Sleeper_Google, page 22
part #3 of Hunter Series
Nemcox shook his head. “It’s something Neil is doing. And he’s lying about the vampire. There’s no way the dragon responds to him. I placed that seal on him. I did it. He’s mine.”
Gray’s eyes were sympathetic as he looked at Nemcox. “No, brother. It doesn’t work that way. You can place the mark, but it’s Neil’s soul. You can’t affect it. You know a soul is sacrosanct. His soul informs the dragon. They’re one. The dragon will love who his soul loves. I wish it could be different for you. I know how much you care for him.”
Nemcox turned to Gray, his eyes flashing red. “I love him. He’s mine. Don’t make less of my love than I would of your own. Do you understand what I’m doing for you, Grayson? I’m saving you a world of heartache. I’m giving you the one woman who feeds your soul. Why can’t you support me taking the man who feeds mine?”
“Because he doesn’t return your love, brother. It’s different. I would stand up to Father if that was the problem. I would stand beside you and take what punishment would come, but this is different.”
Nemcox rounded on Gray, hissing his way like a scalded snake. It made Gray start.
“It is no different. This is and always has been your problem, my weakling brother. We are royal. They are chattel. What we want, it belongs to us by right of birth and power. You want this to be soft and sweet but it is not and you will understand when you are with us fully.” Nemcox turned to me. “If you don’t sign that contract by midnight tomorrow our deal is done and I will speak with the spawn and he will know what to do. Enjoy your final night of freedom, whore. From here on you will understand what it means to serve your demon master. Grayson, if you don’t want her alone, you’ll come home early and of your own accord.”
When he strode out of the room, his movements were odd. Normally the demon was polished and perfect. No one would ever suspect he wasn’t exactly what he looked like—a human. But now the body he was riding had stiffened, shoulders hunching forward and back with each step. His legs moved in an odd glide, the tip of his toes coming down first.
Like they were cloven hooves.
I caught a flash of red eyes gleaming my way before he disappeared down the hall.
Gray had gone a bit ashen and I wondered if he’d seen this side of his brother before or if Nemcox had been careful. I knew Gray understood on an intellectual level that his brother was a full-born demon, but Nemcox seemed to have a unique way of allowing those around him to forget what he was capable of.
“I’m sorry, Kelsey.” Gray sat back, seemingly weary. “You have to forgive him.”
Yes, this was the trouble with Gray and his family. “No, I don’t. He raped Neil Roberts for years.”
Gray shook his head. “We don’t know that.”
“Oh, we do. I think I’ll choose to believe Neil.”
“Because he’s a wolf and not a demon?”
I thought that was obvious. “Yes.”
Gray stood, his expression going grim. “Well, I can see I chose well then. I’ll leave you to Trent.”
It took all I had not to scream my frustration. “You’ll sit back down and stop acting like a butt-hurt idiot.”
That seemed to stop him in his tracks. He stared at me for a moment and then the faintest hint of a smile lit his face. “Butt-hurt? This is a thing now?”
I waved him off, turning to look out the windows. Dusk was settling in over the city, a veil descending. “It’s been around for a while. You’re too hoity-toity to know it.”
I felt him move in behind me, his hands cupping my shoulders. “Hoity-toity? I don’t feel that way. I’ve been staying in youth hostels across the world. Jacob isn’t big on five-star hotels. Says he can’t find real people in them.”
His lips brushed the top of my head and I couldn’t help but sigh and lean back into him. “I’m sorry you had to ask your father to bring you here.”
He was quiet for a moment. “I told you to beware the spawn. This has something to do with the wizard. My brother’s ties to him run deep. He’s out there in the world, studying and learning. I don’t trust him the way Nem does. What does my brother have on you?”
I shook my head. “Something so important I won’t even tell you.”
His arms moved around me, encircling me. “What are we going to do, Kelsey Mine?”
I had absolutely no idea.
As the night fell, I stood in his arms, the silence my only answer.
Chapter Fourteen
The only thing worse than being stuck in a roomful of angry, complaining men who are mostly angry at and complaining about me is doing it on an empty stomach.
I sat in the middle of Donovan’s big office listening as Marcus and Lord Sloane went at it about some obscure point of law concerning contracts and I stared at the painting on the wall. It was the one that seemed to fascinate Marcus. One lone woman running out of the forest and onto a massive field of wheat. Or whatever that wispy sunshine-colored plant was. I don’t know why I thought she was running, but I did. And not in a get-my-cardio-in way. She was fleeing something.
Probably a bunch of talky men.
Hugo placed a document in front of me. “This will enroll you in the class you need to take. You’ll need to sign where I’ve marked. The class will educate you in all the dangers of signing away your soul. It begins in three weeks.”
“Excuse me?” Lord Sloane moved his focus from Marcus to the Brit. “A class about the dangers of contracts? That seems a bit one sided and intolerant. How can this be educational when both sides are not represented? This is why we’ll eventually go to war. This king is completely intolerant.”
“Three weeks?” Nemcox had been sulking in one of the corner chairs for over an hour. “That’s an interesting play, counselor, but she is not bound by the queen’s laws. She can sign the contract in the next twenty-four hours or our deal is void.”
“I think the king will insist on a hearing to decide her status,” Marcus replied.
“Her status has already been determined.” Hugo stood beside Marcus, a joint academic front. “The Council voted that she is a ward of the Council. Because she’s a ward of the Council, she receives all rights and has all the obligations a vampire or a companion has.”
“That was the old Council,” Lord Sloane pointed out. “When he formed the new Council, Donovan issued an order stating all old laws and rulings would need to be looked at again by a court to have standing in the new order.”
“He was talking about archaic laws,” Marcus insisted. “His decree certainly wasn’t meant to cover something so solidly based in law.”
“Then he should have written it better,” Lord Sloane shot back.
Hugo whispered something to Marcus, whose frown deepened. He said something to Hugo in Italian but it didn’t cover sex or gelato, so I couldn’t translate.
I wondered where my dad was. We were in Donovan’s office, but the king had yet to make an appearance. I didn’t know what was going on with Neil or what was happening to my dad.
I thought I might already be in Hell. This was it. Endless rounds of men talking about the law and how I’d fucked up heartily, and no one bringing me dinner.
“Of course we can’t work that quickly,” Hugo was saying when I thought to pay attention again. “These things take time. We could perhaps have a full court session in two weeks.”
Lord Sloane’s eyes rolled and he groaned.
Gray leaned my way. “You understand what they’re trying to do?”
Of course I did. Hugo and Marcus were attempting to drag out the proceedings until I either died of hunger and boredom and then my soul went to wherever souls went that hadn’t signed a contract or until I came to my senses. Like I said. This was Hell. “It’s not going to work.”
I stood up, moving to the windows as Lord Sloane and the academics went back to fighting over when a hearing could be had to determine everything from my status as potential Vampire property to whether or not I was smart enough to legally sign away my soul.
How many more times would I look out over the city? I’d been born in the suburbs, but I oddly loved the city. I loved the energy of all those lives around me. What would it feel like when I was surrounded by death?
“There’s a simpler solution.” The demon stepped in beside me, his voice low.
“Yes, you could bring me a contract. I could sign it and we could go.” It made the most sense. “Once you’ve got me on the Hell plane, there won’t be much they can do.”
“My father is still attempting to force the king to negotiate. Lucifer is getting anxious,” Nemcox explained nonchalantly, as though he was merely gossiping about his boss and not the original purveyor of sin. “He fears what will happen if we have no ties between us.”
Politics. No matter what plane you’re on, politics is probably the reason it’s all fucked up. “I would think Lord Lucifer would want the chaos.”
“Oh no.” Gray was suddenly at my other side, his hand sliding around my shoulders. “Lucifer fully understands what could happen if he loses control of the Underworld.”
It all came back to angels. “Daddy would step back in and take control?”
“If by Daddy you mean an all powerful and vindictive God, then yes,” Nemcox said with a shake of his head.
I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be vindictiveness on God’s part. From what I could tell, whatever being claimed Heaven’s throne tended to let the lower planes be. We rose and fell on our own choices. We had been given free will, and like unruly children, we sometimes broke the things our parents provided us with.
Were we about to break the world?
If even Lucifer knew how dangerous it was to have no laws or ties between the Council and Hell, how could Donovan not?
I hate it when I’m wrong. It’s an actual feeling in the pit of my stomach, a sort of nauseating roll.
I was a total hypocrite. I was more than willing to give up vengeance for safety. Not for me, of course. I’d never be smart enough or practical enough to do that. But it had been simple when it came to Lee. I honestly hadn’t thought about killing Nemcox in hours. All that mattered was saving my father.
Marcus was trying to save the plane and I wasn’t helping him along. I looked over to my former lover. He was a stunning man, but I wasn’t the right woman for him. That had been preordained. Her name was written in some big book of fate, and I suddenly had faith that she would come. She would show up and my Marcus would know what it meant to find his one true love. He would love her so much he would die when she did. It would be as though he’d walked through time to find her.
“Kelsey, you’re crying.” Gray’s hand was on my head, stroking my hair.
Where would we be in six months? Would Gray descend early so I wouldn’t be alone in Hell? Would his torture and pain end the man he was, transforming and twisting his soul?
Or could I stop it? Could the very fact that I was there give him strength?
“She’s afraid,” Nemcox said and he managed a bit of sympathy. “They all are. You’ll have to show her it’s not all blood and guts. There are pleasures to be had as well. And once you’ve presented Father with a child, he’ll soften toward you.”
I shook my head. “I think ‘whore’ is his affectionate name for me. I’ve had worse.”
Nemcox faced the window, his borrowed arms crossed over a chest that wasn’t his. “What did Neil mean when he accused me of forcing him to kill demons?”
He was going to play this game? “Seriously? Like you don’t know about the halfling murders?”
He waved an elegant hand. “I know some highborn halflings have been missing lately. Are you saying they’re dead? I couldn’t care less, but their houses might take issue. Why would I want to kill a bunch of halflings?”
“Perhaps because they were petitioning the king to open the Council to demon ambassadors.” It was my working theory.
Gray sighed and I got the feeling this reunion of ours was turning out to be a major disappointment for him. “Kelsey, my brother wouldn’t do that. He wants to avoid a war as much as the rest of us.”
“More,” Nemcox explained. “I don’t actually like getting dirty. And I would be on the opposite side of my love. He would be on the front lines, you know. I wouldn’t mind if that pretend husband of his died in battle, but I can’t stand the thought of my puppy being hurt.”
Unless he was the one doing the hurting. Nemcox’s love was a twisted thing and it made me appreciate Gray all the more. It certainly made me worry what would happen to him on the Hell plane. “Neil Roberts is responsible for killing the halflings. Or rather, his dragon is.”
Nemcox gasped, an odd sound coming from his lips. “No. No, that’s not possible.”
I was starting to understand how screwed we were. If the demon was telling the truth and he wasn’t controlling Neil, then who was? “Who else could use that dragon to control Neil?”
Nemcox shook his head. “No one. I’m the only one who has access to the dragon. I bound the dragon. He belongs to me. Kelsey, I would tell you if I was doing this. Well, perhaps I wouldn’t if I did have some nefarious purpose, but I don’t. I’m worried about him. I love him and if someone else has figured out how to use the conduit, I want them murdered and brutally. It’s your job and your duty.”
“Now you’re concerned about my job?” I’d kind of thought he would be an old-fashioned type of demon.
“Well, you certainly won’t have one when you’re married,” he conceded. “Obviously then you’ll concentrate on your proper duties, but for now you are the Nex Apparatus and I demand you do your job. Find whoever is forcing my darling to commit acts of treachery.”
One good thing might come out of this. “I would, but it appears I’m on a time crunch. I’m heading to Hell soon and that doesn’t leave me with a lot of time to sleuth, as they say in my business. I suppose the king will name a replacement. You should probably wait and talk to that person. I’m sure he or she will be extremely helpful.”
I would be busy tending my husband’s home in Hell, ensuring he had a clean uniform he could torture people in and that dinner was promptly on the table at six p.m.
I saw the moment Nemcox knew I had him. He glanced over at his father. “Fine. I will allow my father to broker with the academics for a few days.”
“Brother, I’m begging you to stop these proceedings. I don’t want this for her.” Gray started to reach out for his brother.
Nemcox stepped back. “You have no idea what you want, Grayson. You’re a naïve child and I have to make this decision for you.” He turned red-tinged eyes my way. “I’ll be back tomorrow night for an update. I’m sure your lawyer there will find a way to draw out the proceedings, but if Neil gets hurt, everything is off, Hunter. Do you understand me?”
Yes, he was changing our bargain. If I didn’t figure out who was playing around with Neil’s soul, he would tell the wizard.
Luckily, I needed this bargain and I’d planned to figure out the issue with Neil. “I do.”
He nodded my way. “Then you’ve bought yourself some time. Contact me through Gray if you need me. I’ll do some digging of my own, and by digging I mean I need to torture some people for information.”
The door opened and the king strode in, followed by my uncle Zack. Like Neil had before him, Donovan stopped and stared at Nemcox. The king was a lot better at the intimidating glare though.
“Nemcox, you are here only because I want to understand why my Nex Apparatus would lose her damn fool mind and decide to contract her soul to you.” Every word that came out of Donovan’s mouth was clipped and hard. “Two days ago I couldn’t get her to stop trying to murder you and now she’s accepting you as her demon overlord for all of time. Would you like to explain?”
“Oh, I assure you I shall hand over her reins to my brother as soon as possible,” Nemcox promised. “We’re going to be a family, you see. I find it odd that you who owns your companion can possibly be so intolerant.”
“I do not own Zoey,” Donovan replied.
Lord Sloane huffed, an elegant sound. “Not on paper, I’m sure. You’re quite good at looking like the modern king, Your Highness. But deep in that soul of yours, you own them. You own your companion and Quinn, and you will kill anyone who tries to take them from you. You’re no better than any of us. You simply try to hide your primal urges. Good luck with that. As to my son’s plans to ensure our family harmony, they must wait. I’ve agreed with your lawyers to a trial tomorrow evening that will decide the legal status of Ms. Owens. I will, of course, bring my own team, so I’ll need the wards down.”
Donovan’s eyes didn’t move off the snake in the room. “And I will have a security team greet you, Lord Sloane. Now, if that’s settled, I would like you to leave. I’ll have Hugo send word when we’ll expect you.”
Thank god. Food. I could go get food.
Donovan moved to his desk. “Not you, Kelsey. Settle in. We’re going to talk.”
I practically whimpered. My stomach was turning in on itself.
That was when my uncle held up a bag and I smelled heavenly burgers and fries. “I thought you might need some fortification for this meeting. I understand you’ve had a long day.”
He passed me the bag and winked before leaving again.
The academics began walking the demons out, quietly discussing what they would need for tomorrow’s trial. Gray stopped at Donovan’s desk.
“Your Highness, I know my kind is not welcome here but I’m going to ask for your hospitality. Not as a halfling but as a prophet.”
“Which side of you destroyed the fifth floor foyer?” Donovan asked. “Was that the prophet side, too? You couldn’t have given me a heads-up? I might have told Dev not to replace the floors if I’d known you were going to bash Trent’s head against them.”
Gray had the good sense to flush with embarrassment. “I believe that was the jealous lover part of me, Your Highness. I’m new to the idea of sharing a woman I love and I am not handling it well. I would like to stay with Kelsey during this time. I’ll follow any protocols you deem necessary.”
