dealing
with when she brought this demon into their world again.

“
Then your shit out of luck,
pal,” Vivvie called out in anger and Jericho glared down at her and
shook his head violently. “You’re not getting one soul! Why don’t
you go back to hell where you belong and bite the devil’s ass while
you’re at it?”

“Shut up, Vivvie,” Jericho snarled down
at her. “Pissing it off won’t help us!”

“You dare to talk to me that way?” the
demon shouted and Vivvie covered her face as rock and dust flew up,
swirling around the cave, blasting them with debris even within the
circle. They coughed and sputtered. Jericho gazed at her in
warning. She was past caring anymore. Too much was at
stake.

“Yeah I’m talking to you, Moocher
Demon,” she shouted out. “Your Mother sucks cocks in
hell!”

Jericho looked stunned at that. His
large hand clamped over her mouth, silencing her as the torrent of
rock and dirt swirled around them again. He leaned down at her
ear.

“That’s enough! Insulting it isn’t
helping! You need your mouth washed out too!”

She flung off Jericho’s hand. “It won’t
compromise! We’re wasting our time! Don’t you see? It doesn’t want
anything else!”

The demon hissed near her ear and she
jumped and clung to Jericho, clawing at him as its fetid breath
blasted her in the face. The demon laughed and she felt terror as
she felt its breath on her neck even if she couldn’t see
it.

“Get a breath mint, Dog Breath,” she
complained loudly. Jericho muttered and shook his head at her
deliberate taunting of the demon.

“I will tear your soul apart, Vivvie of
the Tequeroc,” it warned in a multi-toned voice, shrieking as it
swirled about them. “You will be the first I devour when Tania
brings me the nine.”

“You mean two don’t you?” Vivvie
shouted. “That’s two; you retard! Where did you learn to count? Go
back to demon school!”

Jericho glared at her. “Enough! Stop
it, Vivvie!”

“The prophecy will be met. The power of
the nine will be born to your tribe,” the demon shrieked, its voice
echoing within the cave. “The power of the nine will be mine once
more!”

“Hey, try to focus, Creapshow!” Vivvie
called out and ignored Jericho’s look of disgust. “This prophecy
child you’re talking about; has it been born yet?”

The demon laughed loudly. It seemed to
be standing in front of Vivvie now, its breath fanning her face,
making her recoil from the stink. Road kill had to smell better
than this creature that stood too close to her for
comfort.

“You really need a breath mint, pal,”
she said and grimaced as she turned away, holding her nose. “I
think some deodorant might help too.”

“You dare to mock me!” the demon raged,
sending up more dust and rock.

“Sorry Mr. Stinky, but stay downwind
alright?” she teased without fear and Jericho looked sick at her
words, seeing more debris unfurl around them, swirling violently
now like a cyclone.

“The child of the nine hides from me!”
the demon shouted out. “I will have it when I claim the dream
walker and the spirit leader.”

“Whoa, now you’re really tripping,”
Vivvie jeered and rolled her eyes. “We don’t have any kids with all
nine powers. You’re smoking some seriously evil weed down there,
buddy.”

“The child of the nine will walk among
you!” the demon raged on. “The prophecy has been met!”

Jericho seemed to digest all of this
better than Vivvie. She looked up in confusion as the dust settled.
All went eerily quiet. She went to step out of the circle and
Jericho grabbed her and stopped her.

“Don’t! We can’t leave the circle until
we close the doorway. Are you nuts, Vivvie? What did you mean by
talking to it that way?” Jericho fumed as he kicked dirt around
their feet to cover the circle, closing the doorway apparently,
before they stepped out of the circle.

“We were getting nowhere with it!” she
snapped. “It won’t negotiate! It’s lying all the way!”

“When you made it mad, it told us more
than we knew before,” Jericho mused thoughtfully. “It says a child
with the power of the nine will be born.”

She frowned. “You mean one born with
all the powers rolled into one?”

“Yeah, but it’s not possible,” Jericho
said and frowned. “There were only four of us left from the
original nine members. The other five perished in the attack on the
tribe. We don’t have those powers to pass on anymore. The demon
lies.”

“Wait a minute,” she said and shook her
head. “What about the descendants?”

“Vivvie, only four of us started this
tribe. Only four powers of the nine are held by our
people.”