Demon Lord 3: Blue Star Priestess (11 page)

Zero-T woke up, gasping, sneezing, and shaking his head as he flailed.  “Cleopatra’s flaming asp!  What the hell?”

Osamu strolled back to the kitchenette to return the bottle.  “Now I’ll take a drink,” I told him. 

Zero-T wiped tears from his eyes and suddenly grabbed his jaw.  He jammed some fingers inside his mouth and felt around a moment.  His fingers came out bloody.  “Damn, I’ve lost some teeth.” 

“Put yourself together,” I said, “you look like a used tampon.”

He struggled up,
his feet hit the floor, and swung his arm.  “Broken?  Yep.  Sure is.  Good thing I shut down my pain receptors when the beating began.  Hey, did you have to cut off the sleeve?  I don’t have much of a wardrobe as it is.”

“Just be glad I didn’t leave you in the hall.”

Osamu rejoined us, offering me a rum and coke. 

I took the glass and used it to gesture to the demon.  “
Osamu, see if you can do something about that arm of his before the nerves come back on-line.”

“I will need to gather first aid material, and find some splints,” Osamu said.

That wouldn’t work.  I needed Zero-T functional a lot faster.  “Check the kit in the master bath.  I think there’s an Atlantean healing crystal in there that the Old Man gave me on my tenth birthday when I came home from my first strip club with bullet and stab wounds.”

Such a sweet memory.

“At once.”  Osamu hurried off. 

I caught Zero-T’s gaze.  “Want to tell me
the details?”

“I got beat up … by
Kaden.  Apparently, he not only sent me to watch you, but had someone watching
me
.  Guy’s paranoid as hell-on-crack.”

“So he knew you’d switched allegiance.”

Zero-T glared at me.  “I didn’t switch anything.  My allegiance has always been to Lauphram and what best serves the clan.  I just had a change of heart about which of you better served that ideal.”

“So
Kaden kicked your ass and took your ring as an object lesson to his followers.”

“That’s pretty much it.  I’m surprised he didn’t tear my finger off getting the ring.”

Osamu returned with the first aid kit, setting it on the coffee table.  He took out the aqua-blue crystal I’d sent him for. 

I held out my palm.  “I’ll take it from here.  You can g
o back to whatever you were doing.”

“Yes, Caine-sama.”  He bowed and left, as usual, totally unruffled by what he saw in my service.

Holding the crystal sliver, I went over to Zero-T, smiling down on him with sadistic glee.  “Okay, this is going to really hurt.”

ELEVEN

“Women are wonderful!

Everybody should have a few.”

—Caine Deathwalker

I guess the switch on his neural receptors had gone from “no pain” to “pain” because Zero-T screamed like a little girl when I jammed the crystal shard into his arm, right above the break, sliding it under a layer of royal-blue scales. His robin-egg eyes rolled back in his head, nearly hiding the cross-shaped pupils. A shudder passed through him, then he was staring daggers at me.

“Are you fuckin’ mental?” he yelled.

“Oh, shut your vagina and take it like a demon.”

I pushed the crystal all the way in and straightened out his arm, holding it a few seconds as I felt it settle in place. Jagged edges of bone fused as the crystal started doing its work.

“Tell me you’re not
just having fun,” Zero-T said.

“The crystal will be pushed out of your arm when it fully heals you. That should only take an hour.”

Zero-T fell quiet as I returned to my drink, guzzling it down swiftly. He watched me the whole time. I lifted an eyebrow at him. “What?” I said.

“This isn’t going to play well for you. You should have left me outside your door. I would have come to, and eventually crawled off to lick my wounds.”

“Why? You think I can’t handle Kaden? Or are you afraid he’ll run you out of the clan entirely if you start hanging with me?”

“Banging bandersnatches, he just might.”

“You’re not the sharpest knife in Caesar’s back, are you? It’s an old rule in our clan, what one demon discards, any other can claim. You’re now under the shadow of House Security and Intelligence. A threat against you is a threat against the clan. If he touches you again, I can call for him to stand judgment for treason. A lot of people around here have forgotten that I can do that on my own authority.”

“Wait, that rule about claiming what’s discarded—that’s for weapons and loot.”

“You’re a demon; what better weapon is there? Well, besides everything else in my armory. Still, I’d use you before trusting my life to a rusty butter knife.”

“I’m underwhelmed.”

“Just sit there, shut up, and heal. I have some things I need to do.”

I went to the kitchenette where I knew there was a junk drawer. Inside, I found a few more crystals and some red chalk, purchased at a magic shop in Talon City, left here for emergencies. I used little demon magic apart from my
Demon Wings
tattoo, but the summoning circle was an exception. Some might think it witchcraft, but the witches just pirated the copyright from demons.

No respect for intellectual property.

I carried everything into the master bedroom, leaving the door open behind me. I drew a spell circle between the king-sized bed and the computer station. Inside the circle, touching it at six points, I drew a hexagon. A crystal went at each point, leaving one in hand, this one a flat knife. I poked a finger with the knife point, letting a single bead of blood fall inside the pattern.

“What are you doing?” Zero-T asked from the door.

“Getting some help.”

“Psychiatrists make house calls?
”

“You know, I don’t think
Kaden beat you enough.”

I grabbed my phone and called Izumi.

She didn’t take long to answer. “Caine, you bastard, you owe me a booty-call.”

“I need you, baby, can you bring your sweet ass right over?”

“Next door?” Izumi sounded happy at the invitation, as expected, as planned.

“No, the clan house near Avalon City, my personal suite. You should pack a few things. I’ll want you to stay a while.”

“I’ve never been there. Portalling over will be hard.”

“I just finished a spell circle using my blood, so the barrier here shouldn’t be a problem. You ought to be able to home in on me pretty easily.”

“Ah, found you. Be there in a second.”

I put away my phone.

“Got a lady coming over?” Zero-T said. “Does she have a cute girlfriend?”

A shimmer of icy light danced in the center of the circle about five feet off the dove-gray carpet. Snow swirled out of the light, big fluffy flakes drifting languidly. The carpet under the light turned white with frost. After a few seconds, the light stretched down, becoming a female silhouette. The light died and Izumi stood in the center of the pattern. The snow fell out of the air, melting to nothing.

Izumi wore tight, ice-blue jeans and a form-fitting, long-sleeve shirt in bone-white. Her hair was piled high, a dark mass held by jeweled pins. Her face looked Asian—at first—until the House magic reached in and suppressed her fey glamour. Slanted eyes went round and western, black irises going ice-blue. She glanced at herself in my full-length mirror, noticing the changes as her dark hair went snow-white.

“Beautiful either way,” I said.

She walked out of the circle, into my arms. With her low body temperature, kissing her was like kissing a vamp or a corpse that was still fresh. Izumi pressed her breasts against me, snuggling in. I let my hands roam freely.

Izumi pulled her lips from mine and murmured in my ear. “Who’s the demon in the doorway, and what happened to my glamour?”

“Yeah, clan reunion, House magic cancels out spells hiding anything. Mind control is neutralized, along with most teleporting skills. Unluckily, female demons still get their periods.”

Izumi put on a stern expression, glaring at me like sun
on ice. “You know what I want. We don’t need an audience for that.”

“Zero-T, get out and close the door. I’ll introduce you later.”

“Much later,” Izumi said.

Zero-T grinned. Backing out, he shut the door.

It was the next day. Hours had passed. Some of them, we’d even used for sleeping.
The bed had iced over a few times. The headboard was cracked. Moisture slicked the ceiling, walls, and French doors, thawed ice from my use of
Dragon Fire.
I’d scorched the sheets—literally—wearing flame as armor to keep Izumi’s passion from turning me into a sexsicle. Exhausted from my recent efforts, she sprawled on the bed, white breath clouding the air, tits heaving. Her eyelids still fluttered from the last series of orgasms. I had deep scratches across my back. My lungs were seared from breathing sub-zero air. A full human would have died from exertion, heart exploding in his chest.

M
atters of grave urgency were going to be pressing in soon. Ready or not, it was time for pillow talk. “Izumi, I need a big favor.”

Her eyelids stilled. Her breathing quiete
d a little. Fey were tough too and she said, “No anal!!”

“
Not that, I need you to take my place for a while.”

“My glamour doesn’t work here.”

“I can fix that. I think. It will just take a while.”

“I’m not sure how convincing I can be.”

I rolled on my side and stared at the white globes of her breasts and their little blue nipples.

One nipple had a bite mark around it. “Good acting isn’t required. Just be an alcoholic sociopath ready to hump anything with a pulse, and you’ll be fine.”

“Basically, a total ass.”

“Yeah, no one will know the difference.”

“What are you going to be doing while I’m playing you?” Izumi asked.

“The Old Man wants to sideline me, but whoever these invaders are, they’re after him. The top threat is an Atlantean connection, and it is personal with them. I need to get out there in the streets and run amok. This is too important to leave to
Kaden.”

“When Lauphram finds out, he’ll broil you with lightning and thunderclap you into next week. I wouldn’t want to be you then.”

“My problem. I’ll handle him when the time comes.”

She sat up and grabbed her knees. “So how are you going to get around the House magic?”

Before I could answer, Zero-T was pounding on the bedroom door. “Hey, Caine, a messenger’s here.”

“Be there in
a minute,” I called. I rolled off the bed and hunted up my scattered clothing. Everything was cold and damp. I dressed and activated my
Dragon Flame
tattoo—on a low setting—to dry what I’d put on. As my body steamed, I looked over at Izumi. “We’ll have to pick this up later. Don’t go anywhere.” I headed for the door.

“Bring me back some ice cream. Something chocolate and cherry.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

I went through the door to the living room. Zero-T fell back as I emerged. He stopped, bumping the flat back of a loveseat. I turned from him, angling toward the hallway door. As he followed, I spoke over my shoulder. “Can you make me some of those living masks: a copy of my face, and something like the face of that storm fey I killed, but masculine?”

“Sure, once I get outside the house where my earth magic will work. Why do you need them?”

“If I tell you, you’ll be an accomplice, instead of a misguided dupe. How deep in my plotting do you want to get?”

“I’m wearing your ring—or I will when you give me one—so I’ll back your play, but you know I can’t choose you over Lauphram.”

“Misguided dupe it is.”

“I’ll have the masks ready for you as soon as possible.”

“Thanks.” I opened the door, “What?”

A river demon stood there, hands clasped in front of her, her head bowed, gaze cast to the floor. Her shoulders and belly were exposed by her minimal dress. Her blue-green scales were kept damp on land by natural secretions. Her hair looked like dried kelp. There were slashes in her neck, gills that would only open underwater. Her whispery, fluty voice slipped past pointy shark teeth. “Master Lauphram summons you and Zero-T to the Chamber of War.”

“We’re on our way.”

The water demon bowed and scurried away. I smelled fear, but didn’t think it was because I scared her. Word must have gone out that those who got too close to me might get the same treatment as Zero-T. The First Sword was trying to strip away any support available to me.

I’ve really got to do something about that guy soon.

With Zero-T on my heels, I retraced my way to the Great Hall. It was filling up as returning demons met those about to go out, briefing their relief on the target sites to be watched. I thought changing the guard here was rather stupid. It left a gap. The enemy could strike multiple sites without interference. The First Sword’s reluctance to deploy troops and weaken the clan house was showing.

Zero-T and I passed through the Great Hall, and entered the War Room. This time, there were no guards to keep me out. The holographic Council of Lords was gone. Old Man,
Kaden, and a few others faced the plasma screens, keeping in touch with events. I moved up behind them, Zero-T lagging, clearly trying to steer clear of Kaden.

I addressed Lauphram, “What do you want, Old Man?”

“Enemy activity at the old L.A. Cemetery. The ghouls are screaming for help. Take Zero-T and deal with it.”

“I’m on it,” I said. “But it will cost you a gallon of Cherry Moose
Track Ice Cream.”

He turned with a
smile. “Oh, Izumi’s here?”

Ka
den glared at me. “You’ve brought one of your whores inside our defenses? How stupid can you be?”

“Not stupid enough to rip off our own people by overcharging on their dues. Fifty-percent? Really?”

Old Man’s face clouded with anger. His eyes shimmered with a soft portent of lightning as he swung toward Kaden. “My confidence in you is slipping. Perhaps I’ve elevated you to too high a station.”

Ka
den stammered, “N-no, my Lord, that is to say—”

The Old Man interrupted him. “Izumi is also a personal friend of mine. I take exception to the word
‘whore.’”

Ka
den paled. “I meant no disrespect, my Lord.”

“Yes, you did. You just
didn’t realize the spray of your venom would reach me as well as my son. Caine is my heir. Get over it. If that doesn’t sit well with you, I have some advice: challenge me for the leadership of the clan—and pray I kill you quickly.” The Old Man turned back to the screens.

Ka
den glared at me, choking on his rage, but his voice was smooth silk as he answered

Lauphram. “Yes, my Lord.”