Mortal Demon, page 12
She caressed his cheek. “I know, but we have a chance to trap Ashkara in his current realm. Tell me how to close the portal permanently. Deruthel says you know a way,” she said.
He squeezed his eyes shut. “I was forced to watch while the king... handled you. He wanted to be in my body when I was with you, but he was forced to leave.”
Deruthel stepped forward. “What called him away?”
Colton shook his head. “He seemed weak. I don’t know why. He returned when I was asleep. I didn’t realize what was happening until after I woke here.”
Deruthel began to pace the small room. “I have often wondered what happens to the king when he is left with only the females and the pawns.”
“Pawns?” Riley asked.
Colton huffed. “The demons created in a new world. The ones that are left behind. Only the first generation is of any use to them.”
“Right. What about closing the portal? How do we do that?” she asked.
Colton took a ragged breath. “Our blood. Our mate bond and my betrayal are what will feed the portal. It’s the only way to make it big enough for Ashkara to come through,” Colton said.
“I know that. How do we close it?”
Colton touched her cheek. “I am the betrayer. I have to sacrifice myself at the portal to close it permanently.”
“Why you? Why not me?”
Deruthel growled. “No.”
Colton shook his head. “I made a deal with the Bokor. He said there would be a price. He used my blood to start this process. Ashkara had a pact with him.”
Deruthel hissed. “Your blood was used? That can’t be true. It was the queen. She...”
Colton’s eyes flickered with black. “Hakim opened a fissure before Dannika. It was small and only allowed communion with Ashkara. No demons were permitted to enter.”
Deruthel growled. “The Bokor deceived me.”
“At Ashkara’s insistence,” Colton said.
Deruthel’s red eyes zeroed in on Colton. “How did you learn of my father’s treachery?”
Colton shook his head. “I’m not sure. When he was in my mind this last time, he didn’t leave the wards in my mind like he had in the past.”
Deruthel’s claws clicked together in excitement. “That means he is weakening. It is time to end my father’s reign.”
“He knows you are plotting against him,” Colton said.
“Of course, he does. It was inevitable,” Deruthel said.
Riley ran her hand over Colton’s cheek. “I don’t want to lose you. There is no purpose to this life without you.” She knew in her soul that she wouldn’t survive without him. Her heart would beat. Her body would move, but there would be no joy left to appreciate.
Colton’s eyes squeezed shut before he opened them. “You don’t understand what I have done. It wasn’t just Aaron and Oliver. I stole your sash and planted it at the portal site. I set you up and then defended you. I have turned the clan against you, including my father. I left you with nothing.”
She shook her head. “That isn’t true. We can fix it. We can explain what happened.”
Colton’s hand moved over hers. He held her to him as if she were the only sanctuary left to him. “I have to die. Deruthel is a bastard, but he doesn’t possess one-tenth of Ashkara’s power. Humanity has a small chance against Deruthel. They have no chance against Ashkara. There are no words to describe what he has become.”
She glanced at Deruthel. “He can take Deruthel’s body. That’s his contingency plan.”
Colton nodded. “He can’t wipe it. He can swap with Deruthel. But if he does that, then Deruthel gets his power in the current realm and he is stuck with Deruthel’s body and its current restrictions. He would have no more power than Deruthel.”
Deruthel growled. “He failed to mention I would be left to die in a barren world.” His eyes widened. “Ashkara is insatiable. How many soldiers are left in the realm he inhabits?”
Colton shook his head. “I didn’t see him feed or interact with anyone while he was with me. Why would you ask that?”
Deruthel smiled. “There is only one thing that weakens the king. That’s a lack of blood. He has consumed the remaining pawns and females in our previous home world. He will expect a stable portal one way or another soon. We must stop him.”
Riley put a hand to her mouth. “He killed the women, too?”
“Ashkara’s appetite knows no bounds. He will consume everything until the very plant life withers around him. He has evolved beyond your ability to imagine. He is a god by your standards.”
Deruthel knelt down. “It’s time to save your world, shadow. It’s time for you to die.”
CHAPTER 20
Riley held her hand out, warning Deruthel to stay back. “I won’t let you kill him. There has to be another way.”
Deruthel’s leather-like skin folded above his eyebrows as he arched them. “Ask him how he created a stable portal. There are three bloodlines used. Only sacrificing one of those three will close it permanently. And only if the circle of betrayal is complete.”
She glanced back at Colton. “How did you create the portal?”
He took a ragged breath. “It was a combination of yours, Dannika’s, and my blood. I was the only person that could have gotten all three. Because you and Dannika trusted me.”
She put her hand to his face. “We still trust you. This wasn’t you. This was Ashkara. Don’t attempt to take responsibility for his actions. You will find another way.”
Colton gripped her arm. “I saw inside Ashkara’s mind. You can’t fathom the destruction and hunger that lives within that monster. He’s a vortex of annihilation. There is no fighting that.”
“I’m not suggesting we allow him to come here. We make a temporary truce with Deruthel and close the portal. Deruthel wants a war. He craves it. Since, this is his last one, we should make it worth his while.”
Deruthel chuckled, but the sound was grating. “You believe you have a chance. Your faith is misplaced, but I admit it will make victory that much sweeter. You are however correct in your assessment. Once my father is imprisoned in his current world, I do not wish this one to fall too quickly.”
She narrowed her gaze on the Demon general. “So you agree not to kill Colton?”
“If I kill him, the portal will not close.”
Her heart stuttered. “What are you saying?”
“For the circle to be complete, you must kill the betrayer.”
Riley hissed. “I will never kill Colton.”
Deruthel’s knobby shoulders moved in what she interpreted as a shrug. “Then my father will win.”
Riley glanced between Deruthel and Colton. It was clear they were in agreement on what should happen. “I will find another way.”
Deruthel’s claws clicked together. She thought it strange that she was coming to understand the general’s idiosyncrasies. He was thinking. Using that enormously intelligent multidimensional brain. She had no doubt he was looking for a way that ensured she killed Colton and closed the portal. How was she supposed to outsmart a being with hundreds of years more experience than her?
“I’d like to make an informed decision.”
“I have answered all your questions. I have no intention of being dishonest,” Deruthel said.
“That’s my first question. Why? You have answered every question, but why be honest with me?” she asked.
Deruthel blinked. The black pupils seemed to saucer out as if he were perplexed by her question. “Why would I lie? Do you think I doubt my abilities? I have never failed and I will not now. So the answer to your question is because I don’t have to. I don’t step foot in a new world until my victory is assured.”
“You haven’t won yet, so how can you say victory is assured?”
“Think of it as a recipe. Once all the ingredients are ready, you simply put them together. You follow a series of steps and the outcome is assured.”
Riley had to admire his intelligence. His analogies were always relevant to this world. His arrogance was perhaps his only flaw, though he had earned it. If they were going to have any chance against him, they needed to feed that arrogance. “I’m not gonna lie. I know we have little chance against you now that you have your entire army here. But if blocking Ashkara gives us a snowball’s chance in hell, then I will take it.”
Deruthel’s lip quivered. He wanted that war, and he wanted control. “If there is a way to save your mate and close the portal, I will take it, provided you help me. There is one stipulation, though.”
“What is it?” she asked.
“Provided I do not kill your mate, you need to become my bride when he is dead,” Deruthel said.
Riley swallowed the acid at the back of her throat. She would make this deal knowing that if Colton left this world, she’d be following him. “I agree to your terms, but I will never kill him.”
“You may change your mind when you understand the full extent of Askara’s power. Colton will beg you to kill him when the choice has been ripped from you. His death or the death of every living thing on this planet. That is the choice you will have to make.”
“I agree to help you imprison Ashkara. Then the truce is over,” she said.
“Agreed,” Deruthel said. “How do you propose closing the portal without Colton’s death?”
“You used three blood types. I can get all three again.”
“A death is required to close this portal permanently,” Deruthel said.
Riley’s mind raced over the information she had on the portal. “It’s been opened for years. By Hakim. By Dannika. By my human and shadow blood. Combinations of mine, Dannika’s and Colton’s.”
“That is correct,” Deruthel said.
“Any other bloodlines?”
Deruthel shook his head. “You and Dannika are descendants of the first priestess. The Bokor is a descendant of the one who opened the first portal.”
Riley’s eyes widened. “I didn’t realize that Hakim was a descendent of the first Bokor.”
“The Haitian people have predictable ethics. We knew they would deny his claim to save his daughter. Manipulating sociological infrastructure is my specialty.”
She blinked, trying to grasp his meaning.
Colton growled. “You poisoned Lorette. Did she even have cancer?”
Deruthel grinned. “She did, but Ashkara used his powers centuries before to ensure that the Bokor’s line was riddled with disease. I believe he has discovered our interference in his bloodline, now that he has passed on. He refuses the king’s commands, and it takes some power to deny Ashkara.”
Riley put her hand to her head. “You prepared for everything. Bloodlines. Means to find a traitor. You create every scenario you need.”
Deruthel nodded. “Of course. This has been our way for eons, but we must adapt. Our traversing of worlds must come to an end. Whether we stop here or devastate your realm and try another is up to you.”
Riley huffed. “With you ruling in a dictatorship, I don’t think it really matters.”
Deruthel knelt down. His insect-like legs crouching at an unnatural angle. She had no idea how those spindly legs supported his thick torso. “Because as long as the human species survives, there is always that glimmer of hope. I will never completely squash it because the possibility of insurrection is too appetizing. You will never win but you will continue to try, and that will be... entertaining.”
What he described was a nightmare, but in a way, he was right. As long as people survived, there was always a chance that they could one day rise up. Still, Deruthel had been honest with her. He had said the shadows were an unforeseen anomaly, and although they had dealt with unforeseen events in the past, she had to believe the shadows were stronger than the demons gave them credit for. “You’ve explained that you have similar abilities to the king, but his are far more evolved. Does Ashkara have any weaknesses? Anything we can exploit.”
Deruthel stood. “Normally I would say no. But Colton’s information has been most enlightening. I believe he has consumed the resources in our former world. He weakens.”
“Can it kill him? How long before he dies of starvation?” Riley asked.
“Ashkara is the most powerful demon to exist. He’s evolved beyond that of any before him. I am not sure starvation is possible. If it is, it will take centuries. He can put his mind and body into stasis.”
“Are there other inter-dimensional travelers?” she asked.
“We have not come across any, but it is unrealistic to think we are the only ones. Why do you ask?”
“It’s kind of a scary prospect to just leave him sleeping in your realm. I agree that it’s only a matter of time before someone or something comes across him.”
“It’s likely, but it won’t be something this world has to deal with. If we close the portal permanently, this is the only world he won’t be able to traverse.”
“You didn’t close the portal on previous worlds?”
“We closed them, but not a permanent severing. The last permanent closure was when Ashkara trapped his father. Or so I am told,” Deruthel said.
Her eyes narrowed on the demon. “If you allow yourself to evolve as your father has; eventually, you will suffer the same fate.”
Deruthel put his hands behind his back. “I am aware of the restrictions I must place on myself. But being left alone to starve is an excellent motivator. It is not an existence I wish to explore. I will not allow such an evolution to occur.”
Riley stared at him and though he spoke the truth, she had to wonder if Ashkara had similar reasoning when he was no stronger than Deruthel. Delusions of grandeur were a part of a demon’s DNA. They were leopards that couldn’t change their spots. Despite the general’s claims, he couldn’t alter his own ambitions or his evolution. It would be like telling a human they couldn’t age. Learn. Grow. They had to defeat the demons, or they were dead. There would be no later insurrection. It was now or death. “I believe you when you say you will attempt to put those restrictions in place.” She didn’t add she thought he wouldn’t be able to stick to his own plan this time.
Colton moved to his hands and knees, pushing himself from the dirt floor. His wounds had closed and some of his skin had returned to its natural color. He was regaining his strength, but he had a long way to go. “Are you feeling better?”
He dusted the rocks from his pants. “I know you think you can trust Deruthel, but you can’t. Even his father is wary of his skill. He has survived because Ashkara hasn’t found a replacement for his mind. Deruthel is the only suitable container.”
Deruthel nodded. “I have killed all my siblings to ensure it stays that way.”
Riley slipped her hand around his waist. “Yeah, he told me. This is one of those the devil you know type of deals. He is the lesser of two evils, but not by much.”
They all turned to Deruthel when the ground shook.
Riley clutched her chest. “Why is a portal opening? Who is doing it?”
Deruthel turned. “There was no ritual performed.”
“Then how is it happening?”
Deruthel’s eyes flickered red. “Ashkara has taken control.”
CHAPTER 21
Riley and Colton followed Deruthel through the tunnel to the main cavern in the middle. One wall was glowing orange and cracks formed in the rock like orange spiderwebs. Halak stood with the demon caller in his hand and his head turned toward the fissure.
The lone surviving female nuzzled his legs and pawed at his thighs with her claws.
“Halak opened the portal?” Riley asked.
Deruthel’s claws fisted at his sides. “Not Halak. Ashkara is controlling him. Halak would not have orchestrated this stupidity. It is a gross waste of resources.”
Colton and Riley glanced at one another. This was the first sign of derision in the demon clan. She studied Halak and Deruthel, looking for anything that could help her save Colton. Humanity. “I’m not sure what you mean. I thought you had what you needed.”
The demon general pointed to the portal as the rock dropped away and the first demon emerged from the portal. He was smaller. A jackal, but he looked different from those that had traversed before him. His skin was red and his horns were smaller. He looked somewhat sickly with the clear ooze running from his nostril. “Apparently, my father wants more foot soldiers. These are a waste of resources. They are sterile and lack the strength of the first generation. They will fall like blades of grass before the shadows. Feeding them will corrupt the balance needed to maintain this world.”
Riley stared at Halak. He appeared frozen and oblivious to his surroundings. “Why would he do this?”
“There is only one reason to waste resources. My father is scared.”
“You thought he had consumed the creatures of your realm. You were wrong,” she said.
“He has consumed the soldiers. These jackals are sickly and a later generation of offspring from the females of our previous home world. Had he sent a few females to appease the soldier’s needs, I would have understood his actions. He has sent only that which he can no longer feed on. The females and soldiers are dead. These are weak, sterile children by our standards.”
“How many of these children are there?”
“Hundreds more. We must close this portal before Ashkara corrupts this ecosystem beyond my ability to maintain.”
“I don’t understand why he did this now,” she whispered.
Deruthel turned to her. “That I understand. He is sending additional forces now because the severing is imminent. One way or another, Ashkara knows these worlds will be cut off from one another. The portal must be closed before a permanent severing.”
“You said you don’t need to do that... unless.”
“My father is planning for my rebellion. With him there and me here, I can control several higher demons, but he can control dozens.”
“But he can control you, can’t he?”
“I would have said yes, but he has sent weak reinforcements, so I think he has weakened beyond his ability to enter my mind.”
