Red Moon Demon (Demon Lord) (21 page)

Dressed, we filed out of the alcove. Aybran waited, a killing rage dominating his face. His
whale blubber
stench in close quarters was less than enjoyable.
Kellyn
waved the guards from the room. They seemed especially glad to escape from the drama about to unfold.
Kellyn
pushed the giant toward a
seat
. “Sit
, and try not to break the chair
.”
Planting fists on hips, sh
e glanced
at all of us
. “We need to come to an understanding here.
Aybran, after all this, do you still want my daughter?”

He looked at her, hunger and viciousness mingled in his expression. “Oh, yes.”

The queen nodded. “Then the wedding will continue as planned.”

“What of him?” The frost giant pointed a massive, square-shaped finger at my face.

“He’s my maid of honor,” Izumi said. “You can’t have him.”

“He has tarnished my honor!”
t
he giant roared.

“You have to
have
honor
to get it
tarnished,” I said. “Besides, you
’
ve no claim against me;
you’re not
married
yet
.”

Kellyn
quelled us with a glance. “The stranger is my daughter’s guest. Guest rights apply. Touch him and you touch my honor. Whatever grievance you imagine you have, settle it outside my court.”

The frost giant glowered, eyes ablaze. “Oh, that I will.”

There were thudding feet in the outside hall followed by banging on the door.

“Now what?”
Kellyn
raise
d
her voice, “Enter!”

A guard rushed in
,
hastily
bowing. “My Queen, the treasury has been despoiled by thieves.”

She looked calmly at the guard. He froze over and shattered in little pieces, many of them the color of blood. She spoke mildly, “You should not have let that happen.”

“I doubt he will repeat the mistake,” I said.

The giant was back to pointing his finger at me again. “There’s your thief. It must be him.”

“I’ve been here under guard,” I said, “but you can certainly look through my things. Of course, if you really want to find your thief, I have a spell for that.”

Kellyn
gave me a nod to continue
.

My
mid-back
tat
burn
ed
like hell
on a Saturday night. The
crawling, peeling
sensation almost convinced me my skin was blackening from internal heat. Using
Dragon Vision
, I
saw
the flow of magic
within the room.
Kellyn
was
a
pyre of silver-blue magic. Izumi looked like her, but
not
nearly as bright.
The frost giant was a muddy indigo, his fierce aura tainted by the necklace I
’
d palmed off on him.

I put a look of surprise on my face and did some pointing of my own. “There! He’s got something on him. Check his pocket.”
I powered down my magic, saving my strength in case this didn’t work and I had to fight for my life.

Leaping to his feet, Aybran yelled, “Lying cur!”
The fury in his voice caused s
everal guards
to
enter the
room, faces set in grim masks.

Kellyn
looked at me. “You had best be right. Such an accusation
,
proved false
,
will strip you of my protection.”

“Turn out his pockets,” I said. “You’ll see.”

“I will not
suffer
this
indignity
,
” Aybran said.

“You will,”
Kellyn
said. “Or the Wilde Hunt will drive you from this land,
or
to your death
, depending on how fast you run
.
”

He paled, swallowing any further protests. Apparently, the greatest terror
of the
fey
legend
was not unknown to him
.

Aybran dug in his pockets and
turned them out. The necklace I’d stolen fell to the
floor
. The necklace’s stone shone like a small blue moon. The giant’s face showed shock and s
urprise
. H
e
stared at
the necklace,
stuttering his indignation, not actually forming any words.

Queen
Kellyn
cut him off mid-bluster.
She did this with a sword like the one she’d earlier threatened me with.
Its
point pierced the
giant’s
chest and his heart. “I hate a thief,” she said.

I wisely failed to mention that most of the things in her treasure room, like mine
back home
, were stolen from other people.

A
thick silence
settled
as the giant slumped and sprawled on the floor, covering the necklace with his corpse.

Izumi cleared her throat. “So, does that mean the wedding is off?”

TWENTY-ONE

“Blood, death, and
chaos …

my
work
here is done.”

—
Caine Deathwalker

Kellyn
had the frost giant rolled on his side so she could retrieve the necklace. The guards then dragged him away. They closed the door behind them, leaving
me and
Izumi alone with her mom.

Kellyn
said,
“I
didn’t
see you
plant the necklace
downstairs.
You have good hands, human
, but poor sense, releasing the dragon ghost
.
Who knows where he will have taken the Red Moon relic by now. It may take me centuries to track him down again. You were a bad boy.
”

Yeah, keep looking for that ghost. Don’t even suspect I’ve got your treasure tattooed to my arm.

Kellyn
wandered over
to me, stopping inches away.
“
In one thing, you’ve done me a favor.
With this
,
the
frost giant e
lders will
be inclined
to
grant concessions
; t
heir honor is at stake. Of course, their king could restart the war anyway, sharing the pain
of
his grief
with us all
.
”

Izumi looked stormy, eyeing the small distance between her mom and me.
“I don’t care
.
I want what I want
,
and that sack of shit was in
my
way
.
”

Kellyn
graced
her daughter
with
an approving look. “Spoken like a
pure-blood
fey.”
The queen
returned her attention to me. “
I
,
too
,
take what I lust after.
”

“
He’s mine,
”
Izumi
said.

“Here, a rental fee.”
Kellyn
tossed the necklace to her.

Izumi
caught it in cupped hands.
She
left the bauble on the bed, standing, coming over to
join us
.
“
As I said, he
’
s mine, and we have urgent business elsewhere.”

Kellyn
shook her head.
“
No,
Nieve
, you will stay here.
Izumi is no more.
N
o more running away
. You must learn the duties of a future queen.
”

I might be heartless and self-serving, but I stand by my friends, when convenient. Still,
I had no right
s
in
W
inter
C
ourt
. I
was out powered
and outnumber
ed
, which was why I’d been relying on stealth
.
I
had no right to object,
but
when had I ever let such things bother me?

Besides
I
need Izumi’s muscle backing me, and I
’d hate to lose a
hell of
a
lay.

An idea hit me. I just needed Izumi to be quick on the uptake and play along.

I stepped in front of her, cutting off her view of her mom and gave her a quick wink. “Your mom is totally right.” I took her hands in mine. “Duty is very important. We must always sacrifice to meet our obligations. It is the path of honor.” The expression of surprise on her face was so fleeting
,
I could have imagined it. She knew I didn’t believe in personal sacrifice. Let others die for their causes, I’d kill for mine. “I’ll say goodbye now, if you want to open up a gateway back to L.A. for me.”

She stared into my eye
s
. “If you think it’s for the best
.
”

She gestured. An oval plane of dark green, edged with white-gold energy, swirled open. We were only a few feet away from escape
, but I had to make sure no one would be sent to drag Izumi back here once we were gone.

I nodded solemnly. “
I will miss you terribly. Sure it was a burden, taking you into my own home, feeding you, clothing you, cleaning up after your messes. The incredible sex barely made up for the inconvenience, but still, a certain
price
must be
paid
to befriend a committed party girl.
”

I saw the light of understanding blaze in her eyes. She threw herself into my arms with a theatrical sob, clutching me desperately.
“Oh, Caine, I can never thank you enough. I owe you so much!”

“Nieve, be silent!”
Kellyn
’s shocked voice lashed out, but it was too late.

I smiled.
“
Yes, you do
, a d
ebt that will take years to repay.”

Turning, I faced
Kellyn
. I saw defeat in her face. She knew as well as I did that fey law required even royalty to pay an acknowledged debt. Izumi had no choice now except to come with me.

“Relinquish your debt-right,”
Kellyn
sai
d. “I will ransom her with a gift of magic or treasure. I will even pleasure you enthusiastically amid silken sheets until you lose desire
for anyone else
.”

“Yeah, you’ll throw a glamour on me so I’ll think I’m having the best sex ever, and
I’ll
wind up the one enslaved. Sorry. I’ve got other plans.” I walked toward the open dimensional gate. “Come on, Izumi.”

I didn’t have to look back to know she was following.

Kellyn
sighed. “I can afford to wait a few years. Fey are long lived. Eventually, I will have my way.”

At the edge of the gate, I turned back to see
Izumi hugg
ing
her mother
.
They broke apart and both approached me.
I pulled out one of my cards and handed it to
Kellyn
.
Often what I lust after makes its way to me.

“We will always have room in our bed for you.”
My bed is spell-proof and glamour proof.

S
he
smile
d
.
“
Be
careful what you ask for. You just might get it.”

Izumi smacked me in the arm.
“Really, stop hitting on my
mom;
it’s weird
.
”

“Hey, I’
d be
doing her a favor.
A
n ice queen needs
defrosting
now and then
, like everybody else.”

“Ass
,
” Izumi said.

I smiled. “My favorite feature, or so I’ve been told.”

As we plunged into the silken depths of the gate, the chill of the palace peeled away. Currents of chaos pried at the shimmering rings that formed our path, jostling them out of perfect alignment. Magic whisked us through the hunter green space, but it seemed as if we
hung in
still
ness
while
the rings zipp
ed
past
us
.

This kind of travel wasn’t anything new, but Izumi reached out from behind me and her arms wrapped around me. It was a little late for post sexual cuddling, but I didn’t mind, unt
il we
emerged in her front yard and
her leg tangled mine
. S
he rode me down to the ground, laughing. My
face
sank into the
grass
as
I absorbed the impact with my arms.

Sitting on m
e
, Izumi lowered her boobs to my back, taking me by the shoulders as she whispered in my ear.
“
That’s
for hitting on my mom
.
”
She shoved off my back, getting to her feet
.

I noticed the gate hadn’t closed. “Are you just going to leave that thing running?”

“For a while. Now that I know mom can’t keep me against my will, I’d like to go back and catch up on all the time we missed—for a while at least. I need to pack a few bags.” Sh
e
headed for her house, and the
way she swung her hips told me she knew I was watching
,
with great enjoyment.
She called over her shoulder, “See you in a few weeks.”

“Wait a second,” I stood and brushed myself off. “You were going to tell me something about
my new tattoo?
”

“Oh, yeah, never go into its altered space alone. A sacrifice
d soul
is required, or it’s a one way trip.”

“Good to know,” I said.

She continued on.
I
wasn’t going to ask her to stay and help me out. She’
d
charge me by the hour.
I went to my own yard and made
my way to
the
front
porch
.
Leona
sat on
its
edge
,
watching me
. She bared clenched teeth in that Gawd-awful grin of hers as I passed.

“Enjoy the show?” I asked.

“Always a pleasure to watch you eat dirt.”

Go catch a mouse.”

I went
inside
. The
TV
blared.
Someone’s t
alk show
was in full swing. Apparently, someone had slept with her sister’s husband and had gotten pregnant, but a jealous ex-boyfriend was insisting that he was the real daddy and a DNA test was pending—“Right after a word from our sponsors!”
A woman appeared on-screen holding a tube of gel. “Ever wanted product that would both whiten your teeth and bring soothing relief from
vaginal itching? Well, T
o
of
-
F
e
r
-
O
n
e
is
for you
!”

“Sometimes, I think I’m already in hell.” I headed toward the office-bar for a well
-
deserved drink, and to look for Old Man.
I knew he was going to bust my chops about all the time I was spending
not
searching for Haruka, even though we
’
d
needed
an answer to Sarah’s weird-ass transforming necklace
first
.

As I pushed through the door, I pulled my phone and checked the calendar and weather.
New Moon tonight and clear skies.
Good night for unleashing old magic.
I had a feeling a rescue in the nick of time
lurked in the wings.
I
’ll
hit t
he
M
ission again after sunset.
Meanwhile…

G
oing
in
to battle sober
didn’t seem a good idea.
I proceeded to
make my own version of
a top-shelf
AMF
(Adios Mother-
F
ucker!). This involved Captain Morgan rum from a one-use barrel for maximum flavor
, a shot
of
French vodka, a shot of
K
arma tequila, a shot of
aged
gin, a shot of
Crown
whisky, two shots of
B
lue Curacao, two shots of sour mix, two shots of 7up
, and
a 151
Bacardi
top layer. Instead of attacking this the usual way with a straw, I poured
it all
in
a
blender
and gave it a whirl.

The challenge of the drink is to
try not to die before finishing the first cup
.
I didn’t
die
. Barely. Nursing my second cup,
I
drifted off to my room to
check my guns and ammo clips,
adding them to the special combat harness I intended to wear over my night suit, an all
-
black second skin that simplified going over fences and hiding in shadows. I laid everything out on the bed, adding
the long coat I’d been wearing. Later, it would
keep my weapon
ry
concealed until I reached
the battlefield.

I finished my second drink
, shed the rest of my clothes
to the floor, and staggered off to the bathroom for a shower. The world slid sideways
.
Next thing I knew, the floor rushed up to greet me.

I don’t know how much time passed, but the darkness eventually released me. My head rocked to the side.
Old Man
be
n
t
over me, slapping my face.

Stretched out on the tiled floor,
I sq
u
inted against
t
he glare of the bathroom lights
.
He must have turned me over.
My head hurt. I needed another drink.

He hit me again.

“You can stop that now,” I said. “I’m awake.”