Keeley Thomson (Book 4): Demon Trap Page 5

  It was a promotion after all. In Vampire circles it would almost automatically make her a very important person. That wasn't bad, considering a few months before she'd been the lowest member of her group. The one they used for sex and as a way to make themselves feel strong and powerful. The girl Vampire needed that kind of power base though, if she were going to take her revenge on them.

  They left at about midnight, which was a little early, but needed, since Zack had to sleep, given that the next day he had work. Being a gentleman though he offered to see her home himself. That didn't seem to thrill Lenore a lot, but Keeley agreed. It was a bit awkward, but Harland came along as well.

  Only a bit though, since Keeley had Fram carry him through the line for them, so Zack wouldn't have to pull a long chain of people. Even if he could. That meant the others could go back to her other house directly with Balthias.

  It was a bit of a cluster on the doorstep of the single story ranch style house she shared with her mother, and the lights were still on, which meant that Sherry was awake still. Probably working, since there were Christmas parties that wanted fancy decorations all week long. This turned out to be the case since she popped her head out of the front door almost instantly and then froze, looking at the array of strange people and then focusing on Fram.

  Who looked like the Demon that had decapitated her husband. To her credit she attacked instantly, if not very efficiently, leaping on the man and scratching at his face like a wild animal. She really dug into the eyes too, Keeley noticed, feeling a bit of pride. If he'd been a human attacker, the man would have been going down hard.

  "Mom? This is Fram. He just looks like Barb. Maybe you could let me explain first, before you kill him?" The Vampires and Darla all looked... Extremely calm about the whole thing, to tell the truth. Zack seemed tense, but he moved in anyway and put his good arm out, between the two people. For his part Fram didn't even shy away, just taking the beating as if it were justified.

  Because, slave or not, he knew that his current form had to offend the woman. It was, Keeley realized, a good sign. Crazy as he might be, the Greater Demon was smart enough to know what not to do in most situations.

  That would be helpful later.

  Zack got a hug then, from her mother, who didn't let go, tears coming to her eyes. She might have been about to divorce Charles Thomson when he died, and had been fighting with him just minutes before, but Barb had killed him and that couldn't be allowed.

  Keeley shorthanded the whole thing for her.

  "Fram is a Greater Demon, and is going to be playing the part of Barb for a while, so that the police won't be looking for her. We need someone good for the cheerleading squad anyway." She left the slavery part off of things for the time being. It would come up, but the woman was crying, and it was distressing Zack. "Fram, why don't you go ahead and heal the damage from this now." It was a command, and happened instantly. Sherry just tried to regain her composure.

  "I'm... sorry honey. I didn't mean to make a scene." She didn't explain to everyone though and moved back inside the house, which meant everyone else followed along with her. It at least wouldn't bother the neighbors as much, Keeley figured.

  She started to offer refreshments, but Zack shook his head gently.

  "No, thank you. I really need to get back home so I can sleep. Unless you need us to stay?" It was a gentle offer and one that got Sherry to consider it. Zack was younger than she was, but looked older than his years, so it seemed like a tempting offer. It wasn't meant that way, but he was a man, and they weren't exactly the most faithful creatures in the world all the time.

  Lenore saw the set up, but didn't argue about it at all, which was strange, until Keeley realized it was all about her own perceived power. Her human boyfriend sleeping with a Greater Demon would be a direct challenge to her control over him. One that she literally couldn't beat. A human woman that was cute enough, and a little older might be a threat too, except for the fact that by Vampire rules that was totally allowable. It took the sting out of it and she thought that she might know a few tricks to keep a twenty-two year old man happy, that Sherry just didn't.

  It was a complex enough arrangement that Keeley felt a bit sorry for Zack, but as long as he was happy, she decided to stay out of it all.

  Instead she tried to change the topic.

  "Do you have an event tomorrow?" It would explain why she was still up. So would waiting for her to get home, but Sherry had kind of accepted the fact that Keeley wasn't a regular girl, and wouldn't be out doing the drugs or off having the sex. Or more honestly, she might well be, but waiting up for her to get home wouldn't stop that, if it were her plan. Not that drugs would work on her anyway.

  Her mother nodded, seeming more relaxed suddenly. Work was one of her favorite topics after all.

  "Yes. I want some candles for it, but the set up is early in the day. I got a box of them, but they're the wrong color. I ordered red, but these are an off-plum and it won't really work right."

  Zack just asked what she wanted, and said that he could have them to her by eight in the morning. It was kind of him, but after he borrowed a pen and some paper to write it down, he got everyone to leave with him, taking Harland through to his store in the Westwood mall without waiting for her to get Fram around. Then he came back, and rather sweetly, kissed her on the cheek. It was in front of Darla, her mom and Fram, so she got the hesitancy. Also, to his mind she was still too young for him. It would be an issue for a bit, she knew.

  Then, using the same node she'd created earlier and used several times already, he vanished, going back to his shop.

  The one way node to Finias' house in the mountains that shouldn't have gone anywhere else, or opened for him, without her doing the work.

  Because that was normal.

  For a Demon.

  Chapter four

  There was a bit of a problem then, since Keeley wasn't going to let Fram go and party until she needed him, since he'd probably find a way to get out of being captured like he had been if she gave him the time. Worse, if he was around too much, he'd pick up bits of information that could be used against her. There didn't seem to be a real way to safely deal with him, but, in the main, the guy was harmless. For a Greater Demon.

  "OK. You're going to take over Barb's life for the rest of the year. She lived with some people that were pretending to be her parents. That means going to Raintree High, and working to take that over. You'll need a good cover story and probably have to influence some of the school staff to let you back onto the cheer team. You'll do that without harm to anyone, understand?" It wasn't that important, making it seem like the girl was back, but she had the resource and he was already Barb, so why not?

  "I can do that. I'm not exactly wild about all this you know." The man didn't growl at her, but did glare a bit. It was honest enough, so she let it slide.

  "I bet. Of course it was your own error that got you into this mess. We'll get you out of it, eventually, but for the next year or two, I expect you to pay for your mistake and not cause problems for me. That's the price of your freedom." It was pretty nice of her, Keeley thought.

  So did Darla.

  "I don't know sis, having a pet Greater Demon is a big deal. Think of all the things you can have him do. Empty his bank accounts, take all his slaves... Things to do with olive oil..." Whatever that last bit meant, it got Fram to pout a bit.

  "Spoilsport." There was a dainty foot stomp and the brown trouser leg swished a bit when it happened, reminding her that the Demon would need to get to his new home that night. It was still there, she knew, having been watching it pretty closely for the last month and a half, just in case Xenses showed back up.

  Nodding a bit, Keeley agreed, in general. She didn't have time to explore that kind of option though, and didn't really care at the moment, not needing to torture Fram for his attempt on her. After all, it had clearly been designed to fail. Whoever had done it hadn't even tried to warn him that she could take him like she h
ad, even though it was common enough knowledge, after what she'd done to Ma'at. Xenses too.

  Getting it all set up took hours, which meant that the new Barb would have to get herself around in the morning, since Keeley needed to get home and eat soon. They had visiting to do after all. She was blocking her hunger, but had Darla to remind her, since she was tagging along. Probably just in case Fram found some way to break the link and come for her. So far he didn't even seem to be struggling very hard. It was a bit surprising, to tell the truth.

  As she sat at the kitchen table eating a pancake that was folded in half, drenched in syrup and covered with peanut butter in a thick layer, she tried to draw energy into her right hand and actually absorb it all. There was something that she'd noticed earlier, which made it far more efficient. That thing that Zack had done, re-circulating the energy inside herself, given her more time to try and grab it.

  Her sister noticed too.

  "Very nice. The integration is at about seventy percent. I want to see at least ninety though. Remember to use that store of energy first, when possible too. Keep this up and you'll be back to regular eating habits in no time." A pan clanked on the stove and the next pancake came off. "For one of us at least. I can't say I'm all that happy about you being discovered like that. My guess is that Xen, or one of his cronies, put the word out. Of course, they're the ones we were hiding you from, so I can't see it as that big of a deal. Now we know that they have the information. Less than perfect, but not impossible to handle. I have to say I liked the way you handled that Wen'pth earlier. Perfect for the setting, and you did it so casually it looked like you didn't even think she might be a threat. Not that she was. Most won't bother you now though. Just the loonies."

  Keeley kept drawing energy into her palm and fixed more food with her left hand. There was a tiny ball of light that was forming, which she dimmed considerably by drawing in more of the power from what she was doing. Darla saw it and didn't bother to nod at all. It was clear that her new plan as far as her sister was concerned was to hold high standards and cut her very little slack. That meant praise would really have to be earned now. No more pats on the back just for finishing her supper or anything.

  "I hope it isn't a big problem, but I guess I need to work on fighting more. I know that it's my favorite thing personally, being beaten up daily. Good exercise for you though, what with all the cardio you're going to get chasing me around." It sounded a bit muffled, since food was getting ready to go into her mouth as she started speaking. A girl had to have priorities after all, and right now she needed to have a consistently high energy level.

  Someone was out to get her after all. Who knew when they'd attack? Or what form that would come in even.

  "True enough. If you have things in hand here, I'm going to head home and do some work. Coretechs is busy this time of year. It's mainly signing papers, but has to be done."

  "No problem. See you in a few days?" It sounded pretty casual, but there was a reason for that. It was the twenty-first now. Keeley still had presents to deliver and all that.

  "Sure. Maybe sooner. Fram... really shouldn't be a problem. He can be a moron, but... honestly, if you can keep him in check about one percent of the time, it might actually improve his life. Besides it will give you someone to experiment with that isn't a family member or someone that will take things too seriously. Like Hally." She stared directly into Keeley's brown eyes then, and waited for her to respond.

  Like that was her fault? The girl developed a crush on almost everyone after all. Of course, she was tentatively Darla's, even though she hadn't been taken as a slave or anything. That was the normal way to do things too. Still a problem though, if her sister felt threatened.

  "I'll give you a hundred thousand for her." Keeley said it bluntly, as if she were actually buying the girl outright, instead of just the territorial rights to her. It wasn't the same thing at all. It did make sense though, since she already held the rest of the York family directly. She could collect the whole set that way.

  Darla actually looked away.

  "Fine. Transfer the funds. I suppose you'll want Eve as well?" It was said a little darkly, but Keeley actually thought about then shook her head.

  "Tempting, to tell the truth, I do kind of like her. I figure that she'll opt to be a Vampire though. For now she should get a chance to deal with her childhood. I will buy the rights to kill her mother from you though."

  That started a ten minute conversation about killing people, and the combined use of resources. Eve had the use of Elis, the Manthori Vampire that Keeley had taken as a slave. She was planning to kill some men, but had been dithering a little bit. They'd raped her as a child, and even the Vampire was behind the idea, since it was about the only way he could earn his way out of the doghouse that Keeley was keeping him in. Metaphorically. It wasn't going to be enough really, but if Eve forgave him for using his mind powers to rape her, then Keeley probably wouldn't kill him outright.

  Not for that.

  It was something to think about though. With Fram around, they could set that up in a few hours, and have the men dead before Christmas. Even tortured if it was desired. She needed to have a chat with Eve about it. It was possible the girl was having cold feet, or might just not know what all of her potential resources were really. Technically it was Darla's job, since she'd claimed her already, which was the Greater Demon version of calling dibs on an asset. That was what she'd just made an offer for with Hally really. Dibs.

  The idea was funny, but she kept her attention on the tasks at hand, eating and collecting energy. There had to be a faster way to do it. She never noticed Darla drawing energy really, did she? It would take some thought.

  Darla waved, then left from the living room, leaving her alone with her thoughts and a bowl of pancake batter. She used the silver ladle in the ceramic bowl then realized that the pan needed more fat in it. She wasn't the world's greatest cook yet. She was getting better, now that she had a reason to practice as often as she had been.

  That meant dropping the glow of energy over her right palm, so that she could use it for the new task. It was easy enough to simply place the thing over her head, and still absorb it. That got her thinking about the amount of power coming in. Her ability to actually use the energy was what slowed her down really. If that could be improved it should be possible to set off a cascade of universal force that would top her off in a few seconds. In the mean time she needed to keep going at her slow and steady pace, that and keep herself fed.

  She really wasn't doing that poorly, Keeley didn't think. True, it wasn't even half enough yet, but as Darla had pointed out many times, it took most Greater Demons a lot longer to get the trick down than it was for her. Decades or even centuries. Part of it was having a good teacher that let her try, no doubt. The other part though was something different. She had a talent for magic it seemed, and that helped a lot.

  Possibly any kind of magic even. She hadn't tested it yet really.

  After she finished making a mess of Sherry's kitchen, she carefully cleaned it, going in the specific order that her mother liked, since she had an issue with that kind of thing. Not a shouting or hitting kind of mania, but her OCD meant that she'd have to do it all over again if something wasn't right. As it was, the very fact that she'd made food would virtually assure a half hour cleaning session, even if the place sparkled. That couldn't be helped really. Not without doing something drastic, like making Sherry into her slave.

  She'd been avoiding that though. It was hard on people to be that devoted to someone else. They didn't really feel that way, but it was like being totally in love with a person, and having the power on that turned up by a factor of ten or twenty. Her slaves didn't get a choice and that wasn't really fair to them.

  Worse, she felt responsible for her people too. If they had a problem, it was up to her to fix it. Most Demons didn't bother with that as much, but it was important to Keeley. She could shut that off, of course, for a while, but it would come
back later, when she stopped trying. Like her grief and anger over her dad's death.

  That could be hidden, but it never really went away. It lived inside her mind, always. Waiting for her to let her guard down. She had a few things like that going on now. Matters that left her feeling bad, if she let them.

  Sherry got up at seven and came out into the hallway with her eyes mostly closed, and hair a little flattened on one side. When she went into the bathroom, Keeley went and changed quickly, since wearing a tight skirt and hose all night didn't seem very natural really. She also changed her face back to normal, using the little mirror in her room. That way her mother wouldn't notice that she'd aged ten years over night.

  A few minutes later there was a soft tap on her bedroom door, which made it seem like she was being woken up. It was an old habit, no doubt.

  "Keeley? Your friend said that he'd be here at eight?"

  With the new candles. It was still early, but even more so in Washington where the mall was. She walked out to find her mother had showered and put on a nice outfit that looked like it could be worked in, but seemed professional at the same time.

  "Right. I'll call and make sure he remembers." It was slightly early, but not too much so. The telephone in her purse set to making music then however, which was a bit unusual, given the hour. At first she figured it would be Zack, but it wasn't.

  It was Gladys, from church. The older woman that Keeley had been baking treats with. It was very abnormal for her to be calling this early on a Tuesday morning.

  She answered it with a look of genuine shock.

  "Hello? Gladys?"

  "Keeley?" She didn't sound good at all. Very scared in fact. "Someone's trying to break into my house. I tried to call the police, but I couldn't find the number." That would have seemed strange to anyone else, but the fact was that Gladys had a habit of calling for so many little things that the police had given her a direct line to the Desk Sergeant, so that it wouldn't come across as an emergency all the time. They'd talked about it while making cookies once, a few weeks back.