Love and Demons (7 page)

What seemed like several
hours passed with Barak pacing about their cage, wallowing in self-
blame.
"Rest and save your strength," Adrik said,
placing his hand on his commander and friend's shoulder. "Outerplane has a
saying that it is not over until the bat woman springs. I do not see springing."

Barak had to chuckle at
his friend's mistake, but rather than correct him, he sat down against the
heavy bars to rest.

A loud crash and shouting
echoed from the floor above, just before a blood-curdling roar split the air.
The door at the top of the stairs bust apart, showering the floor with wooden
splinters, as a large Obsidian demon was propelled through it and crashed to
the ground at the foot of their prison. The fallen male attempted to struggle
back to his feet, only to have a female dressed in the military uniform of this
plane jumped from the top stair and landed on his chest, driving the blade of a
large knife through his heart.

Using the leg of her pants,
she wiped the dark blood from her blade and placed it into a sheath at her side
before standing and giving them a slow, ponderous look. "Hey, Kat, I think
I found your friends. If you're done playing patty cake with that psycho-bitch,
we should probably get them out of this cage!" the female yelled before she
stared for a long moment at Adrik, who had moved to the front and stared back
at her.

****

Katrina held the witch by
the hair, her knees against her chest pinning the hissing woman to the floor.
When they arrived at the run-down building, she had the feeling they were in
for a fight. However, she never imagined they would find not only a crazed and
angry witch, but also three large, black demons with bad attitudes, none of
which intended to give up the captives they held.

It had been a tense few
minutes when the demons sprang at them, swiping and snapping with razor sharp claws
and teeth. Luckily for them, male demons, like human men, tended to
underestimate a woman. In the end, a few well-placed roundhouses, a strike or
two with a cast iron skillet, and the sharp-edged blade Sara had on her side,
vanquished the bastards in short order. Which left only one person to deal with
— the witch. The woman made a dash for the back door once she realized they
were going to lose, and ran headlong into Herron, who sent her sprawling across
the floor with a hard push. She understood the Zironet rule about hitting
women, though she was certain if one was attempting to kill you, all bets
should be off. Either way, when the witch tried to spring back up, Kat had been
there to make certain she didn't get far.

Staring at the spitting
female who struggled beneath her, Katrina weighed her options. If she killed
the witch and embodied her powers, she would make certain the Zironet could
remain in the outer plane to search for their mates, thus saving the clan. However,
if she did so, that would mean giving up not only her job as an officer, but
also losing Barak when she could not journey across the portal with him. In the
end, there could be only one real choice.

Grabbing a decorative
dagger nearby on the floor, Kat yelled back to Sara who'd called that she found
Barak and the others. "I'll be there in a second. There's something I have
to do first."

Slicing through the chest
of the witch, she pierced her heart and felt the rush of white-hot energy
surround her. The small hairs on the back of her neck stood on edge and goose
bumps covered her clammy flesh.

"Do you accept me into thee and invoke thy power?"
The whisper echoed in her mind, soft
like the flutter of butterfly wings.

"I accept you into
me as part of what I will become. I, as your host, granted the benefits of your
divine gifts." Where the words came from, she did not know — she only understood
they were what she must speak. Instantly the energy began to pulsate and move
through her, increasing in intensity, until a million colors burst before her
eyes like fireworks. Screaming as a sharp pain pierced her body, she collapsed
unconscious, the body of the dead witch still beneath her.

Kat awoke back in the
soft bed she shared with Barak. Her head throbbed, and she felt as though she
might throw up with the slightest movement. The energy coursed through her
blood, and she knew she now held the means for the Zironet to survive. Still a sense
of sadness plagued her, knowing what she sacrificed. Never had anyone made her
feel so desired, protected, or loved. It was the last of these that struck her
hardest, because she understood now why she had made such a decision. She loved
him. As brief a time as they had shared, she knew with every ounce of her being
that this was true.

"Are you well, my
Zi-mate?" Barak asked from the chair he'd pulled alongside the bed. From
the looks of him, it had been a while since he slept or showered.

"My head hurts and I
think I'm going to be sick," she said, covering her eyes with her arm.

"It is the magic
that now runs through your body. It will take time for you to adjust," he
told her while bringing a cool rag to her face in an attempt to alleviate some
of the discomfort. "You have made a great sacrifice for my clan."

"But I won't be able
to go with you across the portal," Kat said sadly, peeking at the gorgeous
male seated at her side.

"No, but you will be
able to allow my brethren to search the outerplane for their Zi. You have made
it possible for my clan to flourish rather than face extinction." He moved
from the chair and slid into the bed beside her, holding her tightly against
his chest.

"But I can't be with
you," she stated, moving in tight against him, as though she feared she
could never feel his touch again.

"Not in inworld, but
I never planned to take you there. I could not ask you to change, and you would
have no freedoms there. I had thought to stay here in outerplane with you and
serve as a guide for my people." She smiled as Barak brushed a gentle kiss
against her head. She could not believe that he would choose being with her
over his home.

"We could make a
safe house for the Zironet over in the Red Light district. No one would notice
us there. I'm certain Sara would help set up security, and I know a guy who
deals in false identification," she said optimistically, forgetting about
her headache.

"I think that would
be a perfect idea," he told her. He moved forward to seal the deal with a
kiss, "but your friend has her hands full at the moment with Adrik."
He chuckled.

"Adrik
and Sara?
How is
she taking that?" Kat asked in wide-eyed amazement.

"Let's just say she's
had him thrown off the military base twice in the past twenty-four hours."

Randy Jones moved the
largest of the three crates of contraband weapons into the storage compartment
of the small houseboat. This was the last run they would need to off-load the
entire stash they stole from the police evidence lockers. Stepping back onto
the deck, he nodded to Malcolm Forest before taking his seat and grabbing
another cold beer.

"The buyer is to
meet us at Shaffer Point. I already plugged the coordinates into the GPS, so we
should be there in about an hour," the heavyset arms dealer told him as he
took the seat across the table and sat down his wine glass.

"Good," he said,
taking a slow sip from his bottle, "I want to lay low until they find
Katrina Dash. She already managed to take out the others. But they were all
weak, just means a smaller division of assets," Jones said, opening the box
on the table and pulling out a cigar. Just then, a loud snap and strange
buzzing caught both men's attention, "What the hell—" was the last
thing he said as the red and yellow ball of fire engulfed the small vessel.

****

"You do realize that
was your last chance of clearing your name?" Sara said as both women
leaned against the car, watching the explosion send fiery debris several
hundred feet into the air.

"That life was over
anyway," Kat told her as the glowing wreck flickered then disappeared as
the ocean swallowed it up. "Police work was beginning to leave a bitter
taste in my mouth, and the department thinks I died on that boat. Kind of
sickening to be associated with those two."

"Yes, well, I'm sure
having that sexy male in your bed will make you feel all better," Sara
said playfully before they turned to leave.

"It does make life a
whole lot more interesting," Kat replied as they climbed into the sports
car and left.

The End

About the Author

JL Oiler lives in the
mountains of West Virginia with her husband, two children, and boxer. She began
writing stories at a young age, but did not begin sharing them until her late
teens. Her first release came out in January. When not writing she enjoys the
outdoors and teaching

Readers can contact her at
[email protected]